SSA Rankles Tisbury Board

Boatline Pays Police in Falmouth; Town Selectmen Want to Know Why That Is Fair; Traffic Snarls at Vineyard Haven

By ALEXIS TONTI

Tisbury leaders this week charged Steamship Authority managers with employing a double standard by paying for extra police assistance and traffic control in Falmouth while refusing to do the same in Vineyard Haven.

The news that the boat line pays for police details at the Palmer avenue parking lot came at the regular selectmen's meeting Tuesday, and stoked the anger of Tisbury officials who for months have objected to the SSA's reversal this year of its former policy of reimbursing the Island's port towns for police services.

That change left Vineyard Haven with a police budget short roughly $50,000 for this fiscal year. In response the police department scaled back its detail around the SSA terminal and has focused primarily on pedestrian safety. The result has been reported snarls for automobile traffic, with lines that now regularly spill out of the staging area, clogging Five Corners and backing up along the roads out of town.

In July the Tisbury selectmen took their case to the monthly boat line meeting, where they argued that the SSA is responsible for helping to alleviate its impact on the town. But their comments only drew the ire of SSA governors.

Falmouth governor Robert Marshall told the Tisbury selectmen: "If in fact the Steamship Authority is going to start paying for police, the bill that will come from Falmouth will cost the Vineyard more than you are collecting from the Steamship Authority."

But in fact, the Steamship Authority already is paying for police details in Falmouth.

The SSA hires the Falmouth police on weekends to control traffic in coordination with the shuttle buses entering and leaving the satellite parking lot on Palmer avenue. Police officers are generally hired to work morning and afternoon shifts, for a total of 16 hours each day.

Through July the boat line spent about $7,400 for the Falmouth police details. It budgeted $13,000.

Interim general manager Wayne Lamson yesterday emphasized the placement of these hired police officers, making the point that they work at the shuttle lot. When it comes to traffic control around the SSA terminals, all the port towns receive the same treatment, he said.

"We do not have any details at the dock or in the terminal area [in Woods Hole]. We have state police that provide security, but no local police at any of our other ports to deal with traffic when vehicles are unloading," Mr. Lamson said.

The dispute between Tisbury officials and SSA managers is rooted in their different interpretations of the new ferry fee legislation.

The legislation tacked a 50-cent surcharge onto the price of each one-way passenger ticket on ferries that ply the routes between the Cape and Islands. The money is collected by the ferry operators and paid to the town where the trip originates, which includes both Falmouth and Vineyard Haven. The legislation earmarks revenue from the fee for public safety, harbor services and port infrastructure improvements.

In April former SSA chief executive officer Fred C. Raskin withdrew a reimbursement for police services that the SSA had been paying towns for years, saying the new ferry fee revenue relieved the boat line of its former obligation. In recent years, Oak Bluffs has received $19,000 annually and Vineyard Haven, more than $30,000 annually, under that reimbursement plan.

The Tisbury selectmen bristled at the apparently unilateral ruling on Mr. Raskin's part, and since then have led the charge to overturn his decision. They lined up support from state Sen. Robert O'Leary and state Rep. Eric T. Turkington, both of whom helped author the legislation. The Oak Bluffs selectmen, however, opted not to stand with them on the issue.

For their part, SSA managers bolstered their case with a legal opinion from a Boston attorney specializing in constitutional matters. They took no action on the issue at the monthly meeting in July or August, and at this point a board vote would be required to make any change.

On Tuesday Tisbury police chief Theodore (Ted) Saulnier brought the discrepancy to the attention of the selectmen at their regular meeting, saying the town needed to seek equal treatment.

"They don't want to practice what they preach to us," declared selectman Ray LaPorte, who went on to put the responsibility for the current traffic problems squarely on the SSA.

"It goes back to the infrastructure limitations of the Steamship Authority terminal and their lack of manpower to help check in, so there is nothing for the traffic to do but spill onto Water street and Beach Road," Mr. LaPorte said.

"To hear now that [the SSA] is spending money in Falmouth, apparently for the same thing, is a double standard," said selectman Tristan Israel.

Vineyard Haven resident George Balco then took the floor and spoke in heated tones about the increased congestion at Five Corners and by the SSA terminal.

"On Saturday night it took 36 minutes to travel from the Packer oil tanks to Five Corners. There was no guidance anywhere. People were hopping out of cars and running to catch boats," said Mr. Balco.

Mr. Lamson drew a fine distinction between the traffic problems in Tisbury and Falmouth.

"Palmer avenue isn't Five Corners. We don't have that situation that Vineyard Haven has, which is a town problem, as far as you have all those roads coming in and people taking all those turns there," said Mr. Lamson.

"This is a situation where our off-site lot is located on a busy road that people are racing down toward Woods Hole. It is on a curve, and it is on somewhat of a corner that we have to be able to get our buses in and out of the lot."

He added: "It is a convenience for our operation that we do it. If there is a steady flow of traffic going southbound and our buses don't have a way of crossing that traffic, then passengers are sitting there. The same is true of buses exiting the lot and trying to get down by the boat, if they are held up by this flow that can at times back up. We think it is worth having the detail there."

Chief Saulnier described similar traffic concerns in Vineyard Haven and the way he prioritizes his officers' responsibilities.

"We are trying to keep the pedestrian passengers safe, especially right at the entrance to the SSA parking lot. There's VTA buses coming down, cars picking up and dropping off, people crossing to the parking lot across the street or to walk into town. Without a full complement of officers, the ones who are down there have their hands full. To have them stand at Five Corners takes them away from the danger spots.

"It appears to me [SSA managers] are treating Tisbury and the Island in general differently than they treat the other port towns, which seems to be fundamentally unfair," Mr. Saulnier said, concluding: "We have the same needs [as Falmouth] and yet for some reason they refuse to take care of their passengers beyond the sidewalk when in Vineyard Haven."