V.I. Water and Power Authority board members approved a contract Monday that would allow a new heat recovery boiler for St. Thomas to be stored stateside for up to 12 months while some of the parts are being redesigned.

According to WAPA Chief Operating Officer Greg Rhymer, the boiler was recently purchased and shipped from California to Minnesota, where it was supposed to be stored in a facility owned by Hammond Deltak, the company hired to complete the refurbishing. Rhymer said during the board’s emergency meeting that the authority received a call late last week from the company saying the space was no longer available, which forced WAPA to either ship the boiler back to the territory or find another storage space on the mainland.

Shipping the boiler back now would cost approximately $1 million, but Rhymer said the real issue was finding a climate controlled place to store it until the redesign was finished. And since the Unit 21 boiler is already being stored by the company – also waiting for a redesign – Rhymer said it made more financial sense to bring everything back at one time.

The resolution passed by the WAPA board Monday authorizes the authority’s executive director to negotiate a contract with Hammond Deltak at a cost not to exceed $508,101 for handling, inspection, repackaging and storage of the new boiler for up to 12 months, or the time needed to finish the redesign. The boiler was brought over the rails from California and is currently waiting to be offloaded so the cars could be sent back to the shipping company, Rhymer added Monday.

Board members present were Elizabeth Armstrong, Cheryl Boynes-Jackson, Donald Francois, Gerald Groner and Noel Loftus.