The newly renovated Hilo county building’s roof leaks. I believe the private contractors working on taxpayer funded projects need more county oversight. This would prevent cost overruns and contractors doing shoddy work.

The Hawaii LUC heard final public testimony regarding the O’oma Beachside Village project yesterday. This land should not be reclassified from conservation to urban. There is way too many existing incomplete and idle projects such as Hokuli’a, Palamanui, Kaloko Heights, etc to justify granting additional entitlements to this project. In addition, the housing market in West Hawaii is still weak. So, there is absolutely not reason allow an additional 950-1200 more homes to be constructed at O’oma.

The proximity of this project to NELHA and the Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park also deeply concerns me. I don’t believe the developer can totally prevent runoff from this development (before and after). This will likely harm these two environmentally sensitive areas.

Hunter Bishop, Hawaii County’s public information specialist, responded to my concerns about Mayor Kenoi’s new public access television show
yesterday.

“Hi Aaron,

Thanks for asking about the show. I assume you’re watching it right now. We are using existing funds in the mayor’s budget to give our residents a weekly update of what is going on in County government around the island. As you know, we held an unprecedented number of community meetings with the mayor and cabinet members in every community but not everyone can attend community meetings and people deserve to know more about what’s happening on our island.

The Internet and newspapers cover some of it. We want to give our residents a more comprehensive picture of the projects, people and programs on Hawai’i Island. You may recall the previous administration had a a program called “What’s Up in the County” that was also a weekly program utilizing the same community public access channel. We look forward to covering issues that are important to our residents and giving weekly updates on their government and activities. I hope this answers your questions. Let me know if there’s anything else.

Aloha,
Hunter”

I am utterly shocked that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has endorsed State House District 7th candidate Scott Henderson, and 2nd Congressional District candidate John Willoughby.

I really dislike what the Tea Party stands for. Ms. Palin is synonymous with the Tea Party movement. So, there is no chance in hell I’ll be voting for either candidate she endorsed.

The Coffee Borer Beetle has been found in the Ka’u District. I hope the powers that be find a solution to combat this damaging insect before it’s too late.

Hawaii County council District six candidate Brittany Smart will be on Big Island Chronicle’s inaugural “Hot Seat” online forum tomorrow.

I found this interesting comment today regarding the exemptions sought by Forest City LLC for their proposed Kamakana Villages project. This project will be crown jewel of the urban Kailua-Kona core for years to come. So, it would be huge mistake to allow the developer to cut corners.

Lastly, I noticed Palamanui is in the process of obtaining a NPDES permit for their upcoming roadway intersection improvements to Queen Kaahumanu Highway. This is a huge step towards restarting this project and building the future UH West Hawaii campus.