BY NANCY COOK LAUER | WEST HAWAII TODAY HILO — A mishmash of newsracks cluttering Alii Drive sidewalks may soon be cleaned up, thanks to a program by the Kailua Village Business Improvement District that was advanced Tuesday by the
BY NANCY COOK LAUER | WEST HAWAII TODAY
HILO — A mishmash of newsracks cluttering Alii Drive sidewalks may soon be cleaned up, thanks to a program by the Kailua Village Business Improvement District that was advanced Tuesday by the Hawaii County Council’s Finance Committee.
The changes to county code, once approved in two future votes by the council, will allow improvement districts countywide to create megaracks that will fit numerous tourist publications as well as daily and weekly newspapers.
In Kailua-Kona, the first district to participate in the program, each publisher will pay the improvement district a $50 annual fee per rack. The program is modeled after one in Honolulu.
Those publishers insisting on keeping their own racks will be subject to removal of their racks and fines of up to $500, according to the improvement district.
But most publishers are already on board with the program, and some, such as West Hawaii Today, participated in the planning of the program, said improvement district Executive Director Debbie Baker.
“There needs to be a mechanism to encourage 100 percent participation,” Baker said of the fines.
The committee ended up unanimously approving the plan. But some council members worried about giving up powers currently vested in the county Department of Public Works.
“There’s some discomfort in yielding what we consider our council authority to a private entity,” said bill sponsor Councilman Angel Pilago of North Kona, explaining why he has questions of corporation counsel.
Deputy Corporation Counsel Kyle Chang said he found nothing in the county charter to prohibit the county from giving up this authority.
Council Chairman Dominic Yagong praised the program as an example of a public-private partnership that could lighten the load of government workers, especially in this case DPW enforcement employees.
Kohala Councilman Pete Hoffmann agreed the program is necessary.
“This is what we have to do to promote a positive environment for our visitors and for ourselves,” Hoffmann said. “I’d like to see more of it promulgated in other areas.”
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
