2011-04-07 EXHIBITA - Laserfiche WebLink

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You know, many of our cruise ship visitors have only one day to see what Hilo has to offer. This would be our chance to promote the beauty of our Downtown Hilo area by providing comfortable access to areas along the Bay. I have spoken with numerous cruise ship visitors who have walked from the Pier, along the sidewalk on the Kalanianaole, on to Kamehameha Avenue through the soccer field area, to finally reach the shaded sidewalks of Downtown Hilo. Then there are those who want to get a view of the ocean along the Bay and walk along the Bayfront Highway and cross the highway near Waianuenue. Either way, it's a long hot haul. Please support the passage of this trails project. It will benefit our community, transform our Bayfront area into a much more attractive venue for tourism and help strengthen the economy of Downtown Hilo. Thank you very much. KERN: Thank you. Any questions from my Fellow Commissioners? Seeing none, thank you. You all may have a seat. A little housekeeping here, if you wouldn't mind please turning off your cell phones. I'm going to do the same here. Just folks using electrical devices, that if the phone goes on that it potentially disrupts. So thank you for all that. All right, next testifiers, I’ll call Vaughn Cook, Tom Yeh, Bob Duerr, Mary Begier, Peter Kubota and Claudia Rohr. Six people, six seats, very good. If I can get you all to raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell the truth today before the Windward Planning Commission? TESTIFIERS: I do KERN: All right very good. So before you begin state your name and address. We're going to start in the order I called. So Vaughn Cook, you may begin. COOK: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the Planning Commission. My name is Vaughn Cook. My residence is 34 Lilinoe Street in Hilo. First of all I want to express my thanks to you for serving our community by volunteering your time for the Planning Commission. I know that this is a volunteer position and you spend not just the time here in hearings but also reading sometimes voluminous materials to prepare for this. So I just wanted to express my thanks for that. I am vice president of the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce and president of a community organization known as the Hawaii Shima Fukuoka Kenjinkai. But today I am here to testify as a member of the community, as a husband, and as a dad to three children who live, study and play in our community. I appreciated and agreed with the sentiments and the reasons for support given by the people who spoke before me. And I have also submitted written testimony, so that can go on the record; and I would encourage you to look at those reasons for support. But I wanted to highlight just a few other reasons why I recommend that the Commission approve this project for the Hilo Bayfront Trails Special Management Area Permit. Last month our entire family including our three children (the 9-year old, the 7-year old, a 1 ½-year old) participated in the Heart Walk around Liliuokalani Gardens and along the Hilo Bayfront. You know, I'm a fourth-generation resident of the Big Island, born and raised here. I remember 7 EXHIBIT B