senate and abr deal?

Interesting discussion on the radio 1000 this morning with Barshinger.
He likened ABR' s deal to someone buying a used car from you and having someone pay you for it, IF it's still in great running condition with no new dents or scratches on the paint in 6 years while the person wishing to buy it has full use and control during that term.
If after that term, they decide not to proceed, they walk away.

Doesn't sound like such a good deal to me.

Too bad the VI government can't afford take it by imminent domain and hire a company to manage the fuel storage and sell everything else. They'd have to pay fair market value.

So far ABR has made an investment of $1000.00 according to Barshinger. (That's one thousand dollars only)

Sharing a potpourri of links from the Virgin Islands Daily News...

http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/senate-committee-to-take-up-hovensa-sale-1.1803064 Senate commitee to take up HOVENSA sale

http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/the-deal-to-sell-hovensa-1.1803098 The deal to sell HOVENSA

http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/the-agreement-by-the-numbers-1.1803119 The agreement by the numbers

http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/atlantic-basin-deal-is-off-if-hovensa-goes-bankrupt-1.1803122 ABR deal is off if HOVENSA goes bankrupt

http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/these-are-the-principals-of-atlantic-basin-refining-1.1803131 These are the principals of ABR

Like I said before, it is out of our hands....15 people will decide the fate of the ABR deal...not any of us.

Like I said before, it is out of our hands....15 people will decide the fate of the ABR deal...not any of us.

We all have the opportunity to vote for our representatives. We may not agree on the makeup of the senate but we do participate in the process. And post election we can contact our senators at any time to voice our opinions on any issue. Like it or not, they represent we the people.

I did vote.

Which is why I said the matter is out of our hands now. I do believe back door deals are being made without our knowledge.

... I do believe back door deals are being made without our knowledge.

Ladies and gentleman. Your flight to reality will be landing soon. Please put away your carry on items and ensure your tray tables are in their upright and stowed position. Your flight attendants will be passing through the cabin shortly to collect your rose colored glasses, and we hope you enjoyed the in-flight entertainment.

Welcome to the Virgin Islands, where back door deals are always the soup De-jour of the government trough.

haha, yep I've been here long enough, so I know back door deals are always the soup De-jour of the government trough. We'll never know exactly what deal is being made, and all who are involved, but we can know for sure that the back door deal is taking place!

haha, yep I've been here long enough, so I know back door deals are always the soup De-jour of the government trough. We'll never know exactly what deal is being made, and all who are involved, but we can know for sure that the back door deal is taking place!

We have the smartest, most clever white collar criminals in the world.
Look at the arrest and conviction rate (one every 3-5 years?) and we
still aren't smart enough to catch one or document any thievery.

We sure are a stupid lot. :S

Has anyone heard anything about the committee meeting today?

It is still going on, in recess, and will reconvene at 10pm on LegiTV

It may happen today at 1:00pm as per VI News...

http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/1.1803558

They voted last night 5-2 to send it to the full senate on Friday for a vote.

They voted last night 5-2 to send it to the full senate on Friday for a vote.

Thanks for the update...

I'd be all for it if it didn't have so many "IFs."
Even their radio advertising has them slipping in the word "depending." "If" in 2 years time, "depending" on financial outlook in 2 years time, etc. Makes me wonder if they really are committed or want to sell the whole place for scrap in 2 year's time.

So what if they want to sell it for scrap?
Isn't that what you'd like to see happen?

I'd like to see what's best for St. Croix and the rest of the VI.
STX needs a fuel storage operation. That much is clear.

Will you have one in January if they don't get their contract or in 2 years time, after ABR decides "IF" they want to, "if" they can get the necessary funding and "depending" on the engineering assessments?

BTW, the majority of gas stations I passed yesterday had a price of $4.289. The Puma stations are much higher. Think it was $4.699 for regular at those.

If the ABR deal is approved, the current terminal operation will continue.
The physical terminal operation does not need an engineering study and is currently in operation. The terminal operation is planned to be ongoing while the engineering study and reconfiguration are in progress. That is where some of the ABR revenue will come from during the process.

Monarch doesn't have any money either and would also have to borrow.

What happens to the fuel storage operation in 2 years time IF ABR decides to bail?

The contract specifies that the entire area must be demolished, and if not it reverts to the GVI.

Thanks for the info, CruzanIron.

The writing on the wall seems pretty clear.
I am surprised that there was no provision to retain the fuel storage facility, intact, so that operations could continue even under different management. Quite the pickle.

They voted last night 5-2 to send it to the full senate on Friday for a vote.

Who voted for/against?

Never mind, I just read the Source article: http://stthomassource.com/story/News:http://stthomassource.com/story/News

Interesting that Nelly and Nelson voted against it.

Nelson has always opposed it, so I'm not surprised with his vote. He probably knew it would pass without his vote. Many people on St Croix felt taken advantage of in the Diageo deal and fear ABR will be a similar situation.

It won't be a slam dunk, but I personally think that ABR will be successful on Friday based on what i saw last night.

Probably so as without it STX is out of luck since our government has made no contingency plans in the event of a shut down even tho it's had 2 years to do so.

I'd prefer to have seen something in the contract that reverts the oil storage facility and related operations to the VI in the event that ABR bails in the future.

It's in the contract, Alana.