Idaho Falls city council to vote on new water tower location Thursday

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - The city of Idaho Falls may have found a new location for a water tower. A vote on approving that new location is scheduled for Thursday night's city council meeting.

A proposed relocation site was the South Capital Park on the other side of the Art Museum from where the current tower stands. That decision was met with pushback from the public. So the city started looking for an alternate site.

After a long search, they may have found one. The Idaho Falls Public Library parking lot.

The Public Works Department presented their research Monday night and determined that the southeast corner of the parking lot is a viable location for the new tower.

In November, the Library board voted in favor of the potential move. Even though the city does not need the board's approval to move forward, Mayor Rebecca Casper says it is important to have its support.

"There's an element of respect. The Library paid for the resurfacing of that parking lot, and then relatively speaking, 15 minutes later the city came along and said 'We need to relocate our tower'.

And to rip up a parking lot they just paid for seemed difficult to approach. And so, that's part of the reason why the library board's cooperation was so appreciated."

Research found there would be minimal impact on the parking capacity for the library. In fact, it could add spaces if the lot is redesigned.

The bid for the project comes in at $102,040.

A vote for approval of the new location will take place Thursday night.