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WEEKEND EDITION

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2020

SERVING OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1879 • WWW.TRIPLICATE.COM

City cuts nearly $500K By David Hayes The Triplicate

David Hayes Photos, The Triplicate

More than 100 protesters holding signs and flags drew honks of support from passing motorists and truck drivers on May 6 in Crescent City.

Second round of protests David Hayes The Triplicate

A second round of protestors took to the sidewalks in front of the Del Norte County Fair on May 6 to keep the economic harm the COVID-19 closures are causing in the front of the minds of local community leaders, according to organizer Dean Wilson. Wilson, the former Del Norte County Sheriff, said the protest proves there are still people in the community who want to see something done locally. “It’s hard sometimes to get their attention when they’re holding all their meetings on Zoom,” Wilson said of city and county officials. “We should be self-reliant, doing what’s best for Del Norte County. Just like Modoc County did, Tehama County, some of these other counties that opened up regardless of what Sacramento told them to do because one size does not fit all. What’s happening in Los Angeles and San Diego counties with COVID-19 outbreaks, we don’t have those kinds of problems in our community.” More than 100 protestors holding signs and flags, drew honks of support from passing motorists and truck drivers. The protest drew a wide representation of the community affected

A second protest calling for the governor to allow counties to reopen was held on the sidewalk in front of the Del Norte County Fair on May 6 in Crescent City.

by the shutdown. Bailee Gosser, 17, has been forced to take all her College of the Redwoods courses online. “It’s been a struggle adjusting to everything online. We’re working it out,” Gosser said. “Hopefully we can go back in the fall. The city council needs to hear this protest message and our professors need to hear that converting things online isn’t the way to go. We’re not getting the same education as in class.” Ed Salsedo closed his Log Cabin Diner in Klamath for the day to join the protest. Last week, he was forced to abandon

an effort to offer dine-in services after being rebuked by county and Yurok Tribe officials. However, he was at the day’s protest to lend his voice to the bigger picture. “I think this is for the whole county. We are protesting the state closure by (Gov. Gavin) Newsom and the county closure for going along when they only have three cases and there’s no reason to close the county down for three cases,” Salsedo said. “I’m here to support the county and tell Newsom we’re ready to open up.” Another protestor wearing a Darth Vader mask, who support-

ed small businesses, said he wore the mask to remain anonymous for fear of a vindictive reprisal from the community. “The larger-type businesses like Walmart and Home depot are fully open. The small businesses, which are always going to struggle more than the bigger box store, what’s the difference between going to Walmart and practicing safe distancing and doing the same in small businesses?” he said. “It was fine in the beginning to step back, take a breath, figure out what’s going on. Now, at this point, essentially the cure is getting worse than the disease. You’re destroying business life, family-owned businesses. You’ve got to open it back up.” Wilson said he was pleased by the turnout and hopes the community leaders get the message they can’t afford to wait to take action. “One of my bigger concerns I have is the longer these businesses are closed, the hotels are unable to operate, we’re not going to have the money the local government needs to provide the services that the community deserves,” Wilson said. “Even if they open back up, we’re going to have a segment of the population that’s going Please see Protest, Page A9

First phase of project authorized By David Hayes The Triplicate

Despite facing budgetary shortfalls due to the pandemic-caused economic shutdown, the Crescent City City Council couldn’t pass up a “once-in-alifetime” opportunity and voted to move forward funding a bank stabilization project along Pebble Beach Drive. City Manager Eric Wier explained December 2016 storms caused significant erosion along Pebble Beach Drive from Preston Island to Sixth Street. A combination of funding factors are available to pay for 97 percent of the initial preliminary engineering (PE) portion of the repair project. “This is a great opportunity, a once in a lifetime for this community,” Wier said. “The FHWA will pick up approximately 88 percent of costs, Caltrans will then be able to contribute about

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David Hayes, The Triplicate

The Crescent City City Council is moving forward on the first phase of the Pebble Beach stabilization project. In December 2016 storms caused significant erosion along Pebble Beach Drive from Preston Island to Sixth Street. 10 percent, leaving the local level to fund 3 percent overall.” Initial staff and consultant estimates in 2019 put PE costs at $458,000 and another

$3,382,950 for construction. The city was originally approved to receive funds to cover the $458,000. Due to delays in the request

for the bidding process, caused twice by the city only receiving single bids, COWI North America, Inc., out of Oakland, Calif., submitted a bid that was finally authorized by Caltrans. Wier said their new PE cost came to $1.1 million due to the passage of time and a more detailed look at the scope to complete the project. Del Norte County has also contracted with COWI to perform similar PE work along its section of Pebble Beach Drive. Wier said the city can move forward with the project and spend its funds to make up the PE shortfall of $651,738. In the past, Congress has allocated additional funding for disasters after the appropriations were fully spent. If Congress chooses to do so for this disaster, the city would then be eligible for reimbursement. The staff report notPlease see Project, Page A9

Looking at an estimated $650,000 shortfall to the last quarter of the city’s general fund, the Crescent City City Council approved plans to cut discretionary spending in the remaining 2019-20 budget. City Manager Eric Wier called staff’s proposed General Fund budget reductions — a total of $499,630 out of the currently authorized $6,990,931 — an unfortunate reality under the current economic uncertainties. “The financial situation is going to become a part of the new normal,” he said. “Right now, as we look at revenue projections in the staff report, there’s a revenue shortfall from what we budgeted around $650,000 just to July 1 this year. This quarter started March 1, so that’s just the last three months with the loss of sales tax and TOT (transient occupancy tax). Those are the kind of deficits we’re facing as a city.” Wier said with no guarantee of receiving state or federal dollars to backfill the city’s shortfall, staff looked at making severe cuts this budget year that won’t affect the city adversely long term. “We’ll probably see something like this come before the council every couple of months as we become better informed to make decisions. The sooner we act the better we’ll be off in a financial standpoint,” Wier said. Looking at the proposed list of cuts, Mayor Blake Inscore said it Please see Budget, Page A2

County asks state to relax restrictions By David Hayes The Triplicate

As a fourth case of the COVID-19 coronavirus was confirmed this week in Del Norte County, the county’s public health officer has reached out to the state to loosen its restrictions on vacation rentals and RV parks to try to import small levels of COVID-19 locally. Dr. Warren Rehwaldt’s meeting with a Del Norte County Supervisors Thursday to approve his final draft of the letter to the California Department of Health was after The Triplicate’s deadline. In the letter, Rehwaldt reported the fourth coronavirus case was first reported April 25 and confirmed this week. The patient is recovering at home and the case is still being investigated through contact tracing. Rehwaldt told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday he didn’t want Del Norte County to be well along the path of reopening without being able to track viral activity. However, he emphasized that relaxing safety measures will put some at risk for severe illness. “I made the case to the state yesterday, during my presentation, that we actually needed some relaxation of a Stage 3 item — namely allowing some short-stay travelers to come in and stay in our county — to bring virus into the county so we have something to measure,” Rehwaldt said during the Please see Restrictions, Page A7

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