8 • Feb. 27 - Mar. 12, 2015 • The Log


thelog.com Marina Parks Docks contract narrowly approved By Parimal M. Rohit


NEWPORT BEACH — The Fourth of July is several months away, but the Newport Beach council chamber was filled with fireworks Feb. 10 as freshly elected council members and veterans of the dais exchanged barbs for 20 min- utes during a discussion and vote on a bid for concrete docks at Marina Park. Council members narrowly


approved a $3.2 million bid for Bellingham Marine Industries to con- struct a concrete dock as part of the new Marina Park project on Balboa Peninsula. The park, which sits on 10 acres and would include a 23-slip visi- tor marina, is currently under con- struction. However, at least two councilmen — both of whom were elected to the council as part of the Team Newport slate in November 2014 — believe the bill for the new docks is too expensive. In a town full of fancy cars and large houses boasting unique architecture, the council members who challenged the $3.2 million price tag used “Taj Mahal” and “Rolls Royce” to negatively describe Marina Park’s design and


marina. Accordingly, Councilman Marshall


Duffield asked his colleagues to recon- sider the design and materials of the new docks. “The current design we are being asked to pay for is vastly overbuilt for the application and location. The pil- ings alone are a huge expense due to their oversized specs,” Duffield said. “I believe these docks could be re-engi- neered to fit better the application and cause a significant savings of up to 30 percent. I believe it can be done with- out causing a delay to the opening of the marina, assuming our engineering staff is cooperative.”


Design: Concrete, Wood or Fiberglass?


Councilman Scott Peotter support-


ed Duffield’s motion and said he hoped to replace the concrete design with an alternative motif. “This is a contract that isn’t going to affect the critical path of the project. I don’t think we need to have a Taj Mahal in the dock system. We already have it on the park itself,” Peotter said.


The Newport Beach approved a contract for the boat docks at Marina Park, but not without a debate on the dais. One resident told council members they needed to bicker less and be more responsible in approving contract bids and crafting public policy.


“I would love to have staff come back to us with design build options, with fiberglass, wood and some other alter- natives besides concrete. Concrete doesn’t float very well. I don’t know why it makes a good dock.” However, Mayor Ed Selich said con-


crete is being used for the new docks being added in Alamitos Bay Marina and Marina del Rey. He added a con- sultant informed him wooden docks


Bellingham Marine bid for docks: $2.9 million A city staff report acknowledged Bellingham Marine’s $3.2


million contract for the new docks at Marina Park — which includes a contingency of more than $293,000 — was higher than originally estimated. Specifically, city engineers estimat- ed the new docks would cost $2.38 million, $557,661 less than Bellingham Marine’s pre-contingency bid of $2,937,661. “The disparity between the estimate and actual bid prices


reflects the relatively small concrete marina dock market, with an even more limited pool of dock system manufactur- ers,” city staff stated in its report. Four bids were submitted for the new docks. Bellingham


Marine edged John S. Meek Co. for the lowest bid, with Dutra Construction Co. and R.E. Straite Engineering rounding out the bids. John S. Meek Co. submitted a pre-contingency bid of $2,969,060, followed by Dutra Construction Co. ($3,346,000) and R.E. Straite Engineering ($3,491,400). The bids reflected current market rates, according to city


staff. would not result in any cost savings.


Cost Savings: Substantial or Nonexistent?


Peotter estimated the city could save up to $2 million by ditching the concrete design and instead using fiberglass or wood. “It’s an overdesign. I’m thinking of


“The (city’s) design engineer’s estimate was, unfortunately,


below current market conditions,” city staff said. “However, the concrete dock system and utilities specified in the bid package are the systems that the city desires. Changing the dock system type or trying to redesign significant pieces of the dock by utilizing additional value engineering would not provide for the desired end result or yield much cost savings.” Marina Park’s construction was approved in four phases,


with the Feb. 10 vote to select the vendor for the project’s docks the fourth and final phase. Earlier phases approved the demolition and removal of a mobile home park, dredging and construction of a new marina basin and the construction of new buildings, parking lots, landscaping and park ameni- ties.


Construction began late last year on a 10-acre park on the


bay side of Balboa Peninsula between 15th and 19th streets. Marina Park, when complete, will feature 23 boat slips, an 11,000-square-foot sailing center, on-site parking and other amenities.


[an] alternative design and getting rid of the concrete. You would keep the same configuration,” Peotter said. “It’s a Taj Mahal, just like the whole entire park. This is an add-on at the end. We have the opportunity to put [in] some cost savings. Contrary to the unicorns flying around the building … we are looking at a cost savings of, maybe, $2 million.” Interestingly enough, Duffield did


not agree with Peotter’s savings esti- mate but did believe some money could be saved. “I have a fellow that’s probably built


80 percent of the docks in the harbor in the last 35 years tell me that he could do this for less money, and he could do it in time. I don’t care if he gets the bid. It obviously has to go out to bid. Concrete has real issues. Concrete doesn’t move, and docks move,” Duffield said. “There’s no way to repair it. Down the road, when there is an issue, you cannot repair it. You


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