The Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency voted Wednesday morning to retain Veolia Transportation to run local transit services, including the VINE, VINE Go and small city shuttles, for the next five years.

Staff had recommended that Veolia be dumped in favor of MV Transportation, a Fairfield company that said it could increase productivity and ridership.

When NCTPA staff evaluated the competing proposals, Veolia won points for offering to run buses for $27.1 million, which was $450,000 less than MV’s bid, but got docked for a poor safety record over the past three years.

The two proposals were very competitive, said Paul Price, NCTPA’s executive director.

Most agency members said they preferred to stick with a known entity that had significantly reduced accidents over the past year. In these tough economic times, it would be hard not to accept the less expensive bidder, several members said.

Veolia, an international company, was put on notice a year ago that it was in danger of losing its Napa contract. The NCTPA voted in March, 2008, to replace Veolia with MV, then rescinded the award when Veolia cited bidding irregularities.

In preparing for this year’s bidding do-over, Veolia brought in a new general manager, Reno Navarette, with the mission of improving the local operation.

Sandra Showalter, Veolia’s vice president of business development, asked board members to focus on the past year’s improved safety record, as well as a Veolia’s overall strong performance.

Not insignificantly, “we’re almost a half-million dollars cheaper,” Showalter said.

MV executives promised to retain current employees, while bringing in new ideas that would turn around the VINE’s declining ridership.

“I am your agent for change. I’m your champion. I’m going to make it happen for you,” said John Siragusa, MV’s vice president of operations and the person who would have supervised the Napa operation.

MV argued its bid was actually the less costly one if you figured in promised productivity increases and reduced accident losses.

Board members, including local mayors and several county supervisors, said this was a tough choice, but most favored sticking with a known entity.

In rejecting staff’s recommendation, Supervisor Bill Dodd said he didn’t want to suggest criticism of Price, who has been on the job only since January.

Board members said they might have voted to replace Veolia if staff had kept them informed in recent years of Veolia’s safety problems. They were hearing of this issue only now, and after Veolia had seemingly cleaned up its act, they said.

Dodd said he was “embarrassed” that MV had been put through the bid process twice and had been awarded the contract a year ago only to have the award rescinded.

The process “seems a little bit flawed at the end,” Dodd said.

Napa’s two representatives on the board, Mayor Jill Techel and Councilman Jim Krider, both voted to keep Veolia. So did Dodd and Keith Caldwell, the two county supervisors who represent portions of Napa.

The only votes to switch to MV were Yountville Mayor Cynthia Saucerman and Calistoga Councilman Michael Dunsford. St. Helena Mayor Del Britton, who had to leave before the vote, said he would have voted to support staff’s recommendation.

Agency members told staff to include a provision in the new contract that requires Veolia to maintain improved accident and customer service performance. In the future, agency members will be briefed on transit safety at least quarterly.

“Veolia is going to be watched very closely. That’s the right thing to do,” Siragusa said after the vote.