MIN CHARTER 2019-04-25 (2018-2020)

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Hawai`i County Charter Commission -10 April 25, 2019 representatives of all the six community groups in North Kohala that are working on coastal preservation, on coastal purchasing, coastal prioritization, and stewardship. The reason we formed a separate 501(c) (3) is to perform the stewardship role. So that is why I would like to speak today to the Maintenance Fund and the changes that are being proposed. I mean everybody I think agrees that the move from Parks and Rec (Recreation) to Finance Department is a good one. No question. No question about that. Then the question comes up on the amendment CA -18 about the compensation for people for doing the work. Okay, Kohala Lihikai currently is... has agreements to steward four pieces of government owned open space land. Two of those open space lands are partially funded by the maintenance... the County's Maintenance Fund. One of them is partially funded by the Legacy Land Conservation Program and one of them is under agreement with the Department of Transportation Airports Division. So we have four projects going now. We would like to have... add one more to open space purchase in North Kohala in the next year. This involves a lot of volunteer work. It involves a lot of administrative work getting volunteers out into... onto the land and doing the work that... that we are supposed to be doing. What kind of work are we doing? Kohala Lihikai is involved in soil erosion control. It is involved in native plant restoration, wildlife... wild fire mitigation, and the supporting of the efforts of historic preservation plans that are in place. So we have a wide variety of things that we are doing and we have a number of projects for each of these agreements that we have. It is hard to find volunteers without passion and the passion always comes from the people who are setting up the programs and doing it and that tends to be the people on our Board of Directors. They are the ones who know the land, who are on the land, and are doing it. The Maintenance Fund, the way it is written, does not allow us to give them any salary or compensation for the work that they do and I don't think this is right because it makes it difficult for us to keep people on the Board when they are doing all of this work. They say "well I can just quit the Board and then you can hire me back." And that is just not a good way to do business. I think the way that the Maintenance Fund should be set up is that it makes it right for the people who are doing the work to get compensated for what they are doing. Most of what they are doing is handling a lot of volunteers and that is hard work. I know. I do it too. The other item I would like to talk to is CA -27 and I don't need to say much about it. I don't think it is necessary. The staff, the way it is written, it is perfectly alright to be purchased in fee or by an easement, and I think that this amendment takes away the flexibility of the staff and the people who are working for the purchase to have the flexibility they need. So thank you again for all the work that you are doing. You are our heroes. Thank you. CHR. ADAMS: Thank you. Next testifier from Kona. Page 7