Family ties for beach amenities operators

Written by Christie Rotondo Thursday, August 16, 2012 03:30 pm

Officials say anyone could have bid on contract to overhaul the beach

 WILDWOOD- Point Break Management Group, the company that has secured a five-year contract with the city to run many of the new beach amenities, has some family connections to the mayor.

Jamie Peterson, CEO of the company, is Mayor Ernie Troiano’s cousin through marriage, city administrator Chris Wood confirmed. According to Wood, this relation in no way affected the decision to award his company the contract.

Wood said the contract was placed out to bid as a request for proposal and advertised the contract length. The group is set to manage the RV park, surfing beach, fitness beach and other amenities “that will lead to an overhaul of the beach as we know it,” Wood said.

“Anyone else who applied had the same offer,” Wood said. However, Point Break was the only entity that applied for the contract, Wood said.

Point Break’s contract will be worth about $50,000 this year, Wood said, but because it is based on a sliding scale on the success of the beach amenities, it could be worth much more in the future.

Wood added that this is the first time Peterson or Point Break has secured a contract with the city. One of the major draws of Point Break, Wood pointed out, was chief operating officer Ian Cairn. Cairn is a member of the Surfing Hall of Fame and current head coach of the U.S. Master Stand Up Paddle Board team, and is currently heading the beach festival. Dante Guliano is also operating the beach festival, and according to the city, has over 20 years experience managing beach operations throughout the country- specifically in Huntington Beach, Calif.

“These people do it for a living,” Mayor Ernie Troiano said. “They’ve done things like this out in California, so it was a natural progression that they would bid on it.”

Troiano added that the company is relatively new, and does not have a physical office.

“Everyone had the opportunity to bid,” Troiano said. “And people have a right to bid.”

Cairn is commuting from California to Wildwood to organize the beach festival, Troiano said. He explained that Peterson knew Cairn through his daughter, who is a competitive surfer under Cairn’s coaching.

“This company is made up of people who had been very, very successful in creating venues like what we are trying to set up on our beach,” Troiano said.

Jamie Peterson did not return phone calls for comment this week.

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