THE COASTLAND TIMES Sunday, February 9, 2014.
By LINDA CAIN. Knotts Islanders made a continual stream into the
gymnasium of Knotts Island Elementary School Tuesday night,
February 4 until a couple hundred of them filled a section of
bleachers.
They were there to learn about the idea to put
a toll on the ferry, and they were joined by plenty of others - NC
Board of Transportation representative, deputy Secretary of
Transportation, ferry director, division engineer and others from
the Department of Transportation who put on the evening’ s
presentation.
Also, NC Senator Bill Cook, NC Representatives
Bob Steinburg and John Tolbert, Currituck county commissioners and
other county officials, Board of Education members and other
school officials, and representatives of the Rural Planning
Organization (RPO) were in attendance.
Some say the RPOs, committees across the state
that represent transportation priorities to the Board of
Transportation, have been given the authority to decide tolling
issues, others say the RPOs have been passed the buck.
Currituck is one of 10 northeastern counties in
its RPO, that is DOT’s Division 1, and each is represented on that
committee by a local official. Currituck’s representative is
commissioner Butch Petrey, who was joined Tuesday by the RPO’s
chairman Lloyd Griffin of Elizabeth City.
The process says that the RPO can choose
whether or not to toll a previously untolled ferry route - such as
the Currituck to Knotts Island Ferry.
Money generated from the tolls would be put
into a fund earmarked only for vessel replacement - a dedicated
funding source that would not impact any other transportation
projects and allow DOT to plan for replacements.
Without the tolls, the purchase of a new boat
would be put into the pot along with all the other transportation
projects in the division, where it may or may not score well, and
may effect the other projects also competing for the same $32
million in anticipated division funding. Some of those projects
include the highway widening planned in Currituck and elsewhere.
The one-pot-funds-all is also a new twist
coming from Raleigh, which puts all road. airport, rail, public
transit, bike paths, etc. In competition with one another for
funding.
Griffin told the crowd Tuesday night, that the
RPOs should not be the deciding factor, and is planning to seek
support for changing the law to that effect.
Petrey agreed. He commented prior to the
meeting that only two counties represented in the RPO have
ferries, and he is trying to gather support for no toll from the
other members. Petrey said that it is simply not fair that ferries
are not considered for funding the same as other forms of
transportation like roads and bridges.
Rep. Tolbert commented that he is “sick and
tired” of the division between the different sections of the
state, advocating that it is time for everyone to work together.
Tolbert said the tolls are a hunt for new revenue, but that now is
not the time to add more financial burden to citizens, and that as
chairman of the House Appropriations Committee for Transportation,
Tolbert said he believed the money generated by the tolls could be
found elsewhere.
Taking more disposable income from people with
tolls has a huge impact, Tolbert said, adding that ferries are
just moving bridges and that not one bridge is tolled to pay for
its replacement. Rep. Steinburg said that he has been “back and
forth” on the issue, but that seeing the people the tolls will
impact has given him a different perspective than the way things
looked from his desk in Raleigh, where the cost didn’t look like
it would create a hardship. Steinburg concluded by telling the
crowd that he would do everything he could to keep the tolls off
the Knotts Island Ferry, “you have my word.”
Sen. Cook told the citizens that the “power is
in you” to change the tide on tolls, urging people to contact
state legislators with their concerns. The senator asked for
support from the citizens so the process can be delayed to give
lawmakers a chance to change things legislatively. “With your help
we can do this,” Cook concluded.
Currituck commissioners’ chairman Paul O’Neal
agreed that it will take legislation to change the plan for
tolling, and asked that at least, exempt Knotts Island Ferry, from
the process; as commissioner Petrey concurred with giving state
legislators time to keep their promises.
Knotts Island and Hatteras were both exempt
when tolls came up a couple of years ago.
O’Neal also suggested that tolling ferries is
just the beginning and that bridges and sections of highway may be
next, adding that tolling the Knotts Island Ferry is double taxing
residents who already pay a gas tax to fund transportation.
DOT figures that it will take $120 million to
fund a 20 year boat replacement plan – that calls for three new
tugs, three new barges and nine new ferries during those 20 years.
So, putting aside $6 million each year will pay for the new
vessels.
Trouble is, current funding is about $1 million
a year from federal grants and from estimated
advertising/concessions/naming rights.
Tolls are meant to make up the $5 million a
year shortfall.
Annual toll revenue from Division 1 (Knotts
Island, Hatteras, Swan Quarter, Cedar Island) is projected at $2.8
million; Division 2 (Cedar Island, Cherry Branch, Bayview) is
$1.46 million; Division 3 (Southport), $870,000 for a total just
over $5 million.
The Knotts Island Ferry is projected to
generate $85,000 in tolls annually. Ridership is about 24,000
vehicles a year, with an operating cost of about $3.8 million.
Jamille Robbins, who led the presentation for
DOT Tuesday, pointed out that North Carolina has the second
largest ferry system in the nation, handling 1.9 million
passengers and 835,000 vehicles last year with an operating budget
of $40 million.
Former senator Stan White commented that he
can’t believe how this part of the state is being treated, that
people complain about funding ferries, when everyone pays taxes
for roads they may never use, at a cost of $23 million a mile for
four lanes of highway. He also noted that under
the former funding formula, Division 1 received over $80 million
for transportation needs, an amount cut to the $32 million mark
under the new formula.
Currituck commissioner Paul Martin commented
that the $40 million to run the ferry system is a “drop in the
bucket” compared to the $21 billion state budget, and that it is
“ludicrous” to even consider tolling.
Commissioner David Griggs noted that if the
tolls are approved, they will never go away.
Chairman of the Currituck County Republic Party
and former county commissioner, Owen Etheridge noted the party is
unanimously opposed to the tolls.
Currituck Chamber of Commerce president Josh
Bass commented that Knotts Islanders will be more inclined to shop
in Virginia than pay a toll to shop in Currituck, and will take
their state sales tax with them.
Commissioner and Knotts Island resident Vance
Aydlett pointed out that the ferry was first put in service in
1962 for three main reasons - to join the remote Knotts Island to
North Carolina, to educate Knotts Island children in North
Carolina schools, and to improve economic development in
northeastern North Carolina. He contended those reasons still hold
true today.
The tolls being considered (one way):
pedestrian $1, bicycle $2, motorcycle $3, vehicles under 20 feet
$7, vehicles 20-40 feet $14, over 40 feet $28.
There is also a plan for annual passes:
pedestrian $40, bicycle $75, motorcycle $75, vehicles under 20
feet $150, 20-40 feet $175, over 40 feet $225.
The Knotts Island citizens who spoke, over a
dozen, made their own-case against the tolls very well.
Several urged those DOT folks who came over on
the ferry, to take the drive back and see the dark, winding and
narrow roads they have to travel if not for the ferry, roads that
also meander through Virginia.
One Virginia woman complained that if the
Knotts Island Ferry is tolled, more people will be using the roads
she pays taxes for but North Carolinians do not.
A special ferry run was arranged to accommodate
DOT officials and mainland folks who came to the public hearing,
the first of seven meetings scheduled in the areas served by
ferries. That boat was scheduled to leave the dock at 9:30 p.m.,
before the hearing actually-concluded after 10 p.m.
There are about l,500 people who live on Knotts
Island. and citizen speakers pointed out that many are senior
citizens and others on fixed incomes. Paying $14 for a round trip
to and from mainland Currituck that used to be free, means doing
without something else to come up with that toll.
While an annual pass would be a savings for
those who ride the ferry often, it wouldn’t be beneficial to
someone who rides once in a while.
People routinely travel to the mainland to take
care of county business, use county services, go to the DMV, go to
work, go to the YMCA, the food bank, to shop.
There are also families with children who
participate in after-school activities - band concerts, sports,
clubs. While school buses are proposed to be exempt from the tolls
on all ferry routes, students often have to drive in order to take
part in those activities, so would not be on the exempted bus, and
some students walk on as passengers.
Former 36-year member on the board of
education, John Barnes pointed out the importance of keeping
children in school. One of the ways to do that is to involve
parents, and another is the after-school involvements - both mean
more ferry rides.
Currituck County recently hired the McClees
Consulting group out of Oriental to lobby for the county on issues
impacting the county’s tourism and economy overall, including the
ferry toll. Speaking on behalf of that group, attorney S. Henri
McClees, said that the initial numbers provided by DOT on the
tolls, annual passes, moneys needed for replacements, are not
enough to do anything and will rise.
While buses are on the list of exemptions, DOT
does not have to give them, she commented, suggesting the numbers
provided and promises by DOT are not worth the paper written on,
and tore up the handout provided at the start of the evening.
In addition to buses, other proposed
exemptions: state/local government vehicles in working status,
emergency vehicles, evacuations, people on jury duty.
Citizens questioned how much it will cost to
implement the toll system (an estimated $1 million).
“We ride the ferry to save money," was one
comment. Others included: It was the only way on and off the
island recently when an accident on NC 615 closed the road for
eight hours; one suggested that the county should come up with the
$85,000 the tolls are expected to generate so the citizens don’t
have to pay; and others expressed disappointment that only two
members of the RPO attended.
Fundraising efforts on Knotts Island, including
the annual Peach Festival, depend on people coming from the
mainland, it was noted. Another commented that families will think
twice.
“Please don’t make it a burden to live here,”
one citizen urged.
No question how Knotts Islanders feel about tolls on their
toll-free ferry from Currituck.
They jammed the local elementary school in
protest at a public hearing Tuesday evening. “I already pay
taxes,” said one resident.
“It will be a big economic impact on this
island,” said another. “Eighty-five percent of my business is
day-trippers. You cut that in half.”
Still another said his daughter rides the ferry
to work and that tolls for the round trip would cost her two
hours of wages a day. The parents of school children who ride the
ferries were also dismayed.
Tuesday’s hearing conducted by the state
Department of Transportation was the first of seven on proposed
tolls for both the toll-free ferries to Knotts and Ocracoke
islands as well as higher tolls on the state’s five other systems.
Further hearings will include one at the
Ocracoke School, 7 0’clock next Wednesday evening. (Feb. 12), and
Thursday evening in Hatteras at the Graveyard of the Atlantic
Museum.
The Hatteras-to-Ocracoke ferry is the busiest
in the state and a boon to the area’s tourist economy (70 percent
of its riders are visitors), but Tuesday’s hearing on Knotts
Island set the tone for what’s likely to come.
Currituck County Commissioner H.M. “Butch”
Petrey said ferries are simply bridges that move. “Why would you
separate ferries from bridges?” he asked. “Bonner Bridge replaced
a ferry.”
Petrey intends to vote against the tolls as a
member of the 10-county Albemarle Rural Planning Organization that
will be asked whether it is willing to go along with the DOT’s
plans.
Nothing is final at this point. State
legislators will have the final say.
But for now local ferry boat riders have made
themselves heard — loud and clear — about tolls on the movable
bridges between Currituck and Knotts Island.