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5000 Estate Coakley Bay

Christiansted, VI 00820-4598

 
  
 

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COAKLEY BAY STATUS POST-HURRICANE MARIA

Buildings, roofs & facilities are FINE. The Pool is OPEN.

All water-making, wastewater and trash pickup is NORMAL.

The manager, head of maintenance and staff are on-site daily.

The St. Croix Airport is OPEN.

UPDATED:    The CURFEW is now lifted.

The Board of Directors is working 24/7 on the Post-Maria activities at Coakley Bay: All questions/comments can be emailed directly to the Board's President, John Mason, at jmason@chenangobrokers.com -- he will respond. If owners are not getting the updates and want them to please email John their contact info. He will update his list and then make sure the corrections get to the office. Tom Kerr is the board member who is currently on-island and has been helping everyone with everything he possibly can -- if you cannot reach John Mason, please contact Tom in H-2.

To see Post-Maria NOAA overhead Image of CB (and the rest of St. Croix) - CLICK HERE

Generators will be shut down every day from 7:00 to 3:30 pm, except an hour at noon.

All of our electrical lines are underground at CB -- so as soon as the feeder is energized at the road, we will go off generators.

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Week of 11/7-11/13

All generators working!

Week of 10/30-11/5

Curfew Ended !

10/30/2017 Weekly Update - From John Mason

To: Coakley Bay Association owners

1. Coakley's annual meeting is less than three months away and there are three seats open on the board of directors. We are looking for owner's who are interested in running for the board. Each of the seats that will be opening this year are three- year positions. Under normal circumstances, the board meets once a month for about ninety minutes. Qualifications to run is that you are an owner at Coakley, care about our community and are willing to listen to your neighbors and bring their concerns to the board. You don't have to be present in-person for each meeting as we have the ability for board members to attend by telephone. If you have an interest in running for the board, please type a brief resume and cover letter outlining why you would like to serve and email it to: generalmanager@coakleybay.org prior to November 30th.

2. As everyone knows, this fall brought two very unwelcomed visitors named Irma and Maria to the Caribbean. The board is very much aware that one of our vendors severely failed to live up to its contract which left the residents of three of our buildings without electricity for far too long. Two other buildings had a few days of intermittent power. Eric has been working on alternate arrangements and this will receive top priority at the next board of Directors meeting. We sincerely apologize to the owners and residents who were impacted by this.

Now six weeks after Maria, Coakley is beginning to take shape again. The unit-by-unit inspections have been completed, and the insurance adjusters have begun their assessment of the damage; as of October 30th this process was still underway. Coakley's maintenance staff has been very busy with repair work and keeping the systems such as fresh water, grey water, generators, sewage, etc., running. The landscaping team has been cleaning up debris and has most of the property looking quite good again.

We will all continue to work together to restore Coakley to its fullest as soon as possible.

-John Mason,

Board President

Week of 10/23-29

Curfew relaxed to 5 am to 11 pm.

Week of 10/16-22

Hello from Coakley Bay,

Work and progress continue post-Maria at Coakley Bay. I’ve been asked by a few owners to send an update as to what is going on, so I will touch on a few of the questions I am getting regularly.

Electric: All buildings now have electricity through our generators. The much-awaited ECM board for the LMN generator arrived here on Monday, was installed and those buildings are now powered. While I wrote to the LM&N owners yesterday, I again want to apologize to those owners and residents for the inconvenience they suffered and to assure you that the Board of Directors will be re-evaluating the expectations we have for this and other vendors. The J&H generator failed over the weekend; I’d like to thank our neighbor and Governor Ken Mapp for sending the Army Corps of Engineers here first thing Monday morning to help us diagnose the problem with that unit. Of course, we also thank the Army Corps for their help, for being in St. Croix, and all that they do for our country. Please bear in mind that while the generators are running at this rate, we do shut them down for a few hours each day for service and to give the equipment a break.

Sunday evening a welcome sight was seen on the east end: three tractor-trailer loads of utility poles were delivered to the East End. Out-of-state utility trucks are being seen around the island, so there is certainly light at the end of the tunnel.

Inspections: With all of the common area work that has needed to be done, and the shortened work days due to curfew, we aren’t as far along as we had hoped. The units that were visibly damaged from the exterior were inspected first and those owners notified. The unit-by-unit work is as far as E building and Eric tells me he expects to finish this week.

Grounds: Our crew has done a fantastic job getting the landscaping back in order. Debris has been cleaned up, the pool is clean and open, and the grounds look great. I complimented Alex on the job that he and his crew have done on Monday, and he told me, referring to the grounds, “next week, you’d never know we had a storm”.

If you rent your unit out: We’ve had a huge influx of new faces at Coakley Bay, many of whom are insurance adjustors, FEMA employees, contractors, and others helping restore our island. Please remember to have all tenants, no matter how short the length of stay, register at the Coakley office. We need to know who is on the property. The rules for rentals were distributed a few months ago to each unit. It’s great that we have the help from the mainland here, and it’s also great that many owners are able to help out with rentals and make some rental income, but remember, the owner is ultimately responsible for what goes on in his or her unit.

Wifi is working. I have been in units on all three levels of Coakley in the past few days and have found wifi is working (even better when there is a booster/radio present).

Dish TV: some work and some don’t. Those who had no damage to their exterior dish can get service again easily. When I called to restore mine, I was told that they had suspended accounts in our area on 10/6/17 so that charges wouldn’t be incurred if service wasn’t being received. If your exterior dish is broken, make sure that Dish is aware of that when you call. If you’re off island and have a neighbor down here who can check your dish for damage, etc., it would be wise to do so before calling.

Staff: Many of you have written to me asking about the staff, in particular Corelie Martin. The staff that we see on a daily basis are all fine, and doing their best to get life back to normal. We haven’t seen Corelie, but Eric tells me that Alex lives near her and checks on her, but she hasn’t gotten to Coakley as her car was damaged in the storm.

As things progress at Coakley and in St. Croix, I will update you, but at this point, the updates will be less frequent unless there is something major to report.

Thanks, John

Sat-Sun-Mon 10/7, 8 & 9

We have had another setback with the LMN generator. Tim Pearson picked up the needed ECM board in Maine last week and brought it to St. Croix. When he made the purchase, nobody at Cummins Diesel advised him that the board needed to be calibrated for our generator. Quality Electric came out twice on Friday and left thinking that they needed another part, which they had in stock. They returned on Saturday only to tell us that the board needed to be calibrated. The facility that Quality Electric uses is in Puerto Rico; the part we needed was supposed to have been sent from that facility prior to Irma. Eric and I have spoken about this just about every day since the lightning storm in August. Eric has made numerous phone calls and visits to Quality Electric trying to get this fixed. Yesterday when I learned of the latest setback I did a few things:

a. Called the emergency number for Cummins, gave all the pertinent info and nobody has called me back.

b. Contacted Coakley’s attorney to see if he could nudge Quality to make this a top priority, either by getting the board we need from PR or make arrangements for one of us to fly the ECM board over to PR, have it calibrated and returned immediately.

c. I contacted a friend of mine who purchases a huge amount of supplies from Cummins and might be able to help us get a board calibrated on Monday at a facility in New York; if that can be done I will drive to whichever facility can accommodate us, pick it up, and then drive to Newark for my 6AM flight on Tuesday. If we can’t get that done until, say Tuesday or Wednesday, I will arrange to pick it up, change my flight and get it to Coakley as soon as possible.

The Board and Eric certainly understand the frustration of all those who live or own in the buildings impacted by this. We are doing everything humanly possible to get this fixed as quickly as possible for the residents of LMN (myself included). This is a top priority, and I apologize that Quality Electric, who always had given us great service in the past, has failed on this. The first step is to get the generator running; we will then take the appropriate steps to ensure we have consistent and reliable service in the future. Thanks, John

Friday 10/6

The CURFEW is now lifted between 9:00 A.M. AND 8:00 P.M. DAILY.

Thursday 10/5

The St. Croix Curfew has been expanded -- it is now 9 am to 7 pm.

Update - The St. Croix Airport is open.

Today St. Croix is getting an army unit with 48 personnel to aid with the mobile hospital units to be stationed at the Juan F. Luis Hospital.

Wednesday 10/4

Because the St. Coix Airport will not open on Wednesday, Tim Pearson’s flight to St Croix with the L,M,N generator board, was re-booked for Thursday 10-5-2017. Quality Electric confirmed to Eric today that they would install it for us on Friday.

Speaking of generators and electric, just a reminder that power-generated through our generators does run through your meter, and will also be billed by WAPA. This was voted on and approved back in 2009 when the generators were voted on. Fuel is delivered each Wednesday for the generators, but let’s all try to conserve fuel usage

The team has been busy working on handrails as they are a very important safety issue. The unit-by-unit inspections will resume once this is complete. The safety of people using the stairs (including repair workers, insurance people, etc.) is paramount.

LIFT STATIONS FOR OUR SEPTIC: PLEASE, PLEASE UNDERSTAND THIS AND MAKE SURE ANYONE RENTING OR USING YOUR CONDO IS AWARE OF THIS: In the past few days the lift stations have had to be serviced three times due to people flushing mop heads, sanitary products and wipes into the toilets. The only things that should be flushed are human waste and toilet paper. Pulling the maintenance team off of their repair work to service these pumps slows down repair work.

Ferry Service STX-STT Re-Opened. "The ferry is running between Gallows Bay and Charlotte Amalie waterfront at 12:00 and 3 p.m. departures,” is posted on their website www.qe4ferry.com.

OPEN ON STX: Bakeries: C & C Bakery, Daniel’s Bakery, Thomas Bakery, Gas: East Way Service Station & Mini Mart, Five Corners Service Station, Gas City, Gateway Gas Station, In & Out Service Station, One Love Service Station, Sam’s Gas Station, Groceries: Bi-Rite Supermarket and Deli, Cost-U-Less, Plaza Extra East, Plaza Extra West, Pueblo (Orange Grove), Queen B’s Grocery, Seaside Market and Deli, Sharkey’s Bait Stand, Laundry: Suds & Duds Laundry, Neighborhood Laundry, Medical: Diamond Pharmacy, Doctor’s Choice (Estate Plessen), Doctor’s Choice (Sion Farm), Dr. Renee Georges, Neighborhood Pharmacy, Pediatric Care Center, Toothworks, Virgin Islands Ear, Nose & Throat, V.I. Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Restaurants: 40 Strand Eatery, Angry Nate’s, Baked Cafe, The Bombay Club, Brew St. Croix, Chris’ Hideaway Sports Bar, Nauti Bar and Grill, Off the Wall, Paquito’s, Toast, Uptown Eatery, Vegan Haven, Wendy’s, Yum Yum Fast Food, Retail: Crucian Gold, Kmart (Sunny Isle), NAPA, Services: BC Supplies, Bunkers of St. Croix, The Courtyard Juices and Fitness, Eddie’s Glass Service, Island Therapy Solutions, Marshall & Sterling, Mount Welcome Pharmacy, Paradise Freight, Phantom Eyez, Seaborne Airlines, Tropical Cargo.

If you see a V.I. police car with its lights flashing but no sirens, do not be alarmed. V.I. Police Commissioner Delroy Richards said Monday that marked and unmarked emergency vehicles were driving around with their emergency lights on normally, without running sirens. The idea is to make police more visible so citizens could easily flag them down if needed, Richards said.

Tuesday 10/3

The Curfew exception has been extended -- it is now 10 am to 7 pm. Also, CAPE AIR has resumed flights to St. Thomas and San Juan -- and will have flights to St. Croix beginning on Thursday when the airport opens.

Banco Popular will open again today from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The bank’s ATMs are operational and will be open after banking hours as well. Bank of St. Croix and Firstbank are also open.

AT&T technicians are on the ground and assessments on 3 of 28 tower sites have been completed. Service is expected to see some improvements from mid-week.

Monday 10/2

Inspections will continue on the remaining individual units -- those that did not appear damaged during the external, general inspection -- again, owners will be notified in writing if anything is found. In addition, the cleanup of the East Side drives and areas will proceed. If you are on-site and see something....say something to Eric or Fredy. Also, all regular services are back in action...so if you are having any issues with power (except LMN), water, graywater (drains), toilets, waste pickup, pool use, etc...please let us know.

As you know, the big news is that the STX Airport is opening on Thursday -- and that mail and other delivery (including freight services through the ports) are already working to some extent. Most of Downtown Christiansted has power -- and some restaurants (such as Bombay Club) are serving lunch.

More than 1,400 people left the U.S. Virgin Islands Saturday aboard Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas, bringing to about 4,500 the number that have been evacuated in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. (The population of the entire USVI was estimated to be 104,904 as of Saturday, September 30, 2017.)

Sunday 10/1

There will be no CB specific update this weekend unless there is an unexpected situation...see the detailed Friday update below.

Governor Kenneth Mapp announced at his Saturday press briefing that the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on St. Croix will reopen for commercial flights on Thursday, another step in realizing normalcy in the territory following Hurricane Maria, which damaged the airport.

Saturday 9/30

There will be no CB specific update this weekend unless there is an unexpected situation...see the detailed Friday update below.

[STX News from The Consortium]

Governor Kenneth Mapp announced during his Friday press briefing a further easing of the curfew: For St. Croix, the curfew is now 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m., meaning St. Croix residents have between THE HOURS OF 10:00 A.M. AND 6:00 P.M. DAILY TO CONDUCT THEIR BUSINESS.

Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA) teams will be offering registration services from 12 noon to 5:00 p.m. at the Old Post Office in Christiansted on Saturday.

He announced that 866 people on St. Croix were accommodated on Royal Caribbean’s Adventures of the Seas cruise ship today, as part of the government’s “mercy mission” voyages. The ship left the Frederiksted dock at 5:00 p.m. today and headed to St. Thomas, where it will accommodate more persons before making a two-day trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Distribution Centers will open from 12 noon to 4:00 p.m. Saturday on St. Croix.

The governor said weather forecasts predict thunderstorms and heavy rainfall in the territory through Sunday, and urged residents to take precautionary measures.

He stressed that displaced residents currently staying at shelters should not worry about being put out. He said while the government is aiming for an October 9 school reopening for the St. Thomas-St. John District, and will need the Lockhart Elementary School to accommodate students, housing would first be arranged for those in shelters.

Department of Labor Commissioner Catherine Hendry announced that the Federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance (D.U.A.) has been extended to St. Thomas and St. John residents for Hurricane Irma. The D.U.A. applies to persons who have lost their jobs, live in St. Thomas and St. John, or have been displaced by Hurricane Irma. D.O.L.’s requirements for the D.U.A. requires that an individual does not qualify for regular unemployment benefits; individuals and small business owners who have lost incomes due to Hurricane Irma; individuals prevented from working due to an injury caused by the disaster; individuals who have become the sole supporter of the household due to a disaster-related death or injury of another family member; individuals who are unable to reach their places of employment because of the disaster.

D.O.L. offices in the St. Thomas-St. John are open on week days to process claims. These claims must be filed by Monday, October 30. D.O.L. is calling a meeting that all St. Croix employees are expected to attend on Monday, October 2 at the St. Croix Dept. of Labor at 11:00 a.m.

Friday 9/29

[7 pm] Hi Everyone,

This morning there was a conference call between the board officers, the chairman of our insurance committee and Eric to discuss the Post-Maria situation. It was a productive and informative discussion and we have a clear idea of the next few steps.

I have received questions from many of you over the past few days and I am going to do this update in Q&A format. The discussion we had this morning was focused on the issues below, and I wrote this based on my four pages of notes I took during the call.

Q) I haven’t seen an update today. Why?

A) While I try to get an update out every time something pertinent comes up, I don’t write unless there is ‘breaking news’. Whenever there is something to report, I pledge to get it to you as soon as I possibly can.

Q) What is the status of the generator for L, M and N buildings?

A) Getting the ECM board that we needed for this generator has been problematic. Cummings Diesel distributes parts through distributors who “own” geographic territories and the USVI is part of the territory in Puerto Rico. After the lightning strike in early August the board had been ordered through Quality Electric, who has a maintenance agreement to service our generators. As we all know, Irma caused major problems in PR, and they were finally ready to ship our board just prior to Maria, but we never got it. PR was also heavily damaged by Maria and the board never came. The curfew, limited communication, and other factors made communication with Quality Electric difficult at best. Long story shortened: a deal was made within Cummings so that we could obtain a board in the states. Tim Pearson travelled to Portland, ME today and obtained the board, will bring it with him when he flies down on Wednesday and it will be installed by Quality Electric on Thursday. Thank you Tim!

Q) What is the status of the building inspections?

A) All of the bulkiding have been inspected externally and the detailed, unit-by-unit inspections began this week. The units that had damage visible from the outside were inspected first, and I have advised the owners of those units in writing of their damage. Much of our time this week (limited by the curfew) was spent getting common areas, infrastructure and safety issues taken care of. The unit-by-unit inspections will resume on Monday and owners of units where damage is found will be notified. This takes time because each inspection is done by Eric and Fredy.

Q) Do we need to have an engineer inspect the buildings?

A) This was discussed and either Eric or Tim will contract with a local engineer who has done work for us previously. Unfortunately, for obvious reasons, he will not be available until at least the end of October. Rest assured, however, that if the inspections by our staff reveal safety or structural issues, these will handled accordingly before that is done.

Q) Were the driveways and roadways damaged.

A) No. Some pavement discoloring has occurred, but this is unrelated to the storm.

Q) Is the pool open yet?

A) YES! The pool is open. Some of the gates were damaged but temporary cordoning is in place. The usual access and use rules apply even in the absence of the locking gates.

Q) Is the trash being picked up?

A) Yes, this began on Monday. What the vendor doesn’t get, our team has been picking up and taking to the transfer station. Please do not put trash anywhere except the designated collection areas.

Q) Are the water systems working?

A) Yes, both the fresh and grey water systems are working.

Q) Is the wastewater system working?

A) Yes; there had been an issue with Lift Station #1, but that has been resolved.

Q) Are there broken windows? How many?

A) So far we have identified about six broken sliders. We will know a total next week when the unit inspections are complete.

Q) Were the handrails damaged?

A) Many of the handrails on the steps were damaged. Some are gone completely. We do have some replacement parts on hand, and will use these to make temporary repairs. We anticipate those repairs will be done next week and Eric will order parts to replace what we had in stock.

Q) Why are the two functioning generators being shut down twice a day?

A) We ran the working generators for seven days straight. Fuel and oil levels need to be checked and the engines need to be cooled down. If we run them without maintaining them, they will not last as long as they should. All three generator fuel supply tanks were topped off yesterday using 1,897 gallons of fuel. Once the third generator goes back online next week, the fuel consumption will increase, so conservation continues to be very important.

Q) What tasks have the staff been doing this week?

A) Many issues of maintenance have involve the infrastructure. The landscaping crew has been working on general cleanup. The front has been cleaned up, as have the H and J parking lots. Next week the east side driveway and upper parking lots will be done. The landscaping debris (branches, sticks, etc) have been put over the banks on each hill as getting them hauled away would be next to impossible right now. Many of the people who do short-term/temporary work are working on cleaning the island up, and getting additional help is close to impossible. With the curfews in place, our staff has only been able to work shortened days, and those days are shortened further as they need time to get to and from work and also take care of their own homes and families.

Q) How did the staff members fare in the storm?

A) Some of our dedicated team had some damage to their homes, but I haven’t heard of lost roofs or entire houses. The Board, and I suspect most of the owners, are very appreciative of the hard-working, dedicated, long-term staff that we have.

We have also made provisions to have diesel fuel available for them from barrels we keep; the fuel that they take for their own generators is accounted for and deducted from paychecks. The logic behind this is to take care of these great employees, and for them not to have to wait in line for fuel during curfew breaks so that they can be at Coakley. With the internet being down, the electronic payroll service we use couldn’t be utilized so paper checks were drawn. Everything was accounted for and will pass the muster of the audit committee.

Q) How do I pay my dues? How will I get my monthly invoice if the postal service is not working?

A) Mail is beginning to arrive; we got quite a bit today. We realize that owners have mailed in September HOA payments that might be stranded somewhere in the mail; postmarks will be looked at and late fees will be reasonably waived. October invoices will be printed in the office and mailed as opposed to emailed.

Hopefully this has answered most of your questions. If you have other questions, please email them to me and I will do my best to answer them to the best of my knowledge and ability. For those reading this on the website, my email address is jmason@chenangobrokers.com. I realize “questions breed more questions” so if you have them, please feel free to email them to me. I also realize not everyone on-island can get these, but one resident can and is posting them by the office; if this includes you, and you have questions that you can text, text them to me at 340-514-7675. Please bear in mind that I will be in meetings on the west coast (3 hours behind you) Monday through Wednesday, and will pass information to you as it becomes available.

[3 pm] LMN Generator update: A control board has been found in the States (!) so we no longer have to wait for Puerto Rico to start functioning again -- and Tim Pearson will bring it from Maine to STX on Wednesday. We have gotten a firm commitment from Quality Electric to install it on Thursday.

[7 am] Hi Everyone, as it is the end of the week, later today we will have a cumulative update on CB -- in the meantime, there is important local news.

[From VI Consortium] Governor Kenneth Mapp announced at his Thursday press briefing at Government House that Seaborne Airlines has resumed daily flights at the seaplane terminals between St. Thomas and St. Croix, offering $70-dollar walk-in, one-way flights between the islands. The airline intends to resume daily flights at the airports soon.

Gov. Mapp also noted the reopening of the Cyrile K. King Airport, with flights from American and Delta Airlines at the facility today. He said Jetblue would have flights on Friday, and United Airlines on Saturday.

The governor said 50 additional persons left St. Croix today on a Limetree Bay chartered flight, among them were tourists who had visited St. Croix and were staying in AirBnB apartments. According to the governor, Limetree Bay realized it had additional space on the chartered flight and was graceful enough to offer them as mercy seats. Additionally, an airline that the governor did not name has offered 100 seats for mercy mission passengers, and the Department of Tourism has since notified those in line on the waiting list of a planned departure.

Below are the other important updates from the press event:

The Postal Service will be able to restore handout of packages and mail service, along with retail (stamps, packages, money orders) on Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. In Christiansted. The Christiansted main Post Office, the downtown office, Gallows Bay and Sunny Isle will each be open for the customers of those offices. Kingshill will provide handout of mail service for Fredericksted addresses.

Distribution centers will reopen on St. Croix on Friday in the five established locations — Cotton Valley Fire Station, Eulalie Rivera Elementary School, Educational Complex, Alexander Henderson School and the Juanita Gardine Elementary School. The hours of operation are between 12 noon to 4:00 p.m.

Distribution centers will reopen Monday in the St. Thomas-St. John District.

Mr. Mapp said the curfew on St. Croix will be eased further next week.

The governor said Disaster Survivor Assistance teams (DSA) would soon be on St. Croix and throughout the territory speaking with residents affected by the storms, and aiding with registration for federal assistance. Mr. Mapp said registration centers are scheduled to open as early as Saturday, where enrollment will also occur. Locations will be revealed in Friday.

Bureau of Internal Revenue Director, Marvin Pickering, announced that due dates for income tax payments have been extended to 2018. The Sept. 15, 2017 and January 16, 2018 payments have been extended January 31, 2018. Taxpayers with valid extensions through Oct. 16 now have until January 31, 2018 to file. Payroll tax deposits have been extended to January 31, 2018, however there are no extended due dates for local taxes such as Gross Receipts and Hotel Occupancy taxes. Those who need extensions in the aforementioned tax categories will be addressed on a case-by-case basis, Mr. Pickering said. B.I.R. is hopping to resume services beginning on Monday, October 1.

Mr. Mapp said roadside clearance and debris removal have been proceeding at a satisfactory pace. Lloyd Bough Jr., commissioner of the Department of Property and Procurement, said 20 additional contracts were signed on St. Croix, and 17 on St. Thomas. DPP will not be accepting more contracts for the roadside clearance and debris removal work on St. Croix, however proposals are still open for the St. Thomas-St. John District.

V.I.P.D. Commissioner Delroy Richard is urging the community to slow down at checkpoints. He said persons with no business on the road who use their curfew passes at nights, will be arrested.

The Department of Health’s (D.O.H.) Behavioral Divsion is finalizing an agreement with a behavioral health provider, with services set to begin on Monday. Teams will be sent to the Education Complex on St. Croix, which is currently serving as a shelter, and the Lockhart Elementary School on St. Thomas, which is also serving as a shelter. D.O.H. is seeking volunteers for a variety of services. It has made contact with the Association of Black Psychologists to provide volunteers. The department will hold a meeting on Sunday with a broader group of providers as it seeks help in a variety of health professions.

D.O.H. has a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.) team in the USVI assisting with shelter assessment, including environmenttal health and food safety. Commissioner Michelle Davis said some issues have been found, and D.O.H. has been working with the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) to resolve the concerns. Infrastructure assessment for public health and medical facilities is being conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers, and D.O.H. said it would have a report on their findings in the near future.

D.O.H. will be developing health messages to keep residents safe. Federal public health teams will be arriving within the next 48-72 hours from the Department of Defense and the Indian Health Service from Atlanta, Georgia.

The Juan F. Luis Hospital evacuated 5 dialysis patients today from the Caribbean Kidney Center. They, along with four caretakers, were taken to the Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Cobb County, Georgia. These patients will be assessed before being transferred to dialysis facilities. Two additional patients were evacuated today with the assistance of FEMA.

Governor Mapp will host business leaders on St. Croix at Government House on Saturday between 12 noon and 1:00 p.m., to discuss a variety topics, among them how the government can help, and the desire of cruise ship companies to start scheduling ships to dock at the Frederiksted Pier, among other topics relative the Mapp administration’s post-Hurricanes Irma and Maria recovery effort.

Thursday 9/28

Hi Everyone, The only Coakley-specific update today is that generators will be shut down each day from 9:30 to 11:30 AM and from 1:00 to 4:00PM daily. We are doing this for maintenance reasons as they cannot be run 24/7 for an indefinite period of time.

- This update, and all updates, are posted on www.coakleybay.org - Other St Croix storm related information is on the website.

Thanks, John

[Local STX News from The Consortium] The governor confirmed that President Donald Trump, after his planned trip to the USVI was delayed by Hurricane Maria, will visit the territory — along with Puerto Rico — next week.

Mr. Mapp announced that at least three schools territory-wide were being condemned: On St. Croix, Mr. Mapp said the Arthur Richards Junior High School would be condemned, and that a decision on the Eulalie Rivera Elementary School was pending.

For St. Croix, the governor said D.O.E. is formulating a plan that will be announced soon relative to the reopening of school. St. Croix seniors, Mr. Mapp said, may commence school before other students, so as to not delay the seniors’ graduation and high education plans.

Mr. Mapp said 80 individuals registered for the “mercy” cruise ship mission at the Cotton Valley Fire Station; 100 at the Cardiac Center located at the Juan F. Luis Hospital, and 350 people showed up at the Ann E. Abramson Pier in Frederiksted, with the first 100 being registered to be on the cruise ship. Persons who qualified for the “urgent” category to get on the cruise ship included the following: Those with medical conditions; disability; being 75 years and older; and pregnant mothers, according to the governor. The ship will arrive on St. Croix on Friday, receive 750 persons, head to St. Thomas, where it will receive 250 persons (50 from St. Thomas and 200 from St. John), and depart the territory on Saturday for a two-day trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. From there, mercy cruise passengers are to find their way.

Distribution centers will reopen on Friday. Three additional centers will open on St. Croix, bringing the island’s total to 8. The new centers will be announced Thursday.

40 New York State Troopers have arrived in the territory to aid with security.

Mr. Mapp said there were over 20 million barrels of fuel in the territory as of Wednesday, of which 4 million is diesel.

Viya has installed internet hot spots on St. Croix at Plaza Extra West, Plaza Extra East and Vitema’s Emergency Operations Center. The firm is anticipating that it will have additional hot spots in Christiansted, Frederiksted and Sunny Isles shortly. The password is ViyaFi_FREE_ACCESS.

The Virgin Islands Next General Nextwork has installed a internet hot spot at the Florence Williams Public Library in Christiansted.

FEMA received 162,000 meals today and 120,000 litters of water. The federal agency increased its ability to assess communications tower requirements by three times, as it now has 8 teams on the ground. Roughly 9,559 persons have registered for disaster assistance.

Wednesday 9/27

*** Generators will be shut down every day from 9:30-11:30 am and 1-4 pm. ***

*** CURFEW is now 11 am to 6 pm ***

We have had a couple people email today asking about where to send maintenance payments. They should still be mailed to the CBA office as normal. Mail is coming in on military planes and Eric is getting mail from the post office.

Local News from The VI Consortium {http://viconsortium.com].........Mr. Mapp announced that the mercy cruise ship will arrive on St. Croix on Friday, and will accommodate 1,000 passengers in the U.S. Virgin Islands, with another 1,000 to be picked up in Puerto Rico. Of the 1,000 USVI passengers, 750 will be from St. Croix, 200 from St. John, and 50 from St. Thomas. Of the 750 St. Croix passengers, 400 fall under what the governor called an “urgent category,” and all 400 of them have already been registered. This leaves 350 open seats on the cruise ship as of Tuesday night for persons looking to leave the territory from St. Croix. On St. John, there were 200 seats as of Tuesday night. There were 50 seats on St. Thomas, but those have already been taken, according to the governor.

From St. Croix, the cruise ship head to St. Thomas and leaves that the island on Saturday. Mercy mission passengers will be dropped off in Fort Lauderdale, Florida two days after leaving St. Thomas.

Mr. Mapp gave a new number that interested persons should call to be listed, which is 340-713-6801. Interested individuals are to call this number between the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. only to be listed. For registration, you must visit one of the following visitor centers on Wednesday:

St. Croix: Cotton Valley Fire Station, VI Cardiac Center at the Juan F. Luis Hospital, and the Ann E. Abramson Pier Center in Frederiksted.

St. John: Powell Park.

Interested parties must be present at the visitor centers from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Additionally, only 100 hundred persons will be registered at each center.

The governor stressed that persons leaving the territory on mercy missions should ascertain that they have accommodations at their destination. Mr. Mapp said at least three persons who left the territory on mercy flights made contact with the government of the Virgin Islands seeking help, after they were not welcomed at the homes they left the territory for.

“You can’t show up to people’s doorsteps with a bundle and believe that people are going to welcome you with open arms,” the governor said, adding, “We don’t have the resources in the government to bail out people.” Mr. Mapp said the government was able to contact shelters in the respective U.S. jurisdictions where at least two of those persons were, and established that they had come from a disaster area, which cleared the way for the shelters to provide clothing and food for a few days. “You’ve got a lot of work to do when taking mercy missions,” the governor said.

Here are some other important updates from today’s press briefing:

There will be no distribution of meals on Wednesday

According to Adjutant General of the VI National Guard, Deborah Howell, 4,607 meals were distributed on St. Thomas today, and 13,983 on St. Croix.

Shelter is being provided for a over 500 displaced residents territory-wide, with 278 on St. Croix and 258 on St. Thomas, according to the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency Director, Mona Barnes.

If your home is in need of a Blue Roof, call 1-888-766-3258. The number was giving some problems, but those issues were fixed, according to William Vogel, federal coordinating officer of FEMA Region II.

The Dept. of Property and Procurement continues to sign contracts with waste haulers for the territory’s cleanup process. According to Mr. Mapp, citing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, there are 750,000 cubic yards of debris on St. Croix, and 755,000 cubic yards of debris on St. Thomas, left by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Estimates for St. John and Water Island were being assessed.

319 guardsmen from the Puerto Rico National Guard who were in the territory aiding with the recovery effort left for PR today, which was badly mangled by Hurricane Maria.

Private schools may conduct classes within the curfew hours in both the St. Thomas-St. John and St. Croix districts, according to the governor.

The governor spoke with Joe York, president of AT&T Florida, Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands today, and was pleased with the conversation. Mr. York gave an “excellent” report on the communication company’s cellphone service restoration efforts following Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the territory, with Mr. York stating that AT&T was prepared to ship in additional microwaves to the Virgin Islands to bring cellphone reception to an optimum. During the last 24 to 35 hours, multiple AT&T technicians arrived in the territory and have been assessing the extent of the damage caused by the storms. As compensation for the unreliable service AT&T customers have experienced after the hurricanes, the company will credit customers from the time service became intermittent up until the time when the problem is fixed, the governor said.

Tuesday 9/26

Hi Everyone,

The Coakley Bay generators will be shut down Tuesday 9/26/17 from 10AM until Noon for maintenance. Running the generators as heavily as we are currently running them will require more maintenance than when they are in standby mode. The generators will be down from 10AM to Noon every other day until WAPA is back online.

Please conserve energy whenever you possibly can.

We are working diligently on the L,M,N generator part and hope to find it this week in an area of the country unimpacted by the recent hurricanes. Once the part is secured, we will get it to STX as quickly as possible and have Quality Electric install it. Thanks, John

IMPORTANT ST. CROIX NEWS

Commercial flights will begin at the Cyrile E. King Airport on Thursday. Jetblue, American Airlines, Delta and possibly United Airlines, will all resume paid flights (not mercy trips) to and from the territory. The governor said interested persons should contact the airlines for more information. Flights begin as early as 9:30 a.m., and the airlines are asking passengers to be at the airport four hours before takeoff. Customs clearance will be done at the passenger’s destination, as some functionality at the St.Thomas airport remain suspended because of damage the facility sustained from Hurricane Irma. V.I.P.D. officers have been notified that persons will be leaving the territory, and should therefor not be barred — once proof is ascertained — from heading to the airport during curfew hours.

The government is aiming to reopen the St. Croix airport sometime next week, with a solid date to be divulged in an upcoming press conference.

No news on mercy missions today. On Sunday, the governor said interested persons should continue dialing the number to book the free trip until someone answers (340-772-0357).

Mr. Mapp announced a “permanent” curfew for St. Croix beginning Tuesday, which the governor said will give residents a sense of normalcy, as well as allow businesses to operate. The curfew on St. Croix is 4:00 p.m. to 12 noon. This means for the coming days and until a change is announced by the governor, St. Croix residents will be allowed to conduct their business between the hours of 12 noon and 4:00 p.m. The curfew on St. Thomas remains the same: 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m.

The governor said the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority is aiming to have 90 percent of the territory powered by Christmas. WAPA has executed agreements with 40 crews in other U.S. jurisdictions, for a total of 240 linemen to help with power restoration. The governor said WAPA was working on executing a $24 million contract for the various companies, and is receiving support from the federal government relative to transportation of the linemen and their equipment. Mr. Mapp said he did not want to delay the restoration of power to the territory by simultaneously undertaking the task of putting the territory’s power lines underground, but stressed that discussions with federal partners would continue on the matter.

The territory’s leader spoke of accelerating the Blue Roof Project on St. Croix. He said the aim of his administration is to assure that residents whose roofs were lost during Hurricane Maria, don’t get wet when rain falls.

So far, USVI Recovery, the official website created by the government to accept monetary donations for the territory’s recovery effort, has raised roughly $1.4 million, the governor said. Mr. Mapp will host a press conference on Monday to announce a task for, now dubbed the “Virgin Islands Hurricane Recovery Task Force”, whose main focus will be to determine how the funds collected will be spent. The task force will include businesses leaders territory-wide, among other individuals.

All government employees — to include executive branch, department and agency leaders — must check-in, not by email or phone but in person with the government no later than Friday at 5:00 p.m. The directive does not apply to employees on sick or administrative leave. Mr. Mapp said failure of these employees to check-in by Friday, will result in their placement of leave without pay effective Monday.

Government employees will receive their pay Thursday, however overtime will not be included in Thursday’s payroll. The governor acknowledged that first responders may be disappointed, but he said the government would work on a supplemental payroll, or include the overtime in upcoming paydays. He said the issue was not money, but rather the lack of connectivity with the ERP payment system because of damage wrought by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and therefore departments and agencies were unable to submit data.

Dept. of Health evacuated 13 patients on Monday, 6 of whom were dialysis patients. On Sunday, the department evacuated 63 patients, 12 of whom were dialysis patients, and on Saturday, the department evacuated 27 patients, among them were no dialysis patients.

WIC checks are now available for St. Croix clients. These checks are being accepted at Plaza Extra East and Plaza Extra West. D.O.H. will continue to assess the ability of other vendors to process the WIC checks.

D.O.H. has organized a disaster stress helpline. Call 1-800-985-5990, press “2” for Spanish. The free, confidential and bilingual service is also available through SMS (text “TalkWithUs” for English and “Hablanos” for Spanish to 1-212-461-4635).

Pharmacies on St. Croix that are open include Mt. Welcome East (across from the Canegata Ballpark), Diamond Pharmacy (mid-island), and Neighborhood Pharmacy in Frederiksted.

AT&T and Sprint technicians were to arrive in the territory late Monday, the governor said, to work on cellphone service. Mr. Mapp said he would suspend “all tongue-lashing” until the technicians had completed their jobs, but reiterated his displeasure with intermittent cellphone service from the aforementioned carriers in certain parts of the territory — even as cellphone bills remain the same.

The Virgin Islands Next Generation Network (viNGN) and the Bureau of Information Technolgy (BIT) were still working on WiFi hot spots for St. Croix. Viya, however, has established its first WiFi hot spot at Plaza Extra West, and is working on providing internet in downtown Frederiksted and Christiansted, as well as Sunny Isle, according to a release the company issued late Monday.

Some 22 individuals arrested for curfew violations in the St. Thomas-St. John District were being arraigned, the governor said, citing Attorney General Claude Walker.

Distribution Centers on St. Thomas will open tomorrow from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The locations are the Bovoni Center, Boardeaux Fire Station, kirwan Terrace, Brown Fire Station near the Barbel Plaza, Dorothea Fire Station, Eudora Kean High School, Anna’s Retreat and Tutu Fire Station, according to the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA) Director, Mona Barnes.

Over 12,00 meals were distributed at the St. Croix distribution centers today: 2,893 at the Juanita Gardine School, 2,427 at the St. Croix Educational Complex, 3,535 at the Eulalie Rivera School, 2,126 at the Alexander Henderson School, and 1,951 at the the Cotton Valley Fire Station, for a total or 12,934 delivered meals on St. Croix today.

So far, FEMA has delivered 3.6 million meals, 1.3 million litters of water, 18 infant toddler kits (each kit feeds 10 infants for an entire week, according to FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer William Vogel), 28,000 tarps and 28 generators. Today, FEMA received an additional 103,000 meals, 120,000 litters of water, and 14,000 tarps.

Monday 9/25

Hi Everyone,

Things are continuing to progress in St. Croix. Specific to Coakley Bay, Fredy and Eric will be on the property most of the day as they have passes to travel during the curfew. The remainder of our team will be present from 12:30 to 3:30 (half an hour each way for travel). While the team is employed by Coakley to assist its residents, we ask that all service requests, please be sent through the office. The team members have a limited amount of time at Coakley during the curfew opening and we are trying to be as efficient as possible with their efforts.

The Board of Directors meeting that was scheduled for 9/20 and postponed to 9/27 has been cancelled. There is only one board member on island (Tom Kerr) and setting up a call where all could be present and residents on-island be able to attend was not something we could do with the landlines and internet being down. The game plan is to hold a special meeting when communication is better and/or resume with the October meeting. Decisions that need to be made are being made by the board via email and will be incorporated into the record at the next meeting held. Thanks, John.

IMPORTANT ST. CROIX NEWS

UPDATED - Bank of St. Croix - Due to the continued impact of Hurricane Maria, the Gallows Bay Bank of St. Croix center will be OPEN today; Monday, September 25th from 12pm-4pm.  However, the Peter’s Rest banking center will remain closed. 

Governor Mapp again temporarily lifted the curfew to allow residents to conduct business. He said the temporary lift is from 12 noon to 4:00 p.m. Monday. The governor said he should be able to make an announcement on Monday relative to a daily curfew lift of four hours, which he said should give residents a sense of normalcy.

Governor Mapp visited his home at Coakley Bay for the first time today and found that his property did not sustain damage.

Downtown Christiansted, whose power lines are underground, has been reenergized by WAPA. The governor said Frederiksted may be turned on sometime tomorrow. WAPA will receive linemen from other U.S. jurisdictions to aid with power restoration.

Firstbank and Banco Popular will open their Orange Grove branches on Monday from 12 noon to 3:00 p.m. The government will provide V.I.P.D. officers and V.I. National Guard guardsmen for security. Bank employees will approach customers in line to assure that they’re fully prepared before arriving at a teller, in an attempt to streamline the process.

FEMA welcomed the SS Wright vessel, which brought 1.1 million meals to the territory. FEMA also welcomed a C17 aircraft, which brought 50,000 meals and 32,000 litters of water.

The government has assigned security to protect the generators of private citizens powering the AT&T towers. AT&T’s Gallows Bay tower generator was stolen, which knocked out communication throughout St. Croix on Saturday (AT&T communication was also down almost all day Sunday on St. Croix, but the issue was related to security, as private citizens could not safeguard the property all day, which forced the government to step in).

The governor spoke with AT&T and Sprint officials today, and the respective companies will be sending technicians on island to repair damage to their towers caused by hurricanes Irma and Maria. Mr. Mapp was rather perturbed with the cellphone service providers, wondering aloud why they failed to protect their property, and did not have personnel on the ground to immediately to respond to intermittent service caused by the storms.

The territory’s attorney general Claude Walker, along with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, have gotten the F.B.I. involved in the investigation of the tower generator robberies, as committing such acts against communication companies is a federal crime.

The commissioner said the curfew would continue to be enforced, and that arrests were being made for violation of the regulation.

All five food distribution centers on St. Croix — Juanita Gardine, Eulalie Rivera, Cotton Valley Fire Station, Educational Complex and Alexander Henderson — will open from 12 noon to 4:00 p.m.. The governor said while an abundance of meals have arrived in the territory, they have yet to make it to the distribution centers, therefore, instead of two cases of MREs being given to each individual, four meals and five litters of water per person will be distributed.

Those who are having problems getting through to the “mercy” trips telephone number, should keep trying, the governor said. The number is 340-772-0357.

The governor warned residents against dumping hurricane debris at dumpsites. He said residents should wait until the government reveals its plan — which should be done no later than Wednesday — of debris removal. Mr. Mapp said while residents should continue to dispose of household trash at the dumpsites, he said carrying hurricane-related debris at the dumpsites is slowing the cleanup process.

Roughly 18 distribution centers are now open on St. Thomas, with 8,643 meals distributed on Saturday.

Dept. of Health received two additional health professionals from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). They will assist D.O.H. with evacuation of patients and other medical needs. Today, 20 Juan F. Luis Hospital patients were flown to Atlanta, and 12 to Shreveport Louisiana. There are 40 dialysis patients waiting to be moved to medical facilities on the mainland, however Dept. of Health, as of late Sunday, was still working out travel details.

Three Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) groups have arrived on St. Croix, and D.O.H. has stationed one at the Juan F. Luis Hospital to assist the medical facility, another at the airport to aid with evacuation of patients, and a third is awaiting placement from the department.

WIC checks have been printed, and D.O.H. is assessing vendors who are able to process the checks. The department will have more information on the checks’ status tomorrow.

D.O.H. Commissioner Michelle Davis said the department is aware of the rise in mosquito population because of stagnant water throughout the territory. The department has ordered mosquito repellent, mosquito nets and dunk to place in stagnant water, and will announce distribution once they arrive.

All Dept. of Health directors are to attend an 11:00 a.m. planning meeting at the Charles Harwood facility on Monday.

The Department of Planning and Natural Resources (D.P.N.R.), will announce sometime this week the hours that non-permitted generators are allowed to operate. Mr. Mapp said there have been a number of complaints from residents who are unable to get rest at night because of the loud noise emanating from some generators. He said while the non-permitted generators will be allowed to operate, they will be required to be turned off at a yet-to-be-decided time at night.

Sunday 9/24

Good morning....The island continues to be under a 24/7 curfew with a break today (Sunday) from noon to 4PM.

Yesterday during the break in the curfew, Eric, Fredy and Sal all came to Coakley to check on the facilities -- particularly the generators and treatment plant.

- The two generators that have been running are fine. The LMN generator is still out and efforts have continued to obtain the board we need. A number of us is the states have offered to pick it up and fly it down as soon as the airport opens to commercial traffic if that will expedite things.

- The generator serving the treatment plant is filled with diesel fuel.

- We have "super-shocked" the pool with chemicals to try to save the water that is currently in it. Please do NOT use the pool at this time; when it is safe to use, we will let you know.

- MANY THANKS to the Volunteer residents of Coakley who cleaned up around the pool yesterday !!

We have used approximately half of our diesel fuel in the tanks for the two functioning generators. Eric has a social friendship with someone in management at Bunkers. He stopped yesterday and made arrangements for us to be filled up later this week, and arranged to have continuing fuel deliveries come in. But, please, do your best to conserve fuel consumption.

We had hoped to have the staff in tomorrow for a full day, but we don’t know that the curfew will be lifted. Assuming we get another 4 hour reprieve tomorrow, the crew will come in during that time. It’s my understanding that one of the reasons for the curfew is that restoration efforts cannot be done when the streets and roads are full of people, cars, etc. Help continues to come in from the mainland.

Thanks, John

IMPORTANT STX NEWS

1. Residents and visitors looking to leave the territory on a mercy cruise (a cruise line will arrive in the territory late next week with the capacity to carry about 2,000 passengers, according to Mr. Mapp), or a mercy flight, should call 340-772-0357, as the Dept. of Tourism is ready to start taking inventory.

2. The governor again temporarily lifted the 24-hour curfew on St. Croix on Sunday, which he said would allow those in the faith-based community to worship their god. He asked that religious persons pray for the recovery of the territory. The temporary curfew lift begins at 12 noon and ends at 4:00 p.m.

3. St. Thomas’s airport should reopen between Thursday and Friday next week for limited commercial flights. The governor will give an update on the status of the St. Croix airport — which remains closed — next week.

4. 8,245 people were furnished with meals ready to eat (MREs), as well as water, at the five St. Croix distribution centers today. According to Adjutant General of the V.I. National Guard, Deborah Howell, 1,576 persons were furnished at Alexander Henderson School, 2,533 at the Juanita Gardine School, 2,029 at the Eulalie Rivera School, 600 at the Cotton Valley Fire Station, and 2,097 at the St. Croix Educational Complex.

5. V.I.P.D. Commissioner Delroy Richards said the curfew will continue to be enforced, and announced the following arrests for violation of the regulation: Shaun Miller, 37; Juvanni Roach, 30, and Kester Clersont, 26. Mr. Richards said a number of criminal incidents were reported today, and that the department would continue to respond to them. He said incidents in St. Thomas and St. John had subsided significantly, and acknowledged the help of additional law enforcement from the U.S. mainland, the presence of the V.I. National Guard, as well as soldiers from the U.S. who are here as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) mission, for their support.

6. Working with FEMA, the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority was able to turn on potable water for residents living on the west side of the island.

7. More meals and water are arriving in the territory, Mr. Vogel said, revealing today that a C17 aircraft with 200,000 meals and 150,000 liters of water, along

8. Two vessels, one of them the Celebration cruise ship, will arrive in the territory in the coming days, with the Celebration serving as a home for FEMA first responders.

9. The Bureau of Information Technology, along with the Virgin Islands Next Generation Network, will erect WiFi hot spots in various locations on St. Croix, as the government entities did in the St. Thomas-St. John District during the early aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

Saturday 9/23

Good morning everyone, There’s not a lot to report today. Tom Kerr is the board member who is currently on-island and has been helping everyone with everything he possibly can. I want to publicly recognize and thank him for all he has been doing.

At this point, I want to re-iterate the absolute need to take extra caution of the handrails on the steps AND the galleys. We do not yet know what was compromised in the storm, and due to the curfew, have not been able to inspect these.

The railings around the pool have been compromised and/or are missing. The pool's shelter roof has been blown off. Therefore, the pool is a dangerous place right now, and we have posted a sign that the pool is off limits by order of the Board. This is for everyone’s safety as well as for liability reasons.

There is a group that meets near the pool a couple times a day to update each other and get information -- rather than down at the Office. They are going to call me later with questions. Communication to and from the island is spotty at best. Many of the people who are at Coakley are not getting these emails since the VI Broadband Green Cay WiFi (which provides our service) is still being repaired; some get it through their cellphones.

If you are talking to anyone who is at Coakley, please spread the word regarding both types of railings as well as the pool being off limits. Please also advise them that if they do get wifi, the updates are posted daily at www.coakleybay.org as I sent them out. Help is arriving on the island and we will get through this. Thanks, John

IMPORTANT STX NEWS

The governor has extended the suspension of the 24-hour curfew on St. Croix, giving residents from 12 noon to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday to conduct business. The governor said more time would not be allowed because first responders needed to clear the roads.

The USS Wright, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was scheduled to arrive at the West Indian Company (WICO) dock at 7:00 p.m. Friday night, carrying 1 million meals to be shared between the St. Thomas-St. John and St. Croix districts. A C17 aircraft was also scheduled to arrive with 50,000 meals and 36,000 litters of water.

The governor said his administration along with federal partners are hoping to reopen the St. Thomas airport for limited commercial flights in the middle of next week.  The governor said the St. Croix airport needed some additional work before reopening, and added that he would provide more updates later today - Saturday.

There’s a cruise ship coming to St. Croix at the end of next week to carry residents who want to leave the island. The vessel is part of the Mapp administration’s “mercy” trips, and comes at no cost to Hurricane Maria victims looking to leave the island. The governor said the arrival of the ship next weekend gives enough time for those who plan on leaving to have discussions with their families. He said the mercy mission will drop everyone off in Florida, at which point the victims will have to make their way.

WAPA will be getting help from outside firms that are coming into the territory to help with power restoration. The governor said while these firms will help WAPA move quickly to restore power, they are not part of the governor’s stated intention to move all the territory’s power lines underground, as such a project would take multiple years.

Friday 9/22

1. The curfew for the St. Croix District is still 24 hours, but Governor Mapp made an exception for Friday, allowing four hours — from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. — for residents to conduct business. The curfew will go back to its 24-hour status following the exception.

2. There will be a number of businesses open on Friday: Plaza Extra East, Plaza Extra West, Seaside, Pueblo Golden Rock and Food Town. The governor also said that any business — to include gas stations — that is confident it can safely operate, will be allowed to do so for the four hours on Friday.

3. The government will open four food distribution centers on St. Croix; they are stationed at the following locations: Cotton Valley Fire Station, Juanita Gardine School, Alexander Henderson School and the St. Croix Educational Complex. The government will be distributing one case of meals ready to eat (MREs), which includes about 14 meals, along with three litters of water. More supplies are expected, and if they are received on time, additional items for distribution will be added, Mr. Mapp said. The distribution centers will be open for 12 noon until 4:00 p.m. on Friday.

4. Unit Interior Issues - Obviously, for safety reasons, infrastruction, water systems and building exteriors/roofs have been the first concerns inspected/addressed...But the Board is compiling a list of unit interior issues that will be included on the Monday unit-by-unit inspection....assuming the curfew is lifted and the full staff can get there. Again, if you have comments or questions -- or want a specific concern included....email the Board President John Mason at jmason@chenangobrokers.com

Thursday 9/21

- Head of Maintenance (Fredy) was able to get in and is servicing pumps, septic plant, etc.  The water system is fine, and water is being treated. (Might have a faint Chlorine taste but that is a good thing.)

- The STX curfew is still in effect.  Our manager (Eric) is hoping that the roads will be open by Monday and that our full team will be in for a normal work day.

- We are planning an inspection --  “unit-by-unit”  --  to check for storm damage

- Roofs, pumps, and all Coakley infrastructure will also be individually inspected for non-apparent damage.

- It could be a while before WAPA main power is fully restored. (CB's restoration could be sooner since we put our utilities underground, but there are no promises.)

- In the meantime CB will run on its backup generators. Every effort is being made to repair the generator control board for the L, M & N Buildings.

Wednesday 9/20 (Minor Correction)

- Correction:  Some Stairway handrails (not porch railings as first reported) are damaged.

- Apparently worse damage out toward F'Sted--also Gallows Bay Hardware roof was blown off.

Survey of Property at 10 am Wednesday 9/20

- All buildings are standing strong -- and all roofs are intact !!!!

- A few broken windows.

- Cell service is working but seems to be spotty; wifi appears to be working in some areas.

- [Revised above]

- The pool gate was damaged.

- Landscaping was damaged.

Efforts are under way right now to re-start the backup generators.