TOWN OF NEW HAVEN, ADAMS COUNTY
SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING
NOVEMBER 9, 2007-7:00 P.M.
The special town board meeting was called to order by Chairperson Mike Julson at 7:00 p.m., with all board members present but the Treasurer. A motion to approve the evenings agenda was made by Lenny Watson and second by Mike Julson. M/C.
The agenda for the special town board meeting consisted of discussion and possible action on the removal of the Big Spring dam, stream restoration and the future of Golden Court over the dam. Chris Murphy, Adams County Land and Water conservationist began the discussion by informing the town board that there were four (4) goals that needed to be addressed this evening:
The condition of the dam is not meeting state laws and the desire to maintain a road over the dam is a definite community issue. All parties affected should be part of the solution and the fund raising process. At this time an agreement needs to be reached by all parties involved defining the goals and actions that need to be taken.
The flow control structure shall be removed as soon as possible, the removal process will follow the dewatering and removal process as stated in the Inter-fluve design. The control structure will be removed by Inter-fluve and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Fish Operations Crew with oversight by the Adams County Land & Water Conservation Department with in the time period between November 2007 and July 2008. The DNR dam removal grant and US Fish and Wildlife Service Grant have been secured and will be used to cover the cost of putting in silt traps, removing and disposing of pavement and fill notching down the water control portion of the dam. DNR fish operations crews will do the work and return on a biweekly basis (6 times) to lower the water levels and clean out sediment traps.
The stream shall be restored in a manner to support trout, by implementing the stream restoration and installation of trout habitat between July 2008 and July 2011, by utilizing a USDA-NRCS grant of $39,000; US Fish and Wildlife Grant of $25,000; DNR Dam Abandonment grant of $35,000 which have been secured for floodplain restoration and sediment excavation, addition of stream meanders and pool/riffle series.
To possibly design and install an appropriately sized culvert(s) to maintain the roadway while minimizing liabilities and negative impacts to the floodplain and fisheries.
Mr. Murphy further informed the town board that if the town does insist upon rebuilding the road over the removed dam that River Alliance and the DNR River protection Grants totaling $85,000 which were procured under a plan for full removal of dam and berm and full restoration would be lost with the installation of culvert(s). It is also anticipated that before the culverts could be installed and Golden Court rebuilt would be in the time-frame of approximately 3 years to allow proper stream restoration to occur. Town supervisors were in disbelief that Golden Court would need to be closed for that length of time. Mr. Murphy is to confer with the DNR to see if a compromise could be reached while still doing an appropriate stream restoration for fish habitat. The town board in conjunction with the municipal attorney were in agreement that the town would have no interest in purchasing the property involved with the dam from Mr. Knutson. Liabilities with the installation of culvert(s) was an issue discussed. Municipal attorney Dan Wood and Mr. Murphy will be discussing these concerns. Sediment control is also a concern if the stream is not allowed to be restored in the three year time period initially planned. The town board decided that at this time Golden Court will be re-installed along with the placement of culvert(s), with the town assuming a portion of the cost of purchasing the culvert(s) once the appropriate size would be determined. At this time it is not known what the installation costs would be.
At this point in time the town board is not totally opposed to the plan designed by Inter-fluve but wish to compromise and maintain Golden Court over the dam, but do realize that if some solution is not reached and the project cannot proceed by November 30, 2007, the secured grant funding will be lost and determining the method of dam removal and who will pay for the removal of the dam would likely be addressed by legal action. The dam removal, stream restoration and Golden Court issue was requested to be placed on the November 15, 2007 town board meeting agenda. Mr. Murphy will have answers then to the town board’s concerns. Once the goals and action items are established, they will be documented in an agreement and will be signed by all parties.
Motion to adjourn at 9:15 p.m. until November 15, 2007 by Watson/Julson. M/C.
Respectfully submitted;
Berniece J. Tangney, Town Clerk
(these are unapproved minutes subject to approval on 11/15/07)