2007-05-14 Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission Minutes

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Mr. Flores stated his second meeting was in Hawi at the Kohala Cultural Center. There were about two dozen people who showed up for the meeting. Mr. Flores stated there was a question that surfaced was about the money that is put into the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources fund; is interest accrued from that fund? Mr. Yada stated monies are accrued and then invested in the investment accounts. Mr. Flores asked if the interest goes back into the Commission's fund or back into the County's general fund. Mr. Yada stated he thought it goes back into the PONC fund however he needed to confirm that. Mr. Flores stated that some of the people were concerned about specific lands in Kohala, one of those lands being Mahukona. They had specific issues about what was happening with it. Mr. Flores stated he couldn't give them any specific answers. Mr. Flores stated he explained that the County were negotiating for the Waipi`o and Kawa`a property and had not gone beyond that as far as pursuing a negotiation. Mr. Yada stated on the State list there were a couple of parcels that have been the focus in Kohala. Mr. Yada stated there are two rectangular parcels along the shoreline; those are the two of focus. One parcel is surrounded by Lapakahi and the other is a little further down the coast. Mr. Yada stated the County got a letter from an attorney representing the further down the coast. They had applied for a CDUA with the State and got into a contested case. Mr. Yada stated the owner got frustrated with process. The attorney sent a letter to the State and the County saying that the owner was willing to sell the property at "X" price and wanted an offer. Mr. Yada stated he drafted a response to the attorney saying that the property was not at the top of their priority list and they don't have the funds to respond. Mr. Yada stated both those parcels are surrounded by State land therefore he suggested them pursue the Legacy Land Fund. • Discuss with the Commission the need to adopt a rule regarding notification of property owners on the priority list. Ms. Self stated it was a big debate in our office right now therefore she was going to have to continue this until the next meeting. Ms. Self stated the Commission couldn't do anything with the existing list now. Ms. Self stated the Council would have to adopt a bill that would insert language into the code stating if a property owner did not want to have their property on the list, there would be a way for the property owner to get their name off the list. Ms. Self stated she was looking to see if they were going to get sued or threatened with litigation. Ms. Self stated she doesn't know what will happen if the Commission ended up with no properties on a M