Daily Business Report — Dec. 23, 2009
Port Tenants Association Cancels New Year’s Eve Fireworks
The San Diego Port Tenants Association has canceled the annual New Year’s Eve Fireworks Show as a result of issues raised by the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Encinitas. The Foundation claims the Port has violated a section of the Clean Water Act that requires that a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit be issued before any pollutant is discharged into U.S. waters.
“The Port’s discharge of fireworks results in aerial explosions that place polluting particulate matter into San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean,” the Environmental Rights Foundation said in a compaint. “The Port’s summer and holiday fireworks displays have been ongoing since 2000. No NPDES permit has ever been obtained for such discharges.”
“This, of course, raises doubt about the future of July 4 fireworks as well,” said Sharon Cloward, president of the Port Tenants Association. “Fireworks over San Diego Bay may be a thing of the past.”
Cloward said the Port Tenants Association, the Port and local businesses are working together to attempt to resolve the problem. “Unfortunately we were not afforded enough time for the New Year’s Eve Show. It is a free public event that is supposed to be enjoyed by all San Diegans,” said Cloward.
The New Year’s Eve Fireworks Show was originally sponsored by the city of San Diego. However, five years ago, due to budget constraints, the city asked individuals and businesses on the tidelands to fund the event. The event costs $17,000.
Cruise Ship Terminal Framework Taking Shape
The framework of what will be the West Coast’s newest cruise ship terminal is taking shape. The steel structural frame of the two-story, 52,000 square-foot Broadway Pier Cruise Ship Terminal is being erected on the pier near the corner of Broadway and Harbor Drive in Downtown. The delivery of 1,200 tons of structural steel, equivalent to 2.5 million pounds, fabricated in Santa Ana and Corona, began arriving Dec. 14 and continues to be trucked in daily. A crane with a 70-ton capacity is on the pier to set the steel columns in place for the terminal building. Columns for the building’s frame will be 44-feet tall and weigh five tons each.
“Installation of the steel is anticipated to be complete at the end of February. Early October is the anticipated completion of the building, with the first cruise ship set to utilize the facility in December 2010,” said Mark McIntire, project manager for the Port of San Diego project. The construction has created more than 100 jobs.
“There are 50 tradesmen on the job site, another 25 to 50 fabricating materials offsite, 25 to 50 consultants on everything from engineering, to permitting, to the management of construction. This project is being completed at no cost to the taxpayers,” said McIntire.
Designed by Ajamil & Partners and constructed by Jaynes Corp., the project is being built at a cost of $21.1 million. A construction Webcam is available for the public to view the project as it evolves.
The two-story Broadway Pier cruise ship terminal can accommodate 2,600 passengers. The terminal will include offices for the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs & Border Protection. The facility will be the Port’s first green building and is being designed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification
OCC to Hold Workshop for Community Bank Directors
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will host a Feb. 1-3 workshop for directors of nationally chartered community banks in San Diego at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay. The workshop provides practical information that expands bank directors’ skills and understanding of issues facing their banks. Titled, “A Director’s Challenge: Mastering the Basics,” the workshop is geared primarily to directors of national community banks with assets of less than $1 billion who would like to review the fundamental requirements of their position. The workshop costs $100. Attendees receive pre-course reading and course materials, an OCC telephone seminar CD, a community bank supervision handbook, other supervisory material, a continental breakfast and lunch. The workshop is limited to the first 35 registrants. For information or to register online, visit occ.gov/conference.htm or call (336) 451-0557.
Point Loma Nazarene Takes Applications for Kyoto Fellowship
Point Loma Nazarene University is now accepting applications for its Kyoto Prize Symposium Journalism Fellowship taking place in San Diego April 19-23 that will include the opportunity to meet the latest Kyoto Prize Laureates and participate in their presentations at San Diego State, UCSD and USD. The Kyoto Prize is presented annually by Japan’s nonprofit Inamori Foundation to individuals and groups worldwide who have demonstrated outstanding contributions to society through technology, science or the arts. The prize consists of academic honors, a gold medal and a cash gift of 50 million yen (about $500,000) per category, making it Japan’s highest private award for global achievement.
The fellowship is available to working journalists or freelance writers based in North America who hope to further their knowledge of technology, science and the arts, through contact with the 2009 Kyoto Prize Laureates. They are:
● In “Advanced Technology” ― Dr. Isamu Akasaki, a semiconductor scientist whose pioneering work on gallium-nitride materials has had epoch-making impact on fields ranging from data storage to lighting, by contributing to the development of blue semiconductor lasers and blue LEDs.
● In “Basic Sciences” ― Drs. Peter and Rosemary Grant, evolutionary biologists whose field research on Darwin’s finches in the Galápagos Islands over three decades has demonstrated rapid evolution caused by natural selection in response to environmental change.
● In “Arts and Philosophy” ― Maestro Pierre Boulez, a musician specializing in serialism and electroacoustic techniques who has consistently established new artistic trends through his composition, conducting, writing and organizational leadership.
“We are pleased to provide this rare opportunity for journalists to learn about the achievements of the Kyoto Prize Laureates and participate in one-of-a-kind presentations not seen anywhere else in the world,” said Bob Brower, president of Point Loma Nazarene University.
The fellowship covers transportation, accommodations, and per-diem expenses. Applications are available at pointloma.edu/kyoto.
Landscape Firm Awarded Excellence Award for Quarry Falls
Landscape architectural firm Wallace Roberts & Todd Inc. has been awarded a merit award for “sustaining excellence” design by the San Diego chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects for its work on Quarry Falls. The development is the Sudberry Family of Cos.’ planned 230-acre, mixed use community in Mission Valley. Quarry Falls is to be developed from a sand and gravel quarry to a mixed-use community with homes, retail, office and park space over the next 15 years.
The ASLA award recognized the outstanding work of landscape designer Ruth Stafford. Stafford, an associate of Wallace Roberts & Todd, was project director for the landscape architecture and worked with the U.S. Green Building Council for certification of the Quarry Falls plan. Judges said they were impressed by the lead role taken by the landscape architect on such a complicated project as Quarry Falls, which the jury noted was a very good example of sustainability on a disturbed site.
Federal Contract Awards . . .
Dynamic Instruments Inc., San Diego, won a $87,195 federal contract from the U.S. Naval Supply Systems Command, Philadelphia, for the repair or modification of tabs aircraft maters.
(Source: Targeted News Service)
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