The appeals of Beal Aerospace and the V.I. government of a Territorial Court judge’s decision against the Camp Arawak land swap have been consolidated and are headed to the local Appellate Division of the District Court.
A Beal affiliate, Caribbean Space Technologies, appealed Judge Alphonso Andrews's ruling that the land exchange violated a charitable trust two weeks after the decision was handed down. Judge Andrews also ordered the government to develop a park plan for the 14.5-acre Camp Arawak property.
The same day CST filed its appeal, Beal Aerospace announced that it was abandoning its plans to build a rocket assembly plant and world headquarters on St. Croix. The government filed its appeal soon after.
On March 13, the V.I. government asked the federal court to vacate or stay Andrews's order pending an appeal, contending that the local government doesn’t have the estimated $1.3 million to develop Camp Arawak into a park.
Last Friday, attorney Ned Jacobs filed an opposition motion in response to the government. Jacobs represented Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen and 19 other plaintiffs who took the government to court over the land exchange.
Jacobs said that if the government’s appeal is based on the cost of developing Camp Arawak into a park then a more modest proposal should be considered. He also said the government should consider removing itself from the position of trustee for the property.
"The government didn’t need to go right off the bat with an expensive plan," Jacobs said. "If the government really comes down to the point where they just cannot operate Camp Arawak, what they should do is go back to the court and ask the court to appoint another trustee."
As for the government’s motion to vacate – or dismiss – Andrews’s order, Jacobs said the Appellate Division must first decide whether it will grant the appeal. And even before that, Jacobs contends the government must seek a stay of the order in Territorial Court.
"You can’t vacate the order," Jacobs said. "The District Court won’t consider vacating it until they look at all the briefs."
The appeals process could take approximately three months. Two District Court judges and a Territorial Court judge will review the transcripts of the proceedings in Andrews’s court. Then the government and Jacobs will each have 40 days to submit briefs to the Appellate Division judges.
The judges will then decide whether they will hear oral arguments without additional testimony. The losing party could then appeal to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.
