Community Garden, Homelessness, Sidewalks And More From The Kaneohe Neighborhood Board

Here’s a further update on developments during our August 18 meeting. For complete meeting minutes, click on this link.

Kaneohe Community Garden: We heard from Garden President Liane Briggs that this community jewel is being fouled by off-leash dogs. The problems include waste, digging and threatening confrontations with garden users. She asked that a partial fence be completed to fully enclose the facility. Ms. Briggs met with a city staff member separately after her comments, and we are hopeful that action will be taken soon to rein in the problem. The garden is located behind a baseball field at Kaneohe Community Park, 45-529 Keaahala Road. Garden volunteers hold a regular meeting there at 8:30 am on the third Saturday of most months. More information is available on the city’s community garden webpage and the Kaneohe Community Garden Facebook page.

Friendly people keep the Kaneohe Community Garden growing.

Windward Ho’olaule’a:  We will again be sponsoring five tables for emergency preparedness agencies as this great community event. The Ho’olaule’a will take place Saturday, October 1, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the great lawn at Windward Community College. Groups such as the Red Cross, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) and Kaneohe/Kahaluu Hazard Awareness and Response Team will be represented. The Ho’olaule’a regularly attracts 15,000 visitors with a mix of “top island entertainment, ‘ono food, keiki rides, arts and crafts, a Silent Auction, and fun activities for the whole family.” It’s a great opportunity to raise awareness of emergency preparedness, too!

Homelessness: We received a letter from the state explaining the methods used in its 2016 homeless count on the Windward side. The state involved multiple community-serving agencies as well as volunteers in the count, which spanned a five-day period in late January after numerous training events. Agency employees focused on the areas and people they serve, and did much of the survey work. The letter was a response to concerns raised at our July meeting about low numbers of homeless being counted on the Windward side and about the adequacy of documentation during the count. Our homelessness committee will continue to work on the issue. The committee’s members are Mahealani Cypher, Deborah Collins and Bill Sager.

Sidewalks: Our vice-chairman, Bill Sager, asked about city plans for funding sidewalks in Kaneohe. He noted concerns raised by the Blue Zones Project, an organization that promotes healthy living. Blue Zones says the community lacks adequate sidewalks to provide safe routes for children to schools and to connect residents of senior living facilities to the broader community. Mr. Sager would like to see the city use capital improvement funds in targeted areas to speed sidewalk construction, rather than requiring property owners to finance them. We hope to receive more information at a future meeting.

Legislative Work Group: On an 11-0 vote, we approved forming a permitted interaction group to monitor bills during the upcoming legislative session. The group will focus on legislation that is important to the Kaneohe community. Vice-chair Sager and Board member Warren Ditch Jr. volunteered to serve on the community. The group could meet more frequently than the Board and would not require a quorum of Board members to be present. We hope to discuss and act on a resolution setting up the group at our September 15 meeting.

Comments Welcome: Please join us for all of our meetings. If you are unable to attend, you may provide testimony online and contact Neighborhood Board members directly. Comments on this blog are welcomed. To add a comment, please click on the link below. Also, please like us on Facebook and comment there.