REPORT TITLE:
Kauai Capital Improvements


DESCRIPTION:
Appropriates moneys for various projects in Kauai county.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.687        
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS AND MAKING
   AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE COUNTY OF KAUAI CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT
   PROJECTS.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The director of finance is authorized to issue
 
 2 general obligations bonds in the sum of $8,620,000, or so much
 
 3 thereof as may be necessary, to be appropriated for fiscal year
 
 4 1999-2000, for the following projects for the county of Kauai:
 
 5                                                          FY 99-00
 
 6 A.   New police headquarters/                          $6,850,000
 
 7      civil defense emergency operating center
 
 8      (Construction-50%)       
 
 9      Both the police and civil defense functions of the proposed
 
10 facility will directly benefit state agencies.  Locating the
 
11 police headquarters adjacent to the proposed state judiciary
 
12 complex will benefit judiciary operations.  The Kauai emergency
 
13 operating center is a designated alternative for the state
 
14 emergency operating center and the proposed facility will be more
 
15 capable of supporting operations.  Site selection, land
 
16 acquisition, and plans for this project are completed.  It is
 
17 estimated that a contract for the construction of the project
 
18 will be awarded in 1999.  The current headquarters building,
 

 
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 1 built in 1953, is old, inadequate, and will revert back to the
 
 2 judiciary.  The State has repeatedly encouraged the county to
 
 3 vacate the premises, but is allowing the police to occupy the
 
 4 site on a limited month-to-month basis.
 
 5      The civil defense emergency operating facility adjoins the
 
 6 project.  The space will serve as the critical center
 
 7 coordination area in times of disaster.  The current civil
 
 8 defense operating center, built in the World War II era, is
 
 9 inadequate for either county or State needs.  During a major
 
10 disaster, more than one hundred active personnel from the
 
11 military, federal, state, and local government and from the
 
12 private sector operate in the emergency operating center.  The
 
13 current facility grossly lacks the space, rooms, and sanitary
 
14 sleeping and feeding facilities to care for the emergency
 
15 response and recovery team in the emergency operating center.
 
16 Also lacking is the physical security to assure the uninterrupted
 
17 operation and protection of sensitive communications and data
 
18 equipment that provides critical service to all levels of
 
19 government.  The new facility will be an extraordinary and fail-
 
20 safe facility that supports the continuity of government services
 
21 during disasters.  In addition to meeting county needs, it will
 
22 be an alternative to the state emergency operating center by
 
23 being an adequately sized facility designed to provide current
 

 
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 1 technology to maintain operations with county agencies throughout
 
 2 the State and with Pacific Rim nations.
 
 3      This project is extremely important to protect the public
 
 4 health and safety as well as to provide a decent work place for
 
 5 our dedicated civil defense and police personnel.  The facility
 
 6 will include a pre-detainment lockup.  To accommodate trial
 
 7 effectiveness, the prosecutor's office will be located in the
 
 8 next phase of the complex adjacent to the judiciary building.
 
 9 Additional state funding is necessary to complete the facility
 
10 plans.
 
11 B.   Regional stadium complexes                          $570,000
 
12      Antone Vidinha stadium
 
13      (Rubberize track - 100%     $320,000)
 
14      Hanapepe stadium
 
15      (Lighting - 50%     $250,000)                               
 
16      Vidinha Stadium
 
17      Approximately ten-acres of cane land dedicated to the county
 
18 of Kauai was recently removed from agricultural use for the
 
19 development of phase II, Vidinha stadium complex.  The
 
20 improvements required over the next six years include football
 
21 field re-lighting, baseball field lighting construction,
 
22 rubberization of the track, grandstand improvements, construction
 
23 of a tennis court complex, a fifty meter swimming pool, design
 

 
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 1 and construction of a multi-purpose gym/arena, locker room,
 
 2 restroom facilities, and additional parking.  These improvements
 
 3 are necessary to accommodate school athletic events that will
 
 4 directly benefit the department of education.  The State
 
 5 appropriated $700,000 in 1997, through Act 328, Session Laws of
 
 6 Hawaii 1997, with county matching funds of $250,000 for the
 
 7 master plan of this project.  Additional state funds are much
 
 8 needed to proceed with these improvements.
 
 9      Hanapepe Sports Complex
 
10      The Hanapepe sports complex serves as the regional sports
 
11 facility for Kauai, particularly for football, baseball, and
 
12 soccer.  Stadium light improvements are necessary to accommodate
 
13 the department of education school events.  In recent years,
 
14 additional areas within the site were cleared of over-growth and
 
15 grassed, as part of the expansion of the complex.  The proposed
 
16 project completes the improvements called for under the master
 
17 plan.
 
18 C.   Waimea high school/district swimming pool           $600,000
 
19      (Renovation - 100%)      
 
20      The Waimea swimming pool is used continuously by hundreds of
 
21 students from the Waimea high school physical education and
 
22 athletic department as well as by the community.  Renovations and
 
23 improvements needed to comply with health and federal regulations
 

 
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 1 include replacing the entire plumbing system, re-plastering pool
 
 2 shell, re-modeling chlorination room and installing a new
 
 3 chlorination system, replacing diving boards and ladders, and
 
 4 installing a handicap ramp and lift for compliance with the
 
 5 Americans with Disabilities Act.  Currently, the Waimea pool is
 
 6 the only county pool available for the public use on the west
 
 7 side of Kauai.  The county will provide $50,000 for the design
 
 8 and plans of this project.  This project consists of restoring
 
 9 and renovating a thirty-three-year old pool facility to meet
 
10 current department of health standards.
 
11 D.   Kokee road safety improvements &                    $600,000
 
12      emergency escape ramps
 
13      (Realignment and reconstruction of 
 
14      portion - 100%)          
 
15      Plans, right-of-way acquisition, realignment, widening,
 
16 construction, reconstruction and safety improvements are needed
 
17 at Kokee road and the escape ramps.  Kokee state parks and Waimea
 
18 Canyon are the most publicized and frequented attractions on
 
19 Kauai.  Kokee road is the major access to both the state park and
 
20 federal installations located on Kokee road.  The roadway has a
 
21 narrow pavement section, a steep grade, and narrow shoulders.
 
22 Necessary improvements include emergency escape ramp
 
23 installation, widening, realignment, or reconstruction of the
 

 
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 1 roadway, and safety improvements to guardrails and the drainage.
 
 2 In the fiscal biennium 1975-1977, the county contracted a
 
 3 consultant engineering firm to develop final construction plans
 
 4 for a portion of the roadway.  The contract included three escape
 
 5 ramps and a section of Kokee Road commonly referred to as
 
 6 "Realignment of Kokee Road in the vicinity of Waipao Gulch".
 
 7 During the same period, the county with its own forces, developed
 
 8 construction plans for a project known as "Realignment of Kokee
 
 9 road between 0.71 and 0.97 mile north of Kekaha road".  The
 
10 project was subsequently constructed in fiscal year 1976-1977 at
 
11 a cost of $136,500.  The three escape ramps and the realignment
 
12 of Waipao Gulch have not been completed.  In addition to the
 
13 above, and more urgent due to increased tourist traffic, is the
 
14 need to widen the single lane at the Kekaha ditch and Waipao
 
15 Gulch.
 
16      SECTION 2.  The sum appropriated shall be expended by the
 
17 county of Kauai for the purposes of this Act.
 
18      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.
 
19 
 
20                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________