PORT TOWNSEND – “I’m absolutely – absolutely – confident that the Coast Guard wouldn’t allow people on the ferry if it were not safe,” says Port Townsend City Council member Laurie Medlicott.
She says the age and condition of the 80-year-old Steel Electric-class ferries is a problem that needs a solution, because it is critical to have a ferry carrying people and vehicles from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island.
“I do wish we would be very proactive in developing a solution,” she says.
Port Townsend City Manager David Timmons, who sits on an ad hoc ferry committee with Deputy Mayor Michelle Sandoval comprised of Port Townsend and Whidbey Island officials, says the issue is time sensitive.
“The condition really underscores the need to not process it to death, because eventually it will be the death of the ferries,” Timmons says.
“The more expedited this process can move forward, the better off we’ll all be, before there is a catastrophic failure.”
