Rural Resiliency

A Message from Councilmember Shane Sinenci

Aloha Kaupo Community,

As the East Maui Council representative, I am very proud of the FY 22-23 operating and CIP county budget, and how it represents our focus on rural communities, sustainable agriculture, and fiscal responsibility.

In this budget, we were able to fund Feral Animal Relief and Recovery grants, the Kula Ag Park, the Maui School Garden Network, the Molokai Livestock Cooperative, the Maui Nui Botanical Gardens, the Garden and Farm Installation Fund, the Ag Micro Grants program, the College of Tropical Ag & Human Resources, the Maui County Farm Bureau, and the Agriculture Promotion, Tech Education and Apprenticeship programs. We also funded the Maui Invasive Species Committee and Watershed Management practices.

For East Maui Nonprofits, we continued to fund the Hāna Youth Center, the Hāna Cultural center, Hāna Arts, the Hāna Business Council, the Festivals of Aloha, Hui Malama Dialysis Home, Women Helping Women, Nā Mamo ‘O Mu’olea, Kīpahulu ‘Ohana, Mahele Farms, and Nā Moku Aupuni O Ko’olau Hui.

We also focused on funding efforts for the Pi’ilani Highway in East Maui. It has been many years since paving was done on this rural stretch of highway, and lapsed funding and extended project deadlines has left the highway in dire straits. An average of 600+ visitor cars and local resident traffic traverse this highway daily, and basic maintenance of paving, reflective signage, guardrails and drainage require much-needed funding. We often hear from concerned residents about this at our office and refer them to the County COMConnect website to report these issues.

East Maui Council Representative Shane Sinenci

In our budget proposal, we requested additional paving, beyond the regular 2 miles per 2 years formula, to catch up with backlogged projects and to get these roads up to standard. A regular maintenance and paving schedule would be very helpful for this portion of the County roads that has been neglected for so long. During department deliberations on this priority, Public Works Director Molina expressed support and enthusiasm for this priority. He acknowledged the department’s capacity to do the additional paving requested, including 2 miles within the Kaupō district area.

The County also continued their funding efforts for the Kalepa road revetment and seawall repairs, the Hāna Fire tanker, and the Old Hāna School renovations. The Council was able to fund the Affordable Housing project at Wākiu as well, and also acquired 17 acres of open space lands in Kīpahulu and Hamoa to be placed in conservation.

With this budget plan, we continue working towards providing community driven services and programs for our residents, and we are well on our way to meeting the everyday challenges that the new year may bring.

Ke aloha nui iā ‘oukou pākahi āpau,

Shane Sinenci