Record Of The Proceedings, Skagit County Board Of Commissioners
Tuesday, January 20, 2004 [excerpt].

Decision:

Guemes Island Ferry Task Force Schedule and Fare Policy Recommendations

Commissioner Munks read a brief statement as follows:

There has been a thorough process held to discuss and make recommendations to the Commissioners for schedule, fares and other items. A Task Force was established to work with Berk and Associates, a consultant for the County, which included the Ferry Committee, Public Works employees and a group of Guemes Island representatives. Public meetings were held to discuss the issues; public hearings were held on Guemes Island to take input regarding recommendations from the Task Force; and finally, a public hearing that took place before the Commissioners regarding final Task Force recommendations.

The decision made today needs to focus on those Task Force recommendations. The comments taken from the Commissioners’ public hearing, along with various proposals different from the Task Force’s recommendations, should be addressed with the same public review and comment as the Task Force’s recommendations. There should be continuing discussions between the Ferry Committee, or a group that the Island picks, that will meet with the Public Works Department to address the issues that have not been addressed or were not fully addressed by the Task Force, but have been brought out during the various public hearings and submitted to the Commissioners as comments and proposals.

I have concerns and questions about whether or not the ferry can make continuous 20 minute runs and the need for runs after 6:00 p.m. Also, should the Sheriff’s Office pay $175 dollars for a special run to answer an emergency on the island and are they not equal to fire and emergency vehicles that do not pay for those runs? It is important that all emergency entities have the same standard. Should there not be an annual pass for disabled people and vehicles and drivers? Should there be a Ferry Manager on duty fulltime and shouldn’t that person assign employee scheduling? If Whatcom County run Captain and 2-person crews, what do they do differently so as not to be out of compliance with the State Auditor on cash handling and can we adopt some of the same standards or use those same standards in what we do?

Financially, why was there a surplus through 2000 and then three straight years of losses showing at the end of 2003 for a total shortfall of $20,629?

Commissioner Munks stated that he realizes that a lot of what he is talking about was brought up and discussed. He feels there needs to be ongoing discussions about what happens.

Commissioner Dahlstedt said a tremendous amount of time and money has been spent on this issue because it is important. The difficulty is that not everybody agrees on what they want to happen.

Unfortunately, the Commissioners’ job is not to decide issues based on popularity of what people enjoy, but as a responsibility to the public for the health and well being of all citizens. We also need to make sure that adequate transportation is available. Commissioner Dahlstedt said he wants to make sure a system is provided that is dependable, fair and equitable. He does not want to see the ferry used as a tool to try and control people’s ability to live or not live on the island. Things are changing all the time across Skagit County, and he wants to make sure the County is being responsible. That is why he was willing to spend the money to go through this process to make sure everyone would have a fair opportunity. He was also supportive when the community wanted to elect a group to represent them. The difficulty is whenever you have a group representing someone, there are those people that may not like the decision coming forward. We need to have a system that is functional. It does create difficulties for families that live on the island and have children that attend school, as well as for those that are employed off the island. It doesn’t mean that those people who are retired or those people that don’t have these problems shouldn’t be addressed, too. He wants to make sure that the Board’s decisions are based on what is fair and reasonable as a transportation corridor, not allowing any of these issues create a restrictive environment.

Commissioner Dahlstedt said he realizes that it has been a frustrating process for many and he respects everyone and their opinions, but ultimately the responsibility to determine what goes forward from here is the Board’s. There are also union contracts and other obligations that make it difficult as well. He wants to make sure the system is adequate, fair and reasonably priced but doesn’t want to see the Island devastated and become an unpleasant place to live.

Chairman Anderson said the County embarked on this process hoping to resolve some of the issues that were important to people on Guemes Island. Issues have been worked on concerning the ferry in a variety of ways and certainly there have been a lot of people that have served on the Ferry Committee and tried to guide the process to find some illusive middle ground for the residents with some successes. His sole intention was to try to improve and update the service to benefit the residents of Guemes Island as well as other residents that own property on the island who travel back and forth and may or may not have a home there. Parents of school age children want them to participate in school activities so there needs to be some type of flexibility. Change is sometimes painful and sometimes welcomed in a variety of ways.

Ultimately, you need to look at what’s good for everybody. Chairman Anderson said you have to respect the fact that the people who worked on the issues have a genuine community interest as they were not paid for their efforts. Whether you agree or not with the committee’s recommendations, you have to respect those recommendations.

Chairman Anderson said this issue must move forward; however, there is also an opportunity to tweak the recommendations. If you put something in place and you utilize it for awhile and it’s obviously not working, you have the vehicle to change it.

Commissioner Munks stated that he appreciates all the time and effort the Task Force has put forth on looking at the issues. They did an exceptional job. He then motioned to accept the Guemes Island Task Force’s Schedule and Fair policy recommendations. Those recommendations include an ongoing process to look at the proposals and issues that have been brought forward during the comment periods as well as looking at the recommendations which were made by the committee. He also wants to add a caveat to what has been proposed that addresses the last run of the day, Monday through Thursday.

Commissioner Munks said that currently the Guemes Island Ferry takes those people that come into line across to the island at 6:00 p.m. He has concerns with 20-minute runs not being able to accommodate those people that work in Burlington, Mount Vernon, Sedro-Woolley or elsewhere that have a problem getting from work and to the ferry by the 6:00 p.m. deadline. The recommendation calls for a $100 fee if a rider is not in line by 6:00 p.m. His motion would include continuing to run the 6:00 p.m. service for those that are in line and eliminating the extra fee.

Chairman Anderson asked if Commissioner Munks is suggesting continuing the run until everyone is across if they are in line by 6:00 p.m. Commissioner Munks said that is correct.

Commissioner Dahlstedt clarified that the motion was to accept the recommendation of the Task Force with the exception of allowing the ferry to run at the end of the day to complete passage of people across to Guemes Island and to continue dialogue and review of those items that were brought forth during the public hearings. He then seconded the motion.

Chairman Anderson said it has been moved and seconded that the Skagit County Commissioners adopt the Guemes Island Ferry Task Force Schedule and Fare Policy recommendations with a couple of additions including continued dialogue on the issues brought up during the public hearings and to continue runs after 6:00 p.m. for those people that are in line. The motion carried unanimously.

Commissioner Dahlstedt also stated that an important thing is that there will be ongoing issues that need to be addressed as they come forward instead of leaving everything open and undecided. There has been a lot of money spent with Berk & Associates and the decisions that will be made now are between the citizens, the Task Force, the Commissioners and staff rather than dragging the consultants along, as the consultants have obviously not addressed everyone’s concerns to their satisfaction.

JoAnne Giesbrecht, Clerk of the Board
Skagit County Board of Commissioners