— Photo by Jim Collins ©
Summarized from Harbormaster Kurt Borsting’s report to the Harbor Commission on Feb. 12.
Staff Recruitment Efforts
Part-time Harbor Department staff recruitment efforts took place during January for two
employee classifications: The Department Assistant and two Harbor Service Worker Lead positions, Borsting reported.
The Department Assistant recruitment resulted in a successful hire, with the selected candidate scheduled to start work on Feb. 17.
The Harbor Service Worker Lead recruitment process remains on-going.
Following the primary screening of applications, eight candidates were advanced by Human Resources staff for first-round panel interviews, which took place on Jan. 27.
Second round interviews will be scheduled soon, with the goal of completing the hiring process by the end of February.
2019 Pumpout Monitoring Data / Instructional Infographics
The Bay Foundation provided the Harbor Department with summary data from their 2019 monitoring/testing efforts of public pumpout equipment owned and maintained by the city.
— Photo courtesy city of Newport Beach ©
This independent organization is contracted through the Division of Boating and Waterways to conduct quarterly on-site inspections of the city’s marine waste pumpout stations.
City equipment was deemed operable in 19 out of 20 cases (during the November inspection one of the systems was out of service). Conditions were “looking new” for 19 out of 20 cases of hoses, and 16 out of 20 cases for nozzles.
In the nine months between the 2019 inspections, more than 237 hours of pumpout activity was collectively metered on the city’s equipment.
Efforts are currently underway to improve the signage and instructional infographics located at the various city owned pumpout stations. These infographics are aimed assisting users in use of these systems as well as encouraging prompt reporting of broken or otherwise inoperable equipment.
— Photo courtesy city of Newport Beach ©
“Newport Harbor is a ‘No Discharge’ Harbor, and the local boating community contributes to our great water quality by responsibly removing waste from their vessel holding tanks at public pumpout stations,” Borsting explained in an email on Thursday. “We hope these infographics help boaters learn how to use the systems, how to contact our office should they find one the stations is down, and encouraging the public use of the available Pumpout Nav smartphone app, where they can find information and locations of pumpout stations here in Newport Harbor and across the state.”
West Anchorage Proposal Update
On Jan. 16, a follow-up teleconference call was held between the US Coast Guard’s LA/LB Sector Base staff and city harbor representatives (Borsting, Commissioner Ira Beer and Harbor Resourcees Manager Chris Miller).
The meeting focused on potential configurations of potential future anchorage area, proposed west of Lido Island, Borsting reported.
Next steps in pursuing this proposal include updating previously developed navigational studies associated with this area of the Harbor as well as conducting public outreach efforts, after which the city can resubmit the anchorage proposal for the USCG’s consideration.
Annual Harbor Attendance
During January, Harbor Department staff and several Commissioners began preliminary outreach efforts to stakeholder groups, requesting available customer and harbor user counts associated with their respective activities.
Outreach and data collection efforts are expected to continue for the next few months, with the goal of establishing a well-founded annualized attendance estimate of the number of people who visit and make use of Newport Harbor each year.
