Local businesses and residents push council for weekend ferry pilot

At the start of public comment, multiple speakers urged the council to back ferry restoration and a weekend pilot to demonstrate latent demand. "No one I have spoken to is opposed to ferry restoration," Amanda Brown said, describing interviews with 44 local businesses and organizations she said overwhelmingly supported the idea as a customer and tourism draw.

Urban planner Naomi Hurston Rinskog framed the ferry as a historic and community connector — "It's a 220 year connection that's been between the 2 cities" — and urged partnering with environmental and heritage groups for programming. Other residents (Victoria Manning, Yin Mei, Yvonne Carruthers) stressed weekend service to capture recreational users, concerns about dock condition and the need to restore docking access so visiting vessels and the sloop can use Beacon's waterfront.

Council and staff noted a $100,000 Orange County IDA grant for a ferry-related project and discussed treating a new weekend pilot as a distinct, smaller initiative rather than trying to return full commuter service immediately. Staff and council asked that proponents and staff continue to coordinate on feasibility, dock condition and funding sources.