Brookfield’s village board voted unanimously on Monday night to award a Michigan-based company $243,000 to refurbish the 1-million-gallon water tower that stands at Maple and Brookfield avenues.

And, yes, the dolphins are staying.

The cost to repaint the dolphins and the word “Brookfield” on the tower, included in that overall figure, is $9,000 (two-thirds of that for the dolphins), according to the bid submitted by L.C. United Painting Company Inc. of Sterling Heights, Mich.

According to Village Manager Riccardo Ginex, just two companies submitted bids for the work. Six companies had picked up packets, but four chose not to bid. Ginex said the village got a late start in soliciting bids and a number of companies had already booked work this year.

L.C. United
is presently repainting a water tower in far north suburban Antioch.

Despite the dearth of bids, the winning submission was still below the $300,000 the village had budgeted for the project and the $255,000 estimated by Dixon Engineering Inc., which Brookfield hired separately to prepare bid specifications, prepare construction contracts and inspect the work.

The work will be paid for out of the village’s water fund, which helps pay for water infrastructure projects. Revenues for the water fund come from charges to residential and commercial water customers in Brookfield and Brookfield Zoo.

Public Works Director Dan Kaup said that he’d like to have a preconstruction meeting with representatives from both Dixon and L.C. United next week and would like the work to begin in late August. The job entails more than just a coat of paint. In addition, the painting company will repair grout and replace an access hatch, overflow flap gate, mud valve, roof vent and a safety rail among other things.

The tower will be surrounded by, essentially, a shroud during the work so that it doesn’t affect the preschool, which is located in the building immediately east of the tower, or the park to the north. Work is expected to last about a month.

“Our agreement is that the water tower won’t be offline for more than 35 days,” said Kaup.

The 95-foot-tall, spheroid water tower was built in 1981. It was last repainted in 1996.