USVI Public Records

Document text

VI UPDATE U.S. Virgin Islands Public Records TRANSCRIPT OF PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS Committee on Rules and Judiciary Legislature USVI February 26, 2026 · 0.6 hours · gov Source recording https://youtu.be/XUwaH-Dg9sA Status This is a working transcript produced by machine from a recording of a public proceeding. It is a finding aid, not an official record of the Legislature. Transcribed by VI Update, using OpenAI Whisper large-v3-turbo, run locally. Not reviewed by a person. Reliability Automatic transcription, UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording before relying on it. Speech recognition splits spoken digits and wraps figures mid-number, so a dollar amount, a vote count or a bill number can be wrong in a way that reads as correct. Speakers are not identified: automatic speaker labelling was measured unusable and removed. Public record The underlying proceeding is a public record of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 3 V.I.C. § 881(a) defines public records to include all records and documents of or belonging to this Territory or any branch of government, or any "department, board, council or committee of any branch of government" · which names legislative committees by category. § 881(b) gives every citizen the right to examine and copy such records, and the news media the right to publish them. (The open-meetings chapter, 1 V.I.C. § 254, does NOT reach the Legislature: § 253(b) expressly excludes it and its Standing and Special Committees. § 881 does, and it is § 881 that confers the right to copy and publish.) The Legislature broadcast this proceeding publicly itself. The source recording is not ours, is not hosted here, and remains with its publisher at the link above. Rights To what we added · the transcription, its arrangement and its description · we assert nothing. A verbatim transcript is mechanical rather than authored, so there is likely nothing in it to own; to the extent any copyright is nonetheless found to subsist, it is dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0. Please copy it, quote it, index it, train on it, republish it, mirror it, sell it. Redistribution is the point: a public record with one copy is one fire from gone. No permission is needed, and none is ours to grant or withhold. other related purposes proposed by senator milton e potter by request of the governor bill number 36.0209 and act amending title 23 virgin islands code chapter 10 to establish civil penalties for disregarding marine advisories and to create the territorial marine safety fund proposed by senators hubert l frederick avery l lewis and ray fonseca bill number 36.0219 and act amending title 22 virgin islands code chapter 31 relating to the virgin islands producer and adjuster licensing act by modifying renewal provisions for insurance and producer licenses proposed by senator milton e potter by the request of the governor bill number 36-0237 an act approving a multi-lease multi-year lease agreement between the government of the virgin islands acting through its commissioner the department of property and procurement and dm hospitals hospitality llc for parcel number 2c crystal garter queen's quarter st thomas consisting of a two-story building and a portion of partial three crystal garter consisting of a two-story building to operate a food and beverage management company with a bakery and delhi a jewelry business management company and other related purposes proposed by senator milton e potter by request of the governor bill number 36-0084 an act honoring and commending alva alphonse swan also known as coach tumba for his significant contributions to the sport of basketball in the virgin islands by bestowing upon him the key to the the territory proposed by senators marvin a blighton and unheld boca jr bill number 36-0220 an act honoring and commending former senator lorraine l berry posthumously for her decades of outstanding public service by renaming hall bear road located in north side saint thomas the lorraine l berry drive proposed by senators avery l lewis angel l boquez jr and marvin blighton bill number 36-0150 an act honoring and commending thema leona peterson springer posthumously for her outstanding community service to the children and to the people of the virgin islands proposed by senators kenneth l gitans avery l lewis and clifford a joseph jr clifford a joseph jr bill number 36-0225 a resolution honoring and commending sharon maria williams for her outstanding achievements and significant contributions to the field of education and culinary arts proposed by senators kenneth l gitans avery l lewis clifford a joseph jr 0:00:00 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 1 of 5 Legislature USVI · Committee on Rules and Judiciary and anhel joseph jr and angel angel l boquez jr bill number 36-0226 a resolution honoring and commending mrs janet brau phillips for her outstanding achievements and significant contribution to the field of education and culinary arts to the virgin islands community proposed by senators kenneth l gitans avery l lewis l lewis clifford a joseph joseph and anhel l boquez jr bill number 36-0227 a resolution honoring and commending the armstrong family long-time owners of armstrong ice cream for their exceptional contributions to the economic growth cultural heritage and development of the virgin islands proposed by senators kenneth l gitans franklin d johnson avery l lewis and clifford a joseph senior madam chair this ends the reading of today's agenda thank you so much madam clerk do i hear motion uh kindly recognize the mic of senator alma francis heiliger you're recognized for your motion senator francis heiliger thank you madam chair madam chair i move to remove bill number 36-0237 and act appropriating a multi-year lease agreement an act approving a multi-year lease agreement between the government of the virgin islands acting through its commissioner of the department of property and procurement and dm hospitality llc for parcel number 2c crystal guard queen's quarter st thomas consisting of a two-story building and a portion of parcel and beverage management company with a bakery and deli a jewelry business management company and other related purposes i requested this bill be held in committee at the call of the chair iso move 0:03:31 bill number 36-0237 motion has been properly made by senator francis heiliger and seconded by senator clifford joseph and senator avery lewis to remove the bill from today's agenda roll call uh at the discretion of the chair roll call on bill number 36-0237 to remove the bill from the today's agenda and holding committee at the discretion of the chair senate senate anhel l bolquez jr jr center bolquez jr absent senator kenneth l gittins senator gittins absent senator alma francis heiliger yes senator francis heiliger yay senator carla joseph yes senator joseph yay senator clifford a joseph senior yes senator joseph jr yay senator avery l lewis senator lewis yay senator milton e potter yes senator potter yay madam chair you have five years two members absent thank you so much madam clerk the motion to remove bill number 36-0237 an act approving a multi-year lease agreement between the government of the virgin islands acting through its commissioner of the department of property and procurement and dm hospitality llc for parcels number 2c crystal garda queen's quarter st thomas consisting of a two-story building and a portion of parcel number three crystal garda consisting of a two-story building to operate a food and beverage management company with a bakery and deli a jewelry business management company and other related purposes has been removed from today's agenda and will be held in committee at the discretion of the chair 0:05:49 okay colleagues the remaining other 11 bills have been properly vetted and discussed in their committee of jurisdiction and we will proceed with considering and discussing all of the remaining 11 bills in one one two minute round one two minute round or actually we have a motion which precedes that so senator avery lewis you are recognized for your motion thank you madam chair i move bill number three six at zero one nine eight an act amending act number nine zero three five by redesignating the funding source for several entities and correcting a typographical error and correcting the typographic error and amending act number 90 45 by inserting and striking appropriation be voted upon favorably in this committee rules and judiciary and forwarded to the full body with a favorable recommendation for further vetting and action i so move bill number 36-0198 has been properly moved by senator avery lewis and seconded by senators milton potter and clifford joseph roll call on bill number 36-0198 senator anhel l bolkis jr center bolkis jr absent center kenneth l gittins yeah senator gittins yay senator armor francis heiliger senator frances heiliger not voting senator carla j joseph 0:08:14 senator joseph yay senator clifford a joseph senior senator joseph senior yay senator avery l lewis senator lewis yay senator milton e potter yes senator potter yay madam chair you have oh five years one not voting one absent i thank you so much madam clerk bill number 36-0198 and act amending number nine zero three five by re designating the funding source for several entities and correcting a typographical error and amending act number nine zero four five by inserting and striking appropriation has been favorably approved in the committee and rules and judiciary and will be forwarded to the full body for further consideration and action senator milton potter you are recognized for your motion thank you very much madam chair colleagues i moved that bill number 36-0199 an act approving the lease agreement between the government of the virgin islands acting through the commissioner of the department of property and procurement and accent property management llc for parcels number 123 and 129 submarine base south side quarter st thomas to develop the premises to operate establish and manage a slate of subtenants pursuant to an approved development plan be favorably voted upon in the committee of rules and judiciary and forwarded to the full body for further consideration and action i so move bill number 36-0199 has been probably moved by senator milton potter seconded by senator avery lewis roll call on bill number 36-0199 0:10:21 senator anhel l bocas jr center bolcas jr absent senator kenneth l gittins yes senator gittins yay senator alma frances heiliger senator france heiliger not voting senator carla j joseph yes senator cliford a joseph senior senator joseph senior senator joseph senior yay senator avery l lewis senator lewis yay senator milton e potter yes senator potter yay madam chair madam chair you have five yeas one absent one member not voting uh madam clerk kindly mark senator heiliger's 0:12:33 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 2 of 5 Legislature USVI · Committee on Rules and Judiciary vote as yes senator francis heiliger vote as yes madam chair you have six members voting yay one member absent thank you so much madam clerk bill number 36-0199 an act approving the lease agreement between the government of the virgin islands acting through the commissioner of the department of property and procurement and accent property management llc for parcels number one two three and one two nine submarine base south side quarter st thomas to develop the premises to operate establish and manage a slate of subtenants pursuant to an approved development plan has been favorably approved in the committee on rules and judiciary and will be forwarded to the full body for further consideration and action senator milton potter you're recognized for your motion thank you very much madam chair madam chair colleagues i move that bill number 36-0204 an act approving a multi-year lease agreement between the government of the virgin islands acting through its commissioner of the department of property and procurement and commercial investments llc for parcel number 30 submarine base number number six south side quarter st thomas virgin islands for a logistics storage warehouse and other related purposes be favorably voted upon in the committee of rules and judiciary and forwarded to the full body for further consideration and action i so move bill number 36-0204 bill number 36-0204 has been properly moved by senator milton potter and seconded by senator avery lewis and senator clifford joseph senior roll call on bill number 36-0204 senator an angel l bocas jr senator bocas jr absent senator kenneth l gittins yes senator gittins yeah senator alma francis heiliger yeah senator francis heiliger yeah yeah senator carla j joseph yeah senator joseph yay senator clifford a joseph senior Yes. Senator Joseph Senior, yea? Senator A.V.L. Lewis? Yes. Senator Lewis, yea? Senator Milton E. Potter? Yes. Senator Potter, yea? Madam Chair, you have six yays. One member absent. 0:14:21 Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. Bill number 36-0204, an act approving a multi-year lease agreement between the Government of the Virgin Islands, acting through its Commissioner of the Department of Property and Procurement and Commercial Investments, LLC, for parcel number 30, Submarine Base, number 6, Southside Quarter, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, for a logistic storage warehouse and other related purposes, has been favorably voted upon in the Committee on Rules and Judiciary, and will be forwarded to the full body for further consideration and action. Do I hear a motion? Amendment. Senator Milton E. Potter, you are recognized for your amendment. 0:16:11 Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move amendment number 36-694 to bill number 36-0209 on behalf of Senator Hubert L. Frederick. Bill number 36-0209 is amended as follows. Section 1, page 2, 1, line 3, strike the Virgin Islands Fire and Emergency Medical Services, VIFEMS, 2, line 7, strike of $500 and add the following langs. After violation, the civic penalties shall be assessed as follows, 1, a first violation is a penalty of $1,500, 2, second violation is a penalty of $3,000, and 3, a third violation and any subsequent violations shall be assessed. So, each day the violation continues shall constitute a separate offense subject to penalty of $5,000, and 3, a third violation and any subsequent violations are a penalty of $5,000 per incident. Each day the violation continues shall constitute a separate offense subject to penalty of $5,000. Each day the violation is a penalty of $5,000, and 3, a third violation is a penalty of $5,000, and 4, line 11, after designees insert the department head or designee of the agency that issues the citation must document all violations, any rescue, any rescue, recovery, or removal activity and submit written verification to the commissioner of finance prior to the assessment of civil penalties related to the deployment of emergency response services. 5, line 17, after fund insert the decision of the hearing officer is final, the appellant may file a writ of review to the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands no later than 30 days after the hearing officer is final. 5, line 17, after the hearing officer is final. 6, line 17, after the hearing officer's decision. 6, line 17, after the hearing officer's decision. 6, line 17, after the hearing officer's decision. 6, line 17, after the hearing officer's decision. 6, line 17, after the hearing officer's decision. 0:16:59 6, line 17, after the hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 26 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:19:17 6, line 17, after the hearing officer's decision. 9, line 17, after hearing officer's decision. [2 such phrases repeated 30 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:19:45 11, line 17, after hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 42 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:20:15 14, line 17, after hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 40 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:20:57 16, line 17, after hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 32 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:21:37 16, line 17, after hearing officer's decision. 16, line 17, with hearing officer's decision. [2 such phrases repeated 34 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:22:09 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 3 of 5 Legislature USVI · Committee on Rules and Judiciary 16, line 17, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 31 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:22:43 16, line 17, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 61 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:23:15 16, line 17, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 31 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:24:16 16, line 17, with hearing officer's decision. 17, with hearing officer's decision. [2 such phrases repeated 50 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:24:47 17, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 21 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:25:37 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 24 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:26:06 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 31 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:26:38 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 23 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:27:17 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 22 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:27:48 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 33 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:28:18 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 22 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:29:07 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 37 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:29:37 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 28 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:30:22 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 29 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:31:06 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 28 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:31:43 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 35 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:32:19 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 28 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:33:10 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 24 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:33:46 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 39 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:34:18 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 31 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:35:13 18, with hearing officer's decision. [1 such phrases repeated 57 times · standby audio before the proceeding, transcribed by the recogniser as speech] 0:35:52 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, 0:37:13 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 4 of 5 Legislature USVI · Committee on Rules and Judiciary with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. 18, with hearing officer's decision. for all the work that you do here to assure that the record is accurate. I want to also mention and just talk briefly why we are moved to remove Bill number 36-0237, which is the lease agreement between the Government of the Virgin Islands and DM Hospitality LLC from the agenda. We want to assure that all items and due diligence and concern People named in this transcript SUSPECTED, and a finding aid only. Names were matched by machine against the spellings used across all 426 of our transcripts, and the title is the one used in the room. Being named here is NOT evidence that a person attended or spoke · only that the name was said. Speech recognition mishears names, so a spelling may be wrong even where no alternative is offered. 4x Senator Milton E. Potter heard in this transcript as: Potter 2x Senator Avery Lewis heard in this transcript as: Lewis 2x Senator Hubert Frederick heard in this transcript as: Hubert L. Frederick 2x Senator Joseph Senior 2x Senator Kurt A. the surname alone also matches: Dwayne M. heard in this transcript as: A. Bills and acts referred to Matched by number against our own acts corpus. The number is what the recognition heard, so it may be wrong; where it resolved, the title is the one the Legislature gave the act. Bill 36-0220 Act 9085 · An act honoring and commending former Senator Lorraine L. Berry posthumously for her decades of outstanding public service by renaming Hull Bay Road located in North Side, St. Thomas, the ·Lorraine L. Berry Drive· ---0 Act 9085 Act 9085 · An act honoring and commending former Senator Lorraine L. Berry posthumously for her decades of outstanding public service by renaming Hull Bay Road located in North Side, St. Thomas, the ·Lorraine L. Berry Drive· ---0 Referred to but not found in our acts corpus: Bill 36-0237, Bill 36-0084, Bill 36-0150, Bill 36-0225, Bill 36-0226, Bill 36-0227, Bill 36-0198, Bill 36-0199, Bill 36-0204, Bill 36-0209 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 5 of 5