Thursday, October 13, 2011

County Redistricting Commissioner Vice Chair Dru Mamo Kanuha wondered why so few people attended the meeting in Na'alehu.
Photo by Geneveve Fyvie

VOLCANO SHOULD BE PART OF KA`U OR PUNA? Two views emerged last night at the County Reapportionment hearing in Na`alehu on where to draw voter lines for each County Council district.
     Linda-Jane Irwin, of Volcano, recommended that “Volcano Village should be a part of Ka’u," saying she and many of her friends relate more to the people of Ka’u. She noted that “Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park is an International Biosphere Preserve, and it's very likely that buffer zones in the surrounding communities will be designated soon to further protect native wildlife.” With park borders on both sides of Ka’u, Irwin said Volcano would be more suited to be aligned with the rest of the likely buffer zone communities in Ka`u.
     Rick Warshauer, of Volcano, testified that “Volcano belongs in Puna.” He said he worked on the Puna Community Development Plan and noted that the plan extends from Puna to Volcano Golf Course and asks for more consistency in county planning. Commissioner Jeff Melrose responded, saying Puna has grown too much in the last ten years, which is why adjustments must be made to the boundaries of county council districts.
      Each district may contain no more than 21,483 people (not including students and non-resident military personnel) and no less than 19,441. Warshauer contended that Volcano is not the only area for adjustments to be made. He asked that Volcano stay part of Puna and that Kea’au and other areas closer to Hilo be used for adjusting. “Don’t split it up. Don’t split up Volcano and Puna”, he said.
      Since few people attended the meeting, Comissioner Dru Mamo Kanuha said “people in Na’alehu don’t seem to be that concerned about the redistricting.”
      The last public hearing closest to Ka`u will be held in Captain Cook at Yano Hall at 6 p.m. on Thursday Oct. 20. Submit testimonies to keoff@co.hawaii.hi.us. View proposed redistricting maps athttp://www.co.hawaii.hi.us/council/reapp/index.htm. Call Commission Secretary Karen Eoff at 323-4264.

THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR released this morning by U.S. Department of Agriculture shows conditions in Ka`u ranging from Extreme to Abnormally Dry. The most Extreme drought is in the South Point area coming up the coast toward Honu`apo. Severe drought affects land inland from South Point and Moderate drought covers the rest of Ka`u with the exception of an Abnormally Dry area towards Volcano. North Kohala and the South Point areas are the only places in the state with Severe Drought Conditions.

Candidate for U.S. Senate Linda Lingle

FORMER TWO-TERM HAWAI`I GOV. LINDA LINGLE is the National Republican Senatorial Committee's top recruit, the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call said this morning. Lingle announced this week that she will run for the U.S. Senate seat to be left vacant by Dan Akaka who will retire at the end of his term. After winning the Republican nomination, Lingle would likely face either Mazie Hirono or Ed Case, two of the Democrats campaigning for the same U.S. Senate seat. Lingle, 58, was the first woman governor for Hawai`i and the only Jewish governor in the U.S. while in office. In 2006 she won her reelection bid by the largest margin in state history. Lingle was chosen to accompany Pres. George Bush to Jerusalem in 2008. She is also known for encouraging Bush to create the largest marine preserve in the world in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which he accomplished by making the 140,000 square miles of ocean and ten islands and atolls into a National Monument in 2006, called Papahanaumokuakea.

HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC CO. is blaming the cost of fossil fuel for the record-breaking increase in electric bills during the last quarter. According to an Alan Yonan, Jr. story in the Honolulu Star Advertiser this morning, HECO executive vice president Robbie Alm said: “This situation again highlights how important it is to get off oil as completely and quickly as we can. It is exactly for this reason that we are pursing renewables on all fronts with a new push for geothermal, a nationally ranked solar program, more wind farms and biofuels."

KA`U HIGH, PAHALA INTERMEDIATE & PAHALA AND NA`ALEHU ELEMENTARY schools may get a reprieve from strict federal school restructuring requirements. The state Department of Education has notified the U.S. Department of Education that it will apply for ESEA Flexibility for Spring 2012.
      “Hawai`i is taking another bold step forward to accelerate education reform, raise accountability, and ensure all students graduate college- and career-ready,” Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi said. “ESEA Flexibility will provide states with a rigorous alternative to the current No Child Left Behind one-size-fits-all approach and the responsibility to redefine academic success beyond Adequate Yearly Progress.”
      The DOE promises to engage and solicit input “from diverse stakeholders and communities in the development of its request,” says its press release.

On his way to China, Gov. Abercrombie stopped over in Japan.

GOV. NEIL ABERCROMBIE has joined governors from Guam, the Northern Marianas and several states on a mission to the U.S.-China Governors Conference in Beijing. The forum focuses on economic development and job creation. U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke is expected to host a reception for the governors. Just last week, Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park hosted representatives from the National Parks in China, following a visit of U.S. National Park representatives to China. The Chinese park representatives explored Kahuku and Volcanoes sections of the park. In Pahala, they dined on food raised here and took home Ka`u Coffee.

A BILL LIMITING FREE WATER FROM COUNTY SPIGOTS TO 55-gallons per visit has been withdrawn from County Council consideration by Mayor Billy Kenoi and Department of Public Works Director Warren Lee. The bill would have imposed a maximum $500 fine on violators. Public Works Director Warren Lee said he wants community input on how much water is needed by families before resubmitting the bill. The county recently installed a new spigot system for the public in Wai’ohinu and the Ocean View public water system with spigots is scheduled to open soon.

Community members recently celebrated new spigots in Wai'ohinu.

SEN. GIL KAHELE holds a public forum at Ocean View Community Center tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. Kahele said wants constituents to help him prepare for the upcoming Hawai`i Legislature which opens in January. Kahele will recap the last legislative session. Anyone can call 808-586-6760. Email senkahele@capitol.hawaii.gov .

OKTOBERFEST with a live polka band livens up at St. Jude’s Episcopal Church on Paradise Circle in Ocean View tomorrow. Doors open at 6 p.m. with a German feast at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are one for $12 and two for $20. Call Cordelia at 939-7555. Volunteer to help - call Phyl at 929-7146.

THE ANNUAL MONGOLIAN BARBECUE at Cooper Center on Wright Road in Volcano will be Saturday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The fundraiser features 14 masters of the wok. Volunteers are welcome Friday at 8 a.m. at Cooper Center to help with chopping of the ingredients.

KA`U GIRLS VARSITY VOLLEYBALL continues to win. Kaʻu High beat Parker School this week in three quick sets. Scores were 25-13, 25-11 and 25-5.

Ka`u News Briefs Oct. 12, 2011

Ocean View residents speak out at steering committee meeting. Photo by Julia Neal.

OCEAN VIEW RESIDENTS came out in force to the Ka`u Community Development Plan steering committee last night, fearing that government could force people to move from the highlands to a proposed town center near Hwy 11. Numerous Ocean View dwellers emerged from their remote habitats to proclaim their choice to live away from amenities and other people. A metal company owner said he likes to live at the top of Ocean View because government leaves him alone. An astronomer said he and two other residents with big telescopes live high in Ocean View to study the stars and wouldn’t want lights from a town below blurring their view.
     County Planner Ron Whitmore showed a photo of Paradise Park in Puna, which has grown rapidly in the last decade, and said Ocean View could experience such growth without adequate infrastructure if planning steps are not taken. The metal worker said he would like a plan that would reduce the likelihood of his house acquiring neighbors but most people at the meeting opposed the county tinkering with the future of Ocean View.
     Whitmore repeatedly stated that incentivizing people to live in a more centralized Ocean View neighborhood with more centralized infrastructure is only a planning tool being offered to the community and not a mandate. 

'Aina Koa Pono proposes to build a biofuel refinery
along Myer Camp Road. Photo by Geneveve Fyvie

`AINA KOA PONO says it may go ahead with its refinery and biocrop farm in Ka`u even though the state Public Utilites Commission has rejected its contract with Hawaiian Electric Co. `Aina Koa Pono would sell the fuel to the mainland, according to a report by Sophie Cocke in this morning’s Civil Beat. The story states that in light of the Public Utilities rejection of a contract between Hawiian Electric Co. and `Aina Koa Pono, “`Aina Koa Pono is negotiating with a mainland buyer for the fuel it plans to produce from a proposed biofuels plant in the Ka`u region on the Big Island, according to Kenton Eldridge, co-founder of the company.” According to Civil Beat, Eldridge said that the price from mainland buyers for biofuel produced here would be higher than the price negotiated with Hawaiian Electric. He did not reveal the name of the prospective buyer.
     According to Civil Beat, Eldridge wrote that “The rejection of this agreement is short sighted and contrary to the legislative mandate to develop a robust domestic biofuels industry, in order to reduce our state’s dependency on foreign oil.” Civil Beat also reports him writing that “The PUC has ignored both the benefits of domestic production, which will produce hundreds of local jobs and will infuse millions of dollars into our economy and the realities of the global market for high quality biofuels.”
     The PUC had concluded that it considered other factors, such as the potential for these biofuels to deter other, more affordable alternative energies for Hawai`i where electric rates are the highest in the country. See more at civilbeat.com.

STATE DIVISION OF CONSUMER ADVOCACY executive director Jeffrey Ono submitted a motion for clarification to the Public Utilities Commission this week regarding its denial of the contract between Hawaiian Electric Co. and `Aina Koa Pono.

     Ono says the decision could “serve as precedent or persuasive authority” for Consumer Advocate reviews and recommendations concerning future and pending applications for alternative energies. 

Ono asks whether the PUC intends to use cost for petroleum or cost of petroleum-generated electricity as the benchmark for judging whether a proposed renewable energy contract is in the public interest. Ono 

asks how such comparative differences should be weighted. He also asks whether any cost of alternative energy that would make electric bills higher would be acceptable.

     Ono also asks whether and how a proposal’s ability to help achieve the state Renewable Portfolio Standards targets should influence the approval of the contract.
     The Consumer Advocate’s request can be read at puc.hawaii.gov/dockets.

DIGITAL SUBMISSIONS FOR THE GRIEVIN’ AND GROOVIN’ art exhibit at Volcano Art Center’s Niaulani Campus are due this Friday, with accepted works due next Friday, Oct. 21. In the tradition of Dia de Los Muertos, the two-day celebration on Nov. 1 and 2 will present artwork, writing, movement and rituals based on the subject of death, loss, mortality and the passage of time. For more information, contact Anne Catlin at 967-8222 or community@volcanoartcenter.org.

THE KA`U AGRICULTURAL WATER COOPERATIVE DISTRICT Steering Committee will meet at the ML Mac Nut Field Office in Pahala tomorrow at 4 p.m. On the agenda will be progress on the tunnel surveys, status of the transfer of the tunnel sources to Agribusiness Development Corp., funding status and formation of new regional cooperatives. For more information, contact Jeff McCall at 928-6456.

Sen. Gil Kahele.
Photo by Julia Neal

SEN. GIL KAHELE holds a public forum at Ocean View Community Center on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Kahele said he will listen to concerns of constituents who can help him prepare for the upcoming 27th Hawai`i Legislature which begins in January. He promises to recap the 26th legislative session and address specific issues. Anyone can call 808-586-6760 or email senkahele@capitol.hawaii.gov with issues or questions for the forum.

OKTOBERFEST with a live polka band happens Friday at St. Jude’s Episcopal Church on Paradise Circle in Ocean View. The menu includes brats and sauerkraut, boiled potatoes, dill pickles, German chocolate cake and beverages. Doors open at 6 p.m.. Dinner is served at 6:30 p.m. Tickets, $12 each or two for $20, can be purchased from Cordelia at 939-7555. For more information or to volunteer to help, call Phyl at 929-7146.

A MONGOLIAN BARBECUE is set for Cooper Center on Wright Road in Volcano on Saturday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The fundraiser features 14 masters of the wok preparing each diner’s desired stir-fry combination. This will be the 42nd Mongolian Barbecue held at Cooper Center. Volunteers can show up on Friday at 8 a.m. at Cooper Center to help with the Chop-Chop chopping of the ingredients.

Ka`u News Briefs Oct. 11, 2011

 HECO has asked the Public Utilities Commission for more time to file a motion for reconsideration and/or clarification
 for its proposed refinery and biofuel farm in Ka`u.

HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC CO. has asked the Public Utilities Commission for an extension of time to file a motion for reconsideration and/or clarification of the PUC’s Decision and Order that denied the contract between the utility and `Aina Koa Pono. Approval could have led to construction of a refinery off Wood Valley Road and biocrop farm between Pahala and Na`alehu. 

     The PUC also denied a surcharge that would have likely led to higher electric bills.
     “The Decision has potentially far reaching implications,” HECO’s request says. “The Companies need time to evaluate the impact of the Decision on many different fronts, including but not limited to, the impact of the Decision on the Companies’ provision to supply renewable electricity in accordance with the State of Hawai`i’s clean energy initiative and the Governor's ‘New Day’ plan, liquid fuel options, and the Companies' strategy to meet renewable portfolio standards as well as broader policy considerations.”
     The original deadline to file a motion was today. HECO is asking for the deadline to be extended “through Nov. 10.”

MICHAEL CHAMPLEY, the governor’s newest appointee to Hawai`i’s PUC, was one of the three commissioners who made the unanimous decision to deny the contract. The decision stated that the cost of the biofuel was “excessive, not cost-effective, and thus, is unreasonable and inconsistent with the public interest.” According to a report in this morning’s Civil Beat, Champley, whose career in the electric utility business spanned four decades, “has expressed skepticism in the past about biofuels and whether they are in the customer’s best interest or only help the utility’s bottom line.” Biofuels “are clearly in the shareholders’ interest,” Champley told Civil Beat before he joined the commission. “What you don’t know is if it’s in the customers’ interest.” 

     According to Civil Beat, “the ruling suggests that with Champley’s addition to the PUC, the commission will be taking a harder line toward HECO and intends to play a bigger role in directing the state’s energy policy.”

INCENTIVES TO ATTRACT more people to live centrally in Ocean View may encourage some people to buy or build houses at the lower elevation near Hwy 11, but many people have chosen to live remotely in the cool, high altitudes on agricultural lands, said Ka`u Community Development Plan Steering Committee member Loren Heck. He was responding this morning to a Stephens Media story that quoted some people’s concerns about planning options that could include incentives for people to move out of the more remote areas of Ocean View. The idea is to encourage more community members to live in more of a walkable Ocean View town, where infrastructure could be concentrated. The idea was being circulated to Ocean View steering committee members and to Ocean View residents for feedback for the CDP.
     Heck said that the county would have to be wary about seeming heavy-handed about where people should live. He said any idea that the county could condemn land and force people to move into a more concentrated housing area would bring on “a sizeable class action suit.” He said the CDP process should be careful not to “treat people like cattle. The idea that, ‘Here you strayed up too far on the hill so we need to bring you back into the herd so we can take care of you,’ will not fly,” said Heck.
     Heck said that upper Ocean View “has a lot to offer. Keep it agriculture. Put money into the unique growing conditions there. It is one of the coldest areas where farmers can grow fruit trees, grapes and produce that you can’t grow in other parts of the island,” he said.

THE KA`U COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE meets today from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at St. Jude’s Episcopal Church in Ocean View. The church is located at 92-1572 Keaka Parkway at the corner of Paradise Circle.

THE PUBLIC HEARING ON NEW COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT lines is tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Na`alehu Community Center. Six maps show different district lines for Council member representation.
     District lines will change, as required by law, since the county has experienced a population growth rate of almost 25 percent in a decade.

     Concerning state redistricting, Ka`u residents have been lobbying to prevent the Ka`u district from being split in half. A preliminary redistricting plan would put state Rep. Bob Herkes with Puna, as he lives in Volcano. People living between Honu`apo and Ocean View would be represented by a district that would run all the way to Kona, and Herkes would no longer be able to represent them. Testimony will be taken at the state Reapportionment Commission’s meeting at the state Capitol in Honolulu on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE GRIEVIN’ AND GROOVIN’ art exhibit at Volcano Art Center’s Niaulani Campus are due this Friday. In the tradition of Dia de Los Muertos, the two-day celebration on Nov. 1 and 2 will present artwork, writing, movement and rituals based on the subject of death, loss, mortality and the passage of time. For more information, contact Anne Catlin at 967-8222.

Pu`ukohola Heiau is the topic at tonight's
After Dark in the Park.
 Photo courtesy of Big Island Visitor Bureau

PU`UKOHOLA HEIAU IS THE TOPIC at tonight’s After Dark in the Park at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Superintendent Daniel Kawaiaea, Jr. shares information about this place where the history-makers of Hawai`i lived and where their history comes to life. 

THE KA`U AGRICULTURAL WATER COOPERATIVE DISTRICT Steering Committee will meet at the ML Mac Nut Field Office in Pahala on Thursday at 4 p.m. On the agenda will be progress on the tunnel surveys, status of the transfer of the tunnel sources to Agribusiness Development Corp., funding status and formation of new regional cooperatives. For more information, contact Jeff McCall at 928-6456.

SEN. GIL KAHELE MEETS with the public at Ocean View Community Center on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Sen. Kahele is using forums to hear the concerns of his constituents as well as help him prepare for the upcoming 27th Legislative session in January. He will provide a re-cap of the 26th Legislative session as well as address specific issues pertaining to the community. Constituents can call 808-586-6760 or email senkahele@capitol.hawaii.gov with issues or questions for the forum.

AN OKTOBERFEST CELEBRATION takes place on Friday at St. Jude’s Episcopal Church on Paradise Circle in Ocean View. The menu will include brats and sauerkraut, boiled potatoes, dill pickles, German chocolate cake and beverages. A live polka band will add to the festivities. Doors open at 6 p.m., with dinner served at 6:30 p.m. Tickets, $12 each or two for $20, can be purchased by calling Cordelia at 939-7555. For more information or to volunteer to help, call Phyl at 929-7146.