Virginia Beach looks at taking over lifeguard hiring

VIRGINIA BEACH

For decades, a private company has provided lifeguards to watch over the city's busiest beaches.

Now, the City Council is exploring whether a city takeover of the service would save money.

A city report discussed in two recent closed meetings estimates the city could guard public beaches from Croatan to Fort Story for $1.5 million to $1.7 million less than the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service over the life of a five-year contract. That's according to multiple sources familiar with the report who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it has not been made public.

Some people question the figures, arguing that it's hard to compare costs borne by the city with a private contractor's.

The most recent contract - a seven-year agreement - with Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service is up for renewal. Last year, the contract cost the city about $1.2 million. Under the city's proposal, the Department of Emergency Medical Services would guard the beaches.

Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service, one of a few remaining private lifeguard companies in the country, employs about 200 lifeguards in the summer to man 50 stands in the resort area, mostly between Rudee Inlet and 42nd Street.

"While the contractor has been doing it for decades, that doesn't mean it's the most cost-efficient or effective way for us to deliver this service," Councilman Jim Wood said. "It's incumbent on council to make sure we're getting the best service for the least cost possible."

Councilman John Uhrin, who represents the resort area, said the city needs to think hard before making any changes.

"Whenever you're talking about expanding the growth of government, you need to do it with caution," he said. "We have a contractor who's done a nice job for us for many years, and I don't want to get in a situation where we're lamenting that we took it in-house."

Uhrin questioned the savings shown in the city report. He said some costs were omitted that make an "apples-to-apples comparison" difficult.

Kent Hinnant, president of the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service, said he's not surprised the city found it can do it cheaper. The city doesn't have to factor in extra costs for insurance and enjoys legal protection from some accidents that happen in the course of government business, a legal concept known as sovereign immunity.

"But that doesn't mean they can do it as well," Hinnant said. "This is not like building a hotel or light rail. You're talking about people's lives here."

His lifeguards made 1,010 water rescues in 2010, the most recent statistics available from the United States Lifesaving Association.

Hinnant's father helped start the original service in 1930. Thousands of local teenagers and young adults have worked for the company, half-owned by Hinnant and his wife. Angela Garcia Mozer, daughter of developer Eddie Garcia Sr., owns the other half of Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service.

The company faced criticism in 2009 after a lifeguard ran over a sunbather on the beach, breaking his collarbone and some ribs. Emergency Medical Services officials said the company underreported the extent of the injury, leading to a delay in emergency medical response. "That's the only time that's ever happened in all these years," Hinnant said.

Virginia Beach workers guard other city beaches. The city took over lifeguard work at Sandbridge from Hinnant's company in 2010.

The city spent $165,000 on the work last year, saving about $111,000 over the former contract with Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service, said Tom Green, Emergency Medical Services division chief.

The council might vote on the issue Jan. 24 after hearing publicly about the competing plans.

Emergency Medical Services Chief Bruce Edwards didn't take a position on who should guard resort-area beaches this summer.

"We'll do what the City Council wants us to do," he said. "We thought it was prudent to put some numbers together."

Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122, aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com