HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommunication No. 2022-15- H. Kimball Waipio Valley Report1
Stevens, Elyse
From:Kimball, Heather
Sent:Tuesday, September 20, 2022 1:20 AM
To:Bartlett, Heather; Planning CDP; Yates-Tese, Beverly
Cc:Stevens, Elyse
Subject:Re: Hāmākua CDP AC Meeting
Good Morning Heather,
Below please find the Waipio update:
Last Thursday the Mayor issued a revised emergency order for Waipio valley road. The revised order was the result of
mediation as part of the lawsuit that was filed in response to the original emergency order that closed the road. The
revised order allows for any Hawai’i resident to use the road and will permit tour operators. Pedestrians, horses and
open ATVs are still prohibited. The new order took effect this Monday.
There were protests on Monday and they are expected to continue through the week. Residents and farmers in the
valley feel that they were not consulted in for the revised order. On a side note - this is because it was a legal proceeding
and only those party to the lawsuit were included. In fact, I was not party to the discussion either. The main concern is
the tour buses because all the land in the valley is private and so there is no where for visitors to really go. There are also
concerns that pedestrians and open ATVs are prohibited since some of the valley residents uses these means to access
their property.
In addition to the emergency order, there is a new engineering study which pinpoints the areas of the road that need
repair and how it should be remediated. The county will need to know from residents how long the road can be closed
to do the work but the funding has been set aside to do the repairs.
The efforts that I have engaged in over the past two years are stalled. There is still a commitment to engage in
developing a long term access management plan but that is understandably on hold under the current circumstances. I
am hopeful that there may still be a path forward with a long term plan.
There will be a community meeting on Oct. 5th at the Honokaa’s Peoples Theater at 5:30 to discuss various issues. It
was originally planned to cover the new engineering report but it looks like this aspect will be delayed until a later
meeting. The mediated settlement did include a requirement that an advisory committee be created. This will likely be
the main point of discussion on October 5th.
Please excuse any grammatical or spelling errors. Emailing on my phone.
Aloha, Heather
Heather Kimball
Hawaii County Council District 1
Heather.Kimball@Hawaiicounty.gov
Sent from my iPhone.
From: Bartlett, Heather <Heather.Bartlett@hawaiicounty.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2022 10:34:34 PM
To: Kimball, Heather <Heather.Kimball@hawaiicounty.gov>; Planning CDP <cdp@hawaiicounty.gov>; Yates-Tese,
Beverly <Beverly.Yates-Tese@hawaiicounty.gov>
Cc: Stevens, Elyse <Elyse.Stevens@hawaiicounty.gov>
Subject: RE: Hāmākua CDP AC Meeting
2
Mahalo nui, Heather – we’ll be ready to share it with the AC when you do.
From: Kimball, Heather <Heather.Kimball@hawaiicounty.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2022 3:41 PM
To: Planning CDP <cdp@hawaiicounty.gov>; Yates-Tese, Beverly <Beverly.Yates-Tese@hawaiicounty.gov>
Cc: Bartlett, Heather <Heather.Bartlett@hawaiicounty.gov>; Stevens, Elyse <Elyse.Stevens@hawaiicounty.gov>
Subject: Re: Hāmākua CDP AC Meeting
Thank you. There will be an announcement this week from the Mayor’s office regarding Waipio. I’ll draft up the update
after that takes place.
Heather
Heather Kimball
Hawaii County Council District 1
Heather.Kimball@Hawaiicounty.gov
Sent from my iPhone.
From: Planning CDP <cdp@hawaiicounty.gov>
Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2022 2:04:27 AM
To: Kimball, Heather <Heather.Kimball@hawaiicounty.gov>; Yates-Tese, Beverly <Beverly.Yates-
Tese@hawaiicounty.gov>
Cc: Bartlett, Heather <Heather.Bartlett@hawaiicounty.gov>; Stevens, Elyse <Elyse.Stevens@hawaiicounty.gov>
Subject: Hāmākua CDP AC Meeting
Aloha Councilmember Kimball and staff,
Please find the meeting packet for the Hāmākua CDP Action Committee Meeting on September 20th at 5:30pm attached.
Feel free to contact us if you need further information.
Mahalo,
The CDP Team