FARMINGTON — A public meeting is scheduled for this evening to discuss the draft Walton’s Mill Dam feasibility study, Atlantic salmon passage and landscape designs for the adjacent town park.

The discussion is planned to run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Farmington Community Center.

Hosted by the Atlantic Salmon Federation and town officials, the meeting includes two presentations and a question-and-answer period.

Joseph McLean, an engineer with the firm Wright-Pierce, will present initial findings from fieldwork conducted at the dam site this summer and fall.

The draft feasibility study includes historical information on the Walton’s Mill Pond Dam, structural conditions of the 16-foot-tall and 200-foot-long dam and findings related to the hydropower potential of the dam.

It also reports on possible fish passage construction to enhance migration of Atlantic salmon and Eastern brook trout in Temple Stream, along with removal options and the associated costs of each. Fishways are estimated to cost up to $750,000; a natural fishway, up to $1 million; dam removal, $400,000; and hydropower generation, over $2 million, according to the report.

The draft report is available from John Burrows, of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, or the office of Farmington Town Manager Richard Davis.

Public comments on the draft report will be accepted until Dec. 29.

For the second presentation, David Maynes, a landscape architect with the firm Richardson & Associates, will present conceptual designs for improvements to the town’s Walton’s Mill Pond Park, next to the dam off Route 43, also known as Temple Road.


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