Dam operator meets with city

MANAWA – The City of Manawa sat down March 12 with Wiscons8, LLC, the operator of the Manawa dam prior to its demise last July, and began a conversation on moving forward.
There are three options that the city is looking into for the rebuilding of the dam.
The first was to re-negotiate the current contract with Wiscons8, LLC to allow for a larger percentage to flow back into the city.
The current contract called for the city to receive six percent from the electricity made, which in 2024 garnered $3,811.82, said Logan Hass, the city clerk.
The city could also move forward on their own without Wiscons8, LLC, bringing in 100 percent of the revenue.

With this option the city would take over the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) licensing, they would also need to buy the power house from Wiscons8, LLC.
With both of these options comes a larger expense with building a dam with hydroelectric capability. It’s a larger expense but the city would also be bringing in yearly revenue.
There is also the option of not rebuilding with hydropower and building a spillway dam, which would cost much less and would also give the city the option to add hydropower at some point in the future.
With this option the city would not be under federal jurisdiction, but instead it would be under state jurisdiction with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), this means that the DNR would make sure the dam is following all safety guidelines and in working order.
Dwight Shanak, the dam operator for the Manawa dam from Wiscons8, LLC, spoke with city officials and had a roundtable discussion about the dam future on March 12, marking the first time the two entities have come to the table for an informational meeting.
Shanak said the entire dam needs to be replaced, mostly due to the timber crib structure at the head of the dam.
A timber crib dam is a dam erected with heavy timbers like the build of a log home and filled in with rock, however timber begins to rot, which can create a lot of problems for the dam itself.
When the powerhouse was built on the Manawa dam, the timber cribs were covered with concrete but the rock was falling out and it was creating an underflow beneath the dam itself.
“That dam had seen the end of its life 50 years ago,” said Shanak.
He said when he first bought the powerhouse building it was in rough shape. It needed a new roof, windows and electrical components.
Shanak said as of now, the powerhouse is not in bad shape but in the future there are things that will need to be addressed.
Shanak estimated that there is about $500,000 worth of work to get the powerhouse up and running to its full capacity, which would be a separate cost from the dam.
Shanak pointed out if the city is able to receive funding through the state to rebuild the dam, it would not cover the cost of the powerhouse. As it stands now it can still be used to generate electricity.
Insurance was also addressed at the meeting. Shanak said you cannot insure a dam but he has liability insurance on it.
“That’s like getting insurance on a demo car you’re going to take to the fair. You’re not going to get it,” said Shanak.
Jim Roenz, a city council chair, as well as Jackie Beyer, clerk in Town of Little Wolf, said a great way to help push lawmakers to approve funding is to send letters, make calls and emails to our representatives at the state level.
“They’re more receptive with honey than vinegar. Don’t be afraid to tell them that this potentially has caused a hardship on your property values,” said Beyer. “That’s important too because your tax base is very important to the towns because the towns pay the counties, your tax dollars go to the towns and the counties.”
Beyer said she would put together a form letter, where people can copy and paste their own information into the letter She said the more people that are able to send in their feelings about rebuilding the dam the better.
“Now is the time to be the squeaky wheels,” said Beyer.
Beyer said she is aiming to get a copy of the form letter on the Town of Little Wolf and the City of Manawa websites for people to download and use.