Committee lays over eminent-domain resolution to acquire Alemanu wastewater pump stations

The Honolulu City Council Committee on Infrastructure, Transportation and Technology laid over a resolution that would authorize the city to acquire in fee two wastewater pump-station sites and an adjacent roadway in Alemanu by eminent domain, and instructed that the measure be published and returned for subsequent adoption. Aaron Sakamoto, chief of Land Survey and Acquisition for the Department of Design and Construction, told the committee both sites have been in service since the 1950s and have been controlled by the city operationally but were never formally dedicated by the original developer. He said the most recent corporate owner appears defunct, and the department has been unable to contact registered officers, so court intervention will be required to obtain title. Sakamoto said the city plans to acquire the full parcels shown in the exhibit, noting one site includes an adjacent roadway. Committee members asked whether neighbors should expect changes after acquisition; Sakamoto said he had no indication of operational changes but offered to check with the Department of Environmental Services and report back. The chair recommended that Resolution 20 five-two 23 be reported out to be laid over and published and thereafter adopted at a subsequent council meeting; the committee ordered that action without objection on the record.