Aloha Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee Chair Rawlines-Fernandez , Vice Chair Paltin and Committee Members,
I am urging the committee to adopt the Mayor Victorino’s proposed budget for the provision of designated pickleball courts in Central Maui.
This is greatly appreciated since there are no existing designated pickleball courts in Central Maui. This is compared to the total of 14 tennis courts in Central Maui. (4 at the Wailuku War Memorial, 6 at Wailuku Wells Park, and 4 at Kahului Community Park.
The following references the mayor’s proposal for designated pickleball courts in Central Maui
CBS 7245 (page 794)
$150,000 design
$500,000 construction
$46,517 Operation and Maintenance cost
The issue I and other players have is that this will take an estimated time of 2 - 3 years to complete. Just over the last three years, the numbers of pickleball players has been exploding at the Wailuku War Memorial tennis courts, where two upper courts are also marked for pickleball. At any given time, there are at least 30 -35 pickleball players in attendance for those 2 courts which are reserved for Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Here are some facts about the exponential rise of the pickleball in the US.
"The 2022 Topline Pickleball Participant Report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), a premier trade association for the nation’s top sports and fitness brands, reported that the sport currently has more than 4.8 million players in the US – an increase of 39.3% over the last two years." From the Boston Globe, Pickleball is growing at an almost unprecedented rate in the history of American Sports.https://www.paddlepro.com/news/pickleball-growing-at-an-almost-unprecedented-rate-in-the-history-of-american-sports-/
There have been two recent meetings with the mayor in which an interim solution was considered. This temporary measure would involve the resurfacing of the two upper tennis courts at Wailuku War Memorial and marked for 6 pickleball courts (Note that a pickleball court is one fourth the size of a tennis court). No pickleball nets needed as players will furnish their own portable ones). The tennis nets can be left intact. The diagrams are already available. This would be a low investment which would only require paint for resurfacing and for pickleball lines. Once the mayor’s proposed project is completed, the two upper courts at War Memorial can be converted back to two tennis courts.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify,
Ann Pitcaithley, Wailuku
Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America. It's a game for all ages. It's a great family activity, and keeps many senior citizens active. The number of players on Maui has quadrupled over the past 3 years. The facilities we have been granted use of by the Parks Dept are much appreciated but have become overwhelmed with players. Please consider funding 8-10 dedicated pickleball courts in each geographic district on island. With the tremendous growth of the game locally, there is little doubt that dedicated pickleball courts would be extremely welcome and well used. In addition to addressing the growing needs of a hugely popular recreational activity here, building quality, dedicated pickleball facilities will give residents courts to be proud of, and will also enhance Maui's reputation as a premiere visitor destination as many pickleball enthusiasts pick travel destinations based on availability of pickleball courts. Lastly, as of now, there are just 16 dedicated pickleball courts on Maui (8 @ Waipuilani Park in Kihei, 4 @ the Lahaina Civic Center, and 4 @ Napili Park). The other public courts we have use of are all shared with the tennis community. They have not been happy about having to share court time/space with pickleball. Nothing would make the tennis community happier than pickleball getting it's own dedicated courts. The pickleball community agrees. Mahalo.
Maui needs designated pickleball courts. There are none in Central Maui or Kula or Haiku.
Kihei needs more courts and resurfacing of the current court surfaces at Waipuilani. During high season there were 50-60 players every day. The cracks are hazardous. Proper wind protection maintenance would be appreciated, too. My husband and I were practicing pickleball on the Kalama tennis courts two weeks ago. A tennis player yelled at us to get off the courts, even though there were open courts. We assured him and his partners that we would always leave when the courts were full. The group deescalated a bit and we have not encountered him since.
Aloha Maui County Council. I am Shelley Anne Mack and I thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony. I have been a resident of Maui for 38 years. I love my island home and a few years ago got involved in a wonderful sport called Pickleball. It's so much fun and brings people together for play and socializing!! And it's wonderful for we seniors to help us stay young and active. That said, it is a huge disappointment that we have so few Pickleball facilities. I truly don't understand why this is the case. We have several under-utilized gymnasiums, not to mention the scores of under used tennis courts. Please, Maui County Council, please include funding for dedicated pickleball courts. Mahalo.
It appears the Agenda for the required Public Hearing on property tax rates was submitted on 4.13.22 with specific proposed rates published. If the Council decides today to approve/recommend/propose rates that vary from any of the published rates contained on the Agenda for the Public Hearing on 4.27.2022, the Council may be in violation of the Sunshine Law if the Council persists in holding the hearing on 4.27.22. You should seek an opinion from the Office of Information Practices. Maui County Code Section 3.48.565 requires that the Notice of Public Hearing advertised in a newspaper of general circulation contain the rates to be considered by the Council.
Thank you for allowing me to testify. This is a request to please budget for dedicated public pickleball courts all over Maui. They are especially needed in Central Maui and Kula. It is important to put in an area with little wind (Kula) or good wind protection is needed. There are a lot of people playing this game every day, mostly on tennis courts. Sometimes we have to tape the courts ourselves and bring portable nets. It is popular with every age group, but especially seniors. It creates good exercise and lots of socializing. I know that you will get 100% of the tennis players support if you get us off their courts and build us our own. Mahalo for any support you can give us.
Aloha. My name is Kai Duponte. I am very concerned by the lack of transparency with discussing fiscal issues that affect residents. For example, just last week, fees for residents to use some public facilities were doubled, without any notice to residents that this was going to be discussed or the ability to see documents. In addition, the County Council has given our Mayor full discretion on the spending of Federal money, which will not go at all well for residents. Our Mayor has made it clear that he supports the tourism industry over the best interest of residents--the most recent examples being his vetoes of the moratorium on tourist accommodations and on affordable housing. Please add transparency to your operating strategy. Residents need to know how our taxes are being spent!
My name is Joy Kaaz and I am a full time Maui resident. I am disturbed by the fact that during the last 2 years of the fiscal budget process, the County Council added a clause allowing the mayor to autonomously spend budget monies as he pleased, without consulting with the public or the council. I am writing to request that the County Council refrain from adding that clause again to the General Budget Provisions for FY 23.
Mahalo for your consideration.
Error in Registration Fees
The County Council established a $100/year registration fee for Electric vehicles (EV) during their 2018 budget session, the reasoning behind this fee was that EVs do not use any gasoline or diesel fuel and therefore do not contribute to the highway fund thru the taxes assessed to gasoline. The rational was sound and this fee helps provide greater fairness in taxation policy. At the same time a $50/year fee was established for hybrid vehicles, but I believe it was the Council’s intent not to assess a fee to all hybrid vehicles but only to Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV). I believe it was a mistake in practice to apply this fee to conventional hybrid vehicles.
The difference between a conventional hybrid and a Plug-in Hybrid is that Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) get their electric power via plugging them into the electrical grid and this power allows these vehicles to drive for some limited range (usually 10-40 miles) before the gasoline engine would turn on to provide a greater range. Where conventional hybrid vehicles get all of their energy from gasoline and the hybrid aspect is just a small electric motor and small battery designed to recover some of the power that is lost in a non hybrid engine while it is coasting or braking. Conventional hybrids have a very small battery usually less than 2kWh and typically cannot operate at all, or for more than a mile, on the power from the battery alone. The electric motor only helps them use slightly less gasoline by turning off the gas engine while the car is sitting at a stop and by recovering engine braking power and using it to help the car accelerate.
I suggest that the fee created in 2018 only apply to EVs and PHEVs. and specifically not to conventional hybrids, that do use gasoline or diesel fuel and in some cases actually use more fuel than non hybrid vehicles.
This policy is codified in MCC 3.25.025
3.25.025 - Highway improvement fees.
There shall be established a highway improvement fee for electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. The fees shall be deposited into the highway fund. For purposes of this section, electric vehicles shall mean vehicles that derive all of their power from electricity, and hybrid electric vehicles shall mean vehicles that derive part of their power from electricity and part of their power from an internal combustion engine running on gasoline.
This would need to be change to:
3.25.025 - Highway improvement fees.
There shall be established a highway improvement fee for electric vehicles (EV) and Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). The fees shall be deposited into the highway fund. For purposes of this section, electric vehicles shall mean vehicles that derive all of their power from electricity, and Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles shall mean vehicles that derive part of their power from plugging them into electricity and [part of their power] can also be driven from an internal combustion engine running on gasoline.
Here is an article about PHEVs https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g15377500/plug-in-hybrid-car-suv-vehicles/
Aloha Chair Rawlins-Fernandez and Committee Members,
First, I want to thank the Council for their vote to approve Member King's Ma'alaea Regional Wastewater Reclamation System budget amendment. The important project will eliminate 79% of all Maui Underground Injection Control Program permittees by phasing out injection wells in Ma'alaea. Bravo!
The second out of two urgent injection well related needs for attention and investment is the lack of disinfection for municipal injection well discharges in Kahului. Lahaina already has it, Kihei is getting it this summer, and only Kahului has no present effort to install disinfection of injection well discharges.
The solution is clear -- ultraviolet wastewater disinfection, a reef-safe technology that uses high frequency light to kill harmful pathogens in effluent without any chemical residue.
In a previous FOIA response, Department of Environmental Management manager Scott Rollins cited a $6 mil cost to install UV for injection well discharges in Kahului, then clarified that no Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) has been developed to map out and cost out UV installation in Kahului. On 4/13/22 DEM stated in an email "A Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) / cost estimate to use UV disinfection prior to injection well discharge has not been done." On 4/15/22, Scott Rollins stated, "in order to make sure all the pieces fit in the end, a PER [for UV disinfection of injection well discharges in Kahului] with an approximate cost of $100,000 would need to be completed."
As such, I implore Chair Rawlins-Fernandez to allow in Committee any Council Member to motion for a last-minute budget amendment to pay for such a PER, so that we can make an affordable incremental step forward toward 100% municipal wastewater disinfection in Maui.
Such an amendment might read:
"The County of Maui shall allocate in the FY2023 budget for the Department of Environmental Management the sum of $100,000.00 to pay for a Preliminary Engineering Report that will characterize and cost out the installation of ultraviolet light wastewater disinfection capability for injection well discharges at the Kahului Wastewater Reclamation Facility."
Included please find a third revision of my case for UV disinfection in Kahului, in the context of 100% municipal wastewater disinfection in Maui.
Long overdue action to fix injection wells is finally happening. Now a moderate investment in a Kahului UV PER will seize the moment to close the final gap on 100% municipal wastewater disinfection in Maui. A PER will enable us to raise funding, public or private, to pay for the needed UV upgrades.
Mahalo for your long hours of careful attention and work.
Sincerely,
Travis Liggett
President, Reef Power LLC
Please widen the all the road to Hana Highway to allow ample parking for visitors, and please stop putting hundreds of "No Parking" signs on the road. Maui has become a land of "No Parking" signs! Hideous. This is not the Maui I know. How can locals enjoy the beauty of Maui if we also can't park? This is ridiculous! Have you seen all the "No Parking" signs along the road near Twin Falls? Why so many? It doesn't make sense. Was the Twin Falls property owners had a hand in this so that all visitors should pay the $10 parking fee on their property??? Is the parking lot they are charging they own? As far as I know the parking space is not owned by them, especially the one along the road. Please have a look into this. I cannot accept that my tax dollars are being spent on hundreds of hideous "No Parking" signs so that the Twin Falls property owners can just make a killing with the parking fees they charge!
Aloha Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee Chair Rawlines-Fernandez , Vice Chair Paltin and Committee Members,
I am urging the committee to adopt the Mayor Victorino’s proposed budget for the provision of designated pickleball courts in Central Maui.
This is greatly appreciated since there are no existing designated pickleball courts in Central Maui. This is compared to the total of 14 tennis courts in Central Maui. (4 at the Wailuku War Memorial, 6 at Wailuku Wells Park, and 4 at Kahului Community Park.
The following references the mayor’s proposal for designated pickleball courts in Central Maui
CBS 7245 (page 794)
$150,000 design
$500,000 construction
$46,517 Operation and Maintenance cost
The issue I and other players have is that this will take an estimated time of 2 - 3 years to complete. Just over the last three years, the numbers of pickleball players has been exploding at the Wailuku War Memorial tennis courts, where two upper courts are also marked for pickleball. At any given time, there are at least 30 -35 pickleball players in attendance for those 2 courts which are reserved for Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Here are some facts about the exponential rise of the pickleball in the US.
"The 2022 Topline Pickleball Participant Report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), a premier trade association for the nation’s top sports and fitness brands, reported that the sport currently has more than 4.8 million players in the US – an increase of 39.3% over the last two years." From the Boston Globe, Pickleball is growing at an almost unprecedented rate in the history of American Sports.https://www.paddlepro.com/news/pickleball-growing-at-an-almost-unprecedented-rate-in-the-history-of-american-sports-/
There have been two recent meetings with the mayor in which an interim solution was considered. This temporary measure would involve the resurfacing of the two upper tennis courts at Wailuku War Memorial and marked for 6 pickleball courts (Note that a pickleball court is one fourth the size of a tennis court). No pickleball nets needed as players will furnish their own portable ones). The tennis nets can be left intact. The diagrams are already available. This would be a low investment which would only require paint for resurfacing and for pickleball lines. Once the mayor’s proposed project is completed, the two upper courts at War Memorial can be converted back to two tennis courts.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify,
Ann Pitcaithley, Wailuku
Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America. It's a game for all ages. It's a great family activity, and keeps many senior citizens active. The number of players on Maui has quadrupled over the past 3 years. The facilities we have been granted use of by the Parks Dept are much appreciated but have become overwhelmed with players. Please consider funding 8-10 dedicated pickleball courts in each geographic district on island. With the tremendous growth of the game locally, there is little doubt that dedicated pickleball courts would be extremely welcome and well used. In addition to addressing the growing needs of a hugely popular recreational activity here, building quality, dedicated pickleball facilities will give residents courts to be proud of, and will also enhance Maui's reputation as a premiere visitor destination as many pickleball enthusiasts pick travel destinations based on availability of pickleball courts. Lastly, as of now, there are just 16 dedicated pickleball courts on Maui (8 @ Waipuilani Park in Kihei, 4 @ the Lahaina Civic Center, and 4 @ Napili Park). The other public courts we have use of are all shared with the tennis community. They have not been happy about having to share court time/space with pickleball. Nothing would make the tennis community happier than pickleball getting it's own dedicated courts. The pickleball community agrees. Mahalo.
Maui needs designated pickleball courts. There are none in Central Maui or Kula or Haiku.
Kihei needs more courts and resurfacing of the current court surfaces at Waipuilani. During high season there were 50-60 players every day. The cracks are hazardous. Proper wind protection maintenance would be appreciated, too. My husband and I were practicing pickleball on the Kalama tennis courts two weeks ago. A tennis player yelled at us to get off the courts, even though there were open courts. We assured him and his partners that we would always leave when the courts were full. The group deescalated a bit and we have not encountered him since.
Aloha Maui County Council. I am Shelley Anne Mack and I thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony. I have been a resident of Maui for 38 years. I love my island home and a few years ago got involved in a wonderful sport called Pickleball. It's so much fun and brings people together for play and socializing!! And it's wonderful for we seniors to help us stay young and active. That said, it is a huge disappointment that we have so few Pickleball facilities. I truly don't understand why this is the case. We have several under-utilized gymnasiums, not to mention the scores of under used tennis courts. Please, Maui County Council, please include funding for dedicated pickleball courts. Mahalo.
It appears the Agenda for the required Public Hearing on property tax rates was submitted on 4.13.22 with specific proposed rates published. If the Council decides today to approve/recommend/propose rates that vary from any of the published rates contained on the Agenda for the Public Hearing on 4.27.2022, the Council may be in violation of the Sunshine Law if the Council persists in holding the hearing on 4.27.22. You should seek an opinion from the Office of Information Practices. Maui County Code Section 3.48.565 requires that the Notice of Public Hearing advertised in a newspaper of general circulation contain the rates to be considered by the Council.
Thank you for allowing me to testify. This is a request to please budget for dedicated public pickleball courts all over Maui. They are especially needed in Central Maui and Kula. It is important to put in an area with little wind (Kula) or good wind protection is needed. There are a lot of people playing this game every day, mostly on tennis courts. Sometimes we have to tape the courts ourselves and bring portable nets. It is popular with every age group, but especially seniors. It creates good exercise and lots of socializing. I know that you will get 100% of the tennis players support if you get us off their courts and build us our own. Mahalo for any support you can give us.
Aloha. My name is Kai Duponte. I am very concerned by the lack of transparency with discussing fiscal issues that affect residents. For example, just last week, fees for residents to use some public facilities were doubled, without any notice to residents that this was going to be discussed or the ability to see documents. In addition, the County Council has given our Mayor full discretion on the spending of Federal money, which will not go at all well for residents. Our Mayor has made it clear that he supports the tourism industry over the best interest of residents--the most recent examples being his vetoes of the moratorium on tourist accommodations and on affordable housing. Please add transparency to your operating strategy. Residents need to know how our taxes are being spent!
My name is Joy Kaaz and I am a full time Maui resident. I am disturbed by the fact that during the last 2 years of the fiscal budget process, the County Council added a clause allowing the mayor to autonomously spend budget monies as he pleased, without consulting with the public or the council. I am writing to request that the County Council refrain from adding that clause again to the General Budget Provisions for FY 23.
Mahalo for your consideration.
Error in Registration Fees
The County Council established a $100/year registration fee for Electric vehicles (EV) during their 2018 budget session, the reasoning behind this fee was that EVs do not use any gasoline or diesel fuel and therefore do not contribute to the highway fund thru the taxes assessed to gasoline. The rational was sound and this fee helps provide greater fairness in taxation policy. At the same time a $50/year fee was established for hybrid vehicles, but I believe it was the Council’s intent not to assess a fee to all hybrid vehicles but only to Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV). I believe it was a mistake in practice to apply this fee to conventional hybrid vehicles.
The difference between a conventional hybrid and a Plug-in Hybrid is that Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) get their electric power via plugging them into the electrical grid and this power allows these vehicles to drive for some limited range (usually 10-40 miles) before the gasoline engine would turn on to provide a greater range. Where conventional hybrid vehicles get all of their energy from gasoline and the hybrid aspect is just a small electric motor and small battery designed to recover some of the power that is lost in a non hybrid engine while it is coasting or braking. Conventional hybrids have a very small battery usually less than 2kWh and typically cannot operate at all, or for more than a mile, on the power from the battery alone. The electric motor only helps them use slightly less gasoline by turning off the gas engine while the car is sitting at a stop and by recovering engine braking power and using it to help the car accelerate.
I suggest that the fee created in 2018 only apply to EVs and PHEVs. and specifically not to conventional hybrids, that do use gasoline or diesel fuel and in some cases actually use more fuel than non hybrid vehicles.
This policy is codified in MCC 3.25.025
3.25.025 - Highway improvement fees.
There shall be established a highway improvement fee for electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. The fees shall be deposited into the highway fund. For purposes of this section, electric vehicles shall mean vehicles that derive all of their power from electricity, and hybrid electric vehicles shall mean vehicles that derive part of their power from electricity and part of their power from an internal combustion engine running on gasoline.
This would need to be change to:
3.25.025 - Highway improvement fees.
There shall be established a highway improvement fee for electric vehicles (EV) and Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). The fees shall be deposited into the highway fund. For purposes of this section, electric vehicles shall mean vehicles that derive all of their power from electricity, and Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles shall mean vehicles that derive part of their power from plugging them into electricity and [part of their power] can also be driven from an internal combustion engine running on gasoline.
Here is an article about PHEVs https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g15377500/plug-in-hybrid-car-suv-vehicles/
Aloha Chair Rawlins-Fernandez and Committee Members,
First, I want to thank the Council for their vote to approve Member King's Ma'alaea Regional Wastewater Reclamation System budget amendment. The important project will eliminate 79% of all Maui Underground Injection Control Program permittees by phasing out injection wells in Ma'alaea. Bravo!
The second out of two urgent injection well related needs for attention and investment is the lack of disinfection for municipal injection well discharges in Kahului. Lahaina already has it, Kihei is getting it this summer, and only Kahului has no present effort to install disinfection of injection well discharges.
The solution is clear -- ultraviolet wastewater disinfection, a reef-safe technology that uses high frequency light to kill harmful pathogens in effluent without any chemical residue.
In a previous FOIA response, Department of Environmental Management manager Scott Rollins cited a $6 mil cost to install UV for injection well discharges in Kahului, then clarified that no Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) has been developed to map out and cost out UV installation in Kahului. On 4/13/22 DEM stated in an email "A Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) / cost estimate to use UV disinfection prior to injection well discharge has not been done." On 4/15/22, Scott Rollins stated, "in order to make sure all the pieces fit in the end, a PER [for UV disinfection of injection well discharges in Kahului] with an approximate cost of $100,000 would need to be completed."
As such, I implore Chair Rawlins-Fernandez to allow in Committee any Council Member to motion for a last-minute budget amendment to pay for such a PER, so that we can make an affordable incremental step forward toward 100% municipal wastewater disinfection in Maui.
Such an amendment might read:
"The County of Maui shall allocate in the FY2023 budget for the Department of Environmental Management the sum of $100,000.00 to pay for a Preliminary Engineering Report that will characterize and cost out the installation of ultraviolet light wastewater disinfection capability for injection well discharges at the Kahului Wastewater Reclamation Facility."
Included please find a third revision of my case for UV disinfection in Kahului, in the context of 100% municipal wastewater disinfection in Maui.
Long overdue action to fix injection wells is finally happening. Now a moderate investment in a Kahului UV PER will seize the moment to close the final gap on 100% municipal wastewater disinfection in Maui. A PER will enable us to raise funding, public or private, to pay for the needed UV upgrades.
Mahalo for your long hours of careful attention and work.
Sincerely,
Travis Liggett
President, Reef Power LLC
info@reefpowermaui.com
(808) 757-5984
reefpowermaui.com
Instagram.com/reefpowermaui
flushaware.com
Instagram.com/flushaware
Please widen the all the road to Hana Highway to allow ample parking for visitors, and please stop putting hundreds of "No Parking" signs on the road. Maui has become a land of "No Parking" signs! Hideous. This is not the Maui I know. How can locals enjoy the beauty of Maui if we also can't park? This is ridiculous! Have you seen all the "No Parking" signs along the road near Twin Falls? Why so many? It doesn't make sense. Was the Twin Falls property owners had a hand in this so that all visitors should pay the $10 parking fee on their property??? Is the parking lot they are charging they own? As far as I know the parking space is not owned by them, especially the one along the road. Please have a look into this. I cannot accept that my tax dollars are being spent on hundreds of hideous "No Parking" signs so that the Twin Falls property owners can just make a killing with the parking fees they charge!