WSF: Repair yard here to stay

Published 5:00 am Saturday, July 29, 2006

Ferries CEO Mike Anderson urges cooperation between his agency, the city.

With the anchor set at the ferry yard, cooperation is paramount.

That was the sentiment expressed Thursday when the captain of captains, Washington State Ferries CEO Mike Anderson, came ashore to field questions from the Bainbridge business community about the ferry system’s plans for its island facilities.

“Washington State Ferries is not moving,” Anderson told attendees at the Chamber of Commerce’s monthly lunch at Wing Point country club. “The maintenance facility is located in the most cost-effective, efficient place.”

In light of that, Anderson encouraged cooperation between the city and WSF, nodding toward his agency’s legal dispute with the city over how renovation should unfold at the ferry system’s Eagle Harbor maintenance facility.

Anderson, flanked by several ferry spokespeople, followed a short speech with a question-and-answer period, during which he discussed a range of issues, from ferry routes to terminal improvements. The hottest topic, though, was the ever-contentious maintenance facility.

WSF last year began a five-phase renovation at the facility that includes dock repairs, seismic improvements and, funding permitting, construction of a permanent storeroom and training facility.

Phase one was completed this year, but phase two stalled in April when the city filed to obtain “lead agency” status for the project’s environmental review, in response to WSF’s decision to forgo review for a portion of the work.

As the project teeters in limbo, both sides have said they will work conjunctively to design a new terminal and gateway district.

“One thing is clear. There is a highly symbiotic relationship between the City of Bainbridge Island and Washington State Ferries,” Anderson said. “There is a wonderful opportunity for us to do things together.”

In the case of the ferry yard, that opportunity remains in jeopardy. Anderson said negotiations between the two sides reached an impasse.

The city in June sent a letter to WSF suggesting the project move forward with the two parties as “co-lead agencies.”

In a response letter to the city this month signed by Anderson and state Secretary of Transportation Douglas MacDonald, the offer wasn’t directly addressed, though WSDOT did refer to itself as “the agency with the greatest familiarity with how this facility and these projects will function.”

Ferry spokesperson Lisa Parriot said WSF’s decision to keep the maintenance facility on land that has served as a shipyard since 1902 will save taxpayers money by sparing relocation costs and higher operating costs associated with a move.

Parriot based her comments on a 2004 recommendation by KPFF – an outside consultant group selected by the state to study the possibility of moving the facility elsewhere – to keep the ferry yard in its current location.

Still, many islanders feel the waterfront could be better used would like to see the ferry yard go, or at the very least, be better integrated into its surroundings.

Anderson acknowledged that things at the site could be tidier, and said they will be if WSF builds its new storage facility as part of the scheduled renovation.

But some in the luncheon audience disagreed. One woman said she understood the benefits of the yard to the ferry system, but questioned its utility to the Bainbridge community.

“What is the price to the local people?” she said. “We used to have a picturesque waterfront trail. Now we have a chainlink fence.”

Anderson responded by saying the statement wasn’t an “accurate portrayal” of the situation.

He said he often rides ferries “incognito” to gauge rider satisfaction and has heard many positive comments from people about the presence of ferries in Eagle Harbor, especially from those who don’t regularly see the types of vessels docked there.

“These boats are pretty special to people who don’t come here often,” he said.

He also stressed the importance of the facility to maintaining ferry operations, saying it was vital to the preservation of the current fleet.

Asked about changing or adding different routes throughout the system to alleviate some of the pressure on the Bainbridge terminal, the system’s busiest, Anderson said WSF’s options are limited.

“No matter how smart we think we are, we can’t beat geography,” he said, of suggestions to add passenger-only ferries from peninsula cities to Seattle. Some routes, he said, like the hour-long crossing between Seattle and Bremerton, are simply less desirable to commuters than going through Bainbridge.

There also was audience criticism regarding a plan to add a signal at the crosswalk near the entrance to the Eagle Harbour Condominums.

Ferry officials in the past have blamed the crosswalk, which often slows traffic, for delaying ferry unloading and causing vessels to be tardy.