In an emergency meeting Wednesday, the V.I. Water and Power Authority board secured financing for a street lighting and solar project and a refinancing that gives the authority an additional $3.5 million in federal Community Development Loan funding.
According to a news release issued Saturday, the board extended the maturity date on a series of bond anticipation notes issued in 2016, and a second series of notes, totaling $33.9 million were also issued to refinance the first once. The new notes will mature in July of 2020 at an interest rate of 7 percent.
A third set of notes were authorize to refinance an existing $16 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency Community Disaster Loans and provide for an additional $3.5 million in loan funding. These notes will mature in June of 2021. According to the release, FEMA has agreed to defer any interest payments until January of 2021.
The board also authorized a change in the authority’s trustee from the Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company to UMB Bank. The Bank of New York will remain a subordinate trustee.
Board members present at the meeting were Elizabeth Armstrong, Hubert Turnbull, Devin Carrington, Noel Lofts and Cheryl Boynes Jackson.
Why didn’t the a
administration allow FEMA funding and emergency repairs to replace all the broken street lights? The line men were already up on all the poles and could have done it. They were only told to replace a few of them on main streets. Big failure on the administration’s part. Over a year later with tons of neighborhood streets still left in the dark at night.