» Port upgrades security, parking facilities

By Steve McCasland
Staff Writer
Thursday, August 13, 2009 | 1 comment(s) The Port of Bandon has improved its building security and also is upgrading its waterfront parking facilities using grant funding from Special Districts of Oregon and the Oregon State Marine Board.

General Manager Gina Dearth said the port used a $5,000 Special Districts grant in 2008 to install security cameras inside the historic old Coast Guard building, where its offices and those of numerous private businesses are located.

Another $5,000 grant from the same source covered the cost of installing exterior security lighting on the east, west and north sides of the building this month.

“Three sides are now fitted with marine-grade, heavy duty, stainless steel floodlight fixtures and bulbs,” Dearth said. “The installation of the fixtures and wiring was completed by Pennie Electric of Bandon on Aug. 5, so we now have security on the previously unlit sides of the building. This should help prevent thieves and vagrants from entering the property.”

Dearth added that, while she feels the south (street-facing) side of the building is adequately lit for now, port staff would like at some point to locate historically accurate fixtures for the building’s front.

“They would mount directly to the building and would improve the lighting even more,” she said. Parking lot work

Two Coos Bay area companies have contracted to improve the port’s asphalt parking lots on the waterfront using a $10,470 grant from the Marine Board.

Coast Pavement Maintenance of North Bend restriped all the parking spaces, crosswalks, “no parking” areas and so forth on Aug. 5 and 6. Knife River Co. has been contracted to patch degraded asphalt in several places in September, then Coast Pavement will return and seal all the new patches.

“The entire asphalt parking area was sealed several years ago,” Dearth noted.

Dump station

The Marine Board awarded a $31,800 grant to the port in April to allow the agency to improve sewage handling capabilities in the boat basin. “We’re advertising for bids now for a new shoreside vessel sewage pump-and-dump station in the marina,” Dearth said. “The grant will pay for purchasing the equipment and hiring a company to install it. We should have received the bids by mid-August, and the entire project should be complete by the end of October.”

New marina sought

Port staff has made two applications to federal agencies for $3.5 million in funding to reconstruct the marina.

In January, the port filed paperwork requesting a federal appropriation of $3.5 million in the year 2010 to fund a new marina.

“Senators (Ron) Wyden and (Jeff) Merkley are pushing for us on this,” Dearth said. “They have submitted a request to the Senate Appropriations Committee on behalf of our boat basin revitalization project.”

As of last week, no decision had been made on the award.

In June, the port applied for a similar amount of federal assistance through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration.

“We expect to hear in September whether we can remain in the running for that grant,” said Dearth. “We hope they will invite us to keep moving forward in the grant-seeking process.”

The port’s marina/ boat basin on First Street Southeast was built in the early 1980s.