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.

Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 16, 2011

ML Macadamia husking plant between Hwy 11 and Maile Street in Pahala.

ML MACADAMIA ORCHARDS, LP saw stock values increase recently, following news that it re-negotiated its sales price to Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp. Mauna Loa buys approximately 80 percent of all of ML’s nuts which are grown in orchards around Pahala and in Kea`au. The new deal requires Mauna Loa to purchase at least one third of ML’s production for 77 cents per wet-in-shell pound. The deal is for three contracts covering one, two and three years. Mauna Loa and ML also have separate agreements connected with the recent purchase of the IASCO lands makai of Pahala. Those agreements require all nuts to be sold to Mauna Loa over various lengths of contracts for up to 80 years. ML is one of Ka`u’s largest employers.

TAX BREAKS that could help draw investors to a planned biofuels refinery near Pahala passed an important committee in the state House of Representatives yesterday. For the 15 million gallon a year refinery, the state would give a $4.5 million a year tax break to investors for eight years based on the capacity of the factory rather than its output. In the bill, biofuel is defined as ethanol, biodiesel, diesel, jet fuel or any other liquid fuel produced from agricultural feedstock. The feedstock can be produced here or imported. According to the Hawai`i County planning department such biofuels refineries are allowed on agricuturally zoned land.

A MEETING ON BIOFUELS for Ka`u will be held next Monday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. The event is sponsored by the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce. Everyone is invited to the presentation by the biofuels developer `Aina Koa Pono engineer Alexander Causey.

A MEETING ON DEVELOPING FAIR IMPACT FEES for construction of houses and other buildings will be held tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. The talk story session, sponsored by County Council member Brittany Smart, will feature council member Pete Hoffman, who is attempting to update the impact fee formula charged by the county.

THE HAWAI`I DEMOCRATIC PARTY is looking for one man to represent the Big Island on its State Central Committee. Interested men can send a bio or resume by Friday, Feb. 25 to Hawai`i County chair Steven G. Pavao at pavaos002@hawaii.rr.com. Applicants must be male (as there is one male and one female sent to the committee from this island). The chair for District 5 is Pahala resident Sara Witt.

Nene, Hawai`i's state bird.

AN ADULT NENE was killed in the middle of Hwy 11 yesterday between Pahala and Volcano. A pair had been reported living with their gosling along the stretch of highway near the nene warning signs. Officials at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park urge motorists to beware of the nene. Biologists will be checking on the whereabouts of the gosling and parents to see if they were involved in the accident. The nene is a large goose and Hawai`i's state bird.

KATHLEEN KAM is the new artist-in-residence at Na`alehu Elementary School. Her residency began Monday, and she teaches through March 20. No stranger to Na`alehu, she facilitated Na`alehuʻs first mural, which is at Punalu`u Bake Shop. Eleven youth from Alu Like participated in a workshop, then executed the mural under Kathleen’s direction. 

Kathleen Kam, the new artist-in-residence at Na`alehu School.

     The title of the work is `Ohana `Aina O Ka`u. The mural includes faces of many longtime residents of Na`alehu. Kam is an Artistic Teacher Partner, a certified art teacher, with the Hawai`i Arts Alliance. Through art grants, she services Hawai`i’s schools from Kaua`i to the Big Island. Other Kathleen Kam murals are at Kilauea General Store in Volcano Village and Keauhou Bird Conservation Center at Keauhou Ranch near Volcano. Her largest is at Kamehameha School, and her most recent is on the newly renovated KTA store in downtown Hilo. Kam lives on the east side of the Big Island and is staying in Pahala during her artist-in-residency program.

Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 15, 2011

Road repairs in Ocean View are made by a community-owned road corporation,
taking material from a quarry in Ocean View.

SPECIAL STATE LEGISLATION that would allow public funding from fuel taxes to be used for 750 miles of private roads in such subdivisions as Ocean View is making its way through committees at the state Legislature. The idea is that people living in these communities pay taxes at the fuel pump as well as live in subdivisions that were approved without proper infrastructure. They should be allowed to apply for grants from the fuel tax to help maintain their roads, said County Council member Brittany Smart.
     The legislation would allow Hawai`i County to be a special district for the use of fuel tax funds. The effort is being championed in the council by County Council Chair Dominic Yagong and in the Legislature by Sen. Malama Solomon.
     Ka`u council member Smart said road corporations like the one in Ocean View could apply for grants to build a culvert, fix an intersection, or fix another problem. There would be a committee to review grant proposals from communities with private roads.

A NEW SHELTER GYM proposed for Pahala is getting some traction in the state administration. Rep. Bob Herkes said yesterday that Gov. Neil Abercrombie may include nearly $20 million for the project in a state bond float. The county is working on a tight deadline to come up with a design-build proposal that would get the project done in less than two years. The gym and emergency shelter would be owned by the county, and access would be provided to schools and the community. It would be located adjacent to or within the Pahala school campus. Council member Brittany Smart met with the governor on the opening day of the Legislature to ask him for funding. She gives credit to both Principal Sharon Beck and former council member Guy Enriques for leading the effort to build the shelter gym.

Russell Kokubun, left, was unanimously confirmed yesterday by the state Senate
to be chair of the Department of Agriculture. He and his colleague Dwight Takamine,
also in the governor's cabinet, joined Abercrombie and Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz
at inauguration ceremonies in Pahala last December.

RUSSELL KOKUBUN was unanimously confirmed by the state Senate yesterday as the new chair of the state Department of Agriculture. He has been serving as temporary chief of Agriculture following his appointment by Gov. Neil Abercrombie. Kokubun, who lives in Volcano, was re-elected state senator last November but stepped down to take his new job. Sen. Gil Kahele was appointed to take his place.

THE KA`U FARM BUREAU sent a letter of support for Kokubun, saying that he has “demonstrated an innovative and proactive approach to issues facing agriculture in our community and has proven to be an effective leader and problem solver.” From drought to vog to irrigation and expanding markets, Kokubun has been a leader, states a letter from the Ka`u Farm Bureau.

AN EFFORT SUPPORTED by the Ka`u Farm Bureau to establish local ag inspectors to certify coffee, honey and other products from Ka`u has been deferred at the state Legislature. However, the Department of Agriculture has promised to fill inspector positions that were cut back in Kona and Hilo in order to better serve farmers.

Miss Ka`u Coffee 2010,
Ulu Makuakane

CANDIDATES FOR MISS KA`U COFFEE are selling tickets to the pageant scheduled for Saturday, April 23 and are starting to practice for the event. Five young women are vying for Miss Ka`u Coffee, six are vying for Miss Peaberry, and seven are vying for Little Miss Ka`u Coffee.

COUNCIL MEMBER BRITTANY SMART’S talk story session for Ka`u this month will be held Thursday at 7 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. The subject is coming up with a fair formula for impact fees proposed by council member Pete Hoffman. Fees are charged by the county for building homes and other structures to offset impacts on roads, parks and other county infrastructure. Opponents say it drives up the cost building affordable housing.