The city of St. Petersburg is getting on board with an idea to have a high-speed ferry in Tampa Bay.

Hillsborough County is considering bringing a ferry service to the area. It would primarily target people who work at MacDill Air Force Base and live in the southern part of Hillsborough County but there's also talk of adding a service that would link Tampa to St. Petersburg.

Ed Turanchik represents the private companies that would operate the ferry.

On Thursday, he spoke to St. Petersburg City Council members hoping to sell them on the idea.

"If they're on board then the design of these boats has to be different than just south county to MacDill," said Turanchik. "It needs to also be Tampa to St. Pete and that might be some different design options and speed options." 

He said St. Petersburg's involvement is critical to the planning process.

"There's got to be some preliminary engineering and environmental work that will need to be done if we're going to queue this up for more federal or state funds," Turanchik said. "We kind of need to know what's going to happen on this side so we can include that in whatever funding package we put together." 

Turanchik said the ferry stop would probably be located on the water in downtown St. Petersburg.

People representing local businesses said it could provide a big boost, particularly to stores and restaurants along Beach Drive.

"It's one of the most underutilized routes of transportation in the Bay area and so to have this opportunity to connect St. Petersburg and Tampa and the downtown's both with Beach Drive along with Channelside is an amazing opportunity," said Travis Norton with the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce.

City council members didn't make any financial commitments but they did voice overwhelming support for the ferry project.

Mayor Rick Kriseman said it's the type of transportation project that's needed to move the entire region forward.

Turanchik said specific details about the project are still being worked out and nothing is official but he said the goal would be to start construction by early 2016.