St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman has one puzzle piece left before he can start negotiating with contractor HMS on a possible ferry service between downtown St. Petersburg and downtown Tampa.
Sometime in the coming weeks, he'll head to Tampa City Hall, where he'll ask City Council to set aside $350,000, one quarter of the amount of money he says he needs in order to negotiate a plan. Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn expressed his support last week, as did the Hillsborough County Commmission. St. Pete City Council signed off months ago — it's using settlement funds from BP, and Pinellas County Commission did so Tuesday.
He also hopes to convince the state legislature to commit funds to a second vessel to make service more efficient.
In his pitch to the Pinellas Commission on Tuesday, he commended local officials for being able to work together.
“We find ourselves at a unique time, I think, in our history," he said. "The relationship between the City of St. Petersburg and the Pinellas County Commission, I don't know if it's ever been better, and likewise between the City of St. Petersburg and the City of Tampa and the counties of Hillsborough and Tampa. I don't know if those relationships have ever been better.”
He said the ferry would likely cater largely to tourists as well as locals looking to cross the bay for special events without a car. Trips would take an estimated 45 minutes, and the fare amount has yet to be set.
Whatever the details are, Kriseman said the ferry proposal was a long time coming.
“This is an opportunity to try something that this region has been talking about for a long time but never acted on," he said. "There's been a lot of talk about ferry service in the Tampa Bay area for years, but we've never done it, we've never tried it.”
All but one on the board agreed, though all had questions, most having to do with the project's cost and whether setting aside money for the project would open the door to other transportation proposals asking for county money.
“I think that this is a great project, but it does open the door for others to come forth and ask us for money,” said Commissioner Karen Seel, noting the private downtown Clearwater ferry service and the Jolly Trolley as potential askers. “The list could go on.”
The only one not to support the commitment of $350,000 was Commissioner Dave Eggers, who was concerned about the speed at which the project was moving forward, given the amount of money the four governments are investing.
“The thought that on a risky venture, that you're coming to the government for $1.2 million, no matter how good of an idea it is, and I think it is, is a little perplexing,” Eggers said. “I think to explore further is a great idea. To me, just listening today, there are more questions than answers.”
Kriseman stressed that it is risky, and if the commission doesn't like the plan that he and HMS negotiate, the county doesn't have to spend the money.
“I don't know that it's going to work," Kriseman said. "It might not, and I'm trying to be very honest in asking all the governments to make sure that you go in with your eyes open, that we're investing money in a pilot that might not work. But if it does work, we're making a fundamental change to how things have been in this region for a long time.”
The commission opted to look for a funding source they can commit to the project.
It is unclear when Tampa City Council will hear Kriseman's pitch, but he needs to have a plan hashed out — and the money in place by April 1 so he can make a deposit on a vessel. The deposit deadline for a second vessel is June1.
This article appears in Jan 7-13, 2016.