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~ estimony on Bills 29, 30, 31, and 32 to rezone and redesignate 14 acres of agricultural land in Kailua-Kona ~ for a shopping & residential development ~ O for presentation at the Hawaii County Council meeting on April 12, 2005 ~ by Doug Perrine Z v 76-223 Haoa St. ~ ~ n~° Kailua-Kona HI 96740 329-4523 Did any of the council members notice the interesting juxtaposition on pages 5-6 of West Hawaii Today on Saturday, Apri19? (I hope that all the council members read the papers from both sides of the island.) On the left side was an article asking residents of Kona, Kohala, and Hamakua to conserve water because "...water sources and water distribution systems are strained." Facing that article, on the right side, is an article about the plans of Puaa Development and Suffolk Investment to build a 93,600 square foot shopping center and 350 multi-family residential units. It would have been nice to have had a quote from a member of the Hawaii County Council's planning committee in the article explaining where the water is going to come from for this new development. After all, the proposed development will be in the heart of Kailua-Kona, where a water supply shortage is not a recent crisis due to lack of rainfall, but rather along-term crisis that has resulted in over-pumping of the aquifer supplying most of Kailua, leading to saltwater intrusion and elevated levels of sodium in Kailua's water supply - a situation which directly affects the health of some Kailua residents. Once an aquifer is contaminated by saltwater intrusion, there is no way for engineers to reverse the situation - the water source is essentially within the time scale of the lives of our great-great grandchildren. Given the critical nature of the water supply situation, the question that council members should be asking is not "where will we get the water for the proposed development," but rather "where will we get the water for the Pualani development, right across the street?" That development is just "coming on line" for water consumption, as new houses are built and landscaped. That development was approved a long time ago along with many others that were stalled due to a slumping economy and stagnant real estate market. Now the economic situation has reversed and builders are working as fast as they can. Reports published in the newspaper predict that the number of houses in Hawaii County will double in the next ten years, based upon developments that have already received all the necessary permits. Most of this growth will occur in Kona and Puna -the two parts of the island where nearly all aspects of the infrastructure are already stretched to capacity. I have mentioned water as just one example, but residents of Kona are all painfully aware that roads, schools, sewage systems, electric supply, police, fire, and hospital services have all failed to keep up with the explosive growth here. For ten years or more, the previous Councils enjoyed the luxury of approving nearly every proposed development without having to face the consequences and provide the necessary services, due to the developments going on hold and not being built out. Now the bulldozers are already working overtime, and the current Council will have to "pay that bill," and ensure that roads and schools are built, police and firefighters are hired, wells are dug and