LIHUE — For county officials, 2016 is going to be about increasing efficiency, unsnarling traffic, and finding ways to cut spending. They have all that and more on their plates — plus it’s an election year. County Council Chairman Mel
LIHUE — For county officials, 2016 is going to be about increasing efficiency, unsnarling traffic, and finding ways to cut spending.
They have all that and more on their plates — plus it’s an election year.
County Council Chairman Mel Rapozo said “focusing on the work of the council without being distracted by the 2016 election year” will be a challenge for county leaders.
Along with working on their campaigns, though, councilmembers and the mayor said they’d be focusing on Kauai’s pressing matters.
Councilman Gary Hooser said his top three priorities are taxes, traffic and affordable housing.
TGI contacted all of the County Councilmembers for an opportunity to contribute their thoughts on the upcoming year. Councilmembers JoAnn Yukimura, Arryl Kaneshiro, and Mason Chock were unavailable for comment before press time.
Balancing the budget
The county coffers are forefront in the minds of county officials as well.
“I’m interested in playing a leadership role again in cutting the budget and strengthening our provisos,” said Councilman KipuKai Kuali’i.
Rapozo said he is committed to “balancing the need to fund the county’s core services increasing costs,” with a focus on collective bargaining. He also said he will continue to provide “fiscal oversight of the administration to ensure core services are being met in an efficient manner.”
Kekaha landfill
Kauai produces 81,000 tons of waste a year, which has been going into the Kekaha landfill.
The dump only has about 10 years of life left before it reaches capacity, but that’s only if Kauai achieves a 70 percent diversion rate by 2020. Right now that diversion rate is at 45 percent, but it’s been steadily climbing since 2002, when it was at 22 percent.
“We have a landfill that’s about to expire,” said Mayor Bernardo Carvalho Jr. “Now we’re going through all the studies on the new potential landfill location, and in the meantime, trying to maintain our ‘Reduce, reuse, recycle’ program.”
Carvalho said in 2016 the county will continue efforts “to manage waste in a safe and environmentally safe way” and to “find out what kind of technology we need to bring to Kauai to help manage our waste.”
Rapozo said he’s also going to focus on “continuing the discussions on alternatives to our solid waste issues.”
Kuali’i said he’s “interested in helping our administration either site a new landfill, or find a new technology alternative for disposing our solid waste.”
Transportation
Carvalho expects the Hardy Street improvements will be completed in the spring, which is something he’s really looking forward to.
“There’s a lot of construction happening right now and people are getting fussy,” Carvalho said. “I think once we get all the cones out of there and finish it, people will see how important it is for our community.”
The Puhi Road Rehabilitation Project is scheduled to begin in the spring, and will span from Kaumualii Highway to Kaneka Street.
Erecting more bus shelters is another priority of the county, and the goal is to install 20 every year until 2018.
“It takes time because of the land issues, or we have to work with private landowners to acquire more land,” Carvalho said. “It takes time, but the commitment is there.”
Kuali’i said he’s seriously considering all tax revenue options for funding the county’s $100 million backlog in road repairs. Some of those options are general excise, fuel and weight taxes.
“I also want to help ensure that our county is maximizing the amount of federal funds we are eligible for to fix our bridges and roads,” Kuali’i said.
Treatment center
The mayor and some council members said moving forward with the planned Adolescent Drug Treatment and Healing Center is important in 2016.
Kuali’i said he’s interested in proposing a resolution of support for the treatment center, and Carvalho said he believes the center is worth the money and effort.
“I feel strongly (that) many of our youth are being shipped away when they’re going through this time in their life, when they should be home and able to heal at home with their families,” Carvalho said.
Five acres have been purchased from Grove Farm for the center, it just has to be built. The plan is to have eight beds and youths are expected to stay between two and three months at the center in order to fully heal.
“We do have three interested parties that would like to manage it, but we still have to build it, so we’re seeking funding for that,” Carvalho said. “I think we have good support there.”
Affordable housing, homeless
In 2015, the mayor’s office held a homeless summit that developed a strategy to address the substantial number of Kauai’s homeless: engage the faith-based community.
“I said, we’re going to place the faith-based community and the homeless community on the top (of a pyramid) and everybody else below, and we have to push the resources to the top,” Carvalho said.
The summit brought together county officials, 12 pastors from different parts of the island, and a homeless representative from each area of the island for a discussion.
Two ideas came out of the discussion — use a vacant building as a temporary living space for homeless, and to set up a temporary space in Lihue for those who stay near the county buildings.
“We located an open covered area on the end part of the old Big Save, near the museum in the parking area,” Carvalho said. “I said this is a temporary way to do something sooner than later.”
The administration is planning to put up 20 cots in the area and are currently looking for portable restrooms and showers.
“The bigger picture is to have these people stay there on a cot with services for them in the area,” Carvalho said.
Rapozo and Kuali’i said they’ll working on addressing the issue as well.
Hooser said he and Councilmember Mason Chock are working on a bill for affordable housing that will “come out in a couple weeks.”
Taxes
Rapozo said he’s also considering the general excise tax surcharge proposal, as it would help fund transportation improvements on the island.
In addition, he plans to work with other counties “to convince the state Legislature to lift or raise the Transient Accommodations Tax cap,” and plans to continue work on addressing the transient vacation rental and homestay issue on the island.
Hooser said he’s adamant about limiting tax increases and putting a cap on property taxes.
“For 2016, that will be my focus, trying to cap the increase in property taxes for owner occupants,” Hooser said.
