KAILUA-KONA — The battle of the budget is officially over, with House and Senate committees agreeing Thursday on the 2016-17 supplemental funding bill. Here’s how West Hawaii fared:
Waikoloa Elementary and Middle School received $11 million to construct a new science building. The growing school can start groundwork on the building to contain two modern science classrooms, an art classroom, a special education classroom and administrative space.
The Department of Transportation received $50 million in revenue bonds for construction of a new federal inspections station at Kona International Airport. However, it’s not clear if that funding source will work for the DOT, District 4 Sen. Lorraine Inouye and Kona Rep. Nicole Lowen said. Unlike general obligation bonds, the DOT would be responsible for paying the debt service on the bonds, likely through raising fees on airlines and other airport users.
“We hope the DOT will be able to work with the funding,” Lowen said. “If not, we’ll have to work on it again next year.”
Inouye said there is still time to iron out funding while planning and design work moves ahead for the airport improvements.
The DOT will also receive $7.6 million for construction of a baseyard on the Daniel K. Inouye Highway near Mauna Kea State Park. Another $5.2 million has been pegged for the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority for upgrades to the cold seawater circulation system. The improvements will help NELHA expand aquaculture and open more leases to new tenants.
The Department of Health Vector Control Branch will receive $1.27 million to fund 20 new positions as the state announced the fight against mosquito-borne diseases like dengue fever, Zika and chikungunya is far from over. A breakdown of Big Island positions was not immediately available.
Also related to dengue, a bill passed requiring all practicing physicians to submit a valid email address to the DOH for inclusion in a database from which the department can update the medical community on threats like mosquito-borne diseases.
“It sounds simple but there is no single database in existence now,” Lowen said.
Access points to Kawaihae Harbor and a dangerous intersection of Kawaihae Road and Queen Kaahumanu Highway will be improved with a $4.2 million allocation to those projects.
A feasibility study on building a teaching hospital near the airport appeared dead earlier in the session, but $500,000 was added back into the budget in the eleventh hour, allowing the study to determine if an arrangement between the John A. Burns School of Medicine and a new Kona hospital could be a viable way to bring more health care professionals to an island where care is needed.
Lai Opua 2020 has been allocated $1 million to aid in the construction of a community center at the Villages at Lai Opua. Another $1.2 million for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism will fund a study on alternative energy production models like energy cooperatives and municipal utilities. The funding comes during the ongoing discussion about the proposed merger of Hawaiian Electric Co. with Florida-based NextEra Energy, and alternative ways to produce the state’s electricity touted by such organizations as the Hawaii Island Electric Cooperative.
“There is a lot of populist sentiment in favor of an electric co-op and I support exploring that,” Lowen said. “But it has to be for the customer’s benefit and at the end of the day we can’t make a decision until we know the numbers.”
In the area of grants-in-aid, the Kona Historical Society is receiving $150,000. The Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization in Waimea will get $158,000, and the Donkey Mill Art Center on Holualoa will get $35,000 for building repairs. The Anekona Ouli Kanehoa Volunteer Fire Company on Kawaihae Road is also being funded with a $88,000 grant-in-aid for construction of a garage to house vehicles and equipment that currently lack storage.
The budget must pass a pro forma floor vote, but the haggling is over.
Unrelated to the budget, a bill passed to rename the airport the Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole, even as the space center that bore the name of the famed astronaut closed for good last month.
“We’re happy to honor his name is that way,” Lowen said.
In addition, travelers on Saddle Road will soon be able to travel 60 mph with the approval of Inouye’s bill to raise the speed limit on that stretch of roadway.