COM 0604.035 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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HAMAKUA COUNTY FARM BUREAt1 P. O. BOX 1380 HONOKAA, HAWAH 96727 Testimony to the County Council's Finance Committee Public Hearing on Hamakua Lands Honokaa, Hawaii August 28, 1998 Chairman Chung and Members of the Council's Finance Committee: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to discuss Resolution 267-98 here in Hamakua. The issue involved regarding the proposed disposition of County lands in Hamakua is of vital concern to the members of the Hamakua Farm Bureau, many of whom have expressed their desire to expand their farms and ranches if provided with an opportunity to acquire long-term leases on available public lands. When the State Board of Land and Natural Resources considered the plan to lease available State lands in Hamakua to the Oji Paper Company in October, we testified against it for the same reasons we are appealing to you today. Give our people the chance to utilize these lands for small family fazms and ranches before other options aze considered. The State Land Board agreed and now the State lands are being offered to local farmers from throughout the Big Island. For reasons known only to himself, the Mayor has decided to ignore our pleas for similaz consideration with regard to the 4,400 acres of County lands in Hamakua. What we have instead is Res. No. 267, a plan for the disposition of former Haznakua sugaz lands now owned by the County of Hawaii. The plan proposes to trade off a114,400 acres of County land in Hamakua for about 20 acres of pazk lands in Hilo, Puna and Kona and possibly another 200 acres of ag land in Hamakua. The biggest benefactor for this give-away, of course, is Kamehazneha Schools/Bishop Estate, who already owns close to 40,000 acres in Hamakua of Comm. No.--~ Fite No._ hLG Ref. 1b: P~Qranted~ FC. $EP 0 ~ 1998