Kaimuki Neighborhood Board - Minutes Of September 17th,, 2008 Posted - Kaimuki

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Kaimuki Neighborhood Board - Minutes Of September 17th,, 2008 Posted
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Courtesy of Neighborhood Commission Office

Source Neighborhood Commission Office

KAIMUKI NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD

REGULAR MEETING MINUTES

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Lili'uokalani Elementary School Cafeteria

I. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Sharon Schneider at 7:10 p.m. with a quorum of eight members. Note: This board of 11 needs a quorum of six (6) members.

Board Members: John Cater, Abigail Leong, Ginny Meade, Sharon Schneider, Dori Smith, Leonard Tam, Lori Yamada, Mark Terry.

Members Absent: Vernon Tam and Daniel Carvalho.

Guests: Lieutenant Tony Kahupea, Sergeant Howard Ishida, Officer Jason Hendricks (Honolulu Police Department, District 7), Fire Fighter Robert Marshman (Honolulu Fire Department, Kaimuki Station), Lorna Heller (Board of Water Supply), Stan Fichtman (Staff of Charles Djou), Representative Calvin Say's Representative Calvin Azama, Representative Lyla Berg, Lydia Chock (Leahi hospital), Caron Wilberts, Jadine Lee, Galileo Tan, Joan Shinn (Representative Barbara Marumoto), Ken Stanley, Justin Fanslau (Go Rail Go), Michael Louis, Chester Kanehira, Tina Yamamoto, Steven Ito, Eric Wong, S. Sonoda, Julia Allen, Ann Wong, John Gollner, Florence Holtz, Stanley Louis, Representative Barbara Marumoto, Senator Les Ihara, Gordon Tam, Duke Bainum, John Lane (Neighborhood Commission Office).

II. Filing Vacancies: There were no volunteers for the open seat in Sub District 1. Mark Terry would like to volunteer for the open seat in Sub District 3. Smith made a motion to appoint Terry to the board. Cater seconded. Motion was adopted unanimously. Aye: Leong, Meade, Cater, L. Tam, Yamada, Smith, Schneider.

III. PUBLIC SAFETY/ COMMUNITY AGENCY REPORTS:

A. Honolulu Police Department (HPD): Lieutenant Kahupea, District 7, distributed the August statistics sheet and noted there is comparison sheet that covers different neighborhoods in this district for the last six months. Burglaries 16, Thefts 24, unauthorized entry in to a motor vehicle (UEMV) 11.

· For solutions to longstanding problems, report it on their website, www.honolulu.org/patrol/d7 and they will respond within 48 hours.

Questions, comments, and concerns: None

B. Honolulu Fire Department (HFD): Captain Marshman, Kaimuki Fire Station reported the following:

· The July statistics were 3 structural, 2 rubbish and 0 vehicle fires; 69 medical calls, 2 search and rescue and 29 miscellaneous calls. There were no major incidents.

· Safety Tip: Fire Prevention Week (FPW) has its roots in the Great Chicago Fire on October 8-10, 1871. On the 40^th anniversary of that fire, the Fire Marshals Association of North America decided the anniversary should be observed nationally to inform the public about the importance of fire prevention. Since 1992, FPW has been observed the week of October 9. Did you know that most fire injuries and fatalities are caused by fires that occur in our homes? This year's campaign will focus on preparedness and underscore the importance of regularly checking your home for fire hazards.

Questions, comments, and concerns: None.

C. Board of Water Supply (BWS): Lorna Heller distributed, "Water Emergency Preparedness" brochure and made the following announcements:

There were no main breaks in the month of September.

Natural disasters, power outages, rolling blackouts, or other unexpected events can disrupt the ability of the BWS to provide water service to the community. September marks the observance of National preparedness month, so they distributed an informational flyer detailing how to prepare for an emergency. For more details, visit www.boardofwatersupply.com.

Did you know:

1) The BWS pumps an average of 150 million gallons of water every day?

2) The BWS maintains a water system that includes approximately 2,000 miles of pipes, four shafts, 12 tunnels, and 84 well stations?

 Questions, answers and concerns:

1) Heller commented that the fire hydrant at 1654 Sierra Drive is now working properly.

IV. Public Input and Concerns: None

V. Unfinished Business: None.

VI. New Business:

Rail Transit – Pro and Con. One speaker each from Go Rail Go and Stop Rail Now, each to speak no longer than 15 minutes.

Go Rail – Clay Stanley: Stanley would like to make one thing perfectly clear up front. He is not a person from the project team. He retired at the end of May after 41 years working in the transportation field. The last 12 years he has been on Oahu working for The Bus. Rail is not the answer to all of life's problems but it is the best solution to some of Honolulu's traffic congestion. Rail is both more reliable and faster than The Bus. It's also very convenient. Senior citizens will like the way that their schedule will be uninterrupted on a day to day basis. Since all the growth is going to be out west we need an environmentally friendly way to transport people.

 Pedestrian friendly cities are healthy cities. Using public transit is a good way to keep healthy. People need to walk more to keep in shape. Look at Mililani it's a automobile oriented town. It's not only easing up on traffic congestion it's a better way to live.

Questions, comments, and concerns:

Cater mentioned that the rail will only be able to transport 19,000 people each way during peak travel times. Stanley said that by moving those people by rail then Honolulu's traffic congestion will stay the same. If nothing is done it will be 30 percent worse in the future. Abigail stated that our taxes are being raised right now. Justin Fanslau answered that is news to him.

Leonard Tam said that Go Rail has done a lot of studies about who wants rail but the study should be about who will ride the rail. No one wants to ride the rail but they hope that their neighbors will. Stanley said that the corridor routes of the buses currently carry 90,000 passengers a day. People who don't even ride buses will ride the rail because in every place that rail has been built that has been proven. The big advantage of rail over buses is that you can carry people cheaper on the rail than you can on the bus.

Jeanine Lee declared that she lives on a set income and needs to know where she stands. The information pertaining to the cost of rail is not good. It should be provided in a timely matter and it isn't. Tell people who found the information and where did they find it. So people can check the numbers for themselves before they make a decision. Stanley responded that the project is following the federal rules in gathering, researching, and providing information.

Stop Rail – Cliff Slater: He is the co-chair of Stop Rail Now and HonoluluTraffic.com. Slater has to criticize some of the things that Stanley has mentioned. 70 percent of the mass transit users in Portland use buses and only 30 percent use the rail. Trains are typically not filled with passengers except for a few certain times of the day. There only has to be 1.15 riders per car to use 20 percent less fuel per passenger mile then a car. The last rail line in Puerto Rico went 113 percent over budget. It only has attained 30 percent of its projected ridership.

The greatest problem is traffic congestion. If your solution doesn't stop the congestion then it is not the answer. All of Stop Rail's numbers are footnoted from federal and state references. People accused Stop Rail of lying repeatedly. 73 percent of the people do not understand that in the future traffic will be much worse. If you look at the main traffic corridor H-1, and Kamehameha Highway there's no plan to increase the capacity. Developers are building 45,000 more homes on the Ewa plain. How are all of these people going to get to work? They will have to leave their houses by 4:00 in the morning. The irreversible rail line will be a visual blight. Stop rail has been conducting tours and if you would like to attend one of the tours please contact them. The top of the Ala Moana station is 120 feet high and the Manoa one will be even higher.

The Waikiki spur will bring the project over seven billion dollars. Of the 57 largest metro areas most of the other 56 do not have rail. These are the real numbers please read them. The federal government says that rail will cost more per person than cars as people downsize and cars get better fuel efficiency. Cater asked how long it would take to get from Kapolei to the end of the line. Stanley responded that from Kapolei to Downtown is one hour and from Downtown to the University of Hawaii is another 25 minutes. The time per stop is two minutes. It will average 28 miles per hour. 55 miles per hour will be its top speed.

Terry commented that there has been some controversy on the federal money, how much will Honolulu get? Slater answered that Honolulu is not mentioned anywhere in the federal budget. It's not at that stage yet. A resident asked if the rail is bad for the environment how come the Sierra Club endorses it. Slater answered that he doesn't know but he has been trying to meet with the Sierra Club for 20 years. Slater said that the outdoor circle doesn't want an elevated rail running thru Oahu. It will desecrate the landscape. Schneider asked that if rush hour traffic will be 37 percent greater with rail then what will it be without rail. Slater said not much more.

Duke Bainum asked Slater if it concerned him that the only option right now is steel on steel. Slater said that any rail would be a mistake. Bainum said that he met with someone who told him that mag-lev technology could save the people as much as 480 million and be cheaper to maintain.

Go Rail – Stanley replied that mag-lev technology is not used in this context except in a few places around the world. Steel on steel has many advantages. The major one being that there are many companies who can provide cars and materials. 90 percent of all rails in the United States are steel on steel. The environmental groups are backing rail because cars are the largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world. 30 percent of all greenhouse gases are from cars. We have ways to power the rail without having to burn oil.

VII. Elected Officials:

Mayor's Representative: None

City Councilmember Ann Kobayashi: Report Circulated.

City Councilmember Charles Djou Representative-Stan Fichman: The city is trying to limit the amount of power used in city buildings. Plans will be heard at the end of the month at City Hall. The next City Hall meeting will be on September 24. Schneider asked if Djou with his energy concerns was considering urging the city to use alternate energy for their power. He has gotten the permit fees for photovoltaic energy waived because it's already expensive to begin with.

Governor Linda Lingle Representative- Susanne Jackson: She emailed the responses for the two questions that were asked in the August meeting.

State Senator Les Ihara (9^th District): Currently the house is out of session. One bill he is working on is regarding Senior Citizen issues. The governor vetoed a bill that would have gone to helping the most vulnerable senior citizens. The house did a veto override so that if meals on wheels ran out of money that the governor can step in and help them out.

State Representative (House Speaker) Calvin K.Y. Say (20^th District): Calvin Ozama reported: His report was circulated.

State Representative Barbara Marumoto (19^th District): She thanked Senator Ihara for clarifying that the veto has been overridden. We will all see soon what the actual outcome will be. She circulated her written report.

State Representative Scott Nishimoto (21^st District): Report was circulated.

State Representative Lyla Berg (18^th District): In early 2005 Berg's office began convening the Kaiser Complex and Kalani Complex Forums as an opportunity for all roles groups in our community (business, education, non-profit, youth, service organizations, elected officials, etc.) to dialogue and exchange ideas towards a common vision for the educational experiences and learning outcomes of our area youth. Niu Valley becoming an IB candidate school is an outcome of those community engaged dialogues.

Malama Maunalua has been spearheading a hard effort to educate people about water quality and fixing Hanauma Bay so that the silt doesn't end up ruining Waikiki beach. During September, the Hanauma Bay Education Program will partner with Malama Maunalua for a month of information sharing. All events are free and open to the public. Thursday evenings in September, programs begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Hanauma Bay Theater. Parking is free after 5:30 p.m.

VIII. Approval of Minutes from August 16, 2008 Regular Meeting:

· Header from page two and on change the date from July's meeting to the meeting in August.

· Page two, section c, question and concerns please change Leonard Tam to Charles Schuster in the first sentence.

· Page five, Linda Lingle's Rep. should be Susan not Susanne.

Smith moved; Cater seconded to adopt the August 20, 2008 minutes as corrected. The motion was ADOPTED by unanimous consent. (Aye: Cater, Leong, Meade, Schneider, Smith, L. Tam, Terry, Yamada).

Treasurer's Report: Yamada read the August 2008 Statement that showed a balance of $2,887.17, in the budget. Expenses for printing and mailing the minutes and agenda totaling $51.42 left a balance of $1,396.17. The publicity account has a balance of $1,371.00 and there is a balance of $120.00 in the refreshment account.

Announcements: Vice Chair Schneider announced the following:

· The next board meeting will be October 15, 2008.

Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m.

Submitted by:

John Lane, Neighborhood Assistant

Reviewed by:

Thursday, October 09, 2008

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Kaimuki Neighborhood Board - Minutes Of September 17th,, 2008 Posted

Kaimuki, Hawaii
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