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City Council approves
zone change allowing
controversial Hawaii
Kai subdivisionCalls for HPD radio system audit
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-BulletinThe City Council has approved a 58-home project in Hawaii Kai by a developer who insists he has done what he can to appease farmers in abutting Kamilonui Valley.
The Council yesterday voted 7-2 to approve a zone change allowing developer Bob Gerell to place the subdivision just makai and to the west of the farms.
Council members Andy Mirikitani and Steve Holmes voted against the project.
Gerell has reduced the number of units from a 312-unit plan, said he will take precautionary steps to lower the risk of landslides and promised a 50-foot buffer between the homes and the farms. The farmers had sought a 300-foot buffer.
The developer has also promised that he will disclose to prospective homebuyers the potential for landslides and the possibility that they might be exposed to farm-like nuisances.
But some of the handful of Kamilonui farmers who testified yesterday said that won't be enough to ward off complaints that could hasten their demise from the area even though most of their leases don't run out until 2025.
The farmers' concerns are heightened because many have been relocated two or more times by encroaching development before settling in Kamilonui in the late 1960s.
Mirikitani said he worries taxpayers will be saddled with at least attorney fees if a landslide does occur on the project even though Council attorneys feel it would be difficult to find the city responsible.
Resolution calls for
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
HPD radio system audit
Star-BulletinCity Council members Mufi Hannemann and Donna Mercado Kim want the state to conduct a performance audit of the Honolulu Police Department's troubled Ericsson 800 mhz radio system.
The two, in a resolution introduced yesterday, said state auditor Marion Higa should conduct such a study because state funding was appropriated for the system.
"The system has been mired in controversy, litigation and failure since the contract was awarded to Ericsson G.E. Mobile Communications in 1994," said Hannemann, who is challenging Mayor Jeremy Harris' re-election bid this fall.
"The city plans to adopt this system for the Honolulu Fire Department and public transportation system," he said.
"But before we do, I believe we need an open, honest and independent audit of the performance of the telecommunications system."
Reports of dead spots in June 1998 led HPD to revert momentarily to using analog frequencies. In March 1999, there were further reports of portable radio failures. This past January, the overall dispatch system was down. And last month, there were complaints about mysterious fadeouts and radio interference.
Ericsson and HPD officials, including Chief Lee Donohue, have blamed the glitches on growing pains.
According to Hannemann, the city has approved $59 million for the system and the state an additional $9.6 million.
The Harris administration had no comment. Neither Higa nor Donohue could be reached last night.
City & County of Honolulu
