• ‘Pet prosecutor’ sounds off • Bad day at Black Pot • Vog in my throat • Night light awful ‘Pet prosecutor’ sounds off I am writing in response to a letter by Jon Evans in The Garden Island that
• ‘Pet prosecutor’ sounds off
• Bad day at Black Pot
• Vog in my throat
• Night light awful
‘Pet prosecutor’ sounds off
I am writing in response to a letter by Jon Evans in The Garden Island that contained numerous misstatements (“Pet prosecutor,” Letters, May 15).
In the interest of time, I will make my comments brief. Before I begin though, let me take the time to thank you for recognizing my “nitpicking” skills because it’s because of these very skills that have made Kauai County more compliant with laws so that the county is less likely to face expensive litigation. As you may not realize, each council member is required to uphold the law.
First of all, I have never been against the bike path. I believe it is truly an asset to the county of Kaua‘i if designed and used properly.
The law prohibits dogs in parks, the bike path is located on “park property,” therefore, dogs are prohibited from being on the bike path. I didn’t make that law, however, I am required to follow and uphold all laws, even laws that I or you may not like. It appears that you believe that you are somehow above the law and should be given preferential treatment that certain laws shouldn’t be enforced against you. I’m sure the rest of the community would take offense if I decided unilaterally to pick and choose which laws I wanted to enforce or not. How ridiculous is it?
Secondly, it was because of the leadership taken by myself and Councilman Mel Rapozo that the bike path was relocated away from the ocean, on the mauka side of the parking lot, in the vicinity of Kapaa Beach Park. Initially, the administration had it placed approximately 15 feet from the ocean, the same area where the pavilion had already fallen in. Given the estimate of Doug Haigh that erosion in that area was 5 feet per year, we would have use of that multi-million-dollar bike path for a mere three years. How ridiculous is that? Yet, that was the plan until we “fought” religiously to protect it. With sea level rising and erosions occurring at a phenomenal rate, this council was very aggressive in passing a law that requires all structures “including” bike paths to be 40 feet away, plus 70 feet times the rate of erosion. Given this, your claim about me “losing” on moving the path back 5 feet is totally ludicrous.
Thirdly, we are now committed toward allocating millions of dollars of 100 percent county funds toward repairs of the sinkholes in the Moana Kai and Pono Kai area adjacent to the bike path. It is clear to me that these problems that endanger the lives of users of the bike path could have been paid with 80 percent federal funds and only 20 percent county funds had we done the repairs prior to laying the concrete. However, the administration in my view, ignored the problems despite it being brought to their attention several years ago and went ahead and laid the concrete right over the sinkholes by Pono Kai.
Now we need to fix it with 100 percent county funds. Assuming conservatively that it will cost $4 million, and had the administration operated prudently, the county’s share would have been only $1 million, which instead now it will be the total $4 million of your hard earned property tax dollars that will have to pay for it. How ridiculous is that?
Fourthly, it was because council member Rapozo and I worked with the Wailua Houselots community that we were able to get a meeting that brought out hundreds of residents to beg the administration not to put the path in their residential subdivision, of which the mayor finally agreed. How ridiculous is that, to put a million dollar project where the community didn’t want it?
Fifthly, it was council member Rapozo and I who worked with over 300 members of the golf community and were able to save the golf course instead of having the bike path go through it, and save its beautiful view when the administration was contemplating building a 10-foot concrete wall along the golf course perimeter fronting the highway to prevent path users from stray golf balls. How ridiculous is that?
These are but a few things that you consider sabotaging the bike path that I am confident that thousands of others totally disagree with you.
Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho
Anahola
Bad day at Black Pot
Perhaps The Garden Island can expound on the May 16 report covering events at Black Pot Beach Park (“Black Pot closes amidst grumbling,” A1, May 16).
Are we to believe that it required 20 of Kaua‘i’s finest (police officers not including dogs) and 12 DLNR officers to oversee the removal of a privately owned 30-year-old Matson container by 20 county employees?
What or who did they expect to be in the container — Osama bin Laden?
And Mike Sheehan, owner of the container, was embarrassed at the police presence but now plans on “replacing the container as soon as possible”?
Are members of the public only allowed to place newer containers in our public parks? If so, please inform the readers and put me first in line so I can place one of my own at Po‘ipu Beach Park.
Robin Clark
Kalaheo
Vog in my throat
What’s with this weather?
I was playing music last night at Cafe Coco and couldn’t sing too good, ‘cause I had a vog in my throat.
Daniel Renaud
Kapa‘a
Night light awful
In Kaua‘i we didn’t expect air pollution, but can live with the vog because at least it is temporary — and isn’t created by humans. Unfortunately such is not the case with street lights.
With multiple letters, calls and contacts to Kauai County and its engineering department, no one has gotten back to me about the street light which was put up in front of our house. It has kept my family up at night for the last week.
We were not asked or told about it and now, no longer do we have a clear view of the stars or peace of mind that comes from a good night’s sleep. We didn’t move to Kaua‘i to have to keep our shades down and wish someone would call back.
Ingrid Middleton
Kapa‘a
