Water Island Residents Demand Answers, Lease Corrections Before Development Advances

A virtual public hearing on an amended lease agreement for a proposed hotel and residential development on Water Island drew firm opposition from residents, with the Water Island Civic Association arguing that the meeting was premature, improperly noticed, and held before key questions and lease concerns had been addressed.

At the start of Wednesday’s meeting, Chuck Nestrud, president of the Water Island Civic Association, read a statement on behalf of the association’s membership. WICA objected to what it described as late notice from the V.I. Department of Property and Procurement, as well as the decision to hold the meeting online rather than as the in-person town hall that DPP Assistant Commissioner Vincent Richards had referenced during Senate testimony in late June.

Mr. Nestrud said several WICA members could not attend the 10 a.m. virtual meeting because they were taking part in a previously scheduled tour of the island with senators.

He also accused the Water Island Development Company of failing to adequately respond to most of the more than 40 questions he had submitted in writing. The email he received in return, he said, “included responses to only nine of those questions, 22 questions were not answered at all, [while] four others were non-responsive.”

Of the answers provided, Mr. Nestrud claimed that several “were in conflict with Senate testimony that was provided,” while others were “qualified as the developer’s goal or his aspiration rather than a definitive answer.”