Monthly Archives: November 2010

November 30, 2010

Hokuli’a Litigation Update

By Aaron Stene

Judge Ronald Ibarra was slated to hear Hawaii County’s motion compelling American Motorist Insurance Company to comply with their bonding obligations today. However, the Court failed to update Ho’ohiki regarding the final disposition of this motion.

(Update: Judge Ibarra didn’t rule on the county’s motion today).

The Club at Hokulia Inc. and Hokuli’a Community Association Inc.‘s lawsuit against American Motorist Insurance Company was remanded back to the Third Circuit Court in Kona by the U.S District Court on October 26, 2010 (Ho’ohiki case #3CC10100116K). However, American Motorist Insurance Company‘s countersuit is still being adjudicated by the U.S District Court in Honolulu.

Related item: U.S District Court’s letter to the Third Circuit Court in Kona

I spoke to a representative of Bolton Inc. regarding the Holu Street Connector project today. He informed me construction on this roadway extension is still on schedule. They expect construction should be wrapped up by Christmas.

Lastly, I strongly believe the Ane Keohokalole Highway project has provided an enormous economic boost to Kona. The official statistics may show otherwise. However, I’m willing to bet there will be more than 19.3 people working on this project as construction progresses over the next year.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics

November 29, 2010

O’oma Beachside Village’s State Land Use Commission Reconsideration Petition

By Aaron Stene

Road and Highway Builders LLC has made significant progress reconstructing Saddle Road between m.m 11 and m.m 19. The entire project should be graded by late March/early April 2011. In addition, RHB is slated to resume paving in early February.

RHB is expecting a mid-2011 opening of this newly reconstructed roadway (cleanup, installation of signage and roadway striping will continue after the opening).

Nan Inc. likely won’t start paving the first segment of the Ane Keohokalole Highway (between Kealakehe High School and the Henry Street/Palani Road intersection) by the end of the year.

They are looking at paving all three roadway segments at once (Kealakehe Parkway to Kealakehe High School, Kealakehe High School to Palani Road/Henry Street intersection, and Palani Road/Henry Street intersection to Queen Kaahumanu Highway). The exact schedule hasn’t been formulated yet. However, I’ll follow-up with the contractor in early 2011.

The State LUC sent me a O’oma Beachside Village‘s recent petition. They want the LUC  to reconsider reclassifying O’oma from conservation to urban.

Lastly, the DLNR Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands has scheduled two public hearings regarding the Thirty Meter Telescope‘s conservation district use application.

* Thursday December 2, 2010
* 6 pm pm
* Hawaii County Council Room, 25 Aupuni Street, Hilo

* Friday December 3, 2010
* 6 pm
* Gateway Center, Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA), 73-4460 Queen Kaahumanu Highway #101, Kailua-Kona

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics, Hawaii Technology, Hawaii Transportation

November 26, 2010

Hawaii County Did A Bait And Switch To The Residents Of South Kona

By Aaron Stene

Reed Flickinger’s recent commentary about Sen. Josh Green was way off base. There has been a lot of rumors implying Sen. Green may vacate his Senate seat. However, Sen. Green sent me this e-mail on November 9th, 2010 refuting this rumor.

I called up Sen. Green today to make sure he hasn’t changed his mind since then. Sen. Green reiterated that he loves working for the people of Kona. So, I hope these persistent rumors regarding his possible departure will cease.

Dennis Moresco has apparently filed a petition urging the State LUC to reconsider reclassifying O’oma from conservation to urban. This new petition will be heard by the State LUC at their next meeting in Honolulu on December 2nd and 3rd, 2010.

Armstrong Builders has pulled the first batch of building permits for the soon to be built homes in Laiopua Village five subdivision.

The resurfacing of Keanalehu Drive and Puohulihuli Street may start as early as next week, according to the latest update I received from DHHL.

The Makalei Fire Station project consultant should be submitting the final bid specifications and designs to the county within the next two weeks.

I was a bit miffed that Hawaii Reporter used one of my photographs without my authorization. I’d love some suggestions to prevent this from happening again.

Lastly, I sent this e-mail to the HCPD and the county regarding the enormous cost increase for the proposed South Kona police station.

Aloha,

I’m very perplexed why the cost to build the proposed South Kona police station suddenly doubled overnight. The increase is apparently attributed to excavating the uneven topography of the property. However, I believe this issue should’ve been determined earlier in the engineering process.

The community was lead to believe the cost of constructing this facility was between 15-17 million dollars. Then the cost magically doubles to between 35 million and 40 million dollars. So, I believe the original estimate (which was even included in the FEA) was based on incomplete engineering data.

This is akin to a store doing a bait and switch on customers. Those customers are the residents of South Kona.

I urge the county to reexamine the plans for this police station and remove unneeded features. This will likely bring the cost of this facility back in line with the original estimate.

5 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics, Hawaii Transportation

November 23, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving To All My Blog Readers

By Aaron Stene

There won’t be any blog postings for the next two days due to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Regular programing will return on Friday.

DHHL is slated to resurface the roadways surrounding Laiopua Village five by January 2011. CTS Earthmoving Inc. has torn up both Keanalehu Drive and Puohulihuli Street to install underground utilities for Laiopua Village five.

Lastly, the Hawaii County Council should consider raising the fuel tax. The county needs additional revenue to  maintain their roadway inventory. For example, the streets in Kona Highlands (where I live) are in dire need of resurfacing. Kona Highlands was developed in the mid-1970s. So, this explains why the roadway pavement is alligator cracking and full of potholes.

5 comments   |  tags: , | posted in General, Hawaii Development, Hawaii Transportation

November 22, 2010

Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company’s Kealakehe Parkway Baseyard Should Be Cleaned Up Soon

By Aaron Stene

HDCC is slated to vacate their abandoned Kealakehe Parkway base yard “soon”. They’ve arranged to sell the excess fill material to a local concrete company. In addition, the miscellaneous equipment stored at this site will be removed.

This eyesore is one of my primary objectives to get cleaned up. So, I’ll continue to work with the HDOT regarding this issue until its resolved.

There was two additional issues regarding the ongoing Villages at Aina Le’a saga. Robert Wessels stated 98 million dollars in additional project financing had been arranged, according to the July 1st, 2010 State LUC meeting minutes. However, the bank still hasn’t released this additional funding yet.

Robert Wessels still tried to paint a rosy picture despite the latter. He claimed 1.5 million dollars per month was still flowing into the project from investors in Asia. These same investors were promised 30% returns in less than 30 months on their investments.

I strongly believe that 1.5 million dollars per month is inadequate to complete this development. So, I reiterate DW Aina Le’a Development needs to shore up their finances before the LUC grants any more time extensions.

Related item: The Villages At Aina Le’a Project Is On The Hot Seat

The last two paragraphs of this WHT article were unfairly critical of the developers of the Palamanui project. This is plainly clear when you read this HTH article. I urge WHT to stop publishing innuendos about this important project for West Hawaii.

Lastly, South Point Investment Group has posted the latest Discovery Harbour Golf Course survey here. I’m getting tired by these never ending surveys. There needs to be less talk and more action. In addition, there is several more issues with this survey and SPIG’s current plans.

1. I’m concerned the lease term issue will rear its ugly head even if there is favorable survey results

2. Changes to the PDF document can’t be saved. So, this survey can’t be transmitted via e-mail

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics, Hawaii Transportation

November 19, 2010

The Villages At Aina Le’a Project Is On The Hot Seat

By Aaron Stene

Palamanui and the University of Hawaii officially signed a memorandum of understanding this afternoon. The execution of this document allows the University of Hawaii to give Keauhou-Kona Construction Corporation the notice to proceed to construct the initial campus roadway infrastructure. In addition, it also paves the way for commencement of construction of the Hawaii Community College campus.

The State LUC asked Robert Wessels, one of the principals behind The Villages at Aina Le’a project, a lot of tough questions yesterday. Mr. Wessels’s testimony reaffirmed my predictions here, and here.

I believe DW Aina Le’a Development LLC is facing an uphill battle to preserve the project’s land classification. They’ve left a trail of unfulfilled promises, and unpaid contractors.

DW Aina Le’a Development needs to shore up their finances before the LUC grants any more time extensions.

The bank foreclosed Kekailani project was recently purchased by the Hunt Company. This is their second West Hawaii project. The Hunt Company is one of the partners in the Palamanui development.

Hawaiian Electric Industries recently had its credit and debt ratings downgraded to the brink of junk. I’d love feedback regarding the long term implications of this decision.

Lastly, I firmly believe the federal government should withhold funding from airports that replace the TSA with private contractors. Air travel security will be impacted if more airports decide to do this.

I don’t have a problem with the enhanced screening of passengers. However, there is several individuals (and groups) complaining about it. For example, this person claims personal freedoms supersede security. This is utterly ridiculous. These measures are being taken to prevent another 9/11 from happening.

5 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Hawaii Development, Hawaii Economy, Hawaii Planning, Hawaii Politics, Hawaii Transportation

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