Ka`u News Briefs, Saturday May 27, 2017

Jamie Kailiawa (center right) danced at the Ka`u Coffee Festival Ho`olaulea for her late husband
Bull Kailiawa, one of the famous Ka`u Coffee farmers who helped build the industry. Kailiawa belongs
to Debbie Ryder's Halau Hula Leionalani. Photos by Julia Neal

THE NINTH ANNUAL KA`U COFFEE FESTIVAL drew more people to its all day Ho`olaulea and more sales of coffee on Saturday to make 2017 its best year, according to farmers and community members who put on the event. The Ho`olaulea, on the grounds of Pahala Community Center, featured four halau hula, ten musical groups and a karate dojo. It was emceed by Makana Kamahele, with the all-day entertainment sponsored by the Edmund C. Olson Trust II, with the sound by Ka`u Productions Sound & Lighting.  Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative, O Ka`u Kakou and many other volunteers supported the festival. 

Dayday Hopkins of Farm Credit Services Hawai`i said she plans
to continue to help the Ka`u Coffee farmers with land security.

      Expert baristas prepared and presented  Ka`u Coffee inside Pahala Community Center as part of the annual Coffee Experience. Miss Ka`u Coffee Jami Beck and her court met the public, their pageant having opened the festival season at Ka`u Coffee Mill with the competition for Miss Ka`u Coffee, Jr. Miss Ka`u Coffee, Miss Ka`u Peaberry and Miss Ka`u Coffee Flower.
      Tours to coffee farms carried visitors onto the fertile slopes of Mauna Loa where Ka`u Coffee grows.
      Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative presented its own and individual booths of its many farmers. The Palehua Cooperative and independent Ka`u Coffee farmers were well represented at the outdoor venue in Pahala.

Ka`u Coffee Mill sponsored the venue for Miss Ka`u Coffee. Its founder's trust
funded the entertainment for the Ho`olaulea. 

     Diversified ag was also on display, from Ka`u Valley Farms' new tea plantings to the Bee Boyz, who showed off a glassed in bee hive and bottled honey with honeycomb.
     Educational displays ranged from the Alakaha Kai Trail Association, showing its efforts to preserve the Ka`u Coast and public trails, to health organizations like Ka`u Rural Health Community Association, which has its own telemedicine kiosk in Pahala.
     Farm Credit Services of Hawai`i was represented by Dayday Hopkins who has worked with Ka`u Coffee farmers for decades. She said she will attempt to help Ka`u Coffee farmers finance the purchase of their farms, should the landowners subdivide them and put them up for sale. Hawai`i Farm Bureau, University of Hawai`i, the USDA and other providers of assistance and supplies and services to the farmers were on hand.
     Tours to coffee farms carried visitors onto the fertile slopes of Mauna Loa where Ka`u Coffee grows. 

Ka`u Valley Farms introduced its tea, which is growing
above Na`alehu. 

     Diversified agriculture was also on display, from Ka`u Valley Farms' new tea plantings to the Bee Boyz, who showed off a glassed in bee hive and bottled honey with honeycomb.
    Ka`u Coffee Festival, with thousands of people attending, also provided an opportunity for non-profit organizations to raise funds by selling food and refreshments. It was a place where artists and crafters cold extend their reach.

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WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT locations for Pahala and Na`alehu are up for public comment by this Tuesday.
       The Na`alehu project is budgeted at approximately $14 million and the Pahala project at $7.2 million in addition to various consulting fees.

     Some money was provided by C. Brewer, the parent company of the sugar plantations that operated in both towns. Most of the funding will come from the federal EPA and the state, according to county proposals.
     The county plans to purchase acreage in Pahala next to the intersection of Maile Street and Hwy 11 where the Norfolk Pine Lane is the gateway to the village. The Na`alehu location is between Na`alehu School and the police station.

      Bill Kurcharski, the county's Environmental Management Director, presented the proposal to the Environmental Management Commission last week and explained that the county is up against deadlines to shut down old gang cesspools left over from the plantation days. The EPA has the authority to sue the county for keeping the old cesspools. Finding the right location in both Na`alehu and Pahala has been challenging, he said.
     The new sewage treatment plants will serve 109 single-family homes in Pahala plus the elderly housing units, and 163 single-family homes in Na`alehu.
     The county is contracting with Brown and Caldwell to conduct environmental assessments. Archaeological surveys will also be conducted.
      To provide comments, contact shareem.jelani@epa.gov.

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