Prep work on Gold Ray Dam to resume
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Prep work to remove 106-year-old Gold Ray Dam from the Rogue River is scheduled to resume Tuesday after a state land board dismissed an appeal that halted demolition work last week.
The state Land Use Board of Appeals ruled late Thursday it has no jurisdiction to hear arguments about whether Jackson County, which owns the dam, erred in proceeding with the $5.6 million removal project without properly considering land-use implications.
Slayden Construction Group crews will return to the Rogue Tuesday to continue building temporary coffer dams in preparation for eventual removal of the structure.
Jackson County Roads and Parks Director John Vial said the 10-day work stoppage caused by the June 25 LUBA order should not derail plans to complete removal of the dam and its abandoned powerhouse by fall.
"It's presenting some challenges, but the project should be completed on time," Vial said Friday. "There's a lot of prep work that has to be done before removal."
Grants Pass attorney Jack Swift, who represents a group of landowners who filed the LUBA appeal, called Thursday's ruling a major set-back.
Removal of the stop-work order means the county can move forward with demolition now — even if future rulings go against dam removal, Swift said.
"That's the significance of losing the stay that we had," Swift said.
No decision on whether to appeal LUBA's decision was made Friday, Swift said.
In the meantime, public hearings will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, July 6-7, before a hearings officer on a separate appeal.
The second appeal concerns issuance of a county floodplain permit, which concluded that removing the dam would not illegally alter the Rogue's floodplain.
The floodplain appeal, also filed by Swift, came on behalf of some of the same landowners who spurred the LUBA appeal. It maintained that removing the dam would illegally destroy wetlands and habitat used by threatened species, as well as compromise downstream water quality and destroy a dam and powerhouse unique in their historical significance.
The hearings are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. both days at the Jackson County Courthouse. Public testimony will be accepted.
Vial said the county will wait until the hearings officer's decision, expected in late July, to determine whether demolition should proceed.
Plans call for the southern section of the dam to be removed first. A second coffer dam would then be built to divert water from north side so that half could be removed.
A $5 million federal stimulus grant that has bankrolled the majority of the project is set to run out Oct. 1, and the county has received permits allowing in-stream work to continue into October to ensure the demolition and associated habitat work gets completed this fall, Vial said.
County officials in May chose dam removal as its best and least-expensive option for the dam's fate. If the county does not remove the dam, it is financially liable for improving the dam's antiquated fish ladder, which does not meet federal standards.
An environmental assessment done through NOAA-Fisheries considered an option to fix the dam, repair the fish ladder and build a new powerhouse. But that option was dismissed by the commissioners because of its $69.7-million price tag and state laws that ban new hydropower plants on much of the Rogue.
Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470, or e-mail at mfreeman@mailtribune.com.
