No Bids For Beach Horse Proposal

No Bids For Beach Horse Proposal
No

OCEAN CITY – The town received no responses from interested equestrian organizations to provide a horseback riding concession on the beach.
According to City Manager David Recor, a Request for Proposals (RFP) for horseback riding services on the beach downtown was advertised twice and RFPs were sent to a total of nine regional equestrian organizations.
“We did not receive any responses to the RFP by the deadline on Friday,” Recor announced during Monday evening’s Mayor and Council meeting.
The RFP stated, “the Mayor and City Council for the Town of Ocean City seeks proposals for a seasonal horseback riding concession to provide the general public with a safe and convenient opportunity to ride horses on the beach within the Town limits.”
Currently, the town allows horseback riding on certain areas of the beach from Nov. 1 of each year through March 30 of the following year, from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. The permitted riding area is on the hard sand closest to the water’s edge; no more than 10 feet westward from the high tide line and from the Inlet on the south edge of town north to 27th Street
In 2011, Councilman Brent Ashley brought forward the idea of allowing horseback riding on the beach as an off-season promotion and the council approved the concept as well as horse and carriage rides downtown.
Following the first off-season with horseback riding on the beach, in late August of 2012, Ashley asked to have staff prepare a RFP for a vendor to offer pony- and/or horse-led rides on the beach south of the pier to the Inlet. He also suggested including in the RFP the possibility of adults renting horses from the vendor for riding on the beach without any leads because there were many requests for this service last year. The council voted unanimously to approve the RFP process.
Last month Ashley, who went back through 15 months of staff meeting minutes, found the RFP had been put on the back burner.
“On Aug. 20, 2012 the entire council voted unanimously to prepare a RFP for horseback riding services, and I know for a fact on Sept. 27 the RFP was given to you by staff but I have never seen it,” Ashley said to Recor at that time.
Following Ashley’s expression of frustration, Recor promptly scheduled the matter to be reviewed during an upcoming Recreation and Parks Commission meeting.
During the commission meeting, Recor explained the RFP Scope of Service was outlined to include horseback riding, guided rides, school programs, community programs and therapeutic riding. Having pony-led rides south of the Pier and horseback riding north of the pier was not distinguished in the RFP if the commission wanted to make that change.
Recor added, when horseback riding was initially brought up it was proposed as shoulder season activity, and an idea to increase business in the off-season. Initially it was based to have a permit process to allow independent horse owners to ride, but later it was proposed to have a concessionaire to allow horses for rent.
According to Recor, in the first year six permits were issued for horseback riding on the beach and last year there were none.
“If you talk to anyone who owns a horse, walking a horse on the beach isn’t the best thing for the horse itself,” Commission Chair Councilman Joe Mitrecic said at that time. “I wasn’t here when this came up and I don’t necessarily support this  myself, but if we are going to do a RFP for horseback riding on the beach we are going to do an RFP for carriage rides on the Boardwalk, and anything else that is equine related.”
The commission agreed to forward the RFP to City Solicitor Guy Ayres for review, and subsequently forward to the full Mayor and City Council for approval to put the RFP out to bid. However, the commission did not forward a favorable recommendation to the Mayor and Council to approve.
There was no further discussion at this week’s Mayor and Council meeting once the RFP yielded no interest.