Thumbnail photo by Jessica C. Andrews
Crescent City Harbor commissioners on Wednesday selected a project manager and a grant manager for the seawall replacement and Citizens Dock rebuild.
Instead of picking a firm to negotiate an agreement with, the Board unanimously voted to award the grant manager contract to Community System Solutions. The Fair Oaks-based nonprofit helped the Crescent City Harbor District obtain the two U.S. Maritime Administration Port Infrastructure awards paying for the project.
Commissioners also decided that Kimley-Horn should be the overall project manager, noting that while GHD’s proposal was impressive, it was too expensive.
CCHD Board Chair Rick Shepherd and Vice Chair John Evans also noted that Kimley-Horn Principal-in-Charge Rob Sloop had been with Moffatt & Nichol, the architect firm that designed the seawall and Citizens Dock projects.
Sloop also helped the Harbor District re-float H Dock after the July 30, 2025 tsunami, Evans said.
“He was here for us,” Evans said of Sloop. “He made it a point to come here and work with us with the damage at the harbor. He did a great job. He’s a very talented individual.”
Evans and his colleagues heard presentations from Kimley-Horn, GHD and Redstone Bridge Sovereign to oversee the project earlier this month. Kimley-Horn submitted a proposal that included fees of $997,404. Its representatives said they would hold an industry day that would focus on how the project should be built with candidates for the general contractor job.
GHD’s proposed price was $1.3 million, the bulk of which would go toward tasks performed during the construction phase. However, on June 10, GHD’s project manager, Stephanie Gould, told commissioners that with only 30% of the project design completed, determining the actual cost for the firm’s services was still to be determined.
Both GHD and Kimley-Horn representatives gave presentations to the Board in person. Redstone Bridge Sovereign representatives appeared at the June 10 meeting via Zoom, something Commissioner Dan Schmidt noted on Wednesday.
It was Schmidt who first proposed awarding the project manager position to Kimley-Horn, noting that while GHD was impressive and had a lot of local Northern California experience, its proposal was “too damn much money.”
“Just because this is grant funded doesn’t mean we should spend whatever money comes our way,” he said. “We have an obligation to protect the public funds and to hire responsible people. Kimley-Horn, they’ve been around. They’ve been involved with this harbor, they’re familiar, and I think they’re the right guys for the job.”
Before addressing the project manager position, CCHD commissioners heard presentations from Sunstone Cities LLC, of Irvine, and Sacramento-based Macias, Gini & O’Connell, both of which were competing with CSS for the grant manager position.
According to the request for proposals the Harbor District sent out in March, the grant manager will “oversee the full lifecycle” of the district’s MARAD grant. This includes managing the project finances, ensuring the grant requirements are met, reporting and coordinating with stakeholders. The grant manager will also oversee risk management and the close-out requirements for the MARAD award.
Macias, Gini & O’Connell offered to provide up to 900 hours of grant management services at a not-to-exceed cost of $189,000 at an average hourly rate of $210.
Sunstone Cities offered up to 750 hours of grant management services at a not-to-exceed amount of $124,500. Its proposed an hourly rate of $150 to $250 for its staff and a monthly cost of $1,000 for its AI grant management platform, Scout. Sunstone Cities’ proposal included 12 months of access to Scout.
On Wednesday, Community System Solutions founder Mike Bahr said that at $125 an hour for 1,080 hours per year, his proposal offered the lowest hourly rate of the three before the Board of Commissioners.
CSS’s proposal included a two-year not-to-exceed cost of $270,000 for grant management services.
“We’re the only proposer that has proposed two years for the RFP because it is a two-year project,” Bahr said of the seawall and Citizens Dock projects. “We’re flexible and we’re happy to negotiate that first year contract.”
Bahr presented his team to the Board of Commissioners, some of whom have worked with CCHD before. While he would lead the grant management portion of the project, Benita Jangala would be the day-to-day grant management lead and would work in Crescent City.
Bahr and Jangala would also be joined by Aislene Delane, who would be working on any CCHD policy, procedures and bylaw changes that MARAD might require, according to CSS’s proposal. Their colleague Mika McKenzie will offer technical support and will also be in Crescent City.
On Wednesday, Bahr told commissioners to be prepared for audits during the project. He noted that MARAD will require organized records, completed documents and an “understanding of all project elements” from the grant manager.
“You need to be able to work with your funder, answer any questions that they’ve got (and) do it in a timely manner, which is exactly how we operate,” Bahr said. “We gather documentation, communicate with funder and keep the process as smooth as possible.”
Bahr said CSS is currently working with Harbormaster Mike Rademaker and CCHD Fiscal Officer Sandy Moreno on a compliance audit for one of the district’s other grants.
“We’ve worked with the Harbor District for four years, building a strong relationship with the leadership team,” he said. “We have a deep knowledge of the project and the PIDP grants. We helped develop Citizens Dock and the seawall projects from the start…. I think our familiarity will help you avoid costly mistakes.”
Bahr’s proposal received support from some community members, including former CCHD commissioner candidate and frequent critic Linda Sutter. Sutter said she would hire Bahr because “He’s local.”
Kevin Hendrick, a CSS Board member and president of the Del Norte County Democratic Party, noted that CCHD had received more than $20 million in grant funding due to the organization’s efforts. He urged the Board of Commissioners to vote to execute a contract rather than proceed to contract negotiations with a chosen firm.
“You’re getting close to missing a construction season,” Hendrick said, adding that he hoped CCHD could also decide on a project manager as well. “If you want to hit the ground running, consider the efficiency of working with people you already trust.”
Shepherd said he thought the seawall and Citizens Dock would fail when he was elected to the CCHD Board in 2018 and began urging leaders to find a grant writer who could take a large project on. Bahr took that project on and succeeded in getting CCHD the grant funding it needed, Shepherd said.
“I feel strongly that he’s very passionate about the harbor and that means a lot to me,” Shepherd said.
