Storm damage on Kauai

SUBHEAD: Rain storms have done more damage this spring to our north shore than in more than a generation.

By Juan Wilson on 24 April 2018 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2018/04/rain-damage-on-kauai.html)


Image above: Only public road along the north shore of Kauai in Waikoko is obliterated by landslide west of Hanalei Bay.  Click to enlarge. Still image from video below.

Living in Kauai on the south side of Kauai we have missed he destruction of storms that destroyed much of the communities and infrastructure on our north shore. The impact has been tremendous for residence there; homes destroyed and roads wiped away.

As much suffering as this has caused and the long term difficulties that will linger, there is a thin silver lining in the darkened clouds.

 

The army of tourists in rented cars making the obligatory daily pilgrimage to Kee Beach crowding the roads, overflowing the parking lots and trampling the land has been temporarily halted.

When the roads are repaired and northshore tourism resumes we hope it is under new circumstances that would restrict tourist cars from anywhere west of Hanalei Bay. There was a feeble attempt to due this in the recent pass, but the will to disappoint tourists simply collapsed.

Here on the south shore we have noticed traffic through Hanapepe has increased significantly since last spring. Some of this is due to more rush hour traffic, presumably from the GMO companies and the PMRF (Pacific Missile Range Facility). We have a regular weekday 3pm eastbound rush hour never seen before.

Moreover, our local county beach, Salt Pond Beach Park, has been overrun by tourists since for over six months. This is certainly been in part because of the destruction of subtropical vacation destinations in the Caribbean.

In the last hurricane season there were 5 category-five storms that destroyed beaches, resorts, roads and much of amenities that attracted visitors. Puerto Rico is still suffering from island-wide blacked-outs. And here comes another hurricane season.

There seems to have been a bit of a campaign to make Salt Pond a heavier used visitor destination as well. Salt Pond is now rated online as a top beach for tourists. This take may take some pressure of totally overrun Poipu Beach Park and other crowded locations, but it is has unanticipated effects.

Salt Pond has historically been a "local" beach used as an outdoor living/rec room for many local families from the westside. Birthdays, weddings, graduation parties, spear-fishing surf-casting, BBQs and minding the kids and just kicking back with a beer after work has been the usage.

There is also and tradition of people temporarily living in tents (mixed with tourist camping) that helps transition (some people I've known) through a job loss, breakup or other temporary difficulty.

Anyway, I continue to hope jet plane enabled mass tourism to Hawaii ceases for two primary reasons. Is is destroying Kauai and it is destroying the atmosphere.

I have not flown to the mainland in several years and have no plans to start again.

Video above: Hawaii Department of Land & Natural Resources damage assessment of storm damage on several videos of the North Shore of Kauai. For more videos visit Vimeo site (https://vimeo.com/265509802).

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Kauai General Plan open house

SUBHEAD: Waimea hosted a westside community meeting on proposed County General Plan update.

By Juan Wilson on 8 December 2016 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2016/12/kauai-general-plan-open-house.html)


Image above: Kauai Planning Department Deputy Director Kaaina Hull explaining the General Plan Update as shown on the presentation boards for Waimea and Hanapepe. Photo by Juan Wilson.

On December 5th, 2016 I attended the Kauai Planning Department Open House on the Kauai General Plan Update proposal at the Waimea Theater.

About 25 people attended the meeting. When I arrived, just before 5:30pm, Leanora Kaiaokamalie (Lea) was setting up presentation boards in the lobby of the Waimea Theater and other staff were setting up tripods with boards of the General Plan proposal in front of the stage.

I asked Lea about setting up boards that I had done concerning the general plan including material I presented to HENA (Hanapepe Eleele Neighborhood Association). These consisted of material I have shared with HENA and material on my website.

She said I would have to wait until her boss arrived. The boss being Kaaina Hull, the Deputy Director of the Kauai Planning Department.

Ken Taylor arrived about that time with his own presentation boards. Ken showed me his boards showing his estimate of property tax increases that the plan's execution would require.

Kaaina Hull was late arriving so Ken and I set up our presentation material at the back of the theater. We engaged with some of the public that were interested and I handed out some presentation material.

Once Kaaina got to the theater the the open house activity got under way. In front of the Hanapepe-Eleele tripod board I engaged Lea in a conversation of the “neighborhood “rings” that seem a core concept across all of Kauai's community population clusters.

Walking Distance and Density
The proposed General Plan describes these "rings" as defined as neighborhoods characterized by walking distance to the community centers.

First I asked her if the names and colors of the nested rings might also relate to greater density at the core and lesser density at the perimeter. A gradient from red (Neighborhood Center), to red-orange (neighborhood General) to orange (Neighborhood Edge) to yellow (Residential Community). Lea  said that was “correct”.

I then asked her if the Planning Department had numbers with the ranges of density to these areas. I asked because I did not see that information in the Kauai General Plan Update Proposal or on the Kauai Plan website. Lea said there were such numbers, but they were not in the public presentation material.

When asked what the density numbers were she said one would have to go online and find them. She said they were buried in “Resources” on the website, but could not give link information or further detail.

One piece of information I have been trying to discover is the growth in population on Kauai that a build-out of proposed General Plan implies. For Hanapepe-Eleele area I have used the upcoming Lima Ola "affordable housing" project developed by the Kauai Housing Division on 75 acres of Alexander & Baldwin property adjacent to Eleele and south of the Kaumaalii Highway.

The Lima Ola project has proposed 550 units in single family, and multi-unit multi-story housing. The Lima Ola project takes up the bulk of the  "Residential Community" in the west Eleele area. The 550 units on 75 acres means 7.33 units per acre.

Using the average number of residence per unit on Kauai of 2.99 this means a population increase of 1,645 people. Projecting that level of development  across the greater Hanapepe-Eleele area could increase the population from 5,028 residents (in the 2010 US Census) to 13,545 new residents, or an increase of 269% people.

Later, after people had a chance to see the material and talk to Planning staff Lea handed the meeting over to Kaaina. He did an overview of the Planning Department effort and the prominent elements of the plan.

Population needs and Hazard planning
He took questions as he spoke, and I asked him why they were showing concentric rings crossing from Hanapepe Heights to Eleele that crossed the breadth of the Hanapepe Valley. I pointed out there was no ring because the landscape could not be traversed between the Heights and Eleele. One had to descend to the hazard area flood plain negating the “ring” function”.

I mentioned that in fact many assets of the community in the river valley would likely have to be abandoned as the hazard area now included our only area firehouse, neighborhood center, and library.

With the possible projected population increase and response to global warming, sea rise and tsunami/hurricane threats to low lying areas, it is likely that some of these community services would have to be expanded and placed at higher elevations.

This would include an additional elementary school in Hanapepe Heights, a neighborhood center in both Hanapepe Heights and Eleele, and a fire house in both neighborhoods.  The fire house would be needed in both locations because the flooding hazard zone has been increased to cross the Kaumaalii Highway and disaster relief and fire fighting might be unable to cross the valley floor.


Rationale for Population Planning
Kaaina made the case that there were compelling reasons the Planning Department had to plan for more housing on Kauai. One reason was the need for "affordable" housing so that the younger generation, our children, could stay on the island.

But also, the Planning Department also anticipated large increase in population on Kauai over the next few generation that necessitated the great expansion proposed in the General Plan update. Their study had shown a Kauai population increasing greatly going out to 2035.

Kaaina said that the bulk of that population increase would not be from the American mainland arrivals or foreign immigrants moving to Kauai. He said The bulk was from “Natural” population growth.

He explained that this was because local people’s births exceeded deaths by between 1% to 2% a year. He stated that it was “unconstitutional” to limit reproductive rights of Americans. Thus the extrapolation of that birth "excess" through 2035 necessitated the current update plan.

The Planning Department has put no other reason to accommodate a doubling of the population of Kauai that I am aware of.

I counter that the the plan will damage the island in many ways. The ecosystem will be threatened in ways not seen before (even discounting global warming, rising seas and less regular rain.) The cost of mitigating the negative effects of greatly increasing Kauai’s population  is not affordable.

• It means more schools need to be built.
• It means existing highways widened and new highways created. 
• It means new recreational, sports, and community services with have to be provided.
• It means greater impact on our delicate natural resources too. 

There are things that cannot be mitigated with "planning". You cannot manufacture additional sandy beaches. As it is, our sandy beaches are threatened by coral die-off, global warming, and sea rise, Just imagine Salt Pond Beach Park with triple the parking needs and Sunday crowds in 2035.

Natural Growth can be Adjusted
I said to Kaaina that the argument that "natural" growth demands we suburbanize Kauai like has happened on Oahu and Maui is false.

My point is, wouldn’t it be much cheaper and more desirable to mitigate the impact of 1-2% “natural” population growth through education, incentives, and other benign motivators. Statistically parents who restrict their offspring to two or less are better educated and do better financially. A birthrate a wee bit higher than two per family can support a steady total population as there is some unfortunate child mortality.

Does the Planning Department mean to say that we have so little self control that we must destroy the island’s nature, charm, culture to accommodate unborn hoards. 

Incentives and education are much less expensive than paving over the landscape building new highways, schools and other infrastructure. The island could even remain rural and be where you wanted to live… meaning living within Kauai’s natural beauty … not just seeing it afar from end of your suburban cul-de-sac amid the sprawl.

Again the Deadline to respond to the General Plan update is December 16th 2016. Island Breath recommends that the Kauai General Plan Update not be adopted as planned. It should be rejected.  A New approach is needed to marginally reduce "natural" population growth and avoid thus avoid unaffordable infrastucture costs as well as environmental and resource degradation.

The plan as written will make Kauai less resilient, and more dependent on off island resources for food and energy. "KEEP KAUAI RURAL!"

Comments to the draft can be emailed to plankauai@kauai.gov

or snail-mailed to:
Kauai County Planning Department,
Attention: Long Range Division
4444 Rice Street, Suite A473, Līhue, HI 96766.

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Reject the Kauai General Plan Update 11/30/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai County "Keep it Rural" 11/17/16
Kauai County General Plan 2000-2020 undated
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai General Plan Update 9/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai Plan Disappoints 12/9/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Tax Donkey Purgatory - Lima Ola 7/18/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Lihue Loss of Vision 9/5/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Kilauea Development on Agland 4/9/11
Ea O Ka Aina: If a tyrant developed Kauai 3/24/11
Ea O Ka Aina: Potash King's Palace 6/24/10
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai Farm Worker Housing 7/14/09
Ea O Ka Aina: Let Moloaa farmers farm 4/2/09
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai General Plan 4/2/09
Ea O Ka Aina: Peak Oil Planning 1/29/09
Island Breath: Kauai Sustainable Land Use Plan 11/1/07
Island Breath: LEGS Sustainability Conference 10/13/07
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Reject the Kauai General Plan update

SUBHEAD: Comment period by the public has been extended to 12/16/16. Stop the suburban oblivion now!  

By Juan Wilson on 30 November 2016 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2016/11/reject-kauai-general-plan-update.html)


Image above: Detail of the cover of the proposed Kauai General Plan update produced by the Kauai Planning Department and its consultants. From (http://plankauai.com/wp-content/uploads/Nov-2016-Kauai-General-Plan-Discussion-Draft-Online-Version.pdf).

ATTENTION: LAST OPEN HOUSE ON GENERAL PLAN
Last County sponsored public meetings on General Plan update issue are:

Two additional Open Houses Announced! If you missed the first round of open houses, please join us at the following Open Houses to learn about the General Plan Discussion Draft, and share your input:

Waimea Theatre, Monday, December 5, 2016, 6:00pm- 8:00pm
Princeville Library, Tuesday, December 6, 2016, 10:00am- Noon

These events will be open house style, with comments accepted in written form. There will not be a formal presentation. For an ASL interpreter, materials in an alternate format or auxiliary aid support, call at 241-4050 at least five business days before the event.

KAUAI GENERAL PLAN COMMENT DEADLINE UPDATE
Comments on the update of the Kauai General Plan will be taken up to 16 December 2016. This is an extension of the previous date of 12/2/16.

HOW TO COMMENT ON GENERAL PLAN UPDATE
Comments to the draft can be emailed to plankauai@kauai.gov

or snail-mailed to:
Kauai County Planning Department,
Attention: Long Range Division
4444 Rice Street, Suite A473, Līhue, HI 96766.

See more at (http://plankauai.com/)

The PDF file of the proposed update ti the Kauai General Plan can be found at (http://plankauai.com/wp-content/uploads/Nov-2016-Kauai-General-Plan-Discussion-Draft-Online-Version.pdf)

ISLAND BREATH TAKE ON COUNTY GENERAL PLAN UPDATE
As a Kauai resident and architect/planner I've been concerned with the island’s General Plan update process and resulting report. Like many such documents, it turns out to  mostly "eyewash", "boiler plate", "window dressing", and "feel good fluffery" that merely disguise its real purpose... to promote real estate development… specifically, in this case, to get the approval from the public of a plan to convert Agricultural designated land into suburban sprawl with the effect of doubling the population of Kauai in a generation.

The Big Ag companies that used to operate coconut groves, pineapple and sugarcane plantations are at a loss. Companies like Grove Farms and Alexander & Baldwin see no way forward except to convert their property from a State Land Use designation of Agriculture to the State Land Use designation of Urban. I've seen the A&B annual reports identifying all their land from Poipu to Port Allen (some 3,000 plus acres) in their mind being Urban.

But not Urban in the sense of old Koloa, Hanapepe or Waimea Town - really it's (sub)Urban in the sense of Milliani and the suburban sprawl on central Oahu that occurred after the failure of much of the pineapple industry over the last 30 years.   

One thing has been clear since the previous Kauai General Plan was put in play in 2000 (and not followed by the County). The people of Kauai want the island to remain rural in character. But that dream is slipping away with every new big box store and fast food franchise.

I have been working with the Hanapepe-Eleele Neighborhood Association (HENA) on reviewing the currently proposed Kauai General Plan Update. We have been meeting and reviewing and marking up the proposal with comments and suggested changes.

 We have been parsing through the document PDF file (http://plankauai.com/wp-content/uploads/Nov-2016-Kauai-General-Plan-Discussion-Draft-Online-Version.pdf)

The soul of this document is on the first page of the Introduction in bold large colored typeface.

Growth is Happening Whether We Like It or Not

In other words "You don't have a choice about this."  Bullshit!

HENA worked on the Introduction and Goals section and then has concentrated on the Hanapepe-Eleele Section of the document.

My suggestions began with.

INTRODUCTION
Remove headline
“Growth is Happening Whether We Like it or Not”

Replace with
“Growth will happen to the extent the people of Kauai want it."

GOAL: A SUSTAINABLE ISLAND
Remove content
"Sustainability means growing responsibly to meet the needs of current and future generations without depleting important resources."

Replace with
"Sustainability requires a goal of greater self reliance and self sufficiency. Training and supporting careers working in local communities using renewable resources and alternative energy. Providing food, services, and locally made products is a key factor in achieving sustainability."

HANAPEPE-ELEELE
The General Plan proposal for each community around the island provided maps and text explaining unique aspects of growth change in that local. The section on Hanpepe-Eleele spoke of the charm of Old Hanapepe Town with its galleries, and artisan crafts as well as its historical character. It spoke little about Eleele and none about Hanapepe Heights.

These distinct and different places that are separated by the dramatic rift of Hanapepe River Valley running through the center of it all. Even Hanapepe Town is split by the river into a distinct East and West side.

With this in mind, the planners and consultants for the General Plan use a crude set of concentric rings around Hanapepe-Eleele as areas of new development (and this is the case with all the other community area plans in the proposal). The differences in the use and purpose of these development rings are never fully detailed. In a way they appear to be a gradient of lessening density around an urban core.

Under "Permitting Actions and Code Changes the General Plan says 

1. Promote and support appropriately scaled infill development in all towns, with the exception of areas affected by existing and future hazards.
   
2. Allow for a variety of accessory dwellings such as ‘ohana units and “granny flats” within the Neighborhood Center, Neighborhood General and Neighborhood Edge designations.
   
3. Allow additional rental units in all Residential Communities.

Image above: Page 37 from Kauai Plan Closing Workshop on Hanapepe-Eleele showing the expansion of the Urban Neighborhood center, Neighborhood General, Neighborhood Edge and Residential Community "doubling" in area. Note the proposed Lina Ola project is the yellow area in the upper right down through the light orange down to Route 540 about 2/3 down this image. From (http://plankauai.com/wp-content/uploads/2015_1104_HanapepeEleeleClosing-1.pdf).

To get a more specific idea of what impact these areas to be developed would have I used two current projects as metrics for determination. One project is Eleele Iluna and the other is Lima Ola. Both are adjecent to one another and adjacent to existing housing in Eleele.

The Eleele Iluna project for 107 single family homes is under construction. It is being built by Habitat for Humanity as Phase Two after 18 homes were built with sweat equity immediately next door.

The other project, Lima Ola, is for 550 mixed single and multi-family units immediately adjacent to Eleele Iluna that would occupy most of the "Residential Community" designation on the east of Hanapepe Valley. Shown in yellow in plan below.


Image above: Detail of map by IslandBreath.org of Hanapepe-Eleele area used to analyze future density and population of the area. Click to see full enlarged map and explanation.

I recreated the Proposed General Plan Use map from (http://plankauai.com/wp-content/uploads/2015_1104_HanapepeEleeleClosing-1.pdf) and added the existing TMKs (red lines) and building footprints (black) from the Kauai Planning Department. I also created the building footprints and TMKs from the information available about Eleele Iluna and Lima Ola.

With this inormation and the 2010 US Census I made a calculation. US Census counts Hanapepe-Eleele area having 5,028 residents, an average density of 2,465 per square mile or 3.85 per acre. The Proposed Kauai General Plan Update shows four concentric rings of development identified 
Urban Neighborhood Center, Neighborhood General, Neighborhood Edge and Residential Community.

Implications for Hanapepe-Eleele of adopting the Kauai General Plan Update
These new neighborhood areas measure about 616 acres (or 96% of a sq mile). At 2010 census density this would translate to 2,372 new residents totaling a 7,400 head count, an increase of 47%. A difficult adjustment.

Implications for Hanapepe-Eleele  of approving Lima Ola Affordable Housing Project
Lima Ola Affordable Housing is owned  by the County of Kauai and  planned  by the Kauai Division of Housing. Lima Ola Project Area  is 75 acres with 550 units that equal 7.33 units per acre.

Kauai average is 3 people per unit or 1,650 new residents. At that density the new General Plan residential areas would increase Hanapepe-Eleele area population by:

 7.33 units per acre x 616 acres = 4,515 units x 3 people per unit = 13,545 new residents, or an increase of 269% people.

This would have disastrous impacts on Hanapepe-Eleele area traffic, state education and county recreational facilities. This added population would likely require two new elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school.

Implications for Hanapepe-Eleele of Expanded Hazard Area and Sea Rise
As the only fire station, library and community center in the Hanapepe-Eleele area are all in lowland of Hanapepe Valley and in the the newly expanded river flood/hurricane surge/tsunami inundation area, then Hanapepe-Eleele will likely also need 2 new fire stations, 2 new community centers and a relocated library at higher ground.

Also with greatly increased population and increased isolation when hazard strikes a 24/7 medical center with an emergency/trauma capability would be advised.

Implications for Additional Traffic Through Hanapepe-Eleele
Traffic is already a problem at rush hour between Eleele and Kalaheo. This arises between Wahiawa Valley and the 540 Bypass to the Kauai Coffee Plantation. Bumper to bumper is common on the Kaumualii Highway to the light in Kalaheo. Two additional lights are planned on the highway in Eleele for the Lima Ola project.

But even now it is becoming difficult to exit Hanapepe Town at either end of Hanapepe Road or Kona Road at the library and fire station. Those three locations will likely require three more stop lights in town.

It is unfortunate that the State of Hawaii is going to spend a fortune in the next few years rebuilding the Kaumualii Highway bridge over Hanapepe River. Not only creating horrible traffic jams through town for years, it will likely have to be widened to four lanes when two additional lanes are required on highway across the island before this General Plan runs its nightmarish course to suburban oblivion.

Implications for Kauai of adopting the updated General Plan for 2020-2025
Expect the population of Kauai to more than double in the next generation. Expect traffic, crowded beaches, and a reduction int the quality of life.

But worse is the reduction in our ability to cope with economic collapse driven by dwindling worldwide resources and environmental damage due to global warming and population growth.

Sustainability on Kauai, as well as the rest of planet Earth, will be dependent on constraining growth of all kinds. Forget virtual reality, time travel, and alternate universes. If we can't live on Earth we certainly won't live on Mars or anywhere else. There is no option for us to survive while ruining the Earth.

Suggested Action on proposed General Plan Update
Reject the new proposed update to the Kauai General Plan. Ask our Planning Department to go back to the drawing board for a plan to “Keep Kauai Rural”.  The current General Plan still stands until 2020. We have time to look into the likely near future of localization and a need to be more self reliant and resilient.

Again Deadline is December 16th 2016:
Comments to the draft can be emailed to plankauai@kauai.gov

or snail-mailed to:
Kauai County Planning Department,
Attention: Long Range Division
4444 Rice Street, Suite A473, Līhue, HI 96766.

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai County "Keep it Rural" 11/17/16
Kauai County General Plan 2000-2020 undated
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai General Plan Update 9/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai Plan Disappoints 12/9/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Tax Donkey Purgatory - Lima Ola 7/18/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Lihue Loss of Vision 9/5/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Kilauea Development on Agland 4/9/11
Ea O Ka Aina: If a tyrant developed Kauai 3/24/11
Ea O Ka Aina: Potash King's Palace 6/24/10
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai Farm Worker Housing 7/14/09
Ea O Ka Aina: Let Moloaa farmers farm 4/2/09
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai General Plan 4/2/09
Ea O Ka Aina: Peak Oil Planning 1/29/09
Island Breath: Kauai Sustainable Land Use Plan 11/1/07
Island Breath: LEGS Sustainability Conference 10/13/07

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Remembering Uncle Louis

SUBHEAD: Louis Almodova passed on New Year's Eve. He was Salt Pond's Ambassador of Aloha.


Image above: Portrait of Louis Almodova Jr in Old Hanapepe Town in 2011 by Evelyn Ritter. From PDF file below.

Note: A PDF file (10.4 meg) of a tribute publication honoring Uncle Louis is available at:
(http://www.islandbreath.org/2015Year/01/150104unclelouis.pdf)

The tribute contents are from previous stories about Uncle Louis in Island Breath:
The Caretaker of Salt Pond
Uncle Louis remembers the Eleele School Song
Kauai Rhumba Kings
Two Tales from Uncle Louis Almodova
The Legend of the Menehune Fish Pond
The Legend of Spouting Horn
Hanapepe Valley Mochi Pounding
Da Mayor of Salt Pond
Salt Pond Pavilion named for Uncle Louis

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Goodbye Uncle Louis

By Darin Moriki on 4 January 2015 for The Garden Island - 
(http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/goodbye-uncle-louis/article_94bd64c8-93ca-11e4-89e7-57dec33cdb70.html)


Image above: A recent photo of Uncle Louis playing the ukelele at the Salt Pond Beach Park pavilion named in his honor, From original article.

If you’ve spent some time at Salt Pond Park or stopped by the weekly Hanapepe Art Night over the years, chances are you’ve probably seen Louis Almodova Jr. talk story with locals and tourists alike. If you’re lucky, you may have heard the Hanapepe resident play one of his favorite songs on his ukulele or even sing it out loud.


Almodova, a longtime Westside and South Shore resident and World War II veteran who was known by many as the “Mayor of Salt Pond,” died Wednesday at Hale Kupuna Heritage Home in Omao after a brief illness. He was 97.

“He loved talking to tourists,” said his daughter Sandi MacDonald.

“He just loved the tourists,” added another daughter, Geraldine Yamamoto. “To me, that’s what kept him alive.”

“You’d see him talking to them every day,” interjected his youngest daughter, Pat Ashley. “He would always be at Salt Pond welcoming people there whether he knew you or not. He would always walk up to them and say, ‘Welcome to Salt Pond. Where are you folks from? How can I help you?’”

And that is the way some family members and residents say they will always remember him.

“When I heard of Uncle Louis’ passing, it really saddened me,” County Department of Parks and Recreation Director Lenny Rapozo wrote in an email. “He truly embodied the aloha spirit and his love for the island really showed, especially to those who visited Salt Pond.”

Even as his health declined over the last two months, family members said Almodova would often show that welcoming spirit at any opportunity he had.

“About two weeks before he died, I was bringing him home from Straub Clinic on Oahu and he was sitting in the first row on the plane,” Ashley recalled with a laugh. “As everyone started boarding, he would see the tourists and say, ‘Aloha,’ but they didn’t respond. They were probably wondering, ‘Whoa. What’s this man doing?’ I had to laugh to myself but I let him do it because that’s what he loved to do.”

Born on Oct. 24, 1917, to a family of 11 children, Almodova began working for the McBryde Sugar Company at 13 years old. Almodova eventually rose through the ranks and became a plantation foreman for McBryde Sugar Company, where he met his wife Alice, whom he married in 1944. He briefly played the tenor guitar in a seven-man band called “The Rhumba Kings” in his early 20s. He was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1940 and served for five years on Kauai.

After retiring from McBryde Sugar Company, Almodova worked as a tour bus driver until he decided to retire for good in his early 70s.

But even during his golden years, family members say Almodova remained active by ballroom dancing with his wife and playing senior baseball — a pastime that he took to heart.

When he was 80, Almodova competed in the Senior Softball World Series as a pitcher and first baseman, helping lead his team to the World Championship in Kansas City, Kansas.

Ashley recalled that her dad was a traditionalist when it came to baseball — he insisted that players wear knee breeches, rather than full-length pants, and lectured people when their caps were turned backward.

“My dad played baseball until he was 85 and he always wore the stockings instead of the long pants,” Ashley said. “He would say, ‘They’re wearing pajamas. They’re not dressed like ball players,’ so if you look at the Waimea High School baseball team, the boys all dress with stockings, but that was because of my dad. He wanted them to dress like ball players.”

But perhaps what he is most remembered for is his love for Salt Pond Park and all the people who visited there.

It is, after all, the reason why he was recognized by then-Mayor Tony Kunimura as the “Mayor of Salt Pond” and why county officials in 2011 named the main pavilion at the Hanapepe beach park after him.

Yamamoto said Almodova would send out about 400 Christmas cards each year to some of the people he met over the years, including visitors from Switzerland, the Bahamas, Japan and Canada, to name a few.

“I remember the days when Dad would handwrite them, but then cards became expensive,” Ashley said.

Kauai County Council Vice Chair Ross Kagawa, who grew up in Waimea, said Almodova would regularly stop by his grandmother’s store, Sue’s Snack Shop, in Eleele Shopping Center while he was growing up on the Westside.

“He was amazing,” Kagawa said. “He was an ambassador on the Westside. There’s not a lot of signs about what’s out there on the Westside, so Louie would always be at Salt Pond and talk to all the tourists and tell them about what they can do or whatever. We kind of had a free tourism specialist for many years.”

Kumu Hula Leina‘ala Pavao Jardin of Halau Ka Lei Mokihana O Leinaala said she remembers first meeting Almodova during frequent trips with her grandmother to see his mother.

“He always made us feel extremely welcome and made sure we ate plenty of his mom’s famous panadeja,” Jardin wrote in an email.

Jardin said she last saw Almodova at her halau’s kachi kachi dance fundraiser, where he “sat with me and talked story.”

“Uncle Louie will be missed, but I hope that his passing brings a reminder to all of us to live with unconditional aloha for our family, friends, kamaaina and malihini,” Jardin wrote. “May his legacy of aloha and hospitality live on through the many lives that he touched.”

Almodova also served as a father figure for many kids growing up on the Westside, and had words of advice to share along with a few jokes.

“I think what Dad told me was, ‘Go to school. Don’t worry about boys — boys will always be there. Go to school first,’” Ashley said. “I think he still says that to kids today.”

Rapozo, who first met Almodova when he returned home to Kauai after college, said the Hanapepe resident was “the last person I know of who knew my Hawaiian grandfather.”

“It was a pleasure to sit and talk to him about my papa, and it was a connection to my childhood,” Rapozo wrote in an email. “Although I will miss Uncle Louis, I am happy that he is now with his beloved wife who he truly loved and missed.”

Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura said she met Almodova when she made her first run for public office in the late 1970s, and valued his words of encouragement.

“He was an icon and a much beloved figure by both residents and visitors,” Yukimura said. “He just took care of people and made people laugh — he gave encouraging words and told funny jokes. He was very beloved in the community and we’re all going to miss him very much.”

Gale Sagucio, owner of JJ Ohana, said she remembers when Almodova used to sit outside her store during Hanapepe Art Nights on Friday and talk to tourists from all over the world as they walked along Hanapepe Road.

“He was so special to everybody, I think,” Sagucio said. “On Friday nights, he used to come out and play his ukulele and talk to the visitors, so he made them feel welcome with his aloha spirit.”
Dickie Chang said he has known Almodova since he started his “Walaau” television show in the mid-1990s, and recalled how generous and humble he was to everyone, even politicians.

“He allowed politicians, including me, to put their signs in front of his house just because I think he wanted to be helpful to everybody,” Chang recalled. “I don’t think it had anything to do with issues — I think he just wanted to be kind to everybody. He just never said no.”

One of Chang’s most enduring memory of Almodova occurred on the day he died. As Chang drove past Almodova’s home on New Year’s Eve, he recalled seeing a big American flag posted outside of the house — an act his family said he would regularly do.

“He was definitely an ambassador of aloha,” Chang said. “He must have met thousands of people every year who used to come and see him, and if he wasn’t at Salt Pond, a lot of people used to drive to his house. I used to drive to his house just to talk story with him — the door was always open and he was humble to everybody.”

Almodova is preceded in death by his wife, Alice Almodova, who died in 2003 after 59 years of marriage.

He is survived by son Don Almodova of Eleele and daughters Geraldine Yamamoto of Hanapepe, Sandi MacDonald of Cuenca, Ecuador, and Pat Ashley of Honolulu. He is also survived by nine grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.

Visitation with family will be held from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Saturday at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Kalaheo with Mass to follow.

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