HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0177.011 1998-2000
March 3,1999
Dominic Yagong Elfie Wilkins
County of Hawaii ~ 20 Akepa St.
21 Aupuni Street ~ ~ Hilo, Hi 96720
Hilo,Hi 96720 Ph 935-7862
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RE: USER FEE for county pools and other issues (Amendment of Rule 5)
Dear Chair Yagong and Members of the Hawaii County Coucil:
I am urging you to research the history of the management of the County Pools
before making any decision or take a vote on the proposed $2 user fee.
I don't believe that we, the taxpayers who paid for constructiug the pods should
be assessed $2 each time we use the pool, for ONLY ONE HOUR or less. The
management has made consistently poor decisions and lacks proper business sense.
Kawamoto pool has been operated without proper repairs and maintenance for more
than ten years; consequently, last spring in addition to the scheduled pump
repair, the entire roof and the 70 lights ( overhead/ bleacher/ exit) had to be
replaced. One of the light blow up and landed on the deck, 20 feet away, about
2 feet from a lifeguard. Another overhead light fell into the pool while swimmers
were present. Moreover the paint in the pool came off twice as a result of
opting for a cheaper painting job. To this day the beams on the roof have not
been replaced.
There is also a one-meter diving board with a yellow "caution" tape all around
it = UNUSABLE
The roof and the seventy lights have been paid out of the Capital Improvement
budget (money is money.) Many long time swimmers believe the cost could have been
a fraction of what the County had to pay in 1998, had the management NOT WAITED
until such emergency situation occured, lights falling and blowing up.
The Parks and Rec in 1997-98 approved the construction of two major 50 meters
pools at Pahoa and Kona, basically back to back in the same period. Was this a
wise decision, one could ask?
The highly publicized Synchronized Swimming event caused additional burden on the
budget of Parks and Rec. All these events seem to indicate an ineptitude at the
management level that caused them, NOW, to be out of money for the acquatic
program.
Comm. No. / /
FSIe No. ~ U ~
Ref. To: ~ C-
Re£. Date ~ 5 1494
-z-
There will be no Junior Lifeguard program this summer for the youths in East Hawaii.
That is not an intelligent decision, for the young people need to have more
activities to engage in rather than less.
The proposed user fee of $2 for basically ONE HOUR, or less use of the pool is
simply EXCESSIVE. In comparison, a senior's monthly fee for the Municipal
Golf Course is $15, while for a swimmer would be $50!
There is something basically wrong in this proposal and I hope you understand my
concern and check into the history of the management of the public pools BEFORE
making any decision on the user fee.
Thank you,
Elfie Wilkins
cc. James Arakaki
Aaron Chung
Leningred Elarionoff
Julie Jacobson
Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd
Nancy Pisicchio
Al R. Smith
Curtis Tyler,IlI