From the Everett Herald
By Jerry Cornfield, Herald Writer
A simmering debate on the design, durability and cost of the Chetzemoka ferry is heating up and may be nearing the boiling point.
State lawmakers are steamed by revelations in an audit last month that the vessel’s final off-the-dock, in-the-water price of $83.6 million in 2010 was nearly $50 million higher than what a Massachusetts ferry operator paid three years earlier for a boat with a comparable design.
They are now pressing state Auditor Troy Kelley to probe deeper into the decisions made and dollars spent on the Chetzemoka, which is pound for pound the most expensive boat ever built by Washington State Ferries.
They’re frustrated that in the rush to fill a void created by the grounding of the Steel Electric-class ferries, the state wound up with a boat that lists when empty, guzzles thousands of gallons of fuel more each year than the boats it replaced and may wear out years sooner than promised because of wear and tear from engine vibrations.
They want to know whether a 20-year-old law requiring the boat be built in Washington state made the project more expensive by limiting competition.
(To read the full article, go to heraldnet.com/article/20130217)
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