Four testifiers today unanimously urged the Budget and Finance Committee to choose the Kahului option over Wailuku for a new county service center.
The Kahului site is within the Maui Business Park II and owned by A&B Properties. The 4.1-acre property, available for a purchase price of $7.1 million, is close to Walmart, Home Depot and the construction site for the new Target in Central Maui.
Purchase of the A&B property would come with a donation to the county of a 35.5-acre beachfront property near Baldwin Beach Park in Paia. At the committee’s site inspection this morning, one testifier said: “It is a no brainer.”
Other testimony noted the Kahului property’s flat, open topography and accessibility to other facilities within a mile radius.
The county paid more than $3 million to rent office space in fiscal year 2014. The lease for the existing county service center at the Maui Mall – home to the Division of Motor Vehicle and Licensing – is set to expire in September 2015.
Earlier today, the committee also inspected a 5-acre site at Kehalani Village in Wailuku that’s under consideration for use as a county service center. The Kehalani Village property is offered at $6.5 million and is within walking distance of Longs Drugs, Walgreens and Foodland. If the county purchases this site, property owner RCFC Kehalani would donate to the county an additional 14.4 acres at a nearby location in Wailuku.
A testifier thanked Committee Chair Mike White for handling the proposal “expeditiously.” White said he plans to schedule a meeting in the Council Chamber to review all aspects of both proposals.
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