Northwest : City Bids to Provide Sunset’s Lifeguards

City officials are bidding to provide lifeguard services to neighboring Sunset Beach, where a five-year contract with a private lifeguard company is due to expire in December.

Seal Beach Parks and Recreation Director Andy Seymour said the city can save money on lifeguard services by extending the use of city personnel and equipment to Sunset Beach, an unincorporated area separated from city beaches by the Naval Weapons Station.

The city is bidding against U.S. Ocean Safety, a Laguna Beach company currently hired by the county Environmental Management Agency to provide lifeguard service at Sunset Beach. Another unidentified company is also bidding for the contract.

“When you are the neighboring city, you are immediately available, and back-up assistance is also immediately available,” said Seymour, a Seal Beach lifeguard for 20 years before he became parks and recreation director.

The city’s rescue boat could easily serve both beaches, Seymour said, which would save the city half the cost of its operations. He said the city could also share some of the lifeguards who staff nine lifeguard stations in Seal Beach in the summer.

Representatives of U.S. Ocean Safety could not be reached for comment, but Seymour said the company has a good reputation. The company is seeking higher wages for its Sunset Beach lifeguards, who receive the lowest pay of all county lifeguards, except those in Laguna Beach.

A decision on the lifeguard contract is expected by the end of the year.