Front Page News
>
News
>
Front Page News
City eyes dam future, waits on rate hike
By CHRISTOPHER DIEM, Journal Staff Writer
MARQUETTE — During the public hearing about proposed new electric rates for Marquette Board of Light and Power customers, Marquette township resident Alton Henderson said new electric rates should not be considered without also discussing the rebuilding of the Tourist Park dam.
“If you’re going to raise rates here, I want something for my money. I want that Tourist Park dam put back up,” Henderson said.
Following the discussion, the Marquette City Commission voted unanimously to postpone confirmation of the new rates until after it meets in a joint work session with the BLP on Dec. 3 to discuss the dam’s future.
The BLP has proposed increasing the electric rates for all its customers by an average of 3.5 percent over the next three years.
Commissioner John Kivela said the dam and the new rates were separate, but linked, issues.
“If the rebuilding of that dam ... is related to another rate increase then I think we ought to look at that at the same time,” Kivela said.
Kivela said he was not opposed to the increased rates but that there were too many questions left unanswered about the dam.
“The residents have overwhelmingly been in support of rebuilding it. As a representative of the city ... we have a very vested interest in our property at the Tourist Park being restored,” he said.
The Tourist Park dam was washed away during the Dead River flood in May 2003. The flood started at the Silver Lake Basin when a fuse plug — an emergency water-release system installed the previous year — failed on the dam after several days of heavy rainfall. The breach released 8 billion gallons of water into the Dead River. The flood resulted in the loss of a lake at the city-owned Tourist Park campground.
In October, the BLP voted not to rebuild the dam, saying the project was too expensive for the BLP to handle on its own.
BLP Executive Director Kirby Juntila said if the BLP rebuilt the dam — about a $4.8 million project — it would lose $250,000 in the first year and wouldn’t become profitable until after 20 years.
He said the dam’s power output would simply be too small to be profitable.
“The demand for the Board of Light and Power this past summer was 68 megawatts. This facility would generate one quarter of 1 megawatt around the clock,” Juntila said.
Commissioner Mike Coyne challenged the BLP to come up with innovative ways to find revenue or to explore new technology to increase the dam’s electrical output.
He said the city is due payment in lieu of taxes when the BLP makes capital improvements, such as building a dam. Coyne said the city may waive that amount — about $100,000 a year according to Coyne — if the BLP rebuilds the dam.
Juntila stressed that whatever is decided with the dam, the proposed electric rate hikes are needed.
“We have been balancing the budget on reserves for the last two years,” he said. “I’m concerned that (the rate discussion) gets involved in a larger, emotional discussion about the dam ... and this goes on for months or years.”
The city and BLP will meet to discuss the dam at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 3 in the citizens forum room at Lakeview Arena.
“If you’re going to raise rates here, I want something for my money. I want that Tourist Park dam put back up,” Henderson said.
Following the discussion, the Marquette City Commission voted unanimously to postpone confirmation of the new rates until after it meets in a joint work session with the BLP on Dec. 3 to discuss the dam’s future.
The BLP has proposed increasing the electric rates for all its customers by an average of 3.5 percent over the next three years.
Commissioner John Kivela said the dam and the new rates were separate, but linked, issues.
“If the rebuilding of that dam ... is related to another rate increase then I think we ought to look at that at the same time,” Kivela said.
Kivela said he was not opposed to the increased rates but that there were too many questions left unanswered about the dam.
“The residents have overwhelmingly been in support of rebuilding it. As a representative of the city ... we have a very vested interest in our property at the Tourist Park being restored,” he said.
The Tourist Park dam was washed away during the Dead River flood in May 2003. The flood started at the Silver Lake Basin when a fuse plug — an emergency water-release system installed the previous year — failed on the dam after several days of heavy rainfall. The breach released 8 billion gallons of water into the Dead River. The flood resulted in the loss of a lake at the city-owned Tourist Park campground.
In October, the BLP voted not to rebuild the dam, saying the project was too expensive for the BLP to handle on its own.
BLP Executive Director Kirby Juntila said if the BLP rebuilt the dam — about a $4.8 million project — it would lose $250,000 in the first year and wouldn’t become profitable until after 20 years.
He said the dam’s power output would simply be too small to be profitable.
“The demand for the Board of Light and Power this past summer was 68 megawatts. This facility would generate one quarter of 1 megawatt around the clock,” Juntila said.
Commissioner Mike Coyne challenged the BLP to come up with innovative ways to find revenue or to explore new technology to increase the dam’s electrical output.
He said the city is due payment in lieu of taxes when the BLP makes capital improvements, such as building a dam. Coyne said the city may waive that amount — about $100,000 a year according to Coyne — if the BLP rebuilds the dam.
Juntila stressed that whatever is decided with the dam, the proposed electric rate hikes are needed.
“We have been balancing the budget on reserves for the last two years,” he said. “I’m concerned that (the rate discussion) gets involved in a larger, emotional discussion about the dam ... and this goes on for months or years.”
The city and BLP will meet to discuss the dam at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 3 in the citizens forum room at Lakeview Arena.
Facebook
MySpace
Digg
Stumble
Mixx
Fark
del.icio.us
LiveSpaces