Oct. 15, 2001 – A controversial bill to prevent water tour operators from picking up their cruise ship passengers at docks on St. Thomas and St. Croix has been put on hold temporarily by its sponsors, Sens. Celestino A. White Sr. and Norma Pickard-Samuel.
In the meantime, a meeting of all parties who would be affected by the legislation will be held on St. Thomas at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 22, at the V.I. Taxi Association building in Contant.
White said on Monday morning that he decided to hold the bill after Rik Van Rensselaer, V.I. Marine Industries Association vice president, discussed the impending legislation with him last week. "Rik came forward, came to see me," White said. "We had a good meeting. I know that his only interest is only to do right -– not to say that everybody sees it his way."
White continued, "He was so convincing that I took the bill off the agenda for the time being. I called Eustace Grant, and I asked him for a meeting with all parties concerned." Grant is president of the V.I. Taxi Association.
The bill had been scheduled to be heard at a Wednesday meeting of the Senate Planning and Environmental Protection Committee.
White cautioned, "My position remains the same, and so does Senator Samuel's, to all intents and purposes." But, he added, "I will listen and offer input, and I want the members of the taxi association to do the same. My only thing is the playing field needs to be leveled -– it's stacked against the small taxi operators who are looked on as someone without stature. I'm going to be looking out for their interests."
Van Rensselaer said he was encouraged by his meeting with White. "There has been enough controversy and problems over this that we need to take steps toward resolution and the removal of some of the more onerous parts of the bill," he said. "It could be disastrous for the tourism industry. We need to develop a win/win siutation."
He said, "Senators White and Samuel sat me down and grilled me for an hour big time. I put our case on the table, and White called Sen. Donald Cole [chair of Planning and Environmental Protection] and told him to take the bill off the agenda for Wednesday, and he called Grant and arranged the meeting."
Van Rensselaer added, "They don't necessarily agree with our position, but they agree we need to discuss it with all parties." He added, "Since this thing exploded, we have been trying to get the private and public sectors to partner and get together on this, including the taxi drivers, the tour operators, the hotel associations and chambers of commerce, the Charter Yacht League, The West Indian Co. and the Tourism Department. We've been trying to pin down Grant for two weeks."
Van Rensselaer said Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, who held a hearing in January to consider ways to assist the ailing V.I. marine industry, will "probably be a major positive player in helping change the legislation, along with several other senators whom we've talked to."
Sen. Roosevelt David said he would assist with changing the legislation, Van Rensselaer said. David's Saturday morning radio show on WVWI Radio follows the "Radio One Marine Report," where host Wally Bostwick on Saturday had Van Rensselaer as his guest to discuss the legislation.
The legislation states in part: "No person operating a motor boat or vessel engaged in water tours shall dock or tie up at The West Indian Co. dock, the Crown Bay pier, the Ann Abramson Pier, or the Gallows Bay dock to pick up or discharge passengers on any days when one or more cruise ships are docked at or tied up at the docks or piers listed in this subsection."
Proponents of the bill have stated that taxis could transort passengers from The West Indian Co. dock to the Charlotte Amalie waterfront for pickup, Van Renssalaer said. Doing this, he explained, would not only further tie up the already congested downtown waterfront but would cut by half the economic benefits of the cruise ship passengers to the territory. As it is now, the tour operators make two trips a day, allowing the passengers the other half of the day to shop or take land tours.
Under the proposed legislation, he said, it would take visitors an extra 45 minutes to get to the tour departure site, and operators would be able to make only one trip a day, cutting by half both their income and passengers' ability to do all they would like while in port.
Anyone wanting to take a water tour and then shop or tour on land would be dropped off downtown, wet and sandy, to await a taxi to take them back to the ship, where they would have to change clothes and then take another taxi back downtown to shop. This they would probably not do, Van Rensselaer said.
The economic considerations are far reaching, he said. One-half the trips by the tour operators would mean one-half the gross receipts from the business and one-half the income taxes for the crews, as well as one-half the money pumped back into the economy for crew wages, provisions, fuel and marine repairs.
The legislation would add to excursion costs, too, Van Rensselaer said. He noted that water tours are sold ahead of time on the ships, and the V.I. tours compete with those of the other Caribbean ports of call.
Although the actual taxi fares might total $6 from and back to the ship, "Given the markups taken at every level … this may add as much as $18 to the price of an excursion," he said. "This increase will decrease the number of tours sold, as well as create the perception that the V.I. is too expensive."
He also said there are legal considerations, with agreements between The West Indian Co. and providers such as Atlantis Submarine.
"This problem has been festering for a long time, and it's never been addressed properly, and it's become a cauldron now," Van Rensselaer said. "We want to work it out and get as much on the table as possible."
He added, "There are two sides to the problem. The taxi drivers get up at 2 a.m. to queue up on the dock and wait for the ships. Then they see 800 to 1,000 passengers go off on the tour boats, and they feel we're taking their livelihood away. We don't know how many passengers that leaves for the taxis. We have to find that out."

The Rotary Club of St. Thomas II will meet at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at Marriott's Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort. This is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The guest speaker will be LaSandra Latorre of the Family Resource Center. The topic will be "The Plight of the Hispanic Community in St. Thomas."

The Rotary Club II of St. Thomas II will meet at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at Marriott's Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort. This is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The guest speaker will be LaSandra Latorre of the Family Resource Center.
The topic will be "The Plight of the Hispanic Community in St. Thomas."

Wesleyan Academy willhold its PTA meting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 18.

Wesleyan Academy will hold its PTA meetng at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 18.

Rotary East will celebrate its 15th anniversary at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 24, at the Ritz-Carleton Resort Poolside.
There will be a $20 donation.

Rotary East will hold its monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at the Ritz-Carleton Resort.
Michel Rhymer of the Women's Resource Center will be the guest speaker.

Oct. 15, 2001 – Don't look for any improvements in the weather until Wednesday, said Ernesto Morales, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Juan.
"It will start clearing, but we will still have the possibility of some showers," he said.
Morales said until then, the skies will continue to be cloudy and intermittent heavy rains will continue to fall. Thunderstorms are likely.
An upper level trough coupled with a tropical wave is causing the stormy weather. Forecasters do not expect the wave to develop further.
The weather turned rainy on Saturday morning. After a brief period of sunshine Saturday afternoon, the skies turned cloudy again. Intermittent lighting flashed across the sky and thunder boomed throughout the night.
In Coral Bay, St. John, resident George Kline said that .63 inches of rain fell between Sunday and Monday mornings. Since Friday, his weather station recorded a total of 1.57 inches of rain. He saw wind gusts that hit about 40 mph.
"This is our rainy month," he pointed out.
In Mariendahl, St. Thomas, Wilbur Lindesay recorded 1.1 inches on Sunday and 1.15 inches on Saturday.
Morales said that at Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas, .65 inches of rain fell between midnight Saturday and 10 a.m. Monday.
At Henry E. Rohlsen Airport in St. Croix, 1.80 inches of rain fell in the same time period.
A St. Croix resident reported a half-inch of rain on Sunday.
While the rainy weather cut into beach time for tourists, some residents were happy to hear the rain on their roof.
"But my cistern isn't overflowing yet," complained Lindesay.
V.I. National Park ranger Don Near said this was the perfect day for a hike down the Reef Bay Trail. This popular hike runs downhill from Centerline Road to the Reef Bay ruins, located at the edge of Reef Bay.
"It's a chance to see the waterfalls," he said, referring to falls that develop after heavy rains at the Petroglyphs, which are located a short way off the Reef Bay trail.
He said the park took eight people on a scheduled hike to the area even though the trail was slippery and the hikers probably would have to wade through guts to reach the Reef Bay ruins.
Near said he advised others who stopped by the park's Visitor's Center with questions about what to do to take an island tour with a taxi driver.
He said that while he enjoyed the rain, the run off from unpaved roads was fouling the harbors.
"And my road is getting pretty bad," he said of his unpaved road.

Rotary East will hold its monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at the Ritz Carleton.
Mikial Rhymer of the Women's Resource Center will be the guest speaker.

Oct. 15, 2001 — Sometimes what public officials don't say is more interesting than what they do say.
Case in point: two statements released Friday by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull concerning moves to repair the territory’s troubled sewer system. What wasn't mentioned: a recent federal court order issued by an exasperated judge.
Late Friday, Turnbull trumpeted two moves.
The first was a "state of emergency" proclamation that allows the Public Works Department to expedite purchases of supplies, materials, equipment and contractual services to repair the territory's wastewater system. Turnbull made the same proclamation in March 2000.
The second was the announcement of a proposed bill to appropriate $4.4 million from the Anti-Litter and Beautification Fund to Public Works to fix the longstanding problems associated with the sewage system.
The seemingly out-of-the-blue actions by the Turnbull administration probably would not have happened if not for a terse order issued by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Moore on Sept. 27. In that order, Moore chronicles the 17-year-old consent decree between the U.S. Department of Justice and the V.I. government that calls for Public Works to fix St. Croix’s leaking, antiquated and neglected sewage system. Past problems have "resulted in millions upon millions of gallons of raw sewage being pumped directly into the Caribbean Sea," according to Moore.
He then blasted the government for the "utter contempt" it has "persistently shown" for its obligations under the consent decree.
Because administration officials have "exhausted" his patience, Moore has ordered Turnbull, Public Works Commissioner Wayne Callwood and a host of others to court on Thursday to show cause why they should not be held in contempt for "continued and flagrant failure" to comply with the consent decree and the court’s orders.
What appears to have particularly angered Moore were promises made in court by Public Works and administration officials almost a year ago to fix the problems or face contempt-of-court charges then.
Another thing that rankled Moore was Turnbull’s 2002 budget that allocated $250,000 to fix the sewage system, which needs, according to one high-ranking government official, at least $20 million in repairs.
Since the hearing on Oct. 26, 2000, Public Works "continues brazenly to ignore this Court’s orders," Moore wrote, "and, as a result, it appears that the government of the Virgin Islands has allowed the various St. Croix facilities once again to fall into a state of dismal disrepair …"
Promises and pronouncements not kept
Last year, Moore threatened V.I. government officials with contempt-of-court charges because of the longstanding problems with the sewage system outlined in the consent decree, particularly on St. Croix. But in the hearing last October, local officials sought to assuage Moore’s ire with what the judge called "promises and pronouncements," which included submitting monthly status reports to the court.
But problems continue, Moore said in his recent order, including Public Works’ failure to "even be bothered to submit" the monthly reports.
Adding to Moore’s exasperation were Turnbull’s priorities on spending the government’s recent $100 million tax windfall. Moore said that one appropriations bill contained no money to repair the sewage system, while another earmarked a "mere $250,000 …"
That, Moore said, is an amount unlikely to bring the V.I. government into compliance with the consent decree and his previous orders.
"The constant refrain of the government of the Virgin Islands has been that it lacks the money to do what it agreed to do in the … consent decrees, or to comply with various aspects of this court’s recent orders," Moore wrote. "It thus appears that the government of the Virgin Islands has failed to comply with the terms of the amended consent decree and many aspects of the court’s orders … despite its promises, representations and the recent $100 million ‘windfall.’"
The "windfall" reference was to pronouncements by Turnbull and his finance officials last spring that a previously unanticipated infusion of $100 million in income tax revenues was expected to flow into government coffers for Fiscal Year 2001, which ended Sept. 30.
Meantime, Moore wrote, a recent breakdown at a wastewater treatment plant on St. Thomas, causing raw sewage to flow into the sea near the Cyril E. King Airport and forcing authorities to close a public beach, and the lack of personnel at St. John's new wastewater treatment plant "give fresh evidence that the government of the Virgin Islands has generally failed to comply with the amended consent decree."