Ames Mill Dam: What to Know Before Tuesday's Council Vote
An FAQ on the grant application, the project timeline, and what the city's documents do and don't address
The Northfield City Council’s March 17 meeting packet includes this item: “Consider Motion Authorizing Submittal of Grant Application for Final Design and Construction Plans for the Removal of Ames Mill Dam.”
Here’s an FAQ for residents:
What exactly is the council voting on?
The council will vote on whether to authorize the city to submit a grant application to Minnesota’s Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF) for $800,000. The money would pay for the final engineering design and construction plans to remove the Ames Mill Dam and replace it with rock rapids. This is not a vote to remove the dam. It’s a vote to apply for design funding.
Why is this on the agenda now?
The ENRTF grant application deadline is 4:30 PM on March 18, 2026, the day after the council meeting. The council needs to authorize the application before it can be submitted.
If the grant is approved, when would the money arrive?
Not soon. Based on the ENRTF funding cycle, the LCCMR (Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources) would review proposals this summer, make final selections around July 2026, then send recommendations to the 2027 Minnesota Legislature. If the legislature approves and the governor signs the bill, funding would become available July 1, 2027, at the earliest. Design work would then take roughly two more years, with construction further out still.
What would happen to the dam under this plan?
The 1918 concrete dam would be removed entirely and replaced with a 550-foot-long series of boulder weirs stretching between the 5th and 4th Street bridges. Boulder weirs are rows of large rocks arranged across the river channel that create small, stepped drops, about 0.9 feet each in this case. The effect is more like natural rapids than the single large drop of the current dam. The spaces between weirs create pools that allow fish to rest and move upstream. This is Option 3 from the Barr Engineering feasibility study completed in 2023. The city council adopted Option 3 in November 2023.
Is the city committed to removing the dam?
Yes. The city council’s 2025–2028 Strategic Plan, adopted unanimously in May 2025, lists “a dam-free river” as a desired outcome under its “Achieve Infrastructure Sustainability” priority. The plan describes this alongside flood resilience and safer streets as infrastructure goals intended to serve the community “today — and for generations to come.”
In December 2025, Mayor Erica Zweifel told the Northfield News that in 2026 the city would put together working groups to lay the groundwork for removal, though she noted this is likely to be a lengthy process. She also indicated that the planned rock-arch rapids to replace the dam would allow for the controlled placement of deeper pools that benefit fishing.
The path to this point has been incremental: the Riverfront Enhancement Action Plan identified studying the dam as an early priority, the 2023 Barr Engineering feasibility study evaluated options, the council adopted Option 3 (full removal with rock rapids) in November 2023, and the current grant application is the next step in that sequence.
The most recent public engagement events that included the dam as a topic were three 'Downtown and Riverfront Redevelopment' open houses in October 2023 (I promoted one of them here), which covered a range of riverfront issues, prior to the council's November 2023 vote.
Why does the city say it wants to remove the dam?
The grant application cites four reasons:
Safety (the low-head dam creates a hydraulic roller that can trap swimmers and kayakers, sometimes called a “drowning machine”).
Ecology (the dam blocks fish and aquatic organisms’ passage on the Cannon River).
Recreation (removal would open that stretch of river for kayaking, canoeing, etc., through downtown).
Integration of the dam site with planned riverfront park improvements.
See the City’s Ames Mill Dam page here for more details. (Note: as of this writing, the page has not been updated to reflect the March 17, 2026 council agenda item.) The webpage includes this city-produced video from 2023 that explains the background, goals, and options that were studied. The council adopted Option 3 (full dam removal with 550-foot rock rapids) in November 2023:
Who owns the dam now?
Post Consumer Brands owns the dam. (See the Wikipedia entry for MOM Brands Company (formerly Malt-O-Meal Company and Campbell Cereal Company. And yes, they still sell Malt-O-Meal hot cereal.)
Under the proposed arrangement, Post would transfer ownership to the city along with a $500,000 contribution toward the project. That transfer agreement is still being negotiated.
How much would the full project cost?
The feasibility study estimated $4.8 million to $9.6 million for dam removal and rock rapids installation. The $800,000 grant application covers only the design phase. The city plans to pursue additional state and federal funding for construction, with any required local matches coming from the city’s stormwater fund.
What has the city already spent on this?
Approximately $267,000 ($108,000 of which is pending; see page 9 of the proposal) from the stormwater fund for the feasibility study, landscape architecture consulting, a historic preservation survey, and pre-design work.
Would this affect flooding or water levels?
The grant application states that the design aims to maintain the water surface elevation at the start of the rock rapids near the current dam crest, with no rise in the 100-year flood elevation, no groundwater drawdown, and no soil subsidence affecting adjacent structures. The water level near the Ames Mill building would drop approximately 8 feet, according to the Option 3 concept document.
What’s the project timeline?
Final design by July 2028, permitting and agency review by July 2029, bids advertised by August 2029, overall project completion by July 2030, assuming the grant is awarded, and the legislature approves funding.
What would the river look like afterward?
The existing millpond, the calm, reflective water upstream of the dam, would be replaced by a series of boulder weirs creating rapids-like flow through downtown. The visual character of this stretch of river would change substantially.
What the council packet doesn’t spell out?
Several questions aren’t covered in the grant application or the council packet:
The impact on fishing access.
The specific terms and liabilities the city would assume in the dam ownership transfer from Post.
Why Post’s $500,000 contribution is set at that level, given the scale of the project.
How can I participate?
The city council meets on Tuesday, March 17, at 6 pm. Residents can attend in person, watch the meeting live, or submit written comments.
See the latest Northfield.org posts in the archive.
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Wonderful coverage of this long discussed and awaited project, Griff. I really admire and am grateful for the work you do!