LIHU‘E — A total of over $223 million in capital-improvement-project funds have been allocated to Kaua‘i in the final version of the state budget that passed out of the Senate and House conference committee on April 19.
The final version of the state’s fiscal year 2022 budget (House Bill 200) covers July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2023, and will bring funding for schools, park complexes, port improvements and infrastructure improvements.
“In working with the Kauaʻi delegation — Representatives James Kunane Tokioka, Nadine K. Nakamura and Dee Morikawa — we were able to provide a large amount of monies to address infrastructure issues on Kauaʻi,” said Senate President Ron Kouchi of Lihu‘e in a statement. “These projects will help to stimulate our economy while also improving the quality of life for all who call the Garden Isle home.”
A combined $8.4 million will be used for slope-stabilization on the North Shore, to repair the Hanalei Bridge by replacing deteriorating steel-truss members and painting, and at Lumaha‘i to stabilize the site where a landslide struck earlier this year.
Some school improvements include $27 million to Waimea High School for the design and construction of a gymnasium and related facilities, and $932,000 to Koloa School for various projects, including parking-lot repair, re-roofing and general site improvements.
The Hawai‘i Health Systems Corporation Kauaʻi properties will receive $3 million in FY22 and $5 million in FY23 for new equipment, site improvements and other improvements.
Polihale State Park will receive $1.35 million for management of cultural, environmental and recreational resources, as well as roadway and parking improvements. Another $2.5 million will go toward a state park complex in Koke‘e/Waimea Canyon State Park, for the plans, design and construction. Another $2.7 in FY22 and $5 million in FY23 will go toward road improvements in the park between mileposts 0 and 14.
On the Eastside, in FY22, $2 million in funds have been allocated for repair of Queenlands Crossing along Wailua Access Loop Road. And, if partial matching funds are provided by the county, $14.5 million will go toward the construction of the Kapa‘a Homestead 313-foot water-system tank and other drainage and related improvements. There are also plans to design and construct a new well site for the Wailua-Kapa‘a Water System, listed at 5.2 million.
The Lihu‘e Airport will receive $9.1 million for facility improvements, and $115 million for terminal improvements, over the two years. Additional improvements for Nawiliwili Harbor and Port Allen Harbor have been allocated $4 million between both ports.
Plus, $14.5 million will be allocated over the two years for highway improvements, including to existing intersections, adding guardrails and shoulder improvements and widening the Kaumuali‘i Highway in Lihu‘e west of Maluhia Road.
This story was updated at 10:38 a.m. on Tuesday, April 27 to clarify that Waimea High School received $27 million, not $227 million.
•••
Sabrina Bodon, public safety and government reporter, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com.
$227 million for Waimea high school!!??Wow!! That’s more than the $223 million total we are getting!! Something doesn’t add up…
$227 Million to build a GYM & related facilities? Who’s the builder? High-5 slam dunk for someone….Wow.
https://www.athleticbusiness.com/Gym-Fieldhouse/school-districts-embrace-monolithic-domes-as-gymnasiums.html
What about pot hole ridden Kahiliholo Road; the worst road on Kauai for over 20 years running?
Waimea High School gets $27 million dollars for a school gymnasium. And when does all of this take place? In 2024? This is all down on paper work. How many people are happy to see this happen? It has been years, and still more years more, that I have stepped in to that rotten rat infested gymnasium. It wasn’t state of the art type then. They had wooden doors and locks. They had a digital score board, but that board had to be run with coaxial cables all the way down to the score keepers on the side lines. They had no PA system. The digital could not run any videos on the score board on the account that the people in charge didn’t know how to do this. Really suck. The lighting was controlled by a switch. Not digital from a main control panel at the main box. Computerized. The stands where people sat, rolled out to the court and not digital as some would think. Button is pressed and digital moving stands. The gym was not air conditioned. Open windows to ventilate it.
Are there any room for these changes in the $27 million proposed construction? Or same ugly looking gym and newer version.