PUHI — Rescue operations, Coco Palms, salary increases, and taxes are all on the docket for Wednesday’s County Committee meetings. Fire Chief Robert Westerman is scheduled to brief the Public Safety Committee on the recent rescues in the Kalalau Valley,
PUHI — Rescue operations, Coco Palms, salary increases, and taxes are all on the docket for Wednesday’s County Committee meetings.
Fire Chief Robert Westerman is scheduled to brief the Public Safety Committee on the recent rescues in the Kalalau Valley, and the reasons why the county is not charging for the recovery of those rescue expenses.
“It’s time we hear from our administration about how it intends to act on negligent situations that warrant compensation for services,” said Councilman Mason Chock. “My hope is that the plan entails a varied response that can further indicate what kind of and whether or not emergency services are truly needed.”
He said that information is imperative for finding the best, cost-effective approach to assisting visitors on state trails, and to ensure quick response to real emergencies.
“It’s no secret that often people do not realize the difficulty of the Kalalau Trail and prefer to get a taxi ride out,” Chock said.
Coco Palms
The planning committee will be hearing a status report on the rebuilding of the Coco Palms Hotel.
In a Feb. 23 meeting, the county panning commission set a status hearing on the progress of rebuilding the historic resort. The developers, Coco Palms Hui, LLC, will be appearing before the commission on April 26 to report.
Several members of the council said while they would love to see Coco Palms restored to its former glory, they’re not optimistic that it will be rebuilt.
“I don’t think it’s going to be resurrected,” said Councilman Ross Kagawa. “And we don’t even own the land, so we could look into acquiring it. I don’t know how much it’s going to cost to break it down and turn it into whatever the community wants.”
Chock said the project’s many delays have instilled fears in him that the hotel will never be restored.
“If the developers are not successful, I believe we should find a way to proceed with demolition,” Chock said. “This area would be a beautiful park, if the Coco Palms is never resurrected.
Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura said she isn’t optimistic that Coco Palms will be rebuilt, either, and she suggested turning the land into a park or a cultural site.
“My main concerns with Coco Palms are the traffic and affordable housing,” Yukimura said. “To me, the conditions passed by the planning commission were insufficient.”
Salary, tax hikes
The budget and finance committee is taking on both salary and tax increases.
Salary increases, to the tune of about $800,000 for elected and appointed county officials, have been detailed in a resolution from the salary commission.
The reason the county is considering the increases is because of a pay inversion between employees covered under collective bargaining agreements and those appointed or elected.
Kagawa said he’s not in favor of the salary increases.
“We are broke right now,” Kagawa said. “It’s not sustainable to approve increases at this time.”
Yukimura said the proposed department head salary increases are “very modest cost of living increases, considering they haven’t been raised since 2009,” while other county employees’ compensations have been increased.
“The problem is more than a problem of department head salaries,” Yukimura said. “Also, the council should get assurances that department heads will be chosen based on qualifications and not politics.”
Chock said he didn’t have any ideas about where the $800,000 would come from within the budget. Kagawa and Yukimura didn’t offer any ideas, either.
“If we see it as a priority, we will find the money,” Yukimura said.
GET increase
Another increase, that of the General Excise Tax, is also on the agenda for the budget and finance committee. The county is considering the one-half percent surcharge to the tax for the next 10 years.
Councilman Gary Hooser said he’s “strongly opposed” to the GET because residents have seen taxes and fees increase over the past few years.
“I’m not willing to support continuing down this path,” Hooser said.
His suggestion was, instead, to try and get the state to release Kauai’s portion of the Transient Accommodations Tax.
“They (Legislature) need to properly fund the county tourism impacts via the TAT, and they need to fund the needed improvements to the state-owned Kuhio Highway necessary to alleviate the horrible traffic mess in Kapaa,” Hooser said.
Kagawa said he’s not in favor of the GET increase either, and that he’d like to see the county get more of the TAT from the state.
Yukimura said she’s planning to propose a combination of a “smaller excise tax, with moderate increases in fuel and vehicle weight taxes” tied to what she thinks are the most “urgent” priorities in the community — reducing traffic congestion, expansion of bus services and infrastructure, and nixing the $100 million backlog of road repairs.
“I am looking forward to a thoughtful and thorough problem-solving that moves us toward less congestion on well-maintained roads,” Yukimura said, “and an affordable and sustainable land transportation system.”
Wednesday’s committee meetings will be at the Historic County Building starting at 8:30 a.m.
•••
Jessica Else, county reporter, can be reached at 245-0452 or jelse@thegardenisland.com.
