STAND. COM. REP. NO. 199

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1549

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Water, Land, and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 1549 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SMALL BOAT HARBORS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to rehabilitate the Ala Wai and Keehi Boat Harbors by imposing fees and directing the Department of Land and Natural Resources to enter into a public-private partnership to lease and develop certain lands at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

 

     Your Committee finds that the Ala Wai and Keehi Boat Harbors are in dire need of capital inflows for repair and maintenance.  Your Committee further finds that Ala Wai and Keehi Boat Harbors may better serve the State and its people if they are properly repaired and maintained.  Allowing the limited issuance of commercial use permits for vessels with assigned mooring in the Ala Wai and Keehi Boat Harbors would generate revenue that could be expended on costs related to the operation, upkeep, maintenance, and improvement of state small boat harbors.  Similarly, providing for mooring fees would provide monies that could be expended on the same costs, without unduly burdening State residents.

 

Public–private partnerships are a tried and true method of bringing benefits to the public by providing opportunities for interested stakeholders to contribute to the upkeep of public facilities.  Therefore, a public-private partnership to improve the Ala Wai Boat Harbor can benefit the occasional harbor user while also benefiting the interested stakeholders who care for and use the boat harbor on a regular basis.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1549, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1549, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, and Housing,

 

 

 

____________________________

DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair