Q: Why can’t HACA/HARC just pay for road improvements (even less costly ones than pavement)?

• It comes down to math. Of the 72 miles of roadway of the Acres, fewer than 10 miles are paved—that means voluntary road dues are not adequate to keep up with minimal road maintenance let alone improvements. 

• You can review financial reports on both the HACA and HARC website for exact details on the modest amounts available and where/how these funds are prudently stretched and spent. 

• As always, please consider paying your yearly dues along with volunteering any time and materials you can spare to help our roads. Any amount of help provided is greatly appreciated and will positively impact the community. 

 

What is the Road Improvement District?

• After a 2020 survey indicated sufficient interest from lot owners, we’re submitting a plan to Hawaii County to consider improving our existing roads. 

• Our plan would start with a Feasibility Study (FS) requiring the County of Hawaii to analyze the economic, technical, legal, and scheduling considerations to improve the road—and provide a financial analysis of the cost. Additionally, there are a number of opportunities for the community to weigh for or against the Study, and the County can also approve or disprove conducting it.

• If the Study is approved, the community review period begins and votes whether to adopt the project (or part of the project as feasible) and lays out how the cost will be shared among lot owners.

• From that point, the County will offer a bond to cover the cost that the community would reimburse over a set amount of time. The cost of the Study would be added to the total cost estimate. 

• It is unlikely the County would do the work, but other private companies would bid for the contract. Bids for the project must be within +/- 10% of the FS estimate to be accepted.

 

Q: Are we giving our roads to the County?

• No, all lot owners will have a chance to vote over who would maintain the improved roads. All unimproved roads will continue to be maintained by voluntary road dues (or volunteer maintenance) in partnership with HARC.  

 

Q: If we do not give the roads to the County, in addition to paying for the construction, will we also have an annual required maintenance fee?

• Ultimately it is up to the community to determine how lot owners will share the cost of the construction and long-term maintenance of the improved roads. Generally, if the improved roads are built to dedicated standards, then maintenance is the county's responsibility and not the community’s. 

 

Q: Why do we have to follow County guidelines, why can’t we just [gravel, patch, other road improvement]?

• With the Road Improvement District, we are not necessarily tied to following County road guidelines to improve our roads. We’ve asked the County to also provide us with a cost estimate of repair with gravel so that the community is equipped with the information we need to compare our options moving forward. 

 

Q. What are our alternatives to the Road Improvement District?

• Being privately owned, we do not qualify for any County, State or Federal funding. Additionally, levying mandatory road dues is not feasible at this time. That leaves the community with three choices: 1) accept the situation as it is, 2) try to raise funds privately; or 3) explore securing improvements through the Road Improvement District.

 

Q: No one ever told us about the Road Improvement District Plans. What gives?

• Not true! A survey was sent out to lot owners in 2020 along with informational posts to the HACA website and HACA Facebook page. Additionally, this was mentioned in HACA’s newsletter in December 2020 and recorded in multiple board meeting minutes across 2020 and 2021, which are always available on the HACA website. 

 

Q: I’m all in for improving the roads! How can I help?

• Fantastic! There are a number of ways to help:

  • Voice Your Support! Share your support for the Road Improvement District with your friends, family, and network.

  • Share Your Photos! Upload your photos to our survey so that we can continue to catalog the current state of the roads: http://bit.ly/HAroads

  • Stay informed! Provide your email in our survey to get periodic updates from us.

  • Pay Your Dues! Please consider paying your yearly dues along with volunteering any time and materials you can spare to help our roads.