Friends of Guemes Island Objects To Extension Of Weeknight Ferry Operations

June 16, 2008

Statement to Board of County Commissioners

Friends of Guemes Island, and the 75% of registered voters on the island who voted to oppose the extension of weeknight ferry operations past 6:00 p.m., remain steadfastly opposed to the resolution you have just passed to continue this practice, even on a temporary basis. Furthermore, we believe that the action you have just taken is in direct violation of the court order issued in the lawsuit between FGI and the county by the Superior Court in Snohomish County.

In his ruling, the judge stated that:

“At the end of the two-year trial period, on June 30, 2008, the ferry schedule change will automatically revert to its former 6:00 p.m. cut-off, and no weekday evening extension will again be considered unless and until there is a new, thorough, and SEPA compliant environmental review, including, among other issues, the probability of induced growth, and the direct, and indirect adverse environmental impacts resulting from the same.”

The Environmental Assessment conducted by the county falls far short of the SEPA compliant review called for by the judge. No rigorous, valid new evidence was collected and analyzed about the issues raised by the court in its ruling.

We do not believe that the county is in compliance with the terms of this ruling. The Environmental Assessment conducted by the county falls far short of the SEPA compliant review called for by the judge. No rigorous, valid new evidence was collected and analyzed about the issues raised by the court in its ruling. For example, unless and until the county completes studies that define the capacities of the island’s sole source aquifer and the impact of growth on this limited resource, no environmental review of the impacts of growth caused by late ferry operations will be complete or credible.

To make matters worse, analysis conducted by knowledgeable members of the Guemes Island Ferry Committee continue to suggest that the late operations are causing the ferry budget to hemorrhage resources and are contributing significantly to the county’s budget woes and deficit problems.

We continue to ask: Why waste valuable and limited taxpayer resources on ferry operations that are potentially destructive to the environment, costly, wasteful, and explicitly not wanted by the county residents it is intended to serve? Is this good government, or profligate spending in a time of severe economic difficulties?

Contact: Gary Davis, President, (360) 202-3085.

The FGI Board of Directors

In previous episodes

Final Court Order, November 5, 2007 [732kb PDF]