HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 1155.009 2004-2006
11/27/06 Hawaii County Council Hilo, Hawaii
Members of the County Council: Thank you for hearing my voice today. My
name is Sharon Lehman, and I am sixty nine years old. The Territory of Hawaii first
became my home when I was twenty one years old. Hawaii became a state shortly
after that time. Although we bought our Mt. View property, on this island in 1960, while
we lived on Oahu, we did not move to the Big Island until 1979.
Including two hanai sons, we have a large family of now grown children. All but
one, a daughter, live on this island, as do most of our grandchildren and great
grandchildren. This Island is our family's home.
Although I did do my graduate work on the mainland during summers, I
graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Hawaii, and worked until
retirement, as a teacher for the State of Hawaii Department of Education.
Between Madam Pele's vog, and the molds of the rainforest of Mt. View, I
developed an ever-worsening case of asthma, which eventually required our move to
the Hamakua Coast. Little did I know, when we purchased our lot makai side of the old
O'okala Mill that this new home would bring the happiest days of our lives.
Each morning, when I awaken, I look out at that great expanse of Pacific Ocean
at our feet, and gaze up at the breathtaking beauty of Mauna Kea which sits behind our
village of O'okala. I cannot help but give thanks for the privilege of living in the most
beautiful and uplifting place on the face of the earth. We plan to live and die in this
home. No one could ask for a finer place in which to live. Our neighbors are the best,
most caring human beings anyone could find anywhere. This tightly knit, cohesive
neighborhood opened its arms and welcomed us into its fold. It is quite here. The
ambiance is peaceful.
Now, it is proposed that a large, noisy (yes, in spite of what Mr. Bryan may try to
tell you, there will be both massive noise and pollution) be placed right in the center of
our tranquil village.
The major and most deplorable transformation to our present state of serenity
would be the substantial number of large trucks in and out of our village, around the
clock, seven days a week without stop. It is not just the trucks carrying logs to the
process center, but the overwhelming number of vehicles which must necessarily
transport massive quantities of green waste to keep the electrical plant in operation.
Mr. Bryan claims there would be no "beep, beep, beep" of the trucks backing up
because their operation has planned some other method of loading and unloading the
trucks. This information does lead one to ponder. They will be able to by-pass Hawaii
Safety regulations? They will have special trucks that never need to back up? One
wonders where they will find trucks that enter and leave our village silently and without
exhaust fumes. One can SAY anything. Once the operation is up and running, the
people of O'okala will have little recourse for any untruths told to them before the fact.
There is only one small road through the village of O'okala: Old Mamalahoa
Hwy. That sounds impressive enough, but is little wider than the side streets. There are
Comm. No. I ISs.a .
Ref. To: Presents*.
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no sidewalks.
Our small and aging roads will not support the type of wear and tear necessary
for the considerable increase in heavy trucks entering and leaving the mill area. The
constant coming and going of the trucks will hamper our own coming and going, The
truck traffic will gravely endanger our children who walk, ride bikes, and catch or leave
the school bus along our narrow road. Many of our citizens walk on a daily basis either
for their health or simply to travel between one house and another. Many of these
individuals are elderly, having difficulty with eyesight, hearing, and agility. Presently, our
speed limit is twenty miles an hour. Few strangers travel through our village. It is well
off the main highway and is not a designated scenic drive. In O'okala, we care for one
another and drive accordingly, with great concern and thoughtfulness. Is there
anyone here who genuinely supposes that harried truck drivers would consider village
drivers, walkers, riders, and our low speed limits, anything more than annoying
deterrents to their crucial goal? We would be at their mercy, and we cannot expect any
good can come of the creation of such conditions.
During the bygone days of the Sugar Mill operation, when the town and the
roads essentially belonged to the mill, there were few complaints from the O'okala
villagers. How would the inhabitants dare to speak against the very entity that put rice in
their children's bellies, and provided roofs over their heads? Such is no longer the case.
This is a rural community where most the residents are the owners and a few are
renters.
Please understand we are not opposed to the veneer mill or the electrical plant
on the Big Island. It does not make sense to locate such an undertaking so far from the
site where the major part of lumber will originate, thus unnecessarily clogging our
already strained belt highway and destroying our village as we know it. We are
opposed to the destruction of our quiet lives and our peaceful existence here in O'okala.
Allowing the mill and electrical plant to locate in the tiny, calmly serene village of
O'okala, and the resulting overwhelmingly high traffic increase into our environment,
after nearly twenty years establishment of harmony, would be unjust cruelty beyond any
concept of integrity. To permit the destruction of our orderly, peaceful lives by allowing
such a disruption cannot be justified by any means.
Thank you for your attention. I appreciate the courtesy.
Sharon L. Lehman
39-3312 Old Mamalahoa Hwy
PO Box 90
O'okala, Hawaii, 96774