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Page 1 of 3 Pit/mu EL Murashige, Laura CC - MM. C14L1 From: Tiffany Edwards Hunt [newswoman @mac.com] LI' OCT b ._. Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2010 1:04 PM To: counciltestimony @ co.hawaii.hi.us; J Yoshimoto; Brenda Ford.toffmanrt; dikeda @co.hawaii.hi.us; Dominic Yagong; Guy Enriques; De 6 ishi; kgreenwell @co.hawaii.hi.us; Emily Naeole Subject: Pohoiki Plan phase 1 Attachments: the pohoiki plan.rtf; ATT00022.html Council members, The following story was slated to publish in the Big Island Weekly tomorrow, but is being held over until next week's edition for lack of space. Due to the timeliness of this information with regard to Res 391 -10, I am sharing this with you. Tiffany Edwards Hunt (808)938 -8592 Newswoman@. Mac.com Www.bigislandchronicle.com Begin forwarded message: From: Tiffany Edwards Hunt <newswomanmac.com> Date: October 3, 2010 12:43:03 PM HST To: Yisa Var <yisavarggmail.com> Subject: Re: Pohoiki Plan phase 1 By Tiffany Edwards Hunt Making its way through the Hawaii County Council is a resolution submitted by Puna Councilwoman Emily Naeole- Beason calling for the County of Hawaii to lease little over 21 acres from the Kealoha Estate headed by Kuulei Kealoha Cooper Springer to create a new public swimming area at Isaac Kepo'okalani Hale Beach Park, or Pohoiki. Naeole- Beason didn't respond to a request for comment on Resolution 391 -10 or her office's work in months preceding the resolution to obtain a federal appropriation for the public swimming area. However, Big Island Weekly was able to sit down with Cooper Springer and Mayor Billy Kenoi for details on what is being envisioned at Pohoiki. Cooper Springer is the granddaughter of the late Muilan Pelekumu Young and James "Jimmy" Kealoha, a grocer turned politician. Known as the "wonder boy" of Hawaii politicians for his popularity among the constituency, Kealoha served as a territorial representative and senator before serving three terms as a Hawaii County board supervisor and six terms as a Hawaii County chairman. He also served with Governor Quinn, as the first Chinese American and Native Hawaiian lieutenant governor in the United States. Land at Pohoiki has been in the Kealoha family for four generations. Initially there was 1,000 acres. Now there are 510 acres, mostly zoned agriculture -1 acre. If you are standing in the parking lot on the "Shacks" side of Pohoiki, the Kealoha Estate land is everything to the right and mauka, even beyond the new section of Highway 132, known as the bypass road. In a meeting with Big Island Weekly, Cooper Springer laid out on her dining room table plans dating back to April 1960 that call for a resort hotel, shopping center, resort cottages, and homes to surround a beach park at "Laepaoo," the area known today as Pohoiki, from "GR6845 to Napalapalai." As the plans indicate, Kealoha envisioned a development for Pohoiki that would provide a tax base for the County and offer jobs for the residents of the area. "Being the public servant that he was," Cooper Springer said her grandfather implored her to, "Take care of this property for generations to come. Don't sell out." She and the rest of the Kealoha Estate feel a responsibility to balance his vision for development of Pohoiki with the needs of the present -day community. Cooper Springer noted that her grandmother used to go down to the Pohoiki property and soak in the hot pond as a remedy to I Comm. No. Ref. To: 10/5/2010 Ref. Date OCT n o1e