After being grilled by senators for nearly two hours over their request for a lease and a minor Coastal Zone Management permit on .86 acres of government-owned filled land in the Red Hook area, Blade and Key owner Ed Trupp and his wife, Sandra Tate, didn’t get the ruling they were hoping for.
The six senators at Thursday’s Planning and Environmental Protection Committee made up their mind, sending the request on to the full Senate with an unfavorable recommendation.
Trupp currently rents a building adjacent to the filled land, which contains mangroves, under discussion. He wants to construct a two-story building where the remains of a vacant building set on fire by vagrants now stands, as well as get rid of debris and put in a fence.
Blade and Key and Sandra’s Office Services (owned by Tate) would be on the bottom floor with the second floor housing Island Resources Foundation’s environmentally-focused library. The library was above Trupp’s current shop until Island Resources Foundation founder Ed Towle died in 2006, and Tate said she’s served as the organization’s office manager for 32 years. The library will house Island Resources Foundation’s digitized collection of published and unpublished works concerning the Caribbean.
The rent would be $6,000 a year, which is reduced from the usual rent of $7,061 because Island Resources Foundation is a nonprofit organization. The price would be renegotiated after the first three years of the 20-year lease.
The senators had several concerns.
“Maybe there’s an opportunity to reclaim some of the coastal areas and mangrove beds,” Sen. Louis P. Hill said, inferring that it might be best to leave the land undeveloped.
Sen. Carlton Dowe was adamant that he would not support the proposal because of the reduced rent issue.
However, Trupp said that he will be investing in a building that he won’t own and indicated that the $6,000 was a fair rent. He indicated that when his business closes, the building will become the property of the local government.
“I won’t live forever,” he said.
Dowe also wanted Trupp and Tate to make the library part of the new public library in Tutu.
Hill also pointed out that in addition to Blade and Key’s knife sales and sharpening, and locksmith sales and services, Trupp also sells guns.
“It’s not my primary activity. I don’t advertise it, and I try to keep a low profile,” Trupp said.
Technical issues with the lease concerned Sen. Nereida Rivera-O’Reilly. Since Trupp is a sole proprietor, the lease should be in his name rather than the company’s. The lease indicated in one instance that the property was in Frydenhoj rather than Nazareth, which is the actual name for this section of the Red Hook area.
In addition to Hill, Dowe and Rivera-O’Reilly, Sen. Neville James, Sen. Ronald Russell and Sen. Patrick Simeon Sprauve attended the meeting. Sen. Craig Barshinger was absent.
