The new Dana Point Harbor Advisory Board held its first meeting on February 26. This was the culmination of nearly two years of work and collaboration across our harbor community to create an oversight panel akin to a proper harbor commission. At their first meeting, the DPHAB established their bylaws, set their routine public meeting schedule and selected their board officers. In the days since, they have also launched a website where you can find all of this information, including meeting agendas and supporting materials.
[To read more on the background of the DPHAB, read our previous newsletters
HERE
and
HERE
and
HERE
.]
The overall purpose of the Dana Point Harbor Advisory Board is "
to advise the County of Orange Board of Supervisors, City of Dana Point, County agencies and harbor management on public policy and successful operation of OC Dana Point Harbor."
You can read the complete DPHAB bylaws
here
.
The Advisory Board selected our own James Lenthall as chair, Dana Point Harbor Merchants Association president Jim Miller as vice-chair, and Diana Poulos as secretary. The DPHAB 2018 public meeting schedule is posted
here. For more information, you can visit the new DPHAB website here.
DPHAB to Examine Harbor Patrol Funding and Operations
The Dana Point Boaters Association has asked the DPHAB, as one of their first items of business, to consider a matter we believe to be critical to the sustainability of our harbor's economy: Dana Point Harbor Patrol funding and operations. Please see our letter to DPHAB
here
. This item has been added to their March 26 meeting
agenda
.
To be clear, we are not raising alarm over the quality of the OC Sheriff's Department harbor patrol personnel or the overall objective of their coastal law enforcement mission. We support both. Instead, the exorbitant and escalating financial burden to Dana Point Harbor is disproportionate and unsustainable, and we believe there may be more appropriate means of funding, and perhaps alternative models to achieve harbor security. As the County inches closer to entering into a contract with a developer to rebuild our harbor and manage operations for the next 66 years, we believe this vulnerability to our harbor's economy must be addressed now. We plan to follow this matter closely and will keep you apprised.
Stay tuned for news on this and other matters, including an update soon on the County's lease negotiations with our new developer and operator.
And as always, thank you for your attention and support.
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