|
FUJIKAWA:Yeah, a question with Councilman Tyler.
<br />TYLER:Yes, sir.
<br />FUJIKAWA:I noticed that all this time that the County is waiting for the developer to
<br />foot the bill in the road improvement. Now why isn't the County concentrating on the Kona
<br />side for a road improvement like this?
<br />TYLER:Well, Mr. Fujikawa, that's a good question. You know, if I could
<br />answer that question, I probably could run for king. But unfortunately, sir, I have pursued this
<br />same question for almost seven years, well, no actually a lot more than seven years, but as
<br />your elected Council Member for almost seven years. I am told that the County does not build
<br />the roads and that with the exception of the, excuse me, what's it, Mohouli in Hilo, that's the
<br />first road the County has built in 30 years, and they acknowledge that. That's shameful,
<br />especially since they have so many roads over there and we have virtually none over here. I'm
<br />sure everyone read the letter to the editor yesterday that there's 20,000 tons of AC purchased
<br />``
<br />in East Hawaii and only 2,000 in West HawaiI; and of course we understand that it costs
<br />twice as much over here, but it still doesn't seem equitable. I'm not trying to be flippant, sir,
<br />`
<br />but I think that some of us are working very hard to ensure that West Hawaii gets its fair
<br />share. And some of you on this Council, as well as me, personally, on this Commission, as
<br />well as others, many of the public, are concerned that this County does not have an impact fee
<br />ordinance, that perhaps the fair shares are inadequate; and I would agree that some of the
<br />numbers are pretty low. The, I understand there are some inherent problems with a fair share,
<br />in that we can't use fair share assessments to correct deficits, unless those deficits are
<br />exacerbated by the new development, and that putr tr hm ` b`sbg,11 rhst`shnm- @mc Hll mns
<br />sure how to remedy that, but I'm sure that Mr. Yuen, Mr. McClure, and others will be able to
<br />work together with us to assist us in that. It's a long answer to a very important question.
<br />And I think that each one of us who lives here on this Island needs to work together to come
<br />`
<br />up with a viable solution. I'm not suggesting that we abandon East Hawaii or that, or vice
<br />versa. That we are one Island, I believe in one County, and I think that it's important we, as
<br />you are trying to do today, to be fair and equitable. I assure you I'll do my part. And,
<br />Mr. Fujikawa, if you have any ideas personally, I'll be happy to hear from you, sir.
<br />FUJIKAWA:Well, the reason why I brought this up is I've been doing a lot of
<br />comparison over on the mainland. In the mainland, the county and the city would put in their
<br />infrastructure first and then zone, you know, put in their subdivision or development. But we
<br />seem to be putting the development in first and then the infrastructure after.
<br />TYLER:Yes. Some of us have spoken with the Director, as well as the previous
<br />director, as well as the Director of Public Works regarding concurrency of infrastructure
<br />ordinance, and I have provided one in the past. I believe other Council Members are pursuing
<br />this, as well. Certainly other areas have done it. And the question, the real question,
<br />Mr. Fujikawa, and fellow Commissioners, is that the deficit is so great it's, if you look at the
<br />17
<br />
<br />
|