2003-11-07 TDLNR - Laserfiche WebLink

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PALMA-GLENNIE:Yeah. That I scribbled in? Yeah, I wanted to say that there have been questions on Wednesdays about pedestrian access; and I feel because access is an important issue and I think that itÓs going to be a growing issue, I feel that depending on the situation, pedestrians having kept out or let in, and I think that pedestrian access should be guaranteed, not vehicular, I donÓt expect that. I know thereÓs a lot of problems with that, but that you should be able to walk in. SPRINGER:Thank you. Marni? HERKES:Good afternoon. My name is Marni Herkes. My address is 75-5721 Mamalahoa Highway, Holualoa. And IÓve been on the Kekaha Kai State Task Force for the past tenyears and was one of the founders of Hui L which is a non-profit stewardship organization thatÓs being formed to help some of the activities at the park. This has been one of the most rewarding task forces because ther number of community members, stakeholders and residents that participated,and each brought their own special manao. As you know, this is the only one of the three areas being developed in the 1,600-acre park. The other two areas are coming along with State Parks. TheyÓve been kicking and screaming, but theyÓre coming along sooner or later. WeÓll get all three areas done. These are sensitive areas, and the archaeology was taken into consideration when the use areas were designed. These can be great re-creational parks for our local people. I use the word, re-creational, because we had a talk, Helen Desha-Beamer-Ruddle wrote a song about Mahaiula and talked about the attributes of re-creating yourself when you were down there; and it was quiet and the ocean -. ItÓs a wonderful song. And we use recreation so often, but we really think of these parks as a way to re-create. And thereÓs a lot of passive activity that has been built into them with those re-creational activities. ItÓs for our local people, and maybe we can even re-train some of our residents to take care of them. In case you think that this is a pristine area, there are waves that take place in this park, Maniniowali Park, with 3-to 400 cars, with tons of people. They build, they take flats down, they build bonfires, they take drugs, and they break beer bottles; and they stay there for the weekend. You ask the police, ÐWill you go down there?Ñ; and they say, ÐNo way.Ñ Part of it is they donÓt want them on the road and part of it is itÓs a dangerous thing to be around. So this is not a pristine area. And opening up the area with a road, with a gate, with hours is a way to re-train our residents to take care of our coastal areas. I asked State Parks, they have gates at Mahaiula, I asked them if there were people that got locked in, whether they were people that didnÓt get out in time; and they donÓt know of any instances. IÓm sure there probably are. But with the advent of cell phones and people being able to walk, if you donÓt get out in time and canÓt read the signs, maybe thatÓs what you, maybe thatÓs part of the re-training of closing the parks at night. 13