New, Improved Pohoiki?

[leilanidude]

...environmentalists who might seek to block the project on grounds that it harms/desecrates the coastal environment.
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Of which, that hot lava killed everything anyway, without bothering to get a permit! Where are the protestors?

Right now is the perfect time to build, replace or repair anything along the coastline as there is no coral or marine life to damage.

[glinda]

I hope people read the whole Civil Beat article I posted a link to.. again...

https://www.civilbeat.org/2018/10/big-is...boat-ramp/

I think there is some interesting possibilities in the one paragraph...

Kim thinks a new ramp could be built at a safer site, perhaps on a lava flow: “You can dig out that lava and make a very protected harbor.”

That, when given real consideration, may be a real windfall if it was really followed up on. Maybe instead of the rough and dangerous access that the Pohoiki ramp offered a real harbor could materialize, which in the long run could benefit everyone far more than the resumption of what was there before. Especially if we were able to pic a spot with better infrastructure. Road access etc.

Though one has to wonder how much any of this depends on that supplemental budget Harry is hoping the state will finance? Which seems pretty much like a pipe dream at this point.

[MarkD]

The T-H also posted this article.

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/201...boat-ramp/

Excerpts:

"San Buenaventura, D-Puna, said the Legislature approved $250,000 for a safe swim study at Pohoiki, which could be tapped for this issue.

“There is already a commitment for a safe swim study,” she said. “The only question is now that the disaster has come in whether we need to amend that to take into account boating-related issues.”"

- - - -

$250,000 for a study? I bet the property owner who brought in bulldozers and excavators to create Ahalanui Pond 50-60 years ago spent a lot less than $250 K to create that project.

Some consultants are going to make some pretty fat bucks here. Their study will include how to minimize amama crab deaths during shoreline modification.

Studies on shoreline planning are a profitable business for consultants in Hawaii. Maybe environmentalists get a kick back.

[Chunkster]

"Maybe environmentalists get a kick back." - - MarkD

I think we can pretty much count on somebody getting a kickback . . . or several somebodies.

[glinda]

Maybe environmentalists get a kick back

You sure drone on and on about your distain for environmentalists. What's with that? Did one of them abuse you when you were young? I mean gee without them the environment would be a lot more f*cked than it is... so what's your beef?

[dan d]

Hey glinda,
Just 338 million dollars in state aid plus the feds adding to it would go a ways to make a harbor, I dont think money will be an issue, just time. Army corps of engineers have to do a study to see feasibility first.


HPP

[Rob Tucker]

"Studies on shoreline planning are a profitable business for consultants in Hawaii."

This is where extended local families and connections come in. Kickbacks too. The Harry Kim and Billy Kenoi method.

[MarkD]

"so what's your beef?"

I'm a big fan of shoreline recreation projects: piers, man-made swimming lagoons, artificial surfing reefs, hot ponds, man-made beaches, etc. So are most people. Shoreline recreation projects are a huge draw worldwide. Here is one of Hawaii's most beloved projects: Magic Island.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Magic+island&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwij2tfI5obeAhVEh1QKHRWBCy0Q_AUIDygC&biw=1252&bih=646

Today, even a project 1/100 of this size is near impossible to build in Hawaii because of environmental rules. Might not matter that much on Maui or Oahu, with their ample beaches, sheltered swimming spots, quality surf breaks.

But it matters on the rocky Big Island. Example: Look at the overcrowding in Kona's Kahaluu Bay and the damage to its coral. Users aren't just tourist snorkelers looking at fish; locals use Kahaluu as a safe, calm place to enter the ocean.

https://www.hawaii247.com/2012/03/13/res...f-kahaluu/

Kailua Kona has limited safe swimming. Solution: Built a new swimming lagoon somewhere. Expansive Old Airport would be ideal. Few years back the county put in all sorts of park facilities at the Old Airport; yet officials wouldn't remove a single rock by the ocean to create safe swimming. Not even a keiki pond.

The number of environmentalists I refer to (hardcore environmentalists) is probably less than 10% of the total population. Yet this small group has a hugely constraining impact on the public interest of modifying coastlines for swimmers, surfers, hot pond bathers and other shoreline users.

In a year from now the road to Pohoiki will probably be open. And 700-1000 people a day will cram into that small shoreline. And county and state officials and environmentalists will probably go round and round for another 10 years, dithering and debating on shoreline modification.

[Lolo]

Hey glinda, the topic is Pohoiki, not child abuse. Would you say that to MarkD's face? How inappropriate.

[kalakoa]

In a year from now the road to Pohoiki will probably be open.

It will take much longer than a year, but it will still be open before Luquin's Cantina.