PORT TOWNSEND — Disappointed community leaders and state Rep. Lynn Kessler vowed Thursday to work with Gov. Chris Gregoire and ferries officials to seek options after a lone bid came in $40 million over budget for two Island Home-style ferries to serve the Port Townsend-Keystone route.
Seattle-based Todd Pacific Shipyard’s proposed bid is $124,450,559 for two vessels and $65,487,328 for one.
The state has budgeted $84.5 million for the two-ferry project.
A state Department of Transportation engineer’s most recent estimate is $95,943,865 for two car ferries and $49,452,894 for one.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” said Kessler, D-Hoquiam, who represents the 24th District which covers Jefferson, Clallam and part of Grays Harbor counties.
“I’m committed, obviously, and we’re going to get a boat built,” added the House majority leader.
Less gas tax revenue
Whether two boats still can be built with additional state funds is the big question.
Kessler said state gas taxes are bringing in less transportation-earmarked revenues because motorists are driving less.
That could add to the challenge of financing a second ferry.
State ferries officials and Jefferson County ferry system advisors all voiced concerns about the high bid.
“While I appreciate Todd Shipyards’ responsiveness, I am disappointed that there is only one bid,” David Moseley, assistant transportation secretary for the state Department of Transportation’s Ferries Division, said in a written statement following the bid opening at the state ferries offices.
“We will identify all viable options before making a decision.”
If a bid from the Seattle ship builder is accepted for construction of one of the two 64-car ferries, a contract could be awarded within two weeks, state ferries officials said.
Under the existing schedule, the first vessel would be launched for the Port Townsend-Keystone route in April 2010.
“Not having that ferry is not an option,” Kessler said. “That’s our highway.
“It is going to be my very top priority for the next session.”
The legislative session next year runs from Jan. 12-April 26.
Kessler, Port Townsend Mayor Michelle Sandoval and Tim Caldwell, Jefferson County Ferry Advisory Committee chairman, met in a phone conference call Thursday with other stakeholders in the Port Townsend-Keystone Ferry Partnership Group after the bid was opened.
“Of course we will leave our options open in terms of two boats,” Sandoval said.
“We need an Island Home ferry on our waters sooner than later. It will hold more people, it will hold more cars and it will be more seaworthy.
“It’s a better boat for our route in general.”
Sandoval and Caldwell agreed that the project must begin soon.
Calling the bid “the epitome of sticker shock,” Caldwell said, “Something has to happened and has to happen within the next month.”
Caldwell said it was more than a Port Townwsend-Keystone ferry issue “because the Island Home can run on other routes.
“This is a system issue, not just a Port Townsend-Keystone issue.”
Sandoval said she and Caldwell would be among those who would meet with ferry system officials, state lawmakers, even Gov. Gregoire, to discuss the options, which are not clear at this point.
Ferries officials, led by Moseley, will be reviewing the bid over the next week to determine if it meets specifications and can be accepted.
A decision is expected within the next two weeks.
In late March, state ferries went through a similar situation when it opened, then rejected, a lone bid from Todd Shipyards for $25.98 million, about $9 million over the state engineer’s $16.8 million estimate for a 50-car Steilacoom II-model ferry for the Port Townsend-Keystone route.
It is the same model of ferry now plying Admiralty Inlet waters, which is prone to run cancellations.
Most Steilacoom II runs were canceled Thursday morning because of high winds and heavy seas.
New Year’s weekend
The Steilacoom II, which is leased from Pierce County, meanwhile, will serve the Port Townsend-Keystone route through Jan. 4 of New Year’s weekend, Moseley has said.
After that, it will under go about three weeks of annual maintenance before returning to the route.
The Coast Guard on Wednesday allowed Pierce County to extend the deadline from midnight Dec. 31 to Jan. 4, to accommodate visitors during the latter days of the holiday season through New Year’s weekend.
While the Steilacoom II is out of service, Washington State Ferries will provide passenger-only service on the Port Townsend/Keystone route, details of which are still to be worked out, Moseley said.
The state is leasing the Steilacoom II from Pierce County to fill the void left Nov. 20, when state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond pulled the more than 80-year-old Steel Electrics. The vessels, which have been sold for scrap, serving the route because of pitted, corroded and generally unsafe hulls.
The two Island Home ferries would replace the Steel Electrics on the route.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
