Board proposes Kailua improvement projects
| • | Partial list of projects on Kailua's wish list |
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward Bureau
KAILUA — The Kailua Neighborhood Board is proposing 14 projects for the city's fiscal year 2003 Capital Improvement Program, including acquiring the ironwood trees on Kailua Road, creating a beach access at Castle Beach and studying the feasibility of solar air conditioning for city buildings in Kailua.
The proposals cover such needs as traffic calming on Wana'ao Road, $60,000; a bus shelter at Castle Junction, $10,000; and traffic lights at Kalama Beach Park, $20,000, said Charles Prentiss, a Kailua board member. The board will decide whether to forward the projects to the city in a meeting at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Kailua District Park Multipurpose Room.
The costliest project, $350,000, is to purchase land under 57 ironwood trees that line Kailua Road starting at the district park. The trees, about 80 feet tall and on private property, are considered a part of Kailua's history, Prentiss said. There was a community outcry when a homeowner cut down four of the giants five years ago to solve a potential flooding problem.
"We don't want them cut down, so we want the city to acquire the land," he said.
The board also proposes to spend $100,000 for additional basketballs courts at Enchanted Lake and Ka'elepulu elementary schools' park. Basketball players lost the use of courts at Keolu Park with the new construction of the skate park there. The board wants to replace those because of the growing need for courts in the community, Prentiss said.
In a bid for the city to decrease its dependence on fossil fuels, the board wants the city to spend $100,000 to study the feasibility of using solar energy to cool city buildings, he said. The study could benefit the whole island, Prentiss said.
For the first time since the boards were formed in 1972, members are given a dollar amount to designate for specific projects in their communities. Before that, boards made recommendations for CIP projects, but the projects weren't always included in the budget.
This year, the mayor gave the 33 neighborhood boards the power to decide how to spend $1 million each for repairs and renovations in their communities.
For three years now, the island's 19 vision teams have decided how to spend $2 million in their communities. Under these appropriations, residents in areas such as Kailua and Waimanalo have a total of $3 million each to spend on projects. In other areas, vision teams comprise several communities, although each may have a separate board to represent them such as Ala Moana/Kakaako/Downtown/Chinatown and 'Ewa/Kapolei/Makakilo.
Proposed Kailua projects also include:
• Traffic calming, Mokapu Boulevard, $80,000
• Beach access, Castle Beach, $150,000
• Improvements, Kailua District Park, $50,000
• Storm drain improvements, $5,000
• Landscaping between Castle Hospital and Quarry Road, $50,000
• Landscaping mauka canoe storage at Ka'elepulu Stream, $5,000
• Lifeguard station, Kalama Beach, $10,000
• Bicycle racks at bus stops, $10,000
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadver tiser.com or 234-5266.
