BELL ISLAND FERRY USERS COMMITTEE

Minutes of Meeting

January 8, 2004

MEETING CONVENED:

The annual general meeting was convened at 7:30 pm.

1. Quorum present:

A quorum of current executive members were present including:

Chair David Brazil
Treasurer Keith Kent,
Vice Chair Mayor Gosine,
Secretary Dr. Laurie
Member Corporal Merrill
Member Tony Power
Consultant Ed Kent
Ferry Manager Ben Hammett

2. Minutes of November Meeting reviewed and approved

On a motion by Corporal Merrill and seconded by Mayor Gosine the minutes were approved as submitted.

3. Meeting with Ministers Whalen and Rideout scheduled for Bell Island-Jan 19

Chairperson Brazil disclosed the planned meeting time with Ministers Rideout and Whalen was now finalized. The Ministers are scheduled to travel to Bell Island on January 19 on the 1240 pm ferry and lunch with the Committee at the Wabana Complex. A brief tour of the Wabana Complex would follow and the Ministers would then meet with the Committee to discuss ferry issues. The Ministers would make a brief stop at the Transportation depot for a visit prior to returning on the 410-ferry trip. The planned mine tour and meeting with the IAS Committee would be scheduled for a later date.

4. Pre-budget Committee presentation

Ed Kent presented for review a draft paper for consideration with respect to the Pre-Budget Committee meetings being chaired by Finance minister Sullivan on Jan 27 in St. John's.

The Committee agreed on the substantive points to be covered with special emphasis on the economic importance of the ferry service.

The brief will call for:

• Tender award for a new 28 car ferry to replace the Hamilton Sound with the expenditure being a major economic stimulus to a Newfoundland shipyard and the completed vessel filling an urgent need for a replacement vessel
   

• Commitment to maintain the 2-vessel year round ferry service and schedule, especially to sustain the 400 commuter jobs and 200 local industry jobs dependent on an efficient, effective and affordable ferry service.
  

• Capital funding allocation in Budget 2004 to complete the final rehabilitation phase of the Bell Island ferry docks.
  

• A requested investment in the extension of the 2 vessel ferry service to the early morning to encourage more Bell Islanders now dependent on income support to enter the workforce and commute to jobs at a considerable net saving to Government.
  

• Acceptance that the committed Blue Book 5 year plan to commence in 2004 to lower ferry rates to the equivalent cost of road travel may have to be deferred in light of fiscal constraints and in this light the rates would have to be held at current levels.
  

5. Ferry vessel deployments and refits:

FLANDERS:
Manager Hammett confirmed that the Flanders would not likely be returned to service until after January 15.

WINTER REFITS:
It was expected that the Hamilton Sound would have to continue to provide the second vessel service this winter as the Beaumont Hamel was being scheduled soon for its own refit and would have to be assigned to Fogo Island to allow for their vessel's refit

The Committee expressed its ongoing concern over the lack of a planned refit schedule and requested the Manager Hammett to seek greater input for the Committee in assignment times for vessel refits

The Committee also requested that attempts be made to coordinate ferry annual inspections while the vessels are on dock to help avoid downtime while the vessels are in service which is disruptive to the schedule.

SECOND VESSEL:
Committee members expressed the view of the success of the second vessel realignment in recent weeks to allow for the second vessel to sail early in the mornings to cover off the loss of capacity due to the Flanders being on refit. The extra trips helped immensely offset what would have been an unbearable over flow of traffic problem and the utilization demonstrated the considerable need for the early morning 2-vessel service.

EARLY MORNING SERVICE:
The Committee agreed on submission of a proposal to address the need for funding of the 2-vessel early morning service.


6. Inadequate terminal snow clearing

Committee members continued to express their frustration with the lack of effort to effectively clear snow from the terminal area after snowfalls.
A highways division plow is parked on site but marine workers are not allowed to use it and highway workers indicate they have no budget for personnel to operate it and union agreements prohibit contracting the clearing to private operators.

The Committee pleaded for a solution to the ridiculous situation

Additionally, the Committee repeated its request for a small domestic snow blower to be purchased and deployed to allow some basic access to terminal waiting rooms, washrooms and parking.

7. Electronic signs activation

Manager Hammett reported that despite a 6 month frustrating delay in securing computer service equipment to support the newly purchased signs, he was now pleased to report that installation of support equipment was being scheduled and that the system should be operational shortly.

8. Commuter access and pass improvements:

Tony Power, Chair of the Commuter pass sub committee reported good progress in meetings with Manager Hammett in introducing improved management of the issuance of commuter passes.
Colored pass forms had now been requisitioned to improve control for each quarterly issuance. Permanent commuters had been identified for automatic pass issuance.
Manager Hammett agreed to oversee an improved pass distribution system and also agreed to provide a commuter list with the Portugal Cove and Bell Island based commuters separated to assist in the review process.

It was agreed that the Manager would use his discretion in allowing flexibility for priority access to the ferry for properly documented users in receipt of major medical therapy/treatmet and who would otherwise endure major discomfort if compelled to wait in the regular line-up. The Commuter user rules would be considered for amendment to reflect the change.

Dr. Laurie expressed the view that there should be no circumstance, which would require a medical emergency extra ferry trip that had not been sanctioned by hospital personnel.

9. Deferred items:

FILLING COMMITTEE VACANCY: Committee members were invited to seek candidates who could be nominated for the one vacant post on the Executive, with consideration be given especially for a commuting student rep.

COMMUTER LINE-UP PRIORITY: It was agreed that consideration of the need for any change in priority access for commuters after the early morning trips would be deferred for consideration at a subsequent meeting.

BELL ISLAND TERMINAL TRAFFIC CONGESTION AND CONFUSION: Corporal Merrill requested the issue respecting safe access to the terminal be deferred until the next meeting.

SPEED UP MEASURES FOR TICKET SELLING: Deferred.

10. Gas trip issues:

The Committee confirmed its support for the continuance of gas trips on Tuesday's with priority to be given to the accommodation of the gas tankers on reserved trips with passenger restrictions.
Manager Hammett reported that he was having a form printed that would be given to those passengers to arrive at the TERMINAL first to allow for a fair and orderly access to the ferry on a first come first served basis to passengers (including those with vehicles) when there are restrictions on numbers such as 25 on gas day.

The current fueling process for the ferry vessels to minimize schedule disruptions was considered as acceptable. In cases where considerable traffic existed after the last sailing, discretion would be given to the captains to delay a fuel up to accommodate the clearing up of heavy vehicular traffic.

11. Input from ferry crews on service improvements:

The Chairperson reported that on a "trial" basis he would invite reps from the Captain's Guild and Marine Workers Union employed on the Bell Island Ferry service to meet with him and to discuss exclusively their input as to how to improve the ferry service.
It was also confirmed that any member of the public could attend and participate in Committee regular meetings including ferry crewmembers.

12. Meeting adjourned at 10 pm
Next meeting is to be a private meeting with Ministers on January 19th.