2006-12-06 tmartinage-nunn - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

ALAMEDA: This is a good discussion cause actually we are dealing with standing whether or not we think it’s, there is premise for it. And I like Commissioner McCall’s comments cause it adds some balance, a little bit. But we are still addressing whether or not Brad has standing. Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA: Yes, can we talk to Mr. Martinage and get his take on this? ALAMEDA: Sure. Mr. Martinage? MARTINAGE: Sure, absolutely, thank you so much. First and foremost, I want to keep everybody in the Council assured that I’m a farmer. I am a farmer; our primary business is a farm. However, as I shared with Brad who I do business with, I actually buy macadamia nuts from him, I have hired him to come over and work on our land with chipping. He knows aggressively, quote and unquote, that our property is in better shape than it has in 30 years. We no longer offer a crash pad house and environment. I’ve come in to Brad’s field twice, and the first time was after probably about two and half weeks of weed whacking and blowing and stuff to introduce myself and to let him know that I was his new neighbor. The second time was when he was trimming his trees, again, to go over there and offer him water and to talk to him about purchasing his products. We do not have a problem with Ag. We chose this particular property because of its brilliancy to be able to combine a well rounded property that has revenue streams and also provides the visitor an opportunity to come into our neighborhoods and to stay with us. Our people aren’t lounging on the deck for the day; they are up and they are swimming, they are going to the volcano, they are experiencing, they are going to the Kona coffee farm. They are really -, if they want the type of poolside experience, that’s the Four Seasons Hualalai or the beautiful Hapuna Prince. I have been in a hospitality business and owned my company for the last 17 years. My website is called “Finding My Hawai`i” because I believe that what we have is such a unique place that our property benefits from sharing that with our visitor. As I shared with Brad, you know, if I owned the land 30 years ago and if it was just Ag, as he shared with me, he says I would like to teach you that you can pay your bills with just Ag. Well, I paid 2.3 million dollars for my house, I cannot just pay by Ag. But I will. I have a beautiful coffee product. I have a nice mac nuts product. If we work together, I can actually bring an enhancement to that sound of cracking nuts. You know, that is our product being farmed. So that is what we are all about. So really if you look at the type of operation that we are looking to open here, it is not one that isn’t community based; we are community based, we have outreach to our neighbors, we are buying their products, we are revitalizing the land. We will have less traffic to our property than what was there prior to us purchasing the land. Before there were seven rooms in the house plus six other cottages, so there could be 15 different cars going up and down there. That is not the case in our case. And if we take a look at it, Brad even has on his website a link to an agricultural bed and breakfast. He sees the potential that people like to stay at the property cause he has a vacation rental on his property. So, please, what I’m just asking is the fair shake here. And if Brad knows that he is going to be weed whacking or some obnoxious thing, just like myself, you reach out and you just say to the neighbor, “Listen, for the next three days I’m going to be doing this project. Heads up.” And that’s just common courtesy of what we’d like to show. So any EXHIBIT A 9