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April 22, 2021 <br /> Mr.Abbott <br /> Page 2 <br /> seawall. In many other regulatory jurisdictions,this process might have been relatively simple, <br /> but that was and is certainly not the case along the Maui shoreline. Although the first and <br /> second conceptual designs were prepared by a Hawaii engineering firm,we were able to assess <br /> the regulatory acceptability of those designs due, in large part,to your personal networking with <br /> Maui County Planning staff. Had we not learned early on that the initial conceptual designs <br /> would not be approvable,we might have spent considerable effort, money and time preparing <br /> applications that would have been doomed to disapproval or would have required significant <br /> modification and concessions on our part. Your assistance in calmly explaining the process and <br /> regulatory limitations to understandably upset Kulakane owners on several conference calls was <br /> invaluable. <br /> As additional conceptual project designs were developed,it became clear that we would likely <br /> require approvals from Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources for project activity <br /> on the makai side of our seawall. Once again,your past dealings and networked relationships <br /> with DLNR staff allowed you to quickly investigate potentially approvable approaches without <br /> the time and expense of preparing and submitting applications for project designs that might <br /> not have been approvable. <br /> Your wise counsel regarding project and permitting strategies that would involve public <br /> hearings was firmly validated by the one unavoidable minor hearing that was required for <br /> approval by the State. At that hearing,three or four of the BLNR board members abstained <br /> rather than casting a vote to approve the temporary placement of sheet pile as a best <br /> management practice intended to prevent pollution and part of a project already approved by <br /> all other necessary agencies. When the chair of the Board called for a motion to approve,a very <br /> long silence elapsed before any member would even offer such a motion. <br /> Such is the regulatory/political climate we must navigate within. As with our previous projects, <br /> your assistance is and has been greatly appreciated. <br /> Mahalo and aloha, <br /> Board of Directors, <br /> Kulakane Association of Apartment Owners <br />