An Online Blog About the Daily Happenings of St. John, USVI
At least one Virgin Islands Senator doesn’t like what he hears on the radio each morning. That’s when St. Croix’s Roger W. Morgan does his talk show.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Sen. Ronald E. Russell and others are urging the Federal Communications Commission to block Morgan’s planned purchase of WYAC-FM, 93.5, on which he broadcasts now. Morgan’s sin was mounting a recall campaign for the Senators after they voted themselves a 31 percent pay raise.
Grill Your Own at Maho Monday and Tuesday Nights. Steak, sausage, Yellow fin tuna, and shrimp are among the choices for you to prepare with some tips, and island spices, from chef Mon Phon. $6-$12. Estate Concordia, phone 340-693-5855.
Wednesday is Shrimp Night at the Lime Inn. A favorite of locals for years and years. 340-776-6425.
Read moreMore cheap stuff on island, courtesy of the St. John Sun Times
You can rent a car for a week for as little as $31, if you book it online. I didn’t know this until I read it on the Cruz Bay Forum at TripAdvisor.com. The going rental rate for a car on St. John is $60/day.
The discount is from Priceline.com. Thrifty is offering deals ranging from 
$254/week for an economy car, including taxes and fees, up to $270/week for a full size vehicle. Of course, you also have to add
the cost of a car barge round trip from Red Hook to Cruz Bay. But then, you’re not paying for a taxi and luggage to and from the airport, and that just about makes up the barge fee. It may even be cheaper if you’ve got four people. (Click on the photo at right for a bigger picture of the rates.)
Rick Bates, a reader who operates an educational consulting firm, posted a comment on the post about finding land for a new school. He inquired about its expected cost and source of funding.
I smiled and replied:
"Dear Rick:
"The cost of a school has not even been mentioned. Unless there are federal funds, I can’t imagine where the money going to come from.
"But here’s something that will spur THAT discussion.
More than 100 people attended a Congressional subcommittee hearing on St. John on where a new kindergarten-12th grade school might be built.
V.I. Delegate Donna Christensen, who sits on the House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, convened the hearing to discuss her proposal to authorize the Dept. of the Interior to lease V.I. National Park land for the project. (H.R. 53)
A representative of the V.I. Education Department said it would like to have 10 acres to build a campus including classrooms, cafeteria, gymnasium and auditorium, according to a report of the meeting in the Virgin Islands Daily News. A member of a group called One Campus testified saying it preferred 55 acres.
Many people dream of having a villa on St. John. And they figure that if they put it on the rental market, maybe – just maybe – it’ll break even. They’ll have free vacations, real estate appreciation, and no cash out of pocket.
I did say "dream", didn’t I?
Now, some people can make this deal. The big "gotcha" is mortgage payments.
For Bob Faucett, the owner of the three-bedroom house Sundancer in Fish Bay, the dream has come true. (Sundancer.com) He has a small, old, mortgage.
In conversation, Faucett explained how his first smart move was, what’s called in retail, "buying right." He purchased the property in 1998. The average home price, then, was about $450,000. He made some other smart decisions which he reveals in this first part of the conversation. To listen, click the "Play" button below.
If you own a villa, are building one … or are a dreamer … listen to this.
You can also download or hear the conversation by clicking here.
Anyone who’s ever walked around Cruz Bay when Fred’s is rocking with reggae will get a kick out of this story.
The Governor has signed the "Noise Pollution Act" to require that bars and taverns in the Territory be soundproofed. As Mayor Daley once said when asked about something he thought was preposterous, "Just say, I smiled."
Gov. John deJongh issued a statement admitting he has second thoughts about signing Bill 27-0026, enacted "to prohibit unreasonable, excessive and annoying noise levels."
"The legislation leaves too much discretion in the hands of the agents charged with investigating and enforcing alleged violations of the law," he said. In other words, you can only hope the investigating police officer is having a good night and doesn’t think tourists are having too good a time.
The Act’s focus on noise "may have a harmful impact on some of our cultural traditions" deJongh added. Also, soundproofing open-air spots like the Beach Bar or Island Blues could, the Governor indicated, "adversely affect our tourism product."
And what do you do about Woody’s? Put all those people inside? Just say, I would smile.
* Virgin Islands Daily News: Sun, sea, sweltering airport
* St. John Source: Darren Foy: New island police chief
* Virgin Voices: Getaway to Cinnamon Bay
Can you buy a house on St. John for less? The answer, of course, is yes. The question is how much less? The answer is an average of 8% or 9%.
About four out of five home sales in 2006 and 2007 were made at less than the listing price, according to historical sales information available on the Cruz Bay Realty Web site. About 13% of home sales closed at the asking price, and about 4% were done for more than that.
Now, the "Asking Price" may not be the property’s original listing because some buyers do reduce their prices during the marketing process. Some houses also sell for a lot less than asking, such as a 4-bedroom Chocolate Hole home which closed at $1.95 million, 22% below the starting point. Same thing happened in 2006, when a 9-bedroom home in Enighed sold for just about $1 million, down from asking $1.5 million (Must have needed a LOT of work!).
You can do the math yourself. Gretchen Labrenz’s firm, CBR, has data online going back nine years. House, land, and condo transactions are viewable at http://cruzbayrealty.com/sales_history.html.
One takeaway … the average selling price for a home on St. John in 1999 was $447,000. This year, it’s $1.7 million. Put another way, the average island home price has increased 300% in eight years. The Dow Jones Industrial average has increased 25%.
A St. John store has been named one of the Top 50 Designer jewelery retailers in the country. Verace is located a few doors from the Cruz Bay ferry dock in Wharfside Village.
Verace is owned by Luigi Costello. His business was selected for the list by a group of editors, designers and other retailers as part of the JCK Show in Las Vegas, a convention for jewelry designers and sellers. At the show, it was recognized as the Best Designer Retailer of 2007.
Besides the award, the 10-year-old store is also getting publicity. A feature by the St. John Source described Verace’s upscale business. "It’s not just backpackers and Cinnamon Bay anymore" as customers, Costello said. Now visitors to the island also want designers’ offerings. Costello said the recent winter season, business-wise, was good, but "not phenomenal."
