Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz Projects to reconstruct Citizens Dock and replace an adjacent seawall have cleared environmental hurdles and are on track to begin in May, according to the Crescent City Harbor District’s grants consultant. At a special meeting Friday, Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bahr told the Harbor Board that they can expect to see a contract from the U.S. Maritime Administration on their Wednesday agenda. This contract is associated with the 2022 Port Infrastructure Development Program grant that’s paying for the seawall replacement project. It will be about 30 more days before the Harbor District Board sees the contract for the 2024 PIDP grant that’s paying for the Citizens Dock reconstruction, Bahr said. The Board of Commissioners has to officially commit to meeting match requirements for both grant programs in order for MARAD to release those funds, he said. “What’s before you is an update document that says ‘we are still committing match from the Harbor District,’” Bahr said. “On this agenda, you’ll see the previous board adopted two resolutions, one for the 2022 grant and 2024 grant that committed matching funds.” Four commissioners on Friday approved sending a letter to PIDP Grants Manager Bryan Herdliska reaffirming the Harbor District’s intent to provide matching funds to the 2022 and 2024 PIDP grants. Commissioner Annie Nehmer was absent. According to the Board’s draft letter, the Harbor District received more than $15.36 million in 2022 and 2024 PIDP funding for replacing the seawall and reconstructing Citizens Dock. As a result, the Crescent City Harbor District is required to contribute about $3.84 million toward both projects “from its revenue, tax sources and other non federal grants and awards,” according to its draft letter to Herdliska. On Friday, Bahr said the Harbor District has about $1 million in California Coastal Conservancy dollars available to apply toward the PIDP match requirement. The district is also pursuing an additional $5 million Coastal Conservancy construction grant that could be used toward the Harbor District’s match as well as pay for any cost overruns, Bahr said. According to Bahr, in order for the Harbor District to apply for the Coastal Conservancy’s construction grant, it had to have completed the California Environmental Quality Act process. It took 22 months to meet both federal and state environmental permitting requirements, he said. The Coastal Conservancy also “require a federal grant they are working with,” Bahr said. He told commissioners Friday that he would submit the “pre-application” forms for that grant this week. According to its proposed contract with MARAD for the seawall replacement project, the work involves demolishing the existing wall and the rusted hoist that sits on top of it. The asphalt and cement parking lot will be removed and any dirt, rock and fill that have washed out will be replaced. New asphalt will be applied to the parking area. The truck parking and seafood packing area will be redesigned to increase the number of vehicles the area can hold. There will also be new electrical infrastructure and new hoists installed. As for Citizens Dock, in 2024, then-harbormaster Tim Petrick told the Wild Rivers Outpost that the goal was to make the 70-year-old wharf as multi-use as possible. Moffatt & Nichol have been working on the design and permitting phases for both projects since their inception. On Friday, Bahr assured Commissioner Rick Shepherd, a long-time commercial fisherman who has been adamant that Citizens Dock needed to be rebuilt, that Moffatt & Nichol will make sure the Harbor District is ordering the right equipment and labor. The Crescent City Harbor District’s regular meeting will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at 101 Citizens Dock Road in Crescent City. Agendas and links to the Zoom webinar are available here.