Melrose Council Rejects DNR Dam Replacement Plan, Keeps Bridge as Top Priority

MELROSE — January 3, 2018 — Melrose City Council unanimously rejected a Minnesota DNR proposal to replace the Mill Pond dam with a rock arch rapids and fish passage system, voting instead to prioritize a long-delayed bridge reconstruction project. Council members cited broad and forceful opposition from Mill Pond lakeshore residents — one member estimating 90 percent of stakeholders opposed any dam removal — and frustration with what they described as a last-minute pivot by the DNR away from a previously discussed rock arch bridge option. "That dam has been part of our soul of this town for over 150 years," one member said, arguing that state grant funding for future restoration efforts would remain available. The council also completed organizational business, swearing in a new mayor and two council members and filling more than a dozen board and commission seats.