Fish Passage to be Built on East Bank of River in Grafton

[excerpted from JS-Online]

Grafton - The Village Board has directed Ozaukee County to build a fish passage around the Bridge St. dam on the east bank of the Milwaukee River to avoid a public river walk on the west bank, Village Administrator Darrell Hofland said Tuesday.

A fish passage on the west bank would require demolition and replacement of the river walk and an overlook at the dam, Hofland said.

An east bank passage also can be constructed at less of a slope than one built on the west bank, enabling even small fish to use it, Hofland said.

The Village Board approved the east bank location at a regularly scheduled meeting Monday.

In 2009, Ozaukee County received $4.7 million in federal stimulus funds to eliminate barriers to fish passage along the Milwaukee River and its tributaries.

The Lime Kiln Park dam will be demolished in late summer, as part of the countywide program.

In an April referendum, village residents opposed demolishing the historic Bridge St. dam even though the state Department of Natural Resources had declared the structure a significant hazard. The DNR ordered the village to upgrade, replace or remove the dam by 2019.

Keeping the 92-year-old Bridge St. dam in place until 2019 will provide local officials with more time to study repair or replacement options, according to local dam preservationists.

The fish passage will be built in the interim, said Andrew Struck, director of the county's planning and parks department.

Total cost of designing and building the structure is estimated at $1.6 million, Struck said. A preliminary design will be completed within one month.