Disagreement between maritime nonprofit and city stalls Plover ferry voyages

A disagreement between Drayton Harbor Maritime (DHM) and the city of Blaine has delayed Plover voyages slated to begin after the passenger ferry’s two-year restoration was deemed complete in early July.

DHM founding director Richard Sturgill said the nonprofit, which has operated the Plover for over two decades, will not sign the operation and maintenance contract with the city of Blaine, which owns the boat, until issues are settled around reimbursement and liquidated damages fee for the restoration. In the meantime, DHM does not have the funds to operate the ferry, Sturgill said.

Blaine city manager Mike Harmon said the city is working to get the Plover running as soon as possible and is in the process of interviewing three candidates to captain the ferry. Harmon said it was unlikely the Plover would run for the Drayton Harbor Maritime Festival August 3-4, but hoped the ferry could operate by the second weekend of August.

The city is currently finding a dock on Semiahmoo Spit as DHM leases the dock the Plover has historically used, Harmon said.

Disagreement started in mid-May when DHM, contracted by the city to conduct extensive repairs on the boat, overspent the amount in its repair contract and did not meet the completion deadline agreed upon by both parties. During that same time, DHM says it requested reimbursement for work within the contract that the city has not reimbursed.

After the U.S. Coast Guard discovered the need for extensive repairs in fall 2022, city council provided DHM with $30,000, which DHM went over by $17,000. The city repaid DHM for most of the over-expenditure before soliciting bids to finish the project. DHM was the sole bidder and the city entered a $75,450 contract ($82,000 with sales tax) contract with the nonprofit to finish repairs by May 15. The contract also stated DHM needed to pay the city $100 of liquidated damages for each day the Plover wasn’t repaired after the May 15 deadline.

In total, the city of Blaine will have spent $130,000 on the Plover repairs.

DHM treasurer Merideth Goodman wrote in an email to The Northern Light that the city has only reimbursed up to $51,890 in its recent contract and the nonprofit has an outstanding $21,000 reimbursement request dated May 17 for work done within the contract. Goodman said she asked for accounting from the city on when or if the city would receive that reimbursement.

In conversations with city leaders, DHM has informally requested reimbursement for work done after the contract deadline but has not submitted a formal request for those additional funds, both DHM and the city said. Goodman said DHM doesn’t see a reason to request those additional funds until the reimbursement within the contract is resolved.

In late May, Sturgill has said DHM overspent $16,000 to pay crewmembers for the additional work. The U.S. Coast Guard approved the ferry’s out-of-water inspection on June 26 and in-water inspection on July 10.

Harmon said the city has paid all claims that DHM has submitted and that DHM has not submitted a final pay estimate. Liquidated damages would be calculated at that time, he said.

The city had a lump sum contract with DHM, meaning the city gave the nonprofit a fixed amount of funding to complete the repairs. Harmon previously said Blaine City Council would not vote on providing additional funding as DHM was contractually obligated to finish repairs.

Sturgill restored the passenger ferry in the mid-’90s that took workers from Blaine Harbor to the old Alaska Packers Association salmon cannery on Semiahmoo Spit. DHM was formed to help with the original restoration and then sold the ferry to the city for $1. The boat was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

DHM has operated the ferry during the summers since its original restoration, transporting people on the same route. The fare was donation-based until a few years ago, when the city instated a roundtrip ticket price of $5 per adult, $1 for teenagers and free for children 12 years and younger.

“When Drayton Harbor Maritime bid on this boat, Drayton Harbor Maritime didn’t bid on it for a profit like a typical boatyard,” Sturgill previously said. “Our motive was to save the boat.”

In March, city council authorized the city manager to present DHM with the operation contract that would allow the nonprofit to request reimbursement for the ferry’s operations. A city memo stated city staff had researched alternatives for the Plover’s operation in 2024, but at the time the only viable option was to continue contracting DHM.

“Drayton Harbor Maritime desires to be the steward of the Plover and operate it as a tourist attraction,” Sturgill said.