The Corps has not formally agreed to pick up the work, but Tautznik said the city is identifying funding sources and putting the pieces in place to make a deal.
View full sizeChrisopher P. Bartolini, of CRC Company, of Quincy, works on a temporary dam so construction can proceed on a fish ladder on the Manhan River near Route 10 in Easthampton in July 2010.EASTHAMPTON – Mayor Michael A. Tautznik plans to turn over the completion of the Manhan River Dam fish ladder to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and resume construction by next summer.
The Corps completed the dredging of Nashawannuck Pond last year as a habitat restoration project. Tautznik is seeking the same designation for the final phase of the Denil fishway that will guide shad, blueback herring and Atlantic salmon to spawning waters upstream from the dam.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said that sea lamprey are so desperate for a place to spawn that they have been seen climbing the six-foot high dam wall with their mouths.
The $600,000 contract with Quincy-based CRC Co. for the initial construction will be closed out this week, Tautznik said.
“We did not have them penetrate the dam. That’s the piece we need to finish,” he said.
The Corps has not formally agreed to pick up the work, but Tautznik said the city is identifying funding sources and putting the pieces in place to make a deal. If all goes according to plan, the Corps will run the project and construction could resume in the summer of 2012.
Habitat restoration jobs are done at a 65-35 percent cost-share. The city pays the lower figure, as well as operates and maintains the ladder. It will cost about $440,000 to complete.
Fish and Wildlife gave the city $750,000 in stimulus funds last year for the ladder that was supposed to be open this spring. Unexpected costs arose and Fish and Wildlife paid an extra $150,000 for work at the foundation.
Timbers were then discovered under the sediment after the ladder will pass through the dam and must be removed. There was no more funding available, so the project ground to a halt. Tautznik said whichever contractor completes the ladder will determine how to deal with the timbers.
This summer, the city plans to put design work out to bid as a preliminary step to restarting construction.
“In order to go out to bid, we need to show the new bidder the completed construction,” said Tautznik.
Richard Boyle, the owner of the Water Works building next to the dam, filed suit early on to prevent construction workers from using his property as a staging area. A Hampshire Superior Court judge sided with the city because Boyle had purchased the property with an easement for the future development of “a hydroelectric station and/or fish ladder.”
David Boyle, owner of Autumn Properties and spokesperson for the family, said he had no comment on the delay.