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AIEA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION 99-210 HA'ILIMANU PL. AIEA, HI 96701

Happenings in Our Community:

Meetings are held at the Aiea Public Library located at 99-143 Moanalua Road.

As a general rule: Aiea Community Association meetings are held on the fourth Monday of the month at 7:00 pm. Holiday rule applies.

Hope to see you at the next meeting!

Aiea Community Christmas Parade and Community Day

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Dear Parade Participant,

Thank you for participating in the third annual Aiea Community Christmas Parade. The following information should help you prepare for the parade.

Parade Route:

The parade starts at 9am from Pearlridge Park (Pearl Ridge Elementary) on to Moanalua Road, past Pearlridge Center. left on to Kaamilo St then right on to Ulune St. past Aiea High School and ends at the old Sugar Mill site ( near Aiea Intermediate). See map below. Approximate walking time: 1 hour

Parade Instructions and Reminders:

1. Check in at Pearl Ridge Park (Pearl Ridge Elementary School) before 8:00 am. The main entrance road into the Pearl Ridge Elementary Parking lot will be closed at 8:30am. The parade will start at 9am.

2. Those participants using vehicles will need to arrive before 7:30am.

3. Road closures for the parade will begin at 8:30 am. Police and Parade Marshalls will be along the route of the parade.

4. Parking is limited. Please try to car pool. Parking will be allowed at Pearl Ridge Park, Aiea High School, and Aiea Intermediate School. Transportation to and from the parade is the responsibility of the participant. A shuttle will be available to take participants back to Pearl Ridge Elementary.

6. If you pass out candy, it must be handed out to the spectators. We are not allowed to throw candy.

7. Pets are allowed. However, pets must be well behaved and on a leash. Please clean up any pet "business" immediately.

8. Water will be available at the beginning and at the end of the parade.

9. Special hints: Decorate!!! Cheer!!! Sing!!! Have a fun morning!!!

Come to the Aiea Family Fun Fair after the parade!!!

Food, entertainment, games, face painting, bouncers, bubble fun, and many other activities. Fair ends at 2 pm.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact:

Claire Tamamoto, clairet@hawaii.rr.com

Karen Higa, boohiga@yahoo.com or call 741-6047

`Aiea Neighborhood Board Meetings

The Aiea Neighborhood Board meets on the second Monday from 7:30 PM at the `Aiea Public Library (99-143 Moanalua Road).

The Future Aiea Library Site on a Rainy Day in October 2008

The following appeared in the Honolulu Star Bulletin of Tuesday, October 21, 2003, which text has been included here in its entirety. The efforts of the Star Bulletin to report good community news is greatly appreciated.

Land buy offers Aiea Library hope

Lingle has signed a letter of intent to buy five lots at
the former Aiea Sugar Mill site

By Leila Fujimori and Susan Essoyan
lfujimori@starbulletin.com sessoyan@starbulletin.com

After nearly a decade of working to find Aiea Library a larger home, Claire Tamamoto almost lost hope.

"Two weekends ago, I told my husband, 'I think we lost it,'" Tamamoto said.

But at the Oct. 13 Aiea Neighborhood Board meeting, state Rep. Lynn Finnegan (R, Mapunapuna-Foster Village) announced Gov. Linda Lingle had signed a letter of intent to purchase five lots at the former Aiea Sugar Mill site to preserve the land for community use, possibly including a library.

"We're just thankful we're one step closer," said Tamamoto, a community advocate.

Bank of Hawaii has signed the letter of intent and expects to have the transaction closed before the year's end.

"We're delighted to be working with the state to acquire these parcels for future community use," said Stafford Kiguchi, Bank of Hawaii spokesman. "The Aiea community will be able to benefit and be able to realize their vision for this property, one which they've had for the last decade."

The state Legislature had allocated $2.5 million to purchase land to relocate the Aiea Library, but former Gov. Ben Cayetano withheld the funds. The appropriation would have lapsed next June if not spent, Finnegan said.

"What we're doing now is saving the property from being used for industrial purposes," Finnegan said yesterday. "If we didn't act now, it would have been history. Bank of Hawaii could have sold it, and there would have been industrial use there."

The library system cannot afford at this point to relocate, build or cover operational costs for another library, she said.

"I'm hoping eventually we will be able to put a library there," she said. "The governor had some legitimate concerns, and so did the library system."

Aiea residents have clamored for a bigger library, saying the burgeoning community has outgrown the old one built in 1964, with no room for expansion.

Residents are also concerned with students' safety, saying it is dangerous for children to cross busy streets in a business district. The mill site, however, is near several area schools.

The site is zoned for heavy industry. Residents wanted to preserve the land for public use, since homes, schools and public buildings surround the site.

"Sticking industrial in the middle of residential is not a good fit," Tamamoto said. "There could have been an auto body and paint shop or a bar."

The city has already acquired two other portions of the sugar mill site for future use as a community center with child care and senior housing.

But state Librarian Jo Ann Schindler is not convinced the sugar mill site is ideal, and has requested a site assessment to see if the size is appropriate and whether the soil is contaminated.

"We have several different kinds of priorities," Schindler said. "We must meet ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance and address a very large number of health and safety projects. Those are our top priorities for the system, not individual expansion or relocation of libraries."

City Councilman Gary Okino, an Aiea resident, said although the 2.3-acre site is a bit small, it is much larger than the current site, which measures less than an acre. And parking could be addressed by sharing a lot with the park or building a two-story parking structure, he said.

Community members stepped up efforts to secure the site in June, including soliciting the help of Finnegan, the new GOP legislator, to lobby the Republican governor.

Tamamoto said many have worked on the project, but credits Finnegan with convincing the governor, using the argument that it is important to build a sense of community from the bottom up.

"We look at it as an investment in our community," Tamamoto said.

The following appeared in the Honolulu Advertiser of Saturday, November 15, 2003, which text and graphic have been included here in their entirety. The efforts of the Advertiser to report good community news is greatly appreciated.

Posted on: Saturday, November 15, 2003

Money to buy old 'Aiea sugar mill released

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday released $2.5 million to buy land at the old 'Aiea Sugar Mill, a move that will ensure that the entire mill site will be preserved for community use.

The state will buy five lots from Bank of Hawaii and hopes to move the 'Aiea Public Library there. 'Aiea residents have been searching for more than 10 years for a larger location for the library.

Although no timetable has been set to build the new facility, Lingle said the purchase preserves the land for public use. In 1997, previous landowner Crazy Shirts demolished the 100-year-old C&H Sugar mill and planned to turn the area into a light industrial park.

The library is expected to be a centerpiece of a revitalization plan for the mill location. The city last year signed an agreement with Bank of Hawaii to buy 6.8 acres at the site for a community center, which would include housing for senior citizens.

Although the city's plans are being slowed by financing problems and there are no solid plans for the library move, the land acquisitions were vital because the bank was close to putting the land for sale on the open market.

City Councilman Gary Okino, who represents the 'Aiea area and has been pushing for the town center, thanked the governor for releasing the money, which was appropriated by the 2002 Legislature.

"The point was to buy the land so we have an option when we have enough money," Okino said. "The governor stepped in just at the last second (and) snatched it away from several potential buyers."

Okino also credited Rep. Lynn Finnegan for working with the Lingle administration to release the money. Finnegan, R-32nd (Aliamanu, Airport, Mapunapuna), said a lot of work needs to be done before anything is built on the state's land.

"There are so many other things that need to be done — site feasibility and assessment need to be done on the property to make sure it fits the needs of an expanded 'Aiea library, as well as funding sources amongst all the other library concerns and financial troubles that they're having right now," Finnegan said.

"There are other things that are in the front of the line instead of expanding our library, but the bottom line here was we did not want industrial use in this plan for our community."

Claire Tamamoto, president of the 'Aiea Community Association, also credited several businesses for backing down on plans to buy land at the mill.

"The businesses supported the overall community vision," said Tamamoto, who spearheaded the community movement to preserve the site. "There was some interest by the business community in that lot, but they're also members of the community."

She added that a master plan has been completed on the project, but acknowledged that money is a concern. Still, Tamamoto said she was pleased with yesterday's development.

"The community knows that they may have to wait. But if you asked us four years ago if we could get this done, they would have said we were dreaming, and we were," she said.

Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Aiea Community Association (ACA) Supports Aiea Educational Improvement

Aiea High School was recently selected as one of 22 pilot schools in Hawaii to lead the way in the implementation of the Reinventing Education Act for the Children of Hawaii (REACH), otherwise known as Bill 51.

This measure is designed to help improve schools by giving greater empowerment to local schools and communities in their educational efforts. Other aspects of REACH are to streamline school resource processes and to provide greater school accountability.

To accomplish decision-making, each pilot school was required to organize a “Campus Council” to include school administrators, teachers, school staff, and representatives of parents, students, and community. This group has local approval authority on the decisions made under the implementation of Bill 51.

ACA has helped in this improvement effort by coordinating the assignment of the initial two community representatives to the Aiea High School Campus Council (AHSCC), which is chaired by Mark Arinaga, Aiea High School Vice Principal. These two are Warren Munro and Claire Tamamoto, who have participated actively in AHSCC meetings.

For further information, please check the REACH web page at http://REACH.k12.hi.us, or contact Warren at 487-1863 (wmunro@lava.net) or Claire at 486-0282 (clairet@hawaii.rr.com).

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