FREMONT – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's preferred alternative for the Ballville Dam project — incremental dam removal with the installation of an ice control structure — would start later this year and be completed in late 2016 under the estimated timeline of the agency's final environmental impact statement, which was released Friday by the federal agency.

The Fremont City Council is expected to vote in the coming months on whether to remove or repair the dam, with Fish and Wildlife's final EIS expected to play a major role in that decision.

The decision on the dam will not only have a significant impact on the Sandusky River's ecosystem, but Mayor Jim Ellis said the final costs associated with either option could factor into any future decisions on the city's water rates.

"The Ballville Dam is the big question," Ellis said.

Ellis said the city plans hold a workshop for council members in the fall on possible water and sewer rate increases, with the Ballville Dam decision, project costs and questions about how much the project's wetlands mitigation might cost serving as factors in any water rate hikes.

In the final dam EIS, Fish and Wildlife put a total estimated cost of removal and an ice control structure at $6,288,216.

According to Fish and Wildlife, additional costs may be incurred if compensatory mitigation for wetland impacts is required as a result of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 404/10 permitting process for this alternative.

Ellis said last week the city had been waiting for a response from the Army Corps of Engineers on its permit application.

The preferred alternative from Fish and Wildlife would involve an initial creation of a temporary access road to the south dam abutment and a notching of the dam, with the notch approximately 20 feet wide.

That project's first phase would also involve sediment stabilization behind the dam

Phase two would deal with the dam's removal and ice control structure construction, with a focus on seawall modification and restoration of the project area.

According to the EIS, a temporary 250-foot work ramp would be built to allow equipment to reach the top of the south spillway. The ice control structure would consist of 15 piers, 25 feet tall and six feet in diameter, spaced 21 feet apart and be constructed 175 feet downstream of and parallel to the dam.

A final phase also would include the demolition of any remnants of Tucker Dam, if necessary.

The ice control structure installation and dam removal would occur in mid-to-late 2015, based on the estimated timeline in the EIS.