Pāhala Library Spared, For
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Weekly Mobile Dentistry Begins in Ka‘ū in August, See p. 19 Hālau Hula Ka‘ū Coffee Fourth of July Kalehuakiʻe- firmly estab- brought the kiʻikaʻiu ma lished itself as Summer Fun Honolulu a me a top Hawaiian kids and many Kīlauea present coffee by taking community three of the top groups for the their Hoʻike 15 statewide parade and Aug. 15 at tasting ratings, ho‘olaule‘a. KMC. topping Maui, O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, Moloka‘i, Puna and Hamakua. See Page 21. See Page 17. See Page 15. Volume 7, Number 10 The Good News of Ka‘ū, Hawaiʻi August, 2009 Pāhala Library Airport, Resort Spared, for Now & Conservation Pāhala Public & School Library was spared from closure Proposed for on Thursday, July 16, when the state Board of Education vot- ed to defer shutting it down along with libraries in Holualoa Kahuku Villages and Kealakekua on Hawai‘i Island, Hana on Maui, and Ewa Kahuku Villages is the working name Beach on O‘ahu. of a master planned community proposed by When the proposed closures were announced only a week owners of nearly 17,000 acres between Pohue before the vote, local library supporters started a campaign Bay and Hwy 11. The land stretches along six with a petition, email and written messages of protest. Public miles of coast makai of Ocean View and runs officials came to the library’s defense. 6.5 miles inland. State librarian Richard Burns made the budget-reduction It is owned by Nani Kahuku Aina, LLC. plan to close the libraries, saying he based it on staff vacan- Its project managers, Katherine Peroff and cies, circulation and usage data, geographical proximity to Aaron Eberhardt, are representing princi- other libraries, operating expenses and other items. It was re- pal owner Valentine Peroff and his partner. ported that Pāhala had the lowest number of books, journals, They are making the rounds in Kaʻū, talking and DVDs being checked out in the entire state. to community groups ranging from the Kaʻū However, in a letter to Board of Education Chair Garrett Chamber of Commerce, Ocean View Com- Toguchi, Sen. Russell Kokubun, Sen. Josh Green, Rep. Bob munity Association, Kaʻū Main Street and Herkes and Rep. Denny Coffmann made the case to keep the Hawaiian Civic Club to Pele Hanoa and Kaʻū Pāhala library open: “The Pāhala Public and School Library Preservation. They have also been speaking serves the Pāhala school complex from K to 12. The Pāhala with Mayor Billy Kenoi, Council member school complex is in Ka‘ū, an area larger than O‘ahu. Some Guy Enriques and county Planning Director high school students travel 30 miles to school. This school Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd. They said they complex is heavily inundated by the volcanic emissions (vog) plan to preserve at least 230 acres along the from Halema‘uma‘u and the library can, and has served as a coast. ‘safe house’ for residents and students impacted by vog. The Katherine Peroff said that her father Val- Pāhala school complex will grow in numbers this fall when Rodeo Queen Amery Silva entine, a long time developer in Hawaiʻi, saw Amery Silva served as a Pā‘ū Rider in the July Fourth Parade the seventh grade class at Nā‘ālehu moves to Pāhala. the property and fell in love with it. “Val sees in Nā‘ālehu and also became the rodeo queen. See more on July this as his legacy. He wants to do it right.” His “Closing the Pāhala Library leaves only the public library Fourth on Pages 10, 15, 16 and 24. Rodeo results are on page 14. group bought the 16,456 acres for $13 million and school library at Nā‘ālehu to service this very large geo- Photo by Nālani Parlin graphic area of Ka‘ū. Pāhala Library, pg. 4 in 2006 and has been working with several planning firms to create a vision. Hawai‘i Police Commanders Engage the Ka‘ū Public Kahuku Villages, pg. 5 The Hawai‘i Police Department of- Chief Henry Tavares. Area II encompasses manders and deputy police chiefs will be fered more community policing and en- North and South Kohala, Kona and Ka‘ū. in Volcano at Cooper Center on Tuesday, couraged Ka‘ū residents to be its eyes and They were joined by the Ka‘ū District Aug. 11 at noon. ears to help solve problems. Following the Commander, Captain Andrew Burian. Two More Officers? introductions, Ka‘ū community members The open meeting was one in a series The Deputy Police Chief announced met with the Deputy and Area II Super- being held monthly around the island. that the Ka‘ū police force is fully staffed ****ECRWSS visors, Major John Dawrs and Assistant The next public meeting with police com- Police Commanders, pg. 4 Postal Boxholder Also in this issue: P4 Pāhala * P5 Kahuku * P6 Nā‘ālehu * P8 Business * P9 Event Lt. Gov. Predicts Economic Recovery with Lots of Work Calendar * P11 Sports * P12 Sports Over 90 percent of businesses in Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona was addressing stress is “something we don’t control. It is Calendar * P16 Religion * P17 Ag * P18 Hawaiʻi are small businesses with un- more than 100 Kaʻū residents at Nāʻālehu not through bad strategy with tourism or Star Map * P19 Health * P20 Recipe * der 100 employees. “Businesses are the School Gym on July 14 during a meet- other businesses. It is because of what is P21 Volcano * P23 Classifieds *Inserts: backbone of our infrastructure here in ing sponsored by the Kaʻū Chamber of happening nationally and internationally.” Nā‘ālehu Market, Ka‘ū Community Hawaiʻi. Small businesses have shaped our Commerce. He pointed to the downturn in tour- Development Plan history.” He said that the current economic Economic Recovery, pg. 22 Public Weighs in at First CDP Steering Meeting Some 60 people attended the first Ka‘ū initial public input phase, 14 percent of the ity. A process without a basis in principles Steering committee member Bob Community Development Plan steering population of Ka‘ū participated in surveys lacks structure and a viable outcome.” DaMate noted that some Hawaiian families committee meeting on July 14. Members and talk story sessions, with 622 people Steering committee member Loren have been here for 30 generations. He said held their meeting at Nā‘ālehu Clubhouse filling out survey sheets and 570 attending Heck of Ocean View talked about the im- that he is concerned that “they are quiet.” with public testimony at beginning and talk story sessions. This percentage rep- portance of planning from the mountain to They won’t necessarily come out to partici- end. Members are Leina‘ala Enos Donna- resents a “record level of community in- the sea, with respect to the traditional Ha- pate. “How do we do this plan to satisfy Marie Ambrose, Patti Barry, Bob DaMate, volvement,” he said. He also said that over waiian ahupua‘a system. “The ahupua‘a is everyone’s needs?” Ron Ebert, Michelle Galimba, Loren Heck, 50 percent of participants have lived here so interconnected. Everything affects ev- Whitmore said that “we are counting Eldridge Naboa, Marino Ramones, Simon 10 or more years. For more information, erything,” he said. on you to listen to them if they don’t par- Torres, Jr. and non-voting member John see www.kaucdp.info. PlaceMakers planner Howard Black- ticipate in these kinds of meetings.” Cross. Consulting firm PlaceMakers, LLC son said he understands that residents Whitmore said that the planning is The meeting began with the unanimous presented its credentials and philosophies “want to keep rural - rural, town - town … based on objective criteria - “what we can elections of Leina‘ala Enos as chair and El- concerning the creation of a plan to direct it’s a town and country philosophy.” agree as a community” - not because some- dridge Naboa as vice chair. Ka‘ū CDP proj- the future of Ka‘ū for 20 years. PlaceMak- Public input on agendized items will one has a vested interest in a particular ect manager Ron Whitmore explained that ers has been hired by the county to create be welcomed at each steering commit- piece of property. the group had erroneously gone through an the plan with community input. tee meeting. Also planned are charrettes, A community member asked about the election process at a previous orientation, Whitmore stressed the importance of which are intensive sessions with members “end result of this process.” but later learned that this was in violation public vision and public input. “Principles of the public and planners to help generate Another community member sug- of the state Sunshine Law. and process are of equal importance,” he the plan by integrating aptitudes and inter- gested that the group study the current Whitmore summarized the progress said. “Principles untested by public partici- ests reflecting the diversity of Ka‘ū. The population and what the population could of the CDP so far. He said that, during the pation are coercive and have no credibil- charrette is a planning technique for con- become based on subdivisions already ex- Kapāpala Ranch goats, herded above by Bill Petrie, are sold on the hoof to local residents. Goats are well suited for the wild and domestic herds in the dry areas of Ka‘ū. Steering Committee representatives met with Ka‘ū ranchers and visited this ranch and Aikane Plantation in July as part of its background research. Photo by Nālani Parlin sulting with all stakeholders, promoting isting in such places as Discovery Harbour joint ownership of solutions while attempt- and Ocean View. “Where is the planning ing to defuse confrontational attitudes in for freeways, given expected population the community.