I am a maritime lawyer in Seattle and own a house in Admiral’s Cove. I have been involved in the Keystone Harbor Ferry Terminal project from the initial scoping process. At that time, WSF wanted to relocate the terminal to its original 1940s location at the eastern end of Keystone spit. Admiral’s Cove contains a federal bird reserve, wetlands and a pristine beach that support over 600,000 migratory birds each year. With the help of environmental groups, neighbors, and local citizens, we were able to convince Senator Haugen to cancel this unwise concept.

A Citizen Action Group (CAG) was formed, including Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard, a representative from Port Townsend, and two ferry pilots, to study alternatives. They came up with four alternatives, including doing nothing.

WSF’s reasons for relocating or modifying the terminal have been proven factually incorrect during the scoping process.

Missed runs: WSF stated a new terminal would reduce canceled runs from 90 to 45 per year, mostly during the winter low season. However, WSF cancelled over 900 ferry runs per year during the high season simply for budgetary reasons in 2001.

Increased efficiency: WSF stated one large boat is less expensive to operate than two smaller vessels. Actually, nine months a year ridership is so low only one small vessel is required. Therefore it is more expensive to run a 130 car ferry nearly empty for nine months.

Aging ferries: WSF has always stated the steel electric ferries are at the end of their useful life. However, the ferries were completely gutted to the steel hull and bracing in the mid-eighties and have been completely refitted with new electronics, plumbing, engines and navigational equipment. A maintained steel hull and bracing will last virtually forever. Therefore, the steel electric ferries are, in fact, some of the newer ferries in the fleet.

Increased ridership: WSF stated that it must plan for a substantial increase in ridership. Studies, however, show a slight decrease in ridership in the last ten years.

So what is WSF’s reason for this project? WSF wants to standardize their fleet and move older Issaquah-class 130 car ferries to make room for the new ferries on the higher priority runs. This raises serious problems for Port Townsend, Coupeville, and the environment.

The most serious concern is that one ferry running every 90 minutes will devastate the tourism economies of Port Townsend and Coupeville. A restaurant cycle is every 45 minutes; one ferry during the high season every 90 minutes will mean large lines for 45 minutes and no patrons for the other 45 minutes. A 130 car ferry unloading will shut down access to Port Townsend for 30 minutes and will overwhelm Coupeville. If the one ferry malfunctions there will be no service on the run whatsoever. Keystone is the lowest priority run and will not get a replacement boat during repair.

The second issue is parking. One of the issues I raised during the scoping process is that parking must be “upland” to avoid paving sensitive shoreline and reducing vehicle pollutants such as oil, exhaust and sewer needs for the waiting patrons. Running one ferry automatically doubles the need for upland parking. WSF originally considered paving a substantial portion of Keystone spit and putting parking alongside the highway, and paving part of the shore of Port Townsend.

My initial involvement was to prevent moving the terminal. However, I have stayed involved and interested since my wife’s parents own a tavern in Port Hadlock and I have come to love Coupeville. I believe the best solution at this time is to do nothing. The current steel electric ferries have 20 years at least of service life. If there is extra money to spend, WSF should purchase a third steel electric ferry for the crowded high season weekends. This option would save tens of millions of dollars, preserve the environment, and improve the tourism economies of Coupeville and Port Townsend.