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Luis Hospital, Public Works Projects Get PFA Funding

July 12, 2008 — The Public Finance Authority board had to spend money to save money Friday, approving several funding requests that would, among other things, put some $6.5 million toward completing the Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital Cardiac Center.
The funding for the projects comes from the 2003 gross receipts bonds, a revenue stream used to finance several projects that have either been completed or remained stagnant over the years, according to PFA Director Julito Francis. Bond proceeds languishing in the bank were reprogrammed by the board Friday for other things, including $500,000 for repairs to Government House on St. Croix and about $1.2 million to the Department of Property and Procurement to cover architectural and engineering plans for a state of the art government motor pool on St. Croix.
Property and Procurement would also use part of the funding to make repairs to Housing, Parks and Recreation, along with Licensing and Consumer Affairs, offices on St. Thomas.
Work at Government House on St. Croix includes renovations to the building's façade, along with repairs to the entranceway and heating/air conditioning system.
"The bonds are supposed to be used for capital improvement projects, not just sit in the bank for a long period of time collecting interest," Francis said after the meeting. "If we didn't utilize them soon, then we would have forfeited the excess interest earned on the bonds instead of being able to keep it for future projects."
Another $600,000 was put toward the Danish School House project — renovations to a complex in Frederiksted that will, once complete, house the Office of the Governor and the St. Croix Administrator's Office.
"There were some unforeseen issues that were stumbled upon by the contractor — conditions at the site that weren't anticipated, things like replacing sewer lines and so forth," Francis explained to the board. Funds would also go toward furnishing the facility and putting in information technology systems, he said.
The multi-million dollar request of the day came from Juan Luis' top officials: $6.5 million to finish construction, upgrade clinical equipment and furnish the hospital's highly anticipated Cardiac Center.
Resources needed to complete the facility are dwindling, and hospital head Gregory Calliste has said that without the additional funding, work would stop in about a month, according to Gov. John deJongh Jr., PFA board chairman.
A $4.6 million request from Public Works — to cover repairs and renovations to the department's facilities throughout the territory, road repairs on St. Thomas and St. Croix and a sidewalk and drainage project in Subbase on St. Thomas — was also approved. Interest earned on Matching Fund bonds floated in 2004 will provide the financing for the projects.
The board also approved a financing package up to $11 million with FirstBank VI for new vehicles for the Police Department's fleet. The vehicles have already been ordered and should arrive in the territory within about a month, Francis said.
A request from the West Indian Co. Ltd to refinance its existing loan with Banco Popular — extending it from the outstanding $21.5 million to $23.6 million — was also approved by the board. As WICO's parent company, the PFA had to sanction the request.
The additional funds would allow WICO to extend the Havensight dock 436 feet, to accommodate the new Genesis class cruise ships, according to agency representatives.
Board members unanimously approved all items, then spent about an hour in executive session discussing contract issues pertaining to the King's Alley Hotel. Though Francis couldn't reveal many details, he did say King's Alley has received its full occupancy permit two months ago and is beginning to see monthly net profits.
The PFA is still accepting proposals from groups interested in managing, buying or leasing the hotel, he added.
Board members present during Friday's meeting were deJongh, Office of Management and Budget Director Debra Gottlieb and Finance Commissioner Claudette Watson-Anderson.
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