Category Archives: Infrastructure

Crescent City Harbor To Pursue 2026 MARAD Grant To Complete Citizens Dock Project

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.

Continue reading Crescent City Harbor To Pursue 2026 MARAD Grant To Complete Citizens Dock Project

Del Norte Teams Up With CalOES, Crescent City On Tsunami Education Kiosks For Visitors

Tsunami information kiosks like this one will be at seven locations popular with visitors throughout Del Norte. | Image courtesy of Del Norte County Office of Emergency Services

Thumbnail photo: H Dock damage at the Crescent City Harbor from the July 30, 2025 Kamchatka tsunami. The harbor will host one of seven tsunami information kiosks throughout Del Norte. | Photo courtesy of Mike Rademaker

Del Norte County is stepping up its tsunami preparedness efforts, focusing on visitors who may not be aware that they’re in a hazardous location or how to evacuate.

Seven kiosks will be installed in areas popular with visitors. They will highlight the natural warning signs that a tsunami is imminent, the immediate actions to take as well as a simplified evacuation map leading folks to a safer spot, Emergency Services Coordinator Jessica Seaman said Tuesday.

“Each evacuation map will be site specific and developed with assistance from the subject matter experts to ensure accuracy and clarity for the exact location,” she told the Board of Supervisors. “The kiosks will also include a QR code that links directly to Know Your Zone and Prepare Del Norte (which has) additional preparedness information.”

Continue reading Del Norte Teams Up With CalOES, Crescent City On Tsunami Education Kiosks For Visitors

Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Recap For Feb. 10, 2026

Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

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

Boat Ramp Access: Despite skepticism from a member of the public, District 1 Darrin Short said he and his colleagues did have public safety in mind when directing the county to do repairs on the public access road to Saxton’s Boat Ramp in Smith River.

Supervisors unanimously approved allocating an additional $1,922.11 to the project, which, Short says, is necessary for the sheriff’s office to be able to deploy its rescue boat. This allocation brings the project cost to $8,900 in funds the Board of Supervisors had set aside to make repairs to non-maintained county roads.

Continue reading Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Recap For Feb. 10, 2026

CCHD Recap For Jan. 28, 2026

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.

Continue reading CCHD Recap For Jan. 28, 2026

After AB 1014, County Supervisors, Residents Seek To Slow Speedsters on Fred Haight

Thumbnail photo: County supervisors and residents are seeking to potentially lower the speed limit on Fred Haight Drive near the Smith River townsite. | Photo courtesy of Michelle Carrillo

Michelle Carrillo rejected the idea that hearing a person’s lived experience isn’t data.

Appearing before Del Norte County supervisors about three weeks after a car struck and killed her family’s dog near their Fred Haight Drive home, Carrillo said that she spent a month speaking with neighbors who shared stories of near misses and dead animals. It may be qualitative data, but it’s still data, she said Tuesday, and taking no action to try to reduce speeds on the Smith River thoroughfare was untenable.

“We’re in an agricultural area of the county with multiple uses happening at once from farm equipment, school activities, residential driveways, pedestrians and through traffic,” Carrillo said. “I understand there are certain things we have to figure out there and it’s not going to be a uniform speed across the whole road, that makes sense, but 50 on any section of that road does not make sense.”

Continue reading After AB 1014, County Supervisors, Residents Seek To Slow Speedsters on Fred Haight

Elk Valley Cross Roundabout, STAA 199/197 Start Construction in April; Highway Closures Anticipated

Thumbnail photo: After Caltrans announced Tuesday that a project to install a roundabout at U.S. 199 and Elk Valley Cross Road will start in April, Del Norte Local Transportation Commissioner Executive Director Tamera Leighton said the intersection is “probably the most dangerous place to be” in the county. | Map courtesy of the DNLTC

Calling herself a “data girl,” Tamera Leighton highlighted the role accurate statistics play in making safety improvements on local roads. 

Addressing negative Facebook chatter regarding a roundabout slated to be installed at Elk Valley Cross Road and U.S. 199 this spring, the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission executive director said her family drives these roads too.

“That intersection is probably the most dangerous place to be in Del Norte County,” Leighton said, adding that a 2020 study of the Elk Valley Cross Road corridor found that the intersection’s collision rate is 811% greater than the statewide average for similar intersections. “Since this document was produced, my son’s car was totaled at this intersection. My first cousin was in a serious collision a few months ago. She still hasn’t been able to go back to work. It’s my job, sure, but it’s also my family. It’s your families.”

Continue reading Elk Valley Cross Roundabout, STAA 199/197 Start Construction in April; Highway Closures Anticipated

Del Norte Supes Recap For Jan. 27, 2026

Thumbnail image: Screenshot

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

Welcome to California: The Board of Supervisors congratulated Caltrans representative Julia Peterson after she unveiled new California welcome signs that they said were far superior to Oregon’s.

Peterson showed supervisors an early rendering of the signs created after a public survey showed that the most favored themes were bears and elk. Three-dimensional bears will grace the sign on U.S. 199 while elk and salmon will welcome motorists driving south on U.S. 101, she said. 

Continue reading Del Norte Supes Recap For Jan. 27, 2026

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

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.

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

Del Norte County BOS Roundup, Jan. 13, 2026

Thumbnail photos: District 1 Supervisor Darrin Short and District 2 Supervisor Joey Borges. Borges and Short will serve another year as chair and vice chair of the Board of Supervisors.

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

Borges, Short ‘Keep It Going’: District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey ended the long pause that followed Chris Howard’s nomination of Joey Borges for another year as Board chairman.

Howard, who represents Del Norte County District 3, praised Borges’ efficiency in running county meetings, saying he’s done a “wonderful job” over the past 12 months. Though she has yet to serve in the chair position since she first took her seat in 2021, Starkey said she couldn’t think of a reason why Borges shouldn’t continue in the role. Her initial plan was to nominate District 1 Supervisor Darrin Short to the chair position since he’s been the vice chair for the past year, but decided to second Howard’s original motion.

Continue reading Del Norte County BOS Roundup, Jan. 13, 2026

DNUSD Recap for Jan. 8, 2026: Facilities Plan, Salary Increases, New Bell System

Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Among the items discussed at Thursday’s Del Norte Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting:

Facilities master plan: Trustees approved a $177,000 contract with Studio W, a Sacramento-based architect firm, to develop a five-year facilities master plan.

DNUSD sent a request for qualification to six different architectural firms, receiving responses from three of them, Facilities and Maintenance Director Josh McCubbin told trustees. Of the three, a committee consisting of McCubbin, Jeff Napier and Greg Bowen, the former and current assistant superintendents of business, decided that Studio W best fits DNUSD’s needs.

Continue reading DNUSD Recap for Jan. 8, 2026: Facilities Plan, Salary Increases, New Bell System