COM 0644.000 2020-2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

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PART 2: THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE REPORTS Effective August 19, 2021, the Hawai'i County Council passed an ordinance amending Chapter 2, Article 42 of the Hawaii County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as Amended), relating to the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Maintenance Fund. The ordinance changes the administration, management, and adequate staff from the Department of Parks and Recreation to the Department of Finance. The same ordinance amends some of the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Re- sources Preservation Commission appointments, duties, and responsibilities. As noted below: • Appointments: "Not more than a bare majority of the members shall belong to the same political party. • Duties regarding stewardship grants: "make recommendations to the director of fi- nance..." • Responsibilities regarding stewardship grant performance reports, conduct inter- views, etc.: "shall forward its findings to the director of finance." The department of Finance submits the following report to the Mayor. The Acquisition Status Report: In compliance with the Hawaii County Charter 10-15, the annual acquisition status re- port consists of financial information on funding easements and land acquisitions, the total num- ber of acreage, and partnering funds source. The FUND detail report is found in the Commis- sion's public folders. During the 2021 calendar year, the County acquired Kapanai'a Bay Area, N. Kohala, Kaunamano, Ka'u, and Wai'ele, Puna bringing the total number acreage to 8,408.80, consisting of approx. 3,694.44 acres in Conservation Easements and 4,714.36 acres in fee simple, which will remain in open space protection in perpetuity. The total amount of these acquisitions from the FUND was $7,773,581.95 and partnering funding for $1,452,000, for a total of $9,225,581.95. Status of Properties on Past Prioritized Lists and Acquisitions: Past prioritized lists were compiled in the Status of Properties on Past Prioritized Lists from 2006 to 2020. The commission recommends that properties from previous prioritized lists continue to be pursued as far as possible unless: the County has already acquired the property; the property no longer meets the criteria set by Hawaii County Charter, Article 10, Section 10-15, the property no longer meets the criteria for inclusion; there are insufficient funds available for acquisition, or the County Council has not passed a resolution that would allow the property to be acquired. A special request was made by Mayor Roth to the commission 1) to review past properties that made the prioritized lists with resolutions, 2) create a prioritized list of its finding, and 3) submit a report to him. Upon request, the commission in November 2021, formed a permitted interaction group and scheduled to submit their report in 2022. The report will be available to the public upon request. iv