Stephen England.

Present.

Commissioner Willie Adams.

Commissioner Stephen Lee.

Mayor.

And we are expecting Commissioner Ken McNeely.

Item two is approval of minutes for the July 8th, 2025 Board Commission meeting.

Is there a motion?

So move.

We have a motion and we have a second.

All in favor?

Motion carries unanimously.

Next item, please.

Item three is the land acknowledgement.

The San Francisco Port Commission acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramatishalone, who are the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula.

As the indigenous stewards of this land and in accordance with their traditions, the Ramatishalone have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as the caretakers of this place, as well as for all peoples who reside in their traditional territory.

We recognize that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland.

We wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the ancestors, elders, and relatives of the Ramatishalone community and by affirming their sovereign rights as first pupils.

Item four is announcements.

Please be advised that the ringing of and use of cell phones and similar sound producing electronic devices are prohibited at this meeting.

A member of the public has up to three minutes to make public comments on each agenda item unless the court commission adopts a shorter period on any item.

Public comment must be in respect to the current agenda item.

The commission will take in-person and remote public comments on each item, beginning with commenters in person.

For remote public comment, dial 1 415 655 000 1 and enter access code 2662 564 6270 pound pound.

Then dial star three to raise your hand to comment on the item being discussed.

And audio prompts will signal when it is your turn to speak.

If you are watching this meeting on SFGov TV, there is a short broadcasting delay.

To not miss your chance to comment, please dial when the item you want to comment on is announced.

Mute your device and listen to the meeting from your telephone, which has no delay.

Item five is public comment on items not listed on the agenda.

Is there anyone in the room who wants to make public comment on items not listed on the agenda?

If so, please make your way to the podium.

Okay, come on up.

You have three minutes.

Hello, Commissioners.

My name is Maggie Hallehan.

I'm a licensed Coast Guard captain.

I'm a San Francisco Sea Scout leader.

We utilize the waterfront several days a week.

We have uh Native American youth in our community.

We have about 120 year-round youth.

So I want to share with you a jurisdiction issue that I'm hoping you'll step up on.

San Francisco Marina has something called Gas House Cove, and it has a gas and diesel fuel dock.

Some of the submerged water in this map is part of the area of the Burton Act.

And I'm hoping that the Commission will look into the San Francisco Rack and Park plan to uh do the remediation.

So you can see where all the testing has been done.

There's a remediation area in that upper corner.

That area is the only area that PG ⁇ E will be doing the remediation.

California Water Board has told us the deputy director has said that this fuel dock can stay there for the whole time that the remediation.

It's nothing like Pier 41.

And it's the only gas and diesel fuel dock in San Francisco.

The port has not uh completed the diesel repair in seven years of their own fuel dock.

Um these are notes from our kids, our Sea Scouts there at school, so I can bring them.

But uh one of them, Hugh, believes that the submerged water is the domain of Port of San Francisco, and that Port of San Francisco should be leaning in.

We did go have a meeting with the Port of San Francisco Water Resilience Group, and they said yes, some of that area is, but that they just defer to letting SF Reckham Park run it.

So SF Reckham Park is not telling the truth with how the dredging doesn't have to happen in the fuel dock channel area.

It can stay there, and the water board confirms that.

This is a large meeting that a lot of leaders, these scout leaders were with the water board, and the water board responded with uh information in response about not needing to take the fuel dock out.

Also in uh 2022, uh there was a deep uh research done by PGE given to the water board, and of that 900 pages, there's only one page of the actual dredging that's going to happen from PGE.

So there's a lot of um of things that SF Reckham Park says that isn't actually true.

It says that that report says there has to be dredging there, but it doesn't.

Um, and I'd like to have you do research.

And especially speaking up for emergency response for our kids.

We need these people to come for us if we need them.

And all over the bay.

We need to do work on the bay.

Lynn Marine gets their fuel there, all the emergency response.

This is the kids put together a list of every uh emergency response group using that fuel dock over there.

It's um also that fuel dock has the um the diesel and gas tanks are deep within the ground under two feet of um concrete and it's in bedrock.

So part of the reason the port can't build submerged tanks is because it's all in landfill.

So this has been built in 1960s by the state of California as an emergency response extraction site, and it should maintain there.

Um, our kids will never swim there because there's a marina to the forward of it, and they could get electric shock or worse yet, there's a huge laguna outfall that's right in that small lagoon producing 460 gallons of sewer water.

Thank you.

Well, thank you, Captain Halekmann, for your testimony, and I'm gonna ask that port staff continue conversations and follow up and please brief the commission on the progress of those conversations.

Is there anyone else in the room for public comment on items not listed on the agenda?

Okay, seeing no one else in the room.

Is there any public comment on the phone for items not listed on the agenda?

There are no callers, thank you.

Okay.

Um public comment is closed.

Next item, please.

Item 6A is the executive director's report for callers who wish to make public comment on this item.

Please dial star three to raise your hand to comment.

Good afternoon, President Gilman, uh, Vice President Englum, Commissioners, Port staff and members of the public.

I am Elaine Forbes, the executive director.

August is Transgender History Month, a time to recognize and celebrate the contributions, resilience, and leadership of transgender people throughout history.

In 2021, San Francisco became the first city in the nation to officially recognize this month, commemorating the 1966 Compton cafeteria riot in the tenderloin.

In August of that year, transgender women, many of them women of color and drag queens stood up against police harassment in one of the earliest known large-scale acts of resistance by transgender and queer communities in the United States.

This historic moment took place three years before Stonewall riots and helped lay a foundation for the modern LGBTQ plus rights movement.

Today, the Port of San Francisco stands in solidarity with the transgender community.

We honor our city's history as a place of courage, inclusion, and advocacy, and we recommit ourselves to celebrating the diversity that makes San Francisco so very strong.

I'm going to move now to economic vibrancy, if I could go to the slide deck.

First, the fisherman's wharf forward update.

Port staff continues to advance the work of Fisherman's War Forward since the last commission meeting.

Staff collected feedback from the Fisherman's Wharf Advisory Committee and the Maritime Commerce Advisory Committee.

We also held hybrid outreach meetings that were available in person at Pier 1 and online.

Finally, we conducted an online survey during the month of July, and we are really grateful for the feedback we continue to receive.

Port staff work on the design of the new plaza and other elements.

We are hearing that stakeholders want us to consider many elements, including honoring the history of the wharf and preserving its rustic charm, enhancing the fishing harbor to support the fishers, public spaces that allow for flexibility and relaxation, activation and seating, attracting high-quality food options and fixing the existing infrastructure, taking advantage of the views and proximity to the bay, and ensuring the area remains safe and clean.

The next steps for this ambitious project are to finalize the design for the new public plaza, secure the necessary regulatory permits, and bring a construction team on board to meet our very tight construction window to be ready for summer next year.

We will be coming to the commission next meeting September to provide an update on the interim plaza design or our our initial plaza design recommendation, and we will request authorization to advertise a construction contract.

The port has maintained its high credit rating.

Fitch reaffirmed our A rating with a stable outlook.

This shows that we are in low risk of default on our debt and strong financial capacity to repay debt.

Fitch cited low leverage, robust liquidity, and diverse revenue streams.

This follows SP's reaffirmation of our A rating with a stable outlook earlier this year.

This means we get more favorable borrowing terms should we issue debt for port projects and stronger investor appeal.

Fitch also recognized our significant issues related to aging infrastructure, noting that it was our the significant unfunded capital needs was the biggest drag on our rating and would keep us from an A plus in the near future.

We acknowledge and have worked with the Commission very diligently in addressing this unfunded backlog of capital, which is our biggest financial challenge.

We are responding.

Staff is updating the capital investment plan, the CIP, with more detailed asset condition data.

We're analyzing future actions from the draft plan for the waterfront resilience work alongside potential income from our assets.

We will be bringing the CIP to the commission early in 2026.

I want to really congratulate the commission for guiding this cash-strapped enterprise into a strong financial position, and I want to really congratulate our finance team as well.

And now to cruise.

This past year was nothing short of exceptional for crews at the port.

We hosted 90 cruise calls, including a record-breaking four calls at Pier 80.

We welcome nearly 3,680 passengers, the second highest passenger volume in our history.

We serve 16 cruise lines with home port favorites, Ruby Princess and the Carnival Legend, and we celebrated three maiden calls: the Carnival Legend, Norwegian Jade, and Via Vay Odyssey.

This year also marked another major milestone, which many of the commissioners celebrated with us, which is the James Hart, our Herman Cruise Terminal has turned 10 years old.

And in this decade, we have served three million passengers.

Congratulations, especially to Commissioner Willie Adams, who pushed for the investment in the cruise ship terminal.

It has been very, very, very worthwhile.

We continue to invest in our future.

We're completing fender repairs this spring.

We're upgrading the bollard system and our terminate terminal operator Metro Cruise has replaced gas-powered shoreside heavy lifts with two new electric heavy lifts.

Metro cruises, the cruise lines, and of course port staff.

Onward to the ferry building, which really is demonstrating economic recovery in action.

On July 31st, I joined Mayor Daniel Lurie, District 3 Supervisor Danny Slaughter, and Hudson Pacific CEO Victor Coleman for a tour.

We previewed two exciting additions to the former slanted door space, parachute bakery, and Arquette restaurant.

Arquette will feature wood-fired cooking with Northern California ingredients, both opening in the in the coming months, and I'll tell you from the tour, the space looks really great.

We also celebrated the return of Red Bay Coffee, which is a beloved black-owned business with a ribbon cutting ceremony, which you see on this slide.

There are also other new arrivals, including Nash Bakes Cheesecake, which is already earning rave reviews.

And Hudson is investing in the building with upgrades to interior lighting, which should be done by December of this year, exterior lighting on the Ferry Plaza as well, which will be done in 2026.

And to the best news, record-breaking foot traffic in first quarter of 2025.

Hudson says it's the best quarter they've ever had.

And it's a 23% increase year to date.

And this is building upon ongoing increases that we've seen from 2020.

So it's really robust.

There are upcoming events as well that will be hosted by the ferry building, including starting in September when Wednesday lunchtime music and October 2nd, the Mushroom Festival Masquerade.

So the ferry building really is a shining example of the economic recovery that we're driving here at the waterfront.

Onward to equity.

This summer, our staff led a series of volunteer efforts to beautify Port Parks along our waterfront, and the results are nothing short of inspiring.

Over three events at Bayview Gateway Park, Rincom Park, and Crave Crane Cove Park, staff brought together 60 community volunteers, including teams from local businesses, Trubeck, AECOM, Astranis, Jacobs, and Dog Patch Paddle.

Together they collected 500 pounds of debris and removed eight truckloads of weeds, transforming our parks into cleaner, more vibrant space spaces for everyone to enjoy and clean and welcoming parks, advance our equity goal, where we're strengthening the bonds between residents to their neighborhood parks and open spaces.

This is community building and action and proof of what teamwork can achieve.

And I have many thanks to the volunteers and port staff who made this happen.

The next event is Friday, August 22nd.

Mark your calendars.

It's the park next to the ramp at Terry Spranswa Boulevard and Illinois Street in Mission Bay.

To get involved, visit SFport.com forward slash parks.

And now to project updates, Amador Street Construction.

Work is officially underway on Amador Street Project Improvements.

The contractor is now mobilized in the field.

The project will deliver safe and reliable roadway infrastructure and upgraded utilities in the southern waterfront serving our industrial tenants, including the many truckers who have small businesses and are from District 10.

These truckers keep goods moving through our port.

It also includes an upgraded pump station to reduce flood risks during major storm events, critical for resilience in the southern waterfront.

During this construction, tenant access will be maintained at all times, while there will be some road closure, one lane of traffic in each direction will remain open.

We're on track for completion summer next year.

Oh, to resilience.

We can take the slides off.

The project team has prepared a draft final integrated feasibility report and environmental impact statement, which is undergrown undergoing multiple levers levels of review at the Army Corps of Engineers.

This important final report is anticipated to be made public mid-2026.

And I have very exciting report.

Luis Barada earned a BCDC award.

On August 5th, Luis Perada, who is a senior planner and urban designer on our on our Port Staff team, received the Bay Adapt Award from the Bay Area Conservation Development Commission.

This award honors exemplar exemplary climate change leaders tackling critical challenges of sea level rise.

Luis was chosen through a rigorous public nomination process and internal selection process.

The ceremony will be held September 15th at the exploratorium.

Luis leads community engagement for the Port's Waterfront Resilience Program, and he's working with city agencies and community-based organizations to build climate resilience.

A big congratul congratulations to Luis.

It's also a very proud moment for the port.

And now, onward to the living seawall pilot.

So let me play the video to show you the success we've had with this pilot.

So the idea behind the pilot project was to essentially determine whether you get a benefit to native species biodiversity if you add complexity to a seawall.

So we were interested in seeing not only the effects of texture themselves, but does that vary with location around the city?

For the detailed analyses we're doing now, we're removing things that are on the edges and back so that we can just focus on what's on the front.

On average, at each site, we've seen about a hundred species.

We've seen juvenile crab species, barnacles, we've seen native oysters, which we're always excited to see.

Um several beautiful red seaweeds that we're seeing.

And that's just based on our visual surveys.

So we're expecting with the additional work that we're doing in the lab, we are gonna actually add to those that number of species.

And the main idea behind all of this really is to inform the design of the new seawall.

We need to rebuild our seawall and our entire shoreline for sea level rise.

This pilot is a very exciting and groundbreaking piece of work that we've been doing for the past three years.

And it has been an extraordinary, extraordinary pilot.

Already we have seen that it is supporting our native species and inviting other habitat to.

This is exactly the kind of thriving ecosystem that we've hoped to see on the seawall.

What happens next is the seawall tiles will go over to Tiburon to the Smithsonian Center for further analysis, and then a report will be written.

This will help us rebuild that seawall with incredible ecology and will also help other communities use this same knowledge and understanding to rebuild their shorelines.

Thank you.

Thank you for putting that video together, the communications team.

I think it really explains uh very clearly how important this work is.

You know, um, Seattle, when they rebuilt their seawall, they were able to um re-reinvigorate the salmon fishery, and it was one of the very important ecological improvements that came with that rebuild.

So we're very excited about what we can accomplish here.

Finally, I would like to share some good news on a promotion within that reflects the strength and depth of talent in our organization.

I'm pleased to announce that Wendy Profter has been appointed to uh as the port's new deputy director of engineering since 2023.

When Wendy has served in the acting role, and I'm very delighted she'll continue in the capacity permanently.

Wendy joined the port in 2006.

Um over the past 19 years, she's built a remarkable career here, rising through the ranks as senior architect, ADA coordinator, and now deputy director.

She brings really deep technical expertise as long as well as a very strong commitment to public service and a very collaborative leadership style.

Her portfolio span spans capital project execution, historic building rehabilitation, oversight of major partnerships and events like the Exploratorium and Ferry Building, America's Cup and Super Bowl, and a key role in our waterfront resilience program to safeguard the waterfront from earthquake and sea level rise.

In her new role, she'll oversee project delivery, construction management, and design, inspections, permitting, contracting, and code compliance functions essential to keep our waterfront safe, resilient, and vibrant.

Please join me in congratulating Wendy on this well-earned promotion.

Thank you.

That concludes my report.

Thank you, Director Forbes, for your report.

Is there any public comment in the room on the director's report?

Is there any public comment on the phone on the director's report?

There are no colors, thank you.

Okay.

I'm gonna make a comment.

Oh, yes, please come on up.

Absolutely.

Again, I'm Captain Hallahan.

I have been using, we used to call it Fish Alley, Fishman's Wharf, when I grew up.

Um, and I've been using that water there for 50 years.

It has definitely gotten cleaner in the last 20 years.

Um we paddle outrigger canoe row and sail with our Sea Scouts in that cove sometimes when the weather's poor.

Um I just want to say that you know, seeing the fishermen having for so many years to take diesel fuel over, they call it over water.

And we had no idea that it was going to take that long to get the diesel over water tanks repaired.

So we just want to share with you that it's really vital to keep these questions going.

And I noticed in her report she didn't really specifically talk about marine services.

And it's really important as mariners.

We have Commissioner Adams is a mariner and he works with these people who risk their lives protecting us on the water if there was a ferry or some or one of the big um, you know, like something like 1971 when there was an oil crash.

We need to keep these areas open.

And that's where the San Francisco Maritime Police is at is actually at.

And I think that they should be added in a report as well because they're really important for our whole homeland security and bay.

So thank you.

Thank you for your public comment.

Is there any other public comment in the room on the director's report?

Is there any public comment on the phone?

For the director's report.

Public comment is closed on the director's report.

Commissioner Lee.

Well, obviously good report as usual.

Um questions.

Are those uh chartered tours are ready in advance?

Or are they bringing passengers to the boats?

I mean, I don't know when that picture was taken, but I guess the point I'm trying to make is there's some way uh we could infiltrate the cruise ship, and I think I brought this up before.

Um to get them to go out and do, you know, I don't know where their scheduled tours are, but maybe you know, drop them off in North Beach or drop them off in Chinatown, or I know they take them shopping in Union Square.

Um thank you for your question, Commissioner.

I'm asking our maritime director to come up and have a conversation with you on that question.

Because uh we're not, you know, they they get to eat for free on the boat, so we're not getting the uh restaurant traffic, but uh it would be nice to get the shopping traffic, and I like to know if they're really going out there.

You know, good good question, uhre Coleman, Deputy Director of Maritime.

Good afternoon, Commissioners.

Um so it's a combination, so it depends on the nature of the cruise turn, whether it's a home port ship where our itinerary originates uh here in San Francisco and then returns and terminates in San Francisco versus the the transit calls that we see, which is probably uh what you're describing.

And so those transit calls usually short side excursions to points of interest in the city or in the region are pre-arranged by way of the uh maybe some travel agencies or or tour services here in the region.

So a lot of it is pre-arranged, however, we do have uh big bus, for example, or others that will uh are are in um in dialed in with the schedule and will offer their services or solicit their services while the cruise ship is in port.

So I'm sorry.

No, I think um I mean it's a heavy potential, especially we're doing so much that uh we need to uh you know kind of uh use take it to our advantage and try to spread the wealth to some of these small businesses, so that's a great thing.

I was just curious when I saw the photo.

So thank you for that.

But maybe you can uh I mean we could call the um SF travel or whatever, and we can try to get into those cruise ship conciers and and say, hey, look, we got these possibilities open.

So absolutely.

Um I'll be presenting a maritime portfolio update and we'll next month and we'll provide you with some of the work we've been doing behind the scenes with SF Travel and others.

Great.

I want I look forward to that one.

Um then with uh Hudson doing so much here in the ferry building, it shows that the uh Gen Z, as you say, they all want experiences.

And we've been doing so much pop-ups, which is great, you know, with all the uh you know, open markets and and them with all the diversity of of restaurants here.

Uh Pier 39 has been doing it for years, so that part is taken care of.

Now we got central done.

I'm hoping that we can start working on Pier 70 area to do more for the locals, so I think that's gonna be great.

So it just shows that the port, you know, as far as uh uh getting the energy back and getting San Francisco to start coming out again and spending money.

Uh small businesses are still hurting, especially at nighttime, you know, they still feel a little shaky about working late.

Uh that's my biggest struggle to get late night dining open again.

But in the meantime, let's uh pump up those uh 550 tenants we have, which is great.

Um and it and I really like the seawall um experiment there because uh the kids, you know, for the education fact and also for our future is important.

And I appreciate the uh the Sea Scout uh comments, and I like to probably look at that data one day, but uh I was an Eagle Scout, so I had a choice.

You know, I'd be a Sea Scout or an Eagle Scout, but there's no water in Vaccaville.

So I chose to be that.

So anyway, I look forward to maybe taking a look at that data.

So that's it for me.

Thank you, Elaine.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Director.

Commissioner McNeely.

Sure, thank you.

Um great report, uh, Director Forbes.

Um I uh first uh congratulations to Wendy Proctor uh on your elevation.

Um and the the work that's being done around Fisherman's Wharf uh has been fantastic.

And I you know, I when I think about our responsibility as custodians for the waterfront, uh for the citizens of San Francisco, uh the kind of outreach and um uh that I've seen from staff to the community has been extremely important, and I hope we can continue that and develop a regular cadence.

Uh I really uh appreciated your takeaways around honoring the history and creating better public spaces for the city.

Um you know we we can continue that, and I think that uh that goes a long way of building the kind of community of support that we're gonna need uh for such a large project.

Um the um kudos on the ferry building and um uh the energy that appears to be around that.

Uh hopefully we can that energy can spread throughout the waterfront as well.

Um and um I'll pick up on the uh what uh Commissioner Lee said about the seawall.

Uh what's really interesting around that to me is is that you didn't I mean we we could always build a seawall, but really thinking about uh repurposing it and what other kinds of opportunities might exist um as we start to rethink and re-engineer that uh something that makes it um um um uh more of a compliment to the uh the bio respect that we have for the bay, being able to include many of the ecosystems, and then also creating an opportunity for the public to to kind of take part in that and to see something that's pretty magnificent.

So I really appreciate the work that the staff's doing around that.

And uh I can't hand without um also complimenting you on the strong financial capacity of the port, which is ultimately uh something that you know we're responsible for and the continuing to be good stewards of that.

So thank you so much for that.

Thank you.

Commissioner Adams.

Yeah.

Um Director Forbes uh stellar report, and also I want to thank my uh port commission officers, Gail and Stephen, been doing an excellent job.

Poor staff, congratulations, uh Wendy.

Um yeah, I really enjoyed the what we talked about as far as fisherman's wharf, revitalization, the uh economic vibrancy.

Uh it's good to have gotten over the three million passenger mark.

And uh I knew it would just take a little time, but uh this light that uh Mayor Laurie is doing, and he just needed a little time, is being really contagious and what's happening.

You can feel the I just had lunch down in the uh stairs in the ferry building.

You can feel the energy down there, more people, and you can even see it in the city.

So clearly we're rowing in the uh the right uh direction.

Um and then, like I said, uh I wanted to thank um Andre for making that uh for explaining about what Steven wanted to talk about as far as passengers coming off the ship and where's the revenue coming?

I just got one thing I just personally want to say is that I was uh a little uh disappointed.

I had my retirement parties uh July 20th up in uh Tacoma, and Director Forbes was invited, and uh no one from the Port of San Francisco was there.

Um, but uh I did good representation.

Morio Codero from the Port of Long Beach came.

Steve Neal, one of the port commissioners, and I was disappointed that Director Forbes or Mike Morton or Andre Coleman wasn't there, and I've seen other commissioners treated better, but there was no representation of people who said, where's the port of San Francisco?

Haven't you been a port commissioner there for 14 years?

And I said, Yeah, but I also realized other commissioners that I've been on this commission with have been treated with a lot more respect than others on this commission.

So I just hope that in the future everybody's treated the same.

Thank you.

Vice President Adlem.

Yeah, um Director Forbes, thank you for a great report.

And um just want to say I've been following the uh you know, just pull out um the the theme of the resilience and waterfront plan.

That is something that San Francisco is definitely taking a leadership on, and it's been talked about in our industry for many years as a really innovative plan.

And I you know, seeing the example of you know, the sort of micro example of the um the seawall tiles, those bio tiles.

Um just I guess what I want to say is that we're really fortunate to have such uh incredible technical team that's been leading us through that.

So, you know, and it's it's great to see Wendy being awarded uh and Louise being recognized.

Um had a good fortune to work with Louise for a number of years.

We're really lucky to have them on the team.

Um, and also the uh amount of public support that's been coming through in a lot of projects.

Uh you know, I think the fact that we're we're really being careful and thoughtful about that that really bodes well for us.

The one thing in in the report that did catch my attention, and it kind of underscores something we've been talking about, is you know, I just think while we we can't rest on our laurels while we're really lucky to be uh riding a good wave of economic recovery.

The fact that you know the the A rating instead of a triple A rating, like how can we double down on that?

And I'm really glad that you mentioned that you're really focusing on the capital improvement program with the plans with the with the team because I think just like we're taking a leadership role and collaboration and public outreach leadership, um, we have to take that same kind of innovative approach to how can we do better in the financial world because that drag it could really mean the difference, you know, when you really play it out in a big project like that that seriously will take us a decade to you know, 20-year project.

We could accelerate that project if we had some really meaningful um transformative financial ideas to help us um with our um uh you know get from that that A rating.

So, anyway, um that just is a reminder for all of us that you know we we're doing great, but we need to uh dig deeper in that financial innovation world and try and find some people that maybe aren't in the tent with us right now to help us figure that out.

Thank you.

Um Director Forbes, um, great report.

I'm not gonna reiterate the comments from any of my commissioners.

I want to again um commend Luis on his recognition for your incredible work and Wendy on your promotion.

Congratulations.

Um, you know, we're only as um the port is only as strong as the folks who are part of our team in making things happen every day.

So I really want to commend the staff for their incredible work.

Um as we you know, we continue to move forward.

We have our um cruise ships happening, we have with phenomenal work happening here at the ferry building, we have fishermen's work forward.

Um so you know, this is our time to shine as we do this great work.

And again, I really just want to reiterate about the living seawall.

It is a great way for us to understand how to do our seawall well and right.

Um, and also it's been happening all around us.

Well, north of the High Street Pier, it's not our jurisdiction, it's federal.

Um, you know, the National Oyster Project does have a living seawall out there of oyster shells.

It was last Tuesday, it was National Oyster Day.

Um, and so um many restaurants in San Francisco donate their shells actually to that project.

So I think it's really wonderful.

We're building on the strong ecology of San Francisco and the waterfront.

So on that note, um uh director Forbes, did you want to say something?

No.

On that note, um, Jenica, next item, please.

Next item is item seven, the consent calendar for callers who wish to make public comment on the consent calendar.

Please dial star three to raise your hand to comment.

7A requests approval of the first amendment of and fee waiver for license number 17173 with Pacific Cruise Ship Terminals, LLC for the periodic use of approximately 20,000 square feet of Pier 19 shed for terminal worker parking during cruise calls at Pier 27 with a remaining term of nine months.

That is resolution 2541.

Item 7B requests approval of the operations agreement.

Contract number OP-0012 with North Bay Distribution Inc.

granting authority to operate three locations at 2031 and 2050, Cessna Drive and 2131 Iconway, each in Vacaville, California, as a foreign trade zone number three, usage-driven site for a term of five years, with one option to extend for four years, and outlining conditions for the operation of the usage-driven site.

This is resolution 2542.

Item 7C requests authorization to award four contracts to one Arcadis Lotus Water Joint Venture, two Caly RJSD joint venture, three GHD structus joint joint venture, and four Moffat and Nickel AGS on call joint venture for as needed engineering and related services.

Each contract in an amount not to exceed five million dollars and to create a prequalified pool.

This is resolution 2543, 2544, 2545, 2546, and 2547.

Item 7D requests authorization to advertise for competitive bids for construction contract number 2882, Pier 9 roof and roof deck repairs, and Pier 33 bulkhead roof and structural repairs.

This is resolution 2548.

Item 7E requests approval of an 18 month renewal with one 18 month extension option of Sky Star Wheel LLC, lease at Seawall Lot 301.

Proposed lease number L1732, including a resolution recommending the Board of Supervisors waive any applicable requirements of the competitive bidding process with respect to this renewal.

This is resolution 2549.

And regarding item 7F, staff requests to continue this item to the September 9th Commission meeting.

So for the last consent item, item 7G, it is to request authorization to execute a project supplemental agreement and a grant agreement with Caltrans for their previously approved Port of San Francisco, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Parking Management Pilot.

This is resolution 2551.

So Commissioners, there's a request from staff that we continue item 7F to the September 9th meeting, and that we have a motion to continue to continue 7F and I need a motion to approve the consent calendars items 7A to 7E and 7G.

So can I have that motion?

So moved.

Second.

Thank you.

Now on our complicated consent agenda, um, is there any public comment in the room on the consent agenda?

Seeing the on the consent agenda.

Excuse me.

Come on, Connor.

Could you remind me the letter of the percains to Pier 9?

D.

D.

D.

D.

This is Pier 9 roofing and decking repairs.

Yes.

Thank you, sir.

All right.

Hello.

Uh hello, uh Commissioners.

My name is Pier Sebastiani with the San Francisco Bayview National Black Newspaper.

And I would like to submit to your commission the August issue of our paper where I got my first publication written as a grad student at USF, a first publication, titled Rotting from the Coast Inward, Sea Scouts Displaced, Waterfront in Decline.

And uh I personally did the research on this issue to target Pier 9, Pier 48, Pier 49, the Sea Scout base, and the Hunter's Point Shipyard, where there is evidence of ecological disaster looming where the wooden pilings underneath all of these piers are literally rotting away, whole chunks are missing, or completely damaged to where they're structurally unsound.

And you can just go and see yourself.

I got some picture evidence of each of it.

The Sea Scouts were uh gracious enough to send some of their information.

I'm sure they were already able to update you.

Now part of your duties as the commission, I understand in the Port of San Francisco is to make sure the maintenance of our waterfront infrastructure and part of that comes from revenues generated from the port operations, which it doesn't take too much to see the empty port cranes we have out here.

We're not getting enough revenue in the port.

Why?

It's because Portland of Oakland's taken it completely over and robbed us of our uh ability to operate and pay for the repairs of our waterfront.

And so I would encourage the commission to examine new revenue structures of re-examining, reopening our port infrastructure in Hunters Point Shipyard, do the remediation work necessary with the community so that way we can hire some construction cranes to bring in these Panamax ships, unload them and truck them back to Oakland since we no longer have a railroad belt way to do the work ourselves.

We get a premium from these companies if they can uh export their product faster and not incur demorage fees, higher insurance rates, their crews are literally waiting around here in the bay, waiting for the port of Oakland.

Meanwhile, the Hunters Point shipyard's been vacant for 30 years, and it used to be the reason why everybody came to San Francisco.

We were the port.

This is the port of San Francisco.

And just look through this.

The wood is deteriorating before our eyes.

And what I would hate to see is what happened to the Santa Cruz Pier earlier this year, just washed away with people on it, happened to us.

And this first came to my attention because I just happened to go to the Klamath for a climate action event for California and Africa.

And I'm walking down the gank plan of the Klamath at low tide, and I said, Oh my God, the pilings are missing, there's whole chunks missing.

Somebody's got to talk about this.

I went to the June meeting, nobody's talking about it.

I went to the July meeting here, nobody's talking about it.

I come here and I gotta go to work and literally squeeze in a 30 minutes to talk to you guys about what's literally crumbling beneath our feet.

So uh I I I've been the rest of my time and I hope that we can work together.

I did submit like three or four proposals to the clerk over this last two months to work with you guys.

Please read my proposals.

I got no follow-up from you.

And I would be more than happy to work with you.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir, very much.

We hear you.

I am going to ask staff to reach out and have conversations again with the Sea Scouts and with this individual about his concerns.

Um I'm also going to ask under new business now that we place an item that we get a briefing on pure infrastructure and informational.

Just what?

The CIP that's coming that we're working on next.

Yes.

Absolutely.

That that be included in that.

Absolutely.

And I do just want to say we do have rapid structural assessments.

We do do inspections and engineering work.

We are aware of the substructure conditions.

Um that is something that we are also very concerned about.

Um that is part of our capital backlog that we're trying to address.

Uh, but that we do um, and Wendy could we will include a report from the engineering team on sort of our green tag, yellow tag, red tag part of our facilities that we're keeping up to date.

So you will see that commissioners, as well as the public.

Yes.

So thank you, and we hear you, sir.

Okay.

Is there any other public comment in the room on the consent calendar?

And hopefully, when we put this out for bid, we get lots of folks who bid on it and we get some work done.

Any public comment on the phone on the consent calendar?

No callers on the phone, thank you.

Okay, commissioners.

We have a motion.

We've had public comment.

All in favor to approve the consent calendar.

Aye.

Okay.

Motion carries.

Next item, please.

Item page.

Oh, no, sorry.

I'm so sorry because I got so wrapped up in this public comment.

I apologize.

So resolutions 2541, 2542, 2543, 2544, 2545, 2526, 2547, 2548, 2549, and 2551 are approved.

Apologies.

Now, next item, please, Jenica.

Thank you.

Item 8A requests a waiver of one, the Port of San Francisco salmon vessel birth rents for a period of six months.

And two, Port of San Francisco seafood processors rent for a period of three months in light of economic disruption caused by closure of the 2025 commercial salmon season.

This is resolution 2552.

For callers who wish to make public comments on this item, please style star three to raise your hand to comment.

Thank you, Jenica.

Good afternoon, President Gilman, Vice President England, Commissioners, Director Forbes.

My name is Dominic Moran.

I'm the assistant uh deputy director of maritime for the port.

I'm here today to request waiver of one port of San Francisco salmon vessel birth rents for a period of six months, and two port of San Francisco seafood processors rent for a period of three months in light of uh economic disruption caused by the closure of the 2025 uh salmon season.

The commercial salmon vessel and processor relief plan supports two key goals of the port strategic plan.

One evolution, evolve the waterfront and waterfront management practices to respond to changing public and port needs by supporting legacy port of San Francisco industries such as commercial fishing as needs change due to economic and environmental conditions.

And two, productivity, attract and retain tenants to build an economically successful and vibrant waterfront in and in doing so preserve and enhance commercial fishing at Fisherman's Wharf and at Strive Hyde Street Harbor.

Commercial fishing is one of the ports and city's most important maritime industries.

Its origin predates the port, and commercial fishing continues today despite both environmental and industry challenges.

The industry employs a wide range of San Franciscans and Bay Area residents and has historically generated strong revenues to the port through its chain of economics.

The local salmon season has been severely compromised in recent years due to environmental challenges such as the increased presence of whales along the Pacific coast, impacts of drought, and the lingering economic impacts of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic.

The commercial fishing industry has faced numerous challenges ranging from overfishing, commercial development, ocean pollution, non-native species, and other environmental challenges over many decades.

Despite these challenges, Pier 45 and Hyde Street Harbor Fisherman's Wharf remain one of the West Coast's major commercial fishing centers, and much has been done to keep the fish in fishermen's wharf.

Major port initiatives include the 1995 rebuilding of the earthquake damaged Pier 45, the 2001 construction of the 21 million dollar Hyde Street Harbor, commercial fishing harbor, excuse me, the 2012 construction of a new $2 million Harbor Master's Office, the 2016 crab industry relief program, and most recently the 2024 crab and salmon processor relief plan.

Ongoing projects that support the commercial fishing industry include the newly installed J9 float project and a fully funded capital project to install a new ice machine at Pier 45.

Over the past three years, San Francisco's most important seafood seasons, Dungeness Crab and Chinook salmon have either been delayed in opening, shortened, or canceled ahead of the season.

For the local commercial salmon population, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has determined that fishery, that fishery and salmon population to be well below historic averages, which resulted in the cancellation of the last two commercial salmon seasons and now a third.

In 2022, CDFW, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, reported two million pounds of fish with a gross value of 10.2 million dollars were landed at the Port of San Francisco, with only $2.7 million of that, or 386,000 pounds provided by salmon.

This is a significant reduction from years past and a disturbing trend.

The main legacy fishing seasons in San Francisco are salmon, April through fall, crab November to spring, and herring, December to February.

The 2022 reporting period was the last full year for the salmon season.

Following 2022, the local San Francisco commercial fishing fleet has suffered a triple hit as years of drought conditions have severely impacted the salmon run, resulting in the cancellation of 2023, 2024, and now 2025's commercial salmon seasons.

As a result of the closed session seasons, many of the port's commercial salmon boat owners have been pushed to the brink of economic collapse.

Port staff have engaged members of the San Francisco commercial fishing industry to assess the economic impacts of the closed season.

The majority of fishing fleet and associated industries are small businesses, and the economic impacts have been dramatic.

Much of the salmon fishing industry earn the majority of their annual revenue in a condensed period, depending heavily on the health and quantity of the local fishery.

The proposed commercial salmon vessel and processor relief plan will offer birth rent relief for a six-month period and seafood processor rent relief for a three-month period.

Port staff recommends a six-month waiver of birth rent for permanent San Francisco salmon fishing vessels who hold a valid state fish and wildlife license to participate in the commercial fishery.

Port staff estimates that this rental relief would be available to approximately 36 Port of San Francisco fishers, and the six-month revenue loss of the port would be approximately 41,392.26 cents.

Port staff also recommends a three-month reduction of lease rent for permanent San Francisco salmon receivers who hold valid state fish and wildlife landings, either directly or through an agent of salmon from salmon boats at their port of San Francisco facilities.

Port staff estimates this rental relief would be available to approximately 17 of uh of San Francisco receivers, and the three-month revenue loss to the port would be approximately 554,935.

The port's proposed commercial salmon vessel and processor relief plan will result in a revenue impact approximately 596,327.26 cents to the port.

The proposed commercial salmon vessel relief plan would throw a critical lifeline to the many small business fishing industry, men and women, during a period of unprecedented financial impacts, provide tangible relief to help sustain this vital historic industry in San Francisco and demonstrate the port's ongoing commitment to our commercial fishing community.

Staff recommends that the port commission support the commercial salmon vessel and processor relief plan, approve the attached resolution, and authorize the executive director to provide waiver of rents as described above.

I'm joined by Andre Coleman, Maritime Director, and Gabe Miklich.

High Street Harbor Master, uh, we are available for your questions, and thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you.

Dominic for the presentation.

Commissioner, so I have a motion so we can move this item.

So move.

Second.

Thank you.

Is there any public comment in the room on this item?

Is there any public comment on the phone for this item?

We have no callers on the line.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

So public comment on this item is closed.

We're going to transition to discussion.

Commissioner McNeely.

Yes.

Um thank you very much for that, uh, for that discussion.

Um I will vote in support of the of the motion.

Uh, but I would like to raise some concerns that I have.

I mean, it it uh I completely uh support um you know the short-term solution basically to uh account for the economic dis disruption.

Uh my concern is uh whether or not we are in an era of the new normal as we as we think about uh global warming, uh as we think about the kinds of disruptions that we're likely to see.

Uh my understanding is this we're maybe in two or three years into some type of waiver.

And my question becomes um uh yes, uh critical lifeline is important.

Uh the um uh commercial fishing, of course, is uh extremely important to our past and our future, um, whether or not at some point we consider a longer term solution to this problem rather than uh each year looking at it uh since it's likely to repeat and be recurring.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Thank you.

Commissioner Lee.

Well, of course, I'm gonna support the fishermen and their small businesses and efforts.

Um and like uh was mentioned, you know, it's you know, they they just keep you know uh canceling the season and and global warming isn't going away, and I keep asking whether if the fishermen can all get together and go to Sacramento and ask if their seasons can be adjusted according to how the whales obviously just do what they want, but we're stuck with these old and and this is for a lot of policies that are made on SFNTA and fire department, as a lot of these resolutions were done so long ago that times have change, and even we can give them temporary relief, but they have to somehow go to Sacramento and ask the wild protection agency if they can you know maybe move their season up a little bit, you know, to adjust to to this problem because even if we give them temporary relief, there's no guarantee that it won't be canceled again.

So I just I'm just worried about the industry a lot.

So I mean I'm gonna support it, of course, but I think uh somehow the fishermen should get together.

I mean, they do a great job lobbying us all the time, but it's time to go to Sacramento boys.

You know, let's tell those, you know, guys, that we can change at one month even.

Your crab season can change a lot.

So that's my only comment, but I support it.

Um of course I'm gonna support the fishermen.

Thank you, Commissioner Lee.

Commissioner Adams.

I think uh Commissioner McNeely hit the head on the nail.

I think we're gonna have to have a painful discussion about this.

Where where does their future lie?

Even when we were talking about the development.

They're they're afraid of their extension.

And I think uh Commissioner McNeely, I don't know if we put a task force together, but it's got to be some painful discussions.

It's going to have to really be some painful discussions.

What they remember from the past is kinda in the past and what is their new world going to look like and what is their reality going to look like.

And uh just as a band-aid that we're actually doing.

And I support it.

I can be wrong.

But we have to really set them down and have a conversation.

And I don't know if a culprit of commissioners have to be involved in poor staff.

And we need to really talk to them.

And how they see it.

And all sides has got to have a reality grip.

And have that conversation.

So I'd I'd be supportive.

I know uh President Gale and I know Steve has really been involved with them, Stephen Lee.

But we um but he's right.

We got to we gotta have a conversation.

Thanks.

Vice President.

Uh uh thank you for the report.

Yeah, I I just will build on um my fellow commissioners' uh comments.

This is a tough challenge to support the short-term um motion.

Uh but I wonder it's it's just like everything else.

Like we're taking a leadership on sea level rise.

What what the the scale and size of fishing for our city for our state uh is enormous.

So this this is a this is a small gesture to get through the the short term together.

But how do we, as the port take a leadership role in helping um you know, this is important to our mission, it's important to the fishermen fishing industry, but you know, we're not the only port where they're landing, also it's like a statewide issue.

It's a it's a regional issue just here.

We're not even even in our region, there's other what are other uh landing sites doing in in this issue, and we are San Francisco, so we should take a leadership role in this conversation or at least offer to and see if there's some way that our you know our incredible team can help uh maybe bring some resources to the table that maybe the you know combine together we can you know we we work collectively with our uh fellow ports and and see what's possible.

Thank you.

Um again, Dominic, thank you so much for this report.

I and Commission is supportive of the item, and we're gonna vote for a minute, but I just want to make two I want to make um three comments, particularly building off uh Commissioner Adams' um comments.

Um I actually do think we need to reach out to our fellow ports, you know, particularly thinking, you know, uh Monterey, which has been mentioned um before, and I think we need to see if if there or if you're already part of some sort of conversation, regional or statewide conversation on the issue.

I know there's a is an association in Sacramento that's been mentioned by the fishers before, and I know there is a statewide council that many of them sit on, but I think we need to have a hard conversation.

And I think it has to include the processors.

We hear a lot from the fishermen who come here, but when you look at this relief package, it's only 36 vessels, and their relief was pretty small.

The major relief we're giving is to the sh to the processors who in my who really have not been at the table or have not come here to commission.

So I really want to be able to involve them, and I'm happy to participate in those conversations.

And if there's not traction among our other ports on this, because they have I don't know, and I'm just making this up right now, I know only enough to be dangerous because they have sardines in Monterey, that they're not as concerned, then we need to take this on for ourselves because I do think times are changing.

We can't continue at this pace.

Um, you know we're not the East Coast.

We're not gonna be the scallop capital of the world as they are in Massachusetts.

Our our waters are different, and um climate change isn't gonna change.

Um I I do think we need to be a little more proactive.

And then I also just think for the public, because we had that last public comment on the consent agenda.

I think the public needs to understand we are an enterprise department, and I think this has been like my soapbox since I've become president.

We don't really get any of your taxpayer money.

Um so when we really do this relief to say something so vital for us, it might seem like a small amount uh on our overall budget.

Um but this relief of close to $600,000 is $600,000 that isn't going somewhere else that isn't going to our capital plan, which isn't going to the pie lens.

Uh um, you know, um Pier 9.

So everything is a trade-off that we do every day for the public good, and I say this more on the dais for the public record.

Um that we um just can't go with our hand to City Hall.

But when you hear of the mayor's budget, um, you know, that's it.

That's those are that is the general fund department budget, and we are not a general fund department.

And I think it's really important for the public to understand that.

So on that note, Commissioners, all in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Okay, resolution 2552 is adopted.

Janica, next item, please.

Item 9A is an informational presentation to consider and possible action to approve a 12-month extension of the lease disposition and development agreement with TCK Broadway LLC, a California limited liability company, TCK, for the proposed hotel development, the development at CWA Lots 3233, and portions of unimproved Vallejo and Davis Street right of ways on the west side of the embarkadero at Vallejo.

This is resolution 2553.

For callers who wish to make public comments on this item, please style star three to raise your hand to comment.

Good afternoon, President Gilman, Commissioners and Port Executive Director, Elaine Forbes.

My name is Ricky Titani.

I'm a waterfront development project manager with the real estate and development division of the port.

I'm glad to be making this presentation uh to you today in response to the request from TZK uh to get uh an amendment to extend their LDDA term.

At the at the executive level, the request is just for 12 months extension.

Uh the development that this concerns is the development at the corner of Broadway and Embarcadero.

Uh it includes 161 room luxury hotel.

Uh exactly when we come back here, we've been looking at 192, but now it's been reduced to uh 161 luxury in terms of what the market can support.

And equally include the space for theaters in Zani, that we're calling the DINA theater space, uh, and also a 14,000 square foot uh public space.

The development costs have gone up.

It's now 169.

Before it was roughly 142 million dollars.

Uh as a quick background on this development, the LDDA was approved by you back in 2019.

At that time, we were expecting that it would take roughly two years to close escrow.

Uh however COVID 19 hit and create a delay in finding financing.

And TZK has been struggling since then to find the financing.

And of course we know why financing is not available, because the demand is not there, the close down due to the COVID-19 tourism, an office worker, and so forth and so on.

But we're recovering now.

Uh so because of that, we have to extend the LDDA term to give them more time to perform.

Um last year we gave them the second amendment to the LDDA that gave them to September this year to complete negotiations of the revisions to the lease term and close escrow.

Well, however, they need additional time because it's taking uh the lenders that are coming in are asking uh series of questions that TCK has to respond to, and this is taking quite some time as a result, even though now this is August, it has three more three more months left before uh before September, but it's anticipating that it's gonna need more time because we've now come to you to get approval for the proposed revisions to the lease term.

We still need to go to the Board of Supervisor as a result.

TZK is being proactive by saying, let me ask for an extension now to get this done.

Um this is the current status of the of the project.

I this uh top of this deck kind of like lay out where we are.

We currently have an extension that would take us to the uh extension from September last year that's taking us to where we are.

The key tasks that you need TCK needs to complete to continue to move the development forward is laid out here with complete negotiation of the proposed lease terms, obtain your approval, go to the Board of Supervisor, and hopefully get the financing and close uh improve building permit and close escrow.

Uh the key terms of this third amendment is again 12-month extension.

Because TZK is very awful, I they've already have some lenders that provide a com uh conditional commitment.

And with the approval that we are expecting for the proposed lease uh term, is expecting that it may be able to close escrow sooner than later uh sooner, rather than use the uh uh the entire 12 months that is requesting now.

As a result, in order to be able to pay on an incremental basis, get the remote extension and pay 25,000 for interestation.

For extension would get us back to that 100,000 extension fee.

So but we are recommending that we accommodate him.

Also, as part of this term is the extension of the deferra that we provided before uh 400,000 in our cruise transaction cost, including uh building parmi fee that TC has to pay and other costs of our consultant, all that combined is what amounted this $414,000 of $411,000 uh dollars that E will pay when it close escrow.

And this amount is secure by a promissory note and is currently a simple interest rate of 30%.

Uh part of this third amendment would be updating the scale of performance, but because currently we're expecting them to close escrow by September this year.

We're going to be changing that to accommodate this extension.

So it will be uh September of next year or when it's able to close.

Uh again, this is the key deal why this project is taking longer.

Getting the financing.

This is a complete picture of the current updated capital stock.

Uh that debt piece, that 55 million is what is really really the key here because all the lenders are in San Francisco, they're looking at the market, they asking very tough questions, and that is why they're saying look, the existing list term needs to be reversed.

Because when we enter into when we when we structure this lease back in 2019, the war was totally different.

The economic condition is different.

Now this is where we are.

So the lender is saying we need to go back and change some of this stuff in order for us to be able to accommodate you.

So generally, this is the uh this is the current capital uh stack.

Uh for the benefit of the new commissioner, this is the location of this site, at the corner of Broadway and embarcadero, uh almost across from Pier 9.

And this is an area of view of the of the site.

Currently, the site is being used for surface parking, which is not the size and best use.

So, in terms of the next uh next steps and timeline, uh we will be complete concluding uh negotiations over the proposed revisions to the lease terms, and then secure approval on TZK will find financy, and hopefully we'll start construction thereafter.

Uh here some uh diagram and pictures of the site is a triangular site, and this is the side layout.

The park is to the left, and here are the elevations of the proposed uh hotel building.

It's a four-story building.

And here is another view or rendering uh of the building at nine.

And here is a view of the park and showing that gazebo and where theatre designs may have a spill out of their activities to uh uh to use the park.

And here's another area view of the of the proposed development.

And that concludes that uh presentation.

We're recommending your approval of the proposed uh resolution that comes with this staff report.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ricky.

Commissioners, do we have a motion to make this action item?

So moved.

Second.

Thank you.

So now I'm gonna open it up for public comment since we have a motion on this item.

Is there any public comment in this on the room on item 9A?

Is there anyone who'd like to make public comment?

I see the developer in the room.

Jay, would you like to make a comment?

Good afternoon, Madam President, commissioners.

My name is Jay Wallace.

I'm here on behalf of TZK Broadway LLC seeking your approval of the uh 12-month extension.

Um we've been at it for a long time, and we've been at it so long that I think Commissioner Adams, you're the original.

Um we're pleased that you're still here and in support of our project.

And to the new commissioners who haven't seen us before, um, welcome.

We're looking forward to working with you as well, to say nothing of our esteemed Stephen Lee and President Gilman.

Um the project's going along well.

We work closely with Ricky and Scott on a regular basis.

Um financing has been a challenge.

There's no doubt about it.

It's uh we face the problem every day of uh the the investment community across the globe.

It says I can buy a uh foreclosed four seasons you know and brought Market Street for $500,000 a room to build a new hotel in San Francisco while union build all union operated all union is substantially more than that.

But we have the best location in the world.

We're proud to be your partner.

The staff has done a great job.

We intend to complete the project this year and move forward as expeditiously as possible.

So with your support, um we can we will continue to work hard and we will bring the wonderful new hotel to the corner of Broadway and the embarcadero with a new home for Teatras and Zani and a new public park.

And I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there any other public comment in the room?

I see none.

Jenica, is there anyone on the phone?

We have no callers on the line.

Okay.

Public comment is closed.

Um Commissioners, any conversation, Commissioner Lee?

Uh hey, uh Jay, can you come back for a second?

So you look you look tired.

I got an old.

I just one little quick sorry.

I do have some project at the Treasure Island as well.

I made a presentation there, and the president of the commission said, it's been so long you lost your hair.

So if I look I know it's pretty he you can laugh at me.

Uh but yeah, I look tired, you're right.

Keep going, Commissioner.

So uh so you're you know, we have this problem with Pier 3032, obviously, you know, what's going on there, and and and you know, just things but going on.

I mean, I when I was on the entertainment commission, I was gonna ready to give you your permit for that, but we're still here and we're still waiting for that great theater.

Um I like how it's uh been reduced, so you can you know, with the times, but are you that close right now?

If we give you this extension, are we ready to close the deal?

We certainly think so.

I mean, I can't speak for the the lending community, but we talk to them every day.

We have we've uh secured most of the financing that Ricky put up on the capital stack, and we are seeking the last little bit to close the financing.

Once that happens and we document the transaction, we'll be ready to pull a building.

We have some modifications that we have to go back to for the building permit uh issuance, but the modifications are reduction in size, not expansion, so they should be relatively simple.

We're going from as Ricky said, 194 rooms.

It's actually 164 rooms now, not 161.

We found a little extra space to enhance the size.

But um, yes, we hope that we will be able to secure the financing in the next few months, finalize that, document that, and move forward.

Um I think I've heard that maybe interest rates might be coming down this fall.

Will that help you too?

Uh that certainly will help for sure.

Um I think the biggest challenge we face, as I said earlier, is the fact that there's a number of foreclosed hotels in San Francisco, and that's a challenge.

Um but as the market cleans itself up, we know that we have the best location with the best partner, the Port of San Francisco, and we will continue to move it forward and succeed.

Yeah, I would uh definitely hold on to that by your pinky if you have to, because it is a great location.

So fabulous.

I mean, I hate to have you s lose it after all these years.

So I'm in support of uh giving the extension.

Thank you.

Commissioner McKealy.

Yes, uh Jay, I had a couple of questions as well.

Um and I agree with Commissioner Lee.

I think it's uh it sounds like a wonderful project.

I'm getting educated on it.

It sounds like a great project, great location, and could be a great catalyst for what we'd like to see in revitalizing this part of the embarcadero.

My question is with this extension, um what's your level of confidence uh that the financing uh will take place?

And uh I don't quite understand uh um uh the hesitation of the lenders at this point.

Is it it sounds like you've had to um again I'm coming onto this new, but it sounds like you've had to re um uh rescale your project uh in a way that made your creditors more comfortable.

And is that is that the uh is that the lingering item that kind of is is allowing you to kind of figure that out and then go forward with your lenders.

Um I'd say it's uh that and and um you sound crass, but I don't you know I'll say it anyway, you know.

Um the markets don't just care about great location.

You know, we what we face in the marketplace is it's on a ground lease, so that takes a whole host of uh whole group of lenders off the table, they won't touch a ground.

It's an all-union project, start to finish every day, every day when we turn on the lights, it's a union project.

That takes a whole group of lenders out of the picture.

It's uh we're using uh C-Pace financing, which is a tradition, it's a well-known and well-respected form of financing.

It's cheaper debt than most debt today.

It's how this building was actually built with C-Pace financing.

But there's a group of lenders that don't want to participate in CPA.

So a hundred lenders in America are doing hotel investment.

You shrink it by a third, a third, a third.

We hear you get a chance to talk to 10 or 12, you know, 10 or 20 lenders.

And they're warming up to San Francisco.

There we were COVID shut things down completely.

The hospitality industry was crushed in the city.

We then went through the uh the uh people sleeping on the streets and the homeless encampments, people didn't want to do business in San Francisco.

Mayor Lurie has brought a great fresh breath of fresh air, and we are seeing a lot more interest, and we are very confident that uh we will get the financing done.

I'm so confident that we continue to spend our money, our private equity, our personal money on the project, and uh that will not cease.

Okay.

Thank you.

Sure.

Thank you.

Commissioner Adams.

Jay, um, you know I support this.

I've been on commission so long, and I know director for us will agree.

We have seen so many of these projects, even with uh development of the housing in the Pier 3032.

People keep coming back, right, Scott, the giants.

This thing is always moving back and forth.

And you're doing two projects.

You're doing this in Treasure Island, right?

Yes, sir.

Yeah.

This is difficult.

I believe you're gonna get there.

Um we live in a with the markets and everything is kind of volatile.

And I don't think a year is unreasonable to uh something that I think this city and its rebirth will re enjoy.

Uh I think we're we're going to enjoy this when it does happen.

And I think this commission and the poor staff and our executive director will will all look back at this and realize this was just a part of the process of growing through this.

This is this is difficult.

So I support it.

And I I can only imagine the frustration you have.

I mean I mean a lot of crazy things are happening.

We could wake up one day this week and San Francisco could be like DC.

I mean, you just never know from day to day what's happening in this crazy country.

Never say never.

But anyway, you have my support.

Thank you.

Vice President Anthony.

Um Jay, I really appreciate you taking time to explain some of the uh you know your your thoughts about this.

I guess my only thought is, you know, and and I I I support this because the the team has worked with you closely and they're coming back.

You're you're coming back and asking for a year.

You know, a year ago we asked for a year.

I'm just I'm just wondering, are we asking for enough time?

Is that enough flexibility?

I I trust the team that this is the right request, and it sounds like you know, with uh with you know it's all timing.

So I just I hope that uh because the the cost escalation uh uh statistic that was um that was mentioned is uh really you know obviously a big concern to you and and and to the project so I guess the you're asking for a year, so I support that.

And uh I really appreciate you uh sharing your uh uh thoughts and and uh keeping your uh expertise involved.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Well, um thank you, Jay, and um thank you for sticking with it.

Um I remember when this first was a concept as North Beach resident and all of the community outreach you did way before I was on this commission, actually, and that all of the community support for this to be a sole source.

I'm teaching your team for your commitment to Zanzani, um, which was moved because of the port and because of us for America's Cup.

Um and this all predates me sitting here on this chair.

But um I'm really excited that you guys are finally moving forward.

And I will just say I really hope you get the financing nailed down, you get moving.

Because with tariffs and everything, I would hate to see your construction costs escalate anymore.

So thank you so much.

And Ricky and Scott and the team, thank you for working so diligently with this partnership.

Commissioners, we have a motion on the table.

All in favor?

Okay, this unanimously passes resolution 2553 is adopted.

Jenica, next item, please.

Next item is item 10A.

Request authorization to amend the Harbor Profit Code to establish parking restrictions for large vehicles on port property to align with recent amendments to city administrative and transportation codes.

This is resolution 2554.

For callers who wish to make public comments on this item, please dial star three to raise your hand to comment.

Good afternoon, Commissioners.

Uh Mike Martin, Assistant Port Director and Chief Operating Officer.

Here today to give you uh kind of a brief verbal presentation of the context of the amendments to the Harbor Traffic Code that are before you.

Um as you can see, it's a fairly targeted amendment to the Harbor Traffic Code relating to the parking of large and oversized vehicles.

This is meant to harmonize our port street regulations with those that are now in a that will be in effect in the rest of the city after actions taken by the Board of Supervisors and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors.

These restrictions are crucially paired with an intent and resourcing of the city to engage in a lot of outreach with recreational vehicle occupants and particularly those using recreational vehicles as homes on different city streets.

The goal here is to try to sort of address that issue by engaging with these individuals and families living in the RVs to see if they will be able to get into city operated or city made available temporary shelter and permanent housing.

And the idea is that there will be a large vehicle refuge permit program under which the occupants of the RVs, as long as they are working through that process and agreeing to abide by certain good neighbor provisions, would receive a permit to be able to continue parking on city streets with the hope for outcome being eventually they obtain that shelter or housing and then at that time the city could buy back the recreational vehicles so they wouldn't continue to be used as housing on the streets.

Port staff has been engaging with the various city agencies as well as MTA and the mayor's office about the overall program as well as the parking restrictions themselves.

And if you adopt these amendments, we would continue to engage with SFMTA to ensure enforcement, because that really is the foundation of our recommendation that you pass this.

Is ultimately what we're going for is one set of rules that would be uh enforced throughout the city, including port streets, because if we didn't adopt if you didn't adopt this item that's before you create a situation with a different set of restrictions on port property that could potentially incentivize large recreational vehicles or other vehicles without um parking permits to come to port property to evade enforcement, and that's obviously an outcome that would disrupt uh the businesses of our tenants as well as our own operations, and so we're hopeful that you will adopt the resolution before you today.

Um that is the context, and I'm happy to answer any questions about the port's involvement with this effort.

Um we're also joined in the audience today by you fern Pan, uh the assistant chief uh in the mayor's office for health, uh homelessness and family services, who can answer any questions you have if you have any about the broader program.

Um but we look forward to your questions and feedback.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mike.

Commissioners, is there a motion to move this item?

So moved.

Okay.

Second.

Okay.

We have a motion.

Um is there any public comment in the room on item 10?

Is there anyone on the phone, Jenica?

There are no callers on the phone.

Okay, then I'm closing public comment on this item.

Um Commissioner Lee.

I mean, of course, um we have to support this uh ordinance because as they are moving throughout the city, they're gonna be moving to different locations, the ones that don't want to participate.

So they're gonna find whatever space they can, and I'm sure is going to be coming down here.

Um my only concern is uh, I mean, definitely support as long as they want to move into the next uh housing or whatever we can provide them.

Um what I don't like is all the clutter, you know, that comes with it.

They start bringing all their bicycles and things like that.

Is there a way that part of the permit say that they have to keep the area clean or uncluttered or whether it's full of of you know accumulated trash and things that is just so unsightly and also it it it uh creates a look kind of a hazard for other people?

Thank you for that question, Commissioner.

I'll invite Ms.

Penn to answer.

Uh good afternoon, Madam President and Commissioners.

My name is Euphra and Pan with the mayor's office.

To answer your question, yes, as part of the refuge permit policy, uh permit holders will be required to sign and adhere to a good neighbor policy, uh which we'll be posting on the public website for all to understand and to be able to know off.

And so that the good neighbor policy includes uh keeping the area around your vehicle clean, allowing DPW to clear debris if uh uh if required, uh, and um uh not adhering to that policy uh will be clause for revoking the permit.

And you will have uh kind of monthly inspections then to go out and take a look.

Typically, enforcement will will come through uh requests from 311.

It's usually complain-based in terms of how um the street teams are generally operationalized to be able to respond to requests across the city.

And so this would come under just the typical protocols for that.

So there's not really, even though we are giving them a permit to park there and live there.

How do you monitor to be able to, if there's some available housing for them?

Yes.

How do you engage if you don't go out there?

Thank you for your question.

So the permit, the purpose of the permit is to be able to temporarily stay in your vehicles while the city works with the permit holder to to move them into housing.

And so as part of that permit holders will be provide a case management services.

And so they will be assigned a case manager, which who will be responsible for weekly check-ins with that permit holder working with them to what's finding appropriate housing for them to move into.

And so if they don't participate or suddenly change their mind, they could you can revoke their street permit.

That is correct.

That is also part of the permit um uh conditions.

And okay.

That's all the questions I have.

Thank you.

Okay.

Commissioner McNeely.

I had a also a question about the uh uh vehicle refuge uh permit program, and that is does that then uh require the vehicle to be located to an area where there is that uh a temporary uh a temporary space allowed for those vehicles for that 12-month period, or let's say, for instance, a vehicle parks on the embarcadero and requests the refuge permit program.

Uh does that vehicle stay in front of the ferry building or close by the permit and a presemony of proximity for 12 months as it works its way through the process.

Uh thank you for your question.

So to clarify, the refuge permit will only exempt a vehicle from the new two-hour parking limit.

It does not um it does not uh uh exemp them for any existing parking restrictions that apply to the city street um as of today.

And so if they were uh already on a port street, um my understanding is that they will not be able to stay in their uh at that specific parking spot more than 24 hours beyond um what was permitted by uh what what was paid for in that parking space.

Um and so that those rules will continue to apply.

Uh existing other existing restrictions like street cleaning um and whatsoever so on and so forth will continue to be apply.

Okay, thank you.

Commissioner Adams.

I'm in support, first of all.

Uh I applaud the mayor for putting this task force together.

And everything that I need to know right here is says if we don't adopt this, the outcome would undermine the goals of the citywide program, create negative impact for the poorest business residents, and open space.

That says it all that I need to know right there, and I I am going to support the poor staff recommendation.

Vice President Emlin.

Um I guess my my only question, I guess it's kind of like why is this coming to commission?

Because I'm I'm not sure.

This feels like something that if if it's part of I I mean I generally I have general supportive of this.

I guess that's my question.

Why is this coming to commission?

For changing code.

Um effectively, this harbor traffic code is something that can't be sort of adopted in this in the way the amendments to the poor code were adopted at the Board of Supervisors.

So you're in control of these specific regulations.

Okay.

So we had to bring this item and we had to bring this item on the open calendar because it is amending a regulation.

Okay.

That that was that that's that's kind of just a process question that I had.

So I'm supportive.

Thank you.

Um again, I think um all of us want to, I think are in agreement too on this commission that we commend the mayor for bringing this forward and for SFMTA for addressing this issue which has caused um a lot of concern for neighborhoods, particularly the Southeast sector of our waterfront has been hit hard by this, and I really want to acknowledge their struggles and the struggles of District 10.

Um I really hope people take advantage of the myriad of programs that the city is offering to help people secure housing because this commission is supportive of this.

So, Commissioners, all in favor?

Aye.

Okay.

So resolution 2554 is adopted, and we are now in alignment with the rest of the city and county of San Francisco.

Jenica, next item, please.

Item 11 is new business.

I have recorded some new business.

The first is uh an update on facility conditions, which we will uh work in to the capital improvement plan.

Um report to you.

Also for us to work with the Sea Scout uh representative and report back to the Commission on our findings as well as the gentleman who issued uh had an article in this uh Bayview paper.

Um finally, and I don't know if I'll get this one exactly right, but that we need to have creative ways and think differently and get into conversations with the fishers about the viability of the fisheries and business going forward and see how we can contribute to a positive outcome for the fishers.

Yeah, and I think I'll just Director Ferms, I because I know there was a lot of this meeting today, so I want to lose it, the processors.

So I think we need to form a working group.

I don't think the fisherman's work advisory committee it the um I can't use I forget how the acronyms pronounce.

I don't think that's the venue.

So I think it needs to be something outside of that.

Um and seeing maybe if that's something that could be uh maybe it's something that we can work through our lobbyists as something that we can work or boris with our other California ports who are having similar challenges.

We can't be the unicorn on this issue, we should be working collectively.

That's fantastic.

And we actually have a meeting with the California Association of Port Authorities just this week.

So it's an opportunity for me to bring up this conversation and start the dialogue.

Yes.

I I think uh if we help them organize a little bit with that, because I think it's going to have to be beyond city limits here.

It's gonna be half like a statewide issue.

So if we can help, you know, with uh you know, supporting it with our lobbyists maybe, you know, to get them a little organized.

Yeah, the yeah, the California Association.

I think it'd be a great venue for you to bring it up in.

But I think we want to participate and you have commissioners who would like to participate if you need if you need us to.

That would be great.

And then one thing uh I I would like to have our communications person talk to this young um graduate here that uh uh a lot what he said is because he doesn't understand uh I mean I I was kind of like Tim when I joined the commission as I didn't know, but now that I've been here so long and what it takes, I think if he understands, and also we have a federal government that cut our budget a lot.

So we were ready to break ground and now things have slowed down.

So I think if Eric somehow um could communicate with them and say, look, we we understand we're on it, but it's a process, and it costs millions of millions of dollars that we don't have.

And all these projects are taking a little money away from us 20 20 meters from South, you know, and all these things are just nickelhing and diming us.

Uh we have to give relief to the salmon fishermen.

These are money that like uh President Gilman said we don't have.

And and it basically sets us back.

So somehow the communication has to go out a little better to these younger people and say, look, we're on it, but it costs money and and we have seven and a half miles to deal with.

So somehow we can start engaging on that.

That'd be great.

And and on top of that, we're not in competition with the Port of Oakland.

The Port of Oakland is a container portally different.

We're we're a boutique port, we're totally different.

Plus the Port of Oakland has the airport and the port.

And the days that at one time the Port of San Francisco was the largest port on the West Coast back in the day, but a lot has changed and the leadership back then went a different direction.

And now it's LA Long Beach, which is the largest port, then Oakland and then Tacoma, Seattle.

And he doesn't understand the dynamics.

They're not in competition.

I think the Port of San Francisco is doing the best they can with their with their maritime, trying to get general cargo, cruise ships and stuff that they can do.

But we have 500 and some leases.

He may not know that.

Right.

And the large is probably our is the is the giants, right?

So and then we do a lot of developments that they don't do in the port of uh of Oakland.

So I don't I don't think he under he uh he understands that, right?

It's totally different, a landlord port and a marital.

And he doesn't he doesn't understand you have to explain.

I I appreciate his passion, but he he just needs to understand.

Yeah, absolutely.

And maybe Andre could write something up for him so he could look at it beside that there is a difference.

Thanks.

Actually, sorry, I'm so sorry, we're all like just on this point, because I think it's uh it's so lovely actually to see a young person come and do public comment and have this passion is maybe we could do an opt-ed in the paper and see if um we can get that in, sort of explaining that um we are a landlord port now, the rich history, honoring the history, I think is important, particularly for the baby community, but understanding that it's it's the it's not our decision just to all of a sudden decide that we're gonna become a container shipping port again.

Um I think maybe we could we could have Andre.

I think it would be actually appropriate the communications uh it could be appropriate under under um your penmanship, maybe just explain who we are and what we do a little bit.

And the opportunities for all of our internships and all the things that we do do to in reach to the community.

It might be it could we could see if they'll publish it for us.

They may not, and then we can put it on our website.

But um it it could be it could be worth it.

Madam President, my answer move to that.

would be actually appropriate the communication uh it could be appropriate under under um your penmanship maybe just explain who we are and what we do a little bit and the opportunities for all of our internships and all the things that we do do to in reach to the community it might be it could we could see if they'll publish it for us they may not and then we can put it on our website but um it it could be it could be worth it Madam President my answer move to that I mean I I think that that um I understand his passion and some of the factual uh um background was wasn't accurate but um he felt very passionate about it and there are probably many many people particularly young people that may feel that may be similarly situated so I'd I'd like to not treat him just as an individual that this is kind of a one off I think there may be others maybe entire communities that might think the same way so perhaps uh I like uh the the uh the president's uh um uh thought around uh perhaps even an exploration in that the same newspaper where he did his research or maybe an op uh a response from the port or not bad or something that explains what we do and how we do it.

I think that's a great that's a great recommendation.

Or even a podcast or maritime from entreaches out that reaches out to that generation and I think yeah I think so I think it's just educ you know just basic education you know what we're doing now compared to I mean just they're they're smart enough they they know he just got a little excited looking I I got that way too looking under Ali Otto's we all feel that way I think I think their technology it's complex people don't understand that we're not north of the Hyde Street Pier, right?

That we're not the marina green that that's federal property um you know I so I just think I there's complexities to what we do.

Folks don't understand that we're not every street that's across the street.

Right.

So I just think um it's nuanced and whether you're young old lived here born and raised here or just moved here yesterday I just think the more we can do this but I think to engage the next generation of San Franciscans will be the key for the long term success of the port when we're all um in our wheelchairs coming up to do public comment to whoever's sitting on these guys I won't make it on our wheelchairs.

I'm never going to be in one but I'm just saying you understand it.

So on that note commissioners I think you have our I think you have our um new items is there any other new business can I get a motion to adjourn?

Motion to adjourn.

So moved second.

Okay all in favor of adjourning this wonderful meeting at wait at 4.57 p.m aye aye meeting is adjourned