Draft Maritime Business Plan Presented at Board of Port Commissioners Meeting

The highly anticipated Draft Maritime Business Plan was unveiled at the May 8 Board of Port Commissioners meeting and the numbers are looking good. Designed to guide the Port’s maritime cargo strategy through the year 2030, the Maritime Business Plan is a key indicator for what the next few years of maritime operations will have in store.

In addition to demonstrating the huge economic impact that the Port’s maritime trade activity has on the region, the report indicated a bright future for additional maritime cargo.

Here are some of the economic impact highlights as reported in the Draft Maritime Business Plan:

• In fiscal year 2006, maritime cargo activity at the Port’s Tenth Avenue and National City Marine Terminals generated $1.6 billion annually and $100 million in state and local taxes. Maritime activity also supports 19,298 regional jobs.
• 1,817 regional jobs are directly related to cargo activity at the Port’s two marine terminals and pay an average salary of over $54,000.
• Looking ahead, the Draft Business Plan projects that the Port of San Diego will receive an additional 350,000 automobiles, 525,000 additional tons of bananas, a 15% annual increase in windmill units, 200,000 to 750,000 more tons of imported cement, 120,000 more tons of imported steel, lumber, paper and construction materials and 500,000 additional tons of sand.

Also in this issue…

Port of San Diego Awarded $731,250 in Port Security Grant Funding

Nine New Projects Approved for Environmental Funding

Two Prominent Artworks Coming to San Diego Bay

Port Awards $70,000 in Research Grants to University Students

Port and City of Chula Vista Celebrate the Kick-off of Phase Three of the South Campus Demolition Project

Annual Operation Clean Sweep Takes Place on June 2

New District Clerk Named

Port of San Diego Awarded $731,250 in Round 7 of Security Grant Funding

On May 10, the Port of San Diego received the good news from the Department of Homeland Security that it was the recipient of $731,250 from the agency’s fiscal year 2007 Infrastructure Protection Program. The program provides resources to ports and transit and intercity bus systems to assist them with the prevention of potential terrorist attacks. It also assists with response and recovery if a terrorist attack were to occur.

This award was included in Round 7 of the agency’s security grant funding program and will be used for the Port to improve its communications, surveillance and radiological detection. It is 89% of the $827,000 that the Port requested funding for.

Nine New Projects Approved for Environmental Funding

Continuing with its commitment of serving as an environmental steward of San Diego Bay, the Port of San Diego has selected nine new projects to be funded through its almost one-year old environmental fund. The projects will assist the Port in its quest to improving the health of San Diego Bay and the tidelands. Following is a list of the approved projects:

1. Award two additional grants to university students to study San Diego Bay, specifically research regarding endangered species and fisheries health. Each grant awarded will be for $10,000 and the research project will be for a one-year period.
2. The Port awarded $10,000 to Aquatic Adventures for its environmental education program. The program provides environmental science education to low-income students and teaches them about water quality, pollution prevention, trash removal, bird identification and the planting of native species in local canyons within the San Diego Bay watershed.
3. Funds in the amount of $50,000 were awarded to conduct ambient water quality monitoring in San Diego Bay. The water’s temperature, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, salinity, depth and chlorophyll will be tested at up to five separate locations around San Diego Bay. The purpose of this testing is to study ecosystem changes. The collected data will be posted on the Port’s website.
4. San Diego Coastkeeper will receive $50,000 to help fund Project SWELL for a period of two years. Project SWELL – which stands for Stewardship and Water Education for Lifelong Leadership – provides a hands-on learning experience for elementary school children to teach them about water quality and pollution prevention programs.
5. An environmental education display featuring San Diego Bay and its natural resources will be built at the Birch Aquarium. Funding for this project is $75,000 for a period of two years.
6. Habitat Heroes, an environmental education program that focuses on salt marsh restoration and pollution prevention will be funded $10,000 for a period of one year.
7. Five alternative fuel vehicles will be purchased by the Port of San Diego to replace five of its fleet cars. Approximately $50,000 is designated for this and the cost reflects the difference between the purchase price or a five-year lease of a standard car versus that of an alternative car. The vehicles will be used for Harbor Police, Environmental Services, General Services and the Port’s general pool fleet.
8. The Port will contribute $10,000 for the creation and publishing of the book, “San Diego Bay: Conservation Stories,” by High Tech High’s science education program.
9. The Chula Vista Nature Center’s Light-footed Clapper Rail Propagation Program will receive $30,000 in funding. The clapper rail is an endangered salt marsh bird and since the program’s inception in 1999, it has released more than 150 birds into the wild.

Two Prominent Artworks Coming to San Diego Bay

The Port of San Diego’s Public Art Committee, with the help of the City of San Diego’s Commission for Arts and Culture, has selected two new sculptures to be temporarily placed along the San Diego Bay waterfront. Both sculptures are by artists known around the world for their talent and vision.

“Engagement Rings”, by New York City artist David Oppenheim, is a sculpture resembling two large diamond engagement rings. It stands 29 feet tall at its highest point. Constructed of steel and glass, the sculpture includes lighting components that cause the diamond elements to glow from within. It will be installed this summer at the traffic median on Laurel Street and Harbor Drive.

The second artwork, “Walking Figures”, by Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz, features eighteen cast-iron figures. The nine-foot tall figures of legs that appear to be walking are evocative of the artist’s representation of how individuals may feel when they are amongst a crowd of people. It will be installed in August near the Convention Center Parking Facility where Park Boulevard meets Harbor Drive.

Both “Engagement Rings” and “Walking Figures” are on loan to the Port from the Vancouver International Biennale as part of a new temporary loan program initiated by both the Port and the City of San Diego’s Commission for Arts and Culture. The Port paid a loan fee of $150,000 for each artwork and both will be located on tidelands for a period of one year.

A rendering of David Oppenheim’s sculpture, ”Engagement Rings”, which will be installed on the traffic median at Laurel Street and Harbor Drive in San Diego.

“Walking Figures”, by Magdalena Abakanowicz, will be installed near the Convention Center Parking Facility in August.

Port Awards $70,000 in Research Grants to University Students

Seven university students were selected by the Port of San Diego’s Environmental Committee to receive $10,000 grants to fund research projects focusing on San Diego Bay. The students were presented with their awards at the May 8 Board of Port Commissioners meeting.

A Request for Proposals was issued in January by the Port’s Environmental Services department for interested university students to submit proposed research projects for possible funding. Thirteen proposals were received and were reviewed by the Environmental Committee. The Committee recommended seven projects for funding. Following is a list of the grant recipients and their research projects:

• Andrew Ault, PhD Candidate, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Andrew will conduct research on mobile air labs to measure the size and chemical composition of particles in and around San Diego Bay and elsewhere in the region.
• Joelle Fournier, Masters of Science (MS) Candidate, San Diego State University. Joelle will conduct research to evaluate the human impact on habitat, composition and abundance of the prey base for the California least tern.
• Lisa Komoroske, MS Candidate, San Diego State University. Lisa will conduct research and investigate the levels and impacts of pollution in the Eastern Pacific Green Sea Turtle.
• Levi Lewis, MS Candidate, San Diego State University. Levi will conduct research and study the effects of predators on the eelgrass ecosystem and how over-fishing may influence overall ecosystem functions.
• Eliza Moore, MS Candidate, San Diego State University. Eliza will conduct research to survey eelgrass beds for habitat complexity and measure prey epifauna and predator fish to determine how habitat structure influences predator-prey dynamics.
• Tristen Carland, PhD Candidate, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Tristen will conduct research to assess the relative health of California halibut in the Bay versus surrounding waters to indicate the overall robustness of the fish population.
• Carl Mayhugh, PhD Candidate, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Carl will conduct stationary and manual tracking of the Eastern Pacific Green Sea Turtle’s movement, patterns and habitat use of the Bay to predict potential areas of concern for protection.

Joelle Fournier, left, is presented with a $10,000 research grant check by Board Chair Sylvia Rios, Commissioner Rocky Spane and Bruce Hollingsworth, President and CEO of the Port. With Joelle is her advisor, Dr. Rebecca Lewison, Assistant Professor, San Diego State University Biology Department. Joelle is one of seven university students who were awarded grant funding by the Port of San Diego.

Port and City of Chula Vista Celebrate the Kick-off of Phase Three of the South Campus Demolition Project

On May 2, I had the pleasure of joining my colleague, Commissioner Mike Najera and the Honorable Cheryl Cox, Mayor of Chula Vista, at the kick-off celebration for Phase Three of the South Campus Demolition project. Commissioner Najera and I had the opportunity to knock down the first walls of one of the buildings that will be demolished.

This project marks an important milestone for both the Port and the City of Chula Vista as we make way to remove the final 15 structures of the former Goodrich South Campus. The campus consisted of 63 buildings, mostly industrial warehouses, that had been empty for several years. It frees up valuable land needed for the extension of H Street and for redevelopment associated with the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan. This $4.8 million construction project will be completed by November of this year.

Commissioner Mike Najera, Chairwoman Sylvia Rios, Port President/CEO Bruce Hollingsworh and Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox in front of one of the buildings that will be demolished as part of the Phase Three of the South Campus Demolition Project.

Annual Operation Clean Sweep Takes Place on June 2

The Port of San Diego is proud to sponsor the 17th Annual Operation Clean Sweep event. This year’s cleanup takes place on Saturday, June 2 at 8:30 a.m. and will focus on several areas in and around the Port tidelands. The main cleanup will be on Shelter Island with volunteers scouring the riprap areas of America’s Cup Harbor and Sun Harbor Marina. Divers from the Navy, Coast Guard and Harbor Police, as well as qualified civilian divers will assist with removing debris from underwater. Other cleanup areas this year are the Chula Vista Marina, Cesar Chavez Park and Chollas Creek.

After the cleanup, a volunteer after-party will take place on Shelter Island. Beginning at 11:30 a.m., the party features food and beverages, prizes for the most unusual trash collected, a raffle drawing and entertainment by the Navy Band. I encourage everyone to come out to this important community event. It’s not only a great way to help keep San Diego Bay healthy, but it is always an enjoyable day filled with great food and prizes.

New District Clerk Named

I am proud to announce the appointment of Mary Ann Liner to the position of District Clerk. Ms. Liner was previously the manager of Commissioner Services and the Manager of the Port of San Diego’s Executive Offices for the past five years. Employed at the Port since 1991, she has been instrumental in the development and implementation of the District-wide administrative staff meeting program and the District’s online Administrative Professional’s Handbook. She is a member of the San Diego Chapter of Executive Women International and a member of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.

In her position as District Clerk, Ms. Liner is responsible for maintaining the Port District Code and ensuring compliance with the governances of the Public Records Act, the Brown Act, the Political Reform Act, the Port’s Ethics Policy and Robert’s Rules of Order. She will oversee the management of the Port’s public records, Board Meeting Docket Management, Commissioner Services and Corporate/Executive Services.