Centralized Maui office proposed

WAILUKU — Maui Mayor James "Kimo’’ Apana wants to create a one-stop customer service center designed to make doing business with Maui County easier.

But easy wasn’t the word to describe his first attempt to advance a proposal to issue $700,000 in bonds for renovations to a 12,000-square-foot space for the center at the Maui Mall in Kahului.

A Maui County Council committee tabled the proposal yesterday after questions arose about whether the location is ideal for the county and whether other options should be considered. Administration officials were told to come back in two weeks with more details.

Apana last month tentatively agreed to a 10-year lease with A&B Properties Inc. to rent space in Maui Mall. Under the agreement, the county has the option to drop the lease after five years.Ê

The proposal would move the county Finance Department’s Real Property Tax Office and the Motor Vehicle Registration and Licensing division from cramped offices at the War Memorial Complex to a spacious mall location with plenty of parking.

The proposed center has been described as a centralized office where residents can take care of their county business in one place.

"No longer will they have to go to multiple locations throughout the county to renew their car registration or pay refuse collection and water bills,’’ Apana said. "This new center will be our one-stop shop that will increase our efficiency and reduce the time needed to complete these errands.’’

The move would also allow the county Parks and Recreation Department to consolidate its Central Maui offices at the War Memorial Complex.Ê

The council last year gave Apana permission to seek new office space and appropriated $200,000 for the effort. But council members reserved the right to approve the financing for the renovations.

At a meeting of the county’s Budget and Finance Committee yesterday, Jocelyn Perreira, executive director of the Wailuku Main Street Association, urged council members to consider Wailuku first in the search for additional office space.

She said locating offices in Wailuku — the current seat of county government — would further efforts to revitalize the town. "It would be a wonderful opportunity to generate more foot traffic here,’’ she said.

Council member Alan Arakawa expressed opposition to the mayor’s proposal. He previously described it as "ill-conceived’’ and "a bad expenditure of taxpayer dollars.’’

Arakawa said the county should create a completely new home for all of its departments. He said the main county building on High Street is getting old and in dire need of replacing. Creating a separate office complex at the Maui Mall would isolate these services from other county programs, he said.

But administrators with the county’s Real Property Tax office and the Motor Vehicle Registration and Licensing division told the committee the time to move is now.

Dennis Ichikawa, real property tax administrator, said his department took over its current office space with 12 full-time employees. Fourteen years later, there are 30 full-time employees.

"We have reached an absolute limit on our facilities,’’ he said.

Lito Vila, head of the Motor Vehicle Registration and Licensing division, said conditions there are also cramped. The county Department of Fire Control has issued many citations for safety violations.

"If this isn’t approved ... our employees will feel a big, big letdown,’’ Vila said.

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