The Kona Blog

I got word today that Hawaiian Telcom needs to move their telephone wires on to the new utility poles on Kealaka’a Street.Thus there may be an additional  slight delay in restarting the Kealaka’a Street/Palani Road intersection re-alignment project due to this. Especially since Hawaiian Telcom needs to order a part that they don’t have in stock.

The Kona Traffic Safety Committee forwarded me this e-mail correspondence between the Hawaii County Planning Department and the KTSC in regards to the ongoing Grace Church drama on Palani Road.

1. When will Palani Road be realigned to provide a left turn into Grace Church?

We have been working with Grace Community Church for a number of years to provide for the widening of and installation of a left turn lane within Palani Road. However, it has been some time since we last made contact with them.

At this point in time, we do not have a specific timeframe for the installation of these roadway improvements, which must be done prior to occupancy of the proposed church facilities. We have discussed alternatives, such as restricting left turns into the property, that will allow them to commence certain components of their operations before installing the left turn lane. But we have yet to formalize a specific plan.

To the best of my knowledge, the problem with moving forward with the road widening and left turn lane is securing the necessary easements to accommodate the realignment/widening improvements from adjoining landowners. Until this happens, HELCO cannot relocate its electrical poles as part of the road realignment project.

2. Did rezoning or granting a special permit for the church require realignment, with a left turn lane, before occupancy?

Yes, the Special Permit issued to Grace Community Church does have such a requirement, which explains why we have in discussion with them over several years. As discussed above, we have considered alternatives, but have not formalized a specific plan.

3. If so, why is the Church being used before the condition has been met?

No certificate of occupancy has yet been issued by the County to allow for occupancy of the church facility, so we are surprised by your statement that they have commenced with church services/operations. I will copy the Building Division in Kona with this information for proper follow-up. As mentioned earlier, we have discussed alternatives that will allow them to commence operations, but nothing was ever finalized.

4. If there is no requirement for realignment and a left turn lane into Grace Church on Palani Road, why not?

As discussed above, there is a requirement for these roadway improvements to accommodate the proposed church use. However, as also discussed, we are considering options that would allow them to commence operations with restricted turning movements (no left turns from Palani). However, such restrictions may require additional improvements to ensure that left turns do not happen. But such an agreement must be formalized between Grace Community Church and the county. I have no record of such an agreement being executed.

In the end, we will need additional time in which to make contact with representatives of Grace Community Church, HELCO and the Department of Public Works to ensure that the requirements of Special Permit No. 1010 are satisfied.

It seems the public school teachers are back peddling on their recent statements saying that they are now opposed to RDT, even though they agreed to it in the last collective bargaining agreement.

That being said even though the public school are back peddling on their recent statements they still won’t be in compliance with what they agreed to. But what I find perplexing is the constitutional arguments the union is bringing up. Other occupations like police officers,firemen have RDT.These constitutional issues were not raised then ? Why are they being raised now. Is there any lawyers in the house that can clarify this.

Lastly, The HTH finally did some investigative reporting on why Hilo Medical Center is not resorting to layoffs like the Kona Community Hospital just did. There was a couple newsworthy nuggets of information in the article explaining why :

“According to national standards, Atwal said, Hilo Medical Center and other East Hawaii facilities have an appropriate number of employees. He said in the Kona and North Hawaii hospitals, overstaffing was an issue.”

“Each and every employee (in East Hawaii) is essential to the hospital,” he said, adding if Hilo Medical Center, Ka’u Hospital or Hale Ho’ola Hamakua were overstaffed, cuts would have definitely been considered.

“He said while Hilo showed the biggest projected deficit, “it also has the highest earning potential,” due to the number of patients and types of services offered.”