The construction of the Enighed Pond marine cargo facility on St. John could be delayed for years if the Port Authority and the Turnbull administration don’t agree on how to pay for the $16 million project.
Port Authority executive director Gordon Finch told VIPA board members Wednesday that the authority was ready to put up its half of the funding for the project. But he said he was recently told by administration officials that the government’s half would be a loan to VIPA, not a grant.
That news, Finch said, left him "exasperated" because he said he had been told by the administration that it was planning to use proceeds from the pending sale of the Water and Power Authority to fund its share of the project. The idea of a loan was never discussed, he said.
Finch implored board members not to go ahead with the project if the administration limits its contribution to a loan.
If the board chooses not to move ahead, he said, the project, which has been under discussion for years, will be delayed indefinitely.
"I’m asking the board, please don’t do it," he said. "The project will be delayed. Yes, we will do it ourselves — but when we have the financing… "It’s going to be a significant period of time, and I’m talking years."
However, Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr., who sits on the VIPA board, said he expected to use Federal Highway Administration funding to pay for the project. He suggested that the funding from the proposed WAPA sale was a back-up plan.
Thompson said the government receives $12 million a year in federal transportation money and is planning to use $4 million of it this fiscal year and $4 million more later for the project.
"As long as I’m commissioner of Public Works, I’ll do my level best to get the project funded," Thompson said. "The federal highway program is the best chance to move forward."
Meanwhile, the uncertainty of where the government funding would come from and what the terms would be spurred Finch to recommend to the board that it draft a letter to Gov. Charles W. Turnbull stating why a loan would be untenable. VIPA also wants assurances that federal funding is available to pay for the project before work begins.
