The Waterloo City Council on Monday night approved the purchase of land on the Waterloo VFW property for the city’s new water tower.

The real estate purchase amount was $75,000. 

As part of plans to construct its own water treatment plant, the City of Waterloo intends to build a larger new water tower in town.

The Waterloo Planning Commission recently gave a favorable recommendation to the Waterloo Zoning Board of Appeals on the matter, with the zoning board granting a special use permit for this new tower.

Waterloo Public Works Director Tim Birk told the Republic-Times that plans are to build this new tower on the southeast corner of the Waterloo VFW property at 406 Veterans Drive. 

The timeline of construction for the new tower is yet to be determined, Birk said, but it would have a storage size of 500,000 gallons of water. The existing tower located next to Waterloo City Hall has a capacity of 250,000 gallons.

The estimated cost of this new water tower is $2.5 million, Birk said.

“The (city) council has not made a decision on what to do with the existing 80-year-old water tower,” Birk said.

Also on Monday night, the council approved a request for modifications from Verizon Wireless for equipment upgrades on the existing tower. In addition to Verizon, Sprint also has equipment on this tower.

In other action from the meeting, the council approved a legal services agreement with HeplerBroom LLC regarding Clean Air Act Permit Program renewal.

This permit is for the city’s power plant in accordance with Illinois Environmental Protection Agency requirements and needs to be renewed every four years, Birk said. 

HeplerBroom will charge fees on an hourly basis for services rendered to the city at a rate of $25 for a partner, $350 for an associate and $125 for a paralegal.

Aldermen also approved a Waterloo Beautification Program application from Darrell and Jane Gaitsch for their property located at 122 N. Main Street.