COM 0666.013 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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~......Y.... ..""*t. Harry Kim C6ristop6er J• Yuen Mayor Director '';;i•g;•w~:•° Brad Kurokawa, ASLA LEED®AP ~DHkCt~i ~?XfV2X11 Deputy Director PLANNING DEPARTMENT 101 Pauatti S[reet, Sui[e 3 Hilo, Hawau 96720-0224 (808) 961-8288 FAX (808) 961-8742 October 3, 2007 Honorable Pete Hoffinann - Chair and Presiding Officer and Members of the County Council COUNTY COUNCIL 333 Kilauea Avenue, Second Floor Hilo, HI 96720 Dear Chair Hoffmann and Members of the County Council: SUBJECT: BILL 176 -CULTURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION I am writing to provide some further comments and concerns about Bill 176, establishing a Cultural Resources Commission. I fully support the goals of the cultural and historic preservation, and will send the council a staff memo which explains how historic site preservation is supposed to be handled within the Planning Department. The proposal increases the workload and responsibilities of the Planning Department without providing additional resources, including personnel. I would request, therefore, that if the Council passes this bill, the effective date, rather than the current effective date of July 1, 2008, that the effective date be: "July 1, 2008, or upon the appropriation of funds for at least one new position in the Planning Department to handle duties related to the Cultural Resources Commission, whichever occurs later." I haven't attempted to do a thorough analysis of the bill itself, but there a few aspects of the bill clearly need revision. Subsection (c) of "Powers and duties" says that "The commission shall maintain a system for the survey, inventory and nomination of historic properties and archaeologic sites within the County, as well as a system of monitoring, that is compatible with that of the State historic preservation office." This is a major task that cannot be done by a volunteer group whose members continually change. It can only be done by an agency with professional staff. It is clearly something that SHPD is supposed to do, and to try to duplicate this, or do it on the County level, is a waste of resources. This subsection should be deleted. Coma. No._~~ Ref. To: I~:f. iJate OCT p 3 2007 Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.