Contract talks upset local mariners

The city of Newport Beach’s proposal to turn the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s harbor mooring duties over to a private company came under fire Thursday, when local mariners questioned the fairness of the bidding process and whether any savings would be worth the change in service.

For at least the last 25 years, the Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol has managed the moorings at an annual cost of $115,000. Last year the department recalculated the costs for the first time in 20 years, and charged $290,000.

Newport’s Harbor Resources Director Chris Miller announced last week that Newport Beach had chosen BellPort Group’s $180,000 bid to manage the 1,200 on- and off-shore moorings. However, the city has yet to sign a contract with the firm, which would track mooring usage, rentals and other aspects along the harbor.

With a city budget short millions of dollars, city officials decided it was time to test the market for cheaper management, Miller said.

After studying several bids, the city went with BellPort Group, which will reduce the level of service offered by the harbor patrol, but save $100,000.

“A lot of that decision, if not all of that decision, was cost-based,” Miller said.

Neither the sheriff’s department or local mariners want to change the status quo, however. A handful of sailors Thursday met with the harbor patrol and Miller to discuss concerns with the proposed deal.

The group said the bidding process didn’t provide an apples-to-apples comparison because some companies offered a price based on limited services for only about eight hours a day while the harbor patrol’s bid was based on around-the-clock service.

And 24-hour mooring management is what the harbor needs, group members said, adding that they take comfort in the fact that sheriff’s deputies get to know boat owners and can tell when something along the docks is out of place.

BellPort Group won’t be there to deal with an illegally moored boat, or a yacht that breaks free from its ties in the middle of the night, while the harbor patrol would be, members said.

For all the problems they’ll deal with, and after-hours services the company would bill the city for those late-night incidents, Newport Beach won’t be saving a dime, some claimed.

Miller said the city is trying to work out details of service with the BellPort Group, whose proposal was somewhat vague, according to city officials.

In a surprise visit, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens stopped by the meeting to tell Miller that the department is willing to rework its cost estimate if it is kept for mooring management.

“We’ll be upfront with what we can and cannot do,” Hutchens said.

Miller said the city could put the brakes on the BellPort Group deal after the sheriff pledged to reexamine mooring management costs.