Notes Of Community Interest From Kaneohe Neighborhood Board’s January Meeting

He`eia Community Development District: We learned that the federal government has designated 1,385 acres in Kaneohe Bay as a National Estuarine Research Reserve. The government’s announcement of the designation says the area “encompasses upland forests and grasslands, wetlands, reefs and seagrass beds, as well as the largest sheltered body of water in the Hawaiian Island chain.” The new designation will protect the area and fund research into ways to conserve its resources. The Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology will manage the reserve. The federal government will provide 70 percent of the funding, with the state funding the rest. The new reserve is the 29th in the country and the only one in Hawaii.

The He'eia Fishpond is a key part of the new
He'eia National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Hawaii State Hospital: Administrator William May told us that the state is developing a list of bidder qualifications to build a major new treatment facility. The facility will provide 144 beds for high-risk patients, and is expected to cost $160 million. Mr. May said the state hopes to choose a winning bidder this summer, start building in 2018 and finish in 2020. The new structure will replace the Goddard Building, a 69-year-old treatment facility that was torn down in 2016 after going unused for more than two decades.

New Edition Of Kaneohe History Book: We learned that a second edition has been published of the book Partial History of the Japanese in Kaneohe 1898-1959. The author is Florence Chizuko (Iida) Fanning. Information about the author and the first edition of the book is available by clicking on this link to an archived article from Honolulu MidWeek. To obtain a copy of the new book, call 247-4241 or visit the office of T. Iida Contracting at 45-558 Kamehameha Highway (drive past Kokokahi Gymnastics to reach the entrance).

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