HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-31 MtView Plan Report 5-8-14 Communication No. 2014-31
MOUNTAIN VIEW VILLAGE CENTER PLAN
WORKING GROUPS MEETING
MAY 8, 2014, 6:OOPM,MOUNTAIN VIEW SCHOOL CAFETERIA
Mountain View Planners in attendance: Frank Commendador, Patti Pinto, Marcia May, Hannah Hedrick,
Heidi Hutchinson, Susan Langer, Inez Naholowa'a, Moani Naholoua'a, Terry Dann, Sharon Dann, Neena
Roumel, Anita Owen, John Owen, Nadine Robertson, Mark Robertson
8 Members of our extended community and special guests also attended.
Our planning efforts on our Mountain View asset survey continue:
• Frank Commendador opened the meeting at 6:05 with an introduction of our special guests Quirino Antonio
and Larry Beck of Hawaii County Department of Water Supply. Mr. Antonio explained that the
Department of Water Supply is a Hawaii County Agency that is semi-autonomous in that they have their
own budget derived from water fees, they do not take any property tax funds. The Department of Water
Supply currently has about 42,000 customers. He went on to report that a major portion of their
approximately $63,000,000 annual budget (43%) goes to pay HELCO. The cost of pumping water up from
wells, into reservoirs (tanks), and out to water service lines throughout the County is huge.
Larry Beck is an engineer who has more specific knowledge of the water systems that serve our area. He
brought a large map of the upper Puna area along Highway 11 that showed the locations of wells, reservoirs
and water lines. He reports that our Mountain View area water supply system was installed by Puna Sugar
and deeded over to the County when the sugar plantations closed. The water systems had to be brought up
to County standards at that time before they could be dedicated to the County.
Mountain View is currently receiving its water from wells in the Kea'au area, but this year the new well in
Mountain View will go online. This will increase water resources for not only Mountain View and beyond,
but also downhill as well. The new Mountain View well is approximately 1400' deep. Larry stated that he
believes the water supply pipe coming up Highway 11 starts out at 12" in the Kea'au area and is reduced
down to 8"pipe somewhere before Mountain View. Water supply in the Mountain View Village area is
probably 6" and would need to be increased to 8"along Old Volcano Road in the Village proper if we
intend to extend business in that area.
Members asked questions about individual water service. It was explained that new extensions of service
need to be able to connect to existing meters and are installed at the lot owners' expense. It became clear
that the "first come, first served"policy of connecting to existing meters does not always result in a fair
distribution of water supplies. There were also questions about extending fire hydrants closer to the tops of
subdivisions. It was explained that this would undoubtedly require an"improvement district" approach.
Members asked questions about security of the water system, our reservoirs are closed and the yards are
fenced and locked and clearly visible to passersby. Hawaii County has not had any experience of water
tampering or vandalism.
Patti will work directly with Larry Beck for precise details of the water supply systems in the Village area.
After a break the planning group looked briefly at our survey results, a sub-committee consisting of Heidi,
Susan, Sharon and Patti will begin the work of analyzing the data at a first meeting on Monday, May 12th.
The SurveyMonkey link will be shut down on May 9th.
• Patti reported on the results of the County efforts to create an Ad-Hoc Committee on Connectivity.
Working with Corporation Council Lincoln Ashida and the County Council it was determined that working
through an Ad-Hoc committee would encumber the committee with Sunshine Law restrictions on reporting
and publishing agendas that would stretch out the working time to undesirable lengths. It was determined
that the meetings would be convened by the community group and that all four Council members who
represent parts of Puna could attend and participate, they just could not talk about it amongst themselves
outside of that meeting.
• The final report of the PCDP sub-committee on Connectivity and Emergency Response will be presented to
the Action Committee for approval on Tuesday, May 13th. All documents in the report will be available to
the public through the Planning Department website.
• It was decided that we will have the Fire Department speak at the July meeting.
Our next meeting will be June 12,2014,6:OOpm at the
Mountain View School Cafeteria