Tom Bellit, a long-time Kailua resident, was driving to the waste dropoff site down Kapa‘a Quarry Road recently when he noticed heavy equipment excavating the grass area alongside the marsh across the street.
He went home and did some research, and found that the 10.6-acre Kawai Nui Model Airplane Field was getting a new asphalt runway for $125,000.
It’s a fraction of the city’s $5 billion budget. But on the heels of Honolulu leaders cutting costs, citing stagnant revenue and rising expenses, Bellit was surprised the city would spend that much to “indulge hobbies.”…