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SENATE AIDE UPBEAT ON BILL TO SAVE VESSUP BEACH

April 19, 2004 – Andrea King, Red Hook Community Alliance president, urged members of the group on Monday not give up in the fight to prevent Vessup Beach from being sold to a mainland developer.
"It's important that we keep our focus," King told the approximately 30 members in attendance at a meeting at American Yacht Harbor.
The alliance has been fighting since February against the planned sale of the land surrounding Vessup Beach to Lionstone Inc., a Miami developer.
The group met Monday evening to discuss new legislation sponsored by Sen. Louis Hill to have the government acquire the East End St. Thomas beach by eminent domain.
The bill, scheduled for a vote in a full Senate session on April 26, seeks to provide funding from the government's debt service reserves to purchase and preserve property surrounding both Vessup and Muller Bays.
All of the St. Thomas-St. John district lawmakers except Sen. Celestino A. White Sr. have signed on to support the bill, King told the group. At-large Sen. Almando "Rocky" Liburd and several St. Croix legislators also have pledged support, she said.
"I believe the Senate is a safe haven," Basil Ottley, Hill's chief of staff, said. "I believe we have the number of votes needed to move it out of the Legislature."
Ottley represented Hill while his boss was attending a Committee of the Whole hearing Monday evening on St. John.
But getting the bill passed by the Legislature is not the final step, Ottley said, explaining that supporters would have to convince Gov. Charles W. Turnbull that saving Vessup Beach from development is a priority.
"It's a doable thing if you have sustained public pressure," Luis Sylvester, Sen. Carlton Dowe's chief of staff, said.
King had said earlier that she would hand-deliver copies of signatures on a petition calling for preserving the beach to all the senators and the governor on Monday.
In two weeks, she said, the group collected 1,820 signatures. "We should be very proud of ourselves," she said at the meeting.
One alliance member, Suzan Bryant, was responsible for getting 720 of the signatures.
Bryant said saving Vessup Beach from development is important to her because she enjoys the view from her home. "We don't want a Miami skyline in our backyard," she said.

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