HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0047.021 2020-2022 P/nou r ci d
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From: Matthias w. Kusch
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Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2020 2:48 PM
To: Council Testimony;Aaron Chung; Kimball, Heather; Lee Loy, Sue; Kierkiewicz, Ashley;
Kanealii-Kleinfelder, Matt; Inaba, Holeka; Richards, Tim; Villegas, Rebecca; David, Maile
Subject: Bill 217 COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAIII
RECEIVED
Aloha Councilmembers, Time 2:N� 1:
Date— DEC
I hope you have ample insight and evidence to strike this silly bill down. Those with greater minds and deeper
insight into the laws that govern access have already weighed in, as I have seen. My comments below are from a 32
year resident, uniquely knowledgeable of the island's geography and well-read in it's history.
About 10 years ago a District 1 councilmember asked me to research the accidents that the Honoka'a fire station
responded to on Waipio Valley road. At the time, the councilmember wanted a breakdown of how many were
tourist related, and how many were from residents. I obliged, and after going through more than a decade of station
log books, all of the accidents (that NFD responded to, so there were perhaps some minor fender benders NFD was
not dispatched to) were exclusively local residents of the valley or Hamakua. They were relatively few and far
between. I no longer have this data-and this is from memory-so you will have to trust me that the essence of my
recollection is true. I distinctly remember thinking about the phrase "familiarity breeds contempt". As in, the more
familiar you are with something, the less careful you become. I am certain that since then traffic has increased, as
there are more people in the valley, more tourists and more residents on the island. However, that should not
fundamentally change our rights to access the beach, the public lands of Kohala and beyond.
There is no irony lost on me that a white, mainland resident who built a path, paved the road she owns for the
residents of Mill Road and maintains access for—12 hours a day to the beach through her and her husband's
property is mob ruled into an imminent domain fight so....the 30 some homes on Mill Road can have access to the
beach 24 hours a day? With no public parking? With no public infrastructure? No nothing?
Then, on the other hand, we can have a mob of Waipio valley residents take over and close down a public road and
demand it be taken out of public use?
If you need me to, I'll spell it out. But I think you get the gist of what I'm referring to. At a minimum, by condoning
this behavior we are moving to a two tier (law) system on our Island.
As a manager in the CoH, I always like to play this game when I am presented with a challenging issue, involving one
group of people against another: Would my mind change if I changed the names? Would I do this, if this was my
worst performing employee? My best?
What if the Proud Boys of Waipio asked you to close off access?Would there be a bill? What if it was a church? A
fringe church? What if ecologists blocked the road and said Waipio and Kohala needs to stay wild? Bill 217?
Enough hyperbole.
Some solutions to this issue, that can be enacted, while we still fall within the laws of our State and county (I'm sure
these have come up by councilmembers already)
Comm. No. 4 t'�
Ref. o: P I Wa AIVA
1 Ref. Date ? I 2 0
1. Post times for one way travel. Example: 15 minute intervals; Every 15 and 45 of the hour, traffic goes up. And
conversely, every 30 and 60, traffic goes down. We lived with this system at the Umauma bridge on Highway
19, for 4years. Plenty ofother examples,too. Smooth sailing.
2Post signs for those who want to walk, to stay on one side, both when coming up or down. Add striping to
delineate a walking path along one side. Signage should be in multiple languages. Use technology (like QR
codes on signs) to provide even more information (need cell service in the area first!)
1 |fnecessary, charge residents/nonva||ey\ and visitors a daily vehicle charge. Orjustfor tourists. This could
pay for repairs ondupgTacles.
4� Consider ade'tai|pd traffic study that looks at the proportion of island residents visiting the valley, those that
live inthe valley adoff island�' ,tourists. Look attraffic levels throughout the day/days ofthe week. I'm sure
this has been done before there. Update?
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| hope the council has the fortitude to stand up to rnVb rule and see that there are many solutions to this
complicated issue. All require compromise. But middle ground is in short supply these days, I hope we can find it
again.
| thank you for your time
Matthias Kusch
Oistric2resident
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