SSA Freight To Vacant New Bedford Ocean Wind Turbine Port

Signs posted around Falmouth saying its time to think New Bedford mean only one thing: moving the freight port from Falmouth to the incomplete New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal vacant for the last two years

Elizabeth Gladfelter, chairwoman of the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority board, told Falmouth selectmen June 6th about the ferry line's feasibility report that outlines several alternatives for the freight service. The boat line had released the report in April and had solicited comments from affected communities

What next ?

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center announced this past Monday after two years it has hired a port manager who will be paid an annual salary of $85,000 at the incomplete ocean wind turbine port in New Bedford.

The Steamship Authority is weighing options for a private-carrier transporting freight between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard to avoid the Falmouth port in Woods Hole.

Next Scheduled Port Council Meeting Date Time Place Wednesday, December 7, 2016 9:30 a.m. SSA’s Hyannis Terminal Second Floor Meeting Room 141 School Street Hyannis, Massachusetts 02601

Next Scheduled Steamship Authority Board Meeting Date Time Place Tuesday, December 20, 2016 9:30 a.m. Highfield Hall and Gardens In the Ballroom 56 Highfield Drive Falmouth, Massachusetts 02541

Questions remain unanswered : Will Steamship Authority pay the $187,500.00 a month bond payments due on the New Bedford Terminal for 30 years ?

The 113 million ocean terminal was mostly bonded at taxpayers expense. The bond payments are $187,500.00 a month for the next thirty years and you the taxpayers are footing the bill on the incomplete ocean terminal for the last two years

A Massachusetts Clean Energy Center brochure, the operator of the New Bedford terminal, states the opening at the hurricane gate to New Bedford Harbor is 150 feet which is true. The problem is the legal opening is 120 feet and the largest ship ever to enter the harbor has been 80 feet wide.

Ocean wind turbine specialized "jack-up" barges do not fit through the gates. The port is too small and useless. The New Bedford terminal like Falmouth has no rail link or large walking cranes only highway access.

Folks the signs are up. A local Democratic Falmouth citizens group is placing signs all over Falmouth. The signs say: " It Is Time To Think New Bedford. "

The signs are all up and down Woods Hole Road, Falmouth, Massachusetts.

The residents of Woods Hole have been asking the former Governor Patrick administration to find a way to stop the noise from trucks 24/7 through the prestigious neighborhoods to the Woods Hole Terminal.

The New Bedford ocean wind turbine port now appears to be a parting gift from Governor Patrick to the affluent Woods Hole residents making New Bedford the freight port to the Islands.

No more noise unlike the residents under the Falmouth wind turbines.

The plan for the New Bedford ocean wind port was from day one the plan of the executive branch of state government to become the freight port to Martha's Vineyard using unregulated renewable energy funds.

Questions abound in the aftermath of the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal ocean wind turbine port fiasco this week.

Many citizens feel the New Bedford ocean port was really built with Massachusetts renewable energy funds to be the freight terminal from New Bedford to Martha's Vineyard.

The taxpayers of Massachusetts need answers about the finances and bonding of the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.

The New Bedford ocean wind port is going to be the new 113 million dollar freight port for Cape Cod and the Islands.

All signs point to it including all the signs along the roads in Falmouth.