Aug. 22, 2007 — At an amicable meeting Wednesday, the V.I. Port Authority board directed the lion's share of its attention to delays in processing air passengers.
While airport issues dominated the discussion, Darlan Brin, executive director of the V.I. Port Authority, also got unanimous board approval for a dredging project he said will bring in extra revenue.
"We need to dredge the shallow end of the landfill area near Tropical Shipping to accommodate larger ships," he said. "It will cost less than $100,000. It's a matter of a couple feet from a 26-foot draft to a 28-foot draft, but it will allow the larger ships to dock there. We will have a ship from Europe once a week docking there, bringing in cargo for transshipping."
The board took action on an amendment that will be good news for passengers in the long term, while debating solutions for other immediate concerns. The authority plans to ask the Federal Aviation Administration to amend the existing agreement, approved in 2004, Brin said. It would extend for four more years the $3-per-passenger facility charge tacked on to airline tickets, change the scope of the approved projects and increase the total amount to be collected from $8 million to $13.5 million.
Passenger flow from ticketing, inspection, screening and waiting for boarding aircraft needs to be improved, Brin stressed. He said he has spoken with Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials, but to no avail.
"The system now is not working,” he said. “It's not efficient. We have a Trojan horse here. The machines don't always work, and the baggage has to be inspected manually."
Brin said he has spoken to TSA officials about changing the way the agency expedites baggage.
"It's a first-come, first-served basis," Brin said. "I've asked them to deliver the bags for the flight that's departing first, and do them in order."
Phase 2 of the project will include a baggage makeup system replacement and upgrades of the electrical system, air conditioning and passenger departing area. The estimated cost is $5.5 million.
Brin lit a fuse with his remarks. Almost all board members pitched in with personal experiences at the airports. Albert Bryan Jr., chairman of the Economic Development Authority, shook his head.
"It's ridiculous,” he said. “I had an hour wait just the other day to get my bags."
Joe Cranston, special assistant to the executive director, blamed the delays on Worldwide Flight Services. "They service American, Liat, Continental,” he said. “They don't pay very well."
Speaking later by phone, Worldwide General Manager Joanne Bohr disagreed.
"I'm at full staff right now,” she said. “We pay at market, or better than market value, and we've had people since 1989 when stations opened consistently. We value each and every one of them."
Transportation officials should look at the airport infrastructure, she said.
"I believe a thorough review would place more delays at the airport facilities, or lack thereof, than any company's staffing levels,” Bohr said. “Our employees have been stretched thin because of three gates being out of use all season and post-season, as well.”
Blame for the problems has been misdirected, she said.
"I recognize that the Port Authority is aware and trying to remedy the problems, but the difficulties, for the most part, have been placed on the shoulders of airport/airline employees," she said. "Airport tenants have been hard pressed to get flights out in a timely manner as a result of many different airport issues."
At Wednesday’s board meeting, some members asked why something hasn't been said to Worldwide or the airlines. Much discussion ensued about chain of command and who to approach. Board members seemed perplexed as to why something wasn't being done.
Much talk centered around waiting to get out of the parking lot when only one booth was in operation. Kenn Hobson, director of property management, said the problems were only at night; daytime is covered. There's only one attendant at night but there's usually no delay, he said.
Beverly Nicholson-Doty, Tourism Commissioner, disagreed. "I sent someone from our department out to the airport, as though she was picking up a passenger, and it took one hour to get back out."
In the last week, Nicholson-Doty said, she has had seven complaints about the parking lot delays. Finch suggested that Hobson put someone on overtime to solve the problem.
The Cyril E. King airport on St. Thomas is becoming too well known for passengers delays, said the authority’s former executive director, Gordon Finch: “Not delays getting out — delays after passengers arrive here."
Finch said he recently attended a function where an entertainer used an airport situation as the butt of a joke. "He said that it takes two hours to reach St. Thomas and another two hours to get out of the airport,” Finch told the board. “I was very embarrassed.”
In other matters, Finch received unanimous approval from the board to hire architects deJongh Associates to create a conceptual development plan for Cruz Bay Creek on St. John. The barges that used to tie up there now go to Enighed Pond, and the area needs beautification, Finch explained. Drawing up the plan will cost less than $100,000, he said.
Turning to another marine project, Finch said he was impressed with a recent tour of the Red Hook marine terminal.
"I wondered what had brought the cost up to $10 million, when the initial cost when we started it in 2001 was $4 million,” he said. “I wondered if we were getting value for our money."
After inspecting the terminal's structures and infrastructure, he is convinced the authority got dollar value, Finch said. The terminal is now 99 percent complete. The tenant spaces are finished, and tenants could begin moving in this week, said Dale Gregory, VIPA’s director of engineering.
What remains is the stripping of the parking lot, expected to be completed before the end on the month.
Present at Wednesday’s meeting were board members Vincent Frazer, Attorney General; Finch; Robert O'Connor Jr., chairman; Darryl Smalls, Public Works commissioner; and Yvonne E. L. Thraen. Cassan Pancham and Hector Peguero were absent.
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