On Thursday, under bright blue skies, fishermen’s boats headed in and out of Markley Cove Resort at Lake Berryessa. Motorcyclists and others stopped by the convenience store along Highway 128.

At nearby Pleasure Cove Marina, families settled in for a bass fishing tournament sponsored by the Northern California Angling & Camping Club for the Deaf. But a little more than a month before the summer season kicks off, uncertainty reigns at Lake Berryessa, which an estimated 1.5 million people visit every year.

At least four of the seven privately-run resorts will be closed this summer as the transition from old operators to new has hit several bumps. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, which runs the lakeshore, had hoped to start a new era at the lake this year with the removal of more than 1,000 mobile homes from the lakeshore and the refurbishing of the resorts.

But the bureau’s deals with new resort operators fell apart last month, when the bureau acknowledged it had mistakenly included improper clauses in the contracts. It will have to go out to bid again on all seven resorts. Bureau officials acknowledge that they have a lot of work to do to get Berryessa in full swing by 2010.

Complicating matters more, two of the old resort operators — at Berryessa Marina and Putah Creek — are in bankruptcy, and the facilities are visibly deteriorating. But other resorts are ship-shape and ready for summer.

Surprises by the shore

With the summer fast approaching, some would-be visitors are checking in to see what’s going on around the lake.

“It looks like this one is closed down,” Marcos Franco of Sacramento said Thursday, as the Berryessa regular stopped his motorcycle near Spanish Flat Resort on Knoxville Road, one of four closed resorts. “I was surprised to see it closed.”

Spanish Flat, Rancho Monticello Resort, Lake Berryessa Marina and Putah Creek Resort are not expected to open this year. The Bureau of Reclamation wants to open three other resorts — Markley Cove, Pleasure Cove and Steele Park — along with the more bare-bones, government-run beaches and sites.

On Friday, Bureau of Reclamation area manager Michael Finnegan said talks are scheduled next week for short-term deals with Markley Cove and Steele Park. Bureau officials and Pleasure Cove operators say the resort will be up and running this year.

The bureau’s contract error has fueled criticism from Berryessa-area residents and business owners. They are concerned about the viability of the lake economy with the transition going so slowly and unpredictably.

The contract snafu surprised Linda and John Frazier, who have run Markley Cove for two decades. The couple bid successfully last year to continue to operate the resort near Monticello Dam.

Frazier said she is moving forward with summer plans to remain. Staff have been hired, dozens of new boat slips have been built, the store has been re-stocked and she is waiting for the bureau to approve the overnight rates for her new cabins. “All we can do is continue to operate as though we’re going to be open,” Frazier said last week.

Help on the way

Napa County officials are making summer preparations, as well. They have set aside more than $1 million to provide fire, police and ambulance service at the lake this year.

Napa County Sheriff’s Capt. John Robertson said patrols will work on land and on the lake, as in years past. The Pope Creek Bridge waterway will be closed on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends to prevent accidents and incidents that often result in arrests.

To help deal with the expected demand, Finnegan said the bureau plans to open as many as 100 campsites at Oak Shores Park, a public area, this year. Robertson said sheriff’s deputies will patrol the campgrounds once they’re open.

Finnegan on Friday said the Bureau has made “good progress” on the revised negotiations with concessionaires. A prospectus for the concessions could be released by May 11; then bidders will have 90 days to send in proposals. Contracts could be signed by December, Finnegan said.

The plan to have all resorts open in 2010 gained more steam Friday, when the Bureau of Reclamation announced it will receive $4.4 million in federal stimulus funds to clean up debris at resorts such as Putah Creek, where owners of dozens of mobile homes  abandoned their property.

Napa County Supervisor Diane Dillon said the $4.4 million is a big boost for the lake, even if it doesn’t particularly help this summer. “This is very good news for the long term,” Dillon said.

Meanwhile, the bureau is gearing up to sue the former concessionaires to force them to remove the evidence of their presence there, whether trash or building structures, that they’ve since left behind. When the new contracts are signed, he said, the operators will need a clean slate in order to build the businesses the way they want to.

But Bob White, former concessionaire of Rancho Monticello Resort, said Saturday he will fight for what he brought to Rancho Monticello. He and his family are only protecting the investment they made, he said. “We’re still there,” he said. “We’ll be happy to defend ourselves in court.”

White, whose company unsuccessfully bid to run some of the resorts two years ago, said he will submit a new bid to run one or two resorts this year. He said he is open to operating Rancho Monticello this summer if he can reach acceptable terms with the bureau.