The Township of North Huron is still not ready to issue a request for proposal on its new standpipe.
At council's first meeting of 2026, members heard that the town was still working to get permission from the Listowel Wingham Hospital Alliance to use part of its parking lot for construction storage and activities.
Council was also directed to choose the cladding and logo for the exterior of the structure.
Deputy Mayor Kevin Falconer said it was a bit ridiculous that they had no idea what it was going to look like.
"We have not even seen a conceptual drawing of this structure for eight years," he said. "Seeing the questions we're getting from council: is it round? Is it tall? Is it that picture — no that's a water tower. This is starting to get a little bit laughable, at this point, for eight years of us paying engineering firms. The last standpipe the Municipality built only lasted 10 years, so I want more information of what we're building, or will we just be doing this again in 10 years?"
Director of Public Works Kevin Watson told Falconer that most standpipes are built by one company, Greatario, which owns the rights to fusing glass to steel.
The project has been in planning stages for years, including going back and forth on whether it should be a water tower or a standpipe.
However, Watson noted the issue of finding a "lay down area" for construction could be a bigger snag for the RFP if they can't reach an agreement with the hospital.
"We had reached out to their operations manager back in the fall and I went through the picture of the lay down area, I think we were asking for maybe 15 (parking) spots, plus the buggy spot," he told council. "At that point in time, it was taken back to the board and a week later I heard back, with no as the answer. They said they needed every spot in that lot for the emergency ward of the hospital."
The plan is to build the new standpipe where the current one sits on John Street. Watson added that if the area next to the current structure can't be procured for the time it takes to work on the new standpipe, an alternative off-site location would be needed, adding challenges to construction including greater potential impact on the surrounding community.
Council will draft a formal letter to the Hospital Board identifying the importance for access to the lay down area and its desire to negotiate a workable solution for both parties.
Should the project move ahead this year, Watson said water pressure shouldn't be affected during the build.
"What they will do in the meantime without the volume of water available there, they will run it on the pumps. The pressure will come from the pumps. There is a reservoir at Well Five, but the pressure will be maintained at all times by pumps," he told council.
The town applied for, but was not awarded provincial funding to support the project through the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund.
