PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION COMMITTEE MEETING RESET FOR NOON
Permits for the Christiansted Boardwalk and the reconstruction of a dock at the new Divi Carina Bay Resort at Grapetree Bay will be heard at today’s committee meeting in Frederiksted at noon.
The meeting was originally set for 10 a.m., but because of the power problems it has been reset for noon.
Also on the agenda is the issue of St. Croix’s sewage crisis, said committee chairman Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg.
"These sewage spills pose an ongoing threat to public health and the environment," Donastorg said. "It’s high time we made a serious effort to privatize sewage treatment — what we’re doing now is simply not working."
Donastorg said that privatization would enable proper training for local operators and offer accountability when problems arose.
The two permits include the extension of the downtown Christiansted Boardwalk west from King’s Alley toward past the Holger Danske Hotel. The other is for the reconstruction of an existing 984 square foot dock at the renovated hotel on St. Croix’s southeast shore.
WAPA CONTINUING POWER ROTATION
The V.I. Water and Power Authority will continue juggling St. Croix’s power supply Thursday.
The power rotation used on Wednesday will be repeated again, about five days after an electrical supply mishap hit WAPA’s Richmond station. The problems began just after 5 p.m. Sunday when an electrical short developed on high voltage cables at the Richmond substation and tripped the operating generators and desalinization units.
On Monday, WAPA began rotating power between its electrical feeders, causing those whose feeders were out to be powerless for at least two hours.
The revised rotation schedule is: Feeder 2 without service from 7:45 a.m. to 10 a.m.; Feeder 10 out from 10 a.m. to noon; Feeder 9 out from noon to 2 p.m.; Feeders 4 and 6 out from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.; Feeders 2 and 3 out from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Feeder 9 out from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Feeders 1 and 6 out from 8 p.m to 10:30 p.m.
According to WAPA, crews are replacing the high voltage cables and the utility expects to end the feeder rotation by this weekend.
CASINO COMMISSION'S SPECIAL MEETING ON FRIDAY
The V.I. Casino Control Commission will hold a special meeting Friday in order to consider the renewal of the V.I. Hospitality Training School’s license to operate a casino gaming school. The meeting starts at 9:30 a.m.
The meeting is being called because St. Croix’s first casino is slated to open Dec. 1. V.I. law mandates that 80 percent of casino workers must be Virgin Islanders who are trained and licensed to work in the industry. The school’s license expired last week, however, and now must be renewed by the commission.
That must be done on Friday because Commissioner Dennis Brow’s term expires at the end of the day, leaving only two members — and a lack of quorum — on the panel. Brow’s term expired in March, but was extended by Gov. Charles Turnbull for another 120 days. The remaining commissioners are Chairwoman Eileen Petersen and Imelda Dizon.
