Boca Raton will have umbrellas and chairs similar to Delray’s beach furniture.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Related story: After much to-do, new beach furniture seems to please everyone
By Steve Plunkett
Rows of blue beach chairs with billowing umbrellas are coming to Boca Raton’s beaches but not for at least six months.
The City Council decided Feb. 10 to request proposals from vendors tailored to Boca Raton’s needs, which include offering drinks and food for sale and possibly renting paddleboards.
“As much as I don’t want another six months to pass … I really think that we have to go out to bid on this,” Mayor Susan Whelchel said.
The city could have piggybacked on a contract Pompano Beach has with North Palm Beach-based Oceanside Beach Service Inc. and have rentals out this month. But that contract is only for beach equipment, not edibles.
“I think we definitely need to have beverages and maybe snacks,” City Recreation Services Director Mickey Gomez said.
Gomez said South Beach, Red Reef and Spanish River parks could accommodate no more than one line of lounge chairs because the beaches are narrow. Double chairs, about 30 feet apart, would be positioned to not obstruct the view of lifeguards or interfere with sea turtle nesting, he said.
Council members removed the northern end of Red Reef Park from consideration because it’s the narrowest beach and also has the highest number of turtle nests.
Gomez estimated Boca Raton would take in $24,000 a year if it used Pompano Beach’s contract prices. By comparison, he said, Delray Beach receives $300,000 annually from chair rentals and Deerfield Beach gets $90,000 a year.
Rental rates in Pompano Beach are $10 an hour or $30 a day for a double lounge chair with umbrella or cabana, Gomez said. A beach chair is $5 an hour or $10 a day.
Beachgoers told Gomez they’d like to rent paddleboards. Deputy Mayor Susan Haynie said such rentals have proved popular on the Intracoastal Waterway.
Gomez also said only two or three vendors are equipped to provide beach equipment.
Oceanside Beach Service also has contracts with Delray Beach, Boynton Beach and Deerfield Beach.
“We’ve come a long way since everybody was mad at our poor hot dog stand man,” Whelchel said after the council told Gomez to proceed.
Controversy over a hot dog stand at South Beach Park erupted in 2008, Whelchel’s first year as mayor. City officials’ test of a “mobile concessions cart” turned out to be short-lived.
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