Bissen Hears Concerns at Holomua Kākou

photo by Léo Azambuja

By Léo Azambuja

Mayor Richard Bissen landed on Molokai last week as part of the Holomua Kākou series designed to reach out to Maui County’s further communities, including the Friendly Isle, Lanai and Hana. 

“The whole purpose is to come in and get your concerns, your priorities, and how we can be available to you folks,” Bissen told about 30 residents at Mitchell Pauole Center Aug. 25. 

The meeting only lasted about an hour, but Bissen left with a bag full of issues and concerns. He made assurances he would look into all of them and follow up, despite some not being the county’s responsibility, and others being caused by previous administrations.

“I wanted to address a concern, and this is regarding the (Geographic Information System) overlay on map that is currently online under the county website,” Mana‘e resident Tammy Ross said. “We have been dealing with this for three years.”

Her husband, Gandharva Mahina Hou Ross, said the stone walls on his property match the older maps, but the GIS overlay shifted all the boundaries 20-to-35 feet to the west. Basing his claims on the GIS overlay, a neighbor who recently bought the adjacent property is saying Ross built his house on his property. 

“On the (GIS) document online, it says, ‘Not for use in legal purposes,’ but people are using it anyway,” Ross said. 

The problem, Zhantell Lindo said, was that the county allowed Ross’ neighbor to apply for a Registered Field Survey based on the GIS overlay that should have never been used to verify boundaries. 

Ross already paid $3,500 for a fee just to get his application to the board of variances and appeals.

“It has been about six-to-eight months since we submitted all the paperwork, and we haven’t heard any word back from the county,” he said. 

The GIS overlay system was implemented during a prior administration. Bissen said he was concerned it was created for a purpose but was being used for something different with “very severe unintended consequences.” He told Ross he would “have something back this week,” and would also look into all the money he had already spent.

Warning Sirens

An East End resident said she did not hear the All-Hazard Outdoor Warning Siren go off during the tsunami warning July 29, and only got confirmation to evacuate when a police officer came to tell her. A county worker said they monitor the system and knew three sirens — Kilohana, Kainalu and Dixie Maru — were not working, and that was the reason the police reached out to area residents to tell them to evacuate.

Bissen said the county did everything they could to inform residents, including cell phone warnings and radio announcements. Emphasizing that “this is not a blame,” he said the state government is responsible for all sirens in Hawaii, but he would “definitely get that notification to the state.”

Bissen also encouraged residents to download the Genasys Protect app — an evacuation management and notification tool — available at the Maui Emergency Management Agency website. 

Interisland Ferry

A Hoʻolehua Homesteaders Association member wanted to know if the county could pursue federal funds to resume the Molokai ferry, which ceased operations in 2016.

“We are in the process of working to take over the Lanai ferry — one that’s functioning right now — and also a study to try and resume the Molokai ferry,” Bissen said. 

County Councilmember Keani Rawlins-Fernandez said the council created a new division for a ferry system under the county Department of Transportation in the last budget session. She said the county is now looking at the permitting process and acquiring a ferry able to travel between islands at a reasonable fare.

CRB Threat

Rawlins-Fernandez also brought attention to the fact that Molokai is the only island that hasn’t detected coconut rhinoceros beetles. A Molokai group submitted a petition for the state Department of Agriculture to consider an interim rule to halt the importation of mulch and other plant material to Molokai that could potentially bring CRB larvae to the island.

“The CRB also eats bananas, kalo, hala,” Rawlins-Fernandez said. “It would be devastating to have the coconut rhinoceros beetle here.”

Kaunakakai Heat

Another resident pointed out that with global warming, Kaunakakai becomes extremely hot in the middle of the day. He suggested that the county could plant trees that grow fast, such as monkeypod, and could cool off the area up to 30 degrees.

Bissen said his team would pass the notes to Maui County Director of Agriculture Rogerene “Kali” Arce, who is from Molokai.

Dental Office

The meeting wasn’t all about troubling issues; Bissen’s administration received praise for providing essential funding to Molokai Community Health Center’s dental office renovation.

MCHC CEO Milton Cortez said the county gave about $300,000 for the renovation, and he wanted to thank Rawlins-Fernandez for helping with the paperwork.

“With the help of the county, we have been able to invest $2.2 million for that renovation that has generated six new positions,” Cortez said, adding one is a dentist who lives on island and the other is a hygienist from Molokai who returned home from Maui. “So, collectively, those six jobs will be generating over $500,000 for the local economy through salaries.”

During the dental office’s first four days following the inauguration, they saw 140 patients, when normally they would see half of that, Cortez said. 

Bissen also had a special announcement. After being cancelled for a few years, the Maui County Fair will return Oct. 2-5. The county is implementing a program to take Lanai and Molokai residents to Maui for the fair, but Bissen said he is not sure yet how they program will work.