Canada’s bridge comment clarified Calais officials glad agreement on track

CALAIS – The Americans “misunderstood” is how Canadian officials characterized a statement made by a Canada Border Services Agency representative last week about the partial opening of a $120 million bridge over the St. Croix River and a customs house next year.

Dane Ashlie of CBSA reportedly told bridge stakeholders at a Feb. 12 meeting in Bangor the Canadians would not agree to a partial opening of the bridge that would connect Calais with St. Stephen, New Brunswick. At the time, U.S. officials believed they had an agreement with the Canadians.

Calais City Manager Diane Barnes and Assistant City Manager Jim Porter, who attended the meeting, both said Wednesday morning there was no misunderstanding over Ashlie’s announcement.

But in an e-mail St. Stephen Town Manager Hendrik Slegtenhorst sent to St. Stephen’s Mayor Allan Gilmor and to Barnes earlier this week, Slegtenhorst said he heard differently from Ashlie’s boss when he spoke to him about the issue. According to the e-mail, Ashlie’s boss told Slegtenhorst CBSA was “misunderstood” in Bangor, and “that CBSA continues to be fully willing, if it is practical, to open the third bridge to commercial traffic, even as early as December 2008.”

On Wednesday, Slegtenhorst said the U.S. General Services Administration needed to do what was in the best interest of the two communities. He said Canada would prefer the bridge be open to all traffic, but would go along with a partial opening if it didn’t extend the project.

Chris Williams of CBSA in Ottawa took an even stronger stance. He told the Calais Advertiser his agency is ready to work with the Americans. “The Canada Border Service Agency is fully committed to examining alternatives to alleviate congestion in both communities as early as possible after the completion of the Canadian Port of Entry,” he told the weekly newspaper. “Discussions are ongoing among officials at the Canada Border Services Agency and its U.S. counterparts to establish a commercial examination capacity at the St. Stephen-Calais border crossing at the earliest opportunity.”

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said in an e-mail Wednesday she was glad the two sides were talking. “I have long supported the third Calais bridge because it is crucial to help ease congestion at the border crossing and improve traffic flow,” Collins said. “It is important that this project move ahead without further delay. I am encouraged that the Canadian government has agreed to work with U.S. officials to keep this project moving forward.”

Calais City Manager Barnes said Wednesday afternoon she was in the process of contacting Dennis Smith, GSA’s regional administrator, to outline the city’s position. “We want to go for a full opening as soon as possible, but will accept a partial opening to commercial traffic as long as the Canadians will accept it as well,” she said. Barnes said she also planned to ask Smith if a partial opening would delay the November 2009 full opening of the bridge.

Construction is moving forward on the bridge, which is expected to be ready by September. Roads leading to and from the bridge also are being built.

As part of the bridge package, the U.S. General Services Administration plans to build a $48 million U.S. Customs house expected to be partially ready by May 2009, and finished by November that year. The Canadians expect to have their $20 million customs house completed by the end of this year.

When the project started two years ago, it was hoped both customs facilities would be ready by the end of this year, but the GSA plan ran into problems that delayed construction. As a result, the two countries have been working on a compromise, which U.S. officials believed would be the opening of the bridge at least to commercial truck traffic before summer 2009.

But Ashlie stunned federal, state and local officials last week with his announcement that the Canadians were not willing to go along with that plan.

Since Ashlie’s statement, telephone calls and e-mails have been flying back and forth between the two countries and within agencies in the two countries.

Calais officials contacted Sen. Collins who made calls from Washington, D.C.

Officials from both sides of the border hope to release details of the agreement soon.