TRAVERSE CITY — City commissioners Monday will consider a resolution that could hasten removal of the first of three Boardman River dams set for dismantling.
County and city officials last year approved plans to remove Brown Bridge, Sabin and Boardman dams and improve Union Street Dam. Brown Bridge and Union Street are owned by the city, the other two by the county.
Federal, state and local agencies all will have a hand in such a significant project, but Monday's resolution in essence spells out the city and county's desire to secure complete funding for the removal Brown Bridge Dam, Traverse City Mayor Chris Bzdok said.
Brown Bridge is the farthest upstream of the four dams, so it makes sense to remove it first, officials contend. And by opting to not rely on federal funding for its removal — expected to cost somewhere between $1.6 and $2.5 million — the dam could be removed faster than initially planned, Bzdok said.
"The difference is we're no longer working on a four-dam project, we're working on a first-dam project," he said. "What's exciting to me about the different approach is we're going to get one of these dams out ... in a reasonable time frame."
The joint resolution is between the city and county and doesn't formally commit any tax dollars, Bzdok said. It's an "agreement in principle" that supports the continuing dam removal process and an effort to initially focus on Brown Bridge.
Officials are hopeful enough funds could be secured by local agencies to remove the dam without federal involvement.
The focus on Brown Bridge doesn't mean officials lost their zeal to dismantle the other dams. Those would be removed "at the rate at which funding is secured to remove them," Bzdok said, though Brown Bridge removal efforts will take center stage for the time being.
The county board of commissioners recently passed the resolution, with Commissioner Beth Friend casting the lone dissenting vote. Friend said she showed up late to the county meeting and didn't have all of her questions answered.
The decisions to remove the dams came early in 2009 after a multi-year public study by the Boardman River Dams Committee wrapped at the end of 2008. The discussions at times were contentious, as property owners who live on impoundments created by the dams largely are opposed to their removal.
Norbert Tutlis, a county resident opposed to the dam removal as proposed, said he and fellow members of the Boardman Valley Preservation Society stand ready to fight officials' plans.
"Litigation is still an option," he said.
Region
Board to consider Brown Bridge dam resolution
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