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Gold Hill shops for ways to fund dam removal By BUFFY POLLOCK With removal of Gold Hill's diversion dam still high priority for state and federal agencies, the city is on a fast track to find funding - $1.7 million to relocate a water intake structure and $310,000 for its share of dam removal and ecosystem restoration costs. Removal of the 60-year-old structure became an issue after the National Marine Fisheries Service labeled it the second-largest barrier to fish on the Rogue River. However, "dam removal is completely contingent on the intake being moved," said city Public Works Superintendent Royal Gasso. "It obviously can't be taken out until the city has another source for its water." And the 1,200-person city, with the lowest income base in Jackson County, needs help funding both. While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is providing funding for 65 percent of the project - which includes removal and ecosystem restoration after completion - Gasso said the city would look for grants to cover its 35 percent. "We're talking about a lot of money for a small city," said Gasso, adding that the Rogue Valley Council of Governments is helping the city search for grants. While early plans involved removing only a portion of the dam, council members decided last week to remove the entire dam, a $40,000 difference. "Besides, if they don't take it all out, there would be a chunk of jagged concrete sticking up in the middle. There's a certain amount of liability there," said City Recorder Tony Paxton. Corps of Engineers representatives, Mayor Scott Eilefson, Paxton and Gasso will meet in Salem next month with representatives of the governor's office and the Oregon Economic and Community Development Departments to discuss funding the intake project. Gasso said he was hopeful. "A lot of agencies are pushing this and know the city is a low- to moderate-income community. We've impressed on them that (residents) shouldn't be saddled with $70- and $80-a-month water bills, which would be the case if we tried to fund this by a bond." While one option for lowering cost would be to use Army reserve "innovative readiness trainees" to remove the dam, last week's terrorist attacks could limit availability of reserve troops. "It would certainly be less costly, but the city is not going to put all its eggs in one basket," Gasso said. City council and public works officials will meet with representatives of the Corps of Engineers Oct. 17 to discuss ecosystem restoration options once the project has been completed. At this point, it's not scheduled to start until 2004. 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.