By Marie McCain
The Cincinnati Enquirer

BATAVIA - Clermont County officials opened bids Thursday for a water tower in Union Township that could also hold the township's newest fire station.

Lyle Bloom, a sanitary engineer with the Clermont County Engineer's Office, said the county received two bids. The lower one - $2,539,000 - came from CBI Constructors of Sewickley, Pa. CBI also proposed a $132,000 fee for separate construction to pave the way a firehouse within the water tower.

The higher bid came from Caldwell Tanks, of Louisville, which proposed to build the new water tower at a cost of $3,363,400. Additional provisions for the fire department would be done for $564,460.

The county still has to review the bids and make sure the numbers add up, Bloom said. The county has 60 days to award a contract.

Union Township Administrator Ken Geis said the township plans to move forward with putting the fire station in the tower once the county nails down the details.

The tower and fire station will address growing needs for services in Union Township. Plans are moving forward to build more than 400 homes on an old farm along Clough Pike and Glen Este-Withamsville Road near the tower site.

Township and county officials began discussing the innovative structure in 2002, when the county approved the building of a new 2-million-gallon water tower to replace a 500,000-gallon tank.

The water tower, which typically has a hollow interior at the base, will be built to accommodate roughly a 10,000-square-foot, two-story firehouse.

The plan is modeled after a combination building in Dublin, Ohio, officials said.

E-mail mmccain@enquirer.com