WARWICK – The long-running dispute between a company wanting to add seasonal ferry service to Block Island, and the town of New Shoreham and the existing year-round ferry service provider got a little closer to final resolution Monday, when the R.I. Division of Public Utilities and Carriers cleared the way for the dispute to return to R.I. Superior Court.
Technically, the DPUC found “insufficient cause” to revisit the docking questions raised by the town of New Shoreham over the proposed facility at Old Harbor for Rhode Island Fast Ferry.
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The dispute traces its roots back to the 2013 application of Rhode Island Fast Ferry to operate seasonal ferry service from Quonset Point to Block Island and its subsequent approval in September 2016 of the application. Since that time the town of New Shoreham and Interstate Navigation Co. – the operator of the Block Island Ferry out of Narragansett, Newport and Fall River – have challenged RIFF on a number of fronts.
The ruling by DPUC hearing officer John Spirito on Monday came after two remand hearings took place, one in late March and then in early April, at which New Shoreham argued that Rhode Island Fast Ferry, owned by Charles A. Donadio Jr., and Bluewater LLC, which has been contracted to build the dock for the proposed new service, do not have a realistic expectation to build docking in Old Harbor. Those hearings included testimony from Bluewater owner Paul Filippi, as well as current and former New Shoreham town officials and others. The town and Interstate argued that the latest designs for the docks being considered by Bluewater needed additional review by the DPUC.
The remand hearings were the result of New Shoreham successfully arguing in R.I. Superior Court that the June 2017 hearing in which Spirito previously ruled DPUC would not revisit the docking matter – similar to Monday’s ruling – wasn’t recorded.
“It’s the same as before,” Donadio said Monday. “This whole process is unnecessary to keep rehashing what has been decided two years ago. It’s a waste of Block Island’s resources and taxpayer dollars for the town of New Shoreham to keep fighting this public need.”
In his 39-page ruling, Spirito disagreed with the town’s argument the docking plans being considered constitute a “totally new design” warranting a new review from the division, Spirito wrote. “The latest designs being considered are connected to the originally proposed and identified docking facilities. These are not new docking facilities,” Spirito wrote.
Spirito did write that the town could raise these issues during the DPUC’s consideration to extend Rhode Island Fast Ferry’s September deadline to begin operating its ferry, which the town plans to do, New Shoreham solicitor Katherine Merolla said in an interview Monday. The license cannot be issued to RIFF unless the company can demonstrate it has access to docking facilities on the island.
Merolla said Monday’s ruling “doesn’t move” Rhode Island Fast Ferry and Bluewater “any closer” to building docks in Old Harbor. Merolla added that it would be “very difficult” for them to get the docks, citing the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council’s notice of deficiency issued March 28 saying Bluewater had not provided necessary proof of ownership for upland work or consent from both the federal government and the town for tidal waters affected by the proposal.
Donadio refuted the claim, saying Filippi is doing “everything necessary” to make sure that everything is in order when he re-submits paperwork to CRMC within “the coming weeks.”
James Bessette is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Research@PBN.com.
