County Rejects Seal Beach’s Lifeguard Bid

The city lost an appeal this week to provide lifeguard services to the neighboring unincorporated area of Sunset Beach.

County officials rejected the Seal Beach bid of $292,736 to provide annual lifeguard services for Sunset Beach, an unincorporated community between Huntington Beach and the city.

The county awarded a five-year contract in February to U.S. Ocean Safety, the Laguna Beach company that already provides lifeguard services at Sunset Beach.

The company originally bid $366,000, but the amount was negotiated down to $302,800, said Andy Seymour, director of parks and recreation for Seal Beach. City officials appealed the decision, but the Board of Supervisors rejected the request.

“We were disappointed, to say the least,” Seymour said.

Supervisors said they denied the Seal Beach appeal because the city failed to provide an additional bid for the Santa Ana River jetty area near Newport Beach. The county did not want to split the two beaches between different companies, Seymour said.

The city was not allowed to make another bid including the river jetty beach, Seymour said, even though the contract amount was renegotiated with U.S. Ocean. “They felt it would violate the bidding process,” he said.

The Laguna Beach company was also awarded contracts for several small South County beaches and coves. Michael Gaughan, owner of U.S. Ocean Safety, could not be reached for comment.

The two other unsuccessful bidders for Sunset Beach were Western Industrial Management, which bid $294,141, and Lifeguard International, $379,942.