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INDEX
VOL. 47, NO. 162
18 PAGES
WAIAKEA GRAD
QUINTIN TORRES-COSTA
DRAFTED BY BREWERS
SPORTS, 1B
BIG PLANS UP NORTH
EA gives green light for Waimea Nui sustainability project
An initiative that will allow
Native Hawaiians to work and
be buried in their ahupuaa is a
step closer to reality in Waimea.
An environmental assessment
has found no negative impacts
from a planned 28-acre complex
with a community agricultural
park and post-harvest facility,
and a 10-acre homestead cem-
etery. Later phases of the plan
will include an equestrian cen-
ter and golf facility on acreage
overseen by the Department of
Hawaiian Home Lands.
The community agricultur-
al park will contain a farmers
market building and a resource
center, with 246 farm lots
designed to give people and
organizations a place to begin
farming on a small scale, learn
from others and share equip-
ment. Work at the site was
scheduled to start this sum-
mer, according to the EA, pre-
pared by consultants Group 70
International.
The Waimea Nui Regional
Community
Development
Initiative, four decades in the
making, is centered on 114
acres of pasture land in south-
east Waimea in the Puukapu
Homestead Farm Lots sub-
division. Last year, the initia-
tive was granted $3.5 million
through the state Department
of Agriculture. The effort
by the Waimea Hawaiian
Homesteaders Association is
designed to bring self-sufficien-
cy to the homestead community
by creating jobs in agriculture
and recreation.
In releasing the funds in April
2014, Gov. Neil Abercrombie
touted the project as a model
for the rest of the state. The CDI
is pursuing additional money
needed for the $45 million
plan through private financing,
grants and revenue generated
from on-site activity, according
to DHHL.
Messages left with DHHL
and Waimea Nui represen-
tatives were not returned
BY BRET YAGER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
Hawaiian Electric
shareholders
approve sale to
NextEra
Council to consider Restoration Day holiday
HONOLULU—
Hawaiian
Electric
shareholders
have
approved the company’s sale to
Florida-based NextEra Energy, the
company said Wednesday.
Owners of 90 percent of the
company’s shares voted for the
deal, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser
reported.
Under state law, the sale needed
approval from at least 75 percent
of shares for it to go through. The
state Public Utilities Commission
must still sign off on the deal for it
to be finalized.
Hawaiian Electric Industries,
which includes subsidiaries on
Oahu, Maui and Hawaii islands,
is the state’s largest electric utility.
NextEra Energy Inc. said it will
save Hawaii ratepayers $60 mil-
lion over four years by lowering
rates. NextEra said it will triple
solar power production.
The deal last month fell short of
the 75 percent approval needed,
so the company extended a vote
deadline by four weeks.
Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa is
one of the shareholders who voted
no. He said he doesn’t want the
company to rush the sale. He also
said he has received letters and
phone calls from HEI lobbying for
the sale.
As of Dec. 31, the most recent
report available, the Hawaii utility
spent $4.9 million on sale-related
activities. NextEra estimates it will
spend $46 million on sale-related
costs.
The merger costs would not
be recovered through ratepay-
ers, according to both HEI and
NextEra. The company announced
the proposed $4.3 billion sale in
December.
The Hawaii County Council
will take up a nonbind-
ing resolution Tuesday ask-
ing the state Legislature to
declare July 31 “Hoihi Ea,” or
Restoration Day, in recogni-
tion of the day in 1843 that
independence was restored to
the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Resolution 185 is Puna
Councilman Danny Paleka’s
first
substan-
tial
legislation
since
coming
into office in
December.
Paleka, who is
half Hawaiian,
said he’s been
pleased by the
support of the
community
and
the council during a
hearing earlier this month at
the committee level.
“I think we all
have a connec-
tion to this,”
Paleka
said.
“In the time of
the Hawaiian
Kingdom, it
was inclusive.
It included all
the inhabitants
that were under
that sovereign nation.
… I think this small matter
is just a step in opening the
minds to people that, you
know what, we can co-exist
with each other on the same
soil, in different countries.”
Council members were
overwhelmingly in support of
the resolution.
“This is the very first
step,” South Kona/Ka‘u
Councilwoman Maile David
told Hawaiian advocates at
the committee meeting. “As
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
SEE
WAIMEA
PAGE 7A
SEE
RESTORATION
PAGE 7A
The plan for the site of the Waimea Nui Regional Community
Development Initiative is seen in southeast Waimea.
SPECIAL TO
WEST HAWAII TODAY
Rain comes down at the corner of Kuakini Highway and Kaiwi Street on Wednesday. Parts of West Hawaii were under
a flood advisory Wednesday until 5:30 p.m.
LAURA SHIMABUKU/
WEST HAWAII TODAY
Wet weather
