Category Archives: Infrastructure

Paul Place To Get Attention This Year, Though Supervisors Decide Against Bringing It Into The County-Maintained Road System

Thumbnail photo: Paul Place near Charm Lane and Old Mill Road was selected for repairs as part of an effort to ensure emergency vehicles have access to public roads that are not on the county-maintained road system.| Photo courtesy of Del Norte County

Del Norte County supervisors agreed to commit about $20,000 from the general fund to repair a ditch and grade Paul Place.

But they rejected a proposal to spend an additional $26,000 to pave the first 250 feet of Paul Place, adding it to the county’s network of maintained roads, despite County Engineer Jon Olson arguing that vehicles were tracking mud onto nearby Charm Lane and Old Mill Road. There’s also water puddling up onto Old Mill Road, which is damaging the asphalt, Olson said.

District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey said Olson’s argument could be made for Napa or Lake streets, which impact Washington Boulevard. 

Continue reading Paul Place To Get Attention This Year, Though Supervisors Decide Against Bringing It Into The County-Maintained Road System

Del Norte Unified Hits Brakes on SitelogIQ Proposal, Says Savings Potential Not Worth Challenges

Thumbnail: SitelogIQ representatives proposed installing a solar array near Bess Maxwell Elementary School. | Image courtesy of SitelogIQ

Del Norte education officials decided that waiting 15 to 17 years for substantive savings installing a solar array might bring wasn’t worth committing to a $5 million project even with a $1 million federal rebate.

Reporting back from a March 20 meeting that included officials from the county, the airport and representatives from Pacific Power and SitelogIQ, Del Norte Unified School District Superintendent Jeff Harris said that the community’s utility stated that tying solar into its grid would be difficult.

Meanwhile, quotes DNUSD had received from SitelogIQ were only for solar panels that would be installed at what is currently Del Norte High School’s arboretum near Bess Maxwell Elementary School, Harris told trustees. 

Continue reading Del Norte Unified Hits Brakes on SitelogIQ Proposal, Says Savings Potential Not Worth Challenges

Smith River Field Renovation Hits Snag As Trustees Reject Proposals

Thumbnail photo: Two years ago members of Smith River School’s student government showed the school board the gopher hole-ridden field they and their peers played on. | Courtesy Smith River School’s student government

Two years after Smith River School students described an athletic field riddled with gopher holes and uneven ground and said they raised nearly $3,000 for its renovation, the project has hit a snag.

Two contractors submitted proposals for the work last month. But the Del Norte County Unified School District Board of Trustees was forced to reject both bids. 

The proposal from the lowest bidder, Hemmingsen Construction, lacked supporting documents. Meanwhile, the bid amount from the other contractor, McKinleyville-based Hooven & Co., exceeded the statutory threshold for informal bidding under the California Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act, or CUPCCAA, DNUSD Superintendent Jeff Harris said Thursday.

Continue reading Smith River Field Renovation Hits Snag As Trustees Reject Proposals

Crescent City Council Takes First Step Toward Raising Water, Sewer Rates; Prop 218 Protest Process Starts

Thumbnail photo: Sewer rates for customers within Crescent City limits go toward the conveyance and treatment of their wastewater. | Photo by James Brooks

Linda Sutter vowed to fight planned water and sewer rate increases, telling Crescent City councilors that she’ll be “pounding pavement and getting the signatures” to keep them from going through.

But City Manager Eric Wier corrected a statement Sutter made on Monday about the community’s low-income housing developments and what she said was the expectation that “everybody else who works or gets a decent wage (will) pay for all those people.”

Using Danco Communities’ Harbor Point Apartments as an example, Wier said the developers of the 26-unit senior apartment building paid more than $100,000 in sewer rate connections. The property owners will pay monthly sewer charges based on their water consumption, the city manager said.

“The individual might not be paying that directly because they don’t have an account individually, but that apartment complex does through a master meter,” he said. “The owner of the apartment complex pays that large bill for all those sewer connections. They absolutely pay their equitable fair share for that development.”

Continue reading Crescent City Council Takes First Step Toward Raising Water, Sewer Rates; Prop 218 Protest Process Starts

Residents On 197/199 Corridor Call For Renewed Public Comment As Construction On STAA Project Looms

Map courtesy of Caltrans District 1

Residents living in the Hiouchi, Gasquet and Patrick Creek areas say there hasn’t been enough public outreach to allay concerns about the long-awaited effort to bring State Route 197 and U.S. 199 up to federal trucking standards.

Caltrans is expecting to start bringing in equipment and putting up construction signs as early as May 11, 197/199 Safe STAA Access Project Manager Izzy Konopa told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday.

But Kiley Hudson, who purchased property in the Washington Flat area north of Patrick Creek Lodge with her partner James about a month ago, said the last time there was a significant public comment period on the project was in 2010.

“We just found out about this project they’ve been trying to push for 20 years,” Hudson said. “A lot of the community is either in the dark or they haven’t had the opportunity to express their concerns.”

Continue reading Residents On 197/199 Corridor Call For Renewed Public Comment As Construction On STAA Project Looms

Redwood School Is In For Some Overdue Upgrades This Summer; Project Will Cost $2.7 Million

Thumbnail photo by Heather Polen

Redwood School will be under construction for much of the summer and possibly into the fall as Del Norte Unified School District embarks on a $2.7 million modernization project.

Work will include reroofing four buildings as well as the school’s covered walkways, The school will be repainted and all the electric panels, feeders and main switchboards will be upgraded, according to a March 26 staff report from DNUSD Maintenance and Operations Director Josh McCubbin.

“The existing roofing systems on buildings A, F, G-L, N and the covered walkways have reached the end of their useful life and require replacement to prevent water intrusion, protect structural components and reduce the likelihood of costly emergency repairs that could disrupt school operations,” he stated.

Continue reading Redwood School Is In For Some Overdue Upgrades This Summer; Project Will Cost $2.7 Million

Harbor Commissioners Tepid About CEO’s Offer To Travel To Washington D.C.; Rademaker Says Trump Maritime Initiative Could Help Crescent City

Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine

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.

Continue reading Harbor Commissioners Tepid About CEO’s Offer To Travel To Washington D.C.; Rademaker Says Trump Maritime Initiative Could Help Crescent City

Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Recap, March 24, 2026

Thumbnail image: The 57-acre “Sand Spit Property” the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation is seeking to acquire. |Image courtesy of the Bureau of Indian Affairs

District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey was absent. Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting:

Trust Acquisition Opposition: County supervisors approved a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs opposing the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation’s efforts to acquire 57 acres of undeveloped land just outside its boundaries in Smith River.

Known as the “Sand Spit Property,” the parcel is located on the south side of the Smith River estuary near the river mouth.

Continue reading Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Recap, March 24, 2026

Crescent City Council Recap, March 16, 2026

Thumbnail photo: Crescent City Council | Photo by James Brooks

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

Digital sign ordinance: Before he ducked out of the meeting early to go to his job, Councilor Jason Greenough cast the sole dissenting vote on new digital sign regulations. They’re unnecessary, counterproductive and “not business friendly,” he said.

Introduced on Feb. 17, the ordinance restricts a digital sign’s size to 32 square feet and states that they are only allowed in the commercial zone along the city’s highway corridor. This includes L and M streets, U.S. 101 from 9th Street north to the city limits and Northcrest Drive and Washington Boulevard. Digital signs must also be 1,750 linear feet apart, according to the new ordinance.

Continue reading Crescent City Council Recap, March 16, 2026

Crescent City Area Residents May See Water, Sewer Bills Increase; Rate Studies Cite Increased Costs, Needed Maintenance, Structural Deficits

Thumbnail photo by James Brooks

Aging infrastructure, increased costs and expenditures outpacing revenues are prompting Crescent City staff to seek a rate increase for water and sewer customers.

Representatives from Rural Community Assistance Corporation and Willdan Financial Services presented study results that reached similar conclusions for both utilities. 

On the water side, sales won’t be enough to cover the system’s operating and maintenance costs, RCAC Assistant Field Manager Samantha Ryan told the City Council on Monday.

Continue reading Crescent City Area Residents May See Water, Sewer Bills Increase; Rate Studies Cite Increased Costs, Needed Maintenance, Structural Deficits