A short Arcata City Council meeting last night was highlighted by a presentation on combating the effects of sea levels rising on the Arcata Wastewater Treatment Facility over the course of the next century. They also decided to fund more bicycle sharing stations and increased the maximum amount people can donate to candidates for city office. 

Wastewater Treatment Facility vs. Sea Level Rise

GHD Engineering Consultant Rebecca Crow shared the results of a two-year-long study done on negating sea-level rise on Arcata’s wastewater treatment facility. Because it lies next to Humboldt Bay, it’s especially sensitive to the bay rising even a little bit. It’s likely that some of the facility might be damaged within the next five decades. 

Crow laid out a few solutions. They could elevate the levee that protects much of the facility to 15 feet and also increase its length, a solution that would work until 2105 or thereabouts. It would cost between $20-25 million. Adding a living shoreline would bump that up to about $35 million.

Moving the facility is another option; Arcata would need to find a 10-15 acre parcel and between $100-213 million to do it, but the facility would be safe and functional beyond 2105. Crow said she didn’t have any certain picks for a new location. 

Maintaining the height of the existing 10-foot berm is a cheaper option, but Crow said that might only work until 2055. 

City Engineer Netra Khatri said Arcata would have until 2030 to pick a strategy. The city will have the next 40 years to implement it. 

“I think hearing from the public will be really important,” said councilmember Stacy Atkins-Salazar. “Most communities aren’t as vocal and tied to their wastewater treatment facilities as ours is…the more input we can get for our decision-making, the better.”

Bicycles

The council voted to add another two ridesharing stations at the end of 11th Street and in Sunny Brae, adopting a $412,500 contract with Tandem Mobility. There are currently 10 stations, each with five bicycles, scattered around Arcata. Many of them are near or on Cal Poly Humboldt’s campus. 

The funding will come from a mix of federal grants ($216,000), money from Cal Poly Humboldt ($129,000) and Measure H funds ($67,500). The new contract also pays for the existing stations. 

Tandem Mobility will also be adding a few e-bikes to the pool; their maximum speed will be capped electronically.

Khatri said the bicycles were rented 1,716 times last year and ridden for 1,526.9 hours, a record for the program. 

Councilmember Meredith Matthews said she was “strongly encouraging” Eureka to consider adding a few Tandem Mobility stations of their own around the city, so residents could ride on the Humboldt Bay Trail either way and take the bus or run back. 

The bicycles are equipped with GPS trackers. According to councilmember Sarah Schaefer, one is stuck out in Hoopa. 

Other stuff

The council decided to send a letter to the Humboldt County Planning Department voicing their opposition to a proposed cell tower on Shirley Boulevard in Sunny Brae. Though it lies just outside the city limits, about a dozen people have complained about the location of the cell tower during public comment periods at city council meetings during the last few months. The proposed location, near an attractive stand of forest, a creek and several homes, is a sore point for some residents, as is the tower’s 186-foot height. The site is within the city’s Planning Area, and the letter mentions forcing Pacific Towers, the project’s developer, to adhere to Arcata’s permitting process for driveways and encroachment.

The council adjusted the maximum amount people can donate to local election campaigns to $250 from $240. In 1992, Arcata voters passed a proposition capping the maximum allowed donation to city office candidates to $100; it’s upped every other year to account for inflation.

Finally, they decided to waive $2,500 in fees for the Kinetic Grand Championship in May.