DENNIS ODA/DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM
This is the view of the construction still going on under the HART mass transit rail line along Kamehameha Hwy. near Aloha Stadium and Aiea Interchange No. 4.
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The Honolulu City Council is forming a special committee and scheduling a series of meetings later this month to deliver $44 million to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation as requested by the Federal Transit Administration.
The FTA last month warned HART that it would consider taking unspecified action against the city and the rail authority if the city fails to deliver the money to help HART finance the rail construction by
Nov. 20.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell said the city wouldn’t be able to meet that deadline because it needs more time to float bonds to borrow the money, but Honolulu City Council Chairman Ernie Martin said the Council would fast-track a bill and resolutions to clear the way for transferring the funds.
In a written statement issued Thursday, Martin said the Council is re-establishing a Legislative Matters Committee made up of all nine Council members to hold public hearings on Bill 42 and Resolutions 18-127 and 18-132. The meetings are scheduled for 1:30 p.m.,
Oct. 17 and at 9 a.m., Oct. 30.
Those meetings will be followed by special Council meetings at 3 p.m., Oct 17 and 10:30 a.m, Oct. 30 to consider the same measures.
Bill 42 would authorize the city to spend city funds on rail construction, while the resolutions would authorize the city to issue bonds to borrow money to fund rail.
Nelson Koyanagi, director of the city’s Department of Budget and Fiscal Services, said city officials plan to issue about
$400 million in general obligation bonds for the rail early next year. That would include the $44 million as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding to ensure HART has enough cash to pay its bills.
