After weeks of pushing back the relaunch of Superferry service, it resumed Dec. 13 between O‘ahu and Maui. Service to Kaua‘i has yet to be announced. Until then, residents of Kaua‘i are invited to take part in a community meeting
After weeks of pushing back the relaunch of Superferry service, it resumed Dec. 13 between O‘ahu and Maui. Service to Kaua‘i has yet to be announced. Until then, residents of Kaua‘i are invited to take part in a community meeting in Kapa‘a Wednesday to discuss the possible return of the Superferry.
The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. at the Kapa‘a Neighborhood Center.
“This meeting will bring a coordinated strategy together in case people are tapped for community meetings (with Superferry officials),” Hanapepe resident Juan Wilson said.
Wilson points out a meeting with Superferry CEO and President John Garibaldi and Kaua‘i Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura, HUI-R participant Jonathan Jay and anti-over-development activist Teddy Blake that took place a few weeks ago.
According to Wilson, the meeting wasn’t very productive.
“After that meeting, people realized these meetings with Garibaldi weren’t going to be fruitful,” Wilson said.
Word spread through phone and e-mail, and a meeting was organized to address “how we are going to respond” to service returning to Kaua‘i, Wilson said.
Kapa‘a resident Rich Hoeppner says the community meeting will be “a gathering of ideas” and a way to “get an opinion on what’s the best way to go” when the Superferry comes back to Kaua‘i.
“Different people will have different presentations on things that should be done,” Hoeppner said. “We’ll see what happens.”
The Superferry hasn’t been to Kaua‘i since Aug. 27, when protesters prevented the high speed ferry from docking in Nawiliwili Harbor. The next day, the Superferry indefinitely postponed all trips to Kaua‘i.
On Oct. 30, state legislators voted on a bill to enable the Superferry to resume inter-island service while an environmental impact statement is completed by the state. Governor Linda Lingle signed the bill into law, but announced more than 40 conditions meant to minimize the ferry’s impact on Hawai‘i’s environment.
Two weeks later, Maui Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza lifted an injunction that had halted Superferry service to Maui.
After a few weeks of bad weather preventing the Superferry relaunch, service resumed Dec. 13.
• Rachel Gehrlein, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or rgehrlein@kauaipubco.com.
