COM 0666.026 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Establishing a County Cultural Resowces Commission, such as those already established on Maui and Kauai, would help make the importance of these resources more visible to the general public through its capacity to educate and provide accurate information on these resources and their preservation(especially through inventories and accurate listings). It would also help guide public policy by coordinating inventories and information about these resources so that information is available earlier about given sites. I would like to stress the importance of maintaining the inclusion of inventory responsibilities as set forth in the original drafts of this bill. That will allow Hawaii County's Commission to apply for Certified Local Government (CLG)status. Both Maui and Kauai's similar commissions have that status and, as a result, they can access federal funding given to the State of Hawaii for the work of a CLG. Further, having some sort of inventory will eventually facilitate the work of both this commission and of the Planning Department. The pace, amount and kind of inventorying can be determined in the administrative rules that would be put in place subsequent to the passage of this ordinance. As a note, the absence of inventory data during the years when I served on the State's Historic Places Review Board in the 1980s and 1990s made our decision-making very difficult because, in many cases, we were unable to establish the importance of a given site because we could not tell how many of that kind of site were or were not still in existence. The ordinance as proposed includes the stipulation that the commission be made up of professionals from several relevant disciplines and be reflective of the geography of this island. It also is similar to the ordinances that established such commissions on Maui and Kauai and would, therefore, also allow our county to apply for CLG status necessary to access federal funds that could support some of the inventorying and other work necessary to assist preservation of cultural resources on this island. Experience on Maui and Kauai indicates that it is important to attach adequate funding to this process so that a full-time cultural resource professional and at least apart-time clerical position can do the substantive work that this commission would entail within county government. Mahalo to all of you for making this effort to bring attention to the unique culiwal and historical resources of Hawai' i County and the necessity for government and the community to be partners in preserving them. Sincerely, M~trazar