Category Archives: CC Harbor

Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government

CCHD Recap For Jan. 28, 2026

January 29, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine}

Among the items discussed at Wednesday’s Crescent City Harbor District meeting.

Citizens Dock & Sea Wall: Harbor commissioners unanimously adopted the mitigated negative declaration the California Environmental Quality Act requires to move the two projects forward.

Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bahr, who helped the Harbor District obtain the two US Maritime Administration grants needed to fund the projects, said the district could now focus on obtaining its construction permits.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government

Citizens Dock, Seawall Projects Up For Discussion at Wednesday’s CCHD Meeting

January 27, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz}

Crescent City Harbor commissioners are expected to take a final step toward starting a $15 million project to replace Citizens Dock and an adjacent seawall this spring.

The Harbor Board will consider adopting a mitigated negative declaration Wednesday based on a 709-page study of its potential environmental impacts. The study includes two phases of the Citizens Dock rebuild, though the Harbor District doesn’t have the funding to complete the second phase, according to Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bahr.

It also includes a construction project near the small boat ramp off Anchor Way to mitigate potential habitat loss as a result, Bahr told commissioners during a public hearing held Jan. 14.

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Articles, CC Harbor

Harbor Staff Working To Raise Partially Submerged Vessel In Its Marina

January 16, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo: A commercial fishing vessel, the Flo, was found partially submerged in the Crescent City Harbor’s marina early Friday morning. | Photo by Heather Polen}

Harbor District staff are using salvage lift bags and a dive team to raise a partially submerged commercial fishing vessel currently located at E Dock in the port’s marina.

The fishing vessel is owned by Andrew Griffin, a local fisherman, Harbormaster Mike Rademaker told the Board of Commissioners via email on Friday. The cause is still under investigation. In addition to trying to stabilize the vessel, staff have deployed an oil-containment boom around the boat as a precaution, Rademaker said.

A CCHD maintenance worker found the partially submerged vessel earlier Friday, Griffin told Redwood Voice Community News.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

RV Park Proposals Spark Discussion Over Harbormaster’s Living Situation

January 16, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz}

Crescent City Harbor commissioners rejected proposals from two Orange County developers eager to revitalize Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village RV parks, Chairman Rick Shepherd announced Wednesday.

The Board’s rejection of proposals from Sean McGraw and Scott Lawhon doesn’t mean that further negotiations couldn’t be had with either developer, according to Harbormaster Mike Rademaker. For now, a request for proposals commissioners approved in August is still active, he told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday.

“Not much has been stated publicly after several closed session deliberations over several months,” Rademaker said, calling the move cautious. “This public statement reflects the Board’s conclusion that, after sufficient review, the proposals were not yet close to terms the district could accept.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government

CC Harbor Seeks Funding To Determine If Dredge Material Can Be Deposited Near Whaler Island

January 7, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo: Crescent City Harbor officials are seeking funding for a project to determine whether its dredge materials can be used for beach enhancement. | File photo by Gavin Van Alstine}

Crescent City Harbor officials are pursuing a grant they say may turn a dredging dilemma into a valuable resource for projects like wetland restoration and beach enhancement.

The Harbor District is seeking $500,000 in California Regional Investment Initiative grant dollars for its beneficial reuse project. This project involves depositing about 10,000 cubic yards of dredge material along the beach near Whaler Island and assessing the ecological impacts.

If there are no adverse impacts, the Harbor District may have an answer to a challenge that’s been plaguing it for years, according to Harbormaster Mike Rademaker.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

Linda Sutter Files Federal Complaint Against Crescent City Harbor, Says CCHD Commissioners Violated Her Constitutional Rights

January 6, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo: Linda Sutter spoke with KFUG Community Radio as a candidate for Crescent City Harbor commissioner in October 2024. | Photo by Amanda Dockter}

Local activist Linda Sutter has filed another court complaint against the Crescent City Harbor District, this time accusing officials of violating her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution.

Filed in the Eureka-McKinleyville Division of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California on Dec. 14, Sutter’s complaint included Harbormaster Mike Rademaker and commissioners Rick Shepherd, John Evans and Gerhard Weber as individual defendants. In her complaint, she accuses them of attempting to silence her when she speaks at public meetings and states that not responding to her requests for information under the California Public Records Act interferes with her “First Amendment news gathering rights.”

Sutter also states that Weber, who was chairman for much of 2025, used his position to suppress the speech of other women, namely Stephanie Abrams, Alicia Williams and Donna Westfall.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government

After County Supervisors’ Rejection, Harbor Commissioners Opt To Re-Work Facilities Plan

December 20, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo: The Crescent City Harbor District is working on paying back a $5.5 million U.S. Department of Agriculture loan that rebuilt the inner boat basin following tsunamis in 2006 and 2011. | Photo by Gavin Van Alstine}

A week after county supervisors rejected a Crescent City Harbor Facilities Plan, its harbormaster argued that voters didn’t want the agency to wait 40 years before it began using Measure C tax dollars to make needed repairs.

The transiency occupancy tax measure voters approved in 2018 wasn’t specific about the repairs and maintenance the generated revenue would pay for, Harbor District CEO Mike Rademaker told commissioners at a special meeting Wednesday.

In addition to being used to pay back a $5 million U.S. Department of Agriculture loan, Measure C revenue should also fund repairs and maintenance of harbor facilities. Rademaker cited legal advice he received from CCHD attorney Ryan Plotz, who said that could mean “anything that involves repair and maintenance.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

Crescent City Harbor District Needs Another Lawyer To Resolve Bond Dilemma With The County

December 19, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by Amanda Dockter}

A week after the question over whether they have faithful performance bonds in place reached the Board of Supervisors, Crescent City Harbor Commissioners learned they would need a different attorney to resolve the issue.

County officials have raised a conflict of interest objection stating that the firm the Harbor District’s attorney works for also represents Del Norte, Harbormaster Mike Rademaker told commissioners at a special meeting Wednesday.

Rademaker, who had spoken with Ryan Plotz, the district’s legal advisor, said the attorney had found a provision in California Government Code, 1481(b), that supersedes the Harbors and Navigation Code.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government

CCHD Recap: Lighted Boat Parade Canceled; Update on RV Park Leases; Harbor Receives Grant To Clean Up Derelict Vessels

December 19, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo: Bayside RV Park in June 2023. | File photo by Jessica C. Andrews}

Harbor Commissioner Dan Schmidt was absent. Among the items discussed at the Crescent City Harbor District’s special meeting Wednesday:

No Lighted Boat Parade This Year: With harsh weather in the forecast and only nine vessels participating so far, CCHD Board Chairman Rick Shepherd said the lighted boat parade will be canceled.

This decision came after fiscal officer Sandy Moreno volunteered to organize the parade at the Board’s Dec. 3 meeting. Moreno had proposed holding the parade this Saturday and commissioners agreed to offer a $25 utility credit to participants.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

CCHD’s New Chairman Says He Wants ‘Eliminate’ Nehmer’s Censure

December 12, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz}

Though he voted against her nomination for vice chair, Crescent City Harbor District’s new board chairman said he wants to remove Annie Nehmer’s censure.

Rick Shepherd, a long-time commercial fisherman who was elected to the Harbor Board in 2018, took his new seat as its chairman on Wednesday. In addition to working with legal counsel to remove Nehmer’s censure, Shepherd said he also plans to post meeting decorum rules in the Harbor Board’s chambers.

“We’re going to start the year out on a clean slate where we can all work together and get some more work done without the rhetoric of the censureship,” he said.

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