2003-11-21 TCONTINENTAL - Laserfiche WebLink

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GALDONES:State your name, your residence address and you may beg testimony. KEOMALU:My name is Doreen Keomalu. My address is 28-2960 Kumula Street in Pepeekeo. And in 1986, I was the secretary for the Honomu Village Association and currently IÓm the producer of Hakalau for All Video on Public Access. Okay, the next show for Hakalau for all Part 2 is 1 oÓclock p.m. Monday, t And IÓve been working with Mike on this project since it began, when they closed the gate to do the lead removal on the bridge. And my understanding information was coming from Mike Staszkow. But I was a supporter of having the gate opened and the beach reopened for people to go in and fish, and camp, and swim, and whatever, get exercise. And that has been going on for about a year-and-a-half now, almost two years. I understood that the lead removal job was going to be three years long and itÓll be finished in July, by July, and then it got extended, which I understand anything could happen. But the gate has not been opened. According to the newspaper article, the gate was supposed to be, the gate at Hakalau was supposed to be opened from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and it hasnÓt been opened once for people to go in there. And thatÓs the one thing I wanted to address Òcause weÓd like to go in right away. WeÓve been wanting to go in for a year- and-a-half now. You know, understanding that the job was down there was one thing, but for the past two months theyÓve been gone. So if something could be done about that and on the Pepeekeo Point side. I wanted to address Part C, the Special Management Area application. That area down there, locals call it 23 Flat and itÓs the roadway that goes from the mill area down to the bay area. ItÓs about a mile long, itÓs right on the coastline. That road has also been a, access has been denied to that old cane haul road, too. And as far as resource sub-zones go, where it says to sustain use, people have been fishing down there forever. Since 1986 when I was the secretary for the Honomu Village Association, that was a common area for overnight fishing and camping. Overnight fishing, aama crab catching, mostly all that coastline. I mean, thereÓs no way to get a boat down there or anything unless they come from around and just go out there. But they really did do that, overnight fishing, and camping, and getting crab. And what eventually happened with the development down there is that gates were put up where you canÓt get down there from the main highway. You have to go in through the Hilo Coast mill; and those gates arenÓt always open, either. I donÓt know what theyÓre trying to do, you know, besides, I guess, change the landscape. But when they say that theyÓre applying to do a, including a portion of a roadway lot, I would like to see that coastline cane haul road maintained so that we can go down there and keep on camping and fishing, to be able to go in there and still be able to do that, and to go to Hakalau. And, well, Hakalau has got a big parking area cleared and itÓs still a nice place to go. I tried walking in there. I canÓt do it. I canÓt get in there. And after swiming, I canÓt get back out, itÓs terrible. And IÓm not that old. I see people going in there to do it. The most, the best they do is warabi. But back in the old day, they used to get everything out 26