Thumbnail photo: Bayside RV Park is one of two RV parks at the Crescent City Harbor that developer Daniel Dahan and his company BSD Property Management will revitalize and manage. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews
Daniel Dahan’s relationship with local engineer Lee Tromble and his company’s management of White Rock Resort in Smith River stood him in good stead with the Crescent City Harbor District Board.
Despite skepticism from the public, who urged them to go slow, warning that the Long Beach-based developer has a history of judgments against him, commissioners unanimously selected his firm, BSD Property Management, to revitalize and operate Bayside RV Park and Redwood Harbor Village RV Park.
The Board submitted their votes on paper to their clerk Kristina Hanks on Tuesday. Hanks then read their decision into the record.
Commissioners are expected to reach a decision, finally, on who should develop the Crescent City Harbor District’s two RV parks.
A special meeting will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. today at the Harbor District Office.. The open session will follow a closed session meeting scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
“Tuesday’s the drop-down deadline,” Board President Rick Shepherd said at CCHD’s April 22 meeting. “We’re going to make a vote and the winner will be the lessee of the RV parks.”
Mayor Pro Tem Candace Tinkler and Councilor Ray Altman were absent. Among the items discussed at Monday’s Crescent City Council meeting:
Citizens Dock Pier 2 Project: Crescent City councilors agreed to send a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration, supporting the second phase of the Citizens Dock rebuild.
The Crescent City Harbor District was encouraged to apply for $11 million in 2026 Port Infrastructure Development Program dollars from MARAD. If awarded, those funds will be an addition to the roughly $15 million in 2022 and 2024 PIDP grant moneys CCHD received to reconstruct Citizen’s Dock Pier 1 and an adjacent seawall, according to Mike Bahr, CEO of Community System Solutions, the consultant managing the Harbor District’s grant-funded projects.
Crescent City Harbor commissioners were lukewarm about their CEO’s offer to travel to Washington D.C. on his own dime to advocate for the district’s role in the Trump administration’s Maritime Action Plan.
Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said he planned to speak with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, whose father, Michael Greer, is a Del Norte Unified School District trustee.
Rademaker said he wanted to talk about the role the Crescent City Harbor District could play in President Trump’s initiative to expand shipbuilding capacity in the United States with the former Fashion Blacksmith boatyard being a particular concern.
Thumbnail photo: Bayside RV Park is one of two the Crescent City Harbor District is looking to lease for redevelopment. | By Jessica Cejnar Andrews
Crescent City Harbor commissioners say they’re in the final stages of their negotiations with potential developers for the district’s two RV parks.
But their experience with the last developer who sought to revamp Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village RV parks still haunts them, they say. Responding to a member of the public Wednesday, Chairman Rick Shepherd said he’d like to present a bottomline to the developers by the Harbor District’s April 8 meeting.
“I’m done with it and I’m ready to move on,” he said.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff; Right: Most recent rendering of Citizens Dock/seawall project. | Image courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District
Harbor commissioners gave staff the green light to seek a general contractor, project manager, accounting firm and a grants manager as construction for the seawall and Citizens Dock rebuilds loom.
Commissioners unanimously approved releasing requests for proposals on Tuesday after Mike Bahr, CEO of Community System Solution, gave a rundown of what they and the public can expect over the next roughly two years.
“We’re looking at this as one project,” he said. “These two elements are two separate grants, but it really is one very large construction project that’s all taking place at the same time.”
Among the items discussed at Wednesday’s Crescent City Harbor meeting:
RV Park negotiations: Harbormaster Mike Rademaker will be traveling to Los Angeles this weekend to meet with Orange County developers seeking to lease Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village RV parks. Rademaker said he will be working through the weekend to get a final agreement before the Board of Commissioners and the public.
“I know everyone is so anxious like we all are to close this deal,” he said following a closed session meeting. “Keep in mind it’s potentially a 25-year deal. We are extremely close, we’re working on the finer points of the contract.”
Thumbnail photo: Former Fashion Blacksmith boatyard facility at the Crescent City Harbor. | Photo by Paul Critz
The local harbormaster on Wednesday unveiled a desire to open a satellite campus of the Cal Poly Maritime Academy at the Crescent City Harbor District.
Mike Rademaker included that hope in a letter to Congressional representatives supporting the Trump administration’s America’s Maritime Action Plan, which seeks to revitalize the nation’s domestic shipbuilding capacity. But he acknowledged that the idea is just a concept at this point.
“It’s kind of my pet project,” the harbormaster told Redwood Voice Community News. “We’re just trying to be very creative and identify new revenue sources. The average age of fishermen, it’s getting up there, and we want to provide a pathway for the younger generation to get into the fishing industry. A huge part of that is workforce training and having something local that’s affordable so they can get hands-on experience.”
Thumbnail image: Crescent City Harbor commissioners chose a preferred option for Citizens Dock back in 2024. | Image courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District.
Among the items discussed at Wednesday’s Crescent City Harbor District meeting.
2026 MARAD Grant: Harbor commissioners agreed to contribute 20%, or $2.8 million, toward the construction costs associated with the second Citizens Dock reconstruction phase.
Associated with a $11.25 million U.S. Maritime Administration Port Infrastructure Development Program grant, the Board unanimously approved a resolution agreeing to the match. The federal agency has increased the amount of funding small ports can apply for, Bahr said, but it means that the required contribution is larger.
The preferred alternative among six options Harbor commissioners chose for the Citizens Dock project in 2024. | Image courtesy of Moffatt & Nichol
Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff
Federal officials are urging the Crescent City Harbor District to pursue the grant dollars needed to finish the Citizens Dock reconstruction.
The U.S. Maritime Administration is offering about $11.25 million in 2026 Port Infrastructure Development Program dollars, Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bahr told harbor commissioners on Wednesday. Bahr, who manages the Harbor District’s grants, said he and Harbormaster Mike Rademaker are nearly finished with the new application and will have to go before commissioners before submitting it.
If the Harbor District is successful, that money would pay for the second dock the Citizens Dock reconstruction project calls for, Bahr said.
