Stacey Higa’s Hokulia Bypass Resolution,Saddle Road Re-Alignment Delays, Hawaii DWS Using Hydro Power,Kona Blog Reader Suggestion To HDOT

There was a letter to the editor in WHT which really blew my mind today. The letter writer, among other things, attacked Councilman Stacy Higa because his Hokulia bypass resolution passed. Below is the rebuttal letter to the editor which I submitted to WHT this morning:

I strongly feel Gordon Toms unfairly attacked Stacy Higa for getting his Hokulia bypass resolution passed. Firstly his resolution is non-binding. Secondly it was approved by a 8-1 and 6-2 margin on its first and second readings. Where Mr. Toms outrage against the other council members for voting the way they did if he has such big issues with this resolution ?

In regards to this resolution,I think I need to clarify some things.It simply urges the Department of Public Works to seek bids to construct the 1,500 foot Coupe segment of the Hokulia bypass. I personally don’t see a problem with this. Judge Ibarra ruled on September 25, 2007 that the condemnation was legal. He consequently awarded possession of the land to Hawaii County pending appeal on December 3rd, 2007 and upheld that decision in a late January 2008 ruling.

Currently the Coupe’s have filed an appeal with the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals. It is unknown when they will issue a ruling on the Coupe’s appeal. Even more troublesome is the fact that the Coupe’s could appeal this all the way to the U.S Supreme Court.Which will probably take years to play out. All the while the clock is ticking on surety bonds that Hokulia posted to guarantee completion of the bypass. By my calculation there is 38 months left until the bonds expire.

So in my view, time is of the essence to get this road completed. I know there is risks involved with doing this. There is a remote possibility the appellate court may reverse Judge Ibarra’s rulings and require the Coupe segment of roadway be torn up. But I think the chances of that are slim. Chris Yuen, Hawaii County’s planning director and Ivan Torigoe,Hawaii County’s corporation counsel, have stated publicly that its extremely unlikely that the courts would order this to happen.

I would urge Mr. Tom to do some more research before spouting off baseless accusations about Stacy Higa’s resolution and the Queen Kaahumanu highway widening. A good place to start your research is on my blog, the Kona Blog.

Aaron Stene
Kailua-Kona

I’m a bit puzzled by this WHT article about the delays in completing the Saddle Road 6(5) phase (between m.m 35 and m.m 41.5). Firstly according to this website, the 6(5) phase is going to be advertised for bids on July 30, 2008, with the bid opening occuring on September 4th, 2008. I find it hard to believe it will take 2 years to get this 6.5 mile roadway segment completed. Secondly, the headline for this article is wrong.The BLNR extended the FHWA’s conservation district use permit until September 2010.Brennon Morioka stated here this phase would be opened to the public in the summer of 2009. By my calculations, that is slightly over a year delay, not 2 years.

I find it funny that WHT finally wrote up an article on the Hawaii Department of Water Supply using hydroelectric power to run their water pumps. Richard Ha blogged about this back in March 2008.

Lastly, I sent this Kona blog reader suggestion to the HDOT in regards to have to reconstruct the Palani Road/ Queen Kaahumanu highway intersection for the Queen Kaahumanu widening project.

Aloha,

I know someone who made this suggestion how the Palani Road/Queen Kaahumanu highway intersection reconstruction (Due to Queen Kaahumanu widening) should be done. He suggested the work should be done exclusively at night . If its during the day, it will cause traffic gridlock at one of the key roadway intersections on this side of the island.This will cause a lot of people to grumble once again that this should’ve been handled better.

Aloha,
Aaron Stene