NELHA bows to 30 year precedent

Main gate toremain open BUT...
NELHA: Officials plan to closea four-wheel drive trail to Pine Trees beach
By ERIN MILLERWest Hawaii Todayemiller@westhawaiitoday.com

The Natural EnergyLaboratory of HawaiiAuthority board of directorsdecided Tuesday against earlyweekday and full weekendclosures of the public accessgate to the property.Instead, NELHAOperations Manager JanWar said volunteers from theKeahole Tenant Associationwill open and close the gateuntil a new security contractis in place.“We had a long discussionat the board meeting,” Warsaid. “With a 30-year historyof providing public access,we realized there is no waywe can attempt to close itearlier.”NELHA officialsannounced earlier this monththat, because the securitycontract expired July 31and a new one had yet tobe approved by the stateDepartment of Business,Economic Development andTourism, they would beginclosing the gate at QueenKaahumanu Highway thatallows public access to thebeach. The decision causedquite a bit of public outcry,War said.Ted Liu, director of thestate department that overseesthe energy lab area, toldSen. Josh Green recently thathe did not think NELHA officialshad the authority to closethe gate. On Tuesday, Liu saidGov. Linda Lingle had vetoeda Legislative vote to transferthe NELHA budget from hisdepartment to another statedepartment.“We have restored the budgetand any confusion causedby this needless transfer hassince been settled,” Liu said ina letter sent to West HawaiiToday that was written prior tothe NELHA board’s decisionto use volunteers to keep thegate open evenings and weekends.“I commend NELHA for(its) creative solutions to sharethe impact of a reduced budget.I trust that, as is also truewith the economic situationwe currently find ourselves in,this move will be temporary.”NELHA officials are goingahead with plans to close thefour-wheel drive trail at thesouthern end of the NELHAproperty that leads to thebeach often referred to asPine Trees. War said representativesof Kohanaiki, aneighboring developmentthat is providing a pavedroad to Pine Trees, said theywould have that road openFriday morning. The fourwheeldrive road will remainopen until Kohanaiki roadis open.