Bellport to Manage Moorings
Following its RFP for mooring management, the City has announced it will propose that management of moorings in Newport Harbor will be awarded to Bellport Group, to be confirmed by City Council. The Orange County Sheriff's Harbor Department has handled this responsibility under contract for at least 25 years but its bid to continue was apparently too dear in this economic climate. The Newport Mooring Association appreciates the Harbor Patrol's superior level of service and acknowledges that the department has set the bar high for those who will follow. The Daily Pilot and The Register both wrote on this topic today.
Fees study/appraisal
The City has announced it is working on an RFP for a new harbor appraisal including moorings. This follows about a year after the previous $120k three-part harbor valuation study (pdf - 2.71MB)  was deemed not usable for many reasons. Letters from NMA members and statements of NMA Board members on that study can be found on the Harbor Fees page.
The NMA has been included in discussion about problems with the previous appraisal in preparation of this new RFP. The City is determined to evaluate fees promptly because of its forecasted budget deficit. For a comparison of fees in other harbors with moorings, see the 2010 Mooring Fee Survey, below.
Coastal Marina Permit
The SWRCB has proposed that marinas with more than 10 slips or moorings will be required to obtain a Coastal Marina Permit and comply with its terms. Cost: $230,000 to $250,000 per annum per marina, according to Jim Sinasek, special projects coordinator to City Manager Dave Kiff. Cost to you? Divide those dollars by the number of boats in your marina.
The SWRCB cites existing regulation of livestock feedlots and shooting ranges as legal precedent for requiring the marinas, which it sees as pollution aggregators, to follow stringent sampling, testing, observation and reporting requirements, and to pay fines as required on top of the permit fees.
One problem with the Coastal Marinas Pemit is that it would be enacted not by voters, but by the SWRCB, in about November 2010. Compliance with the permit requires a litany of sampling, testing, and reporting requirements that reads like an environmentalist's dream punch-list. This would amass an incredibly detailed database of sediment and water quality measurements statewide to further serve regulators.
Randy Short, president of Almar Marinas, has called the Coastal Marinas Permit the biggest threat to the marina industry in 20 years. The RBOC has been following this issue and getting the word out to local boaters. Many local yacht clubs have posted links to this information on their websites as well. What can you do? Make sure your marina operator knows about this potential permit before hand. Most entities will have to build this kind of heavy-duty expense into their budgets so as not to be caught off guard by citations, fines, and penalties down the road.
The RBOC's call to action, linked to above, is worth reading, sharing, and follow-up action from your marina operator or club. City moorings would be affected, too. Your Harbor Commission is preparing a letter for City Council's approval to express the City's concerns with the Coastal Marinas Permit.
The NMA has updated the NMA mooring fee comparison survey (Word doc--149KB  ) for harbors in southern California. It's worth a read. It shows what harbors elsewhere in the state charge for a mooring permit. Includes berth fees for some harbors, too. For comparison, see the 2008 mooring fees study (Word doc--50KB ) (or view as webpage).
Harbor Resources Department
829 Harbor Island Dr., Newport Beach, CA
92660
(949) 644-3034, fax (949) 723-0589
Do you need to reach Harbor Resources?
Email Harbor Resources with your input.
If you need to rethink your sea lion deterrents, please see the NMA Pinniped Pointers page in the NMA documents library. This year sea lions are "loving" the area south of Lido Isle, "F," "H," & "J" fields, and private piers in this area. Your continuing effort to keep sea lions off of your boat helps all of us. Sea lions have sunk about ten boats in Newport Harbor, recently including a 1950's Star  boat.
At the February Harbor Commission meeting, a shortened time frame for notification of permit holders of sea lion problems was approved. Formerly a permit holder had 10 days to effect sea lion deterrents; now the permit holder has just seven days (pdf--40KB) from the first warning letter.
Your eyes are now reading lines of the NMA Electric Pennant, our online newsletter, available only online. It has a hardcopy cousin, NMA Pennant, mailed to all dues-paid NMA members, and is the official newsletter of the Newport Mooring Association. After members receive it via postal mail, recent and past editions are available on the Newsletters page.
Mooring Loan Permission Form
Need to loan a mooring to a friend? Here is the form you fill out, print, sign, and send to the Harbor Department.
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The Board of Directors meets monthly to review projects and conduct business. Mooring permit holders are welcome to attend. The date and time of the next board meeting is:
Tuesday, Mar. 2, 2010, at 18:15 hrs.
downstairs at the Newport Beach Yacht Club You are welcome to park across Bayside Drive in the parking lot.
NMA Members are welcome to attend!
Newport Beach Yacht Club
1099 Bayside Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
(949) 760-0221
Mooring Appraisal Critique
The Newport Mooring Association has received, from an MAI-designated independent appraiser, a critique of the City's appraisal of Newport Harbor moorings. Specifically, it addresses the direct comparison of yacht club moorings to individually permitted moorings with no adjustments. We suspected that such a comparison was not valid, but what does a professional have to say about this? Read the appraiser's critique (pdf--320 KB).
The Sheriff's Department has named a new Orange County Harbormaster, Lt. Mark Long. According to this story in The Log, he looks forward to building community support and developing relationships with the community of harbor users. We'll go farther working together. Congratulations, Lt. Long!
With the reassignment of Deputy Joel Monroe, a new mooring master has been named; he is Deputy Carlos Contreras. We understand he has hands-on mooring knowledge, as he is a permit holder himself!
Manager Chris Miller presents the Harbor Commission with an update on projects and issues each month. Here is a link to his February 2010 Update (pdf--1.44 MB) . Click here to find other updates on the Harbor Resources site.
What's going on in Newport Beach? Click to info about (derelict) boat auctions. When the news feeds below are working, the blue boxes will contain City and harbor news. Click any headline to open that story in a new window. If the blue box is empty, the feed is broken or has no news. Some browsers may still click to open the  news feed direct from the City of Newport Beach.
Here's harbor and moorings news from Google News, and other sources, to within the last hour.
There are fewer moon jellyfish around than earlier in the summer. Have you seen them? Did you know that NASA took some of them into outer space for study?
You may find your answer in our list of FAQs.
We always appreciate your continuing support and valued opinions.
Plastic in the Bay
Fish, birds, and marine mammals are innocent victims when it comes to plastic in the water. Plastic in the bay is just a tide change away from being plastic in the ocean. Please pick some up; help it find a trash can.  Learn more from the people at SCCWRP. Algalita tells us there is six pounds of plastic floating in the central North Pacific Ocean for every pound of surface zooplankton. Fish, birds, and marine mammals mistake it for food. Scientists performing necropsies on deceased Laysan albatross at Midway Atoll have found so much indigestible plastic in the birds' stomachs there is no room for food. This NMA website is certified powered by 100% wind energy; we're doing what we can to minimize our impact on the environment.
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