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State bonding money is being sought to fund repairs that need to be made to the Coon Rapids Dam.

A large hole has been discovered in the concrete apron below gate two at the dam and is causing washout conditions under it.

Three Rivers Park District operates the Coon Rapids Dam and also owns Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park on the Hennepin County side of the river, while Anoka County operates Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park on the Anoka County side of the Mississippi.

But the Three Rivers Park District Board, in addition to seeking state bonding dollars to make permanent repairs to the dam - installing a metal piling wall underwater across the width of the dam to prevent any future scour holes in the apron from threatening the integrity of the dam - is also concerned about the continued drain on the park district’s financial resources from the maintenance and repair needs of the dam, according to Cris Gears, Three River Park District superintendent.

The project carries an estimated price tag of between $6 million and $8 million, Gears said.

“There is no imminent threat to the dam itself,” he said.

But this is the second time within a few years that a scour hole has been found in an apron and more are likely in the future, Gears said.

“The dam was originally built to last 50 years,” he said. “It is now almost 100 years old.”

The board believes that not only Three River Park District taxpayers benefit from the dam and the six-mile, summer recreational pool above the dam, Gears said.

People living along the recreational pool on the Anoka County side also benefit, he said.

Jan. 21, a staff recommendation that the board approve development of a 2010 legislative initiative that would direct the creation of a legislative commission charged with establishing a fair and equitable distribution of costs for the ongoing operation and repairs of the Coon Rapids Dam was considered by a Three Rivers District Board committee, according to Gears.

The proposed legislation would address and clarify, among other things, the make-up of the commission and the commission’s primary charge, Gears said.

The proposal will be brought before the full park district board for final consideration and/or approval at its Feb. 4 meeting, he said.

On approval of this staff recommendation, Gears said that staff will work with the park district’s legislative consultant to develop specific bill language.

Hennepin Park District, the predecessor of the Three Rivers Park District was given the dam and the land that was developed as Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park in 1969 by NSP after it had ceased to use the dam for hydroelectric power in the mid-1960s.

“The park district has been an outstanding steward of the dam for 40 years,” Gears said. “But we don’t believe that the district should have the sole responsibility for the operations and maintenance of the dam.”

The park district has informally approached the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the past about taking ownership of the dam and has been informally told “absolutely not,” he said.

But Gears said the Three River Park District has no intention of abandoning the dam, which would eliminate what he called the “artificial lake” or six-mile recreation pool above the dam.

“We do not intend to have the dam removed,” he said. “But we want the costs shared equitably among the benefited parties.”

The purpose of the legislative initiative is to bring the people willing to be involved to the table, Gears said.

The original structure of the dam was built in 1913 to provide hydroelectric power with the concrete apron built a few years later, according to Gears.

A similar hole in the concrete apron below gate one was repaired in 2005 using $250,000 from the state repair fund with the balance of the $1.2 million cost coming from the park district.

The apron is a flat sheet of concrete that extends some 200 feet from the gates of the dam and is designed to prevent erosion that could impact the structure of the dam, according to John VonDeLinde, Anoka County parks and recreation director.

The problem was found by divers inspecting the dam, said VonDeLinde, who has had meetings with Three Rivers Park District officials, local state legislators as well as city managers with adjacent communities.

State Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park/Coon Rapids, together with State Rep. Jerry Newton, DFL-Coon Rapids/Andover, has authored a bill in the Minnesota House of Representatives, to allocate $8 million in state bonding dollars to make the permanent repairs to prevent apron failures in the future. There is no Senate companion to the bill at this point.

Water pouring off the dam has dug a 100-meter hole into the river bed, threatening the long-term viability of the dam structure, according to Hortman and Newton in a news release announcing the bill.

“Making these needed repairs is critically important to avoid potential long-term damage to recreation sites and private property along the Mississippi River,” Newton said.

“What’s more the measure will help preserve one of the state’s last lines of defense against the impending invasion of damaging Asian Carp in Minnesota lakes and streams.”

The Coon Rapids Dam is important, not only for boat recreation above the dam, but for the bike and pedestrian trail across the river to fishing to provide a tool that helps predictably regulate the flow of water through this area, according to Hortman.

There is no imminent danger to the dam from this apron hole which requires the repair project to be done right away, but making the bonding request now, even if does not make the 2010 bonding bill, would get the project into the state bonding pipeline for future funding cycles, VonDeLinde said.

When Anoka County and Three Rivers Park District worked out a 30-year lease purchase agreement in 1993 transferring jurisdiction of the Anoka County side of the Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park from the park district to the Anoka County Parks and Recreation Department, a dedicated fund was set up in which both Anoka County and Three Rivers Park District contribute $75,000 each year over the 30 years, according to VonDeLinde.

That fund is dedicated to the maintenance and repair of the dam, but there is not enough money in the account at this time to undertake the repairs that are needed now, VonDeLinde said.

The $150,000 placed in the account does not cover the operations, maintenance and repair needs of the dam, according to Gears.

The park district budgets up to $150,000 a year for ongoing operations and maintenance of the dam, which includes one employee whose full-time job is the dam, Gears said.

But in the last few years there have been unexpected repair costs that have far exceeded the budget, he said.

The dam and pedestrian walkway were removed and rebuilt over a two-year period from 1995 to 1997 because of concerns over the viability of the dam’s structure. Four of the new gates that were constructed then have inflatable rubber bladders, which can be inflated to hold back more water and raise the level of the dam pool.

The six-mile recreational pool area, which is generally in place from May into the October, extends from the dam west into Anoka.

Peter Bodley is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it