Harbor District Selects Seawall, Dock Project Team Despite Financial Concerns

The Crescent City Harbor District took another step toward its long-awaited seawall replacement project by selecting two firms to oversee key aspects of the effort.

Commissioners selected Community Systems Solutions (CSS), represented by Mike Bahr and Benita Jangala, to provide grant project management services. The Board also selected Kimley-- Hon to serve as the project’s management consultant. Together, the two entities will play significant roles in guiding one of the Harbor District’s largest infrastructure projects in recent history.

While the appointments moved the project forward, financial concerns surrounding the Harbor District remain unresolved.

One issue that could present future challenges is the Harbor District’s financial condition. The district has not yet completed its 2025 audit, and questions also remain regarding the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 budget. Under California Harbor and Navigation Code section 6093, a harbor district budget is required to be completed and submitted to the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors no later than June 15 of each year.

Despite that statutory requirement, there have been longstanding concerns that the deadline has not been consistently enforced.

As the Harbor District continues to face financial difficulties, questions regarding timely audits, budget preparation, and fiscal oversight are expected to remain topics of public interest.

In a separate action, the Board approved awarding the lease for the Harbor’s RV parks to BSD Property Management, LLC. Managing partner Daniel Dahan. During his presentation, Dahan outlined a vision for improving the RV parks and expressed optimism about their future.

Following his presentation, public speaker Linda Sutter presented Dahan with two poster-sized photos depicting the current condition of the RV parks. “Here are your ‘before’ pictures,” Sutter said.

She added, “Anything you do to this will be a 100% improvement.”

The exchange drew attention to the deteriorated condition of portions of the RV park while highlighting public optimism that the new leaseholder’s plans could bring meaningful improvements to one of the Harbor’s important revenue-generating assets.

As the Harbor District moves forward with both the seawall replacement project and redevelopment of the RV parks, the success of those efforts may ultimately depend both on on project management and in restoring confidence in the District’s financial management and fiscal accountability.