BEATRICE – The Beatrice Board of Public Works is recommending a familiar orange logo be added to the city’s north water tower when it’s repainted this summer.


The board took that action Wednesday, expected to add nearly $14,000 in cost. A prior agreement with Utility Service Company takes care of the repainting cost of the city’s two water towers. The north tower is expected to be repainted beginning August 1st.


"As we were getting ready for that, we had the question about painting the logo on the water tower, as well. We reached out to them and got a quote...its at $13,899 to add the logo to the water tower. It would say Beatrice on two sides, and then you would have two sides that would then have the logo on it, as well."


BPW Manager Tobias Tempelmeyer says other cities such as Gretna, Crete, Grand Island, Papillion, York and Aurora are among those that sport logos on their water towers.


"We just think it adds to the sense of community pride that we're trying to encourage in the community....help build on our brand, our identity...the water tower is kind of the billboard for our community."


The City of Beatrice uses an orange letter “B” with a flag as its logo, combining it with the phrase of “Stake Your Claim”….owing to the area’s homesteading history.


The public works board approved spending the extra funds for the logos on the north tower. The north tower is located along North 19th Street. The south, smaller capacity tower is near Mulberry and Russell Streets and was more recently repainted.