• Hold path ‘pushers’ accountable • ‘The land is chief’ Much ado about something• Hold path ‘pushers’ accountable The Sept. 12 letter to the editor entitled “Preserve Wailua Beach” was outstanding. From the get-go I have opposed this ill-conceived, wrongly
• Hold path ‘pushers’ accountable
• ‘The land is chief’
Much ado about something•
Hold path ‘pushers’ accountable
The Sept. 12 letter to the editor entitled “Preserve Wailua Beach” was outstanding.
From the get-go I have opposed this ill-conceived, wrongly planned bike path. As the writers of the article so well stated, the route of this path should have been a mauka option at Wailua and not makai. In fact, if the entire project would have been planned to go completely along the mauka side it might have had a better chance to succeed.
Councilman Furfaro once stated that our government operates under a “ready, fire, aim” style and though he regretted saying it his words were right on target.
This path was planned to be retrofitted into an area that was already overbuilt and congested — like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
The most mystifying and mind boggling question that the article asks is how did the environmental assessment ever pass given the multitude of problems associated with the conditions along Wailua Beach.
In recent years high tides and storm surges have caused ocean waters to flow completely over Wailua Beach and across Kuhio Highway. As Joe Rosa (formally with state Highways Division) said, the wall along the stretch of Kuhio Highway was put there to prevent these waters from the road and from going into the Coco Palms hotel across the highway. So why would an EA have been passed for a board walk path in an area that is so prone to problems, particularly problems associated with safety?
Plus the cost of repair and upkeep of this path in the sand would be prohibitive — our public works people cannot properly maintain our parks and recreation areas let alone think about unburying or replacing a boardwalk in the sand.
And speaking of an EA or environmental impact statement, maybe someone “pushing” this path no matter what obstacles are encountered can tell the public how these EAs and EISs are passed with all the problems that the predicted route will encounter.
If the path ever gets out of Lydgate Park to go along the projected route (whether the beach route or behind Coco Palms) it will eventually go through one of the busiest shopping centers on Kaua‘i — Foodland and Safeway. Who ever heard of a bike path going through an area like this or, again, how was an EA ever passed without safety being a prime concern?
Then getting back across Kuhio for the second time (great planning!) we find another accident waiting to happen. Vehicles drive across the path by the Kapa‘a Neighborhood Center to park and fish or to use the swimming pool and cars even drive on the path at this intersection to go to their homes — even parking on the path! Again, who does these EAs and allows safety impacts to be ignored?
We had citizen watchdogs Mel Rapozo and Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho on our council to look out for the people and make the “pushers” of this path accountable for their actions — we badly need them now.
It is a breath of fresh air to see our Native Hawaiians now question the validity of statements made that this path has always been community driven and people at the path meetings were all in favor of it and the routes that have been proposed — complete untruths.
No one, including me, is opposed to bike paths if the following conditions are met before work begins: (1) prioritized need is present; (2) total funding is available to complete the project; (3) maintenance money is there; (4) the proper route and EA are done to assure success. For me, none of these points have ever been properly addressed.
Glenn Mickens, Kapa‘a
‘The land is chief’
The recent letter that highlights the inherent dangers of Kaua‘i’s Kalalau Trail should be printed on flyers and distributed to all hikers who choose to take on the challenge (both residents and visitors).
It is sensible and pono to let everyone know up front that this is not a simple stroll in the park. Furthermore, wherever one chooses to hike anywhere on Kaua‘i, I would encourage hikers to be mindful of checking their hiking footwear and backpacks to be careful about bringing unwanted invasive species to the remote areas of our ‘aina.
They need to plan ahead, also, with ways to handle their trash other than to leave it for someone else to clean up after them. The protection and preservation of our finite resources is the responsibility of residents and visitors because “the land is chief; we are all stewards of the land.”
Unless and until we all become a part of the solution, we will all remain a part of the problem. Being on an island is equivalent to being on a canoe: we have shared responsibilities — our hiking trails are but one of those responsibilities that require our attention.
Jose Bulaltao Jr., Kekaha
Much ado about something
I encourage readers to examine the recent editorial in The Garden Island (“Theater of the absurd,” Forum, Sept. 13) and the letters entitled “Confusion is the root of absurdities” (Forum, Sept. 15) and “Much ado about nothing” (Forum, Sept. 18) with the simplest concept in mind:
Our county attorney refuses outright to directly answer the central question asked ad nauseam by members of the public and the Board of Ethics since March 2008 — 18 months and counting — “Do the actions of (specific) county officer(s) violate Charter 20.02D?”
Much ado is about something indeed.
Rolf Bieber, Kapa‘a
