Thorsby’s Town Council on Monday accepted the lowest bid for repainting the town’s water tank.

Out of five bids received, the base bid from Scott I. Enterprises Inc. was the lowest, at $191,000.

The other bids ranged up to $262,600.

Engineer Calvin Cassady requested and opened bids for the town.

The total cost of the project could exceed $200,000 because items such as replacing the fence around the tower and painting a logo on the outside of the tank were not included in the base bids.

The council members who were present voted unanimously to accept the low bid.

Councilman Randall Higgins was not present at the meeting.

Cassady also talked to the town about applying for a Community Development Block Grant for sewer work.

Cassady said he and Public Works Director Terry Jackson inspected sewer lines that were expected to need improvement, but found the lines to be in good shape.

“You have a good sewer system. To me, it’s not worth applying for a grant,” Cassady said because the grant amount would be larger than what the town needs to spend on its sewer system, and the town would have to match at least part of the grant.

In other business, the council:

•Voted in favor of changing the town’s animal control ordinance to state that dogs may not be chained to stakes. Police Chief Rodney Barnett recommended the change after encountering problems with such situations. Barnett said chained dogs are often more aggressive, and sometimes are positioned in a way as to block visitors, including town representatives, from approaching a resident’s front door.

•Voted to participate in the back-to-school sales tax holiday from Aug. 1-3.

•Agreed to change the town’s sewer tap rate fee. The new fee will be a base rate of $1,000 plus cost, not to exceed $2,000.

•Heard from Jackson about a town mower in need of repairs. Jackson said he secured an estimate of $3,000, but some council members wondered if the best option would be to purchase a new mower. Jackson said he would seek more estimates, both for repairing the disabled mower and for purchasing a new one, and report back to the council.

•Approved signing an agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation for maintenance of state rights-of-way within town limits.

•Rejected an opportunity to provide a lump sum payment to town retirees. The town was notified by Retirement Systems of Alabama that the town could provide the lump sum payment to retirees because of an act of the Alabama Legislature. The town would have paid out $3,201 if it had decided to provide the funds for retirees.