Jessica Cejnar Andrews / Monday, Feb. 14, 2022 @ 7:18 p.m. / Community, Local Government
'This is Not My Harbor, This is Not My Vision'; Developer to Meet With Crescent City Harbor Commissioners, RV Park Residents
Alex Lemus, CEO of Renewable Energy Capital, was integral to getting the solar system up and running at the Crescent City Harbor. File photo: Jessica C. Andrews
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The man behind a redevelopment project at the Crescent City Harbor says while revitalizing the port’s two RV parks is an integral part of a larger endeavor, he won’t do the project at the expense of the residents who live there.
Alex Lemus, CEO of Renewable Energy Capital, estimates that the overall redevelopment of the port will cost $40-50 million. But, he said, the scope depends on what the Crescent City Harbor District Board of Commissioners and the community wants.
“This is not my harbor,” Lemus said during an interview with the Wild Rivers Outpost and KFUG Community Radio on Monday. “This is not my vision. My job is to execute (their) plan.”
Lemus will appear at before the Crescent City Harbor District Board of Commissioners at 2 p.m. Tuesday to answer questions from residents of Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village RV parks.
Those residents harbor doubts about the projects, stating they’re worried they may be evicted as a result, though Lemus and Harbor District officials have vehemently denied that this will happen.
Tuesday’s Q&A session with Lemus comes about two weeks after he and commissioners promised to create two transition plans for each park as well as individual transition plans for the residents living there.
Both Lemus and Harbor District Commissioners have promised not to break ground on construction until the plans are completed and both parties have signed off on it.
“I’m not here to make anybody homeless — I don’t want that on my resume,” Lemus told KFUG and the Outpost. “I think we have to sit down (and ask residents), ‘Do you want to live here during the redevelopment? Do you want to stay? ‘Cause I’m not here to evict anybody.”
Lemus became acquainted with Crescent City and its harbor in late 2016 when he was approached by then harbormaster Charlie Helms and his deputy Lane Tavasci.
Harbor commissioners at the time were trying to get a solar project underway in an effort to save money on their electricity costs, and Helms and Tavasci were impressed with a photovoltaic system Lemus had built at the Humboldt Bay Harbor District.
Lemus met with harbor commissioners, signed a power purchase agreement and introduced them to American Diversified Energy, a Costa Mesa firm that would be a tax equity partner that would build the 1 megawatt system in Crescent City.
After delays on ADE’s part, Lemus stepped back in and the first phase of the system came online in June 2020.
In December, Lemus answered a request for proposals from the Crescent City Harbor, which was looking for ideas for making the port more attractive to tourists. He said when he responded to the Harbor District’s RFP, he told commissioners that he would provide development services, development capital and help them achieve their goal.
According to Lemus, their goal was to redevelop the entire harbor in an effort to generate more revenue, starting with Bayside and Redwood Harbor RV parks.
“The idea was we would use the RV parks by improving them to help finance all the infrastructure that doesn’t generate revenue without exposing the taxpayers,” Lemus said. “You need cash flow or you need a balance sheet and a credit rating; unfortunately the Crescent City Harbor District doesn’t have any of those. So you got to make do with what you have. My idea was let’s improve the RV parks so we can generate more revenue and then you can leverage that.”
Lemus unveiled his proposed redevelopment project for Bayside RV Park in August 2021, which includes upgrading the landscaping and infrastructure and purchasing Airstream travel trailers as well as cabins for short-term overnight stays.
He proposes placing electric vehicle charging stations at the old Spotty’s Car Wash near Fisherman’s Restaurant and installing more solar panels on the former car wash building.
Lemus said he has also spoken with local fishermen and proposes building a co-op near the Harbor District office allowing them to sell their catch to local businesses.
Lemus said a rough idea of the projects planned for the Crescent City Harbor can be seen at NorCalfishmarket.com.
But there are still the 86 individual RV park residents to consider, 10 to 15 of whom have no place to go, Lemus said Monday. Residents have said their vehicles wouldn’t be acceptable at other parks. Some aren’t even sure their RVs will move.
At the Harbor District’s Feb. 1 meeting, though some RV park residents were reassured by the Lemus’s proposition to create transition plans for them, one, Eva Campbell asked she and her neighbors would be able to have access to an independent advocate that could represent their interests.
On Monday, Lemus said he thinks Campbell’s request was fair — the RV park’s current residents should have someone guiding and advising them. He said he expects residents to ask for more details on the transition plans.
“I think the challenge here is balancing the rights and needs of 86 residents with the 30,000 residents,” he said, adding that he’s spoken to people in the community who are eager to see improvements at the harbor. “We’ll do the best we can to balance those two out.”
The Crescent City Harbor District meets at 2 p.m. at 101 Citizens Dock Road in Crescent City. Meetings are also held via Zoom; enter passcode 182536.
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