BATH — During the six years that Mike Kiernan served on the City Council, he dreamed about tapping the potential of the city's waterfront.

Now, five years after leaving local politics, Kiernan is fulfilling his ambition. He has bought a 49-passenger jet boat and plans to offer a high-speed commuter ferry, water taxi and tour boat service on the Kennebec River, starting in May.

	Staff photo by John Ewing
	Mike Kiernan, shown Tuesday in Bath, wants to run a high-speed ferry service on the Kennebec River between Bath and Augusta. He has bought the Culebra, a 49-passenger jet boat that he wants to dock at the city pier.

Kiernan's Kennebec Jet Boat Tours will serve Kennebec River communities such as Augusta, Gardiner, Richmond, Bath, Popham Beach, Boothbay Harbor and Wiscasset. The ferry service will be seasonal, since the river freezes in winter.

Kiernan hopes to reach agreements with the state and Bath Iron Works to ferry state workers who live in Bath to Augusta, and shipyard employees who live in Augusta to Bath.

Kiernan, chief executive officer for the Kennebec Financial Group, said Tuesday he has long been interested in running a ferry service on the river, but needed a fast boat to make it work.

"It is 30 miles (by river) to Augusta and 40 miles from Augusta to Popham Beach," he said. "Most tours boats can only travel 10 mph. The solution was to find a boat that could go a lot faster."

The centerpiece of Kiernan's ferry service is the Culebra, a 40-foot aluminum boat with two diesel engines and water jets that can travel up to 35 mph. Kiernan bought the boat from an outdoor adventure company that used the shallow-draft vessel on the Snake River in Oregon. The boat will arrive in Bath in two weeks.

To make the ferry service a reality, Kiernan is seeking financial help from the city. He wants the city to apply to the state for a low-interest, $45,000 loan to help pay start-up costs for the ferry.

The City Council will hold a public hearing on the request during its meeting at 7 tonight.

City officials say Kiernan's proposal is just the type of business the city has been looking for to draw more people to its downtown shopping district.

It also fits in with the city's vision for developing its waterfront, spelled out in last fall's Waterfront Action Plan. The plan calls for the establishment of a passenger rail station, parking garage and waterfront hotel, as well as high-speed passenger ferry service.

"I think Mike's proposal is an exciting one. We want to see that sort of business in our downtown," City Manager John Bubier said. "We've been singing the praises of Bath's waterfront for the last three years and now it has started to pay off."

	Mike Kiernan has bought the Culebra, a 49-passenger jet boat, to run between Bath and Augusta on the Kennebec River.

Al Smith, Bath's community development director, called Kiernan's proposal "daring."

"His proposal has got a lot of potential.. It has not been tried here before," Smith said.

Kiernan will also need permission from the city to dock the Culebra at the publicly owned pier in Waterfront Park. Kennebec Jet Boat Tours will operate from May through November. During peak season, the company will operate seven days a week.

Kiernan's ferry service proposal is one of two proposals for ferry service for the Kennebec. Officials with the state Department of Transportation and the city said another ferry operator, based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has expressed interest in starting a passenger ferry service. They would not identify him because his proposal is still preliminary.

Bubier said the council will have to weigh Kiernan's request for free use of the dock against the other ferry operator's request. Public docking space is limited, and the city typically does not allow vessels to stay longer than a day or two.

Ron Roy, director of the state's Office of Passenger Transportation, said state or federal money may be available to help the city build a ferry terminal.

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 725-8795 or at: dhoey@pressherald.com

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