Big Island Mayor Harry Kim is seeking to upgrade the county's communications system, as well as maintaining other services as the island is coping with a population surge. Kim and his staff addressed the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce yesterday. Advertiser library photo

The second-term mayor and senior members of his staff spoke yesterday before about 150 West Hawai'i residents during an annual luncheon sponsored by the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce.

Much of the rest of Kim's speech and the presentations from six department chiefs focused on maintaining county services in the face of rapid growth across the island.

Kim acknowledged the island's population increase.

"It's because people are starting to find out what you and I already know," he said. "We live in the most beautiful place on God's green earth."

Planning Director Chris Yuen said in the last two years, the county has received applications for 6,000 new residential building permits, nearly equal to O'ahu's tally and roughly double the numbers on Maui and Kaua'i.

Extrapolating from that, Yuen said, the island is in line to add 60,000 people in a decade.

"Historically, the island has seen an increase of 29,000 in population over a decade," he said. "We have added a lot more people than Maui."

Many of the applications stem from large subdivisions in the Ka'u and Puna districts with lots that were offered for sale three decades ago.

Yuen said the number of applications are up from a recent low of 700 in 1997.

The rapid increase in growth is putting a strain on roads, public transport, sewers and solid waste.

"We do have an overall plan (for roads)," Yuen said, but he added that the solutions are not immediate.

"We're starting the environmental impact statements and archaeological work, and I know you'd like to see bulldozers out there right away, but unless you do the groundwork, that can't happen," he said.

Barbara Bell, director of the Department of Environmental Management, said the amount of garbage arriving daily at the island's two landfills reflects the population surge.

"We track what goes in landfills," she said. "It's a really quick indicator" of growth.

With the Hilo landfill destined to close soon, the county is exploring ways to reduce the amount of garbage.

A composting facility in West Hawai'i still is in the planning stages that will turn green and organic waste into certified compost. It also eventually may kick-start a biodiesel industry on the island, Bell said.

"It's kind of a win-win-win," she said.

Also, a planned collection point will funnel waste water to the West Hawai'i treatment plant and provide recycled water for irrigation and landscape uses, she said.