Thumbnail photo: Bayside RV Park in June 2023. | File photo by Jessica C. Andrews Harbor Commissioner Dan Schmidt was absent. Among the items discussed at the Crescent City Harbor District’s special meeting Wednesday: No Lighted Boat Parade This Year: With harsh weather in the forecast and only nine vessels participating so far, CCHD Board Chairman Rick Shepherd said the lighted boat parade will be canceled. This decision came after fiscal officer Sandy Moreno volunteered to organize the parade at the Board’s Dec. 3 meeting. Moreno had proposed holding the parade this Saturday and commissioners agreed to offer a $25 utility credit to participants. On Monday, however, Shepherd also pointed out that with four people tackling CCHD duties currently, “sometimes we try to do too much.” “I think activities need to be addressed and put on an agenda so that we know they’re coming up,” he said. “I want to put together (at) the first of the year, an event calendar and that way the staff and everybody will see it coming up ahead of time.” On Dec. 3, the Board of Commissioners agreed to Moreno’s proposal to host a chamber mixer on Feb. 12. Moreno had also proposed holding a crab feed, however Shepherd said that prospect was iffy. The decision to cancel the parade drew criticism from one commenter who said that he had spent the weekend decking his boat out in Christmas lights. He said he didn’t get the notice CCHD sent out on Tuesday that the parade was canceled. RV Park Leases: Commissioners entered into a $10,000 agreement with developers Sean McGraw and Scott Lawhon over the exclusive right to negotiate a lease for Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village RV parks. Reporting out from closed session on Monday, Shepherd said he and his colleagues gave CCHD staff a Dec. 31 deadline by which to conclude negotiations with the Orange County-based developers. Any lease agreement coming out of those negotiations would go to the full Board of Commissioners for approval, according to Harbormaster Mike Rademaker. McGraw and Lawhon presented their plans to revitalize the RV parks to make them attractive for visitors at a meeting in July. McGraw, a realtor who has sold properties in Southern California, Oklahoma and Georgia, compared Crescent City to his hometown of Dana Point in the 1970s. They hope to attract travelers with newer larger motorhomes while preserving a percentage of the sites at Bayside for long-term tenants with monthly leases. They mentioned changing the parks’ layout, planting native “low-maintenance” plants for landscaping and building “cabin-like RV rentals” for those who don’t have motorhomes. SAVE Grant: Shepherd credited his colleague Annie Nehmer for cluing the Harbor District into a $12,000 California Department of Boating and Waterways grant to remove derelict vessels. According to Nehmer, the Surrendered and Abandoned Vessel Exchange grant only applies to recreational vessels. There’s a different grant program for commercial boats, she said, adding that the harbor will pursue those funds in the future. Four members of the Harbor Board authorized Rademaker to execute the grant agreement. “Obviously $12,000 isn’t going to go a long way but it’s going to help,” he said.