A contract with Bremerton Marina consultant Bob Wise is expected to be extended at the next Port of Bremerton commissioners meeting Oct. 8.

Port of Bremerton CEO said this week that he sent a statement of qualifications for consultant work at the marina to 28 companies and received only two responses. From those two, he and Bremerton Marina Manager Kathy Garcia chose Bob Wise of the Marsh Anderson Company, Bainbridge Island.

Commissioners had approved the statement of qualifications being sent out at a previous meeting.

“Marsh Anderson is the best qualified and we have notified Bob Wise of that selection,” Thompson said.  “We will negotiate a contract soon and I will bring it to the commissioners for approval hopefully at the next meeting.”

Wise has been under contract with the Port of Bremerton for the past five months. During that time he has been able to increase the number of tenants at the marina and market the marina in a variety of ways including participation in National Marina Day, and by hosting informational booths at boat shows.

Port commissioners were pleased with his work which cost $9,000 a month and wanted to extend his contract but could not do that without putting it out for competitive bid. By port regulation, any expenditure more than $50,000 has to be advertised for competitive bid. Wise’s previous work came in under that amount ($45,000) and hence, the port made that agreement without a public bid.

Commissioners said, however, that an extension of the marina consulting work needed a bid process, which was accomplished through the request for statement of qualifications.

At their next meeting, commissioners are expected to approve Wise to stay on for another six months at the same rate of pay so to have been with the port for almost a year.

Commission chairman Larry Stokes has previously said that he wanted the marina’s staff to work with Wise for “each season of the year” so the staff could learn from him how to deal with marketing and occupancy issues throughout a calendar year.

In the statement that was mailed to prospective consultants, the port said: “The Bremerton Marina is a 314 slip marina of which 200 slips are for permanent moorage. The marina opened five years ago and has grown and stabilized at less than desirable permanent occupancy. Although measured success has been achieved for the current boating season, the Bremerton Marina continues to underperform with an operations and maintenance budget deficit and therefore remains supported by tax revenue at an unacceptable level.”

Wise’s work throughout the summer increased the number of permanent tenants at the marina by about 30 percent mainly by changing the rate schedule to encourage a better deal for smaller boats. He also got the port to offer a two-for-one deal where new tenants pay for one month moorage and get the next month free for up to two years.

Another issue that the port commissioners are expected to address is their request for a complete inventory of vehicles the port has. That topic was raised last month during the 2014 budget discussions. The commission is in the process of setting the port’s 2014 budget and will address its operating budget at the next meeting.

Last month, the commission was looking at the proposed capital budget. Several vehicle purchases were listed in the proposed budget which brought Stokes to inquire how many vehicles the port owns. Port staff couldn’t answer that and commissioners asked that a full inventory be prepared.

That inventory, which was made public this week, lists 31 port vehicles. The oldest is a 1969 Ford truck and the newest is a 2013 Eagle black trailer. Eight of the vehicles are listed as not in service or in poor condition.  Eleven are listed in good or great condition.

Most of the vehicles are pickup trucks, although there are a few sedans, trailers, vans, dump truck and one electric utility cart. Vehicles are houses at the Bremerton and Port Orchard marinas, at the port operations center and airport and at the Avian Fit Center.

There is no current value listed on each of the vehicles, although their original purchase price is listed.

On the list of vehicles to be purchased in 2014 is a minivan at $20,000, a small pickup truck at $19,000 and a larger pickup truck at $25,000 with a snow plow. Also on the list is an articulating lift at $40,000.

The commissioners next meet at 6 p.m. Oct. 8 at the Port Administrative Offices, 8850 Highway 3, Bremerton.