SNOW HILL – The town’s riverboat should once again be docked in Snow Hill this summer.
The Black-Eyed Susan (BES), Snow Hill’s riverboat, will return to the county seat after undergoing partial repairs in Norfolk. The boat will need even more work, however, before it can resume its cruises up and down the Pocomoke River.
“Ultimately, a majority of the town council voted in favor of the limited repairs that would keep the BES in service, albeit in a reduced capacity, while efforts are made to fund a full restoration in hopes that the vision that inspired the original purpose can still be realized,” a news release from the Town of Snow Hill reads.
Last week, the council voted 2-1 to proceed with the repairs needed to get the BES back to Snow Hill. Though the boat, purchased in 2020, had a successful season in 2021, an inspection in Norfolk earlier this year revealed it would need extensive repairs in order to resume regular service.
“As it happened, the BES was acquired in year four of a five-year mandated U.S. Coast Guard inspection routine,” the town’s release reads. “Accordingly, the BES was taken to Colonna’s Shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia, in February where it underwent an extensive inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard. The thorough inspection revealed multiple issues with the hull, hydraulics system, and paddlewheel frame to the tune of an estimated $604,000 repair estimate, a cost beyond the means of the town’s budget.”
Typical Snow Hill move….throwing good money after bad. What a bunch of idiots. Best thing that could happen in Slow Hill is for it to close down.
Get chesapeake shipbuilding to build a NEW ONE instead !!! DUGH Maybe it will WORK !!!!!!!
The town officials should have had the boat inspected before they bought. No one on the council or anyone involved in the purchase knew anything about this kind of boat. They just thought it was a good idea. Another case of you get what you pay for and the town and taxpayers got burnt
This will bankrupt the Town of Snow Hill. For half of the money they have spent and will continue to spend they could have built a real waterfront restaurant with a real kitchen and real dining facilities.
Another hole in the water into which your money is thrown.
It was a nice idea to put a quaint attraction in town, but the looking should have come before the leaping.
Sell it and cut the losses.
Really, where is the revenue? Dozen eggs 4 bucks. Gas almost 5 bucks….missing supplies yet lets finance a river boat? 15 or 18 dollars an hr still is not a living wage……ooops…unless u r catering to the 1%
Really? Eff u cuz long term…..hey many of us remember the riverboat on the west side of the Cambridge bridge. Iconic in the 60s 70s…even was a thrift store. What happened? Finally in the last year….2020 2021 knocked down and removed.
Why? Derelict AND waste of money from long ago when ferries were a thing.
Idiots
Sell it? Who would be foolish enough to buy it (besides the Snow Hill town government)? Didn’t they care at all? I guess there’s no need for due diligence when it’s taxpayers’ money? All those who voted to buy it should never be elected again.
This is a waste such is dumping five and a half million dollars into the Civic Center in Salisbury when the counties infrastructure is failing from roads, septic and water issues along with almost totally no manufacturing in the tri county area. Just more lipstick on a pig so the 3 directors can blow hard to try to make the administration think they are worth there bloated salaries. Close the ferry and tear down the Civic Center.