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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommunication No. 2019-17- Flaherty Alii Parkway Testimony Communication No. 2019-17 From: Chuck Flaherty To: Plunkett, Kamuela ; Bartlett, Heather Subject: Testimony regarding proposed Ali"i Parkway Date: Tuesday, June 11, 2019 7:49:18 PM Aloha Mr. Chair and members of the Kona Community Development Plan Action Committee, I am writing in opposition to any further consideration or advancement of plans to build an Ali'i Parkway from Keauhou to Hualalai and Queen Kaahumanu Highways. I began attending Hawai'i Island Burial Council (HIBC) meetings at the request of kumu kupuna in 2000. On several occasions during that time, the county attempted to advance plans to build what was then called the Ali'i Highway. Their requests for approval were voted down. The reason was simple. There were too many burials and other constitutionally-protected cultural and historic sites in the right-of-way, an area designated in the 1960s when little to no consideration was given to iwi kupuna when designing developments. The kupuna of numerous 'ohana testified with knowledge and passion this highway should never be built. Several of the members of this committee witnessed these testimonies yourselves. Some on this committee also testified the highway will never be built because of burials not yet disclosed to the public. In the early 2000s, I watched as real estate development special interests, including the county and state, incrementally undermined the authority, guidance, and integrity of the HIBC. This effort finally paid off in 2007 after several kupuna opposing the highway had passed and been replaced by more developer-friendly HIBC members. However, the approval was conditional. The HIBC required an additional archaeological survey to identify and address representations by numerous testifiers that existing burial maps did not include all burials known to 'ohana. It is tragic the Kona Community Development Plan Action Committee has come to believe it is now suddenly a-OK to proceed with the Ali'i Highway, especially since many of the individuals involved in this effort are kanaka maoli and kama'aina who once opposed this project and grew up with the kupuna who are no longer with us, but also once opposed construction of this highway. I strongly urge the Chair and members of this committee recall the wishes of their kupuna and then honor and respect those wishes. Please disband the Ali'i Highway subcommittee and remove construction of this roadway from the Kona Community Development Plan. Mahalo nui loa, Charles Flaherty Haumana of Ruby McDonald, Moana Kahele, and Keola Hanoa on this cultural issue. Wednesday, September 15, 2004 Hawaii County appeals Communication No. 2019-17 decision on burials Associated Press KAILUA-KONA >> Hawaii County is asking the Hawaii Island Burial Council to reconsider its decision to preserve ancient Hawaiian burials in the path of the proposed Alii Highway south of Kailua-Kona. Officials want to relocate any remains so the federally subsidized road can be built. The advisory council voted in July to leave in place the grave sites found in the path of Alii Highway's first phase, which stretches between Keauhou and the future Lako Street extension. The county has asked the council to reconsider the decision when it holds a public meeting on the matter tomorrow in Kailua-Kona. The Alii Highway is the costliest public works project in Hawaii County history. It passes through some areas that were well populated by Hawaiians by the 1600s. The burial council's decision may have delayed the highway's first phase for at least three years because the county does not believe it can obtain all necessary permits by an October deadline to obtain $40 million in federal highway funds that the county had qualified for in 2002. Securing the federal funds is a three-year process. Meanwhile, an archaeological survey reported that more remains have been uncovered in another section of the right-of-way in an area within the second phase of the highway's proposed alignment, which would go from the Lako Street intersection to the intersection of upper Hualalai Road and Queen Kaahumanu Highway. An Aug. 19 letter from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to archaeologist Alan Haun reveals that additional testing on a pair of sites within the county right-of-way for the Kahului-to-Keauhou Parkway confirmed the presence of human remains. The letter was provided to West Hawaii Today by Protect Keopuka Ohana, which is opposed to the relocation of all native Hawaiian burials. The group is demanding the latest finds be classified as previously known and is asking the burial council to deny the county's request for reconsideration of its July 27 decision. "The County of Hawaii has not provided any new information to the council that was not previously disclosed," said Protect Keopuka Ohana spokesman Jim Medeiros.