PAC Recommends Argo Dam Bypass Project

At its Oct. 19, 2010 meeting, the Ann Arbor park advisory commission recommended selecting TSP Environmental, a Livonia firm, to build a bypass channel in the Argo Dam headrace for $988,170, and to add whitewater features for an additional $180,000. The project will be designed by Gary Lacy of Boulder, Colo., who attended Tuesday’s meeting and fielded questions from commissioners. The plan calls for removing the canoe portage, replacing it with a series of “drop pools” so that no portage is required. The project will also improve accessibility of the path – which is part of the county’s Border-to-Border trail – and address problems in the headrace embankment. The work is tied to a consent agreement that the city reached with the state in May, laying out steps that the city must take to deal with some of long-outstanding structural issues with the dam.

Commissioner Tim Berla voted against the resolution, calling it a “protest vote” because removing Argo Dam hadn’t been considered as an option. Park staff has indicated that this project doesn’t preclude removing Argo Dam in the future, if that’s a decision that the community makes.

This brief was filed immediately after the conclusion of PAC’s meeting at the county administration building. A more detailed report will follow: [link]