Port Awards $792,500 to 19 Organizations Participating in its Fee for Service and Marketing Sponsorship Program

At the April 10 Board of Port Commissioners meeting, the Port of San Diego awarded $792,500 to 19 organizations participating in the annual Marketing Sponsorship and Fee for Service program for fiscal year 2007-2008. In addition, 21 organizations will receive Port services valued at $254,300.

The purpose of the Fee for Service program is to sponsor or contract with organizations that provide a sponsorship or service that directly assists the Port with achieving its strategic goals. In order to qualify for the funding, applicants must provide proof that their event or program provides direct benefit to the Port, businesses on Port tidelands and the greater San Diego region.

Organizations receiving funding include the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the San Diego Film Commission, San Diego Fleet Week Foundation, San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, Pacific Life Holiday Bowl for the Big Bay Balloon Parade and the San Diego World Trade Center.

Also in this issue…

Port Employee Named Examiner of the Year for the California Award for Performance Excellence (CAPE)

Port Begins Environmental Project on Osprey Nesting Platforms

Broadway Pier Improvements Begin

Shelter Island Launch Ramp Improvements to be Examined

North Embarcadero Visionary Plan Joint Powers Authority Meeting Scheduled for May 29

Port Employee Named Examiner of the Year for the California Award for Performance Excellence (CAPE)

Brandy Christian, Director of Strategic Management Services for the Port of San Diego, has been named Examiner of the Year for the California Award for Performance Excellence (CAPE). She was presented with the award at the CAPE Annual Conference Awards Ceremony held at the Westin Horton Plaza in downtown San Diego on April 6, 2007. The California Council for Excellence, a non-profit, tax-exempt educational foundation, awarded Ms. Christian with the honor for exemplary services performed while she served as a CAPE examiner last year. She was one of 200 examiners for the 2006 CAPE examination process, which bestows the CAPE award to companies and organizations that demonstrate performance excellence in key business areas. These areas include leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, human resources focus, process management and results.

Twenty-two California private and public organizations applied for CAPE awards. The organizations submitted extensive, 50-page applications. CAPE examiners conducted site visits to clarify and validate the information included in the applications. After the site visits, the examiners wrote feedback reports to the applicants.

Examiners are volunteers who received extensive training and certification. The training assists them in developing analytical and consensus-building skills, as well as a systems perspective that can be applied to their own organizations.

Brandy Christian, (right), Director of Strategic Management Services for the Port of San Diego, displays her CAPE Examiner of the Year Award with Port Chairwoman Sylvia Rios and Port President and CEO Bruce Hollingsworth.

Port Begins Environmental Project on Osprey Nesting

Work began early this month on one of the Port of San Diego’s nine environmental projects. The Port’s General Services Department is constructing five osprey nesting platforms to be installed around San Diego Bay. The platforms consist of a single pole, between ten and fifteen feet in height, topped with a platform that is approximately four feet wide. Once the nesting platforms are completed, they will be installed in Pepper Park in National City, the Chula Vista Wildlife Reserve, Emory Cove near the Silver Strand in Coronado, Spanish Landing and Shelter Island.

The osprey is a large, migratory raptor with a wingspan reaching around five and a half feet. The species was once abundant in California but has been reduced over the years. Ospreys are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, a domestic law that affirms the United States’ commitment to four international conventions for the protection of a shared migratory bird resource.

The birds feed mainly on fish and build their enormous nests near water and often on top of utility poles.

The Port will be placing interpretive signs at each nesting platform site to educate the public on the importance of the protected species.

Broadway Pier Improvements Begin

If you’ve been down to Broadway Pier lately, you may have noticed a construction fence surrounding it. The fence is there for safety reasons, as the Port began an intensive rehabilitation project to replace the pier’s concrete deck. The project includes construction of a new reinforced concrete deck over the existing concrete deck, demolition and utility relocation. The project is designed to strengthen the pier so that it can withstand bus and truck traffic resulting from increased cruise operations. The Port currently uses Broadway Pier for cruise ship operations on days when there are more than two cruise ships in port. Plans for a brand new cruise ship terminal to be located on the B Street Pier nearby are taking shape and construction should begin in winter 2008. During the proposed new terminal’s construction, Broadway Pier will be used as a primary berth for cruise vessels, along with one of the berths on the B Street Pier.

Originally constructed in 1913, Broadway Pier consisted of a six-inch thick, reinforced concrete deck supported by a framework of steel girders, bearing on concrete piles. The pier was extended by another 200 feet in 1920 and in 1989, underwent a structural renovation to upgrade the seismic and lateral capacity. The current construction project will add another 25 years of life to the pier. The project cost is estimated to be $2.2 million and should be completed in October 2007. Vehicles and pedestrians will not be allowed on the pier until the project is finished.

Shelter Island Launch Ramp Improvements to be Examined

The Port is conducting a study to examine what types of improvements should be made to the Shelter Island boat launch ramp. The 51-year old facility has experienced deterioration from excessive use and environmental conditions. In October 2006, the Port held a public meeting and presented some suggested alternatives for the popular launch ramp. Members of the boating community who utilize the ramp gave input on what they felt should be accomplished with the refurbishment project. Based on the public comment and the long-term needs of the boating community, the Port decided that a feasibility study should be conducted. With assistance from a $150,000 grant awarded from the California State Department of Boating and Waterways, the Port has moved forward with the study, which will consider the viability of various improvements such as repositioning of the existing dock, enlarging the existing boat basin, and constructing a floating breakwater or wave attenuator. The Port will be holding additional outreach meetings during the study’s implementation to receive public input. If you would like to be placed on a meeting notification list, please contact the Port of San Diego at (619) 686-6200.

North Embarcadero Visionary Plan Joint Powers Authority Meeting Scheduled for May 29

The North Embarcadero Visionary Plan Joint Powers Authority (JPA) will be meeting on Tuesday, May 29 to officially elect its 2007 officers and review the project in its entirety. JPA members are Councilmember Kevin Faulconer, representing the City of San Diego; Commissioner Victor Vilaplana, representing the Port of San Diego; and representing the Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC) is Wayne Raffesberger, Secretary of CCDC’s Board of Directors.

The JPA members will be asked to endorse the Request for Quotations for the final first-phase design of the project, which incorporates an area from the entrance of Broadway Pier to the entrance of the B Street Pier. The cost for this phase is anticipated to be about $20 million.

Divided into ten “places” on the waterfront, the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan will create a dramatic front porch for San Diego with public gathering spaces, widened esplanades, gardens and improved pedestrian access. The estimated cost for the entire project is $228 million, with funding split evenly between the Port and CCDC.