City Council okays preliminary planning funds for Whitewater Project

Editor’s note: Corrects to show proper ownership of the Fourth Avenue NE dam which is the City of Austin

The Austin City Council, by a vote of 6-1 Monday night, approved going forward with the city’s part of the preliminary design process for the whitewater project on the Cedar River.

In January of this year, the board voted 5-2 to contribute $25,000 to the design process, which was the amount approved Monday night.

In total, the project has accumulated $85,000 to go toward the design, which is expected to cost around $83,575. Along with the city’s share, money has been contributed by the Hormel Foundation ($42,000), Hormel Foods ($10,000), Eagles Club ($7,000) and Runnings ($1,000).

The proposed park would start at the pedestrian bridge over the Cedar River as it exits Mill Pond behind the YMCA at the Austin Community Recreation Center and go as far as Oakland Avenue East. Throughout that run the river would be engineered to guide the river into rapids and runs that will open recreational opportunities for kayakers, tubers and more.

Those behind the project also say there would be an economic impact to downtown Austin as well, claiming the site would be a destination that draws in people from around the state.

At the same time, the project would involve the dam itself, which is owned by the city and is over 100 years old.

Citing the Rapidan Dam incident, south of Mankato following heavy rains in June, Councilmember Jason Baskin asked Assistant City Engineer Mitch Wenum if that would be cause push forward with the project.

Wenum responded by saying there was no indication that the dam was structurally unsafe or that it would suffer the same fate as the Rapidan, when an entire side of the dam washed away, but added there was no arguing that it was getting close to the end of its life span.

“At some point in time something will have to be done,” Wenum said.

The preliminary design is the next step toward a final design in the process. Wenum told councilmembers that the design would further define whether or not the city would continue to contribute to the project and be involved in the process or if they would pull out of it.

The Austin City Council got a tour Monday night to get an update on progress of the Wastewater Treatment Plant construction. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Wastewater

plant tour

Following Monday night’s meeting, many of the councilmembers, along with Mayor Steve King, were taken on a tour of the wastewater treatment plant construction project.

During the tour, councilmembers learned that the project will reach the end of the first phase of construction sometime this fall, leaving four more phases to be completed in the $105 million project.

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