A Royal paint job

Royal residents and passersby are seeing an updated look for the community's water tower.

Central Tank Coatings, of Elgin, painted the water tank and supporting structure earlier this month. City officials acknowledged at last week's council meeting that the tank colors (gold and royal blue) did not turn out quite as they expected. They also questioned how readable the white lettering with yellow background for "Royal America" was from a distance.

However, most of the comments about the water tower's paint job have been positive and city officials say they are generally satisfied with the result.

"I think it looks good," said Council Member Sara Ricke. "I don't know if it would be worth making a change."

The original bid to complete the paint job was $39,100. However, the final cost was higher because a hatch on the tank was replaced.

"It's a freshly-painted water tower. It looks good," said Mayor Josh Toft.