Board of County Commissioners Work Session

9/12/05

Subject: Transition to New Fares and Lost Ferry Tickets

Meeting Notes

I attended the commissioner's work session today.  There were two public hearing items on the agenda prior to the staff presentation of fare related resolutions.  During these public hearing issues the audience was invited to comment.  The fare presentations were not public hearing and thus there was no comment from the public allowed. 

1. The resolution absolving the County of any liability for lost tickets was passed.  Ted Anderson was not in attendance but the motion passed unanimously.  The comment from the staff was that the County does not want to invest in a complex ticket with a picture which also could limit the use by other family members.  The County found that the rider should be responsible for not loosing the ticket, end of story.

2. The issue of the reimbursement for unused tickets was more complicated.  The staff recommended a resolution that as of January 1, 2006, the old tickets still in circulation should be sent into the County for re-imbursement of the remaining face value.  Commissioner Dahlstedt was in favor of using up the old tickets according to their dated deadline.  Chal Martin pointed out the problem that could ensue if many frequent users purchased the old tickets at the old rate right before the deadline for the initiation of the new fares.  Munks commented that the long haul out meant that many of the car and driver tickets could not be utilized in the normal operation of the ferry and this would leave a large number of unused tickets prior to January 1, 2006.  The staff commented that they did not want the transactions for the old ticket resolution to put more burden on the crew during the transition phase.  The commissioners were unable to come to a decision of the issue and it was remanded to staff for further study. 

GIFC: Steve Orsini