{"id":37625,"date":"2024-12-15T23:11:45","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T04:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev?p=37625"},"modified":"2024-12-12T19:39:35","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T00:39:35","slug":"lawsuits-construction-process-further-hobble-home-repair-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/lawsuits-construction-process-further-hobble-home-repair-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuits, construction process further hobble home repair program"},"content":{"rendered":"

United States Virgin Islands<\/p>\n

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ST. CROIX \u2014 Dozens of local and foreign contractors attended a mandatory pre-bid conference call in May when the V.I. Office of Disaster Recovery issued 39 bids under the EnVIsion Tomorrow program, the Virgin Islands government-led program meant to repair storm-hit homes following 2017\u2019s hurricanes Irma and Maria. During the call, ODR Director Adrienne Williams-Octalien acknowledged the program\u2019s lackluster payment history.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI know this program has had many issues in the past with payments, with overall processing, and we are attempting to streamline this process and get the resources out,\u201d she said at the outset of that call. \u201cBut we also want to make sure that we get good pricing, and that our contractors understand the program, and that they are also able to move, navigate and have a successful experience with these federal dollars\u201d from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department, commonly referred to as HUD, and administered by V.I. Housing and Finance Authority.<\/p>\n

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During the pre-bid meeting in May, Williams-Octalien also told contractors that their bids must account for the use of government-owned lumber.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cContrary to public opinion, the material at the lumber yard is good, \u2018tier one\u2019 lumber,\u201d Williams-Octalien said in May, repeating assertions she made to lawmakers on the Housing, Transportation and Telecommunications Committee in February. \u201cSo you know \u2014 those of you who are in the industry know \u2014 that you cannot buy \u2018tier one\u2019 lumber here in the Virgin Islands.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Indeed, large quantities of lumber were sent to the territory through the Federal Emergency Management Agency after hurricanes Irma and Maria. The V.I. Housing Finance Authority, which later assumed control of the wood, issued a May 2020 request for proposals seeking a contractor to manage the lumber\u2019s storage and distribution. Now, that award is at the center of an ongoing prosecution in the U.S. District Court of the Virgin Islands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

William Thelusma, of Nuvo Construction, told The Daily News hours before an indictment was unsealed back in June, that after years of the wood sitting out in the elements, \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair to go use that in somebody else\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lumber languishes while some make millions<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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According to that indictment, Davidson Charlemagne, the Education Department\u2019s facilities manager and his wife, Sasha, collected millions in federal disaster recovery dollars while storing the lumber rent-free on department property \u2013 the now condemned Alexander Henderson Elementary School. That school was also damaged when Maria, a Category 5 hurricane, wreaked havoc on the island on Sept. 20, 2017. Hurricane Irma, another Category 5 storm, had ravaged St. Thomas and St. John mere weeks before on Sept. 6.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Previously, the St. Croix lumber had been stored at Sunshine Mall in Frederiksted. At some point in 2020, the mall\u2019s owner asked the government to remove the wood from his property, according to the indictment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On Friday, hours after The Daily News story on EnVIsion Tomorrow program was published, ODR issued a Request for Proposals for warehouse and security services. It noted that the lumber on St. Thomas is stored at Frenchman\u2019s Bay Quarter, specifically at No. 2-2 Bovoni.<\/p>\n

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The alleged scheme was partially obscured by the fact that Charlemagne\u2019s company, D&S Trucking, was a subcontractor. The actual award went to Island Services Group, or ISG.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The indictment also charged former V.I. Housing Finance Authority Chief Operating Officer Darin Richardson with improperly awarding the $3 million contract in January 2021, and a bid from a rival company \u201cwas altered by unknown co-conspirators after it was submitted to VIHFA,\u201d effectively rendering it less competitive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The V.I. Housing and Finance Authority contract with ISG was amended at least five times, according to the amendments reviewed by The Daily News:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2022 June 2021 \u2014 The value of the contract was increased to more than $4 million and the term of performance was increased from 2.8-3 years. The June 13 indictment, however, claimed that the contract already had a three-year term.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2022 August 2021 \u2014 The value of the contract was increased again to more than $4.3 million.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2022 October 2021 \u2014 The value of the contract was increased again to more than $4.4 million.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u2022 June 2023 \u2014 The signatures of both Charlemagnes appear for the first time, and the contract was amended to include language from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The original professional services contract and early amendments were signed by former-VIHFA Executive Director Daryl Griffith and Island Services Group managing partner Morris Anselmi. The amendments were also signed by Kimberley McCollum, who listed herself as a \u201cmember-manager\u201d of ISG on a federal tax form. One later amendment was signed by Dayna Clendinen during her tenure as interim executive director of the Housing Finance Authority.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

No members of ISG were named in the June indictment but, separately, a federal grand jury in February charged Anselmi and McCollum, a former president of the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce, with fraudulently taking in approximately half a million dollars in Paycheck Protection Program money.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The fifth and final amendment provided to The Daily News was dated May 16, 2024 \u2014 less than a month before federal prosecutors closed in. It was signed by Anselmi, McCollum, and Housing Finance Authority Director Eugene Jones Jr., who assumed leadership of the agency in April, and established a new three-year term ending in January 2027.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

At the same time, federal prosecutors concluded in their initial complaint, \u201cthe woodpiles in St. Croix and St. Thomas remain almost entirely unused and stacked on pallets outdoors and exposed to the elements for more than three years.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image:pexels-pixabay-358636<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

United States Virgin Islands ST. CROIX \u2014 Dozens of local and foreign contractors attended a mandatory pre-bid conference call in May when the V.I. Office of Disaster Recovery issued 39…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1091,"featured_media":37637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[250],"tags":[190,153,284],"class_list":["post-37625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-articles","tag-construction","tag-legal","tag-united-states-virgin-islands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pexels-pixabay-358636-scaled-e1736464488632.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6u9Qa-9MR","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18782,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/rda-to-host-procurement-workshop-to-solicit-stronger-tender-submissions\/","url_meta":{"origin":37625,"position":0},"title":"RDA To Host Procurement Workshop To Solicit Stronger Tender Submissions","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"October 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"British Virgin Islands For one day only, the Recovery and Development Agency will host a procurement workshop aimed at improving contractors and supplier\u2019s capacity to effectively respond to general bidding opportunities as well as for projects financed by the Government of the Virgin Islands, and the Caribbean Development Bank. 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