Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 17, 2011

Proposed `Aina Koa Pono site is on Meyer Camp Road just off Wood Valley Road,
mauka of Pahala. It would be set back against the hillside.

THE `AINA KOA PONO hui, which plans to build a refinery to produce fuel for Hawai`i Electric Company, is looking at a site above Pahala. The most recent site being considered is on the old Meyer Camp Road, mauka of Wood Valley Road. The refinery would be shielded from the town by a macadamia nut orchard and set back off Wood Valley Road at the base of the mountain. Earlier sites considered included the old truck shed from sugar plantation days now used by ML Macadamia inside Pahala Village and a parcel owned by Kamehameha Schools near the trash transfer station on the road to lower Moa`ula, just outside of town. A public meeting, sponsored by the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce, on the project will be held Monday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. Everyone is invited to listen to the `Aina Koa Pono presentation and to ask questions.

Pete Hoffmann

HOW IMPACT FEES AFFECT ME is the title of County Council member Brittany Smart’s talk story session tonight at Pahala Community Center at 7 p.m. Smart and council member Pete Hoffman will talk about an alternative to the current Fair Share money contributions imposed on developers during zoning changes and subdivision approvals. The new impact fees would be attached to building permits. The problem with Fair Share, says Hoffman, is that developers don’t always pay. They already owe the county more than $100 million in money pledged for impact fees. If an impact fee had been attached to each building permit, the county would have taken in more than $60 million, according to engineer Bob Hunter, who studied the issue. The impact fees are supposed to help the county pay for the roads, parks, water and other infrastructure expansion required by development.
     Opponents fear that impact fees would be a hardship to owner-builders and to small contractors building affordable homes.

Mazie Hirono

CONGRESSWOMAN MAZIE HIRONO has been appointed to the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. She said her legislative priorities include helping to create jobs and to promote renewable energy use.
     She also serves on the Committee on Education and Workforce and said she works to improve student achievement. Her assignments for the 112th Congress include serving on the Subcommittees on Aviation; the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation; Highways and Transit; Water Resources and Environment; Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education; and Workforce Protections. She also serves on the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee and House Democracy Partnership Commission.
     The Democrat recently opposed hefty cuts in health care that were proposed by the Republican majority in the U.S. House. She said they “target the most vulnerable among us – the poor, children, young adults and women.” She particularly opposed an effort to end Planned Parenthood, noting that the federal government does not fund abortions and that Planned Parenthood offers many health services to women.
     She said the funding cuts could result in Planned Parenthood closing in Kona.


GOVERNOR NEIL ABERCROMBIE is expected to sign the civil union bill in the next ten days. It passed the state Llegislature yesterday, allowing same-sex couples who get a license and make their vows to enjoy many of the privileges of married couples beginning on Jan. 1, 2012. The civil unions measure passed the Legislature last year but was vetoed by Gov. Linda Lingle. It was one of the issues put forward in Abercrombie’s campaign. The governor said that civil unions “respect our diversity, protect people’s privacy and reinforce our core values of equality and aloha.”

Sabrina McKenna with
Gov. Neil Abercrombie

HAWAI`I’S FIRST OPENLY GAY Hawai`i Supreme Court Justice was confirmed yesterday by the state Senate. She is also the first graduate of the U.H. Richardson Law School to serve on the Supreme Court. Sabrina McKenna, 53, has been a district and circuit court judge for nearly two decades. She is known for her expertise in native Hawaiian rights. The Japanese American was born in Japan and moved to Hawai`i at nine years of age. This is the first time that two women have served simultaneously on Hawai`i’s Supreme Court.