The Public Finance Authority has urged the West Indian Co. board to keep the door open to negotiations with Malaysian developer Tan Kay Hock for a new hotel and marina at Yacht Haven in Long Bay.
But the PFA did not, when it met Wednesday, approve a proposed lease for 7 acres of landfill in Long Bay for Tan to redevelop the derelict Ramada Yacht Haven Hotel, WVWI and the Independent reported.
Gov.-elect Charles W. Turnbull had issued a statement before the PFA board met saying he feared there might be a vote and strongly disapproved of such an action.
"Members of the PFA board may be held personally liable for…actions as members of a board if a court finds that their actions constituted gross negligence or willful wrongdoing," Turnbull said.
The PFA went into executive session to discuss the lease, but took no action. After the session Gov. Roy L. Schneider, chairman of the government-dominated five-member PFA board, called Turnbull's concerns premature.
Luis "Tito" Morales, Central Labor Council president, had threatened a class-action suit if a lease was signed.
"Anytime they pass a lease, we're going to court," he said.
Rudolph Krigger, Turnbull's chief of staff, said the new administration is not in a position to say how it will deal with the proposal.
"We have not met with the man," Krigger told the Independent. "The incoming governor has indicated he would like to have that opportunity and we want to leave the door open."
Tan's proposal for a $200 million project with a 300-room hotel, 114 condominiums and 600 boat slips — down from the original 750 — has generated some public opposition because of its scale and the fact that it would block the view from neighboring Paul M. Pearson Gardens.
The V.I. government bought the old Danish West Indian Co. Ltd. for $54 million in 1993 and turned the company's land holdings over to the Public Finance Authority.
The PFA, which thus became the West Indian Co.'s sole shareholder, then turned the property over to the WICO board, which controls the Long Bay land and landfill, among other assets.
The Government Employees Retirement System bought the Havensight Mall from the PFA for $32 million.
WICO, which is a public agency that operates much like a private corporation, manages both the dock and mall.
