Dec. 17, 2001 – The Crown Bay shopping development planned by two cruise lines and the Port Authority has been shopped all around the Caribbean for years, with no takers — until now on St. Thomas, according to Edward Thomas, president of The West Indian Co.
Thomas made the comment while guesting Friday on the "Leona" talk show on WVWI Radio. During the program, he got into a heated debate with Attorney General Iver Stridiron, a VIPA board member, when Stridiron called in to refute statements Thomas made about the Crown Bay development plans.
The Port Authority, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Carnival Corp. have signed a letter of intent calling for the cruise companies to lengthen the Crown Bay dock and build and operate an adjacent shopping center. No one has objected to the dock expansion, but the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce, several Charlotte Amalie retailers and property owners and Thomas oppose the shopping center, saying it could have a disastrous effect on downtown and Havensight shopping.
On Monday morning, according to informed sources, members of the boards of The West Indian Co., the Port Authority and the St. Thomas- St. John Chamber of Commerce met with Gov. Charles W. Turnbull at Government House to work on a plan whereby WICO, and not the cruise lines, would build the Crown Bay project.
Turnbull is reported to be opposed to the cruise lines' plan.
On the radio Friday, Thomas said that he had spoken with John Tercek, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines vice president for commercial development, a couple of weeks ago in San Juan, where Thomas was invited for the inauguration of RCCL's newest ship, the Adventure of the Seas. According to Thomas, Tercek told him, "I want to be a landlord just like you. Why should we bring two million people to St. Thomas, and only Virgin Island merchants get to take advantage of that market?"
Thomas said he has documented information that the cruise lines have been trying to interest Caribbean islands from Barbados up through Sint Maarten in a similar proposal since 1999, and "VIPA has been the only one to accept it."
In his call-in, Stridiron said he would like to have Tercek and Giora Israel, Carnival Corp. vice president for strategic planning, appear on the radio show and explain how the agreement would benefit the Virgin Islands. Stridiron said the agreement is intended to see that native Virgin Islanders have a piece of the action. "The two largest cruise lines in the world have said they want to partner with us," Stridiron said. "They want a long-term relationship with the V.I."

Dec. 17, 2001 -Deputy Police Chief Theodore Carty said Monday that he had "some good leads" on a stabbing that left Clement Smith, 20, of St. Thomas, dead Saturday.
Carty said "hopefully, this week" he will know the identity of the assailant who stabbed Smith, who was found dead on lower Kronprindsens Gade early Saturday morning.
Smith and another man had an argument, after which the other man stabbed Smith and fled the scene, Carty said.
Smith's death was the territory's 26th homicide of the year and the 14th on St. Thomas.
In 2000, there were 18 homicides in the territory, 11 of them on St. Thomas.

Dec. 17, 2001 – Twenty-five years ago — at 1 p.m. Dec. 18, 1976, to be exact — the first guest at Maho Bay Camps walked down those famous elevated boardwalks at the St. John resort to begin a week's stay in one of the 18 tents.
In preparing for the big anniversary, Maho staffers couldn't locate that first guest. But they did find a Nashville, Tenn., couple who came for the first time in 1984. Tom and Gail Miller have made five visits since first reading about Stanley Selengut's pace-setting eco-venture in a 1980 issue of Outside Magazine. "I was just captivated by the article, and we fell in love with the place," Gail Miller recalls.
Miller says she was most impressed with Maho's recycling program, an aspect of the campground that continues to grow. Helping guests understand and care for their environment has been one of Selengut's goals from the start. "One of our missions was interpretation," he said.
Indeed, Maho has often served as an example for the rest of St. John on how to deal with waste and protect the environment. Maho staff tantalize passersby with cookies baked in a demonstration solar oven at the island's Earth Day celebrations, and locals as well as visitors attend its recycling seminars.
While the Maho concept remains the same, and Miller says the place is as nice as ever, there have been changes. Selengut experimented with composting toilets, but when he found the odors wafted toward the dining room, he installed conventional flush toilets. The 114 "tent cottages" that now dot the hillsides are sturdier than the originals, and the campground has a restaurant. This year, Maho dropped its seven-night minimum stay.
And in 1993, Selengut opened Harmony, a 12-unit condominium project constructed almost entirely of recycled materials that sits just above the campground.
Selengut also operates Concordia Studios and the adjacent eco-tents at Estate Concordia. Both are environmentally-friendly resorts.
When Harmony opened, Selengut says, many guests opted for a condo unit rather than a tent. However, some said they missed the closeness to nature they experienced at Maho's tents. "That gave me the idea for the eco-tents," Selengut recalls. The eco-tents use state-of-the-art technology to conserve energy and help guests understand their impact. For example, he says, because visitors hand pump their water, they can see how much they use.
Selengut recently said that he initially planned to build a beachfront lodge at Maho Bay as a place for him and his friends to visit. However, Robert Stanton, then V.I. National Park superintendent, enlightened him about the damage cutting roads would do to the environment. Selengut knew about elevated walkways from New York's Fire Island, so he adopted that concept at Maho Bay. But he took his environmental concerns steps further by hand digging the footings.
"When we were finished, it looked like everything just grew there," Selengut said.
After The New York Times did a story about the project, interest grew. Selengut soon found himself with a need for more tent cottages. Maho continued to expand as public interest in eco-tourism developed. Along the way, Selengut picked up slews of awards for his eco-tourism efforts, starting soon after the resort opened with a federal Environmental Protection Agency award for his innovative construction techniques.
Ironically, despite its success and acclaim, Maho may go the way of the dinosaur. Selengut has 12 years to go on his 35-year campground lease from private landholders, although he owns the three acres where Harmony sits and the Concordia properties.
At the age of 72, he says, and with much of his time taken up with his seat on the National Park Service advisory board, he doesn't have the time or energy to develop his properties further. He thinks that after the Maho lease expires, the land will end up being developed for an upscale development like Peter Bay, located within park boundaries on St. John's North Shore.
Miller no doubt speaks for many regular Maho back-to-nature vacationers when she reacts to that prospect: "The saddest thing would be to see a Westin or Hyatt come in," she says.

Dec. 17, 2001 – A Senate committee hearing that had been announced for Wednesday night on the proposed Crown Bay development project by two cruise lines and the Port Authority has been postponed until next year.
Sen. Emmett Hansen II, chair of the Government Operations Committee, postponed the meeting because the chief officers of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Carnival Cruise Lines aren't able to appear this week, according to a Hansen aide.
Senators raised questions last week about the agreement. Sen. Carlton Dowe wrote Gov. Charles W. Turnbull urging him to turn down the agreement in favor of a V.I. government backed development.

Editor's note: This is a copy sent to the Source of another letter sent to the governor regarding the rezoning of Botany Bay.
Dear Source,
Here is my letter to the administration, urging a veto of the Botany Bay rezoning, with a recommendation for a variance in its place. It is my hope that many voices will be raised on this issue.
I would like to add my voice to the many, urging you to veto the Botany Bay rezoning, Bill No 24-0199.
Our Coastal Zone Management program just won a federal award for excellence in managing the coastal zone. The Planning and Natural Resources Department/CZM recommended a variance. Botany Bay Partners will accept a variance. A variance will allow Virgin Islanders to obtain the economic benefits while retaining adequate control over the historical, archeological and natural treasures of the Botany Bay tract.
A rezoning does nothing for the Virgin Islanders. It opens the door to the developers simply reselling the land and abandoning the development, while doubling/tripling their money by simply getting the land rezoned. The rezoning erodes public confidence in the integrity of V.I. legislators. How can it not, when the public, the developers and the DPNR/CZM can all agree on a variance?
I recommend a veto while voicing support for Botany Bay partners and their project, with a jab at the Legislature for ignoring the obvious compromise of a variance. [Since it] passed by an 8-7 margin, your veto will stand. You can then recommend and sign a reworked bill granting a variance with pride.
Craig Barshinger
St. John

Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.

Editor's note: This is a copy sent to the Source of another letter sent to the governor regarding the rezoning of Botany Bay.
Dear Source,
I am requesting that the rezoning of Botany Bay from R-1 to R-3 be vetoed and [that the government] instead hold Botany Bay developers to the recommendation made by the Department of Planning and Natural Resources. DPNR and Botany Bay Partners agreed to the terms of the variance.
Why is it that we have not been able to establish a working land and water use development plan? Communities are shaped by decisions made over decades. Although some of these choices are made with full knowledge of possible consequences, those made with insufficient thought and information can leave communities with unfortunate and unanticipated outcomes — some felt immediately, some delayed many years, as we very well know.
Can we continue to exploit our natural resources for the good of a handful of people instead of taking into consideration the needs of the many? This is my concern. How does this project increase the environmental sustainability of the Bordeaux community? By "sustainable," my definition is communities that are livable, equitable and affordable over the long term. Sustainable communities provide good environmental quality, social justice and safe jobs at living wages.
I am not against development but against the way we have been going around developing. All one needs to do is look around at St. Thomas and see the haphazard way we have allowed short-term economic goals to cloud the future environmental sustainability of the Virgin Islands. We continue to be convinced that low-paying jobs can be traded for less green space, more waste entering our landfill and surrounding water, more congestion, more air pollution, etc. All for the lack of planning for our collective future.
Yes, we are trying to be business friendly, but we must put the long-term needs of Virgin Islanders first. Already at least three generations will bear the brunt of the things we have promised in the now. What will Virgin Islands history record about our deeds now and their effect on our very future?
Caroline A. Browne
St. Thomas

Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.

Dec. 17, 2001 – Rotary Club of St. Thomas II will meet Wednesday, Dec. 19, at 12:15 p.m. at Marriott's Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort. This meeting is the club's annual Christmas dinner with adopted senior citizens.
There will be no meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 26th.

Rotary Club of St. Thomas II will meet Wednesday. Dec. 19, at 12:15 p.m. at Marriott's Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort. This meeting is the club's annual Christmas dinner with adopted senior citizens.
There will be no meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 26th.

Dec. 16, 2001 – Doctors, lawyers, teachers, media personalities, senators, retailers, bankers and more all turned on their entertainer talents Friday night to help raise funds for the All Saints Cathedral School's Capital Development Committee.
At the committee's 2nd annual Karaoke Night, attendees bid to have celebrities Sen. Roosevelt David, Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Robert Luke, Vinnie Mohanani and Kishma "K-V" Vincent sing favorite tunes. All told, $3,100 was raised at the Bluebeard's Castle event; it will go toward the construction of a new All Saints school complex planned for Estate Charlotte Amalie.
Radio personalities Vincent and Luke challenged the audience to decide via bidding which would perform first. After Vincent attracted $200 to Luke's $193, she delighted the audience with a rendition of "Killing Me Softly." Luke then took the stage accompanied by the background bass of master of ceremonies Sam Topp to perform an a capella version of "Fever," another crowd pleaser.
Topp assembled the "St. Thomas Temptations" — David, Donastorg, attorney Robert King and Dr. Ronald Nimmo — to join him onstage. King then pledged $100 if local surgeon Sidney Comissiong would join the group. Comissiong accepted the challenge. Luke and businessman Mohanani each paid $50 to join the group. Having raised $306, the St. Thomas Temptations then dazzled the audience with performances of "Get Ready" and "Papa was a Rolling Stone."
The night's No. 1 fund-raising talent was Nimmo's; his rendition of a Luther Vandross favorite, "Superstar," generated $1,290. Nimmo also was named best male performer of the evening; TV personality Sandra Goomansingh was named best female performer. Mohanani was named the "King of Rock and Roll" for his Elvis Presley number, and Comissiong was named "Best New Kid on the Block."
Catherine Mills, Capital Development Committee chair, extended thanks to Topp, Bluebeard's Castle, Petite Pump Room, Prime Foods, Gladys' Cafe, Fergies, all Karaoke singers, event co-chairs Mytsooko King and Lorna Chesterfield, and All Saints National Honor Society members Bobby King and Jeremy Grant.