Public hearing set for DWS power cost charge hike
PRICE INCREASE COINCIDES WITH HIGHER FUEL COSTS FOR HELCO
KAILUA-KONA —
When Faith Cosby was
about 3 years old, right
around the start of World
War II, she got separated
from her aunt, Mary
Routery, and her mother
in a crowd on Sunset
Boulevard in Hollywood.
The adults finally found
Cosby in a police car.
The officer asked which
of the women was the
young girl’s mother.
“And my mother,” Cosby
said, “pointed at Mary and
said, ‘She is!’”
And indeed, Cosby
said at a celebration of
Routery’s 103rd birthday
on Saturday at Habaneros
Grill, the woman has
been her “other mother”
throughout her life.
While Cosby now lives
in Southern California
and her aunt lives in
Kailua-Kona, Cosby
said she comes to town
just about every year for
Routery’s birthday.
“She has the most positive
attitude about people
and life of anybody I’ve
ever known,” Cosby said
of her aunt, saying she
“won’t be an orphan” as
long as Routery is around.
About two dozen people
came out to the restaurant
Saturday evening to celebrate
Routery’s birthday.
After the meal, Routery
said she was so grateful to
have so many people willing
to help celebrate.
“I thought it was great,”
she said. “That’s what
makes life interesting and
worthwhile.”
Routery was born
in Illinois in 1915, five
years before women got
the right to vote in the
United States. In her
youth, she found a passion
for supporting the
equal rights of all people
as well as advocating for
the environment.
Growing up as the
daughter of a judge in
Illinois, Routery would
KAILUA-KONA — The
Hawaii County Water Board
is proposing an increase to its
power cost charge and will hold
a public hearing on the matter
later this month.
Board members and DWS
officials will meet March 27
at the Department of Water
Supply on Leilani Street in Hilo.
Though the official meeting isn’t
scheduled to begin until 10 a.m.,
the board will open the floor at
9:45 a.m. for public comment
on the price hike.
“If the public wants to raise
any concerns, they have the
opportunity,” said Warren
Ching, DWS energy management
analyst.
The increase would drive the
current power charge cost up 26
cents from $1.62 per 1,000 gallons
of water to $1.88 per 1,000
gallons. If approved, the change
will take effect on April 1.
Based on West Hawaii Today
research, the average family in
Hawaii using a 5/8-inch meter
consumed around 9,500 gallons
monthly in 2015.
That figure is in line with
numbers from the United States
Geological Survey, which estimates
the average person uses
80-100 gallons of water daily.
A family of four, then, would
use between 9,600-12,000 gallons
monthly based on USGS
research.
According to those numbers,
if the increase is approved the
standard price bump for water
usage in the average home
in Hawaii would likely fall
somewhere between $2.50-$3
monthly, equating to between
$30-$36 annually.
The catalyst for the change,
Ching said, is higher billings
to DWS from Hawaii Electric
Light Co. When HELCO’s fuel
costs increase, he said, that
cost gets passed on to the water
department.
Correa
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VOL. 50, NO. 64 18 PAGES
‘SHE’S BEYOND REMARKABLE’
KAILUA-KONA WOMAN CELEBRATES 103RD BIRTHDAY AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY
BY CAMERON MICULKA
WEST HAWAII TODAY
cmiculka@westhawaiitoday.com
Housing the
‘silver tsunami’
SENIOR HOUSING PROJECT
WOULD FILL CRITICAL GAP
BY MICHAEL BRESTOVANSKY
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
HILO — A Hilo developer is hoping to build a new
housing project for a vastly underserved demographic:
low-income seniors.
Hale Kupuna I is being developed by Hilo real
estate agent Hank Correa and, if
built, it will help alleviate the county’s
lack of senior-friendly low-income
housing projects.
Independent development administrator
Chuck Barker said senior-friendly
housing is in woefully short supply
throughout the state, and the projects
that exist are often at a higher price
range than many can afford. He called
the rush of baby boomers looking for housing a “silver
tsunami” that requires immediate action.
“It’s an embarrassment to our society,” Barker said
of the lack of affordable senior housing options. “The
Low-Income (Housing) Tax Credit program is pretty
much the only way they ever get built because it’s
more profitable to sell expensive housing.”
In Hilo, there are four apartment complexes for
low-income seniors that together offer 188 units.
There are no vacancies at any of the complexes and
all have waiting lists, some of which are more than
400 names long, according to a market study for
the Hale Kupuna project. The same market study
estimates that about 833 low-income housing units
for residents older than 55 will be required by 2020.
BY MAX DIBLE
WEST HAWAII TODAY
mdible@westhawaiitoday.com
SEE WATER PAGE 5A
Hilo Realtor Hank Correa is hoping to build a
new housing project at 1198 Kinoole St. in Hilo
for low-income seniors. The house currently
on the lot would be relocated. HOLLYN JOHNSON/
TRIBUNE-HERALD
Mary Routery, left, prepares to blow out a birthday candle as Jeff Turner looks on. PHOTOS BY CAMERON
MICULKA/WEST HAWAII TODAY
Friends and family of Mary Routery gather at
Habaneros Grill for her 103rd birthday.
SEE BIRTHDAY PAGE 6A
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