KAILUA-KONA — Three months after a deadline for surf school companies to bid for a spot in a pilot program intended to manage operations at Kahaluu Bay, the county department responsible for selecting the winning bidders has yet to make any announcement on the matter.
The bid deadline for the six-month pilot program, which would limit surf school operations at Kahaluu Bay to four businesses, was March 27, itself extended from an earlier deadline in February.
The program is to be administered by The Kohala Center, which was selected by the county through a separate bid process, but the invitation for bids outlining the program specifically names the county Department of Parks and Recreation as responsible for selecting the winning bidders. That department, however, has yet to make any new announcements about the program.
In May, Department of Parks and Recreation business manager Reid Sewake told West Hawaii Today that there was “nothing new to report” at that time. Sewake did not respond to requests for an update submitted Tuesday and Wednesday.
Hawaii County Councilman Dru Kanuha said after hearing concerns about the program, he wanted the department to hold off on the process and figure out how to move forward in a way that’s “most beneficial for everyone.”
But Kanuha said Wednesday he hasn’t received any updates from the department about the program’s status.
The solution, he said, will have to be a balance that includes the county, which has jurisdiction over the beach park, and state, which regulates the ocean waters. It will also have to consider the surf schools as well as park and ocean users, including tourists who visit the beach and local surfers.
“I think, right now, everyone’s in limbo trying to get some direction from the county and state on how to move forward and figure out what’s the ultimate solution to alleviate their concerns,” he said.
Hawaii Administrative Rules specifically identify a portion of Kahaluu Bay as a surfing zone and forbid commercial water sports instruction from taking place in the bay’s waters without a permit from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
The rules also limit the number of permits the Department of Land and Natural Resources can issue for commercial surf instruction in that zone to four and limit surf schools to no more than eight students per school in the water at a given time and a maximum one-to-four ratio of instructor to students.
The concessionaires are to be selected through a bidding process with a minimum bid of $3,000 a month. With four surf schools, that would generate at least $144,000 a year for the program, which The Kohala Center Kahaluu Bay Education Center’s director said was the minimum budget she could develop for the program.
The nonprofit is required, under its agreement with the county, to reinvest all money it collects back into the surf school program and the fees would pay for a full-time and part-time education ranger as well as a supervisor — the minimum needed to have someone at the beach throughout the week.
Those education rangers wouldn’t have enforcement authority. If an unpermitted school were found operating, a ranger could advise the school about the rules and the school could take its classes elsewhere. The director previously told West Hawaii Today that the Hawaii Police Department and DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement both have a presence on advisory board for the management program, providing a conduit to law enforcement.