I think this article may actually be a sign of light.
The political reality is that no politician was willing to put their career on the line by putting public money into this mess....before the election.
Once the election is over they can do what really needs to be done and belly up to the bar.
.5 out of 10 for political courage.....9 out of 10 for operating within political reality.
read on
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Ghost Fleet ship meant for Florida reef to be sold
By Tim McGlone
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 31, 2008
NORFOLK
A federal judge has ordered the sale of a former James River Reserve Fleet ship after a contractor failed to pay for the clean up of the vessel.
The planned sale of the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a former Air Force missile range ship, further jeopardizes a plan by the city of Key West, Fla., to sink the ship as an artificial reef.
The city could lose ownership because of more than $1.6 million in unpaid bills owed to Colonna's Shipyard in Norfolk, which cleaned the ship and made it ready for scuttling. Other subcontractors say they haven't been paid hundreds of thousands more.
To complete the Vandenberg cleanup and sinking project, Key West hired Artificial Reefs of the Keys, which in turn hired its affiliate Reefmakers, a company with offices in New Jersey and Key West. Colonna's sued Reefmakers earlier this year in federal court.
Norfolk attorney Bryan Meals, who represents Colonna's, said he expects the ship to be auctioned in mid-December. A newspaper advertisement will run in the coming weeks. Anyone, including Key West, would be welcome to bid on the ship. Meals said he expects scrap yards will want it.
Joe Weatherby, project coordinator for Artificial Reefs and director of marketing for Reefmakers, said Thursday that he was confident the money owed to Colonna's would be raised, making the sale unnecessary.
"From my part, we're organizing to get the bills paid and finish the project," he said. "That's always been our intention. We remain convinced that the best option for all parties is for the ship to be sunk off the Florida Keys."
Weatherby had previously cited cost overruns for the delay in paying Colonna's but declined to say on Friday how much needs to be raised.
A Key West city official in charge of the project did not return a call seeking comment.
The Vandenberg was to be sunk in April, but Key West has had trouble raising all the money needed. The cost of the project has grown to about $8 million from about $6 million.
Key West officials have said they anticipated that the Vandenberg reef would generate hundreds of tourism jobs and $8 million to $10 million in tourism revenue. Artificial reefs have become huge fishing and diving attractions.
The Vandenberg was a troop transport in World War II and carried Hungarian freedom fighters to Australia after the 1956 Soviet crackdown. Later it was converted to track missile tests and followed the Mercury and Gemini space liftoffs. The ship appeared in "Virus," a 1999 sci-fi movie.
It had been sitting in the James River for 24 years alongside other obsolete vessels of the "ghost fleet" until it was towed to Colonna's last year.
The shipyard has finished scrubbing the vessel clean of asbestos, petroleum and toxic PCBs. The ship held about 2.9 million pounds of waste oil and fuel that had to be disposed of.
Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.
