DNR disapproves of board's $5,000 Estabrook Dam fix

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

...The county also would ask for a state grant to study the feasibility of converting the dam to generate hydroelectric power, under the board action.

The move was aimed at sidestepping the more politically controversial decision of taking on a more extensive repair job, estimated to cost $12 million, or removing the dam for about $2 million. Environmental groups favor dam removal, while nearby residents, who use the upstream portion of the Milwaukee River for recreation, prefer a fix-up of the 1938 dam.

The board voted 16-3 for spending $5,000 to replace damaged timbers and steel rods on the dam spillway. That should be enough to allow the dam to be closed and the river to fill in the area just upstream in Glendale, said Supervisor Theo Lipscomb.

State regulators, however, disagree.