I Aloha Molokai officially opposes HB1942 & SB2754

From I Aloha Molokai February, 2014

I Aloha Molokai has submitted testimony on both HB1942 & SB2754.  Both bills are set to be heard by the House and Senate on Tuesday, February 11, 2014.  These bills offer 50 million dollars in bonds for the Ikehu Molokai project proposed by Molokai Ranch and Princeton Energy.

IAM opposes the bills based on the Resolution 189 which we wrote with the House that mandates “bottom-up” planning on all the Hawaiian islands.  The Molokai Ranch and Princeton Energy Ikehu project falls short of the intent of this Resolution.

Although Molokai Ranch and Princeton have met with IAM and various other community groups about the Ikehu project, they have failed to produce ANY project supporting documentation.  When asked to provide engineering reports, financial projections or any other plans, they cannot.  IAM believes it is a mistake to allocate funds for projects that have not been vetted or put through the proper bidding processes.

Perhaps Molokai Ranch and Princeton Energy can present the full plan in the near future to gain the support here on Molokai that they need before going to the Legislature for funding.

I Aloha Molokai does support projects that reflect the intent of Resolution 189 and looks forward to partnering with companies that agree with our planning philosophy.

House Bill 1942

Senate Bill 2754

Although testimony is closed for the House version of the bill, testimony closes at 2 pm today for the Senate version.  Click the links above to view the bills.  Also, emails can be sent to all Committee members.

IAM appreciates your continued support.

---30---

IM: Communities are Smarter than Developers Think