July 24, 2002 – Fuel pump prices often are as much as a dollar higher per gallon on St. Thomas than St. Croix, where Hovensa refines gasoline sold in the Virgin Islands and elsewhere, Licensing and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Andrew Rutnik said at a Senate Finance Committee budget hearing on Wednesday.
"We have a free market," Rutnik said.
The committee also heard from the Human Services Department on its Fiscal Year 2003 budget needs and was scheduled to receive testimony from the V.I. Council on the Arts and the V.I. Lottery Commission in a hearing that ran into the evening.
Rutnik suggested that encouraging an independent seller to set up shop on St. Thomas would bring prices down for the district. Currently, Texaco, Exxon and Domino have a lock on the St. Thomas and St. John markets, which adds a middle-man markup to the price. All filling stations in St. Croix are independently owned and buy their gasoline directly from Hovensa.
Rutnik pointed out that the independent seller would have to have storage facilities for the fuel. But he suggested that a tank could be leased from the Water and Power Authority. He said the tank would need a federal Environmental Protection Agency permit and, "I doubt you will find a new location on St. Thomas that is permit-able."
Rutnik also said that the arrangement would need approval of the local government and, in all probability, the U.S. Coast Guard, since the fuel would have to be transported by sea.
While the discussion on gas prices went smoothly, Rutnik came under fire from Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, committee chair, for his hand in removing vendors from Drake's Seat on St. Thomas last year.
He also took heat from Sen. Celestino A. White Sr. for suggesting that taxi drivers be tested on their knowledge of island history and street locations. "Leave the taxi drivers alone!" White yelled at Rutnik.
Rutnik had said that if the taxi drivers were not comfortable with a written test, a verbal test could be given. White countered by saying that villa managers on St. John also should take the test. He accused the villa managers of taking away five parking spaces on the Cruz Bay waterfront formerly leased to the St. John Taxi Association. In fact, those spaces are available to all St. John residents.
Rutnik said a recent Police Department directive that Licensing and Consumer Affairs stop issuing licenses for safari buses needs to be reviewed by the attorney general. He said that 120 taxi drivers had already received permission to buy bigger taxis. While not all are in use, many are already in the works, he said.
As for the vendors and Drake's Seat, Hansen said that now that the V.I. government owns the property, she will see to it that vendors are allowed to return. The terms of the sale by the Wheaton family preclude such an action.
Hansen was so incensed at what she appeared to view as Rutnik's single-handed removal of the vendors that she told him she was sorry she voted for his confirmation. "If I had my way, you would not be commissioner today," she said.
Rutnik said he was a member of Gov. Charles W. Turnbull's task force put together to respond to a lawsuit filed the Wheaton family which claimed vending at Drake's Seat violated the terms of the easement granted to the local government. He said that while Hansen may want the vendors to return to Drake's Seat, many people have told him they can enjoy the view for the first time in decades.
The itinerant sellers of T-shirts and tourist trinkets were relocated to Vendors Plaza, adjacent to Emancipation Garden in downtown Charlotte Amalie. Hansen said the situation is not satisfactory. "They are like sardines, people thrown in an open cage," she said.
The governor's proposed FY 2003 budget for Licensing and Consumer Affair stands at $3.5 million.
Human Services
If the governor's proposed FY 2003 budget for Human Services reflected what the department actually needs, it would get $8 million more on top of the $63.5 million submitted, Commissioner Sedonie Halbert told the Finance Committee.
The budget includes $29.1 million from the federal government and $34.4 million from local funds. Issues raised at the hearing were similar to those that come up year after year when Human Services takes its turn before the committee. Chief among them is the matter of staff vacancies. There currently are 68, including social workers, Halbert said.
"Social workers are leaving because the case load is very complex," she told the senators. She also said it is difficult to keep nurses on staff at the agency's senior citizen homes. The nurses leave for jobs at the hospitals because the latter work is less stressful and less demanding than caring for elderly people, "and the pay is better," she said.
In an effort to address this problem, she said, Human Services plans to train nursing assistants to become licensed practical nurses.
Sen. Carlton Dowe sided with Halbert on the matter of the pay scale at Human Services. "When do we expect to start paying them like it's important?" he asked, noting that social workers and licensed practical nurses earn as low as $20,000 a year.
Halbert also said her department incurs an excessive amount of overtime because, despite being short staffed, it still has to take care of those in need.
She and her staff received numerous kudos from the senators for doing a yeoman's job despite the chronic staff shortages and under-funding.

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July 24, 2002 – FBI agents on St. Thomas arrested a fugitive wanted in Maryland for running over a 15-year-old boy and leaving him to die by the side of the road.
Darren Brown, 32, who has addresses in Fortuna and in Catonsville, Maryland, was arrested Tuesday evening when federal agents traced him to his wife's home in Fortuna, according to FBI Agent Robert Lasky.
Territorial Court Judge Brenda Hollar on Wednesday ordered Brown to be held without bail. Marshals from Baltimore County, Maryland, have 30 days to pick him up, according to court records.
Brown was convicted last October of driving the car that hit and killed 15-year-old Ramon Thomas on March 25, 2001, according to Jason League, the assistant state's attorney in Baltimore County who prosecuted the case. Brown fled the scene after the accident, and the teen-ager "was just left in the street to die," League said.
Sentenced to serve five years in prison for a hit-and-run resulting in death, Brown skipped his $50,000 bail while the case was under appeal, League said.
The FBI used motor vehicle and financial records to locate Brown's wife on St. Thomas, Lasky said, and agents arrested Brown as he was approaching her home.
On Wednesday, Brown waived his right to fight extradition. He faces an additional five years in prison if convicted of flight from justice, League said.

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July 24, 2003 – With the Federal Communication Commission's national deadline a mere 10 months away for television channels to switch from analog to digital transmission, a glimmer of hope is on the horizon for V.I. Public Television, which operates WTJX/Channel 12, the territory's Public Broadcasting System affiliate.
On May 24, 2001, the Source reported:
"Lori Elskoe, general manager of WTJX/Channel 12, told the Senate Finance Committee, meeting Wednesday afternoon, that May of 2003 is the deadline set by the Federal Communications Commission for all of the nation's TV stations to be broadcast in digital format.
"Elskoe said the capital improvements needed to make the conversion have been at a standstill because WTJX has not received any project funds for a decade. The station's Fiscal Year 2002 budget request included the digital phase-in project, she said, adding, 'Even if we didn't receive the full funding for capital, we would be elated to receive the $350,000 to purchase a new 240-foot tower and $780,542 to purchase a digital transmitter/antenna and accessories — a total of $1,130,542.'
"The station, a semi-governmental entity, has been asking for funding for digital-related projects for the last four fiscal years, Elskoe noted."
A year and two months later, nothing had changed when she made the same plea before the same committee on Tuesday for the Fiscal Year 2003 budget, except that May 2003 looms that much closer — and that Elskoe is now Lori Elskoe Rawlins.
However, the results may be different this time around. Last year, the Finance Committee chair, Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, told Rawlins that she supported funding for the station, but "supporting funding for public television is not sufficient. We must be prepared to work to identify [sources for] the funding."
On Tuesday, Hansen took action on the funding aspect. From the Senate floor, she called Kenneth Mapp, Public Finance Authority director of administration and finance, on her speaker phone to ask if bond proceeds could be used to finance the switch to digital. Mapp said WTJX would qualify, and that legislation would have to be written and a funding source identified.
Sen. Carlton Dowe noted that the governor has proposed an appropriation of $4.5 million for the digital conversion in the FY 2003 budget. Rawlins replied, "That is still less than what we're asking for." She said the station needs $2.5 million for operating expenses in addition to the $4.6 million for the conversion. However, she pointed out, "The reality is, without funds to convert to digital, the operating budget is pointless."
When Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole asked Rawlins how much she needed immediately, she reiterated that the "bare bones" cost to commence digital transition is $1,130,542. The committee members vowed to "walk through" that appropriation in order to get the process started, saying they would offer legislation at the Senate's next full session.
But Hansen repeated a familiar lament from Crucians regarding WTJX operations — that St. Thomas has much more staff, facilities and local programming than St. Croix. "If we have to be one public television for the V.I.," Hansen said, "I want a policy that will bring equity to the territory."
Again reiterating her words of 14 months ago, Rawlins said that the station, which will observe its 30-year anniversary in August, will "go black" and everybody will be out of a job if the digital system is not functional by next May's deadline.
She warned the senators not to look for an extension on the deadline. "In the July issue of TV Technology," she said, "the FCC stated, 'This time we mean it,' — the FCC shook its enforcement finger and denied more than 70 broadcasters' requests for extensions." She added, "Those broadcasters may be on the road to license forfeiture."
In her closing remarks, she asked the legislators to ponder what Channel 12 has meant to the territory: "30 years of public service to our community; 30 years of quality educational, cultural and informational programming; 30 years of touching the hearts and minds of this community as their personal library, museum, school and concert hall; 30 years of delivering even when funds were undeliverable."
Committee member present were Sens. Douglas Canton Jr., Cole, Dowe and Hansen. Members not present were Sens. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Norman Jn Baptiste and Norma Pickard-Samuel.

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July 24, 2003 – With the Federal Communication Commission's national deadline a mere 10 months away for television channels to switch from analog to digital transmission, a glimmer of hope is on the horizon for V.I. Public Television, which operates WTJX/Channel 12, the territory's Public Broadcasting System affiliate.
On May 24, 2001, the Source reported:
"Lori Elskoe, general manager of WTJX/Channel 12, told the Senate Finance Committee, meeting Wednesday afternoon, that May of 2003 is the deadline set by the Federal Communications Commission for all of the nation's TV stations to be broadcast in digital format.
"Elskoe said the capital improvements needed to make the conversion have been at a standstill because WTJX has not received any project funds for a decade. The station's Fiscal Year 2002 budget request included the digital phase-in project, she said, adding, 'Even if we didn't receive the full funding for capital, we would be elated to receive the $350,000 to purchase a new 240-foot tower and $780,542 to purchase a digital transmitter/antenna and accessories — a total of $1,130,542.'
"The station, a semi-governmental entity, has been asking for funding for digital-related projects for the last four fiscal years, Elskoe noted."
A year and two months later, nothing had changed when she made the same plea before the same committee on Tuesday for the Fiscal Year 2003 budget, except that May 2003 looms that much closer — and that Elskoe is now Lori Elskoe Rawlins.
However, the results may be different this time around. Last year, the Finance Committee chair, Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, told Rawlins that she supported funding for the station, but "supporting funding for public television is not sufficient. We must be prepared to work to identify [sources for] the funding."
On Tuesday, Hansen took action on the funding aspect. From the Senate floor, she called Kenneth Mapp, Public Finance Authority director of administration and finance, on her speaker phone to ask if bond proceeds could be used to finance the switch to digital. Mapp said WTJX would qualify, and that legislation would have to be written and a funding source identified.
Sen. Carlton Dowe noted that the governor has proposed an appropriation of $4.5 million for the digital conversion in the FY 2003 budget. Rawlins replied, "That is still less than what we're asking for." She said the station needs $2.5 million for operating expenses in addition to the $4.6 million for the conversion. However, she pointed out, "The reality is, without funds to convert to digital, the operating budget is pointless."
When Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole asked Rawlins how much she needed immediately, she reiterated that the "bare bones" cost to commence digital transition is $1,130,542. The committee members vowed to "walk through" that appropriation in order to get the process started, saying they would offer legislation at the Senate's next full session.
But Hansen repeated a familiar lament from Crucians regarding WTJX operations — that St. Thomas has much more staff, facilities and local programming than St. Croix. "If we have to be one public television for the V.I.," Hansen said, "I want a policy that will bring equity to the territory."
Again reiterating her words of 14 months ago, Rawlins said that the station, which will observe its 30-year anniversary in August, will "go black" and everybody will be out of a job if the digital system is not functional by next May's deadline.
She warned the senators not to look for an extension on the deadline. "In the July issue of TV Technology," she said, "the FCC stated, 'This time we mean it,' — the FCC shook its enforcement finger and denied more than 70 broadcasters' requests for extensions." She added, "Those broadcasters may be on the road to license forfeiture."
In her closing remarks, she asked the legislators to ponder what Channel 12 has meant to the territory: "30 years of public service to our community; 30 years of quality educational, cultural and informational programming; 30 years of touching the hearts and minds of this community as their personal library, museum, school and concert hall; 30 years of delivering even when funds were undeliverable."
Committee member present were Sens. Douglas Canton Jr., Cole, Dowe and Hansen. Members not present were Sens. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Norman Jn Baptiste and Norma Pickard-Samuel.

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July 24, 2003 – With the Federal Communication Commission's national deadline a mere 10 months away for television channels to switch from analog to digital transmission, a glimmer of hope is on the horizon for V.I. Public Television, which operates WTJX/Channel 12, the territory's Public Broadcasting System affiliate.
On May 24, 2001, the Source reported:
"Lori Elskoe, general manager of WTJX/Channel 12, told the Senate Finance Committee, meeting Wednesday afternoon, that May of 2003 is the deadline set by the Federal Communications Commission for all of the nation's TV stations to be broadcast in digital format.
"Elskoe said the capital improvements needed to make the conversion have been at a standstill because WTJX has not received any project funds for a decade. The station's Fiscal Year 2002 budget request included the digital phase-in project, she said, adding, 'Even if we didn't receive the full funding for capital, we would be elated to receive the $350,000 to purchase a new 240-foot tower and $780,542 to purchase a digital transmitter/antenna and accessories — a total of $1,130,542.'
"The station, a semi-governmental entity, has been asking for funding for digital-related projects for the last four fiscal years, Elskoe noted."
A year and two months later, nothing had changed when she made the same plea before the same committee on Tuesday for the Fiscal Year 2003 budget, except that May 2003 looms that much closer — and that Elskoe is now Lori Elskoe Rawlins.
However, the results may be different this time around. Last year, the Finance Committee chair, Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, told Rawlins that she supported funding for the station, but "supporting funding for public television is not sufficient. We must be prepared to work to identify [sources for] the funding."
On Tuesday, Hansen took action on the funding aspect. From the Senate floor, she called Kenneth Mapp, Public Finance Authority director of administration and finance, on her speaker phone to ask if bond proceeds could be used to finance the switch to digital. Mapp said WTJX would qualify, and that legislation would have to be written and a funding source identified.
Sen. Carlton Dowe noted that the governor has proposed an appropriation of $4.5 million for the digital conversion in the FY 2003 budget. Rawlins replied, "That is still less than what we're asking for." She said the station needs $2.5 million for operating expenses in addition to the $4.6 million for the conversion. However, she pointed out, "The reality is, without funds to convert to digital, the operating budget is pointless."
When Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole asked Rawlins how much she needed immediately, she reiterated that the "bare bones" cost to commence digital transition is $1,130,542. The committee members vowed to "walk through" that appropriation in order to get the process started, saying they would offer legislation at the Senate's next full session.
But Hansen repeated a familiar lament from Crucians regarding WTJX operations — that St. Thomas has much more staff, facilities and local programming than St. Croix. "If we have to be one public television for the V.I.," Hansen said, "I want a policy that will bring equity to the territory."
Again reiterating her words of 14 months ago, Rawlins said that the station, which will observe its 30-year anniversary in August, will "go black" and everybody will be out of a job if the digital system is not functional by next May's deadline.
She warned the senators not to look for an extension on the deadline. "In the July issue of TV Technology," she said, "the FCC stated, 'This time we mean it,' — the FCC shook its enforcement finger and denied more than 70 broadcasters' requests for extensions." She added, "Those broadcasters may be on the road to license forfeiture."
In her closing remarks, she asked the legislators to ponder what Channel 12 has meant to the territory: "30 years of public service to our community; 30 years of quality educational, cultural and informational programming; 30 years of touching the hearts and minds of this community as their personal library, museum, school and concert hall; 30 years of delivering even when funds were undeliverable."
Committee member present were Sens. Douglas Canton Jr., Cole, Dowe and Hansen. Members not present were Sens. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Norman Jn Baptiste and Norma Pickard-Samuel.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

July 24, 2002 – As the territory's three housing agencies made their Fiscal Year 2003 budget hearing appearances before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, the news they brought was for the most part not good.
Al Simmonds, interim executive director of the V.I. Housing Authority, said he needs $6.3 million to cover operating expenses of $1.5 million and the authority's prior 13-year deficit of $4.7 million. The governor recommended $1.9 million for the authority.
Insufficient funding has caused the authority to fall behind in vendor payments, notably $2.6 million owed to the Water and Power Authority, Simmonds said.
VIHA manages the Lucinda Millin and Whim Gardens homes for the elderly. The Millin facility on St. Thomas requires 24-hour nursing service, Simmonds said, and has a staff of 10 headed by the sole one registered nurse. The Whim Gardens home on St. Croix has a staff of five, he said.
Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole said his office receives "numerous complaints" about the Millin nursing services being inadequate.
Simmonds said U.S. Health and Human Services Department officials have said that paying off the deficit should be a priority, and that local funds, not federal money, should be used to do so. Also contributing to the authority's fiscal woes, Simmonds said, are "high insurance premiums, loss of rental units through demolition and sales, changes to the performance funding system implemented by HUD [the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development], and unreimbursed funds expended for disaster relief" from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
He said the authority needs additional funding for capital repairs, vacancy rehabilitation, hurricane damage repairs in the Tutu High-Rise apartments and funding for the VIHA police force.
Questioned by the senators, Simmonds and other housing officials urged support for the VIHA police program. Its future is uncertain, VIHA Police Chief Fitzroy Williams said, because it is losing federal funding of about $2 million this year in a nationwide move.
As for the Housing Finance Authority, its director, Clifford Graham, told the committee that since its inception in the early 90s, no money has been deposited in the Housing Development Trust Fund established to subsidize the cost of building affordable housing. A portion of property taxes was supposed to go into the fund, Graham said.
The governor has proposed a budget of $450,000 for the HFA. Graham told the committee he needs $1 million to run the authority. "Only when adequate infrastructure funding is made available to ensure the production of affordable housing," he said, would the $450,000 be sufficient for the authority to carry out its mandate.
Housing Parks and Recreation Commissioner Ira Hobson said the governor's recommended $5.7 million for his department, down from the FY 2002 appropriation of $6.4 million, would allow his agency to "provide the day-to-day basic services, "even though the governor has allowed no money dedicated to capital improvements."
Hobson reported that the department has made progress on its home ownership program and that the its 17 recreation facilities throughout the territory are being renovated, with improved lighting, fencing, landscaping and resurfacing of tennis and basketball courts. Much of the improvements have come from federal funds, he said.
Housing Parks and Recreation has initiated an "acceptable maintenance standard of decent housing and sound recreation," he said, and in the third year of its five-year plan has been successful in obtaining funding necessary to carry out a variety of projects.
Sen. Celestino A. White Sr., chair of the Senate Housing, Parks and Recreation Committee, raised concerns not mentioned by the three agency heads. He asked what they planned to do about Peterborg residents' protests of a rental housing development under way above Magens Bay on St. Thomas's North Side.
Development of The Lovenlund Bay Apartments Complex was approved unanimously by White's committee in May. On Monday night, Sen. Lorraine Berry, a committee member, held a meeting at Mahogany Run for residents to air their concerns. White, in a rare moment of support for Berry, praised her action.
The 99-unit Lovenlund project is being developed by Reliance Housing Foundation Inc. Ground breaking is set for June 2003 with completion planned for December 2003.
Robert O. Jackson, Reliance president, said the development will consist of 10 three-story garden-style apartment buildings, a leasing office, a community building and a maintenance shop. He said the project will cost $19.9 million, about three-quarters of it funded through federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits. This, he said, will allow the rental of two-bedroom units starting at $652 a month, three-bedrooms from $749 and four-bedrooms from $814. VIHA allotted the credits to the project.
Residents of the area are circulating a petition against the development, charging that they had no advance notice of the development, their input was not sought and, as taxpayers, they have a vested interest in the project.
"You should all be on the radio today objecting to this," White told the housing representatives, referring to the residents' objections. Graham, who was at the Monday meeting, said he has drafted a memorandum to inform the public of the merits of the development.
The hearing on the budget for the Office of the Governor, scheduled as the first item for Tuesday, was taken off the agenda with no explanation.
Committee members present for the session were Sens. Douglas Canton Jr., Cole, Carlton Dowe, the chair, Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, and White. Members not present were Sens. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Norman Jn Baptiste and Norma Pickard-Samuel.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

July 24, 2002 – As the territory's three housing agencies made their Fiscal Year 2003 budget hearing appearances before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, the news they brought was for the most part not good.
Al Simmonds, interim executive director of the V.I. Housing Authority, said he needs $6.3 million to cover operating expenses of $1.5 million and the authority's prior 13-year deficit of $4.7 million. The governor recommended $1.9 million for the authority.
Insufficient funding has caused the authority to fall behind in vendor payments, notably $2.6 million owed to the Water and Power Authority, Simmonds said.
VIHA manages the Lucinda Millin and Whim Gardens homes for the elderly. The Millin facility on St. Thomas requires 24-hour nursing service, Simmonds said, and has a staff of 10 headed by the sole one registered nurse. The Whim Gardens home on St. Croix has a staff of five, he said.
Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole said his office receives "numerous complaints" about the Millin nursing services being inadequate.
Simmonds said U.S. Health and Human Services Department officials have said that paying off the deficit should be a priority, and that local funds, not federal money, should be used to do so. Also contributing to the authority's fiscal woes, Simmonds said, are "high insurance premiums, loss of rental units through demolition and sales, changes to the performance funding system implemented by HUD [the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development], and unreimbursed funds expended for disaster relief" from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
He said the authority needs additional funding for capital repairs, vacancy rehabilitation, hurricane damage repairs in the Tutu High-Rise apartments and funding for the VIHA police force.
Questioned by the senators, Simmonds and other housing officials urged support for the VIHA police program. Its future is uncertain, VIHA Police Chief Fitzroy Williams said, because it is losing federal funding of about $2 million this year in a nationwide move.
As for the Housing Finance Authority, its director, Clifford Graham, told the committee that since its inception in the early 90s, no money has been deposited in the Housing Development Trust Fund established to subsidize the cost of building affordable housing. A portion of property taxes was supposed to go into the fund, Graham said.
The governor has proposed a budget of $450,000 for the HFA. Graham told the committee he needs $1 million to run the authority. "Only when adequate infrastructure funding is made available to ensure the production of affordable housing," he said, would the $450,000 be sufficient for the authority to carry out its mandate.
Housing Parks and Recreation Commissioner Ira Hobson said the governor's recommended $5.7 million for his department, down from the FY 2002 appropriation of $6.4 million, would allow his agency to "provide the day-to-day basic services, "even though the governor has allowed no money dedicated to capital improvements."
Hobson reported that the department has made progress on its home ownership program and that the its 17 recreation facilities throughout the territory are being renovated, with improved lighting, fencing, landscaping and resurfacing of tennis and basketball courts. Much of the improvements have come from federal funds, he said.
Housing Parks and Recreation has initiated an "acceptable maintenance standard of decent housing and sound recreation," he said, and in the third year of its five-year plan has been successful in obtaining funding necessary to carry out a variety of projects.
Sen. Celestino A. White Sr., chair of the Senate Housing, Parks and Recreation Committee, raised concerns not mentioned by the three agency heads. He asked what they planned to do about Peterborg residents' protests of a rental housing development under way above Magens Bay on St. Thomas's North Side.
Development of The Lovenlund Bay Apartments Complex was approved unanimously by White's committee in May. On Monday night, Sen. Lorraine Berry, a committee member, held a meeting at Mahogany Run for residents to air their concerns. White, in a rare moment of support for Berry, praised her action.
The 99-unit Lovenlund project is being developed by Reliance Housing Foundation Inc. Ground breaking is set for June 2003 with completion planned for December 2003.
Robert O. Jackson, Reliance president, said the development will consist of 10 three-story garden-style apartment buildings, a leasing office, a community building and a maintenance shop. He said the project will cost $19.9 million, about three-quarters of it funded through federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits. This, he said, will allow the rental of two-bedroom units starting at $652 a month, three-bedrooms from $749 and four-bedrooms from $814. VIHA allotted the credits to the project.
Residents of the area are circulating a petition against the development, charging that they had no advance notice of the development, their input was not sought and, as taxpayers, they have a vested interest in the project.
"You should all be on the radio today objecting to this," White told the housing representatives, referring to the residents' objections. Graham, who was at the Monday meeting, said he has drafted a memorandum to inform the public of the merits of the development.
The hearing on the budget for the Office of the Governor, scheduled as the first item for Tuesday, was taken off the agenda with no explanation.
Committee members present for the session were Sens. Douglas Canton Jr., Cole, Carlton Dowe, the chair, Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, and White. Members not present were Sens. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Norman Jn Baptiste and Norma Pickard-Samuel.

Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

July 24, 2002 – As the territory's three housing agencies made their Fiscal Year 2003 budget hearing appearances before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, the news they brought was for the most part not good.
Al Simmonds, interim executive director of the V.I. Housing Authority, said he needs $6.3 million to cover operating expenses of $1.5 million and the authority's prior 13-year deficit of $4.7 million. The governor recommended $1.9 million for the authority.
Insufficient funding has caused the authority to fall behind in vendor payments, notably $2.6 million owed to the Water and Power Authority, Simmonds said.
VIHA manages the Lucinda Millin and Whim Gardens homes for the elderly. The Millin facility on St. Thomas requires 24-hour nursing service, Simmonds said, and has a staff of 10 headed by the sole one registered nurse. The Whim Gardens home on St. Croix has a staff of five, he said.
Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole said his office receives "numerous complaints" about the Millin nursing services being inadequate.
Simmonds said U.S. Health and Human Services Department officials have said that paying off the deficit should be a priority, and that local funds, not federal money, should be used to do so. Also contributing to the authority's fiscal woes, Simmonds said, are "high insurance premiums, loss of rental units through demolition and sales, changes to the performance funding system implemented by HUD [the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development], and unreimbursed funds expended for disaster relief" from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
He said the authority needs additional funding for capital repairs, vacancy rehabilitation, hurricane damage repairs in the Tutu High-Rise apartments and funding for the VIHA police force.
Questioned by the senators, Simmonds and other housing officials urged support for the VIHA police program. Its future is uncertain, VIHA Police Chief Fitzroy Williams said, because it is losing federal funding of about $2 million this year in a nationwide move.
As for the Housing Finance Authority, its director, Clifford Graham, told the committee that since its inception in the early 90s, no money has been deposited in the Housing Development Trust Fund established to subsidize the cost of building affordable housing. A portion of property taxes was supposed to go into the fund, Graham said.
The governor has proposed a budget of $450,000 for the HFA. Graham told the committee he needs $1 million to run the authority. "Only when adequate infrastructure funding is made available to ensure the production of affordable housing," he said, would the $450,000 be sufficient for the authority to carry out its mandate.
Housing Parks and Recreation Commissioner Ira Hobson said the governor's recommended $5.7 million for his department, down from the FY 2002 appropriation of $6.4 million, would allow his agency to "provide the day-to-day basic services, "even though the governor has allowed no money dedicated to capital improvements."
Hobson reported that the department has made progress on its home ownership program and that the its 17 recreation facilities throughout the territory are being renovated, with improved lighting, fencing, landscaping and resurfacing of tennis and basketball courts. Much of the improvements have come from federal funds, he said.
Housing Parks and Recreation has initiated an "acceptable maintenance standard of decent housing and sound recreation," he said, and in the third year of its five-year plan has been successful in obtaining funding necessary to carry out a variety of projects.
Sen. Celestino A. White Sr., chair of the Senate Housing, Parks and Recreation Committee, raised concerns not mentioned by the three agency heads. He asked what they planned to do about Peterborg residents' protests of a rental housing development under way above Magens Bay on St. Thomas's North Side.
Development of The Lovenlund Bay Apartments Complex was approved unanimously by White's committee in May. On Monday night, Sen. Lorraine Berry, a committee member, held a meeting at Mahogany Run for residents to air their concerns. White, in a rare moment of support for Berry, praised her action.
The 99-unit Lovenlund project is being developed by Reliance Housing Foundation Inc. Ground breaking is set for June 2003 with completion planned for December 2003.
Robert O. Jackson, Reliance president, said the development will consist of 10 three-story garden-style apartment buildings, a leasing office, a community building and a maintenance shop. He said the project will cost $19.9 million, about three-quarters of it funded through federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits. This, he said, will allow the rental of two-bedroom units starting at $652 a month, three-bedrooms from $749 and four-bedrooms from $814. VIHA allotted the credits to the project.
Residents of the area are circulating a petition against the development, charging that they had no advance notice of the development, their input was not sought and, as taxpayers, they have a vested interest in the project.
"You should all be on the radio today objecting to this," White told the housing representatives, referring to the residents' objections. Graham, who was at the Monday meeting, said he has drafted a memorandum to inform the public of the merits of the development.
The hearing on the budget for the Office of the Governor, scheduled as the first item for Tuesday, was taken off the agenda with no explanation.
Committee members present for the session were Sens. Douglas Canton Jr., Cole, Carlton Dowe, the chair, Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, and White. Members not present were Sens. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Norman Jn Baptiste and Norma Pickard-Samuel.

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July 24, 2002 – A cocktail sip and fashion show from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday, July 28, will be presented by the de Jongh Arnold 2002 campaign team at the Inn at Blackbeard's Castle.
With fashions presented by Feathers and Flair, the event will also feature complimentary hors d'oeuvres, cash bar, and free shuttle bus service from Ft. Christian parking lot to Blackbeard's Castle starting at 5:30 p.m.
All Virgin Islanders are invited, said a release.
Tickets for the event are $15, and are available from de Jongh Arnold headquarters on Norre Gade and Four Winds Plaza, Family Health Center in Barbel Plaza, and The Rack at Tutu Park Mall.

July 24, 2002 – A cocktail sip and fashion show from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday, July 28, will be presented by the de Jongh Arnold 2002 campaign team at the Inn at Blackbeard's Castle.
With fashions presented by Feathers and Flair, the event will also feature complimentary hors d'oeuvres, cash bar, and free shuttle bus service from Ft. Christian parking lot to Blackbeard's Castle starting at 5:30 p.m.
All Virgin Islanders are invited, said a release.
Tickets for the event are $15, and are available from de Jongh Arnold headquarters on Norre Gade and Four Winds Plaza, Family Health Center in Barbel Plaza, and The Rack at Tutu Park Mall.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.