Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to approve a $1.2 million-plus lease agreement with San Francisco-based RTI Infrastructure for the company to land up to four underground trans-Pacific fiber optic cables off Humboldt County’s coast, with the first arriving as soon as 2021. The cable will be launched from Singapore, cross the Java Sea and then bend northwards through the Banda Sea east of the island of Sulawesi and on through Micronesia. From there the cable will stretch across the Pacific Ocean and eventually make landfall just outside of Eureka off of Samoa Beach, specifically on the outfall from the former Evergreen pulp mill. Under the terms of the lease, each additional cable landing will earn the district $333,000. The lease lasts until 2046, after which the district would receive $333,000 for each 15-year renewal.Harbor District executive director Larry Oetker said the cash influx the district is set to receive will immediately be used to pay off $700,000 in debt stemming from the $1.2 million loan the district took out to clean up toxic chemicals at the pulp mill site, a monthly $13,000 debt payment the district currently has.The money will also go toward “creating a stable source of funding” for ongoing dredging of the Woodley Island Marina area according to Oetker, who added that the district will be able to complete a variety of differed maintenance projects including fixing the port.Access Humboldt’s executive director Sean Taketa McLaughlin said he would have liked to have seen the Harbor District, rather than strike an allcash deal, gain some direct access to the high-speed cables for the community.“Connectivity is more valuable than cash,” McLaughlin said. “I think we may have missed a unique, one-time opportunity.”Read More
