BELL ISLAND FERRY USERS COMMITTEE
Minutes of Public Meeting
Annual meeting and election of
officers
April 11, 2005
MEETING
CONVENED:
The meeting was convened at 7:30 pm.
Quorum present:
A quorum of current executive members were present including:
Chair David
Brazil-
Treasurer Keith
Kent
Vice Chair Mayor
Gary Gosine
Secretary Dr.
Alexa Laurie
Member Corporal
Boyd Merrill
Member Tony
Power
Consultant
Ed Kent
MHA-Minister’s Office Myrle
Vokey
Election co-coordinator Peter Kent
General Public attendees:
Approximately 12 others attended as
well
1. Agenda
Meeting.
2. Chairperson’s Report
Chairperson David Brazil presented an overview of the
many meetings, discussions, correspondence, petitions in 2004-2005.The
Committee had to deal with the stress of a one month ferry strike and a 2004
Budget which had targeted Bell Island’s schedule, rates and quality of service
and yielded disappointment and dismay.
Having survived the strike, the Committee was not able
to have the ferry rate commitment not to increase rates honored.
We were troubled that Bell Island had been singled out
as the only service of 16 services to be targeted to have service and schedule
cuts. The Chairperson was happy to report that after a monumental effort and
the support of our MHA that the reductions in service were abandoned and full
funding for the 2-vessel service restored in Budget 2005.
Regrettably the hoped for replacement of the Hamilton
Sound was not achieved and the Government committed only $500,000 for further
ferry vessel studies in 2005. Despite having has sections of our docks
condemned only $1,000,000 was allocated in Budget 2005 for dock repairs for 32
ferry docks in the Province- a sad state of affairs. On a minor but happy note the electronic signs were finally
activated.
The Committee presented an extensive Pre-Budget brief
to the Minister of Finance on ferry service initiatives, which included
opposition to any moves that might be under consideration towards
privatization.
GOALS FOR 2005:
The Chairperson set out targeted goals for 2005:
FERRY RATES: Seek as a minimum a rate freezes for 2006
and a fair application of rate rounding with the aim to have rates rolled back
as promised to the equivalent cost of road travel.
FERRY STRIKES: Secure a commitment to have ferry
strikes outlawed and replaced with binding arbitration.
NEW VESSELS: To renew the struggle to have vessel
replacement start in 2005 using lease financing if necessary to have the unsafe
and inadequate fleet upgraded.
DOCK SAFETY AND REHABILATATION: To secure funding to
rehabilitate and make safe our ferry docks
MANDATORY ADVANCE TICKET: To secure approval to
introduce a mandatory commuter advance purchase ticket
EXTRA SERVICE FOR COME HOME YEAR: To ensure an extra
level of ferry service to support the 2005 Come Home Year.
2005 ROADS ALLOCATION TO BE SOUGHT TO WIDEN ROAD IN
COVE FERRY LINE-UP AREA AND ADDRESS SAFETY:
3. Mandatory
Commuter Ticket
The benefits of having an advanced mandatory ticket
for commuters, including the speeding up of the ferry boarding were promoted.
It was felt the use of the ticket should be expanded through the use of an
education program. (Perhaps as well the electronic sign system could be of
assistance in getting the message out.)
It was felt that the Transportation Department should
revisit
the advance ticket and promote its use as an
efficiency measure and cost saving measure. Revenues were being lost and the
service was being slowed.
Continuing support was offered to the use of the
advance ticket made mandatory which could be a condition of access to the lower
rate not unlike a Metro Bus Pass where the discounted rate is not available for
single use purchase.
Lower pricing is available industry wide in
transportation
sector for those who buy tickets in advance or in bulk
or as a benefit or incentive to seniors, handicapped or unemployed people. The
ferry service should be no different for commuter rates.
Those who do not purchase in advance the discounted
commuter ticket should have the pay the regular single rate and there should be
no single rate for commuter, just the discounted bulk purchase rate.
It was agreed that the Committee would actively pursue
the re-implementation of the advanced ticket
4. Commuter rules distribution and finalizing
management rules:
As was the position at the February meeting it was
agreed that the commuter rules should be posted on the Bell Island web site and
copies be appended to the next issue of the Community newsletter.
It was noted that the Committee was working with
Manager Hammett on a set of management guidelines to support the rules
governing ferry line-ups and access and to address several oddities etc that
had recently emerged.
It was suggested that the Manager be asked to move the
completion forward as a priority.
5. Treasurer’s
report tabled and approved
Treasurer Keith Kent tabled the 2004 /2005 report
which showed expenditures of $378.00 and a balance carried forward of
$2,008.00.
6. Vessel availability and refits for 2005
Manager Hammett has reported that the Transportation
Department is still proceeding with plans for the Flanders and Beaumont Hamel
to be refitted in the Fall, after the peak Come Home Year celebrations. The
Fogo Ferry refit is to be deferred until the Fall ensuring that the Beaumont
Hamel would not be withdrawn and deployed to Fogo Island.
7. No ferry strike legislation
Renewed efforts were approved to be taken to have
ferry service declared strike free, ensuring no repeats of the 2004 travesty
caused by the 2004 Marine Workers Strike that hijacked Bell Island’s economy
and users. The union would be provided with binding arbitration. Government has
just sought the same arrangement from the Federal Government for the Marine
Atlantic service.
8. Come Home Year: Extra service
needs
Mr. Vokey conveyed the view he received from
Transportation officials of their full support for the month long Come Home
Year celebrations by providing the best service possible.
The Come Home Year Committee was to be encouraged to
get their schedule finished and events likely needing extra service to be
identified so that advanced planning could occur to support the event with
adequate ferry service.
It was suggested that the vessels should be scheduled
on LOAD AND GO SERVICE as just one improvement thus allowing for several more
daily trips. Assignment of a shore based ticket seller in the Cove terminal
would be an asset and as needed the evening schedule of the Flanders could be
extended on an as needed basis. It was recognized that several major evening
events requiring late night vessels would necessitate sacrificing some of the
early morning commuter trips.
A proposal would be forthcoming.
9. Fueling of the ferries measure:
It was noted that the fueling of the ferries on Bell
Island was disrupting the ferry capacity and schedule. Even more so it was
costing the Government a reported extra 6 cents a liter for the fuel truck to
travel to Bell Island.
It was recommended that the Beaumont Hamel should be
scheduled for fuel-ups in the Cove following the completion of the 820 am trip
each weekday morning from Bell Island. It was also recommended that the
Flanders should be fueled at noontime in the Cove.
10. MHA Minister’s Office Report
Mr. Myrle
Vokey brought the Minister’s regrets that she was unable to be in attendance.
He noted that there had been frequent communication
with the Committee and the Minister’s Office given all the turmoil in 2004.
The strike had been very disruptive.
We were advised that while the small allocation of
$1,000,000 for dock repairs was minimal given the many needs, there was active
engineering work ongoing and hope that Bell Island would be given a significant
portion to start to address the dock safety and rehabilitation.
(Those in attendance expressed grave concern that the sums allocated were grossly inadequate and that safety issues had to be addressed).
Mr. Vokey reported that achieving full funding approval
to support the current schedule was a major effort and accomplishment. He
advised that there had been consideration of cutting out a vessel altogether.
(Those in attendance while appreciative of the result expressed their frustration that Government bureaucrats in particular were singling out Bell Island as the only service of 16 that was being served up for cuts and that this should not be acceptable to the Minister)
He reported that the Minister would continue to lobby
to secure rate relief and in the end honoring of commitments in the Blue Book
to lower rates to the equivalent cost of road travel. Notwithstanding the
outcome he reported a commitment from the Transportation Department that at the
end of the 4 years of planned increases the overall increase would not exceed
the original 25% approved by Cabinet.
It was noted that the Minister was disappointed that
the new ferry construction program did not get a full green light in the Budget
but was optimistic that the construction program would soon become a reality. (Those in
attendance expressed continuing frustration noting that there was a desperate
need and that even if approval came now it would be 2007 before the first
vessel could be completed. It was observed that the 3 swing vessels had not been
available to any service in the past 6 months and that if another vessel went
out of service one or communities and their economies would be in chaos. It was
suggested that the vessel construction program be revisited with a goal to
start construction in 2005.)
Mr. Vokey expressed the position and view of the
Minister’s Office that Bell Island had a viable economic future and that the
foundation to growing the economy and sustaining jobs was to build on the
foundation of an efficient and affordable ferry service. (Over 450 working
commuters rely on the service
Mr. Vokey noted that the Minister was working towards
a plan to improve the amenities offered in the terminal buildings to make the
rooms and services more acceptable and attractive for the traveling public.
11.
Miscellaneous rate matters.
a. A view
was put forward that the rates for seniors should be set at 55 years and that
the discount should be consistent Province wide at 50%.
b. A
request was put forward that a case be made, as exists in other Provincial
services, for regular frequent users to be allowed to purchase frequent user
books of tickets at discount rates.
c. It was
generally agreed that rates should be based on the equivalent cost of road
travel (35 to 50 cents a kilometer) and that the 2003 Blue Book Commitment to
lower rates to that level be phased in as promised over 5 years. For example
the current cost of a family of 4 to travel the short 5 km trip to Bell Island
is$14.50 or $1.45 a kilometer and is restrictive especially to the many on low
incomes.
12.
Election of Officers:
Town Manager Peter Kent assumed the chairperson’s
position and commenced the process of overseeing the election of officers.
Following appropriate rules of order, calls were made
for nominations for the respective officer and member positions leading towards
the filling of all available posts.
The new executive of the Bell Island Ferry Users
Committee for 2005-2006 are:
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Committee Members: |
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Name: |
Position |
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David Brazil |
Chairperson |
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Mayor Gary Gosine |
Vice chairperson |
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Ed Kent |
Consultant |
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Dr. Laurie |
Secretary-Town Rep) |
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Keith Kent |
Treasurer |
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Corp. Boyd Merrill |
Member |
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Tony Power |
Member |
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Donna Kubik |
Member (student rep) |
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11. Meeting adjourned:
The meeting adjourned at 945 pm.