The are many changes and modifications coming soon to a ferry terminal near you. Guemes Ferry riders are being dragged into the 21st century as our small dock, cozy terminal building, and favorite parking spots are morphed into something that won’t resemble the existing dock and terminal.

At the Ferry Committee's Annual Meeting on Sunday (February 21), Ferry manager Ron Panzero graciously fielded questions from the audience about future construction projects. There were maps showing detours, congested intersections, available parking, dock plans, traffic patterns and a plethora of lines and queues. He even mentioned “ET” - the possible implementation of electronic ticketing.  The contract for four surveilance cameras covering both parking areas  for security purposes will be signed next week.

Not many are pleased with the 30- 45 day ferry outage scheduled in October and November 2010*. This will add almost an hour to the commute for islanders and be quite a hardship for anyone with any kind of handicap, in spite of the 6’X 80’ ft aluminum gangway to the passenger ferry.

Bill Turner, Anacortes City Councilman, assured the audience that the police department will not be enforcing the 72 hour parking rule. The city is also looking at street angle parking on some city streets for Guemes Ferry users.

There is a new improved and expanded Ferry Operations Public Forum in Skagit County. Those who were concerned about who could or couldn’t participate at Roundtable discussion meetings between Public Works, GIFC and Guemes Island Ferry Manager need not fret. The Roundtable has been replaced by Public Forums. This translates to Skagit County Board of Commissioners and Public Works holding meetings on Guemes Island twice a year to listen to comments and concerns regarding the operation of the Ferry from anyone who attends.

Under proposed changes to the Ferry Committee's bylaws, future election for GIFC will mimic the existing Guemes Island Community Center procedures in that candidates will run to be on the Committee  rather than for specific Committee slots. Explaining the change of Committee terms from five years to three, Glen Veal joked that three years on the Committee is a term, five years is a sentence. Also, if there is a tie, that tie will be decided by a coin toss.

According to the new Ferry Committee charter,  the GIFC will be comprised of the historical five members because this is, according to Steve Orsini, “the most functional”. There were  two vacancies to fill on GIFC this year. Terry  Ebersole resigned “to spend more time with his family”.

The solution to the tie election last year was to seat both candidates, Glen Veal and Allen Bush, creating a temporary sixth position.  To resolve that sixth seat, Glen Veal resigned his position, as did Allen Bush, opening up the second vacancy.

Nominations from the floor were opened. Both Allen Bush and Glen Veal were  immediately nominated and seconded and both accepted. Since there were no other nominees, as provided in GIFC by-laws, there is no need for an election. The new charter changes, however, will be on a ballot.

This was a GIFC meeting with a new and different slant to it. Lots going on, answers to some difficult questions, and plenty of jokes and laughter. You may not want to miss the next one.

- Commentary by MJ Andrak

*To clarify the apparent discrepancy beween these dates and those published in the County's chart and flyer:

The estimated timelines we published in our flyers for ferry construction projects in 2010 is still our best estimates.  We will continue to update our timelines as we progress but the timeline for the dock construction is very close when you consider mobilization and setup.

The actual outage of the vehicle ferry WILL NOT occur prior to October 4th. The estimated time of the vehicle ferry outage is 30-45 days. This is still our best estimate for now.  I know this is very important to everyone and I will continue to keep our communication open and again, we will update our information as we progress.

Ron Panzero
Guemes Ferry Operations Manager