City of Eureka Wants to Relocate Its ‘Corporation Yard’ Outside of the Tsunami Zone

This is a press release from the City of Eureka:

City of EurekaThe City of Eureka is currently exploring the concept of relocating its corporation yard, currently located at 14th and Short next to Costco, to be co-located with the current water reservoir and treatment works located across from the Eureka Zoo between Wand Dolbeer Streets. Preliminary work to date has included rough conceptual lay outs for the site, release of an RFQ for design, and conversations with Costco staff regarding sale of the existing site.

The City is exploring the possibility of relocating to the W street site for the following reasons:

  1. The current location of the Corp Yard within the tsunami zone poses serious challenges for emergency response and post disaster A Cascadia-type event would result in the loss of all heavy machinery, most vehicles and equipment to inundation. This was identified as a significant vulnerability during a week long simulation style FEMA training attended by City staff in 2016.
  2. The needs to invest in improvements to existing facilities and replace facilities at the existing site including buildings due to The existing site is within the Coastal Zone making any alterations or additions more costly and time consuming.
  3. Proceeds from the sale of the existing site and increased tax revenue associated with increased commercial development could help offset the costs of relocation to a significant degree.
  4. Available parcels of the sufficient size and configuration are extremely limited outside of the tsunami zone which encompasses most of the commercial and industrial properties in the City.

The City takes the neighborhood concerns regarding traffic, noise, lighting and the loss of park facilities seriously and will engage the neighbors and stakeholders directly if this project progresses beyond the exploratory stage. This project has not been on a City Council Agenda, because it is only conceptual.

City staff is continuing to review other potential locations for the corp yard.

Contrary to posts on social media, recent tree removal activities at the reservoir were not part

associated with the relocation and were initiated by PG&E due to utility conflicts. The removal of these nonnative trees will be mitigated by new plantings more appropriate to the location in the near future.

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22 Comments
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JT
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JT
6 years ago

This is my area I live in, and we DO NOT want you here. How’s about you locate to Rio Dell?

N
Guest
N
6 years ago
Reply to  JT

The City of Eureka yard?

Me_too
Guest
Me_too
6 years ago

This is an ideal location for the yard. There is tons of traffic here already and the expense to the city will be minimal. Sounds like a win-win. They already house the armory here so what is wrong with housing the yard there. People need to calm the hell down.

Debra
Guest
Debra
6 years ago
Reply to  Me_too

not a Eureka citizen, but this sounds logical to me–

Meme
Guest
Meme
6 years ago
Reply to  Me_too

And destroy one of the few ballfields we have? Safe recreational parks and sports programs cut crime!

Festus Haggen
Guest
Festus Haggen
6 years ago
Reply to  Meme

The best of the four pathetic, poorly maintained cow pastures that the City of Eureka calls softball fields. They have forgotten how to maintain a field or run a recreation league, proving that they really don’t care about the citizens of Eureka. They also don’t care about the impact to the Sequoia Park neighborhood that this proposed project will bring. If we have a Cascadia event, losing the city vehicles will be the least of our worries.

Joy L. Finley
Guest
Joy L. Finley
6 years ago

It looks likea tsunami hit where they are now and NO we do NOT want this in our neighborhood! People, from Costco parking lot you can see what I am talking about. And, it’s not about tsunami zone. Why not move city hall and County Courthouse out here, too?

Cowabunga
Guest
Cowabunga
6 years ago

I hope COSTCO moves up there too, so I can still order a hot Polish Sausage (with sauerkraut), even if there has been a flood.

Meme
Guest
Meme
6 years ago
Reply to  Cowabunga

And maybe a canoe while we’re at it!

CnD
Guest
CnD
6 years ago

Is that the real reason all the trees lining the fences along the streets adjacent to the water tank were cut down in recent weeks?

Poppins
Guest
Poppins
6 years ago

JT, you most likely whine when you do not get help from the city post mega quake. Are you against the water storage tanks and sewer/water treatment plant as well? It does seem prudent to me. Another location that might work is Redwood Acres Fairground.

Poppins
Guest
Poppins
6 years ago

Also JT, it is the city of Eureka not the county. Your city not Rio Dell’s.

Bozo
Guest
Bozo
6 years ago

>”Is that the real reason all the trees lining the fences along the streets adjacent to the water tank were cut down in recent weeks?”

They are Pine trees. They grow very fast, but are now decaying
and have a risk of falling on ‘people’ and ‘stuff’.

Sam
Guest
Sam
6 years ago
Reply to  Bozo

The trees were healthy before they were removed. You can go look at the logs before they get taken away. I would expect the City to replant trees there before winter. If not I will remember at next election.

Livin' Easy
Guest
Livin' Easy
6 years ago

Funny. The city wants to promote new business and develop the bay; yet they want to get out for fear of a disaster.

Thinking allowed
Guest
Thinking allowed
6 years ago

No one wants to work in a Tsunami zone. No one wants to lose equipment in a Tsunami. Sounds reasonable except that the City of Eureka already maintains very little safe places for recreation so, while it is nicer for City employees in leaving the ugliness of that area behind, this proposal is worse of residents to lose the ball park. Which is a popular area. It’s traffic includes lots of pedestrian activity not compatible with more vehicular traffic.

Second why allow expansion of businesses in a tsunami zone anyway, especially since as far as I know the City has no procedures in place to evacuate the already dense population in that area. If they do, it’s pretty unpublicized. So City employee’s risks are reduced but the general public’s are increased.

Then, if Costco is willing to pay for this space, that means that money is available to purchase and develop an alternative site. And there are alternatives on already busy business locations, with access the to major roads the proposed site does not have. All along Myrtle Ave for example, where City occupancy would be an improvement for it’s neighbors, not a negative. Annexing such a lot is very possible if it is not already in existance.

Altogether this proposal shows the limited horizon of the City’s thinking. They only see themselves. Yet the reason for their existence is their citizens. I don’t live in the neighborhood and this propsal offends. I can’t think that if I lived there how much worse it would be. No government response should ever be this ‘we know better’ to its citizens.

Meme
Guest
Meme
6 years ago

Amen!

shak
Guest
shak
6 years ago
Reply to  Meme

Ditto!

shak
Guest
shak
6 years ago

Clearing space for affordable housing aka stack and pack apartments by developers who are given leeway with safety clauses and inspections?
Can’t wait to hear all the yippy’s when the “affordable housing” complex plan is announced after the vaccinated goldfish brains forget about the tsunami concerns.
Roll the press!

Crestfallen
Guest
Crestfallen
6 years ago

One city council member said he thought the corp yard would fit right in with the sequoia park neighborhood.

We should have an IQ test for people who want to be on the council.

Sparklemahn
Guest
Sparklemahn
6 years ago

What about earthquakes?

Eurekite
Guest
Eurekite
6 years ago

This is absolutely fine, provided the city finds a nice replacement location for a ballfield. The waterfront is nice and I hear there is some space opening up there.

Don’t let the city take your rec spaces for nothing. In a city plagued by drug abuse we need places to engage in fun activities.