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Frederiksted Pier to Be Ready for Cruise Ships by August

July 19, 2006 – After more than two years of wrangling — bureaucratic and environmental — the Ann E. Abramson Pier in Frederiksted will be able to greet cruise ships by the end of August.
The pier will now be able to accommodate the cruise industry's new fleet of voyager and ultra-voyager class vessels.
Gordon Finch, former V.I. Port Authority executive director, now the authority's consultant on the St. Croix dredging project, gave VIPA board members the good news Wednesday, while requesting the board's approval for two change orders on the project.
The work was to have been completed by June 30 (See "Work Under Way on Abramson Pier Dredging"); however, difficulties in the dredging process, including the removal of many more pilings than initially determined, and an increase in the quantity of rock removal necessitated the delay, Finch said. The work is being done by V.I. Cement and Building Products, Inc.
This change order does not require any additional funding for the $2.1 million project, Finch said. In fact, he said, there will be $400,000 left over, which can be used in the Crown Bay dredging project on St. Thomas.
The second change order the board approved provides for a payment of $18,194 to Natural Resources Consultants, Inc., the Frederiksted Pier water quality monitoring company. Finch said the group has been operating extended hours on a much greater work schedule than initially anticipated.
Whether there will be cruise ships to accommodate the newly dredged facility is another matter, although Finch said he has every expectation there will be. "They will come to bunker, and they will make it a destination call," Finch said.
Darlan Brin, VIPA executive director, said the authority has done what it can to encourage cruise ship traffic to St. Croix. Ships docking on St. Croix are currently exempt from various VIPA fees, including docking, wharfage and per passenger taxes – as outlined in a cruise ship agreement between the government and the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association. The agreement expired in April, but the Cruise Ship Task Force – which includes VIPA board members Robert O'Connor and Pamela Richards – is working on an extension of the agreement.
Richards, also the Tourism Commissioner, on Wednesday lamented the fact that the pier project fell so far behind schedule. "We didn't do it when we said we would," she said. Later, outside of the meeting, Richards said the cruise ship schedule for next year is already set.
In another matter, the board voted to write Gov. Charles W. Turnbull requesting a meeting to discuss the V.I. government's Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the U.S. Customs Service, (now called the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service). The meeting would include VIPA Board Chair O'Connor, Brin, legal counsel Don Mills and U.S. Customs representatives.
In the MOA, signed in 1994 by Gov. Alexander Farrelly, the U.S. Customs Service collects customs and wharfage dues on the authority's behalf and sends them to the federal Treasury.
Treasury in turn remits the funds to the V.I. Finance Department, which is supposed to retain 5 percent and return the rest to the Port Authority.
However, VIPA claims that the Finance Department is not forwarding its funds in a timely manner. Right now, the government is $2 million in arrears on its payments to VIPA, Brin said.
VIPA Finance Director Judith James said Wednesday that VIPA has not received any money since November.
Brin pointed out that VIPA is not a party to the MOA. "There is no mention of the authority in the MOA," he said. "We don't need them [the Customs Service] to collect for us. We want to collect our own fees."
Some of the VIPA board members were incensed about the situation Wednesday. Board member James Rodgers, a private businessman, said a business could never survive on these practices. "Having $2 million out for months, to say nothing of the interest, would never work. A private business would go broke," he said.
Board members also expressed dismay at some aspects of the authority's 2006 financial report, which as of May 31 reflected $7.1 million in accounts receivable — down $1.1 million from 2005. Members asked the Finance Committee to review the authority's collection policies with a view to restructuring them.
On VIPA's balance sheet, cash and marketable securities increased from $14.5 million in April to $15.6 million. The amount due VIPA from the local government is $2.1 million. Total assets are $307.9 million; liabilities total $7 million; total long-term liabilities total $41.3 million.
Year-to-date increases in assets for VIPA divisions:
Marine STT/STJ $2.9 million
Marine STX -$1.9 million
Aviation STT $1.6 million
Aviation STX -$3.5 million
Bournefield/Non-Aero. $150,345

Decrease in assets $919,328
After the board met in executive session in the early afternoon, chairman O 'Connor announced that Diana Richards, currently an administrative employee of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources had been named as manager of the Crown Bay project. Richards did not return a call Wednesday afternoon for details of the appointment.
Board members Leslie Milliner, O'Connor, George Phillips, Dean Plaskett, Richards and Rodgers attended the meeting. Kerry Drue and Hector Peguero were absent.
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