Maui mayor attacks pool deal
By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor
WAILUKU, Maui — Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa is accusing former Mayor James "Kimo" Apana of setting up the new administration and the County Council to take the blame for the possible closure of a popular public swimming pool in Wailuku amid the protests of schoolchildren.
Christie Wilson • The Honolulu Advertiser
Arakawa, who served on the council before defeating the incumbent in the November election, said he was unaware that Apana had entered into an option-to-purchase agreement with the owner of the Old Wailuku Pool property. The agreement has an expiration date of July 31. At that time, if the county does not come up with $700,000, the owner would be free to move forward with plans to develop a six-story office building on the site.
'Iao Intermediate School students go for a swim at the Old Wailuku Pool. Former Maui Mayor James "Kimo" Apana signed an option-to-purchase agreement on the pool land in the waning days of his term without consulting the County Council.
Wailuku Elementary School third-graders who walk to the pool for swimming lessons have sent letters to the new mayor and the council and launched a petition campaign imploring the county to buy the 27,249-square-foot property.
The 25-yard pool, which has been a community fixture for at least 60 years, also is used by nearby 'Iao Intermediate School for physical education classes and is popular among kids in the surrounding neighborhoods.
The property on the corner of Wells and Market streets was owned by the county before it traded it in 1984 for one of equal size across the street to use as parking for the Wells Park tennis courts. The county has been leasing the pool lot for $1 a month from Market Wells Hui II LLC, which is made up of several local families.
Council Budget Chairman Riki Hokama said he knew the group has been trying to persuade past administrations to buy the property, but he was unaware the county had entered into the option-to-purchase agreement, which was signed by Apana on Dec. 23.
Hokama said that the county has about $1 million in the current budget for land acquisition and that some of the money might be made available for the pool. He said he would like to see the Department of Education join the county in coming up with the money since two schools regularly use the facility.
"I would hate to lose the pool for Wailuku. It's really part of the character of the town," Hokama said.
Apana was not available for comment, but his former finance director, Wesley Lo, denied Arakawa's claim that the former mayor tried to pull a fast one by signing the purchase option in his final days in office.
"It wasn't negotiated at the last minute," Lo said.
Although it was signed with less than two weeks left in Apana's term, Lo said that was because it was one of a number of pending matters to be tidied up before the former mayor left office.
Lo said it was always made clear that the deal would need council approval. "We just wanted the council to take a look at it," he said.
Market Wells Hui II manager Clifford Beppu sent a May 27 letter to Lo stating that the owner was no longer able to continue the month-to-month lease with the county and that it needed to either sell the property or get the county to pay fair-market value for the lease rent. Beppu offered the county first crack at buying the property and asked that the open-end lease be amended to terminate July 31.
He also sent a Sept. 6 letter to a local DOE official advising her that the pool would no longer be available for swimming classes if the county rejected the offer.
Beppu said the group would accept $1 million for the Old Wailuku Pool site — $700,000 cash and acknowledgment of a $300,000 "charitable contribution" by the owner for allowing county use of the property over 19 years for a nominal fee.
The county's property tax assessment set the value of the property at $709,300 for this year. A private appraisal in August established the market value at $700,000, based on its "highest and best use."
The land is zoned for business and commercial use, with a six-story building height limit. The community plan designation also calls for business or commercial use.
Beppu said the $300,000 figure was arrived at by using a standard formula for what the group would have received as a return on the property if it were in commercial use during the time the county leased it.
Arakawa said a new tax appraisal completed in January valued the property at only $477,700.
"I surely would like to see it," Beppu said.
According to Lo, property tax appraisals are not valid in real estate transactions, since they often don't take into account the highest and best use.
Regardless, Arakawa called Apana's signing of the option-to-purchase agreement "shocking."
Arakawa said that the letters were dated mid-December and were addressed to him, but that he didn't see them until he took office at the start of January and found them stuffed in a desk drawer with no documentation explaining what the children were writing about.
"The former mayor made some decisions detrimental to the community. I feel sorry for these kids. For the former mayor to cancel the lease and put a termination date on this without putting it into the budget or discussing it with the council ... he put our administration and the council in a no-win situation."
