Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board Opposes HART Rail Project

Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board Opposes HART Rail Project

On Wednesday, October 23rd, the Makakilo-Kapolei – Honokai Hale Neighborhood board passed the following resolution by a vote 6 to 2 in favor of OPPOSING the Honolulu Rail project:

 

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RESOLUTION OF THE MAKAKILO-KAPOLEI-HONOKAI HALE NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD OPPOSING THE HONOLULU RAIL PROJECT

WHEREAS, this community board is concerned that the current route for Rail will not properly service Makakilo, Kapolei, the Ewa Plain and Leeward Coast residents, and

WHEREAS, this community board has significant concerns regarding the financial aspects of Rail and the lack of accountability to the public, and

WHEREAS, this community board is concerned about any diversion of funds from TheBus, a system known nationally as a success, into a system to support Rail, and

WHEREAS, this community board is concerned about the cost and noise level of a steel wheel on steel rail system and the fact that less costly and quieter options were not considered, and that schools, businesses and homes located along the Rail route will be “negatively”
impacted by the level of noise, and

WHEREAS, this community board is extremely concerned about the traffic conditions during the construction phase and after completion of the Rail project, and that not enough is being done to pro-actively mitigate traffic conditions, and that some of the board requests for
additional pro-active measures appear to be ignored, and

WHEREAS, this community board is concerned that with all the new development projects along the Rail route, a freeway Level Of Service (LOS) D or better cannot be attained during rush hour and that not enough is being done to pro-actively mitigate the current or anticipated
additional traffic flow, and

WHEREAS, this community board believes the Rail system was sold to “voters” as a “traffic solution,” when it now appears to be primarily a “land development tool,” and that expert, census, and government survey data clearly show that the Rail ridership will not be at the level
that the city anticipates, resulting in the system being heavily subsidized, ultimately costing the taxpayers in the form of user fees and taxes; therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED that the Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board states its opposition to the Honolulu Rail project.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Mayor of the City & County of Honolulu, all members of the Honolulu City Council, the Director of Planning and Permitting, the Director of Transportation Services; the City Planning Commission,
the Board of Water Supply Manager and Chief Engineer, the State Office of Planning, the State Land Use Commission, the State Director of the Department of Transportation, Leeward and Central Oahu legislators, and all members of Leeward and Central Oahu Neighborhood
Boards along with ALL neighborhood board chairs.

 

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Public Against Honolulu Rail Cost Escalation

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86302364@N02/with/7904814850/

 

BY PANOS PREVEDOUROS PHD - It is important to understand how much costs escalate in megaprojects. All these costs in bond-financed public projects are to be borne by the taxpayer. Oahu has fewer than 400,000 taxpayers so the possibility of a twelve billion dollar bill for a long rail line presents a staggering liability. Over $30,000 per taxpayer.

In 2005 Mayor Mufi Hanneman and his supporters went to the Legislature and asked for a temporary (20 year) 1% tack on to Hawaii's 4% general excise tax in order to develop a large rail system for an approximate cost of $2.7 Billion. The Legislature approved a 0.5% tack on to the GET in hopes that Federal Transit Administration and other taxes will cover the total. Here is the letter to The Honolulu Advertiser by Mayor Mufi Hannemann promising that the 20 mile system will cost $3 Billion.

In 2008 General Elections there was a City Charter Amendment asking the city to install a steel on steel fixed guideway system. The cost of the 20 mile system had grown to $4.6 billion and almost $1 Billion was the contingency funds. TheBusfunds were not touched in 2008.

In 2010 outgoing governor Lingle procured a financial analysis report for the rail that she had supported, in light of the escalating costs of rail and the 2008-2009 fiscal crisis. IDG, a reputable financial and risk analysis consultant based in Washington, D.C., estimated that the 20 mile cost will be more likely $7.2 Billion.

Despite these facts, Governor Abercrombie signed off on the State EIS and Mayor Carlisle dismissed the financial report as "an anti-rail tirade."

In summer 2012 the City submitted its final application to the FTA for a Full Funding Agreement. In it, the cost of the 20 mile line has grown further to $5.17 Billion but contingencies have been reduced to about $600 Million and another $150 Million is "borrowed" from TheBus fleet funds. In other words, the 2012 cost estimate would be $5.7 Billion if they did not fudge the amounts and kept them at the 2008 level.

In May 2012 Councilmember Kobayashi asked HART to estimate the cost of the full 34 mile system from West Kapolei to the UH and Waikiki. HART's response was $9.03 Billion.

If we apply IDG's cost escalation of the 20 mile system to the 34 mile system we get $12.6 Billion. Hanneman's rail has ballooned from $3.6 Billion to $12.6 Billion!

Rail was a bad idea at a cost of $3 Billion. Now that the likely cost is three times higher, the choice is clear. People have made their choice quite clear by handing both Mayors Mufi Hannemann and Peter Carlisle their walking papers.

Panos Prevedouros, Ph.D., is a professor of civil engineering at the University of Hawaii and past candidate for Honolulu mayor.

 

Historic Ewa Station Post Office In Ewa Village May Be Closed

"Makes no sense at all": Historic Ewa Station Post Office In Historic Ewa Village Plantation Headed For Closure

Steve Hutkins    September 20, 2013

 

Steve Hutkins teaches "place studies" at the Gallatin School of New York University

 

http://www.savethepostoffice.com/makes-no-sense-all-ewa-beach-post-office-headed-closure

 

The Postal Service has announced plans to close the Ewa Station post office on Renton Road in Ewa Beach, West Oahu, Hawaii. 

In its “proposal to close,” the Postal Service gives two reasons: There are alternate sites within a short radius, and “over the past several years, this office has experienced low or declining revenue and/or volume.”

It should come as little surprise that revenues at the Ewa Station have been declining.  Several years ago, the hours at the post office were reduced from eight a day to half a day, and then in 2011 they were reduced to just two hours a day, noon to 2 p.m., with no hours at all on Saturday.

Even operating just ten hours a week, the Ewa Station post office does pretty well.  From 2008 through 2012, revenues averaged about $96,000 a year.  The annual cost savings will be something like $48,000 or $60,000 — the proposal to close provides two contradictory numbers — which means that it costs about that much to run the office. 

In other words, the Ewa Station makes a profit on the order of around $40,000 a year.

The proposal to study says revenues at the post office have been declining.  It’s true that revenues fell from $118,500 in 2008 to $83,400 in 2012.  But revenues actually increased from 2011 to 2012, from $79,800 to $83,400.

The Postal Service seems to think that the overall decline since 2008 is the result of the changing habits of customers, but there was also a recession going on during this period, and revenues in nearly every sector of the economy declined in a way similar to those at the Ewa Beach post office — and at nearly every other post office in the country.

There are other problems with the economic analysis in the proposal to close. It estimates labor cost savings for the next ten years at $607,164 and identifies no other costs or savings, yet somehow the total savings is $477,676. 

The numbers don’t add up.

Either way, though, it doesn’t make sense for the Postal Service to say it will save anything in labor costs, considering that under “effect on employees,” the proposal to close says that the employees will simply be transferred to the parent facility and no one is losing a job.

The Ewa Beach Station is housed in a building owned by City, and the rent is just $4,404 a year.

The structure is in good shape, and there’s ample parking.  The proposal to close says that the post office building is "not listed as a historic landmark.”  It’s true that the building isn’t on the National Register of Historic Places, but it is a local landmark and many people like the old timey feel of the place, which is associated with the fact Ewa Planation goes back 150 years.

The post office structure It was built in 1958, making it eligible for the National Register, which uses fifty years old as a benchmark.

The Postal Service almost closed the Ewa Station post office in 2011, but instead, as a compromise with protesting customers, it reduced the hours to two a day.

The entire parking lot was resurfaced, and a new wheelchair ramp was added with a lower service window and lower box access for the disabled, so everyone got the impression that the Postal Service had dropped plans to close the office — until a few weeks ago, when residents learned that the discontinuance process had been resumed.

The Ewa Federal Credit Union is next door to the post office and one of its best customers, so it’s putting up a fight against the closure.  The Credit Union would be severely impacted, since it would need to send an employee seven miles round trip every day to the next nearest post office.

Average citizens are joining in the fight as well.  Customer Vera Kaaikaula has started a petition drive, and she has gotten more than 500 signatures.

State Rep. Rida Cabanilla also supports keeping the post office open.  "The building is part of the heritage of Ewa," said Cabanilla.  "If the post office is losing ground, it's because of poor service."

The area served by the Ewa Station post office is a rapidly growing community.  According to the U.S. census, between 2000 and 2010, the population grew by over 42 percent, from 44,000 to 63,000.  In fact, the last census placed the area as number one in growth in the state.

Customer Robert Midel points to the population growth as an important reason for keeping the office open.  "Every day this community is growing,” says Midel. “It's not going to end. It's going to be hard to get this post office back.  So we don't want it to go."

Seniors comprise a large portion of the Ewa Beach population.  Near the post office is a new apartment complex for seniors, with 150 apartments in phase one and a second phase in the works.  Seniors will have an especially difficult time if the Ewa Beach office closes.  If they don't drive, they will need to take a city bus to get to another post office.

The Ewa Beach population also includes a lot of military and DoD workers — Pearl Harbor, Hickam AFB, Schofield Barracks, Wheeler AAF, Navy Comm/NSA. For everyone who uses the Ewa Beach post office, driving three or four miles to the main post office will be a big hassle — fierce traffic, congested highways, and expensive gas.

According to Sperling’s Best Places, the economic situation of Ewa Beach is better than the national average — a lower unemployment rate, better job growth outlook, a higher household income, and so on.  Many new homes have been built, and many more are planned.

It looks like the kind of place where a post office would do well, especially if it were open more than two hours a day.  The Credit Union says people are always coming into their office trying to do some postal business.

As customer John Bond puts it, “Anyone who has spent time in this Ewa area knows that closing this great little post office makes no sense at all!”

As part of the discontinuance process, the Postal Service must hold a community meeting.  It is scheduled for today — Friday, September 20 — from noon to 2 p.m., a time when most people are at work and won’t be able to attend.

That’s not surprising. The Postal Service doesn’t really want to hear from customers.  It just wants to close the post office.  But there are a lot of people in Ewa Beach who want to keep it open, and they are going to make sure the Postal Service hears about it.

Facebook Comments can be seen and made on Jim Mendoza's Hawaii News Now Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/HawaiiNewsNow/posts/10151865712050479

 

 

U.S. Postal Service May Close Old Ewa Station Plantation Era Post Office

U.S. Postal Service May Close Old Ewa Station Plantation Era Post Office

By Jim Mendoza    HawaiiNewsNow   EWA BEACH, OAHU   Sep 19, 2013

 

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/23480671/postal-service-may-close-old-ewa-station

 

The building isn't on the State historic registry, but the Ewa Station post office on Renton Road is a landmark that opened in 1958.

 

"People like it. It's like an old-fashioned plantation type atmosphere," customer Vera Kaaikaula said.

However, the old building may be on the way out.

The U. S. Postal Service said closing the Ewa Station would save about $500,000 over the next ten years.  Customers said that will rob the community of a valuable service.

"There's a lot of people that come here not only from this community but from the outskirts because they know there's a little post office here," Mary Gushi said.

Postal Service spokesman Duke Gonzales said the agency is exploring ways to increase efficiency and reduce costs, and the Ewa Station is one of thousands under review because of reduced usage, falling revenue and proximity to other post offices.

"Every day this community is growing. It's not going to end. It's going to be hard to get this post office back. So we don't want it to go," customer Robert Midel said.

Kaaikaula started a petition drive to keep the Ewa Station open. She has gotten more than 500 signatures, many from senior citizens worried about having to catch the city bus to get their mail from another post office.

"It's very hard for us. Please, let it stay here," Fumiko Nakamura said.

"It's an inconvenience. If they have packages it's a lot for them. And they're not that strong," Gushi said.

Customers are also confused because the Postal Service recently installed wheelchair access for handicapped customers.  They believe revenue is dropping because the Ewa Station is only open two hours a day.

"How much money can you make in two hours when people are working? If you did that in any post office I'm sure their revenues would be cut too," Kaaikaula said.

"The building is part of the heritage of Ewa. If the post office is losing ground,'it's because of poor service," state Rep. Rida Cabanilla said.

The Postal Service said if the Ewa Station does close, customers could have their PO boxes transferred to the Ewa Beach Post Office, about three miles away.  

 

 

 

Kapolei-Makakilo Neighborhood Board Passes Resolutions Opposing Ho’opili and Ewa Development Plan

Kapolei-Makakilo Neighborhood Board Passes Resolutions Opposing Ho’opili and Ewa Development Plan

 

http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/10610/Full-Text-Kapolei-Makakilo-Neighborhood-Board-Passes-Resolutions-Against-Hoopili-Ewa-Development-Plan.aspx
 

The Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale No. 34 on Wednesday evening, August 28, 2013 passed two important resolutions opposing the Ewa Development Plan in its current version and strongly opposing the Ho’opili development.

 

The resolution opposing Ho’opili states "BE IT RESOLVED that Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board states its strong opposition to the Ho’opili development," which was passed unanimously by the newly elected board members.

The resolution opposing Bill 65, the Ewa Development Plan stats the board was "IN OPPOSITION TO THE CURRENT VERSION OF THE ‘EWA DEVELOPMENT PLAN" and passed was also passed unanimously by the neighborhood board.

 

Attached are the full resolutions as adopted.

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RESOLUTION OF THE MAKAKILO-KAPOLEI-HONOKAI HALE NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD RESCINDING SUPPORT FOR THE HO’OPILI PROJECT

 

WHEREAS, Article 11, Section 3 of the 1978 Hawaii State Constitution as amended orders that “the State shall conserve and protect agricultural lands, promote diversified agriculture, increase agricultural self-sufficiency and assure availability of agriculturally suitable lands;” and 

 

WHEREAS, Act 183, passed in 2005 “requires identification of Important Agricultural Lands (IAL), and, under the standards set forth in Act 183, the Ho’opili farmlands qualify as Important Agricultural Lands; and

 

WHEREAS, in February, 2012, the Honolulu City Council passed Resolution 12-23 CD1 FD1, urging the city’s agricultural liaison to expedite the identifying and mapping of Important Agricultural Lands, and that Resolution ensured that Ho’opili and Koa Ridge, which are within the urban growth boundary, would be considered in the mapping by including the wording: “that the process of identification and mapping of important agricultural lands also consider agriculturally productive lands within urban growth boundaries that are classified as prime agricultural lands, provided adequate water supply is available”; and

 

WHEREAS, the Ho’opili farmlands constitute 31% of the O’ahu acreage currently producing fresh fruits and vegetables for the local market; and

 

WHEREAS, demand for farm-fresh food among people in Hawai’i is increasing rapidly; and

WHEREAS, 90% of our food is imported, and we keep only a week’s supply of food on the island, and any major calamity causing a disruption in our food supply could have catastrophic consequences for our people; and

 

WHEREAS, the University of Hawai’i–West O’ahu, which is directly across the street from the Ho’opili property, will soon be accepting  seventy-five students a year for their agriculture program; and young farmers cannot find property on the island to farm; and much of this land could be made available for those graduates; and

 

WHEREAS, building houses does provide jobs for the builders over a roughly six month period, but once the houses are built, the houses create zero future jobs, while farms create jobs that last for centuries; and

 

WHEREAS, the 34,805 houses that are already zoned, fully entitled, and ready to build in the Leeward area, will fully satisfy the need stated by the Department of Planning and Permitting until 2035, and the additional 11,750 homes of the Ho’opili project will glut the market; and

 

WHEREAS, the Board of Water Supply, noting a decrease in rainfall to replenish aquifers, states that moving to desalinated water will be required at some time during the build-out of Ho’opili and planned units for Kaka’ako; and

 

WHEREAS, the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Ho’opili project states that, during the peak rush hours, the additional traffic from the project will bring the freeway to a standstill, (Level of Service  F) even with rail; and

 

WHEREAS, the H-1/H-2 merge has long been recognized as the bottleneck on the freeway, and, further, it has long been recognized that it is impossible to widen the H-1/H-2 merge or to otherwise solve its bottleneck, and whereas options such as constructing another freeway clearly are not affordable or viable, there can be no other conclusion than that Ho’opili will add another totally unacceptable half hour to forty-five minutes to the commute to of all Leeward residents; and

 

WHEREAS, in June of 2011, the outgoing Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood board voted to support the Ho’opili development by a divided vote; and

 

WHEREAS, a new board was elected on May 21, 2013, and six of the nine elected members ran on a platform opposing the Ho’opili development, opposing any move to desalinated water, and expressing grave concern for freeway traffic, and whereas the electorate was made aware of this platform through all campaign materials, and responded by voting them onto the board; and whereas this new board therefore claims to speak for the people of the area; therefore,

 

BE IT RESOLVED that Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board states its strong opposition to the Ho’opili development.

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED  that copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Mayor of the City & County of Honolulu, all members of the Honolulu City Council, the Director of the City and County of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting, the Director of the City & County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services; the City Planning Commission, the Director of the Board of Water Supply, the State Office of Planning, the State Land Use Commission, Leeward and central Oahu legislators, and all members of Leeward and Central Oahu Neighborhood Boards along with all neighborhood board chairs, the president, D.R. Horton/Schuler Homes; the president, Kapolei Properties, the president, James Campbell Company; LLC; the Kapolei Chamber of Commerce, the Chancellor University of Hawaii-West O’ahu; the chairperson, Department of .Hawaiian Homelands, and the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

 

Adopted by the Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board #34 at its August 28, 2013, meeting by a vote of 6 to 3.

 

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 RESOLUTION OF THE MAKAKILO-KAPOLEI-HONOKAI HALE NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD IN OPPOSITION TO THE CURRENT VERSION OF THE ‘EWA DEVELOPMENT PLAN

 

WHEREAS, the Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board at its November 30, 2011 meeting voted to ask that the no more work on the ‘Ewa Development Plan be done by the Department of Planning and Permitting until the O’ahu General Plan, which should guide the ‘Ewa Development Plan, would be completed; and

 

WHEREAS, during the public discussion period for the ‘Ewa Development Plan, the Planning and Zoning Committee of the Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board met on February 13, 2013, to discuss the Plan; and, in that discussion, that committee came up with seventeen amendments to the Plan; and

 

WHEREAS, that set of amendments was submitted by the then City Council Member for this Council District, Tom Berg, to the Zoning and Planning Committee of the City Council as amendments to Bill 65 (the ‘Ewa Development Plan approval bill); and

 

WHEREAS, at the April 24,2013 meeting of Neighborhood Board 34, the Department of Planning and Permitting presented a response opposing each of  those amendments, and asked for a vote by the then sitting, lame-duck Board, which vote of support was given in a split 6 yes, 2 no, 1 absent vote; and

 

WHEREAS, a new board was elected on May 21, 2013, and six of the nine elected members ran on a platform opposing major points in the ‘Ewa Development Plan--such as  the Ho’opili development, the move to desalinated water, and growth of freeway traffic--and whereas the electorate was informed of this platform through all campaign materials, and yet responded by voting this new majority onto the board; and whereas this new board therefore claims to speak for the people of the area; and

 

WHEREAS, additionally, on July 10, 2013, at the third and final hearing on the ‘Ewa Development Plan by the Honolulu City Council, a full fifty members of the public, including some members of Neighborhood Board 34, testified in opposition to adoption of the ‘Ewa Development Plan in its current form; therefore,

 

BE IT RESOLVED that the Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board reaffirms its opposition to the current form of the ‘Ewa Development Plan, and will pursue a Development Plan amendment process seeking relief for our people through changes of major flaws in the Plan; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED  that copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Mayor of the City & County of Honolulu, all members of the Honolulu City Council, the City Planning Commission, the Department of Planning and Permitting, all State Legislators for the Leeward area, and Chairpersons of all Neighborhood Boards on O’ahu, the chairperson, Department of Hawaiian Homelands, the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and to the news media.

 

 Adopted by the Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board #34 at its August 28, 2013, meeting by a vote of 6 to 3.

 

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BACKGROUND ON HOW AND WHY THIS VOTE CAME ABOUT:

 

Both of these recent votes represent the overturning of the similar votes in May and

June of an outgoing Board majority. The taking up of such controversial and contested

issues by a board who was about to be removed by the community, was thought by

some - as a poor example of the Neighborhood Board process and ignoring the will of

the people. 

 

To others, the “fast tracking” was also “suspect” in that it was timed in conjunction with the

Honolulu City Council and Mayor’s passing of Bill 65 (Ewa Development Plan). Community

members and board elect members had voiced strong opposition to the plan, but the City

Council and Mayor ignored even though they showed out to testify by a ratio of 5 (against)

to 1 (for).

 

Comments from board members included, “it is really frustrating when the City Council and

Mayor appear to be tone deaf to the significant concerns and problems that the community

and new neighborhood board members had presented with the current Ewa Development Plan”.

 

… “it just has the appearance that the City Council and Mayor gave into the developers and campaign contributors, at the expense of taxpayers and the community, and against the will of the people”,

 

Many consider the fast tracking of the Ewa Development Plan prior to the approval of an

Oahu General Plan as a prime example that the Ewa Plain is being sacrificed to bear the majority of the new growth, however the new problems such as traffic, loss of valuable AG land, failing infrastructure, failing roads, and destruction of cultural and historic sites, which are associated with the growth are far outpacing positive aspects (new jobs, new homes).

 

The most obvious example is the failing condition of the roads down the center of Kapolei town, and the impending closure of the Kapolei Post Office. “They want to call this a second city, but you know there is a serious problem, when we can’t even maintain basic services, like having a single post office in Kapolei business sector”, said another board member.

 

“while the freeway and city traffic out here is becoming more and more horrendous, by the day, the city and state response is to continue to press forward with the new construction of homes, which seems completely irresponsible” said a board member.

 

“voting in opposition to the Hoopili project and Ewa Development Plan is only the first step in

letting our elected officials know – enough is enough – we are tired of getting lip service”.

 

“preserving Ho’opili for agriculture is consistent with Article 11, Section 3 of the Hawaii State

Constitution, Act 183 (Important Agricultural Lands), and City Council resolution 12-23

CD1 FD1”…. “but for some reason our state and city legislators and elected officials are not

accountable for adhering to their own legislation”.

 

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