Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-02-09
Supervisor Single Points Out
Which Substitute Proposal
is Not Feasible

/ Il. y. i
Weaver. and other property owners
along Pauahi street, in the downtown
/ business section, have blocked the
| Pauahi street improvement project.
I They, insist that the city shall make
! a big improvement district in which
this street is included, and that unless
/ that is done they will oppose the pro-
! ject Since IS per cent of the owners
/ filed protests last night, the improve
! ment is dead for the present
{ Supervisor Single, chairman of the
( reads committee, in reply to the sub
! stitute plan outlined by Attorney
Weaver showed eonclusively that the
| city is financially unable to carry out
what these property-ewners Insist up
On. The board stands pat and will
not improve Pauahi street except on
! the frontage-tax basis.
+. Attorney Weaver on behalf of the
| objecting property-owners outlined
| the, substitute plan as follows:
| The downtown section is taken to
include from the waterfront TO the
mauka line of Beretania street, and
! from the Waikiki side of Alakea
street westward TO the junction OF
| King and Beretania streets, and line
drawn from there to the lower end
of. River street. Paving is estimated
upon the same basis as Pauahi street
as standard.
| The city has about 1910, 600 square
| feet Of streets to pave Out of this
the street car company is Obliged to
pave about $4,000 square feet, leav-
ing about l.O58.0o0 square feet to be
paved by the city.
| He Estimates Cost.
Estimating the cost of concrete
pavement, as was the cost on the
short Pauahi street job, at $1.S5 a
square yard, including surfacing.
there being a six-inch concrete base
and two-inch surface, the cost Of the
paving only would be S21S,000. Add
| tn this the cost of storm sewers. $685.
900; engineering and incidentals, $685.
! 900 more, making total Of $268,000.
The estimated number of feet of
property which must bear this assess
ment would be 3,790,000 square feet.
The assessment against each square
| foot would be Al cents to be paid in
ten years time, If the bond issue be
for ten years The property owner
would then have a permanent i'm
proyement for the payment of Al of a
cent per square foot per year. >---.--
Advantages Of Scheme.
"The scheme would have the ad.
vantage of being one applicable to an
intelligent plan for the whole of the
center of the city. The various
grades and sewers and other utilities
could be planned for at one time in
one general plan. The Chamber OF
Commerce plan could be considered in
making out this plan. s ,atis's'
The relation which this payment
bears to the funds of the city shows
that it is not an inpraGticable pay.
ment for the city to make with its in.
come considered. The city receives
$4,000 for permanent improvements
in 1916. The city also receives $780,.
600 from the road tax. There is a
fund of $4,000 from which the cost
could be paid.
Return For Taxes.
"If the city undertook. to pay one.
third of the cost of the street, and
required each property owner on each
side of the street to pay one-third
each, there is an equality of burden.
The property owner would then get q
small return for his general taxes
paid on downtown streets.
''The city would be required to paS
only $4,000
Replying to Attorney Weaver, Su-
pervisor Single explained to the
board that the scheme as proposed by
Mr. Weaver was not feasible because
of financial reasons. t.
According to Weaver, the city must
pay at least $89, 900 in addition to 9TH
er amounts for intersections of
streets, ETC., which. probably would
run the city's share up to nearly
100000. The permanent improve
ment fund of the city for 1916,
amounting to $4,000, will be re-
quired to carry through the city's OBJ
legations in the Manoa, Lusitana,
Kalakaua, Beretania. King street ex-
tension and Puunui Improvement
projects, as we'll as other permanent
improvements in the country districts
to be paid out of this fund. The road
tax fund for Honolulu proper during
1916 had already been appropriated.
So there would not be available any
thing like the amount of money re-
quired during 1916.
The present board goes out of Of
flee on June 80, 1917, and therefore
could count on only one-half of the
permanent Improvement fund, to wit,
$4,000, and one-half of the Honolulu
road tax, to wit, $4,000, in order
that the incoming board could have
its equal proportion of the revenues
to work on during the last half of
1917 H.. T..
The sum of $751; 900 available in the
permanent fund would not be suffi-
cient to meet Judge ,Weaver's prof.