News Update

POSTED: Friday, Oct. 02, 2009

Lummi Nation wants Whatcom County ferry dock off Gooseberry Point

LUMMI RESERVATION - Lummi Nation wants to redevelop Gooseberry Point, and it doesn't want Whatcom County's ferry dock to be part of the equation, county officials announced Friday, Oct. 2.

The 25-year lease for the tidelands and approaches to the current ferry dock - a lease that's necessary to allow the county to get the Whatcom Chief in and out of there en route to Lummi Island - expires Feb. 14, 2010.

The agreement contains an option for another 25-year lease, but Lummi Nation said that because the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs didn't sign the extension, it's not valid and can't be renewed, according to a county press release

The ferry is the only way to get to Lummi Island, other than by private boat.

The situation with the ferry dock has left the county with two options, according to the press release. Either way, it's going to cost the county more money, at a time when the recession has weakened county coffers.

The options are:

• Relocate the dock to other land on the reservation, an option that would cost an estimated $17.4 million because the county would have to invest in roads and sidewalks on the reservation. That amount includes a $6,000 a month rent for tidelands. The contract would be for five years, 10 1/2 months.

• Allow the county to continue operating at Gooseberry Point for five years, giving the county time to figure out what to do. Operations could continue until Feb. 15, 2015. The total estimated cost of the new lease would be $300,000. This option, which Lummi Nation favors, includes a new "Treaty Fishing Rights" fee to be paid to the tribe per ferry trip, but the amount hasn't been determined. In 2008, the Whatcom Chief made 12,626 one-way trips.

"Whatcom County Public Works is in the process of developing a series of options for executive and council consideration that will allow for continued ferry services to Lummi Island," according to the press release.

Check Saturday's issue of The Bellingham Herald for more information on this story.