Category Archives: CC Harbor

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.”

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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, CC Harbor, Community News, Economy, Environment

‘The State Won’t Work With You’; Long-time Shrimper Says Lack of Infrastructure Is Forcing Fleet, Processors Out of California

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District

Randy Smith says he understands why Pacific Seafood shuttered its facilities in Crescent City and Eureka.

The same regulations the Clackamas, Ore.-based processor gave as its reasoning for abandoning Humboldt and Del Norte counties have also forced Smith and other local fishermen to land their catch elsewhere.

Smith, owner of the Mistasea and member of the Crescent City Commercial Fisherman’s Marketing Association, the California Dungeness Task Force and, up until last year, the Newport, Oregon Board of Shrimp Producers, said he bought a house in Oregon about two years ago because “I’m up there more.” The harbors in California are a place to park a boat and do some repairs, he said, but there’s no infrastructure anymore.

“You can’t blame Pacific Seafood for doing what they did,” said Smith, whose father was one of the first fishermen to work with the company when its CEO opened the Eureka processing facility about 39 years ago. “You don’t know how many pots you’ll get to fish with and you don’t know when you’re going to get to fish…. The state won’t work with you and Fish and Game won’t work with you.”

Continue reading ‘The State Won’t Work With You’; Long-time Shrimper Says Lack of Infrastructure Is Forcing Fleet, Processors Out of California →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News

Crescent City Harbor Adopts Guidelines For Public Comment

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Thumbnail photo by Amanda Dockter

Crescent City Harbor commissioners hadn’t gotten that far in their agenda last Tuesday when Board President Gerhard Weber asked a public commenter to leave.

The commenter, Alicia Williams, had stepped up to the podium a second time seeking to rebut statements a previous speaker had made concerning invocations at public meetings. She refused to step down after Weber reminded her multiple times that she had already spoken.

Weber wound up telling Williams to leave, saying she was disrupting the meeting.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Community News

CC Harbor Board Will Include Prayer At Its Meetings; Intention Is To ‘Recognize There Is A Higher Power Above Us,’ Commissioner States

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Though one public participant questioned the point and another warned of lawsuits, Crescent City Harbor commissioners on Tuesday endorsed a proposal to incorporate prayer into their bi-monthly meetings.

The proposal came from one of the Board’s newest members, John Evans, who pointed out that the United States Congress starts its sessions with an invocation.

Evans said he didn’t want to exclude any particular faith and proposed holding the invocation before the meetings started.

Continue reading CC Harbor Board Will Include Prayer At Its Meetings; Intention Is To ‘Recognize There Is A Higher Power Above Us,’ Commissioner States →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Environment

CC Harbor Officials May Ask McGuire To Help Support Commercial Fishing; Crab Season Starts Jan. 15

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Crescent City Harbor commissioners are expected to ask State Sen. Mike McGuire to support Del Norte and Humboldt counties’ commercial fishing fleets.

The Board of Commissioners on Tuesday will discuss sending a letter to McGuire, who represents the North Coast and is the highest-ranking member of the California State Senate.

Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said he expects commissioners to discuss the substance of the letter and then he intends to reach out to the Humboldt Bay Harbor District to coordinate on a joint message to the state senator.

Continue reading CC Harbor Officials May Ask McGuire To Help Support Commercial Fishing; Crab Season Starts Jan. 15 →
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.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Local Government

Harbor Commissioner Proposes Public Comment Guidelines, Says Meetings ‘Cannot Become A Major Bitch Session’

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Photo by Paul Critz

Linda Sutter didn’t take kindly to a proposed set of guidelines governing public comment during Crescent City Harbor District meetings.

Though the author of those guidelines, newly-elected commissioner Dan Schmidt, didn’t initially mention her by name, Sutter warned that any attempt to remove her from the building will result in a lawsuit.
“My opinions are my opinions,” she said Tuesday. “You don’t have to like them. But the first time you lay hands on me and escort me out of this building, I will own this building.”

Schmidt didn’t mention Sutter’s name in his introductory statement or in his proposal, but he referred to statements she made at the Board’s Dec 3 meeting after Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bahr introduced himself and his staff to the Board of Commissioners.

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Articles, CC Harbor

Crescent City Harbor Roundup, Dec. 3, 2024

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Harbor Commissioners learned about a grant the district is pursuing that will help revitalize the former Fashion Blacksmith boatyard. | Photo by Gavin Van Alstine

Among the items discussed at the Dec. 3, 2024 Crescent City Harbor District meeting:

New Board Business: A new set of Harbor Commissioners chose Gerhard Weber as their Board president last week and went with Annie Nehmer, one of three newcomers to the Harbor District, as its secretary.

Commissioners also volunteered for a plethora of ad-hoc committees focused on personnel, infrastructure, legal affairs and policies and procedures, special events, community outreach and the Harbor District website. According to Interim Harbormaster Mike Rademaker, while each committee dives deep into its focus area, any changes would come before the full Board.

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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.

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