New Ephrata water tower construction planned
Ray Towry, Ephrata city administrator.
EPHRATA — The city of Ephrata will build a new water tower adjacent to an existing city well near Columbia Ridge Elementary School. Ephrata City Council members approved the termination of a lease between the city and the Ephrata School District at the regular council meeting Wednesday.
The vote was 5-0.
“That’s the chunk of land that’s – where, exactly?” asked council member Kathleen Allstot.
“Right in front of the preschool,” said City Administrator Ray Towry. “That’s the property that we own.”
Towry said Thursday that city officials looked for other locations for the new water tower first.
“It just made sense to put (the tower) right there, next to the well,” Towry said.
The property was home to the preschool playground toys, which school district officials are moving to a piece of district-owned property that did have a bike track on it. The bike track has been removed.
The city’s engineers have a tentative date to begin site preparation, Towry told council members, but that doesn’t match up with the school district timeline for vacating the property. Council members approved the resolution leaving the termination date to be negotiated.
Cheryl Schweizer may be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.