After an interminable discussion that felt like a logjam on the back nine, the Kaua’i County Council finally approved amended fee hikes for Wailua Golf Course. Before passage Thursday, the council accepted an amended fee hike proposed by Councilman Kaipo
After an interminable discussion that felt like a logjam on the back nine, the Kaua’i County Council finally approved amended fee hikes for Wailua Golf Course.
Before passage Thursday, the council accepted an amended fee hike proposed by Councilman Kaipo Asing, reducing the financial impact on golfers that the original bill from the county administration would have caused.
The final vote was 6 to 1, with only Councilman Ron Kouchi opposing the fee hikes.
The original proposal was to raise daily resident golf rates at the county-operated course from $8 to $13. Asing’s amended bill, which passed, raised the old rates only two bucks, to $10 a round.
The original bill also would have raised 18-hole rates for seniors from $7 to $13; Asing’s amended rates for seniors went to $9 per 18 holes, also a $2 increase.
Monthly rates for seniors increased from $20 a month to $26. The original proposal would have raised senior rates to $34.
Finally, monthly no-limit fees for residents are going from $35 to $46. Under the original proposal, those rates would have climbed to $49 per month.
Before the rates’ passage, the council voted down Councilman Jimmy Tokioka’s request to charge golfers a $1 across-the-board user’s fee each time they played the course. That fee would have taken effect Jan. 1, 2002.
“I’ve always come from the belief that if you play more, you should pay more,” Tokioka said, explaining his amendment before it was defeated.
Councilman Gary Hooser, who eventually voted for Asing’s amendment, said he was not unhappy with the administration’s higher proposal.
“I support the proposal as submitted by the administration. I trust the judgment of the golf course administrator (Edward Okamoto) and the Kaua’i Golf Association,” whose board voted 13 to 10 in support of the original bill, Hooser said.
Proponents of higher fees say they’re necessary to help pay for maintenance and improvements of the course, which has lost some of its luster since being rated nationally as a top public course.
Hooser also knocked down the comparison of golf course rate hikes with bus fare rate hikes that had been floated by other council members.
“There are no options for people without cars. And the bus (system) is paid for out of fuel taxes. Public transportation is a basic need. Golf is a recreational activity,” Hooser said.
County administrator Wally Rezentes Sr. noted that in Mayor Maryanne Kusaka’s recently submitted supplemental county budget, the golf course is on deck for slightly more than $479,000 in what Hooser called a “subsidy” from the general fund.
Councilman Bryan Baptiste wants more procedure in place before the next fee hikes are proposed.
“There needs to be a formula in place for increases. Unlike our parks, the demand for services (at the golf course) are a little higher than our usual park services,” Baptiste said.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
