June 5, 2007 — St. John does not have a fire truck and sufficient manpower to fight fires on buildings four stories tall, Deputy Fire Chief Winifred Powell said Tuesday at a town meeting.
"It has been a concern of mine," she said before the more than 100 people who overflowed the Legislature building at a meeting called by St. John Administrator Leona Smith and Sen. Carmen Wesselhoft.
Powell was responding to a question from St. John resident Pam Gaffin, who brought up the controversial Sirenusa condominium project rising above Cruz Bay. Last week, senators overrode Gov. John deJongh Jr.'s veto of a bill that gave the developer, Enighed Condominiums, a variance that essentially increases the height of some of the buildings to four stories.
The Fire Service doesn't have a truck to handle a fire in a four-story building anywhere in the territory, Wesselhoft said later.
Traffic will enter the condominium project from the road that passes by Serendip condominiums, said Deputy Public Works Commissioner Ira Wade, addressing another Sirenusa issue. Motorists will exit the project by driving past a congested area in front of Pine Peace Market.
Exiting past Pine Peace Market would be better than coming out at the top of Gina Hill, which is the upper point of Jacob's Ladder, Wade said, calling it a more dangerous option.
"To tell you the truth, there is just no good way to come out of there," he said.
St. John's sewage-treatment plant has the capacity to handle sewage from both Sirenusa and the Grande Bay projects when they come on line, according to May Adams Cornwall, director of the V.I. Waste Management Authority. The sewage-treatment plant currently operates at 50-percent capacity, she said.
The system operates efficiently but has problems caused by grease poured into the system, Cornwall said.
For Tuesday's meeting, Smith and Wesselhoft brought together department and agency heads as well as their staff from across the government to answer questions from St. John residents.
The government plans to advertise next week for the city planner deJongh promised St. John, Smith said.
On the public-safety front, plans are underway to use the Agriculture Department's station in Coral Bay to house Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Services until a permanent facility can be built, Smith said. The new building will serve all those departments.
The meeting also included news about water resources. Plans are in the works to redevelop the Creek in Cruz Bay, said V.I. Port Authority Director Darlan Brin. Until the Enighed Pond Marine Terminal opened, the Creek was used by barges to load and unload. Parking issues were also addressed. Brin said he would consider including parking in the redevelopment plans to help alleviate Cruz Bay's ongoing parking problems.
Several residents spoke about a rash of bootings and towings several months ago. But St. Thomas/St. John Police Chief Milton Petersen said that only watch commanders now have the authority to authorize towing, not Police officers as before.
Police Commissioner James McCall said that vehicles will no longer be immediately towed if the drivers don't have their driver's licenses or registrations with them.
"We'll give you one hour to get your vehicle off the street," he said.
The Port Authority is also working on paving an area at Enighed Pond for cargo trucks to park and building two guard houses to replace the canvas canopy the guards now use for shelter, Brin said.
On the health care front, Harold Wallace, administrator at Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center, said he is looking into developing a dialysis unit for the facility.
"But dialysis is expensive," Wallace said. "It will cost $1 million plus to get started."
The Health Center is willing to open a dialysis unit, but a feasibility study would have to be done and money would have to be appropriated, he said. Later Wallace indicated he will try to work out a way to transport St. John dialysis patients from the Red Hook ferry to their treatment at Roy L. Schneider Hospital.
The Health Center is also discussing a tele-medicine system with the Cleveland Clinic in Fort Lauderdale to make specialized care available for St. John, Wallace said.
The meeting also touched on public-health issues. When St. John resident Julie Van Pelt complained about overflowing toilets and other problems at the Cruz Bay public restrooms, Wade said they would be cleaned immediately.
"I assure you it won't happen again," he said.
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