1 
PREPARED STATEMENT OF 
STEPHAN ADAMS, VINGN PRESIDENT & CEO 
BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON 
HOUSING, TRANSPORTATION, AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS  
36TH LEGISLATURE OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS 
April 8, 2026 
 
Good morning, Honorable Marvin Blyden, Chairman of the Committee on Housing, 
Transportation, and Telecommunications, Honorable Senators, and the listening and 
viewing audiences. I am Stephan Adams, President and CEO of viNGN, Inc. Today, 
I am honored to present to you today.  
 
My statements during this hearing will be brief. viNGN supports the commonsense 
legislation of Bill 36-0074. Maintaining the integrity of our infrastructure is the top 
priority for viNGN. Vegetation management is a top priority and significant cost for 
our Company. Crews and contractors spend a considerable amount of time keeping 
vegetation away from our infrastructure. This time-consuming work not only diverts 
attention from core technical tasks, but it also puts our technical workers at risk of 
accidental electrocution or falling. They are also untrained to determine where 
private property boundaries exist versus public right of way. This poses liability risk 
for viNGN. Consequently, viNGN is in favor of this bill as long as our risk is 
mitigated.   
 
While Bill 36-0074, is well intended but it presents potential risks to our network. 
This exposure comes from property owners, who are not trained as tree trimmers, 
accidentally damaging our cable and other infrastructure components by improperly 
clearing vegetation.  
 
 
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Vegetation removal is a delicate task that we would not want an armature arborist to 
do. It could become costly for viNGN to repair accidental cuts to our fiber by 
property owners striving to meet the requirement of this bill. 
 
I am unable to speak to this bill’s enforcement proposal. However, I do have a 
recommendation for this Committee to consider. If property owners are required to 
clear vegetation from power and utility infrastructure, then licensed and bonded 
professionals should be required to perform this work. Otherwise, risk and insurance 
burden are shifted to viNGN in the event of accidental fiber optic cable damage by 
property owners intending to comply with this legislation. If this bill is enacted as 
presently authored, the financial burden of compliance would shift to viNGN and 
the other utilities and away from the property owner who might cause accidental 
damage to our network.   
 
I encourage this committee to weigh the inherent liability risks associated with this 
legislation and add safety measures to limit risk to the utilities. It might be more 
prudent to establish a fund that all stakeholders pay into proportionally to hire 
professional bonded tree trimmers to keep utility infrastructure clear of vegetation 
hazards.  
 
This concludes my testimony. Thank you for your attention. I look forward to 
answering your questions. 
 
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