Feb. 14, 2003 – The U.S. House of Representatives slashed $1.5 million intended for National Park Service purchase of land at Salt River from an omnibus appropriations bill it approved on Thursday, but it kept $1 million in funding for capital improvement projects in the territory in the legislation.
"In an effort by Republicans to cut $1 billion from the Interior appropriations, our Salt River funding was lost," Delegate Donna Christensen said in a release.
The actions taken were on the 2003 Omnibus Appropriations Act, which is a compilation of all the appropriation bills that were before the 107th Congress but not acted upon. The 108th Congress convened on Jan. 7.
The park's boundaries were expanded by 24 acres late last year. The owner of property bordering the parkland on the south wants to donate 15.5 acres to the park and another neighbor to the west wants to donate part and sell part of an 8.5-acre parcel. The smaller parcel includes a 4,800-square-foot house that could be used as a visitor center, something Salt River currently does not have.
"It's a setback, but it's not a devastating setback," NPS Superintendent Joel Tutein said Friday. "The funding guarantee for this year is not there, but that will not stop us from pursuing purchase of the property."
He said cited two options:
– The Trust for Public Land could purchase the property now and hold it in anticipation of a federal appropriation next year.
-The National Park Service could reprogram unspent money in its budget now targeted for projects elsewhere and make it available before the end of the fiscal year for acquiring the land.
In the latter scenario, Tutein said, he must work within the park system framework and make sure the local initiative is competitive for NPS money at the end of the fiscal year. "Our project is ready to go. It could get funding," he said.
Christensen said the $1 million capital improvement grant included in the omnibus bill "is an important down payment to help us meet the investments in solid waste and wastewater treatment facilities that we must make — or face millions in federal court penalties."
She added, though, that another item providing funding for V.I. wastewater facilities was cut by 10 percent. "We are grateful for the $450,000 that we will receive, even though it was cut, as were all member projects in the House and Senate," she said. The omnibus bill also must clear the U.S. Senate.
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U.S. HOUSE AXES FUNDS FOR SALT RIVER EXPANSION
Feb. 14, 2003 – The U.S. House of Representatives slashed $1.5 million intended for National Park Service purchase of land at Salt River from an omnibus appropriations bill it approved on Thursday, but it kept $1 million in funding for capital improvement projects in the territory in the legislation.
"In an effort by Republicans to cut $1 billion from the Interior appropriations, our Salt River funding was lost," Delegate Donna Christensen said in a release.
The actions taken were on the 2003 Omnibus Appropriations Act, which is a compilation of all the appropriation bills that were before the 107th Congress but not acted upon. The 108th Congress convened on Jan. 7.
The park's boundaries were expanded by 24 acres late last year. The owner of property bordering the parkland on the south wants to donate 15.5 acres to the park and another neighbor to the west wants to donate part and sell part of an 8.5-acre parcel. The smaller parcel includes a 4,800-square-foot house that could be used as a visitor center, something Salt River currently does not have.
"It's a setback, but it's not a devastating setback," NPS Superintendent Joel Tutein said Friday. "The funding guarantee for this year is not there, but that will not stop us from pursuing purchase of the property."
He said cited two options:
– The Trust for Public Land could purchase the property now and hold it in anticipation of a federal appropriation next year.
-The National Park Service could reprogram unspent money in its budget now targeted for projects elsewhere and make it available before the end of the fiscal year for acquiring the land.
In the latter scenario, Tutein said, he must work within the park system framework and make sure the local initiative is competitive for NPS money at the end of the fiscal year. "Our project is ready to go. It could get funding," he said.
Christensen said the $1 million capital improvement grant included in the omnibus bill "is an important down payment to help us meet the investments in solid waste and wastewater treatment facilities that we must make — or face millions in federal court penalties."
She added, though, that another item providing funding for V.I. wastewater facilities was cut by 10 percent. "We are grateful for the $450,000 that we will receive, even though it was cut, as were all member projects in the House and Senate," she said. The omnibus bill also must clear the U.S. Senate.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
"In an effort by Republicans to cut $1 billion from the Interior appropriations, our Salt River funding was lost," Delegate Donna Christensen said in a release.
The actions taken were on the 2003 Omnibus Appropriations Act, which is a compilation of all the appropriation bills that were before the 107th Congress but not acted upon. The 108th Congress convened on Jan. 7.
The park's boundaries were expanded by 24 acres late last year. The owner of property bordering the parkland on the south wants to donate 15.5 acres to the park and another neighbor to the west wants to donate part and sell part of an 8.5-acre parcel. The smaller parcel includes a 4,800-square-foot house that could be used as a visitor center, something Salt River currently does not have.
"It's a setback, but it's not a devastating setback," NPS Superintendent Joel Tutein said Friday. "The funding guarantee for this year is not there, but that will not stop us from pursuing purchase of the property."
He said cited two options:
– The Trust for Public Land could purchase the property now and hold it in anticipation of a federal appropriation next year.
-The National Park Service could reprogram unspent money in its budget now targeted for projects elsewhere and make it available before the end of the fiscal year for acquiring the land.
In the latter scenario, Tutein said, he must work within the park system framework and make sure the local initiative is competitive for NPS money at the end of the fiscal year. "Our project is ready to go. It could get funding," he said.
Christensen said the $1 million capital improvement grant included in the omnibus bill "is an important down payment to help us meet the investments in solid waste and wastewater treatment facilities that we must make — or face millions in federal court penalties."
She added, though, that another item providing funding for V.I. wastewater facilities was cut by 10 percent. "We are grateful for the $450,000 that we will receive, even though it was cut, as were all member projects in the House and Senate," she said. The omnibus bill also must clear the U.S. Senate.
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AIRPORT VOUCHER REGULATION TO BE ENFORCED
Feb. 14, 2003 – The Port Authority has put out a notice reminding taxi and tour operators who are not members of the St. Croix Taxi Association that in order to pick up passengers arriving at Henry E. Rohlsen Airport, they must show proof of a prepaid agreement to do so two days before the visitors' arrival.
The V.I. Code states that taxi drivers with a concession agreement at the airport — members of the St. Croix Taxi Association — have the exclusive right to provide public taxicab service from the terminal. The Port Authority announcement issued Thursday said the regulations will be enforced as of Monday.
"Any passenger moved from the airport in a commercially engaged vehicle must evidence a prepaid arrangement for use on non-member taxis," the VIPA statement said.
VIPA's spokeswoman, Monifa Marrero, said on Friday that the regulations are nothing new, but that Port Authority officials had noticed an increase in tour operators and non-member taxis at the airport without the required paperwork. "This is just a reminder; people have not been following the procedures," she said.
Non-member taxi or tour operators must present a prepaid voucher with a list of passengers to the Port Authority airport manager's office for approval 48 hours prior to the scheduled pickup. According to VIPA, an approved voucher is the only documentation acceptable for legally picking up passengers at the airport.
"Violators will be banned from conducting future business at the airport," the VIPA statement said. Marrero said she hopes the announcement "will take care of the problem."
Marrero said vouchers also are required at Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas, but there is a franchise monitor on the airport staff who is charge of handling the paperwork and overseeing compliance with the regulations.
For St. Croix pickups, vouchers may be faxed to 778-1033 or submitted in person at the airport. For more information, call 774-1629.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
The V.I. Code states that taxi drivers with a concession agreement at the airport — members of the St. Croix Taxi Association — have the exclusive right to provide public taxicab service from the terminal. The Port Authority announcement issued Thursday said the regulations will be enforced as of Monday.
"Any passenger moved from the airport in a commercially engaged vehicle must evidence a prepaid arrangement for use on non-member taxis," the VIPA statement said.
VIPA's spokeswoman, Monifa Marrero, said on Friday that the regulations are nothing new, but that Port Authority officials had noticed an increase in tour operators and non-member taxis at the airport without the required paperwork. "This is just a reminder; people have not been following the procedures," she said.
Non-member taxi or tour operators must present a prepaid voucher with a list of passengers to the Port Authority airport manager's office for approval 48 hours prior to the scheduled pickup. According to VIPA, an approved voucher is the only documentation acceptable for legally picking up passengers at the airport.
"Violators will be banned from conducting future business at the airport," the VIPA statement said. Marrero said she hopes the announcement "will take care of the problem."
Marrero said vouchers also are required at Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas, but there is a franchise monitor on the airport staff who is charge of handling the paperwork and overseeing compliance with the regulations.
For St. Croix pickups, vouchers may be faxed to 778-1033 or submitted in person at the airport. For more information, call 774-1629.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
RULING EXPECTED SOON IN NO-BID SEWER CONTRACT
Feb. 14, 2003 – After hearing three days of testimony, District Judge Thomas K. Moore said Thursday afternoon that he was ready to rule on a federal challenge to the V.I. government's awarding of a $3.6 million contract to repair St. Croix's crippled sewer system on an emergency basis without seeking bids.
Moore told lawyers for the U.S. and V.I. Justice Departments that he hoped to deliver his ruling in writing in a day or two. An aide said on Friday that it would likely be issued on Monday.
Meanwhile, according to a Public Works Department official, a V.I. government check for $1.6 million was to be deposited on Friday into a compliance agreement trust fund that Moore had ordered the territory to set up in connection with a sewage cleanup order issued in December 2000.
On Thursday, much of the testimony in court focused on the status of repairs laid out under in that clean-up order, the information coming in large part from Public Works waste management director Sonia Nelthropp and utilities manager Joseph Bradford.
In spite of assertions by Assistant Attorney General Michael Law that the V.I. government had become more diligent in addressing sewer repairs, the testimony painted a dismal picture of continuing neglect.
The testimony came in the third day of a hearing Moore convened last month at the request of U.S. Attorney David Nissman for the V.I. government to show cause why it should not be prevented from going forward with a sewer repair contract it awarded in December to Global Resources Management Inc. of St. Croix.
Nissman, in petitioning the court last month to hold the show-cause hearing, challenged the contract, awarded without bidding to a start-up company that he said had no apparent means or experience to carry out the specified repairs to St. Croix's decrepit wastewater system. He also charged that Gov. Charles W. Turnbull had declared a state of emergency in the sewer system so that he could fraudulently bypass the bidding process.
Ohanio Harris, an assistant to the governor, was president of Global Resources until last March. Esdel Hansen, husband of former senator and gubernatorial candidate Alicia "Chucky" Hansen and a recently retired Public Works employee, is Global's utilities director.
The day before the show-cause hearing was to begin, Turnbull announced without explanation that he had canceled the contract with Global the day before that. Nissman asked the that court proceed with the hearing nonetheless, and Moore did so. (See "Sewer contract out, but hearing still on".
After hearing testimony on Jan. 30 and Feb. 3, Moore asked the parties to return to court on Feb. 13 with updated financial data about the compliance agreement trust fund at Banco Popular, which authorities said then was believed to contain $10 million set aside from various sources to finance sewer repairs.
Moore also ordered that Nelthropp return on Feb. 13 to update the court on an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to allow a greater discharge of effluent from the Cruzan Rum plant so as to permit greater rum production and thereby generate additional rum tax revenues that could go into the compliance fund. (See "Written arguments next in sewer contract case".)
Nelthropp in a brief report on Thursday told Moore that Cruzan Rum revenues have so far added little to the compliance fund.
The contract awarded Global calls for the company to repair or replace sections of broken sewer pipe in Catherine's Rest and Bethlehem Gut and repair an open hole near the Randall "Doc" James Racetrack where the sewage distribution line is totally collapsed. It also provides for the installing of an emergency generator at the Lagoon Street pump station and a conducting a video inspection of a sewer line in Adventure Gut.
Week-ago St. Croix sewer inspection findings
As Bradford testified on Thursday, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney William Dillon presented a slide show of a regularly scheduled inspection tour of the St. Croix sewer system that was conducted earlier this week by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency personnel. Bradford said:
– Half of all the sewer pumps driving the system on St. Croix are currently broken.
– The island's three major pump stations are running with only one out of three pumps in operation.
– In at least one case, nothing can be immediately done if that single pump stops working.
"What happens if Lagoon Street pump station goes out … There's nothing you can do?" Dillon asked.
"That's right," Bradford said.
"And what is the location of that pump station?" Dillon asked.
"It's near the Legislature Building, a number of schools and a portion of Frederiksted," Bradford said.
"And if you had a failure here, you'd have a major bypass through the streets of Frederiksted?" Dillon asked.
"Yes, sir," Bradford said.
Dillon, who was assigned from Washington, D.C., to work with Nissman in the case, pointed out that the term "bypass" refers to the discharge of raw sewage running freely in public areas and eventually running off into the ocean.
At the LBJ pump station near Christiansted, Bradford said, things are better but not by much. Running on a single pump, he said, it would take up to 12 hours to set up a connector to attach an emergency pump in case of system failure.
Pictures displayed in court showed Bradford and EPA compliance officer Pedro Modesto checking conditions at Bethlehem Gut, where a hairline crack along a sewer line degenerated into the collapse of several feet of pipe. Dillon calculated that about 80,000 gallons of sewage is escaping from that section daily. Other pictures showed a broken generator at the Fig Tree pump station.
Bradford described tireless efforts by himself and seven Public Works assistants to keep St. Croix's 19 miles of sewer pipes functioning. Under questioning by Michael Law, he said he and his team were getting burned out working seven days a week trying to meet an unending string of emergencies.
A task Moore set for himself in the course of the hearing was to try to determine exactly what constitutes an emergency in a sewer system that has been suffering failures since 1984 and massive sewage spills from erupted pipes for the last two years.
Global tried to modify contract
Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Frankel said problems were evident with the V.I. government's contract with Global last year long before it was finalized. He produced documents showing company officials were then trying to raise the specified contract price of $3.6 million and read from a contract addendum submitted by Global's president since last March, Ashley Andrews, specifying that costs for certain repairs be subject to "equitable adjustment."
In a Sept. 30 memorandum to Government House, Frankel said, Andrews wrote: "I hereby recommend that we use the figures of $3,537,150 as an allowance figure and amend this figure by change orders to reflect the true cost of the project. The obvious advantage to this is that neither party is disadvantaged."
Nelthropp said she had not been aware of the memo and that the proposed contract change was more likely familiar to Public Works senior engineer Charles Bornman, who worked out the details. She also expressed confidence that a properly written contract giving the government control of decision making would keep the contractor from making unjustified spending decisions.
In spite of the challenges facing the government as it tries to resolve its sewer woes, Bradford told the court, all is not bleak. Contractors have built a new emergency generator house for the LBJ pump station, he said, and a replacement generator for Lagoon Street has arrived on island and is awaiting inst allation. "We're doing a major overhaul of the distribution system and have ordered a number of pumps to replace older ones throughout the system," he said.
What's needed to keep the work going, Branford said, is money — both as a means of delivering the goods and as a basis of regaining the confidence of local contractors now reluctant to work for the V.I. government because of its record of late payments.
One of the things Moore had asked V.I. officials to bring to the Thursday hearing was a status report on funds set aside in the compliance agreement trust fund. Nelthropp said there is currently $5 million in the fund and that she nad brought with her to court with a check for $1.6 million representing a penalty payment that was supposed to be paid to the EPA.
Nelthropp in addition to being Public Works waste management director also serves as senior manager of the federal compliance program. She explained that the EPA had initially assessed the territory $26 million in penalties for missed deadlines in repairing the wastewater system but that the amount due had been whittled down through negotiation to the $1.6 million represented by the check.
Thursday, she asked Moore for and got permission to deposit the check instead in the compliance trust fund and work out an agreement to pay the penalties owed the EPA later. Nelthropp said she would deposit the check on Friday.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
Moore told lawyers for the U.S. and V.I. Justice Departments that he hoped to deliver his ruling in writing in a day or two. An aide said on Friday that it would likely be issued on Monday.
Meanwhile, according to a Public Works Department official, a V.I. government check for $1.6 million was to be deposited on Friday into a compliance agreement trust fund that Moore had ordered the territory to set up in connection with a sewage cleanup order issued in December 2000.
On Thursday, much of the testimony in court focused on the status of repairs laid out under in that clean-up order, the information coming in large part from Public Works waste management director Sonia Nelthropp and utilities manager Joseph Bradford.
In spite of assertions by Assistant Attorney General Michael Law that the V.I. government had become more diligent in addressing sewer repairs, the testimony painted a dismal picture of continuing neglect.
The testimony came in the third day of a hearing Moore convened last month at the request of U.S. Attorney David Nissman for the V.I. government to show cause why it should not be prevented from going forward with a sewer repair contract it awarded in December to Global Resources Management Inc. of St. Croix.
Nissman, in petitioning the court last month to hold the show-cause hearing, challenged the contract, awarded without bidding to a start-up company that he said had no apparent means or experience to carry out the specified repairs to St. Croix's decrepit wastewater system. He also charged that Gov. Charles W. Turnbull had declared a state of emergency in the sewer system so that he could fraudulently bypass the bidding process.
Ohanio Harris, an assistant to the governor, was president of Global Resources until last March. Esdel Hansen, husband of former senator and gubernatorial candidate Alicia "Chucky" Hansen and a recently retired Public Works employee, is Global's utilities director.
The day before the show-cause hearing was to begin, Turnbull announced without explanation that he had canceled the contract with Global the day before that. Nissman asked the that court proceed with the hearing nonetheless, and Moore did so. (See "Sewer contract out, but hearing still on".
After hearing testimony on Jan. 30 and Feb. 3, Moore asked the parties to return to court on Feb. 13 with updated financial data about the compliance agreement trust fund at Banco Popular, which authorities said then was believed to contain $10 million set aside from various sources to finance sewer repairs.
Moore also ordered that Nelthropp return on Feb. 13 to update the court on an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to allow a greater discharge of effluent from the Cruzan Rum plant so as to permit greater rum production and thereby generate additional rum tax revenues that could go into the compliance fund. (See "Written arguments next in sewer contract case".)
Nelthropp in a brief report on Thursday told Moore that Cruzan Rum revenues have so far added little to the compliance fund.
The contract awarded Global calls for the company to repair or replace sections of broken sewer pipe in Catherine's Rest and Bethlehem Gut and repair an open hole near the Randall "Doc" James Racetrack where the sewage distribution line is totally collapsed. It also provides for the installing of an emergency generator at the Lagoon Street pump station and a conducting a video inspection of a sewer line in Adventure Gut.
Week-ago St. Croix sewer inspection findings
As Bradford testified on Thursday, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney William Dillon presented a slide show of a regularly scheduled inspection tour of the St. Croix sewer system that was conducted earlier this week by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency personnel. Bradford said:
– Half of all the sewer pumps driving the system on St. Croix are currently broken.
– The island's three major pump stations are running with only one out of three pumps in operation.
– In at least one case, nothing can be immediately done if that single pump stops working.
"What happens if Lagoon Street pump station goes out … There's nothing you can do?" Dillon asked.
"That's right," Bradford said.
"And what is the location of that pump station?" Dillon asked.
"It's near the Legislature Building, a number of schools and a portion of Frederiksted," Bradford said.
"And if you had a failure here, you'd have a major bypass through the streets of Frederiksted?" Dillon asked.
"Yes, sir," Bradford said.
Dillon, who was assigned from Washington, D.C., to work with Nissman in the case, pointed out that the term "bypass" refers to the discharge of raw sewage running freely in public areas and eventually running off into the ocean.
At the LBJ pump station near Christiansted, Bradford said, things are better but not by much. Running on a single pump, he said, it would take up to 12 hours to set up a connector to attach an emergency pump in case of system failure.
Pictures displayed in court showed Bradford and EPA compliance officer Pedro Modesto checking conditions at Bethlehem Gut, where a hairline crack along a sewer line degenerated into the collapse of several feet of pipe. Dillon calculated that about 80,000 gallons of sewage is escaping from that section daily. Other pictures showed a broken generator at the Fig Tree pump station.
Bradford described tireless efforts by himself and seven Public Works assistants to keep St. Croix's 19 miles of sewer pipes functioning. Under questioning by Michael Law, he said he and his team were getting burned out working seven days a week trying to meet an unending string of emergencies.
A task Moore set for himself in the course of the hearing was to try to determine exactly what constitutes an emergency in a sewer system that has been suffering failures since 1984 and massive sewage spills from erupted pipes for the last two years.
Global tried to modify contract
Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Frankel said problems were evident with the V.I. government's contract with Global last year long before it was finalized. He produced documents showing company officials were then trying to raise the specified contract price of $3.6 million and read from a contract addendum submitted by Global's president since last March, Ashley Andrews, specifying that costs for certain repairs be subject to "equitable adjustment."
In a Sept. 30 memorandum to Government House, Frankel said, Andrews wrote: "I hereby recommend that we use the figures of $3,537,150 as an allowance figure and amend this figure by change orders to reflect the true cost of the project. The obvious advantage to this is that neither party is disadvantaged."
Nelthropp said she had not been aware of the memo and that the proposed contract change was more likely familiar to Public Works senior engineer Charles Bornman, who worked out the details. She also expressed confidence that a properly written contract giving the government control of decision making would keep the contractor from making unjustified spending decisions.
In spite of the challenges facing the government as it tries to resolve its sewer woes, Bradford told the court, all is not bleak. Contractors have built a new emergency generator house for the LBJ pump station, he said, and a replacement generator for Lagoon Street has arrived on island and is awaiting inst allation. "We're doing a major overhaul of the distribution system and have ordered a number of pumps to replace older ones throughout the system," he said.
What's needed to keep the work going, Branford said, is money — both as a means of delivering the goods and as a basis of regaining the confidence of local contractors now reluctant to work for the V.I. government because of its record of late payments.
One of the things Moore had asked V.I. officials to bring to the Thursday hearing was a status report on funds set aside in the compliance agreement trust fund. Nelthropp said there is currently $5 million in the fund and that she nad brought with her to court with a check for $1.6 million representing a penalty payment that was supposed to be paid to the EPA.
Nelthropp in addition to being Public Works waste management director also serves as senior manager of the federal compliance program. She explained that the EPA had initially assessed the territory $26 million in penalties for missed deadlines in repairing the wastewater system but that the amount due had been whittled down through negotiation to the $1.6 million represented by the check.
Thursday, she asked Moore for and got permission to deposit the check instead in the compliance trust fund and work out an agreement to pay the penalties owed the EPA later. Nelthropp said she would deposit the check on Friday.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
RULING EXPECTED SOON IN NO-BID SEWER CONTRACT
Feb. 14, 2003 – After hearing a third day of testimony on Thursday, District Judge Thomas K. Moore said that he was ready to rule on a challenge to the V.I. government's awarding of a $3.6 million contract to repair St. Croix's crippled sewer system on an emergency basis without seeking bids.
Moore told lawyers for the U.S. and V.I. Justice Departments that he hoped to deliver his ruling in writing in a day or two. An aide said on Friday that it would likely be issued on Monday.
Meanwhile, according to a Public Works Department official, a V.I. government check for $1.6 million was to be deposited on Friday into a compliance agreement trust fund that Moore had ordered the territory to set up in connection with a sewage cleanup order issued in December 2000.
On Thursday, much of the testimony in court focused on the status of repairs laid out under in that clean-up order, the information coming in large part from Public Works waste management director Sonia Nelthropp and utilities manager Joseph Bradford.
In spite of assertions by Assistant Attorney General Michael Law that the V.I. government had become more diligent in addressing sewer repairs, the testimony painted a dismal picture of continuing neglect.
The testimony came in the third day of a hearing Moore convened last month at the request of U.S. Attorney David Nissman for the V.I. government to show cause why it should not be prevented from going forward with a sewer repair contract it awarded in December to Global Resources Management Inc. of St. Croix.
Nissman, in petitioning the court last month to hold the show-cause hearing, challenged the contract, awarded without bidding to a start-up company that he said had no apparent means or experience to carry out the specified repairs to St. Croix's decrepit wastewater system. He also charged that Gov. Charles W. Turnbull had declared a state of emergency in the sewer system so that he could fraudulently bypass the bidding process.
Ohanio Harris, an assistant to the governor, was president of Global Resources until last March. Esdel Hansen, husband of former senator and gubernatorial candidate Alicia "Chucky" Hansen and a recently retired Public Works employee, is Global's utilities director.
The day before the show-cause hearing was to begin, Turnbull announced without explanation that he had canceled the contract with Global the day before that. Nissman asked the that court proceed with the hearing nonetheless, and Moore did so. (See "Sewer contract out, but hearing still on".
After hearing testimony on Jan. 30 and Feb. 3, Moore asked the parties to return to court on Feb. 13 with updated financial data about the compliance agreement trust fund at Banco Popular, which authorities said then was believed to contain $10 million set aside from various sources to finance sewer repairs.
Moore also ordered that Nelthropp return on Feb. 13 to update the court on an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to allow a greater discharge of effluent from the Cruzan Rum plant so as to permit greater rum production and thereby generate additional rum tax revenues that could go into the compliance fund. (See "Written arguments next in sewer contract case".)
Nelthropp in a brief report on Thursday told Moore that Cruzan Rum revenues have so far added little to the compliance fund.
The contract awarded Global calls for the company to repair or replace sections of broken sewer pipe in Catherine's Rest and Bethlehem Gut and repair an open hole near the Randall "Doc" James Racetrack where the sewage distribution line is totally collapsed. It also provides for the installing of an emergency generator at the Lagoon Street pump station and a conducting a video inspection of a sewer line in Adventure Gut.
Week-ago St. Croix sewer inspection findings
As Bradford testified on Thursday, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney William Dillon presented a slide show of a regularly scheduled inspection tour of the St. Croix sewer system that was conducted earlier this week by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency personnel. Bradford said:
– Half of all the sewer pumps driving the system on St. Croix are currently broken.
– The island's three major pump stations are running with only one out of three pumps in operation.
– In at least one case, nothing can be immediately done if that single pump stops working.
"What happens if Lagoon Street pump station goes out … There's nothing you can do?" Dillon asked.
"That's right," Bradford said.
"And what is the location of that pump station?" Dillon asked.
"It's near the Legislature Building, a number of schools and a portion of Frederiksted," Bradford said.
"And if you had a failure here, you'd have a major bypass through the streets of Frederiksted?" Dillon asked.
"Yes, sir," Bradford said.
Dillon, who was assigned from Washington, D.C., to work with Nissman in the case, pointed out that the term "bypass" refers to the discharge of raw sewage running freely in public areas and eventually running off into the ocean.
At the LBJ pump station near Christiansted, Bradford said, things are better but not by much. Running on a single pump, he said, it would take up to 12 hours to set up a connector to attach an emergency pump in case of system failure.
Pictures displayed in court showed Bradford and EPA compliance officer Pedro Modesto checking conditions at Bethlehem Gut, where a hairline crack along a sewer line degenerated into the collapse of several feet of pipe. Dillon calculated that about 80,000 gallons of sewage is escaping from that section daily. Other pictures showed a broken generator at the Fig Tree pump station.
Bradford described tireless efforts by himself and seven Public Works assistants to keep St. Croix's 19 miles of sewer pipes functioning. Under questioning by Michael Law, he said he and his team were getting burned out working seven days a week trying to meet an unending string of emergencies.
A task Moore set for himself in the course of the hearing was to try to determine exactly what constitutes an emergency in a sewer system that has been suffering failures since 1984 and massive sewage spills from erupted pipes for the last two years.
Global tried to modify contract
Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Frankel said problems were evident with the V.I. government's contract with Global last year long before it was finalized. He produced documents showing company officials were then trying to raise the specified contract price of $3.6 million and read from a contract addendum submitted by Global's president since last March, Ashley Andrews, specifying that costs for certain repairs be subject to "equitable adjustment."
In a Sept. 30 memorandum to Government House, Frankel said, Andrews wrote: "I hereby recommend that we use the figures of $3,537,150 as an allowance figure and amend this figure by change orders to reflect the true cost of the project. The obvious advantage to this is that neither party is disadvantaged."
Nelthropp said she had not been aware of the memo and that the proposed contract change was more likely familiar to Public Works senior engineer Charles Bornman, who worked out the details. She also expressed confidence that a properly written contract giving the government control of decision making would keep the contractor from making unjustified spending decisions.
In spite of the challenges facing the government as it tries to resolve its sewer woes, Bradford told the court, all is not bleak. Contractors have built a new emergency generator house for the LBJ pump station, he said, and a replacement generator for Lagoon Street has arrived on island and is awaiting installation. " We're doing a major overhaul of the distribution system and have ordered a number of pumps to replace older ones throughout the system," he said.
What's needed to keep the work going, Branford said, is money — both as a means of delivering the goods and as a basis of regaining the confidence of local contractors now reluctant to work for the V.I. government because of its record of late payments.
One of the things Moore had asked V.I. officials to bring to the Thursday hearing was a status report on funds set aside in the compliance agreement trust fund. Nelthropp said there is currently $5 million in the fund and that she nad brought with her to court with a check for $1.6 million representing a penalty payment that was supposed to be paid to the EPA.
Nelthropp in addition to being Public Works waste management director also serves as senior manager of the federal compliance program. She explained that the EPA had initially assessed the territory $26 million in penalties for missed deadlines in repairing the wastewater system but that the amount due had been whittled down through negotiation to the $1.6 million represented by the check.
Thursday, she asked Moore for and got permission to deposit the check instead in the compliance trust fund and work out an agreement to pay the penalties owed the EPA later. Nelthropp said she would deposit the check on Friday.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
Moore told lawyers for the U.S. and V.I. Justice Departments that he hoped to deliver his ruling in writing in a day or two. An aide said on Friday that it would likely be issued on Monday.
Meanwhile, according to a Public Works Department official, a V.I. government check for $1.6 million was to be deposited on Friday into a compliance agreement trust fund that Moore had ordered the territory to set up in connection with a sewage cleanup order issued in December 2000.
On Thursday, much of the testimony in court focused on the status of repairs laid out under in that clean-up order, the information coming in large part from Public Works waste management director Sonia Nelthropp and utilities manager Joseph Bradford.
In spite of assertions by Assistant Attorney General Michael Law that the V.I. government had become more diligent in addressing sewer repairs, the testimony painted a dismal picture of continuing neglect.
The testimony came in the third day of a hearing Moore convened last month at the request of U.S. Attorney David Nissman for the V.I. government to show cause why it should not be prevented from going forward with a sewer repair contract it awarded in December to Global Resources Management Inc. of St. Croix.
Nissman, in petitioning the court last month to hold the show-cause hearing, challenged the contract, awarded without bidding to a start-up company that he said had no apparent means or experience to carry out the specified repairs to St. Croix's decrepit wastewater system. He also charged that Gov. Charles W. Turnbull had declared a state of emergency in the sewer system so that he could fraudulently bypass the bidding process.
Ohanio Harris, an assistant to the governor, was president of Global Resources until last March. Esdel Hansen, husband of former senator and gubernatorial candidate Alicia "Chucky" Hansen and a recently retired Public Works employee, is Global's utilities director.
The day before the show-cause hearing was to begin, Turnbull announced without explanation that he had canceled the contract with Global the day before that. Nissman asked the that court proceed with the hearing nonetheless, and Moore did so. (See "Sewer contract out, but hearing still on".
After hearing testimony on Jan. 30 and Feb. 3, Moore asked the parties to return to court on Feb. 13 with updated financial data about the compliance agreement trust fund at Banco Popular, which authorities said then was believed to contain $10 million set aside from various sources to finance sewer repairs.
Moore also ordered that Nelthropp return on Feb. 13 to update the court on an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to allow a greater discharge of effluent from the Cruzan Rum plant so as to permit greater rum production and thereby generate additional rum tax revenues that could go into the compliance fund. (See "Written arguments next in sewer contract case".)
Nelthropp in a brief report on Thursday told Moore that Cruzan Rum revenues have so far added little to the compliance fund.
The contract awarded Global calls for the company to repair or replace sections of broken sewer pipe in Catherine's Rest and Bethlehem Gut and repair an open hole near the Randall "Doc" James Racetrack where the sewage distribution line is totally collapsed. It also provides for the installing of an emergency generator at the Lagoon Street pump station and a conducting a video inspection of a sewer line in Adventure Gut.
Week-ago St. Croix sewer inspection findings
As Bradford testified on Thursday, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney William Dillon presented a slide show of a regularly scheduled inspection tour of the St. Croix sewer system that was conducted earlier this week by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency personnel. Bradford said:
– Half of all the sewer pumps driving the system on St. Croix are currently broken.
– The island's three major pump stations are running with only one out of three pumps in operation.
– In at least one case, nothing can be immediately done if that single pump stops working.
"What happens if Lagoon Street pump station goes out … There's nothing you can do?" Dillon asked.
"That's right," Bradford said.
"And what is the location of that pump station?" Dillon asked.
"It's near the Legislature Building, a number of schools and a portion of Frederiksted," Bradford said.
"And if you had a failure here, you'd have a major bypass through the streets of Frederiksted?" Dillon asked.
"Yes, sir," Bradford said.
Dillon, who was assigned from Washington, D.C., to work with Nissman in the case, pointed out that the term "bypass" refers to the discharge of raw sewage running freely in public areas and eventually running off into the ocean.
At the LBJ pump station near Christiansted, Bradford said, things are better but not by much. Running on a single pump, he said, it would take up to 12 hours to set up a connector to attach an emergency pump in case of system failure.
Pictures displayed in court showed Bradford and EPA compliance officer Pedro Modesto checking conditions at Bethlehem Gut, where a hairline crack along a sewer line degenerated into the collapse of several feet of pipe. Dillon calculated that about 80,000 gallons of sewage is escaping from that section daily. Other pictures showed a broken generator at the Fig Tree pump station.
Bradford described tireless efforts by himself and seven Public Works assistants to keep St. Croix's 19 miles of sewer pipes functioning. Under questioning by Michael Law, he said he and his team were getting burned out working seven days a week trying to meet an unending string of emergencies.
A task Moore set for himself in the course of the hearing was to try to determine exactly what constitutes an emergency in a sewer system that has been suffering failures since 1984 and massive sewage spills from erupted pipes for the last two years.
Global tried to modify contract
Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Frankel said problems were evident with the V.I. government's contract with Global last year long before it was finalized. He produced documents showing company officials were then trying to raise the specified contract price of $3.6 million and read from a contract addendum submitted by Global's president since last March, Ashley Andrews, specifying that costs for certain repairs be subject to "equitable adjustment."
In a Sept. 30 memorandum to Government House, Frankel said, Andrews wrote: "I hereby recommend that we use the figures of $3,537,150 as an allowance figure and amend this figure by change orders to reflect the true cost of the project. The obvious advantage to this is that neither party is disadvantaged."
Nelthropp said she had not been aware of the memo and that the proposed contract change was more likely familiar to Public Works senior engineer Charles Bornman, who worked out the details. She also expressed confidence that a properly written contract giving the government control of decision making would keep the contractor from making unjustified spending decisions.
In spite of the challenges facing the government as it tries to resolve its sewer woes, Bradford told the court, all is not bleak. Contractors have built a new emergency generator house for the LBJ pump station, he said, and a replacement generator for Lagoon Street has arrived on island and is awaiting installation. " We're doing a major overhaul of the distribution system and have ordered a number of pumps to replace older ones throughout the system," he said.
What's needed to keep the work going, Branford said, is money — both as a means of delivering the goods and as a basis of regaining the confidence of local contractors now reluctant to work for the V.I. government because of its record of late payments.
One of the things Moore had asked V.I. officials to bring to the Thursday hearing was a status report on funds set aside in the compliance agreement trust fund. Nelthropp said there is currently $5 million in the fund and that she nad brought with her to court with a check for $1.6 million representing a penalty payment that was supposed to be paid to the EPA.
Nelthropp in addition to being Public Works waste management director also serves as senior manager of the federal compliance program. She explained that the EPA had initially assessed the territory $26 million in penalties for missed deadlines in repairing the wastewater system but that the amount due had been whittled down through negotiation to the $1.6 million represented by the check.
Thursday, she asked Moore for and got permission to deposit the check instead in the compliance trust fund and work out an agreement to pay the penalties owed the EPA later. Nelthropp said she would deposit the check on Friday.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
RULING EXPECTED SOON ON NO-BID SEWER CONTRACT
Feb. 14, 2003 – After hearing a third day of testimony on Thursday, District Judge Thomas K. Moore said that he was ready to rule on a federal challenge to the V.I. government's awarding of a $3.6 million contract to repair St. Croix's crippled sewer system on an emergency basis without seeking bids.
Moore told lawyers for the U.S. and V.I. Justice Departments that he hoped to deliver his ruling in writing in a day or two. An aide said on Friday that it would likely be issued on Monday.
Meanwhile, according to a Public Works Department official, a V.I. government check for $1.6 million was to be deposited on Friday into a compliance agreement trust fund that Moore had ordered the territory to set up in connection with a sewage cleanup order issued in December 2000.
On Thursday, much of the testimony in court focused on the status of repairs laid out under in that clean-up order, the information coming in large part from Public Works waste management director Sonia Nelthropp and utilities manager Joseph Bradford.
In spite of assertions by Assistant Attorney General Michael Law that the V.I. government had become more diligent in addressing sewer repairs, the testimony painted a dismal picture of continuing neglect.
The testimony came in the third day of a hearing Moore convened last month at the request of U.S. Attorney David Nissman for the V.I. government to show cause why it should not be prevented from going forward with a sewer repair contract it awarded in December to Global Resources Management Inc. of St. Croix.
Nissman, in petitioning the court last month to hold the show-cause hearing, challenged the contract, awarded without bidding to a start-up company that he said had no apparent means or experience to carry out the specified repairs to St. Croix's decrepit wastewater system. He also charged that Gov. Charles W. Turnbull had declared a state of emergency in the sewer system so that he could fraudulently bypass the bidding process.
Ohanio Harris, an assistant to the governor, was president of Global Resources until last March. Esdel Hansen, husband of former senator and gubernatorial candidate Alicia "Chucky" Hansen and a recently retired Public Works employee, is Global's utilities director.
The day before the show-cause hearing was to begin, Turnbull announced without explanation that he had canceled the contract with Global the day before that. Nissman asked the that court proceed with the hearing nonetheless, and Moore did so. (See "Sewer contract out, but hearing still on".
After hearing testimony on Jan. 30 and Feb. 3, Moore asked the parties to return to court on Feb. 13 with updated financial data about the compliance agreement trust fund at Banco Popular, which authorities said then was believed to contain $10 million set aside from various sources to finance sewer repairs.
Moore also ordered that Nelthropp return on Feb. 13 to update the court on an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to allow a greater discharge of effluent from the Cruzan Rum plant so as to permit greater rum production and thereby generate additional rum tax revenues that could go into the compliance fund. (See "Written arguments next in sewer contract case".)
Nelthropp in a brief report on Thursday told Moore that Cruzan Rum revenues have so far added little to the compliance fund.
The contract awarded Global calls for the company to repair or replace sections of broken sewer pipe in Catherine's Rest and Bethlehem Gut and repair an open hole near the Randall "Doc" James Racetrack where the sewage distribution line is totally collapsed. It also provides for the installing of an emergency generator at the Lagoon Street pump station and a conducting a video inspection of a sewer line in Adventure Gut.
Week-ago St. Croix sewer inspection findings
As Bradford testified on Thursday, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney William Dillon presented a slide show of a regularly scheduled inspection tour of the St. Croix sewer system that was conducted earlier this week by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency personnel. Bradford said:
– Half of all the sewer pumps driving the system on St. Croix are currently broken.
– The island's three major pump stations are running with only one out of three pumps in operation.
– In at least one case, nothing can be immediately done if that single pump stops working.
"What happens if Lagoon Street pump station goes out … There's nothing you can do?" Dillon asked.
"That's right," Bradford said.
"And what is the location of that pump station?" Dillon asked.
"It's near the Legislature Building, a number of schools and a portion of Frederiksted," Bradford said.
"And if you had a failure here, you'd have a major bypass through the streets of Frederiksted?" Dillon asked.
"Yes, sir," Bradford said.
Dillon, who was assigned from Washington, D.C., to work with Nissman in the case, pointed out that the term "bypass" refers to the discharge of raw sewage running freely in public areas and eventually running off into the ocean.
At the LBJ pump station near Christiansted, Bradford said, things are better but not by much. Running on a single pump, he said, it would take up to 12 hours to set up a connector to attach an emergency pump in case of system failure.
Pictures displayed in court showed Bradford and EPA compliance officer Pedro Modesto checking conditions at Bethlehem Gut, where a hairline crack along a sewer line degenerated into the collapse of several feet of pipe. Dillon calculated that about 80,000 gallons of sewage is escaping from that section daily. Other pictures showed a broken generator at the Fig Tree pump station.
Bradford described tireless efforts by himself and seven Public Works assistants to keep St. Croix's 19 miles of sewer pipes functioning. Under questioning by Michael Law, he said he and his team were getting burned out working seven days a week trying to meet an unending string of emergencies.
A task Moore set for himself in the course of the hearing was to try to determine exactly what constitutes an emergency in a sewer system that has been suffering failures since 1984 and massive sewage spills from erupted pipes for the last two years.
Global tried to modify contract
Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Frankel said problems were evident with the V.I. government's contract with Global last year long before it was finalized. He produced documents showing company officials were then trying to raise the specified contract price of $3.6 million and read from a contract addendum submitted by Global's president since last March, Ashley Andrews, specifying that costs for certain repairs be subject to "equitable adjustment."
In a Sept. 30 memorandum to Government House, Frankel said, Andrews wrote: "I hereby recommend that we use the figures of $3,537,150 as an allowance figure and amend this figure by change orders to reflect the true cost of the project. The obvious advantage to this is that neither party is disadvantaged."
Nelthropp said she had not been aware of the memo and that the proposed contract change was more likely familiar to Public Works senior engineer Charles Bornman, who worked out the details. She also expressed confidence that a properly written contract giving the government control of decision making would keep the contractor from making unjustified spending decisions.
In spite of the challenges facing the government as it tries to resolve its sewer woes, Bradford told the court, all is not bleak. Contractors have built a new emergency generator house for the LBJ pump station, he said, and a replacement generator for Lagoon Street has arrived on island and is awaiting installa tion. "We're doing a major overhaul of the distribution system and have ordered a number of pumps to replace older ones throughout the system," he said.
What's needed to keep the work going, Branford said, is money — both as a means of delivering the goods and as a basis of regaining the confidence of local contractors now reluctant to work for the V.I. government because of its record of late payments.
One of the things Moore had asked V.I. officials to bring to the Thursday hearing was a status report on funds set aside in the compliance agreement trust fund. Nelthropp said there is currently $5 million in the fund and that she nad brought with her to court with a check for $1.6 million representing a penalty payment that was supposed to be paid to the EPA.
Nelthropp in addition to being Public Works waste management director also serves as senior manager of the federal compliance program. She explained that the EPA had initially assessed the territory $26 million in penalties for missed deadlines in repairing the wastewater system but that the amount due had been whittled down through negotiation to the $1.6 million represented by the check.
Thursday, she asked Moore for and got permission to deposit the check instead in the compliance trust fund and work out an agreement to pay the penalties owed the EPA later. Nelthropp said she would deposit the check on Friday.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
Moore told lawyers for the U.S. and V.I. Justice Departments that he hoped to deliver his ruling in writing in a day or two. An aide said on Friday that it would likely be issued on Monday.
Meanwhile, according to a Public Works Department official, a V.I. government check for $1.6 million was to be deposited on Friday into a compliance agreement trust fund that Moore had ordered the territory to set up in connection with a sewage cleanup order issued in December 2000.
On Thursday, much of the testimony in court focused on the status of repairs laid out under in that clean-up order, the information coming in large part from Public Works waste management director Sonia Nelthropp and utilities manager Joseph Bradford.
In spite of assertions by Assistant Attorney General Michael Law that the V.I. government had become more diligent in addressing sewer repairs, the testimony painted a dismal picture of continuing neglect.
The testimony came in the third day of a hearing Moore convened last month at the request of U.S. Attorney David Nissman for the V.I. government to show cause why it should not be prevented from going forward with a sewer repair contract it awarded in December to Global Resources Management Inc. of St. Croix.
Nissman, in petitioning the court last month to hold the show-cause hearing, challenged the contract, awarded without bidding to a start-up company that he said had no apparent means or experience to carry out the specified repairs to St. Croix's decrepit wastewater system. He also charged that Gov. Charles W. Turnbull had declared a state of emergency in the sewer system so that he could fraudulently bypass the bidding process.
Ohanio Harris, an assistant to the governor, was president of Global Resources until last March. Esdel Hansen, husband of former senator and gubernatorial candidate Alicia "Chucky" Hansen and a recently retired Public Works employee, is Global's utilities director.
The day before the show-cause hearing was to begin, Turnbull announced without explanation that he had canceled the contract with Global the day before that. Nissman asked the that court proceed with the hearing nonetheless, and Moore did so. (See "Sewer contract out, but hearing still on".
After hearing testimony on Jan. 30 and Feb. 3, Moore asked the parties to return to court on Feb. 13 with updated financial data about the compliance agreement trust fund at Banco Popular, which authorities said then was believed to contain $10 million set aside from various sources to finance sewer repairs.
Moore also ordered that Nelthropp return on Feb. 13 to update the court on an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to allow a greater discharge of effluent from the Cruzan Rum plant so as to permit greater rum production and thereby generate additional rum tax revenues that could go into the compliance fund. (See "Written arguments next in sewer contract case".)
Nelthropp in a brief report on Thursday told Moore that Cruzan Rum revenues have so far added little to the compliance fund.
The contract awarded Global calls for the company to repair or replace sections of broken sewer pipe in Catherine's Rest and Bethlehem Gut and repair an open hole near the Randall "Doc" James Racetrack where the sewage distribution line is totally collapsed. It also provides for the installing of an emergency generator at the Lagoon Street pump station and a conducting a video inspection of a sewer line in Adventure Gut.
Week-ago St. Croix sewer inspection findings
As Bradford testified on Thursday, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney William Dillon presented a slide show of a regularly scheduled inspection tour of the St. Croix sewer system that was conducted earlier this week by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency personnel. Bradford said:
– Half of all the sewer pumps driving the system on St. Croix are currently broken.
– The island's three major pump stations are running with only one out of three pumps in operation.
– In at least one case, nothing can be immediately done if that single pump stops working.
"What happens if Lagoon Street pump station goes out … There's nothing you can do?" Dillon asked.
"That's right," Bradford said.
"And what is the location of that pump station?" Dillon asked.
"It's near the Legislature Building, a number of schools and a portion of Frederiksted," Bradford said.
"And if you had a failure here, you'd have a major bypass through the streets of Frederiksted?" Dillon asked.
"Yes, sir," Bradford said.
Dillon, who was assigned from Washington, D.C., to work with Nissman in the case, pointed out that the term "bypass" refers to the discharge of raw sewage running freely in public areas and eventually running off into the ocean.
At the LBJ pump station near Christiansted, Bradford said, things are better but not by much. Running on a single pump, he said, it would take up to 12 hours to set up a connector to attach an emergency pump in case of system failure.
Pictures displayed in court showed Bradford and EPA compliance officer Pedro Modesto checking conditions at Bethlehem Gut, where a hairline crack along a sewer line degenerated into the collapse of several feet of pipe. Dillon calculated that about 80,000 gallons of sewage is escaping from that section daily. Other pictures showed a broken generator at the Fig Tree pump station.
Bradford described tireless efforts by himself and seven Public Works assistants to keep St. Croix's 19 miles of sewer pipes functioning. Under questioning by Michael Law, he said he and his team were getting burned out working seven days a week trying to meet an unending string of emergencies.
A task Moore set for himself in the course of the hearing was to try to determine exactly what constitutes an emergency in a sewer system that has been suffering failures since 1984 and massive sewage spills from erupted pipes for the last two years.
Global tried to modify contract
Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Frankel said problems were evident with the V.I. government's contract with Global last year long before it was finalized. He produced documents showing company officials were then trying to raise the specified contract price of $3.6 million and read from a contract addendum submitted by Global's president since last March, Ashley Andrews, specifying that costs for certain repairs be subject to "equitable adjustment."
In a Sept. 30 memorandum to Government House, Frankel said, Andrews wrote: "I hereby recommend that we use the figures of $3,537,150 as an allowance figure and amend this figure by change orders to reflect the true cost of the project. The obvious advantage to this is that neither party is disadvantaged."
Nelthropp said she had not been aware of the memo and that the proposed contract change was more likely familiar to Public Works senior engineer Charles Bornman, who worked out the details. She also expressed confidence that a properly written contract giving the government control of decision making would keep the contractor from making unjustified spending decisions.
In spite of the challenges facing the government as it tries to resolve its sewer woes, Bradford told the court, all is not bleak. Contractors have built a new emergency generator house for the LBJ pump station, he said, and a replacement generator for Lagoon Street has arrived on island and is awaiting installa tion. "We're doing a major overhaul of the distribution system and have ordered a number of pumps to replace older ones throughout the system," he said.
What's needed to keep the work going, Branford said, is money — both as a means of delivering the goods and as a basis of regaining the confidence of local contractors now reluctant to work for the V.I. government because of its record of late payments.
One of the things Moore had asked V.I. officials to bring to the Thursday hearing was a status report on funds set aside in the compliance agreement trust fund. Nelthropp said there is currently $5 million in the fund and that she nad brought with her to court with a check for $1.6 million representing a penalty payment that was supposed to be paid to the EPA.
Nelthropp in addition to being Public Works waste management director also serves as senior manager of the federal compliance program. She explained that the EPA had initially assessed the territory $26 million in penalties for missed deadlines in repairing the wastewater system but that the amount due had been whittled down through negotiation to the $1.6 million represented by the check.
Thursday, she asked Moore for and got permission to deposit the check instead in the compliance trust fund and work out an agreement to pay the penalties owed the EPA later. Nelthropp said she would deposit the check on Friday.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
'GIRLS CAN DO ANYTHING — SCIENCE, TOO'
Feb. 14, 2003 — The annual "Girls Can Do Anything — Science Too" science series of the U.S.V.I. Girl Scout Council will be held Saturday, Feb. 15, at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School cafeteria.
All registered Junior Girl Scouts on St. Thomas and St. John are invited to participate. Each Scout should bring one size D battery, a pencil, and their own lunch, to the activity which will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The V.I. Girl Scout Council's science series was recognized as a model project by the Lockheed-Martin Science Career Exploration Fund several years ago. In January of this year, the Advertising Council and the Girl Scouts of the USA launched an ad campaign "designed to encourage girls to develop and maintain an interest in math, science and technology." The V.I. Council supports the national organization's initiative to "prepare today's girls to take on the technological opportunities and challenges of the 21st century."
"We have a unique opportunity here in the U.S. Virgin Islands to encourage our girls to pursue math, science and technology interests", Council president Jacqueline Dennis stated. "The commitment and dedication of Girl Scout leaders, other Girl Scout volunteers and families provide our girls with a strong network of positive influences that will benefit them as they grow into productive, contributing members of our society.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
All registered Junior Girl Scouts on St. Thomas and St. John are invited to participate. Each Scout should bring one size D battery, a pencil, and their own lunch, to the activity which will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The V.I. Girl Scout Council's science series was recognized as a model project by the Lockheed-Martin Science Career Exploration Fund several years ago. In January of this year, the Advertising Council and the Girl Scouts of the USA launched an ad campaign "designed to encourage girls to develop and maintain an interest in math, science and technology." The V.I. Council supports the national organization's initiative to "prepare today's girls to take on the technological opportunities and challenges of the 21st century."
"We have a unique opportunity here in the U.S. Virgin Islands to encourage our girls to pursue math, science and technology interests", Council president Jacqueline Dennis stated. "The commitment and dedication of Girl Scout leaders, other Girl Scout volunteers and families provide our girls with a strong network of positive influences that will benefit them as they grow into productive, contributing members of our society.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
'GIRLS CAN DO ANYTHING — SCIENCE, TOO'
Feb. 14, 2003 — The annual "Girls Can Do Anything — Science Too" science series of the U.S.V.I. Girl Scout Council will be held Saturday, Feb. 15, at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School cafeteria.
All registered Junior Girl Scouts on St. Thomas and St. John are invited to participate. Each Scout should bring one size D battery, a pencil, and their own lunch, to the activity which will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The V.I. Girl Scout Council's science series was recognized as a model project by the Lockheed-Martin Science Career Exploration Fund several years ago. In January of this year, the Advertising Council and the Girl Scouts of the USA launched an ad campaign "designed to encourage girls to develop and maintain an interest in math, science and technology." The V.I. Council supports the national organization's initiative to "prepare today's girls to take on the technological opportunities and challenges of the 21st century."
"We have a unique opportunity here in the U.S. Virgin Islands to encourage our girls to pursue math, science and technology interests", Council president Jacqueline Dennis stated. "The commitment and dedication of Girl Scout leaders, other Girl Scout volunteers and families provide our girls with a strong network of positive influences that will benefit them as they grow into productive, contributing members of our society.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
All registered Junior Girl Scouts on St. Thomas and St. John are invited to participate. Each Scout should bring one size D battery, a pencil, and their own lunch, to the activity which will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The V.I. Girl Scout Council's science series was recognized as a model project by the Lockheed-Martin Science Career Exploration Fund several years ago. In January of this year, the Advertising Council and the Girl Scouts of the USA launched an ad campaign "designed to encourage girls to develop and maintain an interest in math, science and technology." The V.I. Council supports the national organization's initiative to "prepare today's girls to take on the technological opportunities and challenges of the 21st century."
"We have a unique opportunity here in the U.S. Virgin Islands to encourage our girls to pursue math, science and technology interests", Council president Jacqueline Dennis stated. "The commitment and dedication of Girl Scout leaders, other Girl Scout volunteers and families provide our girls with a strong network of positive influences that will benefit them as they grow into productive, contributing members of our society.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
DELEGATE NAMED TO HOMELAND SECURITY PANEL
Feb. 13, 2003 – Delegate Donna M. Christensen was named Wednesday to serve on the newly formed House Select Committee on Homeland Security.
"In addition to being able to bring my expertise on health care to the discussion of homeland security in Congress, I will be able to ensure that all the U.S. territories — in particular the U.S. Virgin Islands — will have their security issues heard," Christensen said in a release.
Although the delegate does not have a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives, she does in the committees on which she serves.
According to Christensen, those named to the 49-member, bipartisan committee were chosen because of their expertise in areas pertinent to homeland security, including intelligence, cyber-security, border and port security, emergency preparedness and — as is the case with Christensen — public health.
The committee's focus is on helping to get the new federal Homeland Security Department functioning efficiently and quickly. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the mainland, President Bush called for creation of the new department to protect the United States against terrorism.
The committee comprising 26 Republicans and 23 Democrats is charged with coordinating the House's oversight of the Homeland Security Department and developing legislation pertinent thereto. Christensen, who was appointed to the panel by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, said in her release that she will use the post to work toward a stronger public health care system for the territory.
Rep. Christopher Cox (R., Calif.) chairs the committee. He said at a press conference held to announce its membership that the new department represents one of the largest reorganizations of the U.S. government in more than half a century. He vowed that the committee will accomplish its objective of keeping Americans safe.
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"In addition to being able to bring my expertise on health care to the discussion of homeland security in Congress, I will be able to ensure that all the U.S. territories — in particular the U.S. Virgin Islands — will have their security issues heard," Christensen said in a release.
Although the delegate does not have a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives, she does in the committees on which she serves.
According to Christensen, those named to the 49-member, bipartisan committee were chosen because of their expertise in areas pertinent to homeland security, including intelligence, cyber-security, border and port security, emergency preparedness and — as is the case with Christensen — public health.
The committee's focus is on helping to get the new federal Homeland Security Department functioning efficiently and quickly. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the mainland, President Bush called for creation of the new department to protect the United States against terrorism.
The committee comprising 26 Republicans and 23 Democrats is charged with coordinating the House's oversight of the Homeland Security Department and developing legislation pertinent thereto. Christensen, who was appointed to the panel by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, said in her release that she will use the post to work toward a stronger public health care system for the territory.
Rep. Christopher Cox (R., Calif.) chairs the committee. He said at a press conference held to announce its membership that the new department represents one of the largest reorganizations of the U.S. government in more than half a century. He vowed that the committee will accomplish its objective of keeping Americans safe.
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DELEGATE NAMED TO HOMELAND SECURITY PANEL
Feb. 13, 2003 – Delegate Donna M. Christensen was named Wednesday to serve on the newly formed House Select Committee on Homeland Security.
"In addition to being able to bring my expertise on health care to the discussion of homeland security in Congress, I will be able to ensure that all the U.S. territories — in particular the U.S. Virgin Islands — will have their security issues heard," Christensen said in a release.
Although the delegate does not have a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives, she does in the committees on which she serves.
According to Christensen, those named to the 49-member, bipartisan committee were chosen because of their expertise in areas pertinent to homeland security, including intelligence, cyber-security, border and port security, emergency preparedness and — as is the case with Christensen — public health.
The committee's focus is on helping to get the new federal Homeland Security Department functioning efficiently and quickly. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the mainland, President Bush called for creation of the new department to protect the United States against terrorism.
The committee comprising 26 Republicans and 23 Democrats is charged with coordinating the House's oversight of the Homeland Security Department and developing legislation pertinent thereto. Christensen, who was appointed to the panel by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, said in her release that she will use the post to work toward a stronger public health care system for the territory.
Rep. Christopher Cox (R., Calif.) chairs the committee. He said at a press conference held to announce its membership that the new department represents one of the largest reorganizations of the U.S. government in more than half a century. He vowed that the committee will accomplish its objective of keeping Americans safe.
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"In addition to being able to bring my expertise on health care to the discussion of homeland security in Congress, I will be able to ensure that all the U.S. territories — in particular the U.S. Virgin Islands — will have their security issues heard," Christensen said in a release.
Although the delegate does not have a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives, she does in the committees on which she serves.
According to Christensen, those named to the 49-member, bipartisan committee were chosen because of their expertise in areas pertinent to homeland security, including intelligence, cyber-security, border and port security, emergency preparedness and — as is the case with Christensen — public health.
The committee's focus is on helping to get the new federal Homeland Security Department functioning efficiently and quickly. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the mainland, President Bush called for creation of the new department to protect the United States against terrorism.
The committee comprising 26 Republicans and 23 Democrats is charged with coordinating the House's oversight of the Homeland Security Department and developing legislation pertinent thereto. Christensen, who was appointed to the panel by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, said in her release that she will use the post to work toward a stronger public health care system for the territory.
Rep. Christopher Cox (R., Calif.) chairs the committee. He said at a press conference held to announce its membership that the new department represents one of the largest reorganizations of the U.S. government in more than half a century. He vowed that the committee will accomplish its objective of keeping Americans safe.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
