2008-08-22 TYERLICK - Laserfiche WebLink

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four years renovated it and put tar on top of it. And I spoke to a resident, Gerry Adams, who is on the top of the hill, he’s lived there for 30 years; he said every time they make them improve the road, it’s actually gotten worse, and in his estimation gotten more slanted and less attractive. But it works just fine for all emergency vehicles, cable vehicles, fire trucks, water vehicles – things that need to get up there get up there. The scratches on the road, I would like to point out, is due to construction work; they are currently building a house, renovating an old rental, on the top of the road, that my neighbors, Deborah – I can’t remember their name – have purchased, and there’s a lot of trucks. The traffic is, only comes very, very seldom. There’s only four of us who actually live on the road. Two of the residents are retired, and that is one of my major concerns of any construction. One of them had a stroke last year, and if we close the road, it would be tremendous hardship for them to get in and out of their home; it’s the only road there. And another resident is retired and not in good health. But they do drive up that road everyday. And they have expressed no problem with our bed and breakfast idea that we discussed with them in the past, but they are concerned with any road changes because it will affect their ability to get in and out of their homes. And they in their 70s have no problem using the road, getting up there. And I feel that the damage, slight scratches are due to big flatbed trucks and not the kind of traffic we are planning to have at a B&B, which is nothing more than an extended- family-type house. And I have two college sons and when they are home, there’s two more cars; they just come to visit, but when they are here, there’s two more cars sometimes, and that’s the kind of traffic we are expecting when we have guests. Bed and breakfast guests are not the type of people who stay in resorts; they go out and explore the island all day long and they are not hanging out there, so they leave in the morning and come back at the end of the day. The other thing I would like to point out about our bed and breakfast is we have a unique, about the kitchen; the reason we built a Health Department approved kitchen is so that we can cook hot breakfast legally – some bed and breakfasts do it without permission – and we didn’t want to just serve rolls. We want to give them eggs from our chickens and local vegetables from the farmers and we have an organic garden; we want to give them really good food to start their day on the island. And so we made sure we could provide hot food by getting that permit from the Health Department. I don’t know if I’ve addressed all those issues. I’m a member also of the Jewish community, Kona Beth Shalom. I’m on the board – it’s a small Jewish community in Kona – very proud to be accepted on the board this year. And we also are the only Jewish bed and breakfast owners. And there is a certain rule to the way guests eat – kashrut, it’s called – and so we can accommodate them and not serve things that they wouldn’t eat. And the president of the Kona Beth Shalom, Shirley Berman, would love very much to have a place to recommend to her guests when they come, where they can stay and know that we will abide by the Jewish rules so that they don’t have to worry about the food and the driving and things like that. So that’s a little niche on the island. And it’s actually a big community on the mainland, and a nice group of people to get to this island. At the moment they go to Oahu and Maui where it’s a little more accommodating for their needs. And I know that because we used to travel to Maui. And we really liked the Big Island better, so we came here. I think that’s it. WATANABE: Okay. But then before I open it up to questions, because we will open it up to questions from the other Commissioners, I just want to make sure that aside from the EXHIBIT A 6