Aloha e Friends,

I hope you and your ‘ohana are well. I'm getting ready for the upcoming session, which begins January 19th and working hard on drafting meaningful agriculture and environmental legislation. I'm also meeting with agricultural leaders across the state to look at ways to increase local food production and become more self-sustaining here in paradise. If you have any ideas for bills, it's not too early to send them to my office. They don't need to be fully fleshed out (we have lawyers who do that) but basic ideas and concepts are good.

In this month's Newsletter you'll find current COVID-19 updates and District 20 road and construction updates. You can also view my Listen Story Community Meeting video recording here if you weren't able to make it live. Please contact me at 586-6830 or sengabbard@capitol.hawaii.gov if I can help you or your family in any way. You can also follow me on Twitter @senmikegabbard, Instagram @GabbardAloha, or Facebook at @senmikegabbard.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday with your ‘ohana and friends.






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COVID Travel Restrictions

•	Quarantine can be bypassed when traveling to the islands from any international location if proof of vaccination and a negative Covid-19 test are provided.
•	Travelers can't board if they don't meet the new requirements.
•	Ige's administration is working to convince other countries to drop the quarantines that they impose on their citizens who visit Hawai‘i and then return home, as this limits international travel to the islands.
•	Ige said Japan is expected to drop its return quarantine by the first quarter of 2022.

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Farrington Highway, Kapolei

I received an update from State Deputy Director of Transportation, Ed Sniffen, on the Farrington Highway project which will extend three miles from Kapolei Golf Course to Ft. Weaver Rd. Construction will start August 2022. Improvement will include increased capacity through the corridor by adding one or two lanes. There will be new sidewalks, bike lanes, a 44-foot landscaped median strip, new bridges, culverts, and major utility relocation. Estimated completion is by August 2024.

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KAPOLEI: 4TH HOTEL

Well, folks we've got three hotels in Kapolei right now. The 175-room Hampton Inn and Suites opened in 2016 at the Ka Makana Ali‘i Shopping Center, about a mile down Kapolei Pkwy toward Ewa. Then the 180-room Embassy Suites was built in 2017; followed by the 183-suite Marriott Residence Inn in 2019. Now, here comes #4… a Utah-based partnership is seeking a city permit to build a 204-unit limited-service hotel under The Element by Westin brand at a cost of roughly $70 million on a 3-acre block known as Leihano at Kapolei, close to the Embassy and Marriott hotels. They'll be hiring about 130 employees. Besides the two existing hotels, the block includes the 84-unit ‘Ilima at Leihano assisted living complex, a Liliuokalani Trust children's center, C.S. Wo & Sons furniture stores, a Raising Cane's fast-food restaurant, a 7-Eleven store, Starbucks and a Hele gas station. Previously announced plans for the block also include a St. Jude Catholic Church, a National Kidney Foundation facility, a medical office building and a First Hawaiian Bank branch.

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Future Dog Park in Kalaeloa

And for you dog lovers....You may have noticed what looks like the makings of a dog park just mauka of the tennis courts in Kalaeloa. We did some digging and found out that yes! There are plans to open that fenced-in area and turn it into a park for our furry friends. However, there's a structure in the midst of the fenced-in area (hence the fence) that first needs to be removed before our furry friends can frolic there… another one of those old structures left over from the days of the navy – this one an old bath house – that needs to go! No timeline on this yet, but I'll keep you posted.

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Gentry Homes

Gentry Homes now has a name for this new project just down the road from where I live: Ka‘ulu – which means "The hill that absorbs the sun." Named after the ‘ulu tree, one of the first trees early settlers brought to Hawai‘i. When the original inhabitants arrived on O‘ahu they landed in Kalaeloa and planted the first ‘ulu trees. Gentry worked with Uncle Shad and other local kupuna to come up with a name, which highlights the origin of the first people living on O‘ahu, looking forward to beginning a new life. There were no archeological sites found on the site and it has been 100% approved by SHPD (State Historic Preservation Division). This is a special site that represents the establishment of new roots and a new life. Taken to heart, the meaning and history here are very appropriate. Some folks thought the homes were going to be high rises and were happy when they found out that's not happening. Gentry Homes, <ahem> I mean Ka‘ulu, is a 390-unit residential community, with 256 multifamily attached units, and 133 single-family detached units on a 30-acre parcel, and is bordered on three sides by future public roadways – Copahee Avenue, Saratoga Road, and Kamokila Boulevard. Hunt Companies plans to improve these roads to City standards, providing an environment where it's safe and convenient for people to utilize conventional and alternative modes of transportation, including use of rail, bus, bicycles and walking. The northwest portion of the parcel is adjacent to the future site of the ALOHA Vets clinic which is identified as Parcel 1C. Homes will be built in increments, with site work beginning in 2022. To the east of the project site is Barbers Point Elementary School (BPES) which serves approximately 500 students from kindergarten to grade 5. Southwest of the Project Site is a five-megawatt solar farm on land leased from DHHL. The first homes are expected to be complete in 2023.

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Advanced Leeward Outpatient Healthcare Access

The blessing and groundbreaking for the ALOHA "multi-specialty" VA Clinic was in May of this year. The (VA) awarded the 15-year lease to locate the $100M, 88,675 square-foot Advanced Leeward Outpatient Healthcare Access (ALOHA) project at Kalaeloa to be developed by Hunt. The multi-specialty VA clinic will provide primary care, mental health care, x-ray, laboratory, diagnostic, pharmacy, and specialty care for the area's veterans and 87,000 veterans on O‘ahu. The ALOHA clinic will bring approximately 400 jobs during construction and more than 200 new clinic jobs between the healthcare and administrative staff as they open. Hunt is investing more than $40M in infrastructure improvements in the Kalaeloa area, which began this summer. Development of the VA Clinic on Parcel 1 is progressing well. Mass grading was completed, and the project was turned over to the next contractor, Nan Inc. They will take over the rest of the construction. Overall the project remains on schedule to be completed late 2023 or early 2024.

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Landfill Locations

Waimanalo Gulch Landfill near Ko Olina has been open since 1989 and has about 10 to 12 operable years left. The state Land Use Commission ruled in 2019 that Waimanalo Gulch must close by March 2, 2028, due to environmental justice issues, and the city must select a new location by Dec. 31, 2022. Jerry Pupillo, Director, Department of Enterprise Services with the Mayor's Office said at the October Kapolei Neighborhood Board meeting that they are still evaluating options. The city has narrowed down the list from 12 to 4 locations in the white areas: Two of the remaining sites are near the North Shore, one is between Makakilo and Waipahu and one is near Wheeler Army Airfield. The new landfill would have a life span of 20 years, take up about 80 acres of land and cost about $210 million. In September, the state enacted Act 73, which prohibits any waste or disposal facility from being located in state conservation districts and requires a half-mile buffer between the edge of any disposal activity and the closest residence, school or hospital property line.

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