The National Park Service’s southeast regional director, Stan Austin, got an earful from disgruntled Cinnamon Bay Campground campers fed up with its conditions when he spoke Sunday at the Friends of V.I. National Park annual meeting.
The meeting was held at the campground’s T’ree Lizards Restaurant.
“Something has to be done,” Austin said, adding that he brought his concessions person with him on this trip so he could see the problems for himself.
Minnesota resident Joe Reischel, who camps during the winter at Cinnamon Bay, got the ball rolling with his list of complaints.
“Is Cinnamon Bay even safe enough to be open?” he asked.
For starters, he said he tried to call security for help with a loud camper who wouldn’t quiet down despite the middle-of-the-night hour. He said the man was threatening and used foul language. Reischel said he got a recording. He said he kept calling and finally reached someone who he said was in his 70s with a dog that “would lick you all over.”
Reischel said a couple of years ago, someone collapsed on a campground path. He said it took an hour and a half for an ambulance to arrive.
Sybil Lefferts, who said she’s camped at Cinnamon Bay during the winter for 49 years, said the Cinnamon Bay management doesn’t have any respect for campers.
“Campers are a special group,” she said.
Park Superintendent Brion FitzGerald said before the meeting that he was taking Austin on a tour when a camper came out of the bathroom to complain there was no toilet paper.
Reischel also spoke at great length about problems with the infrastructure, including holes in the floor of tent platforms.
FitzGerald said after the meeting that the security, toilet paper and holes in the tent floors problem happened because the concession holder hasn’t done routine maintenance and kept up with day-to-day matters. Caneel Bay Resort holds the concession for the campground and the Trunk Bay snack bar area.
According to FitzGerald, issues in the Park Service bureaucracy led to delays in getting the paperwork ready so the concession could go out for bid. He said Caneel has operated Cinnamon and Trunk for 24 years on one-year extensions. He said the original agreement was made in 1970.
FitzGerald said he expects the bid to go out in March, with a new contract in place by June 2016. He said that while Caneel can bid on the Cinnamon and Trunk concession, it will be open to anyone who wants to operate the campground and snack bar. He said after the meeting that whoever gets the concession will have to replace the existing cottages and the tents.
Caneel will still operate the high-end resort that fronts on Caneel Bay. Fitzgerald said it currently operates on a Retained-Use Estate agreement, but the U.S. Congress in 2010 authorized the park service to change to a 40-year lease agreement. He said that is in negotiation.
In his remarks, FitzGerald spoke at length about the challenges facing the underfunded and understaffed park. He said to help the situation, the post of resources and interpretive managers were combined, meaning that the person in that job will have to focus on both areas. He also spoke about other critical vacancies.
“We are in every operation just one position away from failure in critical areas,” the superintendent said.
Friends President Joe Kessler said the park is threatened by development, the growing number of park visitors and chronic underfunding. He also said should the Summers End marina be built in Coral Bay, it will have a significant negative impact on the park and Coral Reef National Monument.
FitzGerald, Austin and Kessler spoke about the importance of Friends groups to the park’s operation. Kessler said that last year, volunteers spent 9,000 hours helping to improve visitor experience.
Austin also discussed the importance of reaching out to those in the 18 to 35 age group because they are the future stewards of the park.
“Help us engage the youths,” he told the almost 100 people who attended the meeting.
