Bill Text: HI SB760 | 2013 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: County of Hawaii; Waimea District Park/Regional Park Funding ($)
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-13 - Report adopted; Passed Second Reading and referred to WAM. [SB760 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2013-SB760-Amended.html
STAND. COM. REP. NO. 218
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 760
Honorable Donna Mercado Kim
President of the Senate
Twenty-Seventh State Legislature
Regular Session of 2013
State of Hawaii
Madam:
Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 760 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO THE COUNTY OF HAWAII AS THE STATE'S SHARE OF JOINT FUNDING WITH THE COUNTY TO CONSTRUCT IMPROVEMENTS TO WAIMEA DISTRICT/REGIONAL PARK,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to make a grant-in-aid to the County of Hawaii for the costs of improvements to Waimea District/Regional Park, to be funded jointly with the County of Hawaii.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the County of Hawaii Office of the Mayor; County of Hawaii Parks and Recreation Department; Waimea District Builders; Gold Coast Little League Softball; Waimea Table Tennis Club; The Christopher Nance Children's Foundation; North Hawaii Little League; Ho‘oNani Place, LLC; Horizon Automotive; North Hawaii Little League; and approximately two hundred individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.
Your Committee finds that the population of the Waimea community has nearly tripled in the last twenty or more years and the community has no parks comparable to other communities on the Big Island, although property taxes tend to be higher than normal with the Mauna Kea telescope and other new developments and housing in the district. Additionally, there are three high schools and four middle schools in the region, which is populated by about eight thousand people.
Waimea is also a growing sports community. As of last March, there was a twenty-three percent increase in the County of Hawaii's parks and recreation sports community, which is already active in soccer, football, baseball, little league, softball, rugby, basketball, baseball, volleyball, frisbee, and T-ball. Despite Waimea's vibrant sports community, the district currently has only one small five-acre park in the middle of town. It has one softball field and two small practice fields. Women's softball, men's softball, senior softball, little league from T‑ball to seniors, football, soccer, and rugby all share the same field.
The Waimea community has long been lacking in active playing fields for various sports, and for more than twenty years, the community has been promised a park to help all the sports organizations and non-profits to congregate. Without sufficient facilities, it does not have enough space to support the increase of youth and adult sports programs, nor does it have a county gym to support these many youth and adult team sports. Users of the five-acre park often have to change the configuration of a field by moving bases, take out or put back the pitcher's mound, or add or remove striping in the outfield. Often when the ball field is being used by the strong hitting leagues, the practice fields cannot be used for safety reasons. Vehicular parking in and around this small park is very limited. Patrons end up parking in the residential area and walking across busy streets to get to the park. Residents have also had to drive over an hour to host their sporting and community events in another town because the small park cannot accommodate all the groups.
Waimea residents have sought new and better park facilities to keep their children and youth active and engaged in healthy, positive activities and to provide recreational opportunities for seniors and families. A lack of sufficient facilities impacts the children and youth by limiting constructive social activities during non-school hours. Participation in sports is known to save many youth from juvenile delinquency and drug addiction, which are on the rise on the Big Island.
In response to the Waimea community's need, the county of Hawaii has undertaken the construction of improvements to the Waimea District/Regional Park. The Mayor of Hawaii County proposes to jointly fund the project with the State and has committed $5,975,000 in county funds to the project. This measure will provide the State's portion of funding for the construction of infrastructure – water, sewer, drainage and power; park access roads; parking lot; drainage dike treatment; one regulation football field; one regulation soccer/rugby field; and one comfort station. The master plan includes active sports fields along with a gymnasium or covered all-weather courts. Land has been set aside by Parker Ranch as part of a condition of zoning.
Your Committee finds that the community benefits of construction and improvements to the Waimea District/Regional Park include meeting growing recreational needs of the community; serving the recreational needs of all ages; consolidating competing field use of the variety of sports, such as baseball, soccer, rugby, and football, into the district park while retaining the existing park for softball and casual park recreation; furnishing a gathering area for youth to enable them to achieve a healthier lifestyle and to lower juvenile delinquency rates; and hosting island-wide and statewide athletic events.
Your Committee further finds that young people are gaining an increasing amount of freedom in many places, and this is often a contributing factor to juvenile delinquency. Instead of leaving young and impressionable minds to their own devices, participation in extracurricular activities can keep youth away from negative influences and teach them valuable characteristics such as commitment and teamwork. An active athletic culture can also go far to reduce obesity. The Waimea community and the County of Hawaii are anxiously awaiting construction of the park, and your Committee believes that the impact of this funding measure will be immeasurable in terms of the social and economic gains to the residents and children of Waimea.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 760 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water and Land,
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____________________________ MALAMA SOLOMON, Chair |
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