HomeMy WebLinkAboutWeisgerber, Gloria and Bernie
Tsuneda, Kaci
From:bernie weisgerber <whr220@msn.com>
Sent:Sunday, September 13, 2026 11:41 AM
To:Council Testimony
Cc:bernie weisgerber; bmrizzo@hotmail.com
Subject:Comment on Bills 186 and 187
Aloha Council Members,
Our names are Gloria and Bernie Weisgerber and we have been full-time residents of Waikoloa Village
since 2012. We wish to offer our comments on Bills 186 and 187.
We very strongly oppose Bills 186 and 187. We understand that Waikoloa will continue to grow and
that may require additional housing. However we strongly object to approval of expansion before other
critical issues are addressed. Those vital issues include infrastructure that would be required to keep
residents safe during a wildfire--most importantly approval and construction of a second access road.
Waikoloa Village has one road in and out for nearly 7,000 residents. The County's 2008 Community
Development Plan named a second access road as a very high priority. We vividly remember the Mana
Fire in 2021 when we had to evacuate our home in short order. Traffic was horrendous. We ended up
going down the dirt extension road of Hulu to the Queen K Highway in our truck. It was chaotic. The
state Attorney General's Lāhainā investigation rated Waikōloa's wildfire risk higher than any other place in
the country. To approve adding hundreds of homes before a second road exists would put current and
future residents in danger.
When there is the threat of wildfire in the Village, water supply is critical. Firefighters depend on a water
system that can deliver when it matters most. We have raised the reliability of that supply during
emergencies with the Public Utilities Commission. The Council should certainly examine whether the water
system can meet firefighting demand during an emergency across all of the development planned for the
Waimea Aquifer, not this project alone.
The same risk affects our children. Waikōloa Elementary/Middle School has no buses on site during the
school day, so that with a fast-moving fire, students would require evacuation on the same single road
along with everyone else. The County's Community Development Plan recognized the need for a second
school as the Village grows. However it named the second road a community priority before construction
of a second school. The road must come first.
Please do not approve Bills 186 and 187 until these infrastructure needs are met with real commitments,
with funding and a timeline--not just plans. Housing and safe infrastructure should move forward
together.
Respectfully,
Gloria and Bernie Weisgerber,
Waikoloa Village residents
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