Peru nearing a decision on water tower?

The Peru City Council may be nearing a consensus on how to adorn the water tower, but a final vote is pending.

At a Monday committee meeting, aldermen agreed to have the tank painted white and the stem painted blue.

How to decorate the tank remains up for grabs. Mayor Ken Kolowski and several aldermen did, however, signal they might be open to a compromise where the east side of the tank is adorned with “Peru” in some form while the west side is left blank.

A formal vote is pending and likely to be taken up Monday at the regular council meeting.

City engineer Eric Carls urged the council to settle it because work on the tower has reached a stage where a decision is needed soon.

“I need some direction,” Carls said. “We can’t continue to kick this can, if you will.”

“Let’s put this on the agenda to vote on this and be done with it,” agreed Alderman Tom Payton.

As previously reported, the committee proposed an “Area 251,” UFO-themed water tower with a baseball, a baseball bat and a soccer ball inside the beam of the UFO for the water tower behind Hy-Vee.

Corporate Counsel Scott Schweickert had said the idea behind Area 251 is to create a regional identity for marketing and branding the City of Peru’s retail area and, hopefully, sports complex.

Separately, the city council will not form a committee to take up the issue of e-bikes.

Schweickert said he didn’t see the need for committee review since state law is clear with limited room for city amendment.