Letters for Monday, June 2, 2014

• Simple dairy farm fix • Automatic weapons shouldn’t be sold here • Water outage can’t break spirit

Simple dairy farm fix

Getting a little tired of hearing the same rhetoric about a new fairy farm. Being an advocate for keeping Kauai an agricultural community, how about a solution for a change?

Move the DF to the “10,303 acres mauka of Lihue” that was also recently “designated as Important Agricultural Land (IAL) by the state …” along with and at the same time as the Mahaulepu site. Why crowd 1,800 cattle on a small 528-acre site when there is ample acreage (10,303 acres) much closer to harbor facilities? With DF’s guarantees of no bad odors, flies or hazardous waste materials, doesn’t this sound a little more logical? I’m sure Safeway, the Lihue mall, the college and middle school, KIUC, and Grove Farm offices would not mind the placement of the DF being so close to their sites, nor the surrounding subdivision residents. How about some of their feedback to this idea?

The prime acreages, not included in the 10,303 IAL sector, running along Kaumualii Highway across from the shopping center — KIUC — the new Safeway site, the middle school /YWCA — Puhi. Grove Farm offices and KCC could be used as headquarters as well as for handling, loading and hauling the bovine’s end products down to the Nawiliwili harbor, which is but minutes away (two to three miles) down the road, all downhill no less.

Look at the time and money Pierre Omidyar would save on fuels alone! Rather than hauling truckloads of raw milk some 10 to 12 miles through the Koloa area, the tree tunnel, along the Kaumualii highway and into the Puhi and Kauai college area, Pierre’s trucks could just coast down hill to the harbor and awaiting barges. Can not our elected officials see these benefits? Are they blind or just being controlled?

With guaranteed absences of bad odors, flies, pollution or any other negatives, it sounds like a pretty reasonable consideration and solution. If more land is needed, expansion could move inland, toward the McDonald’s and Wilcox hospital areas. These logistics sound pretty lucrative. Since IAL lands of over 10,000 acres are available and are rated as Important Agricultural Lands, Pierre and Mr. AOL Case will still receive all benefits, tax cuts, grants, special zoning considerations, etc. Another benefit: The IAL rating “preserves and protects the farming industry by maintaining lands as “ag lands” forever. Result: a proud display of less urbanization of our beautiful island of Kauai.

Aloha.

John Hoff

Lawai

Automatic weapons shouldn’t be sold here

Hats off to Jason Blake for his balanced letter to the editor (TGI, May 29, “Is This Who We Are?”) on the topic of gun control or, perhaps more aptly called, “guns out of control.” The issue is both controversial and emotionally charged. One side points to an American’s right, maybe obligation, to “keep and bear arms.” The other side insists that times have changed and that our Founding Fathers could not have envisioned the evolution of weapon technology and would have made provisions against having automatic and semi-automatic weapons available to almost any element of our society. There should be no sale of automatic or semi-automatic weapons on the island of Kauai.

C. Patrick Stack and Katherine E. Stack

Lihue

Water outage can’t break spirit

There is no shortage of conservation … of people’s spirit in Kalaheo, it is ethically sound. They met and talked about the shortage of water and what needs to happen before the water is back to normal.

The fix is not a simple one, but the water department and its employees are working day and night to make it happen. Please conserve your water if you have not. Please help the elderly and people who can not get help.

The mayor said, “If need be, we will get the National Guard.” Like I said, the spirit is strong in Kalaheo. 

Thank you mayor and the county for this very informative meeting.

Ronald Horoshko

Kalaheo