2012-06-25 NKCDP Minutes Final - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mahukona Cat Colony Caregivers and the Friends of Mahukona work with the community and organizations and organize public meetings. d. Infrastructure B : Susan Fischer reported that the Subcommittee is growing and that they are working on electric reliability and looking at planned transmission lines through Kohala for geothermal power to Oahu as well as view plane protection and rural infrastructure. Susan reported on the Kawaihae Local Resource Council meeting that she attended where Ron Thiel of the County Traffic Division discussed street lights and the update to the Lighting ordinance by the Department of Public Works to provide better lighting and reduce energy demands. One thousand fully shielded LED streetlights were purchased by the County with stimulus funds. The first 50 were installed in Waimea, in part to keep the skies darker for the Mauna Kea observatories. Low pressure sodium, even shielded, will produce a halo of light below. Once switched to LED, bulbs are not visible from the side and produce less glare. Susan said that she will present more information on this subject at future meetings. Susan also reported on a cost comparison provided by HELCO on underground vs. overhead utilities and said that HELCO provided four different links for information. According to HELCO, underground cables in general cost more to maintain over the long term and ten times more to install than overhead utilities. Susan said the next meeting will be at 5:30pm and that the meeting dates will be changed and will be posted on the CDP website and on bulletin boards around Kohala. e. Affordable Housing: Collin Kaholo said that he has had two Subcommittee meetings since the last AC meeting. He said that they had an open discussion on what was their plan. Collin said that they are planning a community educational meeting and have been asked to give an idea of what the homes would look like. He st said that there will be an Open House on July 1 at 3pm. He said if they get a good response that they will do another informational meeting. Collin said they also want to have a discussion on Habitat projects and Hawaiian Homes. He said the goal is to get twenty applicants. He said the biggest question is how to put finances in order to th apply for a loan. Collin said that the next meeting is July 16 at 4:30pm. f. Agriculture : Frank Cipriani said that their next meeting is tomorrow and that they th have made progress since their May 29 meeting. He said that the merits of Important Agricultural Land (IAL) registration vs. doing it through the County is being discussed and that they would like to start the program themselves and combine this with strategic agricultural development planning in North Kohala. He said that his company wants to find a strategic agricultural site that is designated IAL. Frank said that he also wants to give landowners advice and help with their agricultural lands. Frank spoke about the Kohala citrus crop and the possibility of forming a cooperative for juicing the fruit. Frank spoke of the need for soil reconditioning and putting people in touch with soil testers. Frank said that his company has submitted a proposal to the high school and middle school for an aquaponics program that is cutting edge. He said that anyone interested in agriculture or aquaculture is invited to attend his subcommittee meetings which meet the last Tuesday of the month. 3