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HomeNewsArchivesLegislature Addresses Tibbar Energy and Water Island Hotel Leases

Legislature Addresses Tibbar Energy and Water Island Hotel Leases

The V.I. Government will rent hundreds of acres of St. Croix farmland to Tibbar Energy to grow King Grass for use in electricity production if a lease tentatively approved in committee Tuesday is passed by the full V.I. Legislature.

The Finance Committee also approved leases for a hotel on 45 acres of land on Water Island for an electrical supply center and for an auto repair center in Sub Base on St. Thomas.

The government plans to lease Tibbar 232 acres on St. Croix that are reserved for agricultural use to grow King Grass. The land would join more than 1,700 acres on St. Croix that Tibbar has purchased or leased to grow the grass and build digesters to produce biogas for energy production, Tibbar owner and manager Tania Tomyn told the committee.

Agriculture Commissioner Louis Petersen testified in support of the lease, saying no land used to grow food would be diverted to any other use. He said the agreement will help the territory and farmers because Agriculture has reduced staff to manage the hayfield, and Tibbar will provide hay from the King Grass, which has higher protein content than traditional guinea grass and "will undoubtedly improve livestock health and productivity throughout the territory."

The company will also have heavy agricultural equipment on hand and will help provide services to farmers, such as deep tilling of soil, Petersen and Tomyn said.

Tomyn and V.I. Water and Power Authority Executive Director Hugo Hodge Jr. both said the Tibbar plant will reduce electricity costs and provide 18 to 26 percent of St. Croix’s peak power needs.

WAPA endorsed the lease, with V.I. Waste Management Authority Deputy Director of Operations Ann Hanley saying Tibbar will purchase large amounts of its effluent water and also invest in infrastructure that will help VIWMA reduce saltwater infiltration and reduce salinity in the effluent water.

A 99-year lease for a hotel development on Water Island where a hotel existed until 1989 met some opposition from residents concerned the hotel and associated housing development would be too large and dominate the small island.

The Water Island Development Company plans for 122 rooms, 35 villas and a marina for large yachts and smaller vessels. They plan to apply for tax breaks and hotel development incentives enacted earlier this year as amendments to a 2011 hotel development law aimed at promoting building on St. Croix.

"We are not opposed to a hotel. We are opposed to the size of this project," Water Island resident Jim Zimmerman said. The entire project is larger than the amount of land to be leased from the government, coming to 103 acres, including unbuildable land and land for a housing development. "It is 103 acres of a 500 acre island – a critical mass," Zimmerman said.

Bob Jackson of Water Island Development Company said the original, defunct hotel had 155 rooms and they set that as a benchmark to stay under. He said the total development was not as large as the acreage would suggest. Some of the land is on a severe slope or is otherwise unbuildable, Jackson said.

The committee also approved two leases in Sub Base on St. Thomas. One is a lease with Budget Super Service Center for 22,727 square feed in Sub Base. The lease is for 10 years with an option for two five-year renewals. The monthly rent is $6,664.

The company plans to use the space for a state-of-the-art auto repair shop, with a paint booth, frame machine and other services.

The other is a lease for 6,145 square feet of space at Sub Base for Bryan’s Electrical Contracting Corporation, with options to renew until 2033.

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