Category Archives: Infrastructure

Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

(UPDATED) Citizens Dock, Seawall Projects Set To Enter Final Design Phase With In-Water Construction Scheduled to Start July 1, 2027

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Thumbnail photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Updated at 1:15 p.m. Monday to clarify items regarding how long Kimley-Horn has been working with CCHD and to add more information regarding their proposal.

Nearly three months Two months after becoming project manager for the federally-funded seawall replacement and Citizens Dock rebuild, Kimley-Horn representatives say Sept. 23 is the “kickoff date” for the endeavor’s final design phase.

After that Sept. 23 “kick off meeting,” Kimley-Horn will be vetting contractors and ensuring the project has the permits needed for in-water construction to begin by July 1, 2027, said Jerry Holcomb, an engineer who focuses on ports, maritime and waterfront projects for the firm.

“As project manager, the thing we’re going to try and make sure everybody understands is, kind of working back from that date, how do we make sure we’ve got the bids in place.” Holcomb told Crescent City Harbor Commissioners on Wednesday. “How do we make sure that we’ve got the contractor already mobilized … so they’re there ready to start on Day One.”

Continue reading (UPDATED) Citizens Dock, Seawall Projects Set To Enter Final Design Phase With In-Water Construction Scheduled to Start July 1, 2027 →
Articles, Business, Crescent City, Infrastructure

Residents, Planning Commissioners Say They’re Wary Of Sartori’s Plan To Bring More Delivery Trucks To Rumiano Cheese Plant

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Thumbnail photo by Heather Polen

Crescent City Planning Commission’s Aug. 20 meeting

Matt Dochterman urged Crescent City Planning Commissioners to think big picture about a proposal to bring more trucks to the Rumiano Cheese factory.

In addition to recruiting for up to 25 new jobs, said Dochterman, vice president of operations for Sartori Cheese, more trucks means the plant at 511 9th Street will get more milk with which to make more cheese.

“We actually have an opportunity — a great thing for the community — that says we can expand production, make more product, expand the Rumiano brand into larger areas of the country and actually create more exposure for Crescent City,” he told commissioners at a special meeting Aug. 20. “We bring more milk in, it runs more hours per day, produces more cheese and (we don’t) have to expand the infrastructure of the site or anything else to do that.”

Continue reading Residents, Planning Commissioners Say They’re Wary Of Sartori’s Plan To Bring More Delivery Trucks To Rumiano Cheese Plant →
Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

Del Norte Supervisors Appoint Gerry Hemmingsen to Airport Board’s Public Member Seat; JPA Voted For Someone Else

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff

Four Del Norte County supervisors on Tuesday chose their former colleague, Gerry Hemmingsen, over Cal-Ore Life Flight employee Mark Weaver to serve on the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority’s governing body.

Their action ran counter to a 5-3 vote BCRAA commissioners took after multiple split decisions on Aug. 6 to appoint Weaver to Del Norte’s third seat on the joint powers authority with Hemmingsen serving as his alternate. 

According to District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard, who sits on the BCRAA Board with District 1 representative Darrin Short, there currently isn’t a mechanism for the JPA’s public member to have an alternate. 

Continue reading Del Norte Supervisors Appoint Gerry Hemmingsen to Airport Board’s Public Member Seat; JPA Voted For Someone Else →
Articles, Health, Infrastructure, Local Government

Del Norte County Board of Supervisors, Aug. 25, 2026

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Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting:

California Automated Response and Engagement System: County supervisors received an advocacy letter from the Del Norte County Department of Health and Human Services to state legislators concerning the launch of the Child Welfare Services-California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES).

According to a staff report from DHHS Director Ranell Brown, the County Welfare Directors Association asked the department to weigh in on the issue. The project is expected to go launch on Oct. 26, according to Brown’s letter to Assembly members Jesse Gabriel and Corey Jackson and State Senators John Laird and Carolin Menjivar.

Continue reading Del Norte County Board of Supervisors, Aug. 25, 2026 →
Articles, Economy, Infrastructure, Transportation

Starkey, Howard Urge Local Advocacy As Last Chance Grade Project Enters Design Phase; ‘Real Hurdle’ Is Finding $2-Plus Billion For Construction, Starkey Says

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Thumbnail image: Conceptual art of the 1.1 mile-long tunnel that will allow U.S. 101 to avoid the Last Chance Grade landslide area south of Crescent City | Image courtesy of Caltrans District 1

Efforts to re-route U.S. 101 around Last Chance Grade reached a milestone on Friday after the California Transportation Commission approved funding for the project’s design and engineering phase.

But Del Norte County supervisors Chris Howard and Valerie Starkey, who attended the commission’s meeting in San Diego, say local advocacy at the state and federal level is imperative for the 6,000-foot tunnel project to continue to advance toward construction.

“What was interesting about the CTC meeting was when they got to the funding portion of it, the staff member from CTC (said) we’re supporting this, but this is the largest chunk of money we put out for one specific project,” Starkey told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday. “They said we never awarded this much money. We’ve never supported this much money going to just one project, but we understand the importance of it.”

Continue reading Starkey, Howard Urge Local Advocacy As Last Chance Grade Project Enters Design Phase; ‘Real Hurdle’ Is Finding $2-Plus Billion For Construction, Starkey Says →
Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government

Crescent City Council Recap For Aug. 17, 2026

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Thumbnail image: Conceptual art shows the fish and canoe node that will be part of the Tolowa Cultural Trail at Beachfront Park. | Image courtesy of Crescent City

Video by Monique Camarena

Among the items discussed at Monday’s Crescent City Council meeting:

Tolowa Cultural Trail Milestone: Councilors recognized the completion of the first initial contract associated with the Tolowa Cultural Trail in Beachfront Park.

City Manager Eric Wier pointed out that despite unanimously approving a notice of completion associated with the project, it’s work that Tidewater Contractors did to lay the foundation for the trail that councilors are recognizing.

Continue reading Crescent City Council Recap For Aug. 17, 2026 →
Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government, Parks

Crescent City’s Front Street Gateway Project Proceeds Though El Niño May Cause Issues For Storm Drain Component

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Thumbnail image: Crescent City Manager Eric Wier outlined what a change order to the Front Street Gateway Project would entail at Monday’s meeting. | Image courtesy of Crescent City

The Crescent City Council on Monday took a crucial step in the Front Street Gateway Project.

Councilors unanimously approved a change order that includes erecting nine banner poles, installing the gateway’s electrical system, widening the California Coastal Trail near the Cultural Center as well as ensuring the Point of Honor flags stay illuminated at night. But Tidewater Contractors’ primary focus this summer will be on the storm drain system underneath Front Street, City Manager Eric Wier said.

Still, acknowledging that the North Coast is facing an El Niño year, Wier said if the rains do hit before the street is repaved, hopefully the storm drain will do its job.

Continue reading Crescent City’s Front Street Gateway Project Proceeds Though El Niño May Cause Issues For Storm Drain Component →
Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government

Crescent City To Start More Storm Drain Work on F Street

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Thumbnail photo: Crescent City is using CDBG and Measure S dollars to complete a storm drain replacement project on F Street from the mid block of 3rd Street to 5th Street. | Image courtesy of the City of Crescent City.

With the final two blocks of Front Street nearing completion, Crescent City staff on Monday say they finally have the Community Development Block Grant dollars needed to start another long-awaited project.

It involves replacing the storm drain on F Street between the mid block of 3rd Street to 5th Street. It’s the third phase of the original Front Street storm drain improvement project, Public Works Director Dave Yeager told the City Council. 

In addition to extending the new storm drain system to 5th Street with new inlets and junction boxes, new sidewalk will be installed as will ADA-compliant street corners

“We’re trying to abandon the lines that are running underneath private properties and put them on a proper trajectory toward Front Street,” Yeager said.

Continue reading Crescent City To Start More Storm Drain Work on F Street →
Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government

Crescent City Council Recap, Aug. 3, 2026

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Thumbnail photo: Del Norte High School’s digital sign. On Monday, the Crescent City Council allowed Crescent Elk Middle School to display an electronic sign of its own. | Photo by Monique Camarena

Councilman Steve Shamblin was absent. Among the items discussed at Monday’s Crescent City Council meeting:

Digital Signs, School Edition: Councilman Jason Greenough voted with the rest of his colleagues to allow Crescent Elk Middle School to display a digital sign, but not before he noted how ridiculous he thought the topic was.

Coming after the City Council in February approved an ordinance governing the size and location they would allow such electronic displays, Greenough said the regulations were unnecessary. Allowing Crescent Elk to have a digital sign is an exception for another governing body, he said.

“We don’t have a huge problem with signs, but we passed an ordinance to regulate them for our businesses and so, well, our businesses and everyone else,” Greenough said. “The schools are an unintended victim of our regulation of everybody’s ability to have just a sign in front of their property.”

Continue reading Crescent City Council Recap, Aug. 3, 2026 →
Articles, Environment, Infrastructure, Local Government

County Supervisors Adopts Drought Resilience Plan, Task Force

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Thumbnail photo: A rain-swollen Smith River from Slant Bridge. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Though he said drought isn’t a major concern in Del Norte County, Sr. Environmental Health Specialist Houawa Moua introduced the Board of Supervisors to a resiliency plan for preventing water shortages in vulnerable communities.

The Del Norte County Drought Resilience Plan applies to domestic wells and water systems that have between five and 14 service connections, he said Tuesday. The plan includes a risk assessment and short-term and long-term strategies for responding to a potential water shortage. 

The state legislation requiring communities to adopt a resiliency plan — State Senate Bill 552, which was signed into law in 2021 — also requires counties to establish a drought and water shortage preparedness task force.

Continue reading County Supervisors Adopts Drought Resilience Plan, Task Force →