Kathy Huttel, executive director of the St. Thomas Swimming Association, was still "absorbing" some very good news Wednesday evening from a very unexpected source — the Virgin Islands government.
Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen said earlier in the day that she had asked the Legislature's legal counsel to draft legislation appropriating $250,000 to complete the Estate Nazareth Community Aquatic Center Pool. Hansen, Finance Committee chairwoman, has recently taken an aggressive role investigating what has happened to the territory's now-fragile marine industry. She held a public hearing last Thursday.
The swimming association, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization formed in 1986, has been working on the project for years, with countless hurdles and a lot of hard work by volunteers, Huttel said.
"I laud the senators for the effort," she said, "I'm excited. I've only had time to tell two of my 12 board members."
Huttel said she had spoken with Eddie Donoghue, a consultant in Hansen's office, on Monday when he told her of Hansen's interest in the project. "We haven't lobbied the Legislature or any other government entity for funds," Huttel said.
The association is well-known for its swimming programs run in conjunction with the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Special Olympics, Lutheran Church Summer Camp and other organizations.
Huttel's focus has remained constant from the beginning: to teach local children to swim in a non-threatening environment protected from the elements. She has worked with the Kids and the Sea, or KATS, swimming program at Magens Bay for years. She has recognized the need for a pool for adults as well as for children for exercise and rehabilitation.
What the association has done over the years is a lot of fund-raising. The West Indian Co. Ltd. has been a big contributor, and for 13 years Bellows International has sponsored the association's annual Snapple Swim-O-Thon at Magens Bay.
In 1999 Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises donated $100,000 for the center, and the association added another $187,800, to pour the pool. That is phase one of a five-phase project, which eventually will encompass two pools, concession areas and dorms for visitors for international competitors in swim meets.
Hansen said, "As a tourism destination, one of our goals should be equipping our children with all manner of aquatic skills." She said children should learn to swim to prepare them for careers in the local marine industry.
"I would be remiss if I did not support this project," Hansen said.

One thing people in both the private and public sectors agree on is that tourism in the territory needs a boost. What they don’t necessarily agree on is how to do the boosting.
Hoteliers and business groups in the territory met with Gov. Charles Turnbull on Wednesday and urged him to sign off on a proposal that would create a tourism authority in the territory, said Richard Doumeng, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel Association. Doumeng, who was also just reelected to his second two-year term as president, said they met with the governor asking that the Tourism Department be depoliticized.
That political nature of the top tourism post was highlighted on Tuesday when Turnbull nominated long-time Assistant Tourism Commissioner Pamela Richards for the job, the governor’s fourth official nominee since 1998. The last commissioner, Rafael Jackson, quit in October.
It’s that instability the private sector wants to eliminate with a tourism authority. The proposal would create a semi-autonomous agency similar to the V.I. Port Authority and the West Indian Co. Ltd. As proposed, the authority would be made up of nine members — three from government and six from the private sector. All nominees would have to be approved by the governor and confirmed by the legislature. It would involve such government agencies as the Departments of Public Works, Police, and Housing, Parks and Recreation.
The board would have the authority to issue bonds and would have an executive director responsible for managing day-to-day affairs and the $11-million-a-year generated by the territory’s 8 percent hotel occupancy tax. The tax is supposed to used to market the territory, long a bone of contention between the private sector and the government.
"We’re not crying wolf," Doumeng said. "Even though we brought people down to our properties, it’s not at a level of profitability."
He noted that while hotels on St. Croix were running at close to 90 percent occupancies over the last several months, it wasn’t due to tourists. The coker project at the Hovensa oil refinery accounts for the vast majority of that percentage. In the height of tourism season, only about 10 percent of the occupancy on St. Croix is tourism generated, Doumeng said.
Neither Turnbull or Richards, however, have weighed in publicly on the tourism authority issue. She did say Turnbull is aware of the condition of the tourism industry in the territory.
"The governor is very concerned about the state of tourism. He has pledged his support," she said. "I’m very confident . . . we’ll get what we need."
And even though she may view the current state of health of the industry differently than Doumeng, Richards was optimistic about the future. Especially if both the private and public sectors move forward together with marketing and advertising efforts.
"Our numbers are up. They are not where they used to be. They are up," she said. "We need to work more with each other. There are a lot of resources we both have."
While members of the Turnbull administration have been quiet on the tourism authority proposal – although former commissioner Jackson was openly opposed to the idea – members of the territory’s business community believe the apprehension is about control.
In their policy agenda, members Senate majority said the tourism proposal awaiting Turnbull’s approval would "remove the government from any significant role in shaping tourism policy" and place "power" in the "hands of the hotel associations and chambers of commerce."
Doumeng, however, took exception to that notion. He said a vibrant tourism economy not only benefits businesses and tourists, but also the residents of the territory.
"The tourism authority is talking about the destination: the infrastructure, having parks and public safety. It enhances the product. It’s talking about the whole concept." Doumeng said. "It’s not just about the people of the hotel association or the chamber of commerce want control of the advertising budget."
Normally, the governor has 10 working days to sign or veto a bill. But because the Legislature submitted it after adjourning last year, he has 30 working days to act on it. That gives him until Feb. 13.

Goats, cows, ducks, chickens, plants and the people who tend them – farmers – will all be present at the annual Agricultural and Food fair on St. Croix from Feb. 17 through Feb. 19.
And this year the gathering at Estate Lower Love will be even more special: It is the 30th anniversary of the event.
"This year we’re doing a lot of extra things," said Agriculture Commissioner Henry Schuster. "We’re building new bridges, ordering new tents. This is our 30th anniversary. We’re naming the grounds after Rudy Shulterbrandt, founder of the Ag Fair in 1971."
Visitors to the fair over Presidents Day weekend will not only be able to see a variety of livestock but will also be able to sample Caribbean foods, fruits and vegetables. Also featured will be music, crafts and tropical plants from farmers representing the territory, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other Caribbean islands.
This year’s theme is "V.I. Agriculture: Reflections of the Past, Visions of the Future."

Eugene Woods, chief executive officer for Roy L. Schneider Hospital, has become a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the highest level of achievement within the organization.
The college is the preeminent professional society for the nearly 30,000 health care executives in the U.S. and internationally, and fewer than 1 in 10 members have risen to fellow status.
Woods said in a statement this week he was excited to meet his personal goal of passing college fellow requirements–including many years of health care management experience, educational and leadership achievement and completion of a significant project–before turning 40 years old.
He said because health care is rapidly changing, affiliation with the college is vital to staying up to date on the many facets of managing a health care organization.
Woods will be formally inducted as a fellow in March during the 2001 Congress on Healthcare Management meeting in Chicago.

Responding to Senate criticism that the Corrections Bureau and the Police Department were on the verge of losing more than $1.3 million in federal funds, Attorney General Iver Stridiron Wednesday detailed why a prison annex facility has not been completed. The federal government had provided funds for the project's completion; it was later learned the monies were commingled with local government monies in the General Fund, now placing the funds in jeopardy.
Stridiron blamed the contractor hired to renovate the halfway house in Sub Base on St. Thomas for the loss of thousands of dollars each year. "The annex really is to be a money-making venture for the government … but I can't do anything until the contractor completes the job," he said. Stridiron said while the Justice Department insists that the contractor finish the job, he "was led to believe that the contractor had still not resumed work despite a court order that he resume work on Jan. 9."
At a meeting earlier this week with members of the Senate majority, U.S. Marshal Conrad Hoover said the federal government, aside from providing the monies to complete the annex, was willing to pay to use the facility to temporarily hold federal prisoners including detained illegal immigrants. The federal use of the Corrections Annex could have generated upwards of $400,000 a year, senators were told.
Sen. Carlton Dowe called on the administration to sign into law a provision of the 2001 Omnibus Act which provides for the establishment of a special fund to deposit federal monies earmarked for Corrections and police.

The Virgin Islands Justice Department has completed the return to the territory of 146 inmates who were housed in federal facilities since 1989.
Under an agreement with the Commonwealth of Virginia, about a dozen prisoners, including the twice-escaped murder convict Bradley "Hurtie" Maxwell, will be sent back to maximum security prisons on the mainland, Attorney General Iver Stridiron said Wednesday. Negotiations continue with Virginia officials on an agreement to house the more notorious V.I. criminals there.
Twelve of the inmates to be kept in maximum security mainland prisons are already housed in stateside prisons. Stridiron said three more now housed in the V.I., including Maxwell, will be sent to maximum security facilities stateside.
Along with the return of the prisoners will hopefully come forgiveness of a $9.7 million debt to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Stridiron said the debt is down from the $16 million the Turnbull administration inherited two years ago.
He noted that the return of the prisoners to the V.I. has "gone without incident to date." Most of the prisoners are pleased to be back in the Virgin Islands in a jail that is familiar to them, he said.
"I am sure they would rather be in the V.I. than in state prisons which, as I understand it, are far worse in terms of security, lockdown and discipline," Stridiron said.
On another prison-related issue, Stridiron said the $25 million expansion of the Golden Grove Correctional Facility on St. Croix is just about completed. A dedication ceremony is being planned for Feb. 20.
"It's not that we are celebrating building more jails," Stridiron noted, but that the government was compelled "to increase the prison capacity by 200 beds to ensure safe conditions at the jail in St. Croix."

The U.S. Virgin Islands Justice Department has completed the return to the territory of 146 inmates who were housed in federal facilities since 1989.
Under an agreement with the Commonwealth of Virginia, about a dozen prisoners, including the twice-escaped murder convict Bradley "Hurtie" Maxwell, will be among those sent back to maximum security prisons, Attorney General Iver Stridiron said Wednesday. Negotiations continue with state officials in Virginia to complete the agreement to house the more notorious V.I. criminals there.
Along with the return of the prisoners will hopefully come forgiveness of a $9.7 million debt to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Stridiron said the debt is down from the $16 million debt the Turnbull administration inherited two years ago.
He noted that the return of the prisoners has "gone without incident to date." Stridiron said most of the prisoners are pleased to be back in the Virgin Islands, in a jail that is familiar to them. "I am sure they would rather be in the V.I. than in state prisons which as I understand it, are far worse in terms of security, lockdown and discipline," he said.
On another prison-related issue, Stridiron said the $25 million expansion of the Golden Grove Correctional Facility on St. Croix is just about completed. A dedication ceremony is being planned for Feb. 20.
"It's not that we are celebrating building more jails," Stridiron noted, but that the government was compelled "to increase the prison capacity by 200 beds to ensure safe conditions at the jail in St. Croix."

St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association President Richard Doumeng told members Wednesday night he had implored Gov. Charles W. Turnbull earlier in the day to sign off on the bill to create a V.I. Tourism Authority that is a part of the Omnibus Act of 2001, which is still on the governor's desk.
At Government House, Doumeng said, members of the hotel association, members of the St. Thomas-St. John and St. Croix Chambers of Commerce, and hotel association attorney Tom Bolt met with Turnbull to explain their position. They told Turnbull the public-private authority would "bring stability" to the tourism industry in the Virgin Islands.
Making the point Wednesday night for depoliticizing the management of the territory's tourism, Doumeng observed, "In two years, there have been seven people at the helm" of the Tourism Department. (Only one, Rafael Jackson, has been confirmed for the position in the current administration, and he left last October after seven months on the job – four in an acting capacity and three after being sworn in.)
Doumeng made his comments at the hotel association annual meeting, held at the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort. At the meeting, Beverly Nicholson, executive director of the association, said that notwithstanding any attempts to lure other businesses to the territory, for now, "Tourism is the mainstay of our economy."
The V.I. Tourism Authority as proposed would be made up of nine members — three from government and six from the private sector. All nominees would have to be approved by the governor and confirmed by the legislature. It would involve such government agencies as the Departments of Public Works, Police, and Housing, Parks and Recreation.
The association also addressed another part of the Omnibus Bill at the meeting – the proposed increase in the hotel occupancy tax to 10 percent from the current 8 percent. "Say no" was the position of the members present, who were urged to write to the governor strongly stating their stands on both issues.
"There are 8,000 jobs in the tourism sector," Nicholson said. "Two thousand can sway an election."
Doumeng said raising the room tax would be "a consumer tax added to the few people who are still willing to pay the high cost of airfares to come here."
The hotel association also wants the governor to refer the issue of industrial development benefits to the proposed new Tax Study Commission which is also part of the Omnibus Act.
Doumeng said he was hopeful coming from his meeting with the governor, and even more hopeful about the new Senate. He said Sen. Adelbert M. Bryan, the Economic Development Committee chair, has agreed to address the association's March meeting. Also, Doumeng and Nicholson have been invited to testify next Tuesday on St. Croix at a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen.
Doumeng, elected Wednesday night to a second two-year term as president of the association, said it is time to get the message out to the legislature and the entire community that with regard to the general state of the territory's hospitality industry, "The situation is dire." He said many people think that just because hoteliers say last year's summer season was the best since 1989, they are making a profit.
The truth is, he said, "We are holding on by the skin of our teeth."
Doumeng and Nicholson expressed the need to "look at ourselves as a destination."
"If the airport experience were better for us, it would be better for the tourists," Doumeng said. "If the destination is better for us, it's better for visitors."
Annual meeting business also included the election of six hotel members and three allied member to the association's board of directors.
The hotel members elected are Rik Blyth, Wyndham Sugar Bay; Carter Donovan, Ritz-Carlton Hotel; David Yamada, Renaissance Grand Beach Resort; Jayne Hillner, Marriott Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort; Cyndi Britton, Colony Point Pleasant Resort; and Randall Doty, Sapphire Beach Resort.
The allied members elected are Trudie Prior, Coral World; Edward Thomas, West Indian Co.; and Janise Robinson, United Airlines.

In response to requests from the Virgin Islands community, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will extend its deadline for public comments on the proposed St. Croix Alumina clean-up plan.
The original deadline was Wednesday. The new deadline is Feb. 14, according to EPA’s Nina Habib Spencer.
On Jan. 17, the EPA held a public meeting to discuss a plan for cleaning up an underground plume of oil at St. Croix Alumina. EPA representatives explained the details of the plan, which was negotiated between the agency and several past and present owners of both St. Croix Alumina and the adjacent Hovensa oil refinery.
The plan lays out a process for the parties, including three other companies, to clean up the plume, estimated at 900,000 gallons of petroleum to more than 2 million gallons, which were released from storage tanks and underground piping at St. Croix Alumina and the former Hess Oil refinery between 1978 and 1991.
The oil seeped into the soil at both facilities and eventually reached the groundwater. Much of the oil is now floating on top of the groundwater, although some of it has dissolved into the water itself, Spencer said.
The groundwater in the area flows in the general direction of the Caribbean Sea, which forms the southern border of St. Croix Alumina. EPA is concerned that the oil plume could reach the sea if it is not cleaned up.
Under the plan, representatives of all the parties involved, under EPA oversight, would decide how to clean up the oil plume and determine the extent of the dissolved petroleum and the risks it may pose.
Once that is done, EPA will hold additional public meetings on St. Croix. The first one will likely take place this summer.
The public may review the proposed order by visiting EPA's office in the Federal Building on St. Thomas, or the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources, Division of Environmental Protection, in Water Gut.
The public may submit written comments on the proposed order by mail (must be postmarked by Feb. 14, 2001) or by fax to: Raymond Basso, Chief, RCRA Programs Branch U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, 290 Broadway, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866. (Phone (212) 637-4105; fax (212) 637-4437.)
To discuss specifics of the plan prior to submitting comments, call Jim Casey of EPA at (340) 714-2333 or Tim Gordon, also of EPA, at (212) 637-4167.
Once EPA has evaluated the comments received, it will decide whether to finalize the proposed clean-up.

Sprint Caribe issued a message to its Virgin Islands customers Wednesday afternoon informing them that long-distance telephone service had been restored, ending two and a half days of interruptions because of underwater cable damage.
The company expressed its thanks "for your patience, understanding and cooperation during the major cable outage that affected telecommunications and long-distance service providers in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico."
Offering an apology for any inconveniences caused by the outage, it added, "Service has been restored and we appreciate your loyalty. Sprint is committed to continue to provide you with quality customer care and cost-effective solutions to your long distance needs.
For further information about Sprint services, it referred the public to its V.I. office telephone number, 776-3232. General information about Sprint offerings may also be obtained at its web site at www.sprint.com/.