We, the undersigned, request that Beaufort County terminate the contract with Lowcountry Ferry and give the contract to a newly formed group of Daufuskie islanders with a vested interest in ensuring exceptional service which will utilize the previous, well-suited ferry vessels to deliver that service.

We believe

1. That the procurement process was fatally flawed, with little to no public discussion nor input from the ridership of the ferry regarding the service during county meetings, which utilized a numerical rating system in which reviewers inexplicably awarded equal or similar points for experience and understanding of the scope of work to both the previous vendor of 7 years and a provider with no experience running a ferry who had neither ridden the previous ferry nor visited the island he was to service, nor was able to correctly spell the name of that island, and further awarded the contract to a vendor with no vessels and only a non-binding letter of intent on the claimed vessels. The county moreover neglected to re-score or reject the bid when it learned that Lowcountry Ferry was not in possession of the vessels stated in their RFP, which occurred prior to the acceptance of Lowcountry Ferry as the vendor.
2. The current vendor is non-compliant with the contract.
3. The vendor has repeatedly failed to provide a climate-controlled boat, as required in Section Two of that contract, including during January when frostbite warnings were in effect and during the summer when interior boat temperatures reached in excess of 90 degrees.
4. The vendor is non-compliant with federal and state law, as required in Section Two of the contract, in particular the Americans with Disabilities Act. Some disabled residents have been unable to leave or return to the island, and those that have been able to utilize the service have repeatedly not been provided aid to board the vessels as promised by the vendor and required by law under the Americans with Disabilities Act. 
5. There is insufficient safety and emergency equipment has been provided as required in Section Two of the contract, as demonstrated by Lowcountry Ferry's inability to successfully rescue a passenger that had gone overboard. Life vests are moreover stored above the passenger cabin and are only accessible by a narrow staircase that would likely not be accessible during an emergency, particularly by the disabled. Moreover, no ramp whatever was provided for entry in to the boat for the first months of the contract, and so passengers had to simply cross the gap between the dock and the boat with nothing below, presenting a significant hazard, especially to those in wheelchairs.
6. The vendor has failed to provide two qualified vessels. As the Manatee II is not even facially ADA compliant as required under 49 CFR Part 37, having a cabin door of 28'' in width rather than the ADA required 32'', a second vessel will not remedy this violation of the contract.
7. The vendor is in violation of Section Fourteen which requires the vendor to "...take proper safety, health, and security precautions to protect... the public at all times..." There have been repeated accidents aboard the vendor's vessel, including head injuries requiring medical treatment due to the doorway in to the cabin, a resident's pants catching fire due to an unsecured and improper heater aboard, a man overboard incident due to the unsecured ramp in to the vessel collapsing, a severe list occurring on the boat during bad weather causing concern of a capsize, and most recently during an August 18th run of the ferry, the crew neglected to untie from one of the cleats on the dock, tearing it from the dock and sending it in to the boat, where it struck a crew member on the head and arm.
8. That The vendor will also likely violate Section Eighteen's requirement for the vendor to provide for the evacuation of residents and visitors should that become necessary. In response to an inquiry by Daufuskie Island Council, Lowcountry Ferry stated that its intention was to provide the Manatee and two additional boats for the first two runs during a mandatory evacuation, with a capacity of 150 passengers for each of these runs, then return to the regularly schedule and run only a single boat. As this would not be sufficient to evacuate just the residents of the island, let alone visitors to it, this plan is insufficient and violates the contract.
9. Lowcountry Ferry has repeatedly changed its rules in an arbitrary, capricious, and seemingly punitive fashion making it difficult for residents to obtain supplies and return with them. An example of this is that additional charges may apply to approved carts used for transportation of goods should any goods within the cart stick up above the sides. Given that the carts are not vertically stacked, this rule seems to serve no rational purpose. Moreover, given that rules change frequently and arbitrarily, often with little notice, the excess fees charged likely constitute unlawful unfair and deceptive fees within the meaning of the Federal Trade Commision Act.
10. Lowcountry Ferry has engaged in conduct that many would class as harassment, such as following and recording single women, and an arbitrary ban on entire family who has been outspoken on the deficiencies of the ferry, based upon on supposed violation of rules that do not appeared to be stated anywhere. When Daufuskie Island Council requested the reason for banning this family, Neil Turner refused to discuss the matter.
11. The deficiencies of the service have caused significant, negative economic impacts to islanders and their businesses, including extra fees amounting to $2000 per family a year, difficulty maintaining employment on the mainland due to the additional 45 minutes of transit time, and an 80-90% reduction in business for many businesses on the island. Recently, an islander's business established 15 years ago was shuttered as a direct result of these economic impacts. The county will moreover see a marked decline in accommodation, sales, and property taxes as direct result of these impacts.
12. The vendor also has not made a good-faith effort to remedy defaults of contract. In response letter dated July 10th, to the county's letter of non-compliance, the operator claimed that he was in compliance with the contract, despite the significant and repeated violations detailed above. The vendor has also not meaningfully engaged with South Carolina Disability Rights regarding violations with the Americans with Disabilities Act, nor provided remedy to those complaints. Concerns have also been raised by the Daufuskie Island Council, and communications have occurred with the vendor, to little effect.

We respectfully request that Beaufort County exercise its rights to terminate the contract due to the vendor's default and failure to make a good faith effort to remedy their default and reopen bidding on the ferry system.