Dam protection ordinance passes

If the Village of Grafton decides to spend money or take action to remove any village-owned dam, it will have to ask voters for permission, the Village Board decided on Tuesday.

The Village Board voted 6-1 to adopt the ordinance rather than hold a referendum in April asking voters whether it should be approved — a choice it was forced to make by a direct legislation petition circulated amid recent controversy over the fate of the Bridge Street Dam.

“I think this safeguards the heritage of the dam,” Trustee Luke Spysktra said. 

“This is a lovely ordinance,” Trustee Sarah Scarpace said, adding the beauty is that it ensures residents will have a say in the future of the Grafton dam.

The lone dissenting vote came from Trustee Russell MacRae, who said after the meeting he would have preferred the village ask voters if the ordinance should be approved or not.

“I just wanted it to go out to the voters to decide it,” he said.  

The board’s decision came as the Village Board learned that the cost of repairing the Bridge Street Dam, which failed in May, is $100,000 more than originally estimated by dam consultant J.F. Brennan Co. of La Crosse.

Village Administrator Tim Wellnitz told the board Tuesday that the village received only one bid to repair the dam, from Lunda Construction.

If the hydraulic cylinder that failed can be repaired, the cost will be $261,800, according to the bid opened on Sept. 3, Wellnitz told the board. If it needs to be replaced, the cost will be $283,800.

Wellnitz told the board that the bid will be reviewed by the Board of Public Works when it meets Monday, Sept. 14. It will likely be considered by the Village Board during its Monday, Sept. 21, meeting. 

When asked about the higher than expected cost, Wellnitz said, “I didn’t know what to expect.”

One potential reason for the high cost, he said, may be the specialized nature of the work.

“There are fewer contractors for this kind of work,” he said.

Residents speaking out about the dam have questioned the preliminary cost estimate for the repairs, saying it is too high.

On Tuesday, resident Corey Shebesta told the board that it would cost $10,000 to hire a crane and operator to raise the gate, and others have claimed through the months that the cost should be less than the estimates.

The state of the Grafton dam has been an issue for months, since the cylinder failed, substantially draining the millpond.

Those who wanted to repair the dam pointed to its place in the village history and culture, pointing out that residents had voted in 2010 to keep the dam.

Those who advocated for removing the dam said the river should be allowed to flow freely, restoring the natural course of the waterway and improving the health of the river.

As the village investigated what could be done and whether razing or repairing the dam was best, proponents of fixing the dam circulated a petition seeking to require the village to hold a referendum before any action or taken to “remove, demolish, breach or decommission” any village-owned dam or impoundment.

Bill Harbeck, who helped circulate the petition, urged the board on Tuesday to adopt the ordinance rather than put the question to a vote, noting that it took only two weeks to obtain 1,672 signatures — more than the 1,011 signatures needed to compel action on the proposal.

“It’s really what the voters would like to have on the books,” he said. “Almost everybody in all walks of life were in favor of this. It’s such an important decision they felt it should be made by voters.”