Puna Councilman Greggor Ilagan is seeking $5.5 million to put a park in Hawaiian Paradise Park.
Ilagan will ask the rest of the council this week to add the project to the county’s capital budget.
The move wouldn’t approve the funding, but it would place the project on the county’s wish list of capital projects, a necessary step before money can be allocated.
The nine-member council will consider his proposed budget amendment at a special meeting Wednesday at the Hilo council chambers. It estimates operating costs of $20,000 a year.
The HPP Owners Association donated a 20-acre parcel for the project last March.
Ilagan, a Hawaiian Paradise Park resident, said providing the park for the large private subdivision is one of his biggest priorities.
As of 2010, the neighborhood, which has no developed park facilities, had a population of 11,404, making it about the size of a small town.
The County Council adopted a resolution in January accepting donation of land for the park, but with a requirement that a park master plan be completed within two years.
Ilagan said the clock started ticking after the county officially accepted the property at 26th Avenue and Kaloli Drive.
A planning and design budget of $300,000 already was approved.
He said he is still confident the county will meet the deadline.
“I’m hoping to get the design started June or July,” said Ilagan, adding that work might take a year.
He said public meetings will take place to get input on design options.
The neighborhood association completed its own 24-page report with recommendations for the project.
Those include developing the park in three phases.
A covered pavilion, restrooms, paths, a playground and dog park are listed as part of phase one, followed by covered play courts, ball fields, skate park and additional parking in phases two and three.
Ruth Mizuba, who leads the association’s park committee, said the recommendations were based off a community survey. Some ideas were rejected, such as a community garden, because of concerns about how it would be managed.
“There’s room for other things in the future,” she said.
An earlier offer from the county to build a park in the community was rejected around 2008, Mizuba said.
Ilagan credited the support from association board members from moving it along this time.
“Without the board’s support, this wouldn’t be possible,” he said.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
