Many people in Anacortes will let out a sigh of relief when the international ferry leaves the Anacortes terminal for Sidney, British Columbia, at 7:45 a.m. Sunday.

Concerns surrounding the route’s spring sailing come from delays in finalizing a lease agreement between Washington State Ferries and BC Ferries and maintenance problems affecting several of the agency’s boats.

Jayne Davis, WSF regional operations manager, said last week the language in the lease is complete, and now it goes to executive management for approval.

As it reads now, the three-year lease will allow WSF to land its ferry at the Sidney terminal for $370,000 a year and an additional $125,000 a year in service costs.

Before BC Ferries took over the terminal, WSF paid an average of $564 per landing including taxes. With the interim license, WSF was paying $1,700 per landing to BC Ferries.

“Those of us involved with negotiations are not comfortable with the financial piece but we are moving forward,” Davis said. “We’ll have a lease by March 30.”

“We love this route and we know how important the route is to the communities it serves and for the state,” she said. “We’re trying to do a good job with the taxpayers’ money.”

BC Ferries took over operations of the terminal from WSF in September after the Town of Sidney signed a 40-year lease with the Canadian agency earlier last year.

In a show of support for the Sidney ferry run, Anacortes Chamber of Commerce Director Mitch Everton is asking members to attend a local ferry advisory committee meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 1 at City Hall.

Newly appointed Ferries chief David Moseley will be at that meeting and, according to Everton, reviewing ferry priorities with potential impact on the international ferry schedule.

“I would like to have the chamber well-represented in stressing the importance of this run to our local economy,” Everton said in an e-mail to business owners likely to be affected by the tourist traffic generated by the run.

Moseley took a ferry to Friday Harbor earlier this month to meet with the San Juan advisory committee. That group sent an e-mail to Washington State Ferries planning director Ray Deardorf in January asking WSF to consider boosting diminished inner-island ferry service by using the boat intended for the international run rather than the 34-vehicle Hiyu scheduled on the route through May.

The committee’s argument was it was better to serve an area “absolutely dependent on ferry service” rather than a “discretionary tourist route.”

Anacortes committee chair Ian Munce and Everton both opposed the suggestion, saying it would instead reduce ferry service for the area and hurt the city economically.

WSF scheduled the Hiyu to continue serving the inner-island route, where it’s been since March 13. Dakota Creek Industries recently finished a second round of maintenance after a damp area was discovered in one of the Hiyu’s void spaces.

In the meantime, the 124-vehicle Chelan Issaquah-class ferry will serve the Sidney route after spending this week at the WSF maintenance facility on Bainbridge Island.

Chamber members are asked to join the informal day of celebration reopening the spring sailing schedule by taking the round trip to Sidney. Marching bands, town criers and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are scheduled to be part of the celebration hosted by the chamber, Sidney Business Association, Anacortes and Sidney sister cities associations and WSF.

Reservations for the Sidney ferry are available by calling (206) 464-6400 or going to http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/.

The daily run departs from Anacortes at 7:45 a.m., arriving in Sidney at 10:50 a.m. It leaves Canada at 11:45 a.m. and returns at 2:50 p.m. Fares are $16 for adults and $42.50 for a vehicle under 20 feet with a driver each way.