Category Archives: Infrastructure

Articles, Community News, Emergencies, Infrastructure, Local Government

Del Norte Supervisors Endorse SitelogIQ’s Microgrid Proposal, Feasibility Still To Be Determined

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Thumbnail: SitelogIQ laid out two proposed microgrid projects to supervisors back in September. | Screenshot.; Above: Pacific Power brought in large generators to restore power to Del Norte County during the Smith River Complex wildfires in August 2023. | Photo courtesy of Valerie Starkey

Four Del Norte County supervisors endorsed a plan to connect county facilities, including the sheriff’s office and jail, to community solar generation and microgrid projects that could provide backup electricity during emergencies.

But with SitelogIQ in early conversations with the utility serving Del Norte residents and other local potential partners, District 4 Supervisor Joey Borges was skeptical. He said he doubted that Pacific Power would be “OK with our microgrid running through their lines” during a major catastrophe.

“If they’re shutting down [electricity] for a safety reason, it’s going to be shut down, period,” Borges told Redwood Voice Community News on Tuesday after voting against a letter of agreement with SitelogIQ, the national energy efficiency provider spearheading local microgrid and solar projects.

Continue reading Del Norte Supervisors Endorse SitelogIQ’s Microgrid Proposal, Feasibility Still To Be Determined →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Infrastructure

CCHD Commissioners Allow Pacific Seafood To Keep Hoist, Building Leases Despite Ice Plant Controversy

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Thumbnail: Harbor Commissioners last week decided against terminating hoist and building leases with Pacific Seafood despite the company’s decision in October to cease operating the ice plant. | Photo by Paul Critz

Though they terminated one buyer’s lease due to delinquent rent, Crescent City Harbor commissioners decided against doing the same for Pacific Seafood despite their harbormaster’s concerns with the way they’ve conducted business lately.

In his staff report, Harbormaster Mike Rademaker had recommended terminating the processor’s building and hoist leases due to delinquent rent. At a Harbor District meeting last week, he said Pacific Seafood submitted a $43,000 check, thereby “curing the default,” but he still had concerns.

For one thing, the harbormaster said, the processor isn’t using one of the three hoists it leases. There’s a stipulation in their hoist lease with the Harbor District that 14-days of non-use could be viewed as breaching their contract. Rademaker also brought up Pacific Seafood’s decision in October to cease operating the ice plant at the end of Citizens Dock. The processor pulled their equipment out of the building in November.

Continue reading CCHD Commissioners Allow Pacific Seafood To Keep Hoist, Building Leases Despite Ice Plant Controversy →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Infrastructure

Harbor District Tour Uncovers Challenges With Whaler Island Groin And Sea Level Rise

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Thumbnail photo: Moffatt & Nichol representative Younes Nouri discusses the Citizens Dock and seawall reconstruction projects during a tour of Crescent City Harbor property on Wednesday. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Though their tour of the Crescent City Harbor District meant to show its potential, Mike Bahr and Younes Nouri delivered unwelcome news on Wednesday — the port lost out on FEMA disaster dollars to shore up the storm-ravaged Whaler Island Groin.

Despite showing the federal agency images of damage the groin took during severe storms in January 2023, FEMA officials declined the Harbor District’s request for disaster assistance, saying the district couldn’t show enough records that it had maintained the structure before the storm, according to Nouri, project manager and coastal engineer with Moffatt & Nichol.

“They want to see what it looked like before that storm happened and then what it looked like after,” he said. “It’s like an insurance adjuster.”

Continue reading Harbor District Tour Uncovers Challenges With Whaler Island Groin And Sea Level Rise →
Alerts, CC Harbor, Community News, Infrastructure

Crescent City Harbor Workshop, Tour To Focus On Development Opportunities

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Thumbnail photo by Amanda Dockter

Two weeks into their renewed contract with the Crescent City Harbor District, representatives of Community System Solutions will lead a workshop and a tour of the port on Wednesday.

CSS representatives will be joined by Moffat & Nichol project managers and Steve Opp, managing director for Commercial Real Estate Development Enterprises, or CREDE.

The workshop’s goal is to provide commissioners and the public a “complete overview” of the construction projects underway at the harbor and to help the Harbor District Board figure out how to spend $1 million in leftover federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program dollars.

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Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Infrastructure

With Park Improvements Underway, Crescent City Looks To Its Downtown

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Don Arambula, an urban designer with Crandall Arambula PC, floated some ideas for a revitalized Downtown Crescent City on Monday. | Screenshot

Don Arambula showed a new City Council how his firm could help revitalize its downtown area by comparing Crescent City to Whitefish, Montana.

Arambula, project manager, principal planner and urban designer for the Portland-based Crandall Arambula, PC, said Monday when his firm began working on a master plan for Whitefish’s downtown business district, the city wanted to “lean into its visitor potential.” Though it’s a bit larger than Crescent City, Arambula drew a comparison, saying it, too, is on a national park’s doorstep.

“They’ve found that people want to come to Whitefish and experience a unique condition. If they’re from Georgia, they don’t want to see the same things they left in Georgia,” he said. “They wanted to have a sense of the culture and the place, and that’s really one of the founding principles we had for this project. And we suspect something like this would be appropriate also for Crescent City.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Infrastructure, Local Government

Crescent City Harbor District Roundup, Dec. 17, 2024

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Photo courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District

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

Grant Dollars:

A proposed contract with Community System Solutions on Tuesday turned into a debate over whether the Harbor District should continue to rely on grants to shore up its infrastructure.

Sam Strait, county resident and frequent commenter, says no. He argued that the Harbor District’s grants are “in reality other people’s money.”

“I thought the idea here was to live within your means so you no longer have to use other people’s money to support your wishes,” he said.

Continue reading Crescent City Harbor District Roundup, Dec. 17, 2024 →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Infrastructure

New Harbor Board Pulls Back From Finding Short-Term Solution To Ice Plant Dilemma

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Photo by Paul Critz

Crescent City Harbor commissioners are still committed to securing a long-term source of ice at the port, but they decided that seafood processors will be on their own when this year’s commercial Dungeness season starts.

While ice is a concern for the commercial fishing fleet, it’s mostly the seafood processors who rely on it, Commissioner Rick Shepherd told his colleagues on Dec. 3.

A new set of commissioners last week directed Interim Harbormaster Mike Rademaker to focus on securing funding from the National Seafood Strategy Implementation Plan, a NOAA Fisheries program. The Harbor District would use those grant dollars to entice more seafood processors, particularly those focusing on shrimp, to set up shop at the harbor.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Transportation

Transportation Officials Seek Public Input South Beach Climate Change Resiliency Plan

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Photo courtesy of the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission

Transportation officials are holding the second of two public meetings today to come up with a plan that ensures U.S. 101 and Anchor Way continue to function in the face of rising sea level and extreme weather associated with climate change.

These meetings are part of a joint effort between the Crescent City Harbor District, Elk Valley Rancheria and the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission to create a South Beach Climate Resilience Plan.

Caltrans District 1, Del Norte County, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as well as consultants GHD and GreenDOT are also participating in the project, DNLTC Executive Director Tamera Leighton said.

Caltrans is expected to take over the project on June 30, 2025, when the planning phase is completed, Leighton said. Today’s meeting, which will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Elk Valley Rancheria, will give people the opportunity to learn more about why a resiliency project is necessary and will enable them to provide input, she said.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure

Crescent City Harbor Roundup, Nov. 19, 2024

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The old Fashion Blacksmith building at the Crescent City Harbor. | Photo by Gavin Van Alstine

(Updated at 8:53 a.m. Monday to correct an error. The Crescent City Harbor District received a proposal to site a wave energy pilot project at the port.)

Among the items discussed at the Nov. 19 Harbor District meeting:

Old Fashion Blacksmith Building: Harbor commissioners unanimously approved contracting with SHN, a Eureka-based consulting firm, to conduct the first phase of an environmental assessment on the old Fashion Blacksmith building at 121 Starfish Way.

Phase one of the project is expected to cost $7,500 and would be paid for with Harbor Mitigation Grant Program dollars, interim harbormaster Mike Rademaker told commissioners.

Continue reading Crescent City Harbor Roundup, Nov. 19, 2024 →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Infrastructure

Harbor District Scores $8 Million Federal Grant For Citizens Dock Rebuild

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Photo and image courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District

An $8 million Port Infrastructure Development Program grant will allow the Crescent City Harbor District to begin constructing a new Citizens Dock.

But, according to interim harbormaster Mike Rademaker, representatives with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD), which is offering the grant, questioned whether or not the harbor could manage it.

This uncertainty was due to the recent resignation of previous harbormaster Tim Petrick amid concerns that he had misused a Harbor District credit card, Rademaker told harbor commissioners on Tuesday. There was also some concern when the Harbor District’s contract with its grant consultants, Community System Solutions, ran out on Oct. 1, Rademaker said.

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