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Mitchell Dam making money, but more needed in trust fund
by David Namanny, Press-News Editor
Since its resurrection in 1998, the Mitchell Dam has pumped out millions of kilowatts of electricity, as well as nearly $200,000 in revenue which has passed through the county.
These statistics and many others were presented by Mitchell County Conservation Director Milt Owen, who was on hand at the county board of supervisors meeting last week to review the Mitchell Dam's five-year plan.
The Mitchell "Mill" dam, which was originally built and used as a hydro-electric power plant from 1925 to 1961 for the city of Mitchell, generates a constant rate of 750 kwH in electric output. The electricity is sold to Alliant Energy, with 25 percent of the profits going back to Mitchell County.
Of course, a majority of that $200,000 in revenue - about $142,000 - has gone for loan payments, maintenance, equipment and repairs for local renewable energy attraction.
The majority of the expense was a $106,546 loan that was needed to pay the initial licensing fee to operate the hydro-electric dam. Maintenance and repairs have made for another $30,000-plus in expenses.
This leaves just over $66,000 in profit, which has been placed in a trust fund for future repairs and maintenance for the unique Mitchell Dam. According to Milt Owen, that is not enough. He says he wants the fund needs to grow larger and at a faster rate.
If we need major concrete repairs, which will probably happen in the next 10 years, its going to cost over $200,000 in one shot," Owen said. "We need more funds to maintain the balance. I think we need to build the fund up over $250,000 at the least."
Just last week, a diver was hired by the conservation board to fix two chains that are needed to raise and lower the "tainter gates," which raise and lower the water level at the site in case of flooding.
"With the spring melt coming, there would have big trouble with flooding - so we hired Rich Stoker to dive in the Cedar River and reconnect the chains," said Owen.
Stoker said he stayed warm during the dive and fixed the problem without incident. "The water was only about 33 degrees - so it wasn't too bad," said Stoker.
Overall, the board is considering Owen's suggestion to set aside some of the camping fee revenues to grow the Mitchell Dam trust fund more quickly. "Perhaps we could get more funding each year, or perhaps divert the first $10 in camping fees to the trust account," concluded Owen.
Mitchell Dam Statistics
REVENUE
1999 $25,517
2000 $18,606
2001 $19,611
2002 $20,763
2003 $16,955
2004 $22,615
2005 $28,811
2006 $24,055
2007 $24,744
Total: $199,687
EXPENSES OVER 10-YEAR PERIOD
Loan Payments $106,547
Dissolve Oxygen Data $8,631
FERC Requirements $2,156
General Repairs $20,890
Generator Equip. $2,748
Camera Equip. $1,588
TOTAL: $142,559
Story created Mar 18, 2008 - 10:51:26 CDT.
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