Dennis Durgan Harbormaster
Longtime resident, world-renowned sailor, yachtsman, businessman, local real estate agent, and Newport Harbor enthusiast Dennis Durgan now can add one more role to his list: Harbormaster.
Durgan is well-known around Newport Harbor and is already a familiar face with a number of locals who live, work and play on the water. He officially started his new position as harbormaster on July 1.
The city was looking for someone who knew the harbor “inside and out, forwards and backwards” and he fit the bill perfectly. Durgan grew up in Newport Beach and has been sailing out of the local harbor for more than half a century.
“It’s really been a blessing to have grown up in this wonderful harbor,” Durgan said. “It’s nice to give back to the harbor that I so dearly love.”
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Photo Credit: Sara Hall/Newport Beach Independent
City leaders gathered at Marina Park on Sunday to remember the first anniversary of the death of Huntington Beach Police Officer Nick Vella off the Lido Peninsula.
“The city of Newport Beach is honored to celebrate the life and sacrifice of Officer Pilot Vella. His bravery and valor shall be remembered forever.” – Newport Beach Mayor Noah Blom
This week I’d like to recognize critical, often unsung members of our City team who perform a vital service during rainstorms: the Utilities Department crews that pump storm water and operate the tide valves on Balboa Island and the Peninsula.
The valves, which were built in the 1970s to replace a system from the early 1900s, are necessary to prevent flooding in low-lying areas. They are manually operated, and need to be closed during high tides to prevent seawater from flooding the streets. Once the tide recedes, crews reopen the valves — nearly 90 in total — to allow water to flow from streets to the bay.
In some ways, on some days, we all live trashy lives.
Even an inadvertently dropped gum wrapper via the forces of gravity, wind, and water runoff finds itself in company with all manner of discarded detritus heading to our oceans and beaches.
Trash is strictly a human byproduct. Just walk Newport’s sands after a crowded summer day. Or stand by the outflow of the Santa Ana River, or the entrance to the Upper Bay estuary post-storm to witness the “flood” of trash tangled in broken foliage washed downstream, to either float offshore, rest on our beaches or become locked in the life-giving vegetation of the Back Bay.
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