2024-03-11 Minutes APPROVED - Laserfiche WebLink

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(e) Sugg.24-05, Kawainui Makai,S. Hilo, Hawai'i.TMK(3) 2-7-011:001&(3)2-7-010:027 TAWN KEENEY spoke in support of Sugg. 24-05. He is the recently elected Chair of the Hamakua Community Development Plan Action Committee and spoke of the property features; that it was one of the very few pieces of property that was forested rather than residential. He went on to speak of the very wide and extensive estuary and two waterfalls that passes through the property, as far up as the old Mamalahoa Highway. He further went on to share that he inquired about the property and found out that the owner recently passed away, and that the property would be going up for sale. He and several others were allowed to explore the property and now that it's listed on the market, there is a sense of urgency. ROBERT NISHIMOTO spoke in support of Sugg. 24-05. He is a resident of Ninole and a Marine Biologist by trade, now retired from the State. His hope today is to impress upon the Commission why the purchase of these two parcels is so important and stand as one of the best estuaries he's seen in his life. It's a very critical habitat for all coastal fish and native species, very rare. Hopefully the silos between County and State can be joined with this purchase, as land is County and water is State. In closing, our mo'opuna will thank us for this purchase. KANOA WHITHINGTON spoke in support of Sugg. 24-05. He wanted to reiterate Bobby's remarks about the difficulty of preserving resources that have cross-jurisdictional issues and emphasize the significance of the property as a coastal resource. He also wanted to reiterate some testimony from Ed Johnson,who couldn't be here today. Ed visited the site first in 1985 which had public access, and today there is none. PHAETHON KEENEY spoke in support of Sugg. 24-05. She praised all these great projects here before the Commission today. This is her first time doing this, so wanted to clarify some of the things that were left out from their nomination.The listing might not have been active a week ago, and of course,just like the other nomination earlier,the mention of private beach is repeated in that listing multiple times. She noted that these resources are so critical to the community, and Ed Johnson's testimony actually notes that the sugar company would keep trails to places like this open, because they did recognize the necessity of use of the community to these critical places of fishing and subsistence, and how important the waterways are. She also clarified the trees on the parcel and that they did not have as much information on the large forestry operation of 50 acres of African and Honduras Mahogany,Teak, and Queensland Maple. They received from the builder this week, to put into the written section detailed information about the planting in 2000, towards the planting, and the number of trees.There's about 8,000 on the Hilo side for the parcel of those mixed trees, and about 7,000 on the Hamakua side. In our nomination of the trees, Alex Woodberry of Kamuela Hardwoods, mentioned that he would be willing to harvest and work with the Minutes of March 11, 2024 Page 4