After a meeting called by Congressman Jared Huffman, Noyo Harbor may have finally made the funding list in the U.S Army Corps of Engineers” annual budget. A budget allocation of $500,000 for managing dredge spoils will be on the agenda at the Noyo Harbor District”s meeting at Fort Bragg Town Hall, Thursday, April 10, at 2 p.m.
The district has been struggling for decades to get a permanent answer to the question of who is responsible for the material dredged from the Noyo River. The allocation may be the first step to solving the problem, with proposed solutions including offshore disposal.
Also on the agenda are the insurance-funded tsunami repairs, a process which has been going on since the March 2011 Japanese tsunami damaged and destroyed several docks in Noyo Harbor.
Noyo Harbor has been a primary or secondary area for Fort Bragg economic growth for more than a century. The commissioners grapple monthly with the issue of how to move forward, with very little public input. Currently, a public fishing pier is in the process of being created. The commission is also grappling with the issue of how to deal with the retirement of the lone ice vendor in the harbor. Ice is crucial to commercial and recreational fishing.
