Sept. 7, 2001 – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday granted the V.I. Community Bank another extension, to Dec. 7, to complete the purchase of the territory's Chase Bank assets.
It was the second such extension granted by the FDIC, which gave its conditional consent on Nov. 7, 2000, for VICB, owned by businessman Jeffrey Prosser, to acquire the seven V.I. branches of the New York-based Chase Bank.
The initial deadline was May 7 of this year. At VICB's request, that date was extended four months, to Sept. 7.
In a brief letter to V.I. Community Bank dated Sept. 7, Daryl P. Sturm, FDIC regional director, stated, "I have today approved the application filed on behalf of Virgin Islands Community Bank, Christiansted, St. Croix, to extend the expiration date" of the FDIC consent order. That order, Sturm noted, "grants approval to Virgin Islands Community Bank to purchase assets and assume liabilities from The Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, N.Y., and to acquire the capital stock of Chase Trade Inc. from JP Morgan Chase & Co., New York, N.Y."
Michael Dow, VICB president, said Friday that the reason the extension request was filed was "because, for one thing, the Sept. 7 date has now come and almost gone." He declined to be more specific, saying, "I don't have any further information."
According to a knowledgeable Chase source, the application for the extension was filed "very recently." Although the deal was not finalized as of the Sept. 7 deadline, with the new extension, "it still could be approved" by Chase, this individual said.
A telephone message left for Cassan Pancham, president of Chase V.I., was not returned Friday afternoon. A media relations official in the corporate communications offices of JP Morgan Chase & Co. in New York declined to comment.
Local Chase employees were told in July that the bank branches would close on Aug. 3 for a long weekend and then reopen Aug. 7 as VICB branches. That didn't happen, and Dow said a few days later, "We are a little behind there." As to when such a changeover would take place, he added, "I don't have any update. There is nothing new on it."
On Friday, referring back to his month-earlier comments, Dow said, "There wasn't anything to tell then, and there isn't anything further to tell now."
Dow, an executive with Chase Bank in the Virgin Islands before he was named president of VICB, added, "Now there is an extension in place — at least the door is still open for the transaction." Also, he said, "If and when it becomes appropriate, we will make a statement."
In May, Dow told the Virgin Islands Daily News — which also is owned by Jeffrey Prosser — that his bank could meet the Sept. 7 deadline.
The FDIC approval last November was for VICB to acquire, in addition to the assets of the V.I. bank branches, the capital stock of Chase Trade Inc., a Chase subsidiary headquartered on St. Thomas that provides tax advisory and other services to foreign sales corporations.
Since June, there has been speculation as to whether the proposed deal also involves Chase Agency Services, essentially a firm that insures home-loan mortgages issued by the bank. In June, it was reported locally that a $25 million class-action lawsuit had been filed against Chase Bank and Chase Agency Services.
Dow said Friday that Chase Agency Services was a part of earlier discussions and added, "I am not aware that there were any changes" in the latest negotiations.
Source efforts to get an explanation from FDIC officials in Washington, D.C., of the reason for the second extension were unsuccessful. One observer said the implication was that VICB "has not yet done what it needs to do to buy the branches from Chase, but does not want to abandon the notion."
Prosser also owns Innovative Communication Corp., parent company of Innovative Telephone (formerly Vitelco), Innovative St. Croix Cable TV, Innovative St. Thomas-St. John Cable TV, four other Caribbean cable companies, and Innovative Wireless. ICC is hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, and there has been speculation that while V.I. Community Bank is a separate company, it could be impacted by cash-flow problems Prosser might be experiencing.
If Chase Agency Services is included in the sale, Prosser and VICB might be liable for any judgment or settlement in the class-action lawsuit. Observers have said such a potential scenario might be a basis for Prosser to back out of the whole Chase deal without having to pay Chase a substantial penalty for negotiating in bad faith.
VICB announced its plans to acquire the Chase holdings in June 1999. The proposed purchase was approved, after review, by the FDIC and the V.I. Division of Banking and Insurance.
Prosser founded V.I. Community Bank on Dec. 30, 1994. The bank operates only on St. Croix, where it has three branches with some $78 million in assets. Chase in the Virgin Islands has four branches on St. Thomas, two on St. Croix and one on St. John. According to the FDIC, if the Chase acquisition goes through, VICB will have assets of about $500 million.

Sept. 7, 2001 – Gov. Charles W. Turnbull said Friday he wants to put $1.9 million into hiring retired police personnel as a stop-gap measure to put more officers on the streets.
The plan to beef up the police force is in response to a spate of shootings, armed robberies and attacks on police and peace officers in recent months, Turnbull said at a press conference at Government House on St. Thomas. He said hiring the retired officers would be an interim measure until two new classes of officer candidates can be trained to join the police force.
The governor said the plan is to hire up to 60 retired police officers in the next few weeks and put them back to work over the next year.
He said he would work with legislators to change a law that now specifies that police officers can work no more than 70 days past their retirement without affecting their retirement annuities. The governor said he wants to extend the time, allowing officers to continue working on the police force for up to a year.
The increased number of officers under the plan will allow for more patrols and sweeps of high-crime areas, as well as contributing to ongoing investigations of violent crimes, he said.
"We will not rest until we win this war against the criminal element," Turnbull said. "A small band of criminals, hoodlum-type culprits, will not make this society live in terror."
In recent months, the territory has seen a rash of violent crimes, including the fatal shooting last month of Kaunda Bryan, the son of Sen. Adelbert Bryan.
Three officers have been wounded on St. Thomas in the last three months: Lennox Lettsome, an off-duty officer who was shot at the Contant Car Wash; Ira Christopher, a Finance Department officer who was struck when he was robbed as he walked to the Chase Manhattan bank in Sugar Estate to deposit a bag of property tax collections; and off-duty police officer Kent Hodge, who was hit in the hand when he reportedly was caught in a crossfire in Savan earlier this week.
On St. Croix, police Cpl. Wendell Williams has been missing since June, and his vehicle was found burned out.
The move to put more officers on the streets comes as government officials also are taking other actions to address rampant crime in the territory.
Legislators are pushing for re-passage of a bill to toughen sentences for firearms violations — and agreed to make changes in a property forfeiture provision after Turnbull vetoed it recently. The Golden Grove prison on St. Croix was expanded last year. And V.I. Justice Department officials are working with federal agents and prosecutors in the V.I. Exile Program, which requires that persons convicted of crimes involving illegal weapons serve their terms in off-island prisons.
Police Commissioner Franz Christian said Friday that he expects many of the retired officers to rejoin the Investigations Unit, forensics teams and patrol units within the next few weeks. Their return will help address a severe shortage of manpower, he said.

Dear Source,
I was amused and appalled at the closing of Brewers Bay by the Planning and Natural Resources Department because of the malfunctioning of the airport sewage treatment plant. It shows a complete lack of knowledge of the location of the sewage outfall and the mechanics of the system.
The outfall is located approximately 1,500 feet southwest of the treatment plant. It discharges treated or untreated sewage at a depth of 75 feet with a diffuser of 700 to 1. The equatorial current in the vicinity moves east to west at 6 to 7 miles per hour. That means that 120,000 gallons of sewage per hour is discharged into a body of water 75 feet deep by 40 miles (the distance to St. Croix) long, moving at the rate of 6 to 7 mph.
Studies conducted years ago by the Division of Natural Resources of what was then the Department of Conservation found no appreciable increase in fecal coliform in the plume of the discharge from the outfall. These studies led me, as the supervisor of the design and construction of the sewerage system, to apply to the Environmental Protection Agency for a waiver of secondary treatment for the system. This application was recently disapproved by the EPA for lack of followup by the V.I. government after 15 to 16 years.
It is impossible for the relatively small volume of sewage discharged by the airport plant to pollute either Brewers Bay or Lindbergh Bay, and the nearest land mass to the west is Culebra.
The Virgin Islands already is third nationally in the closure of beaches as a result of sewage discharges. It is senseless to add to the image by faulty opinions.
The health and well being of the people of the Virgin Islands depend on water, electricity, and sewerage, in that order. All three of those depend on motors, pumps and electrical switches which must be maintained, repaired and periodically replaced.
Pedrito Francois
St. Thomas and Marietta, Ga.
Editor's note: Pedrito A. Francois, a retired environmental engineer, served as the territory's assistant commissioner of Public Works in 1980-1984 and as director of natural resources in the Conservation Department in 1975-1980.
For news coverage of the sewage discharge, beach closing and water testing, see "DPNR: Tests find water not tainted by sewage".
We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.

Dear Source,
I was amused and appalled at the closing of Brewers Bay by the Planning and Natural Resources Department because of the malfunctioning of the airport sewage treatment plant. It shows a complete lack of knowledge of the location of the sewage outfall and the mechanics of the system.
The outfall is located approximately 1,500 feet southwest of the treatment plant. It discharges treated or untreated sewage at a depth of 75 feet with a diffuser of 700 to 1. The equatorial current in the vicinity moves east to west at 6 to 7 miles per hour. That means that 120,000 gallons of sewage per hour is discharged into a body of water 75 feet deep by 40 miles (the distance to St. Croix) long, moving at the rate of 6 to 7 mph.
Studies conducted years ago by the Division of Natural Resources of what was then the Department of Conservation found no appreciable increase in fecal coliform in the plume of the discharge from the outfall. These studies led me, as the supervisor of the design and construction of the sewerage system, to apply to the Environmental Protection Agency for a waiver of secondary treatment for the system. This application was recently disapproved by the EPA for lack of followup by the V.I. government after 15 to 16 years.
It is impossible for the relatively small volume of sewage discharged by the airport plant to pollute either Brewers Bay or Lindbergh Bay, and the nearest land mass to the west is Culebra.
The Virgin Islands already is third nationally in the closure of beaches as a result of sewage discharges. It is senseless to add to the image by faulty opinions.
The health and well being of the people of the Virgin Islands depend on water, electricity, and sewerage, in that order. All three of those depend on motors, pumps and electrical switches which must be maintained, repaired and periodically replaced.
Pedrito Francois
St. Thomas and Marietta, Ga.

Editor's note: Pedrito A. Francois, a retired environmental engineer, served as the territory's assistant commissioner of Public Works in 1980-1984 and as director of natural resources in the Conservation Department in 1975-1980.
We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.

The American Red Cross of St. Thomas, Disaster Services Committee will meet at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 13, at Palm Court Harborview. Chapter Board Chair Warner Bowers will attend the meeting.
For more information call 774-0375.

The American Red Cross of St. Thomas Disaster Services will meet at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 13, at Palm Court Harborview. Chapter Board Chair, Warner Bowers will attend the meeting.
For more information call 774-0375.

Sept. 7, 2001 – Gov. Charles W. Turnbull said Friday he wants to put $1.9 million into hiring retired police personnel as a stop-gap measure to put more officers on the streets.
The plan to beef up the police force is in response to a spate of shootings, armed robberies and attacks on police and peace officers in recent months, Turnbull said at a press conference at Government House on St. Thomas. He said hiring the retired officers would be an interim measure until two new classes of officer candidates can be trained to join the police force.
The governor said the plan is to hire up to 60 retired police officers in the next few weeks and put them back to work over the next year.
He said he would work with legislators to change a law that now specifies that police officers can work no more than 70 days past their retirement without affecting their retirement annuities. The governor said he wants to extend the time, allowing officers to continue working on the police force for up to a year.
The increased number of officers under the plan will allow for more patrols and sweeps of high-crime areas, as well as contributing to ongoing investigations of violent crimes, he said.
"We will not rest until we win this war against the criminal element," Turnbull said. "A small band of criminals, hoodlum-type culprits, will not make this society live in terror."
In recent months, the territory has seen a rash of violent crimes, including the fatal shooting last month of Kaunda Bryan, the son of Sen. Adelbert Bryan.
Three officers have been wounded on St. Thomas in the last three months: Lennox Lettsome, an off-duty officer who was shot at the Contant Car Wash; Ira Christopher, a Finance Department officer who was struck when he was robbed as he walked to the Chase Manhattan bank in Sugar Estate to deposit a bag of property tax collections; and off-duty police officer Kent Hodge, who was hit in the hand when he reportedly was caught in a crossfire in Savan earlier this week.
On St. Croix, police Cpl. Wendell Williams has been missing since June, and his vehicle was found burned out.
The move to put more officers on the streets comes as government officials also are taking other actions to address rampant crime in the territory.
Legislators are pushing for re-passage of a bill to toughen sentences for firearms violations — and agreed to make changes in a property forfeiture provision after Turnbull vetoed it recently. The Golden Grove prison on St. Croix was expanded last year. And V.I. Justice Department officials are working with federal agents and prosecutors in the V.I. Exile Program, which requires that persons convicted of crimes involving illegal weapons serve their terms in off-island prisons.
Police Commissioner Franz Christian said Friday that he expects many of the retired officers to rejoin the Investigations Unit, forensics teams and patrol units within the next few weeks. Their return will help address a severe shortage of manpower, he said.

Sept. 7, 2001 – Gov. Charles W. Turnbull said Friday he wants to put $1.9 million into hiring retired police personnel as a stop-gap measure to put more officers on the streets.
The plan to beef up the police force is in response to a spate of shootings, armed robberies and attacks on police and peace officers in recent months, Turnbull said at a press conference at Government House on St. Thomas. He said hiring the retired officers would be an interim measure until two new classes of officer candidates can be trained to join the police force.
The governor said the plan is to hire up to 60 retired police officers in the next few weeks and put them back to work over the next year.
He said he would work with legislators to change a law that now specifies that police officers can work no more than 70 days past their retirement without affecting their retirement annuities. The governor said he wants to extend the time, allowing officers to continue working on the police force for up to a year.
The increased number of officers under the plan will allow for more patrols and sweeps of high-crime areas, as well as contributing to ongoing investigations of violent crimes, he said.
"We will not rest until we win this war against the criminal element," Turnbull said. "A small band of criminals, hoodlum-type culprits, will not make this society live in terror."
In recent months, the territory has seen a rash of violent crimes, including the fatal shooting last month of Kaunda Bryan, the son of Sen. Adelbert Bryan.
Three officers have been wounded on St. Thomas in the last three months: Lennox Lettsome, an off-duty officer who was shot at the Contant Car Wash; Ira Christopher, a Finance Department officer who was struck when he was robbed as he walked to the Chase Manhattan bank in Sugar Estate to deposit a bag of property tax collections; and off-duty police officer Kent Hodge, who was hit in the hand when he reportedly was caught in a crossfire in Savan earlier this week.
On St. Croix, police Cpl. Wendell Williams has been missing since June, and his vehicle was found burned out.
The move to put more officers on the streets comes as government officials also are taking other actions to address rampant crime in the territory.
Legislators are pushing for re-passage of a bill to toughen sentences for firearms violations — and agreed to make changes in a property forfeiture provision after Turnbull vetoed it recently. The Golden Grove prison on St. Croix was expanded last year. And V.I. Justice Department officials are working with federal agents and prosecutors in the V.I. Exile Program, which requires that persons convicted of crimes involving illegal weapons serve their terms in off-island prisons.
Police Commissioner Franz Christian said Friday that he expects many of the retired officers to rejoin the Investigations Unit, forensics teams and patrol units within the next few weeks. Their return will help address a severe shortage of manpower, he said.

Sept. 6, 2001 – Virgin Islanders for Democratic Action are sponsoring a public forum to discuss election reform. The meeting is set for 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 15 at the Holiday Inn/Windward Passage Hotel on the St. Thomas Waterfront.
Sen. Lorraine Berry, in making the announcement from her office, urged those people interested in election reform– which she pointed out was a large number of voters in the last election – to attend the meeting.
Slated to speak and offer short and long-term proposals to create an election system with more accountability are: Supervisor of Elections John Abramson, Arutro Watlington, state chair of the Democratic Party, Woodrow Green, chair fo the Caribbean Democratic Alliance Club; assistant Attorney General Delia Smith, former Sen. Arnold Golden; attorney Maxwell MacIntosh, and political scientists Paul Leary and Malik Sekou. Wanda Mills will serve as moderator.
See earlier story cops break into home

Kenrick Nicholas, age 65, died on Monday, Sept. 3, at Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital. His funeral services will take place in Houston, Texas.
His is survived by his wife Margarete Nicholas; 7 children; 16 great grandchildren; 8 great great grandchildren; other relatives and friends too numerous to mention.
Professional arrangements by James Memorial Funeral Home, Inc.