The city of Spokane has awarded a $500,000 contract to an Oregon company to repaint, both inside and out, the big Shadle Park water tower in northwest Spokane.

S&K Painting Inc., of Clackamas, Ore., won the job after the original low bidder, which bid $400,000, was found not to have a valid contractor's license in Washington state, says city spokeswoman Ann Deasy. Though S&K's bid was higher than the city's estimate of $400,000 for the work, city staff determined that it was still within a reasonable limit based on the costs of regulatory compliance for contractors doing such work.

The work will entail sandblasting old paint from the inside of the 4.8 million-gallon tank and then repainting it. The interior paint is expensive because it's specially formulated to be safe for contact with drinking water and to be submerged under water.

The city will monitor the work, which will include disposing of lead-based materials in the old paint, and air quality also will be monitored during the process to ensure that no airborne contaminants are released, Deasy says. The new paint is expected to have a life span of about 20 years, she says.

The tank's exterior will be cleaned, repaired where needed, and painted with a new coat of green and yellow, which are the school colors of nearby Shadle Park High School, Deasy says.

A schedule for the project hasn't been set yet, but the 90-day project is to be completed by the end of May, before the tank is needed again for use in the summer months.