Lack of bids stalls Shellmaker plan

Marisa O’Neil

They’ve got the clams, now they just need the worker bees.

The Newport Beach City Council approved funding and cooperative

agreements Tuesday for a new Back Bay Science Center on Shellmaker

Island. But the city’s first attempt to solicit bids for construction

of the $4-million environmental teaching and testing facility didn’t

make many waves.

City officials in March placed ads seeking bidders for the project

and received none at the June 8 opening date, according to staff

reports. One late bid, not considered by the city, exceeded available

funding by $1 million.

Another round of bidding will start in the next couple of months,

Asst. City Manager Dave Kiff said. The project is planned for

completion in 2005.

Part of the problem in finding a firm to do the work, Kiff said,

is that this project is competing with construction going on at

schools as a result of recently-passed bond measures.

“There is a lot of work out there [for contractors], surprisingly

-- even though the economy is down,” Kiff said. “The people who own

these [contracting] firms are doing a lot of school construction.”

Nearly all schools in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District are

undergoing major renovations under Measure A, a multi-school project

funded by local bonds and state bonds.

Summertime is especially busy for that type of construction

because most schools want work completed when students aren’t on

campus, said Bonnie Martin, a director for McCarthy Building

Companies, Inc., which is managing Measure A work.

“We literally solicit people, we call them and chase them all the

way through the bid process,” Martin said. “If you just put an ad

out, you don’t get a response.”

High steel and concrete prices, as well, make contractors more

reluctant to bid on projects, Martin said.

“Bidders would have to pledge they could do the work for the bid

price,” Kiff said. “That’s hard to do when steel prices are going all

over the place.”

The city has pledged $315,000 for the center and will cover

maintenance costs once it’s completed, Kiff said. The project is a

collaborative effort between the city, California Department of Fish

and Game, UC Irvine, Orange County, Newport Bay Naturalists and

Friends and the Coastal Commission.

Shellmaker Island, a man-made island near Newport Dunes, is

currently home to a series of trailers making up the Back Bay Science

Center. The center has two aquariums and a few microscopes for local

students to learn about the area’s ecosystem and water quality

issues, said Terry Stewart, a senior biologist for the Department of

Fish and Game.

The new facility will include a water-quality lab, wetlands and

other educational facilities.