Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 5, 2011

Rain is still needed to recover from years of drought in Ka`u.

RAIN THAT IS FALLING TODAY IS STILL NEEDED in Ka`u to bring it out of the drought. Despite good rains in December, ranchers and farmers require more precipitation to end drought conditions. In January, Kahuku Ranch measured only a little more than half an inch, while the normal rainfall is 4.3 inches. South point measured 1.1 inches, while the normal is 4.8. Kapapala measured 3.44 inches with the normal being 6.9 inches for January. While the pastures may look green, the ground hasn’t stayed damp enough for very good growth of grass for cattle. Some ranchers are still hauling water. The rains have been sufficient, however, for vegetable farmers such as Sokha and Ellis Hester to start growing and selling again at farmers markets.

Tutu & Me is hit with funding cuts from money flowing to the state
from the federal government.

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS which depend on government funding are scrambling to make new budgets and raise money, as the state has announced severe cuts to some organizations for which federal funding coming to the state has been eliminated or pared back severely. One popular agency here that is expected to suffer is Tutu & Me, the traveling preschool that matches kupuna with the very young to teach many skills. Statewide the agency, called Partners in Development Foundation, will lose $1.4 million for its Family Literacy Program.
     Another program popular in Ka`u is the Boys & Girls Club, with locations in Pahala, Na`alehu and Ocean View. It is losing $90,000 in funding islandwide.
     Another program to be cut is About Face, which is operated by the state Department of Defense and has served many youth at Ka`u High School. About Face will lose $3.5 million statewide. The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations will lose funding for low income population employment. The state Department of Human Services will have to terminate more than 40 contracts with numerous organizations before April.

EFFORTS FOR CLEAN ENERGY were boosted in 2010, according to Hawaiian Electric Company, which reported yesterday that solar electric installations on Oahu, Hawai`i Island and Maui County more than doubled over 2009. 

The electric company announces a dramatic increase
in solar energy homes.

     “Interest in solar power has steadily increased in recent years, but it really took off in 2010,” said Robbie Alm, Hawaiian Electric executive vice president. “This will help all of us in Hawai`i as we continue to make progress in cutting our dependence on imported oil.”
     On Jan 1, there were 3,967 solar power systems connected with the Hawaiian Electric utilities, compared with 1,916 systems installed through 2009.
     The totals include both systems with Net Energy Metering agreements and systems with standard interconnection agreements. Net Energy agreements allow customers to receive full retail credit on their electric bills for excess electricity sent to the utility grid from customer-owned renewable energy systems.

MULTIPLE GRAMMY AND Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner Jeff Peterson performs tonight at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Military Camp Theater in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Peterson is renowned for slack key and other guitar stylings. Call 967-8222 for ticket information.

TOMORROW, HIKERS explore an isolated refuge of rare plants in the old-growth forest of Kipuka`akihi in the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The hike begins at 10 a.m. Pre-register by calling 985-6011.

A SUPER BOWL TAILGATE PARTY happens tomorrow at Kilauea Military Camp’s Lava Lounge in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Hamburgers, hotdogs, chili and poke bowls will be served in the parking lot from noon to 3 p.m. The game will be shown in the Lounge beginning at 1:30 p.m.

Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 4, 2011

Black Sand Beach at the end of Road to the Sea may be preserved
through acquisition of some 3,000 acres by the county.

EXEMPTION FROM SUBDIVISION REQUIREMENTS is another incentive before the Legislature for developers of alternative energy. William Aila, chair of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, yesterday presented testimony to the House Committees on Energy and Environmental Protection and Water, Land and Ocean Resources. 

The DLNR notes that there would be
no end date to alternative energy
companies being exempt from
the subdivision laws.

Aila said the DLNR supports the intent of the bill to facilitate financing development of renewable energy projects, but noted that there is no new automatic repeal date indicated on the bill. The bill was originally passed in 2009 but was supposed to sunset in 2013. The new legislation has no end to the exemption from subdivision laws. 

LURF supports exemptions from
subdivision requirements for
alternative energy projects.

The Land Use Research Foundation, which is a nonprofit for major Hawai`i landowners, developers from Hokulia to Ko Olina, and Hawaiian Electric Company, gave testimony in strong support for the new measure, saying it would allow leases and easements for mortgages and other conveyances on land used for alternative energy without having to subdivide it out of a larger parcel. 

THE $8.8 MILLION DOLLARS for the new recycling and transfer station at Wai`ohinu may end up taking a back seat to an emergency sewage pipe project in Hilo. According to council member Brittany Smart, the sewage pipe to Keaukaha along the Hilo coast is about to fail, which could lead to millions of dollars in fines by the federal government and millions of dollars to clean up the bay should the sewage make it to the ocean. While the loss of $8.8 million in capital improvements to Ka`u would be unfortunate, the emergency in Hilo needs the funding, said Smart. She said she is still making sure that Ocean View gets its own trash transfer station. “It is a top priority,” said Smart.

REP. BOB HERKES’ VOG TASK FORCE BILL is getting some traction in the state House of Representatives. The Task Force would study the effects of vog by setting up a panel and opportunity for public input on dealing with vog events here.

A THREE THOUSAND-acre parcel on the Ocean View side of Manuka State Park is in the top five on the list of potential county land acquisitions. It would be paid for with a portion of property tax revenues. The Road to the Sea, a popular fishing, hiking and camping area for Ocean View residents, would be owned by the county and likely managed by a community group similar to Ka `Ohana O Honu`apo.

Jeff Peterson

Multiple Grammy and Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner Jeff Peterson performs tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Military Camp Theater in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Peterson is renowned for slack key and other guitar stylings. Call 967-8222 for ticket information.

ON SUNDAY, HIKERS explore an isolated refuge of rare plants in the old-growth forest of Kipuka`akihi in the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Pre-register by calling 985-6011.

Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 3, 2011

Pacific Biodiesel founders Kelly and Bob King want tax breaks for small biodiesel companies
which use only local feedstock. They have a waste-free biodiesel plant opening at
Shipman Industrial in Kea`au.

`AINA KOA PONO asked the state Legislature yesterday to support a 15 percent tax credit for building a refinery here in Pahala. Chris Eldridge, who also owns American Mattress stores around the state, is an `Aina Koa Pono partner. His testimony for yesterday’s hearing describes former sugar lands, now largely used by the cattle industry between Pahala and Na`alehu, as “fallow,” and says that using land for a biofuels farm and factory would help fend off a rise in fuel prices statewide. “Building agriculturally based biofuel refineries in Hawai`i has the potential to reinvigorate Hawai`i’s struggling agriculture industry while also helping to meet the renewable energy goals of Hawai`i’s Clean Energy Initiative,” said Eldridge.

THE NUMBER OF JOBS projected for the proposed biofuels refinery and farm here in Ka`u was increased in the testimony that asks for the 15 percent tax credit. Eldridge said that in addition to 300 construction jobs over two years to build the refinery in Pahala, `Aina Koa Pono now projects 150 to 200 jobs created for the 20 to 30 years that the biofuel refinery would be in operation.

HE ALSO SUGGESTED that the tax break bill be amended to provide tax credits within 60 days after the refinery becomes operational. “We cannot emphasize enough the need for these incentives to attract private capital to invest in these projects for Hawai`i. We have found that, because of the lack of commercial biofuel projects already constructed, private capital is reluctant to invest in these type plants. This legislation will assist greatly in attracting private capital to Hawai`i so we can become energy self-sufficient,” said Eldridge.

THE TAX FOUNDATION of HAWAI`I gave its analysis of giving biofuel refineries tax credits. It pointed out that each biofuel refinery could get up to $60 million in tax credits, a loss in tax revenues to the state should the refineries become successful. “While the idea of providing a tax credit to encourage such activities may have been acceptable a few years ago when the economy was on a roll and advocates could point to credits like those to encourage construction and renovation activities, what lawmakers and administrators have learned in the past few months is that unbridled tax incentives, where there is no accountability or limits on how much in credits can be claimed, are indeed irresponsible as the cost of these credits go far beyond what was ever contemplated.”
     The Tax Foundation testified that the proposal “verifies what has been said about legislators latching onto the fad of the month without doing very serious research.” The Tax Foundation pointed to tax credits already set up for ethanol, saying that after the credits were enacted, it was learned that ethanol production demands more energy to produce than using traditional petroleum and that it directed the feedstock away from traditional uses – food.

PACIFIC BIODIESEL supported the legislation for tax incentives but requested that the tax break be given also to smaller locally sustainable businesses. The legislation would provide the tax breaks only for those businesses producing at least 10 million gallons of biofuel a year, cutting out small companies. Pacific Biodiesel also asked that any company getting the tax break be required to use only locally grown feedstock, rather than being allowed to import it. 

     The legislation will be taken up again by the Senate committees on Economic Development & Technology, and Energy & Environment next Tuesday, Feb. 8 at the state capitol.

THE `AINA KOA PROJECT is the subject of a Frequently Asked Questions document being provided by the county Planning Department to help the community understand plans for a refinery in Pahala and a biofuels farm between Pahala and Na`alehu. Here are some of the questions that have been coming into the county Planning Department:
     In what State land use districts and County zoning are biofuel production facilities permitted? State land use law permits biofuel production, biofuel processing facilities, and agricultural to energy facilities and associated operational infrastructure in the State agricultural district, the planning department says. The planners consider biofuel production activities “agricultural products processing, major” and permitted on parcels zoned agricultural and general industrial. The refinery would require plan approval.
     `Aina Koa Pono has indicated that the facility can process solid waste into biofuel. Would that be permitted? Dumping, disposal, incineration, or reduction of refuse or waste matter is only permitted in the general industrial zone. To process waste to energy on Ag land would require either a change or a special permit. A General Plan amendment may also be required. A special permit would require approval of the Planning Commission. On parcels larger than 15 acres outside the State urban district, a change of zone or special permit would also require approval by the State Land Use Commission. The only general industrial zoned land in all of Ka`u is makai of Maile Street between Pahala Plantation House and KAHU radio at the old sugar mill site.

Is the biofuels project consistent with the Ka‘ū Community Development Plan? Though the Ka‘ū CDP is still being drafted, the planning department document says, the CDP Steering Committee has adopted values, priorities, and objectives. According to the planning department, based on the information available, the project seems consistent with the community’s desire to preserve agriculture and open space, develop renewable energy, and increase economic opportunity. “Questions remain, however, about other potential community benefits and impacts related to crop management, construction logistics, road improvements, pollution mitigation, safety, the biofuel production technology, job availability, workforce development, impacts on local businesses, and community benefits agreements.”

Miss Peaberry 2010 with her escort.

The Miss Ka`u Coffee, Little Miss Ka`u Coffee and Miss Ka`u Peaberry 2011 pageants have been set for Saturday, April 23 at the Ka`u High School gym. Candidates will soon be selling tickets and approaching business to ask for support.