Video by David Corrigan

One of the first questions from the press after Mayor Billy Kenoi’s budget presentation to the media was about the proposed sale of Hamakua lands, intended to help close the budget gap.

Kenoi plans to sell all or part of the 3,400 acres of former Hamakua Sugar plantation property that was taken over by the county in lieu of back taxes in 1992.

The land is valued at $8.2 million, according to an independent appraisal. Finance Director Nancy Crawford said the 8.2 million was a “very conservative number.”

Kenoi says he plans to keep the land zoned for agricultural use, and indicated that he considers bioenergy projects to be an agricultural enterprise.