02-13-2019, 07:42 AM
Interesting read...
From: http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2019/0...uestioned/
As state lawmakers advance a bill to provide $60 million in disaster relief for Hawaii Island following the 2018 eruption of Kilauea Volcano, questions remain over how the money will be spent in the hazardous region.
“I support this bill,” said Representative Nicole Lowen from Kona during a February 8 joint House committee meeting held specifically to consider the funding package, “but I want to make sure that we’re thinking wisely about how it’s spent. Have you guys taken the time to think about what’s a reasonable future for Puna?”
“Yes, we have to make sure people who live in Kalapana and Pahoa have safe roads to drive on and maybe provide access to Pohoiki but we’re not rebuilding Leilani Estates and Kapoho,” Rep. Lowen continued. “I know it’s difficult if it’s your district, and and people who live there love that area. I'm sure you have pressure from your community to basically rebuild and try to go back to what was there previously, but… I don't think to have a goal of doing that entirely is not going to be a good use of taxpayer dollars. So, to what degree has that conversation happened at your level?”
“The mayor told us learn from our past mistakes,” answered Diane Ley, the Hawaii County Director of Research and Development, who attended the hearing with three members of the County Council: Sue Lee Loy, Ashley Kierkiewicz, and Tim Richards. “Those past mistakes are, maybe, encouraging development where there’s risk and it was it was development that provided very affordable housing opportunities,” Ley said.
“Some residents want to go home, some people want to never go home again,” Ley continued. “We need to balance the safety and risk and property rights. We’ve partnered with UH Manoa to conduct a risk assessment. That should be out this month. We will couple that with U.S. Geological Survey's hazard zones and then do some scenario options, looking at - do we do business as usual, do we replace everything, or do we do straight-up mitigation and move everybody out and retreat from the area with buyouts.”
“I'm sorry to interrupt,” said Rep. Lowen. “Business as usual. It doesn’t sound like a robust conversation has happened if – do we replace everything is the question that's still on the table – because … the ground is literally still steaming.”
“What we’ve been having conversations about is migratory housing,” said Councilmember Sue Lee Loy, who represents the Hilo district. “They live in Puna because that's where they can afford it. So where do we put this migratory housing where they’re closer to jobs?”
“I support the idea of building more housing,” Rep. Lowen said, “but I think more specifically it’s about infrastructure in Puna and what's the plan for Puna....
The complete article is at the link above...
From: http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2019/0...uestioned/
As state lawmakers advance a bill to provide $60 million in disaster relief for Hawaii Island following the 2018 eruption of Kilauea Volcano, questions remain over how the money will be spent in the hazardous region.
“I support this bill,” said Representative Nicole Lowen from Kona during a February 8 joint House committee meeting held specifically to consider the funding package, “but I want to make sure that we’re thinking wisely about how it’s spent. Have you guys taken the time to think about what’s a reasonable future for Puna?”
“Yes, we have to make sure people who live in Kalapana and Pahoa have safe roads to drive on and maybe provide access to Pohoiki but we’re not rebuilding Leilani Estates and Kapoho,” Rep. Lowen continued. “I know it’s difficult if it’s your district, and and people who live there love that area. I'm sure you have pressure from your community to basically rebuild and try to go back to what was there previously, but… I don't think to have a goal of doing that entirely is not going to be a good use of taxpayer dollars. So, to what degree has that conversation happened at your level?”
“The mayor told us learn from our past mistakes,” answered Diane Ley, the Hawaii County Director of Research and Development, who attended the hearing with three members of the County Council: Sue Lee Loy, Ashley Kierkiewicz, and Tim Richards. “Those past mistakes are, maybe, encouraging development where there’s risk and it was it was development that provided very affordable housing opportunities,” Ley said.
“Some residents want to go home, some people want to never go home again,” Ley continued. “We need to balance the safety and risk and property rights. We’ve partnered with UH Manoa to conduct a risk assessment. That should be out this month. We will couple that with U.S. Geological Survey's hazard zones and then do some scenario options, looking at - do we do business as usual, do we replace everything, or do we do straight-up mitigation and move everybody out and retreat from the area with buyouts.”
“I'm sorry to interrupt,” said Rep. Lowen. “Business as usual. It doesn’t sound like a robust conversation has happened if – do we replace everything is the question that's still on the table – because … the ground is literally still steaming.”
“What we’ve been having conversations about is migratory housing,” said Councilmember Sue Lee Loy, who represents the Hilo district. “They live in Puna because that's where they can afford it. So where do we put this migratory housing where they’re closer to jobs?”
“I support the idea of building more housing,” Rep. Lowen said, “but I think more specifically it’s about infrastructure in Puna and what's the plan for Puna....
The complete article is at the link above...
