News of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

Police roadblock

Yep, those are police cars taking up four spaces intended for the public at the temporary overflow parking lot at the Winston Wells ball field in Cruz Bay. 

Inez the Deputy Inquiring Iguana spotted them there. 

The temporary lot was opened about a week ago because of the St. John Festival, which has made parking is more scarce downtown than usual.

It’s not enough the police park half a dozen of their huge SUVs in front of Headquarters, eh?

Why aren’t sone of those cars on patrol?

Video: St. John at Festival time

Three new videos offering a tour of Cruz Bay have been posted on YouTube by StJohnJason. 

Jason Hubert told The Inquiring Iguana he's 22-years-old, just graduated college, and is now living on St. John. "I have loved St. John for as long as I can remember and have been reading your blog for quite some time now," he told the Iguana.

In one segment, it looks like Jason just got into an SUV, on the passenger side, started at the police station and drove through town starting with Woody’s, then down the one- way street that goes past the park, where you can see some of the booths and exhibits set up for this week of the Festival.

There’s also a ‘tour’ from Mongoose to the Dolphin Market which gives you a glimpse of the Roundabout construction. (Looks like the contractor did a fine job of resurfacing the road that was torn up along Boulon Center.)

Take the tours.  Click the links.

• Tour #1 Mongoose to Dolphin Market
• Tour #2 Woody's to the Park
• Tour #3 Park to Fish Trap

Ferry fare rising 50 cents for most of us

Two months after touching off an uproar by imposing a new 50-cent fee for riding the Red Hook-St. John ferry, the Virgin Islands Port Authority has backed off, by a quarter, for some people. 

The Authority decided everyone except seniors, students and people needing treatment for a chronic medical problem will pay a half-dollar as a new ‘use fee’ for the ferry terminal at Red Hook.  Passengers qualifying for the discount will pay only 25 cents. 

The current round trip ferry fare is $10.  The Public Service Commission is considering a request from the ferry companies to boost the cost 40%,m to $14, according to the Virgin Islands Daily News.

Now, here’s the part of this story I really love! 

The use fee will be added into the cost of the tickets sold by the ferry company.  Then, the Daily News said, the ferry companies will “pass the fee on to the Port Authority for terminal maintenance costs.”  Yeah, right. 

For years, the PA and/or the PSC have been wrestling to get verified financial reports from the companies which consistently cry and complain and poor mouth about how bad their business is, but whose employees are, shall we say ‘lax,’ about money handling, receipts, and reporting.

Crunch time in Cruz Bay

St. John Festival  is underway.

Besides the annual climactic event, fireworks over Cruz Bay harbor on July 4th, the arrival of Festival means one big thing to locals - FEWER parking spots.  

That’s because Festival Village is being set up in the free, public parking lot by the Customs House and across from the Post Office.  So, the lot was closed Friday, the 19th.  It will reopen July 7th.

The ‘Village’ is a bunch of plywood and paint booths which become businesses selling food and drink for the week leading up to the 4th. (Wonder if they’re licensed and pay Gross Receipts taxes.  And, if so, does anybody audit their sales figures?)

Anyway, with the closing of the lot downtown, they’ve opened the athletic field at the Sprauve School for parking.  As you can see from the picture above (red arrow), a few cars are able to use the lot, while a lot of space is taken up by Tropical Shipping trucks.  (Inez, a Deputy Inquiring Iguana, took these pictures. Click on them for to see larger versions.)

Now, remember, the Sprauve School is adjacent to the Roundabout project.  Fewer parking spaces downtown means more traffic searching for places, with many of them heading to Sprauve and getting tied up in that work.

What does St. John need?

An interesting thread on the island forum on VInow.com. 

It began with Notahippie saying “STJ is almost perfect.  While less expensive food and more parking in Cruz bay are obvious things for change, “If you could wave your magic wand, what would you change about STJ?”

Predictably, critics cited residential and commercial development.

Exit Zero, with some irony intended, said “How lucky we are now that so many people decided STJ was 'missing' Condos, Timeshares, huge Rental Villas, Gated beaches, VLTs, more roads, strip malls, security gates on the ferry dock... Maybe what STJ is missing is an effective Planning Dept. and Land Use Plan.”

Dean Doeling, a fellow who works with Nike and has formed “Using Sport for Social Change” quoted a young St. Johnian who said what’s missing is “more sports on St. John for Schools and all ages.”  (Read what Doeling’s done for the schools.)

But despite the complaints, Jrobinv wrote, “What’s missing from St. John?  Me.”

What do YOU think St. John needs?  Offer a suggestion by clicking here.

This is a link to the VINow.com forum thread.

Wagapalooza '09

Here are a half dozen photos from last weekend's Wagapalooza.  Fun for all people and animals.  Kudos to Mariah Scheer, who helped out The Inquiring Iguana by taking these pictures. 

A friend says, "Mariah is a very responsible and bright young woman.  She was born in St. Thomas, U,S. Virgin Islands, as was her younger sister, Marina. 

"Mariah just turned 14 and is doing great at Gifft Hill School.  She'll be in New Jersey for ten weeks this summer, and is going to be a camp counselor, so she will earn all of her high school volunteer credits at that time."

Wagapalooza was really fun, with lots and lots of people, Mariah said.  She volunteered to help at the event, competed with her own puppy, and took the photos. That's her at the left.

The blue ribbon winners for "Best Brotther and Sister" (bottom row, left) were Roger and Fran Harland.  They dressed their English Bulldogs in prison stripes because, Roger told someone, "They were serving life on St. John."

       

Big weekend on a little island

A triple-header of activities drew hundreds of locals and visitors to the Beach Bar, the Sprauve School playground, and Mongoose Junction over the weekend.

The fun began with the 9th annual Minimal Regatta on the waterfront, an annual competition which requires competitors to build a watercraft out of not much more than nuts, twigs and Styrofoam.  About eight people entered the Beach Bar event this year.  Despite the fact their ‘boats’ could include little more than a sheet of plywood, some boards, nails and duct tape, a good time was had by all who launched and sailed their craft. None were lost at sea.

In the afternoon, it was on to Wagapalooza, the Animal Care Center-sponsored island dog show.  The St. John Source estimated 250 people attended and watched 39 dogs compete for fun and prizes.  The traditional “Wagometer” was the arbiter for awards, measuring the loudness of the audience’s applause.  Check back here later for pictures.

The nightcap was Music in the Moonlight at Mongoose Junction.  Michelle Wicklund blogged that a variety of artists sang and played several songs each, and “There were tons of people there.”

Ferry fare hike frozen

The VI Public Service Commission agreed to postpone a 40% hike in the Red Hook/St. John ferry fare for 60 days.  The increase, from $5 to $7 each way, was to go into effect May 1.

The PSC convened a public hearing at the legislature building on St. John to hear complaints about its decision to approve a fare increase.  St. John’s Unity Day Group filed a formal request for reconsideration.

About 70 people attended the hearing at the Legislature building. Unity Day Group argued the ferry companies’ financial justification for the increase included some odd ‘business’ expenses.

The St. John Source quoted Sharon Coldren, a Group member, saying “I see $1 million in unpaid gross receipts taxes ... I see loans to officers.  I see a time-share condo mentioned.”

The Commission agreed to reopen the fare hike request process which will lead to at least one more public hearing and allow for public comment.

The Commission will again try to figure out the true financial condition of the ferry companies.  Both Varlack Ventures and Transportation Services perennially plead losses and poverty, but few people have seen proof this is so.

Guy Benjamin, grand old man of the island

Imagine St. John in 1914.  That’s when Guy Benjamin was born, far on the East End of the smallest Virgin Island. 

He was the first St. Johnian to finish high school.  He went on to graduate from New York University, and to become both Superintendent of Schools on St. John and St. Thomas and an author (Me and My Beloved Virgin). 

Still living in Coral Bay, and directing the choir at the Moravian Church, Benjamin continues to wield what they call in Chicago ‘clout.’  In a profile of Benjamin in this month's Caribbean Travel & Life, writer Peter Muilenburg says all it took was him to indicate he was opposed to a proposal to build a marina, hotel and condos on church land to kill the project.

If you love St. John, you need to know about Guy Benjamin.  One way would be to read his book, “Me and My Beloved Virgin.”  Another is to stop by the Sputnik Bar, where he’s been known to stop for refreshment.  Or you could go to church and listen to him sing.

• Read the Caribbean Travel & Life article here.
• The St. John Historical Society has more information about Guy Benjamin and other island stalwarts.
• (Benjamin photo by Kimberly Boulon, for the St. John Historical Society.)

Dolphin discount returns

These are tough times for Dolphin Market, located at Boulon Center, aka Ground Zero for the Roundabout construction. 

As this photo from Inez, the Deputy Inquiring Iguana shows, it's a nightmare trying to park and shop at what formerly was the cheapest, fairly-well stocked food store in Cruz Bay.  But that kind of changed when the VI Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs showed the market's prices were higher than previously.

Then came word from one of the St. John forums that Dolphin had stopped giving a 10% discount to people who used the Friends of the Virgin Islands eco-friendly shopping sacks, which were sold last fall.  That prompted lots of criticism of the store. Maybe the Dolphin owners heard. it.

This morning comes a photo from another Deputy Inquiring Iguana that Dolphin has posted a sign saying the bags are welcome and the discount's being offered.  Locals will be pleased.  If you're interested in getting a bag, and a deal, the Friends or Dolphin may - may - have some left.