The jetty hit stormy water this week when it was discovered the cost could be considerably more than previously thought, money was removed from the Dunedin City Council's budget, and the project sent back to staff to be reconsidered.
But Otago Harbour Ferry Inc. chairman Shem Sutherland, who has been driving a project to restore the Elsie Evans and use it as a harbour ferry from Portobello, said a pontoon and gangplank estimated to cost $330,000 would be sufficient for his purposes.
"We just need the existing jetty tidied up, and an extended arm to a floating pontoon," he said.
"I would like to keep the heritage character of the existing jetty."
Much of the cost of the council's plan for the jetty was for reclamation and road work, which he did not consider necessary.
The council decided on Tuesday to keep $100,000 of its $500,000 budget for the project, in part for a pontoon.
Mr Sutherland said he expected the Elsie Evans to be finished by January, and ready for work not long after that.
It would need a licensed skipper for paying passengers, and he had had discussions with people about crewing options.
