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c;i Phone: (808) 961-8263 BOB JACOBSON Councilmember f Fax: (808) 961-8912 E-Mail: Jacobs@hgea.org i.'"~ C..~ ••«•1M+ HA'C'~AI`I COUNTY COUNCIL Hawaii C'ovnty Building 25.dvpuui Street, Suite 209 _ !(ila, Hawaii 96720 '`k~:~n'~' G Eit=~i~,, __E~t November 20, 2003 To: Hawaii County Council Chairman James Arakaki and Members of the Hawai' i County Council From: Councihnember Bob Jacobson Topic: Bill 14Q, Appropriation for pwchase of a water meter to meet increased water needs of Hookena Beach Park Dear Colleagues, Please give favorable consideration to Bill 140, authorizing the funding for purchase of a 1 "water meter at Hookena, for the public purpose of supplying adequate water to the Hookena Beach Community Water Association (HBCWA) water system. The HBCWA has been serving the County Beach Park water needs at Hookena for many years. The Parks and Recreation Department has paid for their water use (which accounts for 60-70% of the water that the line handles) plus a monthly service fee to pay for line maintenance (fixing leaks, rebuilding presswe reducers etc). The HBCWA also has about 16 other customers on their line. Construction of a water line for the park to the Department of Water Supply (DWS) standards would cos(~~rle~ta~ESj~;yg~~s and Recreation (P&R) recently upgraded the facilities at Hookena with a new building for restrooms, ADA access tmprovemenfs;"" replacement of a gang cesspool, installation of new showers, and other important improvements. With the addition of more showers, more toilets and sinks, water spigots and the increasing use of the public beach park, the HBCWA experiences a complete loss of water presswe and supply to most of their customers on weekends and holidays when beach park use increases. The HBCWA has made it clear that they will not shut otf water to the park under soy circumstances. They feel that this move would violate the trust of the community and goes against the purpose and vision of their association. However, they would appreciate assistance from the wunty in the form of the purchase and installation of the 1 ''/z" water meter this bill calls for. Their experience with the existing 5/8" meter was that it used to be adequate for the their residential customers and the park. Until the recent park renovation and subsequent increased public use of the pazk, they had no intention of increasing the size of the water meter and saw no need to do so. All expenditures of public funds must be fw a public purpose. Ifthe primary purpose of the expenditure is to serve a public municipal purpose it is immaterial that private ends may be incidentally advanced. The generally accepted fow-part test for determination of public purpose is as follows: (1) Determine the ultimate goal or benefit to the public intended by the project; (2) analyze whether public or private parties will be the primary beneficiaries: (3) the speculative natwe ofthe project must be analyzed; and (4) analyze and balance the probability that the public interest will be ultimately served and to what degree. In my opinion this appropriation of funds for the pwchase of a water meter that serves a county park is a valid appropriation and easily passes this four-part test. There are cwrently about $21,000 in private source funds dedicated to this pazk so this project only about $12,000 of "new" funds in addition to this existing sowce of funds to allow for the total expenditwe of $33,000 At the last hearing ofthis bill, the contracts between the HBCWA and their general membership and those between the HBCWA and the Parks and recreation Dept were not fully prepared. Today we have these contracts before us. If this bill passes they will be ready to sign, and at that point the appropriation can be applied to its intended use. You will note that P&R does not pay a monthly service fee and that the other association members do pay this fee. This provision was made at the request of Pat Englehart. She felt a one time county contribution of funds for the new meter was preferable and fair in lieu this recurring fee. The mayor's office is aware that the entire cost of the meter will be borne by the county and still agees that this is a good idea. If you have any questions regarding this project please contact me. Members of the HBCWA will be at the meeting to answer any questions or concer~nspyo~u/m~y have at t~~hllat time. Mahalo, O-d(t'/~~,~.~;,^~ ~~f~F comm. N0. 2 .2 t~ ' • / Ref. Tos District h -Upper Puna, Ka'u and Suuth Kuna Ref. UOte