Kailua utility project in jeopardy
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KAILUA — A four-year drive for a beautification project to place utility wires underground in downtown Kailua has been placed in jeopardy by City Councilwoman Barbara Marshall's proposed cuts to the city budget, advocates say, and they are urging her to keep the program alive.
The project and other suggested changes from council members will be voted on after a public hearing on Mayor Jeremy Harris' $1.178 billion operating and $288 million construction budget proposals beginning at 4 p.m. today.
The budget decided upon today could undergo more changes in a May committee hearing. The final version will be voted on in June.
Marshall contends that a package of cuts she has proposed, along with selective tax increases, could avoid the wider tax rate increases proposed by Harris. The mayor said he has already cut the budget to the bone.
Marshall, 3rd District (Kane'ohe, Kailua, Waimanalo), said she deleted a $500,000 request for phase two of the undergrounding project for Kailua Road in an effort to reduce city expenditures and avoid a property tax increase. Phase two runs from Oneawa Street to Hamakua Drive.
More than $2 million has been allocated to design and construct the first phase of the two-part project. Construction was to begin this week to underground wire on the mauka side of Kailua Road from near the Ku'ulei Road intersection to Hahani Street.
"(Phase two) is conservatively estimated to cost in excess of $4,100 per linear foot, and that's more than $3.5 million," Marshall said. "So it's not just the $500,000 that's in this year. It's a commitment to do the rest. We decided to give it a year to look at it more closely."
The project arose out of the city's Vision Team process, in which communities decide what they want in terms of capital improvements in their district. Each team prioritizes projects, and the underground wiring project has been Kailua's No. 1 priority since 1999, said Don Bremner, project champion.
Bremner said he was surprised to learn that Marshall apparently decided on her own to delete the project without consulting anyone involved with it.
"We're appealing to her with a petition and letter," he said, adding that the $500,000 is necessary to keep the project alive.
In the letter he argued that the capital improvement budget has been cut 40 percent and an additional $500,000 "will do virtually nothing to help balance the operating budget." He reminded Marshall that the project had communitywide support and that it would implement official public policy.
"The Ko'olaupoko Sustainable Communities Plan, adopted by the City Council in August of 2000 contains the following policy: 'To enhance the natural environment in and around all communities within Ko'olaupoko, utility wires should be placed underground henceforth and existing overhead wires relocated underground,' " he said
Bremner collected about 200 signatures during the recent I Love Kailua town party, asking Marshall to restore the money. He said he included another petition collected several years ago and signed by approximately 200 people saying they would like utility wires placed underground throughout the community.
Marshall said she wasn't opposed to the plan, but with the city facing a tight budget this year and more than likely a tougher situation next year, the council needed to look at long-term projects that could impact debt service for years and decide the necessity of each.
She said she also has asked council members to scrutinize and cut projects in their communities that don't satisfy a health or safety need.
The recently settled firefighter contract adds nearly $10 million to the budget that was not included in the mayor's budget request, Marshall said. Now the City Council must find the money to finance that by cutting other places, she said.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
