Pier work to help the V.I. Water and Power Authority load propane, roadwork to widen Veterans Drive and work on several piers across the territory inched forward when the Committee on Economic Development, Agriculture and Planning approved Coastal Zone Management permits Wednesday.
“These requests encompass the territory, I’m happy to say, and they represent new economic development projects and others will allow for existing businesses to continue,” said Sen. Janet Millin Young, during her opening remarks.
Jean Pierre Oriol, acting commissioner of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, testified on seven zoning requests, relaying the department’s favorable recommendation on each.
One permit, CZT 03-12 (L&W), will allow improvements to Veterans Drive between Long Bay Road to Hospital Gade, then in a second phase, from Hospital Gade around the Legislature and Coast Guard buildings and ending at Tvaer Gade. Plans call for a four-lane roadway, a landscaped median, a sidewalk to the north and promenade on the south. The work will follow the existing road while widening into the harbor to accommodate additional lanes.
"This permit is one of two legislative actions needed," Wystan Benjamin, the highway program manager for Public Works, told the committee. "The other is favorable approval of the GARVEE bonds to finance the project, Benjamin said.
Gov. John deJongh Jr. included $40 million in federal Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles or GARVEE bonds for the first phase of work in bond legislation in June, which the Legislature declined to pass at the time.
GARVEE bonds are guaranteed by future transportation grants from the Federal Highway Administration to the territory.
Another permit approved by the committee Wednesday allows WAPA to continue using the existing 300-foot jetty, catwalk and marine equipment, seaward of its Randolph E. Harley Power Plant on St. Thomas.t. It permits WAPA to install a new marine loading arm, new mooring piles and fenders and two, more distant mooring piles for breast lines from feeder vessels.
It also allows WAPA to dredge about 2,500 cubic yards of material in Krum Bay leading up to the Krum Bay boat ramp.
Water and Power Authority Executive Director Hugo Hodge Jr. testified the new loading arm and other work is to modify the dock to receive propane from a shuttle vessel, as part of the utility’s conversion away from diesel fuel to multi-fuel generation.
The committee also approved Coastal Zone Management permits:
– For St. Thomas Sports Fishing Center to keep using its 260-foot wooden pier and landing in Smith Bay, St. Thomas, for the next 20 years;
– For Neal K. Henderson to keep using the existing 248-foot dock and surrounding water area, seaward of No. 88 Est. Frydenhoj, St. Thomas;
– For Tropical Marine Inc., for continued use of their existing 125-foot dock, a smaller 50-foot dock, a boardwalk fuel pumps and other seaside infrastructure in Estate Nadir in Benner Bay, St. Thomas. Tropical is also permitted to remove the existing underground storage tank, upgrade restrooms and have live-aboard residents in the marina to improve security;
– For the Buccaneer resort on St. Croix to continue using its 759-foot, T-shaped dock and surrounding water, seaward of Estate Shoys, for another 20 years;
– For MSI Building Supplies for another 20-years’ use of their Crown Bay facility. The permit allows for the demolition of two existing structures. It also permits the construction of a 3,700-square-foot steel frame building, the restoration of a 160-foot-by-20-foot storage building and building an 18-car parking lot and loading area.
Present were Chairwoman Sen. Janette Millin Young, Sens. Diane Capehart, Clifford Graham, Myron Jackson and, via Skype, Sen. Sammuel Sanes. Non-committee member, Sen. Donald Cole was also present. All the permits approved in committee will receive a final up or down vote before the full Legislature in session Friday.
