ST. CROIX — Business owners in downtown Christiansted had an opportunity to question the governor and officials representing three different government agencies Thursday evening in the ballroom at Government House during a meeting organized by the Christiansted Restaurant and Retail Association.
The merchants heard updates on various initiatives from Governor Albert Bryan Jr. and representatives from the Virgin Islands Police Department, Waste Management Authority, and Department of Tourism before engaging them in a question-and-answer segment during the hour-and-a-half long meeting.
Collin Hodge, CRRA interim president, said the purpose of the meeting was to reconnect major stakeholders from government to the private sector businesses in the downtown area. He discussed how businesses suffered during the coronavirus pandemic that was followed by extensive road work in Christiansted town. He said the idea behind the meeting was to build a relationship between the merchants and the government agencies so that issues can be proactively addressed before they cause hardship.
“I’m very happy with it and look forward to many more,” Hodge said about the meeting.
The business owners in attendance raised concerns about the lack of public restrooms, overflowing garbage bins, minimal police presence, and poor lighting. One shopkeeper discussed the centralized location of taxi drivers during the day that vanish at night, demonstrating a need for more rideshare options. Another discussed how new tariffs forced him to discontinue shipping his locally made products to customers off island.
One of the attendees raised concern about the lack of public restrooms in town, suggesting a public/private partnership where the government funds the project and a private entity completes the construction. Bryan quickly pointed out that the government would pay for restrooms, but he downplayed the dire need for them.
“I didn’t know that was a problem,” he said. “I can’t think of where we would put public bathrooms, but we’re open to that.”
After someone suggested installing restrooms near the government parking lot, Bryan proposed turning the Florence Williams Public Library into an art museum that could also be used for restrooms. He said “nobody goes to the library,” pointing out that all the books are digitally available for free via the Hoopla app for anybody with a Virgin Islands library card.
Sonia Deane, owner of Cane Roots Art Gallery on Company Street, questioned how often garbage gets collected in town, suggesting the bins at the end of Queen Cross Street near the boardwalk are always overflowing. Anderson Poleon Sr., director of Enforcement at the Waste Management Authority, said the garbage is usually collected once or twice a week.
One of the business owners said a police presence is missing from town. St. Croix Police Chief Uston Cornelius said the department’s minimal officers are busy responding to calls, noting there might only be seven officers on any given shift.
“We try our best with what little we have to give coverage,” he said.
Cornelius said the VIPD is getting ready to install 23 more surveillance cameras in each town in addition to license plate recognition cameras along the roadways.
The discussion about public safety led to a concern about the poor lighting in town. Bryan agreed the existing lights are too dark, pledging to work with the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority to install brighter lightbulbs.
Nathan Bishop, co-owner of Crucian Gold on Strand Street, raised a concern about all the taxi vans that park along King Street across from Government House and take away parking spots. He suggested spreading the taxi vans throughout town so they are all not centralized in the same location. He also discussed the need for rideshare services as an alternative option, noting that taxi vans disappear after 5 p.m. Bryan pointed out an unregulated rideshare operation already exists, referring to VI Hail.
Steffen Larsen, owner of Mitchell Larsen Studio on Company Street, raised a concern about the recently implemented tariffs on merchandise shipped out of the territory. He said his studio used to ship up to 40% of its products made on island to customers living out of the territory. He said, however, he no longer ships his products due to the tariffs, noting that every U.S. Post Office on island gives him a different explanation. He said different postal workers have told him there should not be any tariff on items made on island, but that no forms are available to address the issue. Bryan said he did not think President Donald Trump meant to include the Virgin Islands among those jurisdictions that must pay tariffs, adding that he is trying to schedule a meeting to discuss it with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Manuel “Manny” Elijah, owner of Latoya’s Victoria Secret/Bath & Body Works on Strand Street, has operated his shop out of Christiansted for nearly three years after relocating it from Frederiksted due to a lack of sales. He suggested a rehabilitation program could reinvigorate Frederiksted town.
“As far as getting businesses back to Frederiksted, I think we need to do a cleanup with some type of program,” he said.
Bryan said his idea was to take over the catholic schools located in every town, turn them into public schools with all the best resources, and only allow children who live in town to attend them.
“That would shift things because people would start to invest in town because they want their kids to go to school,” he said. “In the states, people buy their house by the school district. That’s how they shop. We look for view.”
