By NANCY COOK LAUER Stephens Media ADVERTISING Swimmers, snorkelers and surfers will soon have easier access to Laaloa Beach Park, also known as Magic Sands in Kona, thanks to action Wednesday by the Hawaii County Council. The council voted 8-0,
By NANCY COOK LAUER
Stephens Media
Swimmers, snorkelers and surfers will soon have easier access to Laaloa Beach Park, also known as Magic Sands in Kona, thanks to action Wednesday by the Hawaii County Council. The council voted 8-0, with North Kona Councilman Angel Pilago absent, to use $500,000 in bond money to purchase a 7,500-square-foot parcel to complete the acquisition of the newly named “Kipapa Park.” Located across Alii Drive from the waterfront, the parcel will be used for parking, and ultimately, for restrooms.
The parking lot will complement plans by the Department of Parks and Recreation to eliminate parking along both shoulders of Alii Drive to address the safety of both motorists and pedestrians, said Deputy Director Clayton Honma in correspondence with the council. The property is one of three parcels totaling 6.2 acres that the county is purchasing. The two main parcels are being purchased with $3.2 million from the 2 percent land fund, which comes from property taxes.
The property, known as the Kingman Trust, was ranked in 2010 as the county’s fourth of eight priorities by the Hawaii County Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission. In addition to increasing parking, the purchase will help protect a native Hawaiian burial site and allow passive park uses, officials said.
“We look forward to getting these properties acquired and put into public use,” said county Property Manager Kenneth Van Bergen.
He said a purchase agreement should be signed in the next few weeks, and the property should be open to beachgoers by early summer.
In other business, the council voted 8-0 to approve a two-year pilot program putting computers and printers at council offices in Hilo, the West Hawaii Civic Center, Waimea and Pahoa to allow the public to research state and county government websites. The computers in particular are targeted for the public to check the state Department of Budget and Finance website, ehawaii.gov/lilo/app, to see if they have unclaimed money or property being held by the state.
South Kona Councilwoman Brenda Ford, sponsor of the resolution, said she’s found amounts from $15 to $800 that are owed to her friends and neighbors. She urged the public to see if they’re owed money, too.
“There are thousands of people in this county who are owed money or other tangible property who have not collected it,” Ford said.
