Uh-oh, it looks like there’s a color concern regarding the Lakeland water tower on U.S. 64 near the suburb’s border.

Apparently, Memphis Light Gas and Water Division folks decided the tower would look good with orange and red writing. The problem – Lakeland is focusing on a blue tone that coincides with its high school color scheme and its Lion mascot.

Lakeland High School construction on track for fall 2022 opening

The matter arose last week when the suburb’s Board of Commissioner met and the conversation steered to the water tower near Lakeland’s west end. And, while they were discussing water tower matters with an MLGW official, the subject of a possible split from the Tennessee Valley Authority arose.

The new color and paint job for the water tower matter came up last October when the design was unveiled by MLGW.

“We were approached about putting Lakeland’s name on the tower, and we’ve done it,” Alonzo Weaver, the utility’s vice president and chief operating officer, said. Weaver hoped the color mixture with the words “Proudly Serving Lakeland” under the MLGW logo met with city officials’ approval even though it might not have been the exact design that they wanted.

 “It was something that we were able to work it in at little to no additional cost, so we were glad to put it up.”

Lakeland gets proactive with economic development strategy

The work may have met the cost factor, but not the approval of some city officials. Commissioners Jim Atkinson and Wesley Wright were disappointed that MLGW did not consult with the city on the paint color and design for the tower.

“We were trying to do something more collaborative, and I think we even had the Shelby County mayor (Lee Harris) and Shelby County Commissioner Mick Wright trying to work something out,” Wesley Wright said. “But we weren’t really involved in the planning process.”

Atkinson pointed out that the idea to do something with the water tower first came up several years ago. Lakeland would have liked its logo on the structure, but since MLGW owns the tower that idea did not get much traction.

The writing on the tower ultimately was painted red/orange instead of the desired city’s blue color.

“We spent a lot of time several years ago going through a branding exercise to come up with a new logo and a new image, and the problem is now we have a water tower that is the most visible landmark in the city that now has an orangish-peach looking thing that has cursive writing on it,” said Atkinson, stressing that while he appreciated the thought behind the project, he wished MLGW had checked with the city before beginning work on the tower.

“We basically changed the contract as it was being done (at the end)…and integrating it into a different design and making that kind of change at that point was not going to work out too well,” Weaver said. “So, we take that hit and apologize for that.”

Lakeland City Manager Shane Horn addressed both sides of the issue, “It certainly is an improvement from what was there previously, and we appreciate the steps taken. Improved communication and collaboration will be the key points to address moving forward.”

Commissioner Richard Gonzales expressed concern to Weaver about MLGW’s possible split from TVA.

“We did the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), and (it) took a good hard all-in-cost look at what we’re paying TVA versus what we might…get from exploring the MISO market for power,” Weaver said. The plan showed a difference of $100 million to $120 million between TVA and MISO.

The IRP was presented to the MLGW board and the Memphis City Council, but when the project went forward to obtain counselors the city council closed it down.

“So, we’re kind of just there. We’re stuck,” said Weaver. “In the meantime, we’ve been having conversations with TVA. We can see that TVA has stepped up their game here in Shelby County.”

He anticipates continued conversations with TVA, which he regards as a good partner and supportive of the need for the IRP process.

“Leaving TVA is not an easy thing to do. It’s not something we’re going to just jump in and do,” said Weaver. “There has to be significant savings for us to do that, and we have to have the comfort of reliability if we were to do that.