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Kaimana Beach Coalition
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Because of Anderson's refusal to grant the permit, the City Council was unable to take action and shelved the bill, which would have appropriated $11.5 million for the renovation and the Special Management Permit to proceed with the work. Mayor Harris chaffed mightily.
Suddenly, there was a phantom "legal opinion" offered by the state attorney general office under pressure from the mayor. The "opinion" stated that "the Natatorium is not a swimming pool," but something else, and consequently did not need a DOH approval to proceed. Based on this "legal opinion," the Council quickly appropriated the money and granted the permit.
After Anderson's public pronouncement, we were extremely concerned about the health of beach users, especially the youngsters and senior citizens who frequent the calm waters next to the Natatorium where discharge from the heavily used and sometimes uncirculated pool waters would discharge.
Attorney Jim Bickerton, a beach user and father of small children, joined us and challenged the "legal opinion" in court. Judge Gail Nakatani ruled that the "legal opinion" was wrong and that the Natatorium was indeed a swimming pool in need of health and safety rules and a permit from the DOH. She ordered an injunction to stop all work until new rules and safety measures were drafted.
The rule-drafting process was difficult because there are no other untreated or unfiltered saltwater swimming pools in the United States. For health reasons, they were all closed and demolished decades ago. There were no existing rules or standards to use as a guide to draft new regulations. Because of this, a committee of water quality experts, scientists and swimming pool experts was assembled to come up with acceptable health standards. This process took two years.
The new rules call for a cleanable, hard-bottom pool instead of the planned sand bottom, which had the potential to build up bacteria. Unlike the planned and unreliable tidal flushing system, electrical pumps are now required to guarantee circulation of the pool water. This is critical to maintain uniform water quality, assuring the safety of swimmers and neighboring ocean users.
Had it not been for the actions of the Kaimana Beach Coalition, these measures would not be in place today.
I urge people to call their City Council member and let them know how you feel about spending another $6 million on the Natatorium, only to have it locked and gated once again.