April 23, 2009 — There may be some help for the stringent security measures in place or planned for St. John's port facilities, U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Commander Tim Grant said Thursday at Sen. Craig Barshinger's town meeting on St. John's marine issues.
"There are waivers and exemptions," he said as about 40 St. John residents listened during the meeting held at the Westin Resort and Villas ballroom.
However, he said the community has to push for them in order to cut down the number of fences and other security measures that several people said are far greater than St. John needs.
The Cruz Bay dock already has a huge metal fence cutting from side to side across its midsection, ostensibly, as Barshinger put it, "to keep evil invaders off the dock."
While the Cruz Bay dock security fence issue comes up repeatedly at town meetings, St. John residents said at this meeting that they want to maintain their ability to use the Creek. The V.I. Port Authority will soon implement more stringent security measures at this location.
"We need to get access to the bulkhead, but the federal government keeps taking more and more of it," Lovango Cay resident Dan Boyd said, referring to the Creek.
Dr. Craig Friedenberg complained that if the Port Authority takes over more of the Creek, he won't be able to come from St. Thomas to his optometry practice on St. John by boat because he won't have any place to tie it up.
Until Enighed Pond Marine Facility opened several years ago, the Creek served as a base for the barges that ply the waters between St. John and St. Thomas. Currently, a variety of vessels, including the ferries to Tortola and Virgin Gorda, use the Creek. V.I. National Park also has its pier at the Creek.
The Port Authority has hired the St. Thomas architectural firm of John deJongh and Associates to come up with a plan for the Creek, but residents are still waiting to see what develops.
Also at issue for those who attended the meeting were the planned increases in ferry fares as well as the Port Authority's plan to collect 50 cents via turnstile from each passenger departing the Red Hook ferry terminal for Cruz Bay.
According to attorney Claudette Ferron, who represents the two ferry companies that ply the waters between St. John and St. Thomas, the local government has not turned over federal marine mass transit funding for decades.
"We have gotten zippo. Not one red cent," she said.
She said that if the two companies, Transportation Services and Varlack Ventures, had the money, the companies wouldn't need to raise fares. The companies are so far in the financial hole, she said members of the family-owned companies have had to mortgage their houses to keep the companies running.
Ferron asked all those at the meeting to call their elected officials to demand that the ferry companies receive the marine mass transit money.
In addition to Grant, Port Authority Director Kenn Hobson, Planning Commissioner Bob Mathes, Public Services Commission Attorney Tanisha Bailey-Roka, and V.I. National Park Superintendent Mark Hardgrove were on hand to answer questions.
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