Contract with N.Y. Waterways calls for service to start in April-July 2002
By cindy tietjen
Staff Writer
The long-awaited $9.5 million Belford ferry project now has an operator.
Last week Monmouth County signed a contract with Port Imperial Ferry Company (PIFC), which operates New York Waterways, to be the prime operator of the Bayshore Ferry Terminal and provide the commuter ferry service.
Last month, opponents of the plan celebrated as the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders rejected all bids for construction of the terminal.
The bids were scrapped because they all exceeded cost estimates and the freeholders wanted a streamlined, cost-effective design before going out to bid again.
Additionally, the lack of a signed contract with N.Y. Waterways, was a major glitch in the process.
County Administrator Robert Collins said in a previous interview that the county was close to finalizing an agreement with N.Y. Waterways, and expected that a signed contract was on the way.
Now that the contract has been signed, county planner and project coordinator Kevin Ganson said that the freeholders are pleased.
"We were really specific in what we were looking for and did not have to settle or lower our standards for another operator," said Ganson. "We got the best, and we are very happy."
According to an excerpt from the contract, the county and ferry operator anticipate that ferry service will begin somewhere between April and July 2002.
As for why it took so long to actually award a contract, Ganson said that when dealing with such a huge project, negotiations can be lengthy.
"When you are dealing with such a long-term contract, every detail needs to be examined," he said, adding that "you are going through attorneys and that can be very time consuming."
Ganson said now that a contract has been signed, the approval of a construction contract should be next.
"There were some freeholders who felt that a construction contract should not be awarded before we had an operator," he said.
He added that some changes had been made to the bid packages and the county will begin accepting new construction bids shortly.
Belford Citizens Association (BCA) spokeswoman Pat Cusick and BCA consultant Robert Riker, long-standing critics of the county’s ferry project, agree that ferries are a good mode of transportation, but say they are not practical, cost-effective or environmentally sensitive enough for the Belford location, on the east bank of Compton’s Creek.
Cusick listed five different services in the New York/New Jersey harbor that have failed within a couple of years due to insufficient passenger demand.
Cusick and Riker have felt all along, and continue to contend, that there is not enough passenger demand to compensate for operating costs. Riker said that there is more than ample ferry service in Atlantic Highlands and Highlands, where operating capacity is expanding.
"We have cleared many hurdles in this project," said Ganson. "We have cleared all the hurdles the opponents of this plan have set up. We have answered all there questions time and time again, and now that we have cleared these hurdles, there is nothing to stand in our way."
NY Waterways will provide service between Belford and midtown Manhattan and New York City’s downtown financial district.
The fare will be $9 each way, an amount which will go up 50 cents each year, not to exceed $15 each way.
The $9.5 million terminal — $8 million of which will be funded by the federal government, with $1.5 million funded through bonding by the county — will include a 485-space parking lot.
The first proposal from NY Waterways, presented to the county in August of 1999, called for three 32-knot boats designed, tank-tested and built for the trip between Belford and Manhattan.
The new contract calls for two ferry vessels and provides that they be in substantial conformance with performance characteristics.
According to Riker, the Belford community will continue to try to stop the freeholders before they commit to a construction contract next spring. "Too much has changed since the 1991 feasibility study," Riker said. These months should be used to look at current needs."