The Malta City Council reviewed bids for a major water tank project, with options for a steel tank and a concrete tank, but postponed awarding because all bids came in significantly over budget. The lowest steel tank bid from Battle Ridge was 4290000, about 499980 over budget, and the lowest concrete tank bid from Cop Construction was 4878275, about 1038255 over budget, largely due to costly deep pile foundations. Council is now waiting on a final decision from the State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan program about additional funding, potential 50 percent loan forgiveness, and possibly extending loan terms from 30 to 40 years to avoid rate hikes.Once SRF terms are clarified, the council will bring the project back on a future agenda to decide whether and how to proceed. This creates a window for engineering, financial advisory, and construction-related vendors to help the city refine scope, value engineering, funding strategy, and lifecycle cost analysis between steel and concrete options before the award deadline passes or a rebid is considered.

Concrete tank lifespan was discussed as about 100 years versus 40–50 years for a glass-lined tank, influencing long-term cost considerations.