LIHU‘E — The county is finalizing agreements with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to handle all services required to upgrade the Waimea and Hanapepe levees to conform to current Federal Emergency Management Agency standards.
County Managing Director Mike Dahilig reviewed ongoing flood-mitigation initiatives throughout Kaua‘i, during a Jan. 20 Kaua‘i County Council committee meeting.
Dahilig’s appearance and councilmembers’ subsequent discussion were prompted by Councilmember Felicia Cowden, who requested the managing director provide an update on $39 million obtained from the state in 2019.
“It ranges from things related to baseyard construction, to repair subgrants (and) levee repairs out in Waimea,” Dahilig said of the funds’ use, “as well as providing for some funds to be used as mitigation-implementation funds for various projects throughout the North Shore region.”
Kaua‘i has allocated nearly half of the funds — $18 million — to Waimea levee and floodgate repairs.
Once the county strikes a deal with the corps, local officials must navigate a permitting period before boots hit the ground.
“It will be months, if not at a least a year from now, that I would suspect that you would see some progress made on the permitting front, to be able to get a design that meets compliance with the federal requirements,” Dahilig explained.
Dahilig named the Hanalei baseyard, where several construction projects are now underway, as “the most significant progress” made with the flood-mitigation monies to date.
The county Department of Public Works’ baseyard is getting a new main building, garages, office and storage space for the county Department of Water, and a public playground.
The work taking place across from Wai‘oli Hui‘ia Church has a project budget of $400,000.
“We anticipate to have that be wrapping up within the next six to eight months,” Dahilig said. “Then we’ll be able to have a facility for the county that will not flood because, compared to 2018, that whole baseyard flooded out and we had no facilities able to be used in that area.”
Nearly $7.3 million has been slated for Hale Halawai ‘Ohana O Hanalei, a nonprofit organization.
The hale will, in turn, disburse the money to flood-related projects on the North Shore.
The process was described as an effort to spend the funds in an open, competitive and community-based way, rather than allow county administration to dictate policy.
“We’ve been reticent to do that, simply because we know that there are many different opinions and many different strategies on what the $7.3 million could be used for,” Dahilig told the council. “We think having a decision process be pushed closer to the community, rather than having it be selected, is a strategy that gets us to a level of community acceptance.”
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Scott Yunker, reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.
