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2/14/2009 Cliff
Courtney
RE: An open letter to Governor Gregoire, Senator Parlette and Representatives Condotta and Armstrong. Dear Statesmen, I am writing this letter on behalf of my family who have lived and worked in the Stehekin Valley and upper Lake Chelan area for going on five generations. We operate numerous businesses in the area and Lake Chelan is our "Marine Highway". We are hoping you can help us with an urgent situation. In 1927
the legislature passed an act that essentially monopolized any right to
commercial use of Lake Chelan for the transport of passengers. The legislation
was primarily aimed at socializing ferry boats on the coast. By extension
this same law was applied to inland waters and Lake Chelan fell under
the jurisdiction of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission
(WUTC). The transport of passengers in areas other than those served by
the Washington State Ferry system was not by definition socialized, but
was rather monopolized by means of control of schedules, pricing and other
regulation. It is questionable whether this one size fits all law was
ever needed on inland waters but nonetheless it still stands. Today
this law is holding Stehekin and the upper Lake Chelan Basin hostage and
needs your immediate attention. For years the law went largely
unnoticed because the nature of the owners of the monopoly were local,
service minded folks who were in tune with the community and its needs.
The situation was further diffused by the fact that since 1947 there has
been an option of using the float plane service. Cheap fuel also allowed
for financially feasible private boat transportation for a number of decades
for some visitors and many residents. These are not the conditions
we face today and the playing field has changed dramatically. Because
I own or manage many of the facilities in Stehekin, and because the happiness
of my clients is paramount to my success, I recently set out to see if
there was not some way short of legislation that visitors and residents
could have some choice as to when and how they achieved ingress and egress
to our valley. The idea was that there should be an alternative for Stehekin
Clients and residents that was Stehekin based. Three issues stand in the
way of excellence currently. Those three elements are poor schedule, poor
public relations and poor comfort level. I would hope there is a way to
change the law so that our community can overcome these afflictions and
continue to be a viable tourist destination. Currently if you are a visitor
wanting to spend time in Stehekin you must get up before daylight and
drive to the boat terminal at an hour that does not resemble "vacation
mode". On departing you also get back to the terminal later in the
day than is desirable because you will be late getting home, getting to
an airport, or getting to your next destination. I was planning a quality
service that could be used by folks spending one or more nights in Stehekin
whereby all of these scheduling negatives could be eliminated. I envision
a service that appreciates its clients, that is comfortable and quiet,
and has a lower price point, -- especially considering saving the cost
of a motel and meals in the Chelan area. This business would not be similar
to what is now offered. It would depart Stehekin in the morning and have
clients back to their car by noon on the day they departed. Incoming visitors
would have all morning to drive from their home in Portland, Seattle or
Spokane areas at their leisure. Achieving an alternative would have had
several immediate positive impacts on the visitor experience and on the
viability of the tourist trade. Not only could the quality of the service
and the total value be improved upon, but the schedule could be tailored
to fit the demand of the visitor that spends one or more nights in the
valley. Having
canvassed my clients for years on the desirability of the current schedule,
it became apparent that a great percentage of visitors would spend an
extra night or more in the valley if the schedule dovetailed with their
needs. A vessel which ran from the Stehekin end meets that need automatically
because the natural schedule is to depart Stehekin in the morning and
to depart the Chelan end in the afternoon. Economy is also attained because
30% of labor and fuel is eliminated by just going to Fields Point and
not clear to Chelan. Imagine the benefits to the visitor of this schedule
which would both give them the comfort of daylight driving hours both
ways to and from home and eliminate the need to try and find one night
lodging in the Chelan area which is a tough task. It is estimated that
80% of the current returning visitors would stay an additional night in
Stehekin if such a service could provide a quality experience at a competitive
price point that did not necessitate spending one of their vacation nights
in the Chelan area. Given the average duration of present stays, that
is an immediate visitation increase of around 25%! Retention of repeat
customers would also vastly improve if the travel to and from Stehekin
was an enjoyable part of their vacation and not a sacrifice they must
endure to visit. This service would in no way compete with the present
day trip trade that is (or was) the lifeblood of the current certificate
holder.
The
answer was always to obtain a certificate or forget it. It is unknown
whether or not the commission would approve another certificate. Because
of the current condition of the service and because of the dissimilar
nature of the proposal and schedules they may, but it is dubious. The
real issue here is that a certificate should not apply and an exemption
should be made. The lack of agility the certificate oversight entails
would destroy the advantages of a custom service. To replicate what we
have is not the intent. Certificates are generally
rigid and scheduled and this service would need to be adaptable and efficient.
A certificate would allow the transport of the general public on a fixed
schedule but that is not a remedy for our situation even if one were to
be issued. Because a certificate is both nearly unobtainable and would
not affect a remedy in this case I believe legislative relief is in order.
I further challenge the right of the legislature, and by extension the
WUTC, of taking a large percentage of the commercial potential of our
holdings by severely limiting reasonable access in the case of numbers
one and three above and for limiting our associational rights in number
two. The degree that the current rules deny reasonable service for our
customers and for valley citizens is essentially a taking of property
rights.
Thank you for your time and consideration. Feel free to contact me for details or if you need testimony. Sincerely, Cliff
Courtney
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