By SHELLEY TERRY - Staff Writer - sterry@starbeacon.com
ASHTABULA — Imagine busloads of tourists flocking to the historic Ashtabula Harbor to board a ferry to Port Burwell, Ontario, in Canada.
Now, don’t let your imagination get away from you because it isn’t happening anytime soon.
The problematic U.S. harbor maintenance tax, plus the high cost of creating a new port of entry and the fact that none of the locals have an agreement with the Canadians have put the ferry project into a holding pattern, said Dino DiSanto, deputy chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Steven LaTourette, R- Bainbridge.
LaTourette earmarked about $7 million for a ferry four years ago, and the money still will go to the first feasible project linking a northeast Ohio port to Canada. Viable prospects are Ashtabula, Grand River and Cleveland, DiSanto said.
“All three have advantages and disadvantages,” he said. “Ashtabula has the infrastructure and the accessibility to Route 11.”
Alicia McFarland, economic director for the Ashtabula City Port Authority, believes Ashtabula is the perfect place for a ferry.
“Our access to Route 11 and Interstate 90 is set up perfectly,” she said.
The federal harbor maintenance tax remains a costly burden on cargo that ships would transport from Canada. A legislative exemption on the tax is needed, but Congress has to act on it, DiSanto said.
“The champion of exempting was the late Stephanie Tubbs-Jones,” he said.
Anytime there’s an exemption, there must be cuts in other programs, which means it takes awhile to hash out.
In Ashtabula, the Port Authority purchased property at Lake Avenue/ Walnut Boulevard after the Ashtabula Area City School Board demolished Harbor High School. The school district recently agreed to leave the former band room, built in 1982, standing because it’s in good condition, said Ron Kister, Port Authority chairman.
“We believe it will make a wonderful tourist center,” Kister said.
The property surrounding the band-room-turned-tourist-center would become a public park, he said. The tourist center, park, as well as the accessibility to Route 11 and Interstate 90, have city officials optimistic about Ashtabula’s future. They are talking with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials and with a ferry operator about a link with Port Burwell.
LaTourette’s office said the money is ready and waiting, but DiSanto reminds residents a ferry would not succeed based on tourism alone.
“The lake freezes,” he said. “And, it’s a two-hour ferry (ride).”
