The Montgomery County Transportation and Environment (TE) Committee will hold a public hearing on Monday, October 16 at 9:30am to discuss the future of White’s Ferry. County Council President Evan Glass tell us, “Ever since White’s Ferry closed in 2020, much of the discussions and negotiations have been in private. Residents routinely ask me about any updates to the situation, which is why I have called this public hearing. People have a lot of questions and it’s important to have a public conversation on an issue that affects so many people.” White’s Ferry ceased operations back in December 2020 over a legal dispute with Rockland Farms.
In March, the owners of White’s Ferry announced that Rockland Farm, the Virginia landing site for the ferry, rejected a $1.1 million dollar offer to purchase the site that included funds from White’s Ferry’s owners, both Montgomery and Loudoun Counties, and additional funds from Herb Brown, the original ferry owner. Chuck and Stacy Kuhn, owners of JK Moving Services, purchased the Ferry in February 2021. “We have run out of options and will now seek to sell the ferry land and operations to Montgomery County so it can work to invoke eminent domain and acquire the Virginia landing site,” Chuck Kuhn said.
In response to Kuhn’s announcement that he planned to sell the ferry, Rockland Farm owner Libby Devlin told us,
“The reason that Rockland Farm turned down the $1.1 M combined offer from Loudoun County, Montgomery County, and Mr. Kuhn is that we will not accept a flat fee for our Virginia landing. We favor a volume-based fee that varies with the amount of traffic encroaching upon our land and will work with either county to accomplish that.
We have also located a nationally based company that will work with both sides to get a ferry up and running again and operate it. However, Mr. Kuhn has refused to work with this company and has told them that he intends to be the ferry operator. Rockland Farm has also made an offer to both Montgomery and Loudoun Counties for a permanent easement on our Virginia landing in exchange for a volume-based fee. Our offer is still on the table. Finally, we are willing to work with Loudoun and Montgomery Counties to explore realigning our landing, acquiring a vessel, putting in a maintenance facility and operating the ferry from Virginia using an independent operator”.