AUBURN -- The state dam could have a face lift by the end of 2009, according to city engineers.

During the weekly Auburn City Council meeting Thursday, councilors were informed of proposed structural upgrades and other needs for the dam. Such changes would make the dam compliant with state regulations, improve safety at and around the dam, and give the city better control over the water flows along the Owasco River, according to Bruce Ross, Auburn assistant civil engineer.

Ross said during his presentation that the dam needs a new taintor gate, which controls the flow of water from Owasco Lake into the Owasco River and has been repaired twice since 2003. The state dam is located about 1.5 miles downstream from the lake, adjacent to the water filtration plant on Pulsifer Drive.

The city needs to look at fixing corroded steel walkways, replacing fence posts and repairing embankments, Ross said. The state Department of Environmental Conservation also requires that the city undertake an emergency action plan, a dam break study and other procedures relative to the dam.

Such studies would need to take place in order for the city to receive a $300,000 grant from the DEC for improvements.

"The state is basically saying 'Do you want the money?' And we are saying 'Yes, we certainly do,'" Ross told the councilors.

The council also heard the first reading of a proposed ordinance that would authorize the city to issue $200,000 in serial bonds to help fund the project.

Ross estimated during the presentation that the total rehabilitation project would cost from $1.5 to $1.75 million. The city is currently looking into the possibility of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completely funding the project, he said.

For more, read Friday's Citizen