Dear Mayor Kim,
This week I received a postcard notice from Miller and Lieb, the company that provides water for Hawaiian Beaches. The notice urgently requested that we customers take precautionary measures in our use of water, “…existing pump facilities are barely able to meet the rising demand.” This notice was definitely more serious than our annual summer drought warnings.
Since moving to Hawaiian Beaches in 1988 I have noticed a steady increase in new houses, more so in the past year because of the influx of mainlanders looking for affordable homes. I have no idea how many properties have houses on them and how many are empty lots but I'll guess that only 1/3 of the total properties have houses, and already we are having water concerns.
While I know that the Hawaii County Building Permit Department supervisor is aware of the rapid growth in lower Puna, I don’t think he realizes that he is granting several new building permits each week in an area that is already straining to meet the water needs of the present residents.
I don’t know what plans Miller and Lieb have for installing another pump or for drilling yet another well. Perhaps we should talk about a moratorium on building permits until Miller and Lieb feel confident that they can meet the needs now and in the future.
It will feel good to know that you are aware of this problem and that you have talked with the new construction permit department supervisor. Maybe the permit supervisor needs to call Miller and Lieb and say, "Hey, we're going to keep granting building permits so you better start increasing your pumping capacity."
I know that other residents are concerned.
With aloha,
Kerry
