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#1 Dec-28-20 7:04AM

Ernie
Administrator
From: Ashburn VA
Registered: Feb-03-06
Posts: 15564

Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

PRESS RELEASE

WHITE’S FERRY CEASING OPERATIONS IMMEDIATELY

White’s Ferry regrets to inform the public that it will cease its Potomac River ferry operation between White’s Ferry Road in Montgomery County, Maryland and White’s Ferry Road in Loudoun County, Virginia effective immediately.  The Circuit Court of Loudoun County, Virginia has ruled, in the case of Rockland Farm, LLC, et al. v. White’s Ferry, Inc., that no public landing exists on the Virginia shoreline at White’s Ferry Road and the ferry is prohibited from landing at that location in Virginia.  As of the date of this press release Loudoun County, Virginia has declined to establish a public landing at that location.


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#2 Dec-28-20 7:30AM

hookup
Patagonian Toothfish
Registered: Jan-31-12
Posts: 2301

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

Just saw this - hope they get it resolved.  That ferry's been around since 1786

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#3 Dec-28-20 7:55AM

drxfish
Patagonian Toothfish
From: Sterling
Registered: Jan-04-14
Posts: 2975

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

Craziness!


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#4 Dec-28-20 12:38PM

Ernie
Administrator
From: Ashburn VA
Registered: Feb-03-06
Posts: 15564

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

And the plot thickens...

The Loudoun County government is aware of published reports that imply White’s Ferry ceased operations due to the lack of an established public landing in Virginia. It is important to note that this legal matter is between a private property owner and the ferry operator and that Loudoun County is not party to the lawsuit. The county is issuing this statement to clarify misinformation regarding the county’s role in this matter.

On November 23, 2020, the Loudoun County Circuit Court issued a decision in Rockland Farm, LLC, et al. v. White’s Ferry, Inc.  Detailed information about the case may be reviewed in the Circuit Court’s decision here (PDF). No court order has been filed to enjoin the ferry operations.

According to the decision, there is no legally established public or private landing on Rockland Farm’s property where White’s Ferry operates. White Ferry’s has been a privately-operated ferry between Maryland and Virginia for more than 200 years. Since the court’s November decision, Rockland Farm and White’s Ferry have been negotiating the ferry’s continued use of the private property. The decision to cease operation of the ferry was a unilateral decision made by White’s Ferry, Inc., which operates the privately owned ferry.

The legal matter between the Virginia property owner and White’s Ferry began more than ten years ago. Information about the ongoing dispute should be obtained from the legal representatives of the parties involved.

While Loudoun County is not party to the legal dispute, the county remains concerned about the outcome from a regional transportation perspective. We recognize that any impact to ferry service may impact our residents and people who work in Loudoun County.


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#5 Dec-28-20 3:30PM

Ernie
Administrator
From: Ashburn VA
Registered: Feb-03-06
Posts: 15564

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!


Time to go fishin' again!

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#6 Dec-28-20 3:51PM

hookup
Patagonian Toothfish
Registered: Jan-31-12
Posts: 2301

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

Ernie wrote:

While Loudoun County is not party to the legal dispute.........

Not our problem ....

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#7 Dec-28-20 4:40PM

Ernie
Administrator
From: Ashburn VA
Registered: Feb-03-06
Posts: 15564

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

hookup wrote:

Not our problem ....

That's exactly what I thought when Chair Randal said that in now way is the LoCo BOS involved in this. How about increased traffic on Rt. 15??


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#8 Dec-29-20 8:06AM

hookup
Patagonian Toothfish
Registered: Jan-31-12
Posts: 2301

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

Ernie wrote:

How about increased traffic on Rt. 15??

Or the beltway? - although the beltway's not Loudoun counties responsibility, the roads leading to the beltway from Loudoun are

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#9 Dec-30-20 6:36AM

hookup
Patagonian Toothfish
Registered: Jan-31-12
Posts: 2301

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

Just read this on the Historic Rockland FB board:

In 1871, Loudoun County condemned a landing at Rockland Farm of 1 perch by 16 perches for a Ferry landing called Conrad’s Ferry. At that time there were many ferries that crossed the Potomac River between Virginia and Maryland such as Edward’s Ferry and Sphinx Ferry. Unfortunately, there are no records that show where the condemnation for Conrad’s ferry occurred. In 1947, Elijah White wanted to reopen Conrad’s Ferry under the name White’s Ferry after a terrible flood which had closed Conrad’s ferry for a long time. They sent a letter to Rockland Farm acknowledging that they had no right to use Rockland’s property for the landing and asked the owners of Rockland Farm, for an agreement. In 1952, Elizabeth Rust Brown and Stanley Noel Brown, owners of Rockland Farm entered into a licensing agreement with White’s Ferry for $5.00 per year for the use of a landing at Rockland Farm so long as the ferry landing was never changed or enlarged under its current configuration. Since that time, White’s Ferry evolved from being a small operation of a few cars per day to a major commuter route.
Sixteen years ago, on July 4th weekend, White’s Ferry (without prior notification or permission from Rockland and without obtaining any government permits) unlawfully enlarged the ferry landing and built structures on Rockland. So doing violated a license agreement between White’s Ferry and Rockland that had been in place for more than half a century.   Since then Rockland has been attempting to work out some fair arrangement with the owners of White’s Ferry.  In response, all White’s Ferry has done is to delay, delay, delay, all the while making millions of dollars off the use of Rockland.  Finally, after being stonewalled time and again by White’s Ferry, Rockland had no choice but to file suit on December 2, 2009. After many attempts to settle the case out of court which delayed the trial by years, the suit was decided in Rockland’s favor on November 23rd, 2020. The court definitively ruled that the owners of White’s Ferry had been and are trespassing and are no longer able to make use of Rockland without Rockland’s permission.
Since that decision over four weeks ago, Rockland Farm has made numerous attempts to reach White’s Ferry in order to negotiate a fair and equitable solution that will keep the ferry running.  Rockland has offered to purchase White’s ferry, to be paid rent for its land, and to consider other arrangements that will keep the ferry running.   On multiple occasions, White’s Ferry told Rockland Farm that it would get back to Rockland on certain dates, but missed their own deadlines.  Multiple attempts to reach White’s Ferry have gone unanswered.  All the while White’s Ferry continued, unjustly and now in violation of a court ruling, to make money off of the use of Rockland.
Rockland Farm knows that it is in everyone’s best interest to keep the ferry running and sent White’s Ferry an interim licensing agreement so that the ferry operation could continue without interruption until a deal between the two parties could be negotiated. Rockland Farm received no response from White’s Ferry. Having not gotten a response from White’s Ferry, Rockland Farm wrote to them last Wednesday letting them know that if Rockland did not hear back from them by noon on Monday, it would send a final notice of entry of Order to the court. Instead of engaging with Rockland Farm to negotiate a fair and equitable arrangement to keep the ferry running, the response by White’s Ferry was to close the ferry and walk away from the business.

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#10 Dec-30-20 6:38AM

hookup
Patagonian Toothfish
Registered: Jan-31-12
Posts: 2301

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

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#11 Jan-02-21 10:50AM

hookup
Patagonian Toothfish
Registered: Jan-31-12
Posts: 2301

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

Not to worry, the politicians are aware and on.it .....


"We fully understand the importance of White's Ferry to residents and businesses of Western Montgomery and the region and are committed to exercising every option we have available to get this critical transportation link reopened and running as quickly as possible. As soon as we became aware of the closure, we have been working collaboratively at the county, state, and municipal levels to engage with the private parties and officials in Loudoun County and Virginia. We are working closely with the Maryland Secretary of Transportation, the Montgomery County Director of Transportation, and the County Attorney and in direct communication with their counterparts across the Potomac River. This is a complicated legal dispute between two private entities (Rockland Farm in Virginia and the Brown Family in Maryland) over land beyond the state and county's borders. We have dedicated every resource at our disposal to this issue and will continue to work with our public and private counterparts throughout the region to resolve the issue. We will keep our residents informed throughout the process with any and all information we are able to share."   
Councilmember Andrew Friedson
Senator Brian Feldman
Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo
Delegate Kathleen M. Dumais
Delegate Lily Qi
Town of Poolesville Commissioners

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#12 Jan-02-21 11:11AM

Ernie
Administrator
From: Ashburn VA
Registered: Feb-03-06
Posts: 15564

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

They are from MD....Rockland is in VA. The LoCo BOS has so far said that the suit has "nothing to do with us".

We shall see...


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#13 Feb-11-21 1:28PM

Ernie
Administrator
From: Ashburn VA
Registered: Feb-03-06
Posts: 15564

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

And the Saga continues...


Whites Ferry Battle Continues, by Renss Greene and Patrick Szabo

Negotiations at Whites Ferry remain stalled and the ferry crossing over the Potomac River remains closed and in need of repair.

Both the ferry operator and the landowners where the ferry lands in Virginia profess an interest in getting the ferry back open, but remain at an impasse on the price of doing so.

The ferry, once a popular commuter connection to Maryland, has been closed since the cable that guides the ferry 300 yards to the Maryland shore broke before Christmas. The ferry never reopened; the ferry’s owners made a bombshell announcement in December that, after a decade-long legal battle over the price of using the landing, the ferry would close.

The closure came more than 11 years after the Rockland Farm owners filed a lawsuit alleging the operators of the ferry trespassed, damaged Rockland property and breached a pre-existing agreement when they constructed a concrete retaining wall and expanded their Virginia-side landing in spring 2004.On Nov. 23, Circuit Court Judge Stephen E. Sincavage found that there was no record documenting the creation of a public landing on the Virginia shore and awarded the owners of Rockland Farm $102,175 in damages for trespassing, property damage and breach of contract.

The ferry was back in the news last week after the ferry’s owner, Herb Brown, contacted the Washington Post to tell them he had made a $400,000 offer to secure a permanent easement at Rockland Farm.

But that offer was not a new one—according to a Rockland Farm representative, that is the same offer the White’s Ferry operators made during the trial.

After the November ruling, Rockland Farm’s owners offered to let the ferry keep operating for 90 days for free while negotiating a resolution, but according to Rockland Farm owners, the ferry’s owner refused. Rockland has also offered to buy the ferry business for five times its earnings plus the appraised value of the landing on the Maryland side, which Rockland Farm owner Libby Devlin said was turned down without a counteroffer. She said Brown has not shared financial information with Rockland to help the parties finalize a purchase.

Rockland values the Virginia-side landing at more than $3 million.

Brown said the ferry operation makes less than $700,000 annually.

Devlin declined to share specific numbers on Rockland’s more recent offers, as “we hopefully are still negotiating, but at least I can say that we’ve made some substantial offers.”

Devlin also said Brown offered a deal where Rockland would agree to buy the ferry at his asking price, only seeing the ferry’s financial records after signing that contract. After a 30-day due diligence period, if Rockland decided not to buy the ferry, they would be committed to buying the landing for $400,000.

Rockland has also offered White’s Ferry a deal that would provide the property owners with a steady stream of revenue, but take a chunk of ferry revenue from the ferry operators each day.

Brown said the Rockland owners requested he pay them $1 for every car ferried across the river. But he said that payment wouldn’t make sense for several reasons.

White’s Ferry charged commuters $2.62 per trip in package deals, or for one-way single trips charged cars $5 and $8 for roundtrips. For motorcycles, a one-way ticket cost $3, for bicyclists, $2, and for pedestrians $1.

Brown said Rockland’s offer made no sense because his team incurs all the risk and does all the heavy lifting running the ferry—oftentimes working 18 hours, seven days a week, he said.

“So I’m supposed to run the ferry at a loss to pay Rockland,” he said. “They want a perpetual annuity to support the farm.”

As for the ferry passes commuters have already purchased, Brown said he has sent commuters all their money back.

Additionally, the White’s Ferry operators would need to spend more than $1 million if the ferry boat needs to be replaced, and another $7,000 to replace the cable.

According to Rockland Farm owners, although the property owners offered to have a mediator decide an appropriate per-vehicle fee and Loudoun County officials offered to mediate the issue, White’s Ferry refused to negotiate.

Moving farther into 2021, with ferry service still stalled, Brown said he wants to open the ferry back up no matter what, even if that means he has to sell it.

“The Browns want that ferry open, even if somebody else owns it,” he said. “We want it open for another 150 years. … But I’m not going to open it just close it again.”


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#14 Feb-11-21 1:37PM

hookup
Patagonian Toothfish
Registered: Jan-31-12
Posts: 2301

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

I'm surprised that VA, with a public road to the ferry site doesn't speak up

Last edited by hookup (Feb-11-21 1:37PM)

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#15 Feb-11-21 1:44PM

Ernie
Administrator
From: Ashburn VA
Registered: Feb-03-06
Posts: 15564

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

hookup wrote:

I'm surprised that VA, with a public road to the ferry site doesn't speak up

I have been thinking the same. LoCo BOS Sup. says "it's not our problem".


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#16 Feb-11-21 2:17PM

drxfish
Patagonian Toothfish
From: Sterling
Registered: Jan-04-14
Posts: 2975

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

Parties are going back and forth on offers.  Ferry may be bought out if the price is right.


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#17 Feb-11-21 4:13PM

hookup
Patagonian Toothfish
Registered: Jan-31-12
Posts: 2301

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

Ernie wrote:

"it's not our problem".

But it is

Affects allot of VA residents

And MD residents that work in VA

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#18 Feb-11-21 4:23PM

Ernie
Administrator
From: Ashburn VA
Registered: Feb-03-06
Posts: 15564

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

Yep...early on, MD politicians got involved and wanted to help. And what was the response from LoCo?

Zippo!


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#19 Feb-12-21 4:00PM

Junger
Northern Snakehead
From: Potomac, MD
Registered: Aug-14-17
Posts: 720

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

Looks like someone stepped up to the plate: https://mocoshow.com/blog/breaking-hist … Zd9wn-tTmM

Hopefully they can work it out with Rocklands now.

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#20 Feb-12-21 4:15PM

Ernie
Administrator
From: Ashburn VA
Registered: Feb-03-06
Posts: 15564

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

Nice! Chuck Kuhn has been doing some good stuff with his money. This is a very positive step.


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#21 Feb-12-21 5:42PM

drxfish
Patagonian Toothfish
From: Sterling
Registered: Jan-04-14
Posts: 2975

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

Great to hear!!


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#22 Feb-12-21 5:46PM

Ernie
Administrator
From: Ashburn VA
Registered: Feb-03-06
Posts: 15564

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!


Time to go fishin' again!

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#23 Feb-12-21 6:53PM

drxfish
Patagonian Toothfish
From: Sterling
Registered: Jan-04-14
Posts: 2975

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

Love it!


Always wishin' I was fishin'

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#24 Feb-13-21 5:13AM

hookup
Patagonian Toothfish
Registered: Jan-31-12
Posts: 2301

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

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#25 Feb-15-21 12:25PM

Ernie
Administrator
From: Ashburn VA
Registered: Feb-03-06
Posts: 15564

Re: Well this doesn't suck (White's Ferry)!

One more...


Kuhn Family Announces Purchase of White’s Ferry

Chuck Kuhn, founder and CEO of JK Moving Services, and his wife Stacy Kuhn, have come to terms on a purchase of White’s Ferry, the family announced Friday afternoon.

Established in 1786, the ferry across the Potomac River near Leesburg ceased operation in December following a years-long legal battle over the operator’s rights to use the Loudoun County landing at Rockland Farm. Kuhn will be working with Peter Brown, the majority owner of Rockland Farm, in an effort to get the ferry reopened to the nearly 800 daily users, according to the announcement.

“White’s Ferry represents a piece of our region’s past as an early commerce route that built and sustained local economies and remains so today,” said Kuhn, whose family in recent year has acquired and placed conservation easements on thousands of acres of rural and environmentally significant land. “This fits with my family’s interest in conserving land and history as well as supporting business and the local communities. White’s Ferry has provided an important and scenic transportation alternative to the swelling demands on our local roads.”

Kuhn finalized the purchase terms on Thursday.

The purchase includes the ferry, the store, and the Maryland shoreline that supports the ferry operation. The family plans to move ahead repairs to the ferry and property immediately and replacement cables are on site to fix the ferry following December storm damage. The cables will be installed as soon as terms are negotiated with Rockland Farm to resume operations on the Virginia landing.

The goal is to purchase the Virginia land site or negotiate a permanent easement with Rockland Farm so that the ferry may continue in perpetuity. The ferry can be operational within seven days of being granted Virginia shore rights, according to the announcement.

“The previous owners of White’s Ferry have done a remarkable job serving the community,” Kuhn stated. “They have sold the ferry with the hopes that we would have a better chance of opening the ferry than he did. We look forward to bringing a fresh perspective to the ferry, enhancing the experience for riders and making a number of upgrades to the store.”

The Kuhns will begin working with the Coast Guard, Loudoun County, Montgomery County and the owner Rockland Farm to open the ferry. The Kuhns plan to make a number of upgrades to the ferry over the next few years, bringing more operational and environmental efficiencies to improve services and preserve a piece of history.

Other recent investments made by the Kuhn family include: the purchase of the Westpark golf course property in Leesburg with the intention of placing 135 of those acres into a conservation easement for a park and to protect the open space from future development; partnering with Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy to buy and place into conservation easement an 87-acre parcel of land in northern Loudoun County called Stumptown Woods that has more native species of plants and wildlife indigenous to Loudoun and Virginia than is typical; starting the JK Community Farm, a charitable effort designed to alleviate hunger by growing and harvesting crops and livestock and donating them to local food banks, on 150 acres of conserved land near Purcellville; the purchase of the Middleburg Training Center, which was placed into conservation easement and is now fully renovated; and purchasing and placing several thousand acres near Loudoun’s historic villages into easement, including Egypt Farm, which had been previously owned by developers, the historic Wolver Hill farm in Middleburg, and recently three farms outside the town of Waterford.

JK Moving Services is the largest independently owned and operated moving company in North America and employs nearly 1,100 people.


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