In an eNews we emailed out to you a short time ago, we advised that we would let you know when the long rumored Dana Point Harbor dredging project was finally approved.
Well, by golly, this finally happened at the OC Board of Supervisors meeting on August 25 th. Click here to read the staff report and related information for this agenda item, which was unanimously approved within a 33 item consent calendar. Note there was a separate agenda item to dredge Sunset/Huntington Harbor which was also approved in the same consent calendar.
Click here to read the complete bid package for the Dana Point Harbor. Click here to read The Log article, as they beat us to the punch this time.
The California Coastal Commission still has to rubber stamp the dredging plan of course. We expect this to happen without fanfare since harbor dredging is a standard practice, which happens on a recurring basis in most all West Coast harbors. In the past this has routinely included Dana Point Harbor as well, except during a period during the early 2000's when those responsible for making it happen decided against doing so, or were just too busy to hire consultants to prepare reports and otherwise make the necessary arrangements.
There are a couple of things here that really trouble us:
1. Somehow the recent hallway scuttlebutt out of Santa Ana, and even conveyed in The Log article, suggests that a) Harbor dredging is somehow connected with harbor revitalization, and b) The County of Orange is doing us boaters a favor by getting the dredging scheduled on time. We hasten to point out that neither inference has any basis in fact!
Let's address the latter inference first: As we boaters with longer memories recall well from when the last harbor dredging finally happened in 2008-2009,
several years too late by-the-way, periodic dredging is REQUIRED harbor maintenance. When dredging isn't done, or isn't done on time, sail boats start running aground. First it's just the deep keel boats. Then it's any sail boat with an average keel depth. If dredging isn't done, then many slips in the West Basin and some slips in the east basin ultimately become unusable for sailboats. Sailboats occupy about to 50% of the ~2400 slips in the harbor so the facts here are that regularly scheduled dredging is a simple matter of "pay me now or pay me more later".
Regarding the inference that there is a connection between harbor dredging and landside revitalization project, we need to point out that the harbor is held in trust by The County of Orange. The harbor is legally OWNED BY the citizens of the State of California. Further, the legally binding trust agreement (the Dana Point Tidelands Trust (amended 2014), which you can read for yourself by clicking here) makes it quite clear that the harbor is to be properly maintained as a place for boats or the trust agreement will be terminated. The trust language also makes it clear that the trust allows commercial operations only as incidental its primary purpose. So, while commercial entities and misled government officials may desire that the landside commercial operations take precedence as to purpose, including a commercial core revitalization project, the law clearly says otherwise.
2. As pointed out in The Log article, Santa Ana has gone into stealth mode this year concerning Harbor Revitalization. We (DPBA leadership) had a fairly lengthy conference call with OC 5 th District Supervisor Lisa Bartlett's staffer Victor Chow back in mid-June, much of which was off the record. Back then a series of meetings were promised, starting in mid-July where the details of a new "Value Engineered" version of the landside revitalization plan would become public information, and would be discussed in specifics with DPBA and other harbor stakeholders. Those in the construction and technology industries are likely quite familiar with this term. But for others, here's a standard definition we googled off the internet:
"Value engineering (VE) is systematic method to improve the "value" of goods or products and services by using an examination of function. Value, as defined, is the ratio of function to cost. Value can therefore be increased by either improving the function or reducing the cost."
Back in June we were favorably impressed by the "outside the box" thinking of the small group of cross-department government workers and electeds reportedly meeting privately on regular basis. But it is important to also add that our positive opinion was based on a clearly stated commitment that the value engineered re-scoping of the revitalization project was to be a list of good ideas (including value propositions) that would be widely vetted publicly, in full, and (this is key) without a per-established script to roll-out decisions made in advance.
After mid-July came and went without the expected meeting being scheduled we again started reaching out to Victor Chow. Since then however, we've left several unanswered voicemail's and emails.
Yes, we've all recently seen some new harbor street signs and experienced "construction zone driving" as a result of the South Coast Water Districts "purple pipe" (reclaimed water for landscape and other use) construction on Harbor Drive. However, now it's mid-September and we're hearing from reliable sources that, while there may be some token construction starting this fall, the landside revitalization project is really on hold. We don't mean for a month or two either. We've also heard more rumors about other project scope changes. Some sound like good ideas too; other do not.
Why does the current situation trouble us? It's certainly not the delay. We're used to that. No, we're irked because it looks like the harbor revitalization project is "going back to the future".
From 2001 to 2006 the initial version of the harbor revitalization plan was developed in secret, without public disclosure or any harbor user participation (boaters anyway). Then, when the legally required public vetting process began in 2006, it quickly became apparent that the plan was completely unacceptable to the constituency it was supposed to serve. (In the current lingo it was not "value engineered".) However, some ~20 million dollars has been expended so far to make the plan where it is to date.
While not ideal, the current version of the revitalization plan is acceptable to a majority of its constituency. Yet we have not seen anything tangible so far beyond signage and purple pipe that can't be used until it is connected.
So then, now it's time to engage in another secret design process? A process that this time is being branded with a trendy, sexy term to disguise its historical significance? Déjà vu, back-to-the-future, use whatever term floats your boat. We trust you see our point and also share our concern.
Please let us know your comments or concerns by using our Boater Liaison Program (BLP). Please click here to make sure your voice is heard by completing a BLP Submission.
On behalf of fellow directors of the Dana Point boaters Association,
Rodger Beard,
DPBA President
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Thank You
At the Dana Point Boaters Association, our mission is to advocate for the preservation, enhancement, and expansion of affordable recreational boating. We strive to improve the family-friendly atmosphere and breadth of water-oriented activities we all enjoy in our harbor. As Dana Point boater advocates, our strength comes from your support and participation. We are proud of the achievements we've made together on behalf of our boating community, and we won't give up. But we can't do it without you.
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Questions should be directed by email to (Officers). Or call us at (949) 485-5656 and leave a voice mail and we'll get back to you soon.
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Mission Statement:
The Dana Point Boaters Association advocates the preservation, enhancement, and expansion of affordable recreational boating resources. We work to improve the family friendly atmosphere and breadth of water-oriented actives we all enjoy in the harbor. We serve as the watchdog by ethically protecting the rights of all boaters and representing them when collective action is most effective. We actively gather information and communicate our views to educate boaters, external interests, and public officials. We build and maintain constructive, working relationships to achieve common goals with other harbor stakeholders. We will pass on our harbor to the next generation of recreational boaters in better condition than it is today.
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