HILO — The out-of-state bidder who scooped up all 16 Hamakua land parcels that were put out for leases has withdrawn his option on eight of the smaller parcels, saying he wants to make them available for local farmers.
All Cool Fuel LLC, based in Westland, Mich., last month bid more than $180,000 for the parcels in a competitive sealed-bid process. The company is looking for feedstock for an ethanol plant it plans to construct at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority technology park at Keahole Point.
All Cool Fuel President Duane Bitner said Monday he grew up on a farm in Utah and empathized with the small Hamakua farmers who had hoped to lease some of the land. The county received the land in 1994 in lieu of back taxes from the bankrupt Hamakua Sugar Co. The land has lain fallow ever since.
“When I saw that I was the only off-island bidder, I felt really bad. We just hated it when people do stuff like that,” Bitner said. “That’s not how I want to start off a relationship with the island.”
All Cool Fuel had bid more than $180,000 for the 16 Paauilo and Pohakea parcels totaling 718 acres. Bitner is turning back the eight smaller parcels totaling 156 acres. The second-highest bidders now earn the right to lease the property.
The resolution paving the way for the leases, by Council Chairman Dominic Yagong, was passed almost a year ago, after a protracted battle with Mayor Billy Kenoi over whether the county should sell some of its extensive holdings as a way to balance the budget. Hamakua farmers came out in force against selling the property, saying the land should be opened to small farmers and others in the community instead.
The resolution states the land could be used for “diversified agriculture, renewable energy development, pastoral use, ecotourism, workforce housing, agricultural education and training,” but not for “research, development, production or cultivation of genetically modified organism products.”
Yagong on Monday praised Bitner’s decision.
“I am very impressed with the sensitivity that Mr. Bitner has expressed regarding the local farmers’ desire to utilize the county lands in Paauilo,” Yagong said. “It is refreshing to have a developer put the community first while continuing to seek lands that may be more appropriate to his proposed development at NELHA in Kona.”
The second-highest bidder on the parcels, Greg Seivert of Hawaii Wilderness Adventure School, plans to take only one parcel to use for a base camp for teenagers from around the world.
“I think it’s such a great thing for that community that I’ll take only one so other people can have an opportunity,” Seivert said.