Seven Seas Water is seeking Economic Development Commission tax benefits and, after previously denying their request, Economic Development Authority board members said this week that they are willing to meet with the company that has helped to shore up the V.I. Water and Power Authority’s water supply.
The EDA board initially denied Seven Seas’ application for benefits last June, forcing company officials, through their attorney, to file a request for reconsideration that came up Wednesday at the EDA board’s monthly meeting on St. Thomas.
EDA officials said Seven Seas’ application was denied for several reasons and noted that the company, which had been operating in the territory for 15 years without receiving benefits, only filed an application with the EDA after participating two years previously in the bidding process for companies seeking to supply water to WAPA.
Seven Seas was in the process of signing an agreement with WAPA two years ago for a permanent reverse osmosis (RO) facility when WAPA began to experience problems with its water system. An amended contract with Seven Seas for temporary RO units was signed to help bridge the gap and supply enough water to fill WAPA’s supply tanks.
EDA board members said Wednesday that while the company was seeking benefits to offset the cost of the contract with WAPA, it had also negotiated and was receiving certain concessions from the authority on power; however, a letter from Seven Seas’ attorney Marjorie Roberts indicated that the company did not have a chance to address the EDA’s concerns before the board denied benefits.
Roberts said that Seven Seas was also willing to limit the scope of its benefits request to only the revenue it receives from WAPA.
Board members decided to reconsider their action on Seven Seas’ application for benefits and to rehear the company’s application within 45 calendar days.
In other business EDA officials also:
-denied a benefits application from Full Moon Ventures investment on the basis that the company’s "application doesn’t represent significant enough investment in employment, purchasing or capital investment." Full Moon Ventures is located on St. Thomas and provides business management and consulting services to the telecommunications, renewable energy and commercial real estate industries that are located outside of the territory.
-approved a motion accepting White Bay Trading as a disregarded entity of the White Bay Group, and replacing the name of the White Bay Group with White Bay Management USVI LLC. According to EDA Board Chairman Albert Bryan Jr., a disregarded entity is a sub-corporation of a wholly owned company (in this case, the White Bay Group) that chooses to be disregarded as separate from its parent company for federal tax purposes.
-accepted a resolution stating that financial services (such as hedge funds, estate planning and banking) designated service businesses can now have a minimum of five employees instead of 10.
Board members attending Wednesday’s meeting included Bryan, Randolph Allen, Jose Penn, Henry Smith and Lynn Millin-Maduro. Nathan Simmonds was excused.
