Maybe a new park in HPP's future?

[lavalava]

So if the kids in HPP get their own park who is going to use the 50 million dollar park in Pahoa?

[macuu222]

Who said we wanted a park? I for one don't want one. A town or village center with a store maybe...but not a park. If I need a park...I'll use the one in Pahoa.

[pahoated]

If somebody had any interest, they could probably trace down the last HPP park that went all the way to have funds programmed for it, then HPP turned it down just before the funds were going to be released. The funds were reprogrammed for county road work and Kahakai repaving was there in line. Who is next in line?

Parks are a good smoke screen for looking like something is being done.

"Aloha also means goodbye. Aloha!"

[kalakoa]

A town or village center with a store maybe...but not a park.

RES 284, page 63: "Survey Results" ... a park doesn't even make the list:

Want a town/village center? 79% YES

Top requests: Minimarket, Post Office, Urgent Care, Gas Station, Coffee Shop, Hardware Store, Beauty Shop.

Parks are a good smoke screen for looking like something is being done.

Parks are also a job creator. Permanent, long-term jobs to cut the grass and such. Which means the $5M construction is just the beginning, the park just keeps costing taxpayers after it's built.

[kalakoa]

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/news...ubdivision

James Komata, county park planner, said the Parks and Recreation Department is finalizing a contract with SSFM International for $300,000.

The park would be located on a 20-acre parcel at the intersection of 26th Avenue and Kaloli Drive. HPP donated the property to the county in March 2016.

That deal requires the county to have the master plan completed in two years, making the deadline March 2018.

As usual, working hard to "make a plan" (outsourced to a consultant). Meanwhile, I'm wondering what the other subdivisions will get -- if we're setting precedent for County to spend public money in a private subdivision creating a park that cannot be reached via public roads, then I want something for my subdivision, and I'll bet the other subdivisions do too.

O'Hara ... said she expects the park to be developed in phases, possibly first with a parking lot and walking path.

A bulldozer and a few loads of crushed rock could probably make a parking lot/walking path for less than the $300K "master plan", but that's an entirely separate issue of accountability, demanding return on investment, etc.

[Chunkster]

O'Hara has apparently bought into the long-standing county mindset of eternally and expensively over planning with the result that the taxpayers will get even less for their investment. Some well connected consultants will do well, though, and that's more important. Didn't the county have a cookie-cutter park plan that they were pushing for this? I went to one of the meetings, and they seemed to have neat configuration of parking, playing fields, and a covered pavilion all figured out. That was the bait. Now we get the real version . . . pork for some contractors, long delays, and a scaled down end product. Some people thought the HPP board was smart for insisting on a plan in two years, but that was almost certainly misplaced confidence.

IIRC, this was one of Billy Kenoi's later park pandering moves. For some reason, Billy kept pushing bond funded park projects while the county streets and roads began to resemble those in some of the less well-managed subdivisions. My best guess as to why would be that the contractors (and their unions) who build parks paid more into Billy's campaign and legal defense funds than the road repair contractors and their unions. Ah, life in a backwater of a banana republic.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Some well connected consultants will do well, though,

Yes.
This park should provide unlimited recreational opportunities for the keiki of Big Island consultants. $300,000 will buy them plenty of ski trips and visits to Disneyland. Don't want to spend the money here, besides, on what? Do you think any self respecting kid would willing go to a gravel parking lot with a walking trail?

“Facts fall from the poetic observer as ripe seeds.” -Henry Thoreau

[Kapoho Joe]

quote:

---

Originally posted by pahoated

If somebody had any interest, they could probably trace down the last HPP park that went all the way to have funds programmed for it, then HPP turned it down just before the funds were going to be released. The funds were reprogrammed for county road work and Kahakai repaving was there in line. Who is next in line?

Parks are a good smoke screen for looking like something is being done.

"Aloha also means goodbye. Aloha!"

---

This ^

[Seeb]

If someone did a survey of full time residents ( Hawaii county Voters )I’m will to bet it would be more pro park than a survey of lot owners many of which don’t live here.
The 6 20 acre lots can’t be used for anything but parks or schools

[Chunkster]

According to today's HTH, Council Rep. Ohara has withdrawn her resolution giving the county more time to get its act together on the HPP park. After receiving testimony from residents, she said, "I want to stand with the residents and demand the county do what it said it was going to do." I applaud her for listening to her constituents and trying to establish some accountability in county government. Of course, I still have to wonder about paying $300,000 for a "study" when we are supposed to have engineers and planners on the county payroll already who should be able to design a park. But hey, this is a start.