Amid another high surf advisory, Santa Cruz city leaders Friday morning provided an update on the future of the damaged Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf.
In short, there is no timeline for reopening the popular wharf and no decision yet on whether to rebuild the lost portion.
The update came just a few days after 150 feet of the wharf collapsed into the water due to what officials called the most severe swells in 30 years. The section already had been closed off since last January and was under construction at the time of the collapse.
Three workers went into the water, and two were stranded on the debris before they were rescued. The third worker reportedly swam to safety, officials said.
No definitive timeline for reopening was provided Friday. City officials said earlier this week the wharf would remain closed as they assess the damage. The main focus of that assessment is gauging the structural integrity of what remains of the wharf.
On Friday, city officials did acknowledge the questions of the day: Where do we go from here? Should that damaged section of the wharf be rebuilt? Those city leaders will be discussing that very issue in the weeks to come, with reopening the wharf safely as the top priority, one official said Friday.
The top priorities for now are recovering heavy equipment at the bottom of the ocean, retrieving a restroom facility that floated into the San Lorenzo River, and collecting debris spread out around 10 miles of the wharf.
Authorities also said the lost section of the wharf might never be rebuilt due to long term climate change concerns.
"We've got some hard conversations and some hard decisions we're going to have to make," Santa Cruz City Manager Matt Huffaker said. "As we move out of this initial emergency response phase, right now our immediate concern is getting the balance of the wharf open and our businesses operating again as soon as possible."
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. >Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley said the section that was under construction after prior damage could have been finished if the Coast Commission had not limited repair work to winter months. The city plans to now fight the limit.
"I'm not saying they don't have reasons," Keeley said. "I'm just not sure they are good enough reasons. And I want to find out what that's about because that's very disturbing to us."
The wharf houses more than two dozen businesses that employ more than 400 workers, Huffaker said.
