LIHU‘E — Crossing the “T”s and dotting the “I”s on a commitment it made last week, the Kaua‘i County Council on Wednesday unanimously approved two measures enabling Kaua‘i to become the last Hawai‘i county to have its own dedicated public-use
LIHU‘E — Crossing the “T”s and dotting the “I”s on a commitment it made last week, the Kaua‘i County Council on Wednesday unanimously approved two measures enabling Kaua‘i to become the last Hawai‘i county to have its own dedicated public-use helicopter.
Acknowledging that now is not the ideal time to spend additional money, various council members said they had no choice but to OK the 10-year lease and fund the first year payment requested by the Kaua‘i Fire Department.
“We don’t really have an option,” Councilman Tim Bynum said, pointing to concerns about public safety and liability while noting that other county departments who hope to use the helicopter for their own ends know that the chopper is “not a toy to play with.”
Councilman Daryl Kaneshiro said the county funds fire trucks even though there isn’t a fire every day, and said funding a helicopter even though there isn’t a rescue every day is also important because it allows rescue specialists to train and will make operations safer whenever they are required.
Responding to testimony from resident Rob Abrew, who asked that the county put out a Request For Proposals to see if any rescue helicopter operators might be interested in coming to Kaua‘i, Councilman Dickie Chang said an open bid process might not encompass local knowledge of remote areas and would not include the same relationship of trust that Kauaians have with KFD.
Furthermore, any non-public-use helicopter performing training or rescue operations would need to have two engines instead of one, which could limit its maneuverability in tight spots and would likely increase the costs dramatically, council members said.
Councilwoman Lani Kawahara said that the helicopter is a necessary investment, that all the options have been reviewed and that Kaua‘i’s residents and visitors expect and deserve professional rescue operations.
“We’ve been winging it,” she said.
Council Chair Bill “Kaipo” Asing said he would vote in favor of the full lease with reservations, while Vice Chair Jay Furfaro voted “aye” with reservations when his name was called for the first-year payment money bill.
Furfaro’s question in the meeting asking if the lease would have an early termination clause was not answered by the administration before the council voted.
Approximately $800,000 in expenditures for the helicopter lease and for contracts covering pilot, maintenance and other costs will likely be included in the budget submitted by Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. to the council in mid-March.
A county representative said Wednesday that Carvalho would likely be delivering his second State of the County address shortly after the budget submittal.
• Michael Levine, assistant news editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mlevine@kauaipubco.com.
