Kona KTSC Weblog

USGS HVO News Release October 15, 2006
Two earthquakes of magnitude 6.6 and 5.8 (preliminary) were
recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano
Observatory on October 15, at 7:07 and 7:14 A.M. HST,
respectively. The first earthquake was centered in Kiholo Bay
at a depth of 39 km (24 miles). The second earthquake was
located 20 km (13 miles) northwest of Kawaihae at a depth of
19 km (12 miles). The earthquakes were felt state-wide.
Damage has been reported in the Kona and Waimea areas and
many highways have been closed by Hawai`i County Civil
Defense. Aftershocks continue.
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/pressreleases/pr10_15_06.html

Damage Information
* Highway 19 or Hamakua Belt Highway is closed to all through traffic
at the 35 mile marker traffic is being detoured through an old
plantation road. Do expect delays and plan for additional 25 to 30
minutes travel time. Do drive with caution and expect delays.
* Akoni Pule Highway or Route 270 at the 4 mile marker is closed to
all traffic. Closure is due to damage to a bridge. Motorists are being
detoured through Kohala Ranch Road.
* Kohala Mountain Road or Highway 250 at the 9 mile marker point
is open to one lane of traffic only. Do approach the area with caution
and do expect delays
http://co.hawaii.hi.us/cd/message.htm

The state has unique problems during power outages, with difficulty
restoring power without damaging power generating systems. With
very little damage on Oahu, the island still has thousands without
power. HELCO hopes to have all power restored by midnight.

Airports are now operating after hours of delays. The earthquake
event identifies auxiliary power deficiencies, with no possibility of
emergency evacuations under the present systems.

Kona Community Hospital’s long-term and surgical patients were
evacuated due to structural damage; nevertheless, emergency
services are still available and provided.

Maui has offered to loan heavy equipment to the Big Island to assist
in the rockfall cleanup effecting roads islandwide.

The Honolulu Police Department has offered relief assistance to the
Hawaii County Police Department.

Barbara Scott

The October 15th, 6.6 earthquake was centered near Waiokoloa and effected the entire State of Hawaii.

A State of Emergency has been declared for the Island of Hawaii. For current civil defense information islandwide, please check the Civil Defense website:
http://co.hawaii.hi.us/cd/message.htm

The Kona Community Hospital is being evacuated due to structural damage.

Roads are considered unsafe for travel at this time, so travel should be limited to emergency needs only.

CNN covered the story for hours today. Local information is now available on Channel 12 – other stations are offline.

Mayor Kim is making announcements regarding road, school and business closures – Kim states that closures will be announced.

Best wishes for everyone being safe.

Barbara Scott

The October 6, 2006 edition of West Hawaii Today (WHT) reported that DOT
announced the Haukapila Road repair project would go out to bid. Haukapila
Road is the access to the Kona Community Hospital, the Third Circuit Court,
Kona Division, and private residences. In the WHT article, DOT Deputy
Director Brennon Morioka commented, “You can tell that major maintenance
has not occurred in a while.” DOT will seek repair cost reimbursement after
establishing road repair and maintenance responsibility.After heavy flooding in South Kona in 2004, a resident in the Haukapila Road
area contacted KTSC to see what might be possible to promote repairs to the
road, due to flood damage and general disrepair. Over a period of several
months, KTSC communications with the Governor’s Liaison office identified
a pending arrangement for Kona Community Hospital (HHSC) to take over
ownership of Haukapila Road. It appears the proposed arrangement did
not come to fruition.In the course of requesting repairs for Haukapila Road, a few facts were

established. The County stopped maintaining Haukapila Road on September 15,
1992. According to former Governor’s Liaison Sharron Ackles’ research, the
hospital property was deeded to the Department of Accounting and General
Services (DAGS) on September 14, 1984. The County relinquished maintenance
responsibility for the easement accessing the Department of Health facility
deeded to DAGS.DAGS, however, did not maintain the road at any time before or after 1992.
Somewhere along the way, responsibility procedures and interagency
communications broke down.Backtracking prior to 1992 might be a good start for establishing current road

jurisdiction. The road became the access to the hospital by a 30-foot perpetual
easement. Kona Community Hospital was originally a wooden structure built in
1941. The hospital is currently housed in a three-story structure built in 1975.
Presumably, the 1984 deed transfer to DAGS placed the Haukapila Road
perpetual easement under DAGS’ jurisdiction.Act 262, Session Laws of Hawaii 1996, established the Hawaii Health Systems
Corporation as a “public body corporate and politic and an instrumentality and
agency of the State.” (HHSC Overview) The State Procurement Office identifies
HHSC as a state agency and establishes HHSC duties and powers by statute
under §323F-7(a)(30) to “[develop] internal policies and procedures for the
procurement of goods and services, consistent with the goals of public
accountability and public procurement practices…”From a Territorial government to Statehood and through several County

administrations, it is conceivable that road maintenance requirements were
quite different in 1941, 1975, 1984, 1992, and 1996.It appears that ownership issues continue to cloud road maintenance
jurisdiction. The Haukapila Road perpetual easement should have continued
with the deed transfer to HHSC (BOC Doc # 02-137643). Under procurement
procedures that apply to the HHSC system, it is reasonable to expect HHSC to
arrange through procurement procedures for Haukapila Road maintenance;
however, if DAGS did not transfer their deeded interest in the easement to
HHSC, then responsibility would fall to DAGS. The buck passed between the
County, DAGS, and HHSC regarding road maintenance.DOT is moving forward to provide maintenance for critical infrastructure – just

to get it done. Kona Community Hospital serves the West Hawaii population,
including North and South Kona districts. In October of 2004, Virginia Isbell was providing support and information in
an effort to assist in getting Haukapila Road maintenance established. She
commented at that time, “…The problem appears to have been a band-aid
approach over the years. There never has been a serious A-1 approach to
this life-and-death road that the entire community depends on when being
transported to the Hospital…”The recent State budget surplus was not applied to critical infrastructure in
West Hawaii; instead, the legislature applied surplus funds to Airport,
NELHA, Port, and Saddle Road improvements. It will be in West Hawai’i
interest for HHSC to establish ownership and responsibility for the 30-foot
perpetual easement before procurement requests are submitted for the
next legislative session.

Barbara Scott

The Office of Environmental Quality Control (OEQC) has offered a document
library with public access for project environmental review and report
documents. Listings include Draft EA, Draft EIS, EISPN, Final EA, Final EIS,
NEPA, SMA, and other references. This can be a valuable resource regarding
pending commerical and residental development approvals and the specific
actions proposed by developers to mitigate their project’s traffic impacts. OEQC Document Library
http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/default.aspx

North Kona project – Draft EA: West Hawaii Civic Center.
South Kona project – Draft EA: Mamalahoa Highway Improvements –
Parking Lot and Bus Shelter.
Another Draft EA of interest is the Waikoloa Emergency Road.Environmental studies and reports are listed in
The Environmental Notice:
Current Issue
http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/sites/EnvNotice/Shared%20Documents/current_issue.pdf

Archive Issues
http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/sites/EnvNotice/default.aspx

The Laaloa Advisory Group met on Wednesday, October 4, 2006. The
group consists of 21 people who are interested in proposed improvements to
Laaloa Avenue.According to the article published in West Hawaii Today on Thursday,
October 5, 2006, the group is using Contest Sensitive Solutions (CSS) as a
methodology to address issues and find a way to create a mauka-makai
connector road, currently proposed as the Laaloa Avenue Extension.
The Federal Highways Administration describes CSS as a collaborative,
interdisciplinary approach and considers the total context within which a
transportation project will exist. “CSS principles include the employment
of early, contiguous and meaningful involvement of the public and all
stakeholders throughout the development process.” More information is
available about the CSS process: Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) .There is a history involved in creating a mauka-makai connector road in
the Laaloa Avenue area. Unfulfilled developer promises and delayed
performance are among the problems that contribute to connectivity
problems in Kona communities.In the CSS method, alternative solutions are considered. It is noteworthy
that the Laaloa Avenue Extension is not the only mauka-makai connector
road proposed in the area. Additional connectivity is not presented as an
either-or solution: more than one mauka-makai road is advisable to create
a road network – something seriously lacking in Kona.The D-Bar Ranch SMA includes a Planning Director recommendation for
Condition 5, related to an alternate mauka-makai emergency route from Alii
Drive to Kuakini Highway. The July 21, 2006 transcript provides references
to unresolved issues regarding the mauka-makai connector road.
Planning Commission Hearing Transcript – D-Bar Ranch SMA

The transcript includes a discussion regarding the 1994 Rezoning Ordinance
to support a proposed project. Twelve years later, the Rezone is still in effect,
with no time limit related to the original rezoning.
Ordinance 94-124, Effective 12-7-1994
Pahoehoe 2nd, North Kona, TMK 7-7-08:21 and 23
Original Zoning: CV-1.25 Final Zoning: RM-3.5, RS-7.5, RM-3.5
(Ref.: COH, County Code, p 978: North Kona § 25-8-3, ¶ 141) According to Bureau of Conveyance records, in 1994, the D-Bar Ranch property
owner was Keauhou Investment Co. The property ownership transferred to
Paul Dumas and to D-Bar Ranch in October 2004. Before the month ended,
D-Bar Ranch transferred ownership to Paul Dumas, who is a principle in the
California Partnership, Keauhou Investment Co. D-Bar Ranch is the listed
property owner in tax records, a subsidiary of Westpro Development under
Westpro Holdings (John Stevens). It looks like the transactions brought the
property ownership in a full circle back to the original owner, with Westpro
managing the project under the D-Bar Ranch name. We have to rely on
County officials to enforce development approval conditions – it looks like a
good trick when projects are managed through an ownership maze.Barbara Scott