Memorandum
City of
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TO: |
Mayor and City
Commissioners |
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FROM: |
City Manager David
L. Corliss |
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Date: |
July 9, 2009 |
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RE: |
Bowersock Dam |
At the July 7, 2009 meeting, the City Commission authorized staff to
negotiate a non-bid contractor with qualified construction firms for
approximately $2 to $2.5 of rehabilitation and maintenance work on the
Bowersock dam. The Commission has
previously reviewed the history of maintenance on the dam, the 1977 agreement
establishing limited City maintenance responsibilities on the dam, and previous
options for the rehabilitation of the dam.
The Bowersock interests who own the dam have requested that the City
execute an agreement which will continue City responsibility for the
maintenance of the dam. The 1977
agreement provisions governing the dam generally expire within 50 years (2027). With the recent staff analysis of the dam and
engineering and cost estimates associated with general dam maintenance, the
City is in a position to understand the possible financial consequences of
maintenance of the dam into the future. As was noted at the July 7 meeting, the now
approved dam maintenance project, and possible dam maintenance work that may be
needed in future years and decades appear to be financially feasible
commitments for the City into the foreseeable future.
The Bowersock interests have indicated that they do not desire to
financially participate in the large-scale maintenance project on the dam;
however, they have made improvements to the dam and facility and the ability to
raise the upstream water pool (flashboards and levers, etc.). The Bowersock interests have indicated that
they do not desire to provide the City with any financial or equity interest in
their power generation facility in exchange for City maintenance
responsibilities.
City staff would propose the following language concerning future City
maintenance responsibilities for the dam:
“The City of Lawrence, Kansas shall have right
to perform any maintenance of the Bowersock Dam which the City determines may
be appropriate for the City’s water supply or public recreation purposes. Bowersock shall provide, without any cost to
the City, all necessary and reasonable access to the Bowersock Dam for any
study, analysis, maintenance, rehabilitation or construction the City may
undertake on Bowersock Dam. The City
shall have the responsibility for the maintenance of the Bowersock Dam as the
City solely determines is in the interest of the City. The City shall seek the advice of a qualified
engineer, licensed by the State of Kansas, in making determinations on the
necessity of any maintenance project of the Bowersock Dam. The City shall be under no obligation to
perform such maintenance on behalf of Bowersock and in no event shall the City
be liable to Bowersock for any temporary or permanent loss of power generation
because of the failure of the Bowersock Dam.
Nothing in this agreement shall be interpreted as limiting the authority
of the City to take such necessary and legal measures that it deems necessary
to protect the City’s water supply and access to the City’s water supply. The provisions of this agreement shall
expire fifty (50) years from the
execution of the agreement. “
In addition to the execution of a revised maintenance agreement, the
City expects that Bowersock and the City will execute a separate agreement for
the use of the City owned levee property and associated property interests in
association with the proposed powerplant on the north side of the Kansas River.