Umpires report! $67 per game to experienced Umps.

Norcal High School Umpires will have a organizational meeting February 8th at 6pm at the Prosperity Center at 520 E St in Eureka. $62 a varsity game for 1st year umps. Come on out if you are interested!

Musings on Sports

With baseball right around the corner, basketball near the All Star break and the Super bowl 50 this weekend, let me share:

I hope the Giants keep Tim Lincecum  is kept for the bullpen.  Hopeful lineup order: 1. Span 2. Panik 3. Posey  4. Belt 5. Pence 6. Crawford 7. Duffy 8. Pagan. The starting pitching should be great! I hope the A’s stay competitive all year long.

The Warriors are just totally ridiculous. 44-4? Would not have predicted that. Stephen Curry MVP? More like Draymond Green. But if Klay Thompson keeps on the streak he has been on, look out! LeBron James needs to accept his role in the Firing of Blatt. His likability is fading fast.

Is football still going? I am hoping Payton gets another ring for his great goodbye. Cam Newton looks like he will win a few himself. Let him do it next year. I hope Chip Kelly lights a fire under Kaepernick and the Niners fix the offensive line. 

Humboldt Bay needs “interim use” zoning for economic development

Local jobs and public revenues are being lost due to outdated coastal zoning designations that prevent the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation & Conservation District from leasing its property and providing economic development opportunities for our community. The Harbor District and our leasing agent have turned away many prospective tenants ranging from manufacturers to wholesale distributors because of this restriction on land use.

Other private and public coastal property owners in the City of Eureka and in the county are being impacted as well. We can’t speak for them, but we know that the Harbor District is losing out on rental income needed to support the existing infrastructure because of this barrier; and just as importantly, local residents are losing out on potential jobs.

We’re also alarmed at the declining state of many industrial buildings around Humboldt Bay as they sit vacant. Without tenants to use and maintain them, these important industrial assets, like the buildings, infrastructure and docks at former pulp mills, are deteriorating. These buildings and their associated electric, water, sewer and road infrastructure need to be utilized immediately or they risk becoming degraded to the point where they cannot be used at all.

Here’s the problem. The Harbor District’s 140-plus acres of property on the Samoa Peninsula are designated “coastal-dependent industrial” (CDI) in the Humboldt Bay Area Plan. CDI properties can only be used by tenants that directly require access to the bay, such as fishing, aquaculture, shipping, fuel terminals and facilities for offshore oil rigs.

Even uses most would consider CDI compliant such as wood-products manufacturers by the bay (i.e. pulp and lumber mills) are currently determined to be non-compliant and thus cannot be sited on CDI land.  One local company that manufactures posts for vineyards wanted to lease from us. Since they only ship by truck, they didn’t qualify—even though they hope to increase their sales enough to ship by sea in the future.

The district supports the goal and intentions behind preserving CDI zoning—to maintain essential coastal industrial land for shipping and other uses that require access to the sea. One day, some new type of business we can barely imagine now—perhaps wave energy generators—will need some of this land, and we want much of it to remain available for the future.

With over 1,300 acres of CDI-designated land on Humboldt Bay (compared to 950 acres for the Port of Oakland), and only about four percent or 50 acres in permitted use areas, we have a huge surplus of land reserved for coastal-dependent uses. The City of Eureka recently had an independent market study done which indicated that less than 10 percent (19 acres) of CDI-designated land in the city would be needed for coastal-dependent uses in the next 20 years!

Humboldt County—which has zoning jurisdiction over the Harbor District’s property—is now evaluating future needs for CDI land, and the next update of the local coastal plan will likely include proposals to change CDI designations on many parcels to more general commercial and industrial zoning.

Based on what we have seen, that process will likely take years.

That is why the district is seeking the ability to lease some of our CDI land now, especially our warehouse and shop spaces, to a wider range of industrial or commercial tenants on an “interim use” basis. We’re advocating for interim use approval by the County until the updated local coastal plan is amended and certified by the Coastal Commission.

This will allow us to rent to a broad range of industrial/manufacturing businesses. If a coastal-dependent tenant came along later, we’d move the existing tenant to another site. Coastal-dependent uses will always have priority, and lease terms will reflect this.

The district has been and continues to be committed to making sure that enough coastal industrial land remains available for businesses or other entities that need access to the sea. Given the large amount of coastal industrial land, buildings, docks and other facilities that are vacant—and have been for years—we think that granting interim use status to some of this property is not only prudent, but necessary, for job creation and to avert losing these assets’ potential for future CDI use.

Portable Toilets return to Palco Marsh.

The Times Standard did a good story on the portable toilets. Not a solution but a stop gap relief until the new trail with permanent toilets built and new solutions are created for the housepoor issue is addressed.

Porta Pottie revisited at tomorrows 1/14/16 Harbor Meeting. 7pm. Woodley Island Marina.

The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District board of Commissioners will re-visit portable toilets to be placed near camping areas around the bay. We will also be discussing illegal camping around the bay. Should be a fun one!

New Humboldt County Semi Pro Soccer Team. Welcome Emerald FC!

I am helping start a new non-profit semi professional soccer team, Emerald FC. The team will start as an under 23 male tournament team and may expand to a women under 23 program soon. The organization itself will promote higher end lower level youth soccer through a new league and camps in Humboldt. If you are interested in getting involved let me know or contact head coach Nathaniel Rivera at 707-499-1486.

NCRA meeting December 2015.

At the December 9^th meeting of the North Coast Rail Authority (NCRA) at Novato, Marin county resident Jerry Peters was elected as Chair for 2016. Sonoma County representative Alan Hemphill was selected vice chair of the 9 person board. The positions are pretty traditionally rotated by counties. Humboldt County 2^nd District Supervisor Estelle Fennell served as chair for 2015.

Former North Coast Congressman Doug Bosco spoke for NCRA operator North Western Pacific Co. (NWPco) and updated the NWPco status with the Sonoma Marin Area Rapid Transit (SMART). It seems they are getting along better and not at odds. SMART recently tested the tracks for their trains at 80 miles an hour during a “Positive Train Control” program, which helps transit and freight coordinate to keep each other’s operations safe. SMART has agreed to put in some rail spurs as has DUTRA at $600,000 a switchback to help move freight cargo along the rail. NWPco garnered a new customer to haul 200 carloads a year of wheat grain out of Alberta. Bosco predicted NWPco approaching 1,000 carloads by next year. Hopes were for continued railroad freight expansion to Cloverdale in the near future. He estimated the cost at 6 million dollars and identified Mendocino Forest Products as a benefited customer. Mr. Bosco suggested maybe another future partnership between the NCRA and NWPco for another Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan.

Harbor District in Shelter Cove today.

The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District Board of Commissioners will be meeting with the residents of Shelter Cove to see if they would like the district to take a more active role at the Cove. Meeting is tonight, Dec. 11th at 5pm. Hope to see you there.

Get your Bernie bumper sticker yet?

LP Pulp Mill 1974. What was.

Old you tube video from 1974 showing pulp making processes. I recognize Mary Pawlyk, Tom Fenwick, Ron Ross, Norm Miller and Jack Hamilton. Any old pulp mill workers recognize any others?

Republican debate. Marco Rubio the best Republican choice?

The latest Republican  debate was kind of an eye opener. Bush, no chance. Donald, complete joke. Cruz, marginal. Carson, overwhelmed. I always like to monitor these forums to see who will be the biggest threat to a Democratic candidate. Marco Rubio seems to be the one big threat to the Democratic party. Whether the nomination for Dem is Hillary or Bernie, don't discount the Marco as a worthy opponent. Just fair warning.

Love us or Hate us, this Commission has done alot! Congrats to Dale and Higgins.

Love us or hate us, we get sh** done! I would like to address some misinformation and provide updates on what has been done the last four years.

From an economic development and job creation perspective the district has been on a path of growth. This commission continues to be successful in working with our elected representatives at the state and congressional levels to lobby the Army Corps of Engineers for the continued dredging of Humboldt Bay even through lean ship traffic years. Working with local exporters there has been an increase in ship tonnage volume by over 100,000 tons this last year and we anticipate double that next year.

In order to have local control over the process of regularly dredging our docks, the commission purchased a dredge. The last time that Woodley Island and Eureka Marina were dredged by an outside company, it cost 3.2 million dollars. The cost savings by doing it locally will save both Eureka and Harbor District millions.

This commission acquired the former Evergreen Pulp Mill with its many assets our community was at risk of losing, including a commercial dock, needed warehousing, ocean outfall and other infrastructure that would have cost tens of millions to replace.  The district immediately went to work cleaning up the site that, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, was an “immediate danger” to the health of the bay. The Harbor District successfully worked with the EPA who paid for most of the work to safely remove nearly 3 million gallons of caustic chemicals which were repurposed by a pulp mill in Washington. In addition, we continue with our oyster pre-permitting project that has interest from 11 new oyster companies which will bring more jobs to Humboldt.

This commission has done much to help local fishermen. We created a new gear storage area at Redwood Dock Terminal 1 that cleared space on Woodley Island and reduced the price to store fishing gear. We recently opened offloading at Woodley Island for the convenience of our local commercial fishermen. Increasing maintenance workers has allowed for repair and upgrades to bathroom facilities. We are in the final stages of permitting a Fish Market at Woodley Island to accommodate small scale purchasing and sales of fresh fish right off the docks. Recently the District enacted a “Right to Fish” ordinance, the first of its kind in California that protects and elevates commercial fishing activities above all others.

We not only expanded our Fields Landing boat repair facility, we added electronic gates so fishermen have 24 hour access. The recent structure and environmental upgrades, including the repair of the onsite water treatment facility, attracted a steel boat fabricator that allows repairs to stay local. Fishermen are now allowed to stay on their boats while they are in the process of being repaired. We have also stocked the facility with repair items such as paint and scrappers.

The Harbor Commission continues to support the fish cleaning station at Shelter Cove and has made many environmental improvements in the last few years, including repairing the breakwater structure protecting the harbor.

This commission has provided opportunities for Recreation by creating affordable kayak storage units, and finalizing the permitting process of the water trails project. We accepted the maintenance and operation responsibility of the Samoa Trail Project. We continue to support the Sea Scouts and built a new clubhouse for them in Samoa, and support Boy Scout endeavors on Woodley Island Marina.

On the Conservation side, this commission continues the removal of invasive Spartina vegetation to help our marshes to be more productive. We continue water quality monitoring around the Humboldt Bay as well as Shelter Cove. We did a carrying capacity study for potential local oyster expansion. We have held Eel Grass mitigation workshops as well as dredge sediment reuse meetings. We have also managed a sea level rise study and were successful in managing an Aquaponics demonstration project on the Samoa Peninsula that grew fish and lettuce and is now part of a partnership with HSU fisheries. The District is also working with HSU on several renewable energy projects.

The District has never been more transparent and accessible. In fact we are one of the only local special districts that posts our meeting minutes online and records and posts our meetings on public access TV. Our staff is prompt and courteous with all requests for public documents.

Finally, the hiring of current Executive Director Jack Crider was a much needed addition to move the District on the right path – keeping services and adding others while at the same time controlling spending. It is hard to imagine how many complex projects we work on with a budget of just 2 million dollars a year and a staff of 14.

I am proud of the vision and accomplishments of my hardworking fellow commissioners and our dedicated staff and I look forward to continuing the momentum, moving Humboldt Bay ahead both economically and environmentally. 

Last Tourney of the year.

Pulp Mill employees welcome to tour tomorrow 10/13/15 at 10am.

Some former employees of the Pulp Mill are going to come out tomorrow and see the status of the clean up and what it going on for the future. So if you are in interested in the tour, meet out at the old security gate at 10am.

Tomales Bay Oyster Co has too many customers! Humboldt could use this!

The Tomales Bay Oyster co is being asked by Marin County to scale back it's operation. They might have to turn away 500 people per day! Humboldt Bay Harbor CEO Jack Crider did a report a few months ago about the concept of a Humboldt Oyster Restaurant and we have drafts of what it would look like. I say lets move this project forward on Woodley Island!

CMANC Committee to lobby for 7.8 million for Dredging Humboldt Harbor. Over twice our current allocation.

I attended a recent California Marine Affairs and Navigation Conference  (CMANC) meeting in Layfayette. This was my first meeting since being elected to the Board of Directors. What does CMANC do or what is it?

“CMANC is a consortium of California harbors, ports and marine interest groups. The mission of CMANC is to optimize California maritime benefits by providing advocacy for the maintenance and improvement of California harbors, ports and navigation projects. CMANC works with the California legislature and congressional delegation to make sure that California maritime interests are supported by the federal and state government to the greatest extent possible.”

It was nice to hear other ports issues and how they came up with solutions. CMANC is helping lobby for Humboldt Bay harbor dredge budget to be raised from 3.1 million to CMANC’s recommendation of 7.8 million.  Dredging spoils were discussed in the morning and challenges for beneficial reuse projects. Duck’s Unlimited representative Steven Carroll spoke to the need of mud in the bay area in a place called Cullinan. The issue is off loading the mud to the area. Consultant Ellen Johnck outlined a potential South Bay Salt Pont restoration project at Eden Landing, near the Port of Redwood City. Dr. Michael MacWilliams explained how the tide marshes will not be able to keep pace with sea level rise. Dredge spoils are targeted to use 40% in reuse purposes in the San Francisco bay. The problem? There are no off loaders available for reuse. No contractors are willing to take a 10 million dollar risk investment so this is a real problem for the future.

In the afternoon Joe Calara of the United States Army Core of Engineers (USACE) explained that 40% of all imports comes through California Ports and International trade represents 40% of the state’s economy.  Dredging represents 400 billion in US commerce.  US Marine transportation represents 2 Trillion dollars in commerce and employs 13 million people! $953 Billion Dollars in Freight flows in Northern California.

Alameda County Transportation Commission Executive Director pointed out 33% of all jobs in Alameda is goods movement related. His organizations budget is $320 million dollars. Oakland is the 5^th largest Port in the US.  

Newport Harbor boss Chris Miller spoke to their harbor’s eel Grass issues. Their goal was to develop a more effective useful maintenance dredge permit approach; Independent on ecosystem based approach for eel grass management. They are going to use Regional General Permits that are developed to avoid unnecessary regulatory control over activities that do not justify individual control or which are adequate. So for the 11 to 15 ft that are being proposed as individual dredge projects combined stay at 16.8 acres, they will only have to mitigate or replant .84 acres. And each parcel owner can use their own plans for replanting the eel grass.

Port of Oakland Principle Assistant to the Executive Director Jean Baker gave a summary of opportunities and challenges of their port and how they are handling bigger ships that need longer berths, deeper channels and higher cranes. Even though updates on under carriages for trucks and better road ability, there is still congestion with ships backing up because of a shortage of labor. The port and their contractor PMA agreed with the hiring of 150 more longshoremen and the ability to have the “gangs” at full working capacity.  (There are currently 423 “casuals.” That will help the turn time for terminal operators.  The Port Efficiency Task Force is also looking into open on Saturdays. (Currently the port only operates Monday through Friday 7am to 5pm.) The Howard property next to Jack London square is being considered for a new sports arena. The transportation of coal through Oakland is looming in the future even though the coal industry is stagnant currently.

The Short Sea Shipping project or the Maritime Highway 5 project was less than a success with only 40 containers actually moved and the project being subsidized by Stockton. There was also the issue of strange floating vegetation that was several feet deep and causing problems in the waterways. 

Trinidad unsafe? Mugging today would say "YES".

I heard third hand about an assault and robbery in Trinidad today at one of the beaches. This lady had been going to the same spot for years and there were hikers and other beach enthusiasts around. She was knocked down from behind and held with a knife as the assailant took her handbag. The assailant demanded her to take her to her car and she totally refused. The person then just walked away. The victim called the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department and was told that wasn't their jurisdiction and to call a county park ranger. They did and were told by the ranger they had had multiple robbery complaints lately and said people should not walk alone. I hadn't heard of any problems recently. What is going on!

North Coast Rail Authority update 9/9/15

At yesterday’s North Coast Rail Authority (NCRA) meeting the Directors had an update on Rail with Trail projects in both Eureka and Arcata. We actually granted the License permit for the City of Eureka so looks like we have progress in moving forward.  Arcata’s request for license will be forthcoming in January it looks like. Any progress is good progress. 

Local builder Kelly Martin came forward with a pre-proposal to renovate the old NCRA office at the Balloon Tract and lease it out. Right now it is just blight that has been ransacked inside by vagrants and has been a home to feral cats.

We had a discussion about a rail spur at the old Palco Fortuna property. Seems there might be a manufacturing outfit that wants to do business there and they just want to make sure the NCRA does not own interest on the property. (We don’t) 

  

Director Paul Kelley from Sonoma County shared a newsletter called the Western Railroader from 1956. Some highlights: Passenger rail service between San Rafael and Eureka resumed after 4 month interruption by winter floods slides and washouts.  Daily overnight passenger service between Eureka and San Rafael was replaced by triweekly daytime service. Rates from San Francisco to Stockton were raised from $1.62 to $2.12.  

CR football. Same results. Where are the locals?

There are more players from Las Vegas on the CR football team than there are from Humboldt County! Why? Got me. I watched their games this Saturday and was shocked to see no fans in the stands. Why? They have been condemned! So they put some stands up near the west side end zone. I walked up and down the track following play close behind the CR bench. At the beginning of the game it seemed CR was totally unorganized, but they seemed to find a stride and even some momentum and led 28-14 going into the 4th. Then they fumbled at around the 14 minute mark and the wheels just fell off. I left with about 3 minutes to go and Monterey was winning 42-28. This team needs to find hero's soon or this season will be a long one.

Trails with Rails on the way in Humboldt!

The North Coast Rail Authority (NCRA) property committee that I am part of moved to recommend adoption of licensing agreements to the City of Arcata and the City of Eureka for their trails projects! This is really happening! An update in the form of a presentation by the City of Arcata will be on the agenda for May 9th at the BOS chambers at 10:30am!