KRCA Homeowners
Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
6:00 8:30 pm
Kilauea Neighborhood Center
Kalihiwai Ridge homeowners can find official minutes to KRCA Board of Directors meetings by setting up their own Account Log In at www.associaonline.com. They can assist you in getting your 7 digit homeowner number. After you have that you will then need to set up a User Name and Password. You can also set up having the Agenda to these meetings sent to you by e-mail the day before the meetings are held every other month.
My Impressions
The meeting this month was very productive and pleasant. We had 9 members attending and sharing their concerns about the poor and unsafe conditions of Kahiliholo Road. It was decided a sign will be put up at the tree tunnel to ask tastefully when the County of Kauai Department of Public Works plans to repair and resurface our road. We have been given the date of sometime in 2016, but two more winters to live through seems very unreasonable for the condition of our potholes and deteriorated drainage. Most people are driving down the middle of the road now and it is a head on waiting to happen. There hasn't been a center yellow line since we moved here at the turn of the century so it all seems very much overdue and grossly, dangerously neglected by the County.
On a more positive note the swamp in the lower section of lake lot 3 has been drained thanks to John Donatoni and George on his heavy equipment finding just the right place to remove the dirt that had built up creating the blockage. This will make way for the seepage-measuring pond to also now be drained and ditches formed to keep away any standing water to collect at the toe of the dam. Bids will be coming in to clear 25 feet away from the North side of the dam and also the West side embankment. Large trees need to be removed from the existing spillway and a non-manned solution to the mid-level outflow is being discussed. We could perhaps make the existing culvert an open ditch and put in a standing pipe feature which would need DLNR approval if such a fixture were installed instead of the gate.
Bids are being received from five companies to do the Seepage and Stability Study in anticipation of the final step which is a spillway design which will give us the highest possible lake level and perhaps slope it downhill so more water can exit faster in an emergency situation than just widening it alone. Our H&H Study has been approved by DLNR so we can move forward in a much more timely way from here on out. The access road repair and resurfacing is planned for completion before the winter storms so all the necessary trucks and equipment needed for these projects can get to and from the dam more safely.
Out on the lake this morning with Sufi was such a joy. There were at least 50-60 Nene who now live and are breeding at lakeside. They were honking away and flying overhead so happy to have such a place to call home. The two new benches on the dam are just waiting for more views to be created once more trees and vegetation have been cleared and a safer pedestrian access is provided for our members.
Until we meet again.
Aloha,
Maggie Lea
Suggested Readings: Water Resources and Climate Change Adaptation in Hawai`i: 2012 Reference: Commission on Water Resource Management Click here to download PDF file Koamalu Volumes 1&2 by Ethel M Damon, 1931 A story of pioneers on Kauai and of what they built in that island garden Sugar Water by Carol Wilcox 1996 Hawaiian & English definitions from the book: wai - water, blood, passion, life wai wai - wealth pani wai - dam water - transparent, odorless, tasteless, liquid, H2O Wetland habitat non-invasive plant suggestions: bacopa, makaloa, carex, aka 'akai, neke kupukupu, laua'e Links: Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge www.fws.gov/hanalei Kauai Forest Birds Recovery Project www.kauaiforestbirds.org Sounds Hawaiian www.soundshawaiian.com/birds National Wildlife Federation www.nwf.org Kalihiwai Reservoir is a Certified Wildlife Habitat Ducks Unlimited www.ducksunlimited.com Fishing Notes www.fishingnotes.com Hawaii Audubon Society www.hawaiiaudubon.com Sierra Club Hawaii www.sierraclubhawaii.com Sufi at the helm of Moe Moku |