Vandenberg date

[truck1]

That does not sound like good news.

 

[bandit1980ta]

It sounds like any other thing that has to do with multiple agency fundings. Then you add government agencies into the mix. I have faith she will go down. It is just the usual last minute things that keep the intrest up.

 

[polarguard]

I agree that this is really a situation where the state government will come in and be the hero.

 

[truck1]

Ill take you guys words for it. I remember watching the Spiegle turn over when I first moved down here. I did not hear of all of the drama that went with it until later.Hopefully Vandenberg will hit the ocean bottom also.Preferably upright.

 

[truck1]

I agree that this is really a situation where the state government will come in and be the hero.

Well it looks like you might be right so far. Found this while trying to find an update on what was going on:

Vandenberg project may get help from fund
BY MANDY BOLEN

Citizen Staff


KEY WEST — The 523-foot former military ship planned as an artificial reef off Key West could be $1 million closer to the ocean floor, after discussions with a state representative who identified a funding source.

Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson met this week in Tallahassee with State Rep. Stan Mayfield from Vero Beach, who chairs the Natural Resources Council and is an outspoken supporter of artificial reefs.

"Rep. Mayfield has created a fund for artificial reefs, and there is currently $1.5 million in that fund," McPherson said Friday, still in Tallahassee. "It looks like we secured a million dollars from the fund, and it's moving through committees as we speak."

The Vandenberg reef project, which has been more than 10 years in the making, is facing critical funding shortages of about $2.3 million that have jeopardized the planned sinking.

"We need help, and we need it by March 31," project organizer Joe Weatherby said on Friday.

McPherson hopes to get the remaining $1.3 million from the governor's Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development (OTTED), which provides funding for projects that will benefit the state's economy.

"This money from Rep. Mayfield's fund would be another point of leverage with OTTED," he said, hoping to have an answer by next week.

Key West City Commissioner Bill Verge, a longtime project supporter, said he was hopeful about the funding, but will not bank on it until the money is in the bank.

 

[polarguard]

THEY ARE NOT DEAD YET!!!
++++++++++++++++++
McPherson says ‘Vandy' money found

By Kyle Teal kteal@keynoter.com



But there are no specific promises made

The sinking of the USS Hoyt Vandenberg as an artificial reef 7 miles off Key West could become a dead project if the Key West City Commission passes a resolution Tuesday that would begin negotiations to turn the city's title over to banks that have already invested in the project.

But Mayor Morgan McPherson has been talking to state lawmakers in Tallahassee this week and told the Keynoter things are looking up.

“We have resolved some funds for the Vandenberg,” McPherson said. “It looks like we picked up $1 million. We're about halfway there.”



McPherson said he's worked with state Rep. Stan Mayfield, chairman of the House Environment and Natural Resources Council, in securing the funds from the state's Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto was unavailable Friday afternoon.

City Commissioner Bill Verge said $2.3 million is still needed to sink the 520-foot former military ship.



“I don't want to say that we're there yet,” he said. “I want to keep the pressure on.”

The current cost for the project is $8.45 million, about 40 percent more than the expected original cost, $5.7 million.

Its being financed by the city of Key West, Monroe County, the county Tourist Development Council, U.S. Maritime Administration, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.



Those entities earmarked funds for the projects but nothing's been spent. The title would be released - at no liability to the city - to the local banks that have invested in it.

“You have to start the process and begin talks and negotiations with banks to turn the title over,” Verge said. “You have to look at what's plan B and plan C.”

Verge is also concerned with the U.S. Coast Guard's demands if the vessel is brought down to Key West from its current location, a shipyard in Norfolk, Va. Hurricane season begins June 1, and the vessel can't be towed from Virginia after that because “the Coast Guard is going to say it needs to be off the sea wall before hurricane season,” Verge said.

Organizers have planned for a May 15 scuttling.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SO STAY TUNED TO SCUBA BOARD FOR ANOTHER DEATH DEFYING EPISODE

 

[polarguard]

From the Key West Key Noter

‘Vandenberg' plans in disarray
By Sam Nissen snissen@keynoter.com
Posted-Friday, April 4, 2008 10:01 PM EDT

Big shortfall puts scuttling into question

The USS Hoyt Vandenberg is making more waves without moving an inch.

While work to prepare the ship for its final mission as an artificial reef off Key West is proceeding, cost concerns have nearly sunk the project.

The project is 40 percent over 2006 cost estimates and time is running out to secure the added money, according to a project budget.


The new estimate of $8.45 million is 3.9 times more than the original estimate calculated in 2001, according to Monroe County Tourist Development Council records. Jeff Dey, whose company, Resource Control Corp., is part of the team scuttling the ship, filed that estimate - $2.18 million.

As the deadlines loom, BB&T Bank is considering pulling loans for the project, Key West City Commissioner Bill Verge said.

He said banks should see through their commitment, but that BB&T has reason to raise questions.

The bank and city became aware of millions of dollars in additional costs when the project manager, Reef Makers, used up bank allocations.

Verge described mounting costs as legitimate, and said they stem from various environmental concerns and unforeseeable variables such as the steep rise in gas prices the past few years. But, he added, Reef Makers should have warned the various governmental agencies involved in the scuttling for the 520-foot former military ship of the rising expenses.

Most of the unforeseen costs are in the removal and disposal of PCB-laced wiring, said Joe Weatherby, marketing director for Reef Makers. PCB is a toxic pollutant banned in 1979.

John McMahon, manager of the Key West branch of BB&T, said it is against company policy to comment on its relationship with clients.

Any pulled funding would add to the project's current $2.4 million shortfall. About $1 million of that is working its way through a legislative committee. Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson said he thinks the state's Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development can fund the rest.

“This is going to be one of the most different summers ever,” he said.

Asked if the TDC should pay more than the $1 million it already committed, he said: “I'd love to see the TDC come out with something, but that would have to be an action that board would have to address.

“At this point, the executive director, Harold Wheeler, has taken a pretty staunch position against extra monies being used. He hasn't been helpful up into this point, and I don't expect him to be helpful about it in the future,” he said.

Placing explosives on the ship to sink it will take a month, Verge said. To make the U.S. Coast Guard deadline of June 1, brought about by the beginning of hurricane season, the ship must be in place by the end of April.

If the ship is sunk, benefits to the Keys are disputed.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contends the ship will increase diving 10 percent in the county, according to a report authored by Bob Leeworthy, chief economist for that agency. Added visitors will spend an extra $7.5 million each year since divers spend on lodging and other tourism businesses, the report says.

Wheeler said he thinks the impact could hurt the Upper Keys, where diving is a big attraction, or dissipate quickly.

“I believe if the ship goes down that it will have a very positive effect for at least a short period of time,” he said. The question is after a about a year and a half or two years, what economic impact is it going to have in Key West?”

Said Weatherby, “This is the right thing for our economy and our environment, but I recognize that people feel differently.”