I sat through Bay District Executive Director - Dave Hull’s presentation to the Arcata City Council Wednesday night, July 16 just to check out how the project is being pitched, and how the council might react. They don’t have any regulatory oversight over port development, but they may or may not exert political pressure one way or the other.

Left to right: Alex Stillman, Michael Machi, Mark Wheetley, Paul Pitino and Harmony Groves.

A month or two ago the Bay District opted in a 3-2 vote to proceed with a business plan for rail-dependent port development. However speculative this plan may be, it acts as a block to railbanking and getting Eureka – Arcata Humboldt Bay Trail because it provides a rationale for preserving the rusting tracks for future use.

There were a few interesting moments in the evening.

Bay District ED - David Hull

Hull started and ended his presentation with statements about his 12 years working for the City of Arcata and helping to create the Arcata Marsh. He even compared the Marsh to this whole port/rail effort, saying:

“It was pretty risky for the city of Arcata”

“The community persisted and turned a place where people rode motorcycles and shot seagulls in to really reclaiming your waterfront.”

“I believe this county has the ability to pull off a project on that kind of scale.”

“The time is right, I think we can do it right and I think we can do it now”

He also cited the 2003 P.B. Port and Marine Study as leading into the feasibility study and Business Plan for this rail dependent container port project. Here’s what the study says:

“Humboldt’s limited inland rail and truck access is also a significant disadvantage. Truck access to Interstate 5 should be enhanced with improvements to CA 299 at Buckhorn Pass, but highway access will still be less desirable via Humboldt than at competing ports located directly on the interstate system. Likewise rail access may be restored with the reactivation of the North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) line, but the time-consuming and circuitous southbound routing—which must backtrack though other competing port areas—will remain a limitation on Humboldt Bay’s attractiveness for most rail-oriented marine cargoes to/from points beyond the Bay Area where superior rail connections are needed to compete.”

After the presentation, Alex Stillman asked a question about the use of revenue bonds to fund a Marina as part of the project. Dave Hull talked about low interest loans as a more typical method for raising funds for that type of project, without mentioning that there is little to no discussion in the business plan of creating a marina.

Next, Harmony Groves asked whether the project would involve additional dredging. After a long winded description of the three types of dredging, Hull talked about additional dredging in front of the Redwood Dock, but not about the shoaling issues in the harbor entrance, the likely need to deepen it or the need to expand the turning basin.

After all that, no public comment was received, so a few of us stuck around to offer some different perspectives during the general comment period at the end of the council meeting.

I am beginning to operate on a theory that whenever someone harkens back to the creation of the Arcata Marsh, it might be good time to pay close attention to what is really being planned.

Look for analysis of the railroad component of the Redwood Dock business plan here is a week or two.