Warped wood pushes boats out of line and makes it hard for anyone to pull their boats into the Morro Bay Harbor, let alone step onto the docks themselves without fear of falling into the water.
This isn’t a new issue: Morro Bay’s docks have needed repairs for years, but Morro Bay Harbor Director Ted Schiafone feels that the damage is now too much to ignore.
“The docks at Morro Bay Harbor were in a marginal condition prior to the January 2023 storm, and in March, the additional two storms only added to that damage,” Schiafone said. “The January storm severely damaged several docks, including the fingers along the boat ramps.”
In response to the dire state of the docks, the Morro Bay City Council planned to vote on allocating up to $80,000 for emergency dock repairs at its March 28 meeting, but the meeting was postponed as blackouts affected the meeting telecast. The council rescheduled the meeting to the evening of March 29, after New Times went to press.
Schiafone said that regardless of logistical matters, the docks need to see support for repairs sooner rather than later.
“Emergency repairs are always prioritized,” he said. “If we don’t make the repairs, we would have to—need to—take these docks out of service.”
Schiafone has worked as the city’s harbor director for the past six months—and while he doesn’t have a full history of understanding the plight of Morro Bay’s docks, he said he’s seen similar issues across California harbors, which often aren’t well-maintained due to funding constraints.
“My challenge is to prioritize that maintenance all while identifying appropriate revenue sources,” he said. “Stakeholder engagement will be a necessary component of that process.”
Harbor supporters have faced an uphill battle in attempting to get money allocated for upkeep and needed infrastructure repairs. Most recently, in the November 2022 election, a parcel tax measure—the Morro Bay Harbor Infrastructure Act—intended to provide funding for harbor repair projects. The revenue would have benefitted many of the city’s docks suffering from years of disrepair and neglect.
While residents voted down the measure, the city did allocate capital funds to some harbor projects with the hope of addressing various issues over time, according to the fiscal year 2022-23 budget posted on the city’s website. However, the agendized vote on allocating funds for emergency dock repairs left residents like Betty Winholtz wondering why emergency repairs weren’t taken into account when the budget was first planned out.
“Is this saying that this [dock repair] project was going to happen eventually anyways, but now is in imminent repair due to storms–or is it saying a different project was going to happen eventually, but now some of those funds are needed for immediate damage repair?” Winholtz said in a letter submitted for public comment. “If [it’s] the latter, why was the project over-budgeted, so there are extra funds available?”
In the meantime, Schiafone and the Harbor Department are attempting to turn to FEMA as a source for helping repair this winter’s storm damage, in addition to what the city can provide.
“A storm damage assessment was conducted, and the initial estimates of the repairs are in the millions of dollars,” he said. “We have submitted an insurance claim, and are working with FEMA for other reimbursements.”
Schiafone hopes that the recent damage caused by the storms to the docks will encourage more people to support harbor emergency repair funds.
“Everyone that I have spoken to has a deep connection with the harbor,” he said. “Together we must find a solution so that our children and grandchildren can enjoy that same harbor in the future.” Δ
This article appears in Mar 30 – Apr 9, 2023.
