MEDIA RELEASE

Robert Fitzgerald, director of the Hawaii County Department of Parks and Recreation, will discuss plans for creating new parks and improving existing parks in West Hawaii at a Kona Town Meeting on Tuesday, November 17, 6-8 p.m. at the Makaeo Events Pavilion at the Old Airport Park.

Fitzgerald will address the Old Kona Airport Park(Makaeo) redesign, a timeline for building the parks and how we will get the funding to build the park facilities.

Also scheduled to attend are Craig “Bo” Kahui, executive director of La’i’opua 2020, who will give an update on obtaining the land for the West Hawaii Regional Sports Park in Kealakehe, and Andy Smith, West Hawaii liaison for Governor Linda Lingle, who will speak about the Department of Land and Natural Resources Parks Renaissance Program.

Also on the agenda will be Fred Cachola, who served on the Federal Advisory Commission that created Kaloko- Honokohau and Kalaupapa National Parks. Mr. Cachola will speak on the Blue (ocean) Trail and the Brown(land) Trail, which is the 175-mile long, Ala Kahakai trail. David Hirt, Legislative Aide for Kelly Greenwell, will speak on Councilmember Greenwell’s plan for West Hawaii’s parks.

Kona Town Meetings are presented by Community Enterprises, a non-partisan, non-profit organization, to provide vital information on community concerns to Kona citizens. Call Debbie Hecht, 989-3222, for more information.