_{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.

Those dollars can be used to pay for environmental studies and designs in advance of seeking further funding for Harbor District projects, according to Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bahr. HMGP dollars can’t be used for construction, Bahr wrote in a workshop overview.

Wednesday’s workshop will start at 10 a.m. at the Harbor District office and will include a tour of its facilities at the port including the 70-plus-year-old Citizens Dock and an adjacent seawall, which are slated for significant upgrades.

Those rebuilds will be paid for with more than $15 million in U.S. Department of Transportation Port Infrastructure Development Program grant dollars.

Workshop attendees will visit the commercial boat basin and the boat yard, Starfish Way, Bayside and Redwood Harbor RV parks. The workshop will also touch on the South Beach bathroom project and potential development for the RV park overflow lot.

Other tour stops on Wednesday will include Anchor Way Road, the dredge material site, the sport boat area, Whaler Island Groin, the former restaurant area and leased docks at the port.

According to the workshop overview, in addition to discussing the properties’ current use and zoning, the tour will focus on planned projects, current and potential future issues as well as potential future projects.

Crescent City Harbor Commissioners approved a renewed contract with CSS at its Jan. 7 meeting for a not-to-exceed amount of $47,500. In addition to hosting the workshop, CSS would include drafting a request for proposals for further development at the port.

The firm would then be tasked with reviewing and scoring those proposals, according to the contract. Interim Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said Bahr would be communicating directly with the subcontractors who are working with the port and then pass information to Harbor District staff.

Any RFP will be brought to the Board of Commissioners for review and approval before it’s released, Bahr said. Those responses will be scored as well as how they align with the Board’s priorities. The Board will have final approval over those RFPs, Bahr said.

Before he and his colleagues unanimously approved the contract with CSS, Commissioner Dan Schmidt asked the Board to include a stipulation stating that each side will pay for their own attorneys fees and costs if they wind up in litigation.

Schmidt, who is a lawyer, said the contract should also exclude mandatory arbitration when litigation is involved and that such action should be filed in the Del Norte County Courthouse.

“The strategy in some circles is to drive up the litigation costs to such a point that they’re excessive and the matter is no longer resolved on its merits, but as a way of getting out of the litigation,” Schmidt said.

In August, before Schmidt and his fellow newcomers to the Harbor District Board took their seats, Bahr and his CSS colleague Aislene Delane presented an updated strategic development action plan to harbor commissioners.

That strategic development action plan was created in 2018 and was meant to prioritize commercial fishing. The development ideas in the updated plan include amenities for tourists including vacation rentals, a boardwalk and a shopping area as well as a large hotel and convention center.

Cold storage and office space for workers servicing offshore wind energy platforms was also in the strategic development plan. In August, Bahr said those developments would be paid for through private businesses as well as potential grant funding and government appropriations.

For more information about the workshop, including an agenda and other meeting materials, visit ccharbor.com.