PORTLAND, Maine — It was a plan met with resistance by some Peaks Island residents. Now leaders are pressing pause as they consider capacity concerns.
This, the result of more public input over whether to replace a Casco Bay Lines vessel with one that's capable of carrying more people.
"We've since a tremendous increase in traffic, in crowds, in conflicts, in accidents," said Doug Wilber, a Peaks Island Resident. "This is not just a suburb of Portland. This is a community, this is a small town. And the quality of life for us has been negatively impacted by the numbers of people and cars that come out here."
Peaks Island residents are speaking out against plans for a bigger vessel, to transport people back and forth from Portland.
"Please, don't burden us year-rounders with bearing the cost of a capacity problem over 12 months that basically exists for two months," said Betsey Remage-Healey, a Peaks Island resident.
The new $10 million vessel is still in the design stages and could carry an additional 200 people and four vehicles, per trip.
Casco Bay Lines plans to replace an older vessel, thanks to a federal grant.
Island residents were among the 160 people who attended a recent public meeting.
"And that was our fifth public meeting on the new vessel," said Hank Berg, General Manager Casco Bay Lines.
Berg says the company's board of directors heard even more public input Thursday during its regularly scheduled meeting. That's when board members were supposed to vote and approve the capacity of the new vessel.
Instead, the board approved a 60-day delay to allow time to consider concerns and explore alternatives.
"They've asked us to go back and look at vehicle reservations and to revisit the impact of a new vessel on the revenue and expenses," said Berg.
In the meantime, Berg says the city has committed to looking further into infrastructure concerns on Peaks.
There is somewhat of a deadline for Casco Bay Lines to come up with a design. They must do so by early 2021 because that's when the federal funding is set to expire.