The idea of sinking the once-popular tour boat Keuka Maid as a way to end years of stalling on its future has occurred to more than one person in the town of Urbana.
However, members of a Seneca Lake diving club think scuttling the 93-foot, 100-ton boat in a year or so could attract divers from all over the Northeast.
“You know, I’ve heard many proposals about sinking it, but they’ve been mostly in jest,” said town Supervisor Gordon Lanphere. “This is the first serious proposal I believe we’ve heard.”
But members of the Finger Lakes Underwater Preserve Association, in Big Flats, told Urbana Town Board members Tuesday they are very serious.
“We heard about the Keuka Maid, and thought maybe someone would be interested in sinking it,” said Robert Byland, a FLUPA member. “It could bring in a lot of good revenues. Diving is becoming very popular as a commercial sport.”
Group members said they now explore four submerged barges in Seneca Lake – an attraction that draws divers from as far away as Vermont and Ohio.
If the Keuka Maid is scuttled, it would be the first time a boat has been sunk in the region as a site for divers, association members said. However, large boats have been sunk in Lake George and Lake Champlain as tourist attractions, they said.
Typically, the boats are sunk 50 feet to 70 feet below the lake surface, according to Byland.
At that depth the tour boat would be out from shore about half a mile, Lanphere said.
The cost involved in making sure the boat could withstand submersion, and sinking it, could be covered through state grants and diving associations donations, according to FLUPA member Rob Parker.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation, watershed committees and other groups also would be involved in the decision.
“This would be a slow project,” Byland said.
When town Councilman Paul Martuscello asked if there had been any opposition to the group exploring submerged barges in Seneca Lake, Parker said there had been concern about an increase in lake traffic. But the group set up buoys over the barges, and the problem was resolved, he said.
Town board members referred the association to the boat’s owner, Robert Pfuntner, but appeared to initially favor the project.
Sinking the Keuka Maid could be the answer to a dilemma that has taxed town boards’ patience for years.
The boat has been unable to leave port since the spring of 2006, due to new federal marine safety standards requiring the hull of the boat be inspected before it takes on passengers.
The new federal regulations came about after the 40-foot tour boat, the Ethan Allen, capsized on Lake George nearly three years ago. Twenty of the 47 elderly passengers on board drowned.
The 100-ton, 93-foot long Keuka Maid was too heavy to lift through conventional methods out of the lake for the required inspection.
Pfuntner arranged with the town for the dinner paddlewheel boat to remain in dock for small social events in 2006 and attempted to move the boat to the north end of Keuka Lake, in Yates County.
However, that move was stopped by a flurry of threatened lawsuits by several towns in that region.
A judge recently ruled Pfuntner could move his boat, but not to the location he wanted, Lanphere said Tuesday.
The legal stalemate means board members need to consider their threat last fall to pursue eviction proceedings, in order to force Pfuntner to do something with his boat.
However, an eviction could cost the town as much as $10,000 in legal costs, Lanphere said.
Pfuntner now pays the town $1,000 a month to keep the Keuka Maid at its dock.
Lanphere told board members he has tried repeatedly to contact Pfuntner.
“He hasn’t returned any of my calls,” Lanphere said. “He’s either on the phone, or just stepped out.”
Pfuntner was unavailable for comment Thursday.
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The idea of sinking the once-popular tour boat Keuka Maid as a way to end years of stalling on its future has occurred to more than one person in the town of Urbana.
However, members of a Seneca Lake diving club think scuttling the 93-foot, 100-ton boat in a year or so could attract divers from all over the Northeast.
“You know, I’ve heard many proposals about sinking it, but they’ve been mostly in jest,” said town Supervisor Gordon Lanphere. “This is the first serious proposal I believe we’ve heard.”
But members of the Finger Lakes Underwater Preserve Association, in Big Flats, told Urbana Town Board members Tuesday they are very serious.
“We heard about the Keuka Maid, and thought maybe someone would be interested in sinking it,” said Robert Byland, a FLUPA member. “It could bring in a lot of good revenues. Diving is becoming very popular as a commercial sport.”
Group members said they now explore four submerged barges in Seneca Lake – an attraction that draws divers from as far away as Vermont and Ohio.
If the Keuka Maid is scuttled, it would be the first time a boat has been sunk in the region as a site for divers, association members said. However, large boats have been sunk in Lake George and Lake Champlain as tourist attractions, they said.
Typically, the boats are sunk 50 feet to 70 feet below the lake surface, according to Byland.
At that depth the tour boat would be out from shore about half a mile, Lanphere said.
The cost involved in making sure the boat could withstand submersion, and sinking it, could be covered through state grants and diving associations donations, according to FLUPA member Rob Parker.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation, watershed committees and other groups also would be involved in the decision.
“This would be a slow project,” Byland said.
When town Councilman Paul Martuscello asked if there had been any opposition to the group exploring submerged barges in Seneca Lake, Parker said there had been concern about an increase in lake traffic. But the group set up buoys over the barges, and the problem was resolved, he said.
Town board members referred the association to the boat’s owner, Robert Pfuntner, but appeared to initially favor the project.
Sinking the Keuka Maid could be the answer to a dilemma that has taxed town boards’ patience for years.
The boat has been unable to leave port since the spring of 2006, due to new federal marine safety standards requiring the hull of the boat be inspected before it takes on passengers.
The new federal regulations came about after the 40-foot tour boat, the Ethan Allen, capsized on Lake George nearly three years ago. Twenty of the 47 elderly passengers on board drowned.
The 100-ton, 93-foot long Keuka Maid was too heavy to lift through conventional methods out of the lake for the required inspection.
Pfuntner arranged with the town for the dinner paddlewheel boat to remain in dock for small social events in 2006 and attempted to move the boat to the north end of Keuka Lake, in Yates County.
However, that move was stopped by a flurry of threatened lawsuits by several towns in that region.
A judge recently ruled Pfuntner could move his boat, but not to the location he wanted, Lanphere said Tuesday.
The legal stalemate means board members need to consider their threat last fall to pursue eviction proceedings, in order to force Pfuntner to do something with his boat.
However, an eviction could cost the town as much as $10,000 in legal costs, Lanphere said.
Pfuntner now pays the town $1,000 a month to keep the Keuka Maid at its dock.
Lanphere told board members he has tried repeatedly to contact Pfuntner.
“He hasn’t returned any of my calls,” Lanphere said. “He’s either on the phone, or just stepped out.”
Pfuntner was unavailable for comment Thursday.
