Posted on October 7, 2026
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The Rochester City Council voted Monday to move forward with the long-planned Silver Lake dam modification and dredging project.
Council members approved a $18.9 million contract with Minnesota-based Rachel Contracting — the lowest of four bids received — coming in 9.8% below the engineer’s estimate. City staff noted early bids had come in as high as $24 million, well above the city’s original $15 million budget, with the gap to be covered in part by additional state grant dollars.
Council also approved an $80,000 design amendment to cover additional state and federal permitting, hydraulic modeling and design changes to the rapids, trails and shoreline. That brings total final design costs to $873,000.
In a related action timed to the lake drawdown, council approved an $8.2 million contract to replace the Zumbro River siphon underneath Silver Lake. The project will add sewer capacity to support growth in east Rochester, along with sewer upsizing and a new roundabout.
“We were very lucky to get some good trail grants from the state, but we had a really good environmental grant — a $2.5 million grant — to improve the natural area and the sustainability of the river, which was really helpful,” Council Member Patrick Keane said.
