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Commission reviews options for harbor fueling; staff warns self-service would need new hardware or a port district
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Summary
The commission reviewed self-fueling, card‑lock and fuel‑rock options and discussed cost, pump controls and legal/operational limits; staff said the current system cannot support a simple card‑lock without hardware changes and that creating a port district would be a multiyear process.
Harbor staff reported that the commission’s request to evaluate moving to self-service fueling or a card‑lock system uncovered substantive operational and capital barriers: the current fuel cabinet and pump setup requires multiple manual steps to arm and start pumps, and staff said modifying the system for unattended card‑lock operation would require replacing pumps, piping and possibly the fueling rock infrastructure. Staff said an alternative is to operate a staffed system during high season and use on‑call service during off‑season hours, as some nearby harbors do; Brookings Harbor’s fueling rock requires an attendant or on‑call service and staff said that approach reduces risk but still requires labor. Commissioners discussed the option of replacing the fueling rock and pumps to allow automated card‑lock fueling, and staff cautioned that piping and pump changes would involve capital expense and engineering review. Commissioners also discussed a longer-term governance option: forming a port district to manage fueling and other harbor functions. Staff said establishing a port district would require a ballot measure and agreement from property owners across a broad coastal area and would likely take years to implement. Commissioners asked staff to collect cost estimates and to prepare materials to inform the city council about trade-offs among continued staffed fueling, investment in automated fueling hardware, or pursuing a port district.
