Wai'alae-Kahala board makes construction wish list

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Bureau

KAHALA — Figuring that the community will be better served with a series of small projects than one large one, the Wai'alae-Kahala Neighborhood Board is asking the city to fix up three parks, landscape a median and repave a street in 'Ainakoa.

Last week the board culled 23 ideas from a list submitted by the community and made a priority list of seven projects that will be considered for the city's capital improvements in the 2002-03 budget year, said Lee Manfredi, a Wai'alae-Kahala Neighborhood Board member.

Here is a list of the projects:

• Repave Luinakoa Street, which is cracked and has soil movement. This has been a problem for a while, though residents haven't complained.

• Upgrade the bathrooms, install a soft surface under the playground equipment at Wilson Community Park.

• Resurface the basketball courts at 'Ainakoa Neighborhood Park and put in new playground equipment, a bulletin board and install lights around courts.

• Install a soft surface under the playground equipment at Kahala Community Park.

• Plant grass and install irrigation lines along the tree median on Kilauea Avenue from Hunakai Street to Pahoa Avenue.

• Add trash cans and benches at the bus shelters in the community.

• Traffic calming measures in front of 'Ainakoa Community Park in the interest of children's safety.

"A lot of these parks are in pretty bad shape and are heavily used," Manfredi said.

The remaining items on the community's list were forwarded to the city's vision team for possible consideration, said Lester Fukuda, a member of the board. Many of them were traffic-related, Fukuda said.

No cost estimates were attached to the projects, as the list will be forwarded to the city for pricing. The City Council ultimately approves the budget.

This year the mayor gave $1 million to each of O'ahu's 33 neighborhood boards for community projects that residents felt were important. Normally boards make recommendations to the city for capital improvement projects, but there never was a guarantee they would be included in the city's budget.

This money is in addition to the $2 million that goes to each of the city's 19 vision teams.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.