Document text
Eliminating dam could cost taxpayers Gold Hill water rates will have to be increased to cover expenses related to removing fish barrier By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune GOLD HILL - Residents, already paying some of the valley's highest water rates, will see them increase because of expenses related to removing a 60-year-old diversion dam - no matter how much the city can secure in alternative funding. That was the conclusion at a meeting between city, state and federal officials Wednesday over ways to pay for dam removal. Biologists have listed Gold Hill's diversion dam as the No. 2 barrier to fish passage on the Rogue River, second only to Savage Rapids Dam. At the same time, Gold Hill draws its drinking water from the canal to serve its 1,200 residents. Relocating the city's water intake will cost about $1.5 million. Public Works Superintendent Royal Gasso said the meeting was called after the city learned that a community development block grant it had anticipated from the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department would not be available. The OECDD only allows one block grant "per system" - i.e. water, sewer, transportation - every five years. The city received a $750,000 block grant for water system improvements in 1999. "We used our opportunity for the water project. I guess we didn't expect the diversion dam issue to move so quickly and, also, we thought there was a possibility of leaving the intake where it was," Gasso said. Mary Baker, program coordinator for the OECDD, said the city would not be eligible to apply again until December 2004, but suggested that waivers were not unheard of. "If they have a need that's really special, that may warrant a waiver; the recipient is welcome to make a request," she said. Baker suggested alternative sources such as government loans, but Gasso said the city was hesitant to become obligated for any more debt because of $250,000 it still owed for construction of the city water plant in 1981. He also said any loans could cause the water rates to increase even more. Governor's representative Jeff Griffin, who chaired the meeting, said applying for grant/loan packages and relocating the water intake in phases were other ideas discussed. "Anything we can find that would lower the loan cost to the city for the water intake facility is what we'll be looking for. Unfortunately, it looks like no matter which direction they take, it's going to mean a rate increase for the city's water customers," said Griffin. Gasso said he was hopeful the OECDD will approve a waiver and provide a block grant because it would cover a "pretty significant chunk." "The council is very concerned about taking on loans that would increase water rates," he said. "On one hand, we have a disadvantaged community and, weighing very heavily in the other, a huge project that needs completing." Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.