2006-05-30 Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission Minutes (Hilo Mtg)

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1) "Two percent (2 %) of the Hawaii County real property tax revenues collected annually" will be deposited in the Public Access, Open Space Fund; 2) The cap of 5 million will be removed. Ms. Hecht thanked the Commissioners for their hard work and asked for the Commission's support of the initiative petition drive by way of a formal letter from this Commission. If 2% of real property taxes are set aside, this will allow the County to be a competitive buyer in the competitive land market. Ms. Hecht's goal is to assist the County in important lands purchases. Ms. Hecht informed the commissioners she has been advocating for Puapua`a properties makai of Alii Drive. Ms. Hecht indicated she met with Council Member Virginia Isbel and together they drafted a resolution which she hopes will come forth before the Hawaii County Council. The resolution is a request to the Hawaii County Council to purchase the Puapua`a properties. Commissioner Campbell stated to Ms. Hecht that the Kauai and Maui counties have similar programs in place and we are using Kauai county as a model. Commissioner Campbell then thanked Ms. Hecht for testifying. Commissioner Springer directed Ms. Hecht to the hand -out that she passed out, to the right hand bar, which indicates the properties that are recommended for "purchase" and the properties recommended for "acquisition through partnerships," those properties are not necessarily recommended for acquisition, the action is that the County will enter into partnerships with either the land owners or other government agencies to manage the resource. The better way to state it should be "properties and /or entitlements for partnerships." Commissioner Flores asked Ms. Hecht when her deadline is for the required 10,000 signatures, Ms. Hecht replied that she is aiming for June 15, 2006, because the "drop dead date" to get the count back from the County Clerk and the elections commissioner is June 22, 2006, to meet the deadline for the next County Council's agenda. 3. Josh Stanbro Mr. Stanbro represents Trust for Public Lands which is a non profit organization that works statewide to protect lands for the people. Mr. Stanbro commended this Commission for the great work which was done in a very methodical way and the amount of public outreach. Mr. Stanbro stated that it would be helpful to substitute the word "protection" for "acquisition" on the list provided to Mayor Kim and feels