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Outdated lease rates and mounting costs for “non-necessity amenities” like cable may prompt the Crescent City Harbor District to increase the rent at Bayside RV Park.

Thomas Zickgraf, the port’s finance manager, told commissioners on Tuesday that the park was operating at a projected annual loss of nearly $100,000. He recommended the Harbor District’s finance ad-hoc committee consider potential changes to how the park operates.

“We made changes to our fee schedule, we’re doing audits of our commercial leases,” he said, adding that this is what the losses could be between January and June 2024. “The one thing we haven’t done is really look at our operations and what is it costing to operate our RV park, and how we want to operate our RV park.”

Zickgraf said the Harbor District’s finance ad-hoc committee should consider making changes to how the park operates and bring that information back to the entire Board of Commissioners.

Harbormaster Tim Petrick said the $100,000 projected loss accounts for what the Harbor District owes to the Bayside’s previous owners, Dwelley & Frazier. Other than that continued debt, Petrick said the Harbor District is almost breaking even by operating Bayside as a residential park.

“Obviously transient stays are at a higher rate, but they require a lot more management and operations [costs] as well,” Petrick said. “Currently the monthly rates at Bayside are outdated and haven’t been adjusted in nearly six years.”

According to Petrick, the Crescent City Harbor District pays all the utilities at Bayside RV Park. He said the finance committee may recommend changes to the rental rate and how the utilities and amenities are paid.

Most residential RV parks require residents to pay their own utilities, Petrick noted.

“Any increases in fees will need to be publicly noticed for at least 21 days and voted upon by the board as the fees are set by ordinance,” he told the Outpost.

Meanwhile, it’s been nearly two months since its previous leaseholder, San Diego-based developer Alex Lemus, agreed to relinquish control of Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village RV Park. However, the Harbor District has yet to see the $100,000 Lemus agreed to pay as part of that settlement, Petrick said.

On Tuesday, Petrick told commissioners that when the $100,000 settlement payment didn’t materialize, the Harbor District asked Del Norte County Superior Court Judge Robert Cochran to enforce it. However, the judge gave Lemus until later in January to explain why he hasn’t paid, Petrick said.

“We are now requesting all new attorneys fees and some payments received by REC after the settlement that were unreported,” he said.

Lemus had unveiled plans in August 2021 to upgrade amenities in an effort to attract short-term visitors to both Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village, which the Harbor District also owns. He had entered into lease agreements with the Harbor in April 2022 and said he planned to finalize REC’s takeover in 2023.

By June 2023 communications between Lemus and the Harbor District had broken down. Lemus told the Outpost that his company had uncovered issues, including black mold and allegations of drug use and prostitution, with both parks and were uncomfortable taking on the liability for them.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Harbor Commissioners were concerned with some of the utility costs. In his report, Zickgraf stated that projected utility costs for electric and gas between through June 2024 are $40,000. He projected the costs for propane to be $6,600 through June and Wifi and cable to be $7,200.

According to Petrick, the propane is used for the water heaters in the bathroom and the dryers at the park. He said at the beginning of winter people were running hot water in the showers and the heaters in the bathroom to stay warm instead of having a heater in their own trailer.

“That was all a huge increase in usage during that time period,” Petrick said. “I do anticipate that we’ve made changes, but we’re going to continue to make more changes to improve our operation.”

Zickgraf said he was recommending the finance committee find a way to make Bayside work so it’s not losing money but provides a safe community for its long-term residents.

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