Pahoa Town Restoration?

[Wao nahele kane]

Well... near time to turn in, gotta face that long commute from Seattle to Hilo in the AM. Does the internet cafe off 130 have wifi or do I have to use their computers to get on-line?




E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.

[Carey]

One of the big problems with dividing the county now is the division & in some cases duplication of some of the service that the county supplies.

A couple of years ago I was in a class that looked at just the impact of a divided county on the water services (this was because there were many in Kona wanting the split). The current water set up would be fairly costly to split up, and the water customers (including the free taps & water fill stations) would be footing the bill - the very rough class estimates would put water service at over twice the current cost & areas around South Kohala would have to have more wells like the ones near Pu'u Wa'awa'a.

Although many residents on the east side were on catchment, they too would have to have increased costs in things like water fills, and any service that required county water & steam (including the potential for increased electrical costs).

By the end of the project, none of the students involved thought splitting the county would be a way of saving any money...

[Wao nahele kane]

Carey,
Thanks for the information and I can see sense in the conclusions as cited. If the water split was avoided... what were the results? Assuming that scenario was considered also? I do recall the rumbling for a county split and as I recall the roads were one of the biggest peeves. We over in Kona were using the old road and Hilo was getting a multi lane highway put in down south. Oh yeah... folks were truly peeved in Kona and I recall all sorts of racist innuendo at the time too. The big deal was Kona tax dollars going to finance the roads in Hilo or so was the street word. LOL... yikers- that was some while ago too.

Mdd7000... LOL see above... yeah I was guilty of citing that... but I think the Kona folks wanted the split to avoid the "family" stuff[8D]

Anyone ever hear that one hit wonder tune by the Vapors?[] <<< this dude works very well here....eh... just an amusing issue with west vs. east on the Big Island. So please, don't beat me up on this, it's just what it was or perhaps what it still is, I don't know anyore.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWAwrMFtSvM





E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.

[Carey]

That was a class project & we only looked at splitting the water...

One of the neat things that people tend to forget is this island has a way of sharing the resources over time. The last decade the west siders have been grumbling because the tourist dollar was paying the taxes, but those voices have been quieter since this spring. Interesting to note that the tourist trade grew up after the fall of sugar, which was the main provider for many decades & was more based on the east side, before that, whaling, both ports, before that, sandalwood trade was based more on the forest on the west side... Over time, this island has provided for all.

[Wao nahele kane]

Carey - YEp...it's what I love about the big Island and interestingly enough you've just hammered the nail right on the head with regard to another topic on this forum about “civil unrest”. It won’t ever happen on the Big Island. There's enough for all.
I’d like to see more of that Aloha I saw back in the 70’s though. That’s what 50% was about for me, that and the environment. We all got to find a way to bring that back in full force again, that old Hawaii tradition.
Where’s the Lei today? Yeah, I know, they are up at the market these days.

Time for bed now... Guess I'll be facing that questionable hurricane with the rest of you after tommorow



E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.

[Rob Tucker]

I got an update on the relocation of those nasty utility poles on Post Office Road in Pahoa Village.

The first two poles, poles #1 & #2, are owned by Telcom.

This just came in from their engineer:

Hi Rob,
I had the most difficult time trying to get a surveyor on
island, and finally had to opt with Honolulu engineers flying down and
doing the survey work. The job is presently being bid out for hole
digging, and should commence shortly.

So it looks like they will be moved. The next phase, perhaps the most difficult one, is to get the CoH to then dig up the grass and pave the sides so that we can actually have two lanes of traffic there.

We will keep on it.

[leilaniguy]

A paved 2 lane would be nice, but just having those poles gone, avoiding a head-on crash, is great. And regarding improvements to downtown, it may not seem like it to some, but there have been several over the past few years. Remember that old monstrosity of wires, poles and transformers that used to be next to Luquin's front door? And those nasty abandoned shacks across from C&C?

[Rob Tucker]

It's nice to have things noticed. I spent fourteen days in a row working on the demolitions of those old ruined shacks across from the Cash & Carry. I felt that a patch of weeds would look better than those derelicts - and I was right.

[JonP]

You were right, Rob. Thanks for that.

[leilaniguy]

Much better, and a whole lot safer! So often we used to see people come and go from those dumps, up to no good, and the "outhouse" smell was nauseating when the wind was right. Every time I passed those places I'd think "just a gallon of gasoline and 1 match..."