_{Thumbnail photo: The Crescent City Harbor seeks to replace a condemned seawall and the 70-plus year-old Citizens Dock using $15 million in federal grants. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews}

Harbor Commissioner Gerhard Weber used the same analogy twice this week to describe his take on the three proposals from firms vying for the project manager role in the Citizens Dock reconstruction and seawall replacement.

“I think I walked into a Mercedes dealership with Kia money,” Weber told GHD Senior Planner Adam Wagschal on Wednesday when he found out that the firm’s cost estimate for pre-construction work would be about $4,000 shy of the Harbor District’s budget for the project manager position in general. “Maybe we made a major mistake with our budget because we have budgeted $350,000 and now we’re hearing that it gets us down for the first part, but not actual construction.”

Weber and his colleagues on the Crescent City Harbor District Board heard proposals from Kimley-Horn representatives on Monday and from GHD and Redstone Bridge Sovereign on Wednesday. All three firms have at least one person on staff that has worked with the Crescent City Harbor District in the past.

In a May 13 report to Harbor commissioners, Mike Bahr, CEO of Community System Solutions said the proposed fees included $479,850 from Redstone Bridge Sovereign; $997,404.58 from Kimley-Horn and about $1.6 million from GHD.

This was more than the $250,000-$350,000 amount budgeted for the project manager position, though Bahr said that range wasn’t included in the request for proposals the Harbor District released. 

The Crescent City Harbor District is using a total of about $15 million in in U.S. Maritime Administration Port Infrastructure Development Program grant dollars to reconstruct the 70-plus-year-old Citizens Dock and replace a seawall that’s currently condemned.

The project includes the demolition of the seawall, the construction of its replacement and the construction of a 13,760 square foot concrete-decked dock. 

In addition to a project manager, commissioners will be choosing a general contractor, an accountant and a grants manager for the Citizens Dock reconstruction and seawall replacement. 

According to Bahr, the project manager will be tasked with the main oversight duties of the project. This includes communicating with CCHD tenants to ensure minimal disruptions to the commercial fishing fleet.

On Monday, commissioners met Kimley-Horn Project Manager Jerry Holcomb, who works out of the firm’s Oakland office, but grew up in the Smith River area. Holcomb appeared before commissioners with his colleague, Principal-in-Charge Rob Sloop. Holcomb had been the engineer-of-record spearheading the design of the project with Moffatt & Nichol.

Sloop had also worked with Moffatt & Nichol helping the Harbor District recover from the July 30, 2025 tsunami.

Holcomb said he has experience working with commercial harbors who have received MARAD funds. This includes helping to build a commercial fishing dock at the Ventura Harbor as well as a market squid facility at the Port of Hueneme in Southern California.

Holcomb said Kimley-Horn structured its proposal in such a way as to be on site during critical milestones of the project, but not there 100% of the time.

When it’s time for the Harbor District to select a general contractor for the project, Sloop said he and Holcomb would like to hold an industry day.

“We would talk about how to build it and ask specifically about water-based construction and land-based construction,” he said. “If we have a contractor who says we can do the whole thing from land and we never have to be in the water, that changes our permitting 1,000%. We’ll be happy to do anything that gets the price to where you can award it. It (also) lets them show how smart they are, how cooperative they are and how much they want the job.”

GHD representative, Project Manager Stephanie Gould, who works out of the firm’s Eureka office, said her company’s approach to pricing is based on an estimated construction time of 260 days, which included two in-water work periods. But the proposed range of fees can be negotiated, Gould said.

The bulk of GHD’s proposed price, about $1.3 million, would be for project management work performed during construction, according to its proposal. 

This would include ensuring permitting requirements are being met and working with regulatory agencies, CCHD tenants and other stakeholders during construction. GHD representatives would also provide inspection of the actual construction work being performed.

On Wednesday, Gould, noting that 30% of the project’s design was finished, said it’s too soon to tell what the overall price for the firm’s project management services would be.

“Maybe this only takes a year,” she said. “There are also other ways to reduce the number of on-site field work days. When they’re doing very high risk things, you want someone there who knows what to look for, who’s got your guys’s back. Days when they’re doing more moderate things that has less risk, maybe we can stay back and we can just be on standby on the phone.”

Gould’s colleague, Jane Rozga from GHD’s Santa Rosa office, said that pricing also depends on the contractor. 

“You learn fairly quickly on a project the work approach a contractor has,” she said. “Are they collaborating with us or is this a contractor that is planning to make their profit on change orders and you need to be monitoring (them) very closely to minimize those opportunities?”

During GHD’s presentation, Harbor District Board President Rick Shepherd said that one reason CCHD planned two phases for the Citizens Dock project is because the goal was to get the seawall in working condition first. The Harbor District had hoped to use the wall as the landing site for commercial fishermen during crab season, he said.

Once Citizens Dock is rebuilt, the hoists and other infrastructure would return to its previous position, Shepherd said.

Shepherd’s colleague, Commissioner Dan Schmidt said that he was encouraged by GHD’s work with the Harbor District to survey and assess its buildings and structures. He said he was impressed with the firm’s “extensive maritime experience in Northern California” as well as its ability to access an accountant and grant administrator within their own organization.

“You have an army available to you,” Schmidt said. “Our biggest enemy is time. We want this done. We don’t want a one-year project to take two or three years. We want it done now.”

Steve Opp, owner of Redstone Bridge Sovereign, is another familiar face to the Crescent City Harbor District Board. With his previous employer, Commercial Real Estate Development Enterprise, Opp was tasked with creating a master plan for development at the Harbor, assessing market interest and analyzing the financial performance for the various options available.

According to Bahr, CREDE’s work was related to the Crescent City Harbor District’s two RV parks. 

“The folks they brought in visited, looked at the space and both of those basically bowed out,” Bahr said of CREDE’s work, adding that the park’s long-term tenants hindered their proposal.

During his presentation, Opp said that he and his partner Ted Torres have a combined 70 years experience working in development management. Their proposal split the project into two phases. The first involves technical design review as well as coordination with stakeholders and regulatory agencies. Cost and schedule management is also part of the first phase.

The second phase includes working with a sub consultant, IMG Construction Management to oversee the general contractor, provide budget control and grant compliance oversight as well.

According to Opp, IMG Construction Management already has experience in Crescent City.

“We wanted to have more experienced guys that we can call on, especially when it comes to site visits and in-the-water work,” he said of IMG. “These guys have had that experience.”

Opp said his firm would find a way to integrate Crescent City Harbor commissioners and staff into their team. However, figuring out how many site visits would be needed would depend on the project design.

“A lot can be done remotely these days, but when it comes to seeing the product in the ground, we would want to be there every time the engineers are there to see any kind of key work elements that need their stamp of approval,” Opp said. “And agree or disagree with what they’re finding before the permits are finalized.”

Opp also introduced commissioners to his firm’s software, which allows them to see project updates remotely, but said they would be happy to provide in-person meetings.

Following Opp’s presentation, commissioners thanked him for keeping it brief.

“Makes it look like you’ll maybe move the project as quickly as that’s even the more important thing,” Shepherd said.