Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. convened the regular meeting of the Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority Board of Directors on Nov. 17. After amending the agenda to table quarterly reports from the authority’s subsidiaries, the board approved the engagement of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz P.C. to provide specialized construction law services to the Office of Disaster Recovery and the Government of the Virgin Islands. Baker Donelson was awarded the engagement after a competitive negotiation process.
The engagement is part of the Office of Disaster Recovery’s overall plan to further the disaster recovery process, which includes engaging a firm to provide legal advice and contract drafting services for a variety of contracts, to include general contractor services, architectural and engineering services and project management services that involves federal funding sources.
The engagement is for a period of one year with the option to renew for an additional year at a not-to-exceed amount of $1,141,088.00. After approving the engagement, the board entered executive session.
It reported after the executive session that the Office of Disaster Recovery shared a proposed plan to advance the territory’s disaster recovery. The board also heard from West Indies Company (WICO) regarding a proposed financial transaction to improve WICO’s cashflow and to provide funding for capital projects.
In addition to Gov. Bryan, other members present were Secretary Keith O’Neale, OMB Director Jennifer O’Neal, Finance Commissioner and Executive Director Kevin McCurdy, and Attorney Dorothy Isaacs.
