COM 0106.017 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Robello, Alfred From: Donnie MacGowan [dr.blizzardo@mad.scientist.com] Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 2:24 PM , „ ; To: counciltestimony @ co . hawaii . hi . us; Isbell, Virginia ~:.:J I ~i',~ 1 I~~ Cc: joshuaboothgreen@yahoo.com Subject: Testimony: Public Hearing on the proposed Pualani Makai development ktoject ^QI J To: Hawaii County Council J From Dr. Donald B. MacGowan Date: 11 April, 2005 re: Testimony, Public Hearing on the proposed Pualani Makai development project Q In regards to the proposal to rezone 2 separate 14+ acre parcels along Kuakini Hwy. m to allow for Village Commercial and 350 Residential Units, Homes and Rental Apts. (Suffolk Investment, LLC and Pua' ~ ~ `o Development, LLC -Bills 29, 30, 31 & 32), I should like to make the following points: ~ r o I. Infrastructure V o~c o~ The current state of all infrastructure in West Hawaii is in deplorable condition, a fact no credible party denies. This development will greatly and universally adversely affect and further degrade the infrastructure of our schools, our roads, our sewers and our water supply. A. Of primary concern to me is the state of our public water supply and its future. Current drinking water reserves and resources are over-extended and the delivery systems over-taxed and poorly planned; there is no cohesive overall plan, rhyme nor reason to the system--it is an international embarrassment that no one seems willing to address. Further, no study has yet been performed on the quantity and quality of aquifer water available for future exploitation in West Hawaii, so there is no real knowledge of how much water will be available for development to serve growing populations and to service existing populations as currently exploited reserves are depleted. It should be noted that coastal aquifers currently being exploited are so depleted that the water being used as public water supply is so salty that it is an extreme hazard to people on low-sodium, restricted diets. The World Health Organization would not certify the public water system in Hawaii County. The public water supply infrastructure is that bad...and adding any, especially this particular, development to it, is unenlightened policy in the extreme. People tend to think of fresh water supply as inexhaustible and take it for granted. However, every great desert civilization (as is West Hawaii) from the Assyrians to the Anasazi collapsed due to loss or pollution of their water supply. In modern- day Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Syria the experience is one of neat total collapse due to water shortages brought about by unenlightened policies towards growth and water supply management. This is the future that awaits West Hawaii in the coming decades (sooner than you think) if no action is taken to aggressively attack this singular problem. Terri Shiavo lived 12 days resting in an air conditioned room in bed without water...how long will the residents of West Hawaii last under our tropical sun? More to the point, what will happen to property values and therefore tax revenues, when the water becomes even more polluted and scarce? This can be avoided by beginning enlightened policy and planning today. B. Our sewers are over-loaded and over-taxed. Raw sewage cascades out of the system and into the ocean at Old Airport Beach Park, an extreme health hazard that is going virtually unaddressed. Adding further housing developments without concurrently repairing and upgrading existing sewer and water treatment facilities as well as building new facilities to handle greater burden brought on by new construction is inviting disaster of horrendous proportion. Imagine what life will be like when our county planners allow our sewers to become as degraded and overcrowded as they have allowed our roads to become. It is inconceivable that credible planning personnel would condone this insane policy, but that is exactly what our Planning Office is doing. Then they snow the public with bull while our children get sick boogy-boarding at Old Airport. And it is only i