A bill allocating $2.19 million in federal block grants to over 40 community programs and projects was signed into law by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull Tuesday.
"The projects being funded by the block grants are considered vital to the economic well-being of our community and especially to the organizations that have been selected this year," Turnbull said Tuesday in a released statement.
The Community Development Block Grants bill was passed by the Senate last week during a session filled with attacks on the Turnbull administration and riddled with outbursts of rancorous inter-island fighting, causing some St. Croix senators to call for autonomy from St. Thomas.
Frustrated senators from both districts said they felt slighted by the administration because they were not consulted about which projects should be funded.
"I personally didn't come to none of these block grant hearings because standard operating procedure around here . . . is all governors wait until the last minute to submit these things here and rush these things without anybody having any real input or questions," Sen. M. "Bert"Adelbert Bryan said at the session.
The funding for some of St. Thomas projects: $200,000 to continue construction on the Savan Community Center, $28,160 for Downstreet People's after school program, $20,000 for the V.I. Resource Center for the Disabled's after school program, and $19,000 for the Family Resource Center to lease its shelter and counseling office, $10,000 for Kidscope's crisis intervention programs, and $8,000 for a scuba diving training program.
St. Croix projects include: , $125,135 in grants and low interest loans to rehabilitate home in Frederiksted, over $110,000 for various projects for the Women's Coalition of St. Croix, approximately $50,000 for a pair of substance abuse rehabilitation programs, $50,000 for Camp Arawak's job training program, and renovations of several baseball parks.
Projects on St. John: $40,000 to renovate a building for the John's Folly Learning Institute's computer training program, $25,000 for the St. John Community Foundation's after school program and $15,000 for the V.I. Resource Center for the Disabled's after school program.
