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subdivision bill was being discussed, corporation counsel opined that it could not go to the Council
<br />as part of their function unless the Charter was amended first because the Charter set up which were
<br />administrative matters and which were matters that went to the County Council. So that was the
<br />basic concern I had with Bill 291, that you need to go, you know, it was my opinion and, you know,
<br />we’ve discussed with corporation counsel that represents the Department, and the concern was that
<br />in order to enact Bill 291 in its current form, you probably need to go and amend the County
<br />Charter because it specifically says that variances decisions are rendered by the Planning Director.
<br />And so, you know, if the Council wants to initiate an amendment to the Charter, then, you know,
<br />they could go do that, and then they could enact Bill 291. But I think, obviously, we are going to
<br />have, you know, some disagreements, and I’m sure that there are some people who will argue that
<br />maybe the Charter isn’t as exclusive as it appears to be, but we had this discussion before. And I
<br />did talk to a prior planning director and he said that they had specifically gone in and amended the
<br />Charter with the purpose of moving things, some things administratively, and it was in response to
<br />the fact that the concern is that to take all of those things to the Planning Commissions was just
<br />eating up a lot of time and was very difficult to administer that way. So the change was made in an
<br />earlier Charter, so we are probably going to have to go back, dig up the minutes of the Charter, and
<br />look at, you know, what the rationale was for those changes. And so, you know, as this bill goes up
<br />to the Council, we’ll have to go dig a little more in their records and see, you know, what was the
<br />intent of the language, what was stated, you know, what was the measure as proposed, to really
<br />determine if in fact that was the intent of the Charter amendments and whether it impacts Bill 291.
<br />So it’s going to require some more research.
<br />
<br />GIFFIN: Lani.
<br />
<br />BOWMAN: Thank you. I think, for the benefit of the public, and I’m sure you know, that the
<br />Action Committees, or the CDP Action Committees in each community, and the meetings like are
<br />held in Puakō and in Waiki‘i, which I guess brings me back to the long process of the CDP’s in the
<br />various communities and how, to me, as members of the public, these Action Committees have
<br />worked very, very hard, and are to me the, I don’t know, the frontline of community response. And
<br />I guess to get around my question was a lot of times I know people have told me, you know,
<br />community meetings are held but they are held in Kona for some project in Kohala. And I’m
<br />hoping, well, not hoping but I understand, through the process that you have now, that they are held
<br />in the communities, and I would hope, if 291 goes through, that these community meetings would
<br />be held in the specific communities where a P.U.D. is being planned.
<br />
<br />LEITHEAD TODD: Some of that is a function of which Action Committee it is. The Kona CDP
<br />Action Committee typically holds its meetings here in the West Hawai‘i Civic Center, and they
<br />have not routinely moved meetings around. South Kohala tends to move their meetings; they hold
<br />meetings in Kawaihae, we’ve held meetings down in Puakō, they hold meetings in Waikoloa, and
<br />then they hold meetings in Waimea. And they try to tweak their agendas so that when we are in
<br />Waikoloa, it’s Waikoloa issues; when we are in Puakō, it’s more Puakō issues; Kawaihae, it’s more
<br />Kawaihae. North Kohala has not moved around as much. And Puna has moved back and forth a
<br />little bit, we’ve, mainly between Pāhoa and Kea‘au Town – I don’t recall that we’ve gone
<br />elsewhere, I don’t think we’ve done Volcano – but it’s mainly been Kea‘au and Pāhoa. Some of
<br />that is also a function of having meeting facilities that can accommodate the public and that are
<br />ADA compliant. But, you know, we do make that attempt. And then sometimes on the Council
<br />when they have stuff. But the goal is to try and eventually move to a system where before an
<br />application comes to us, that it has to be held in the community. And I think there is some more
<br />flexibility with that because you can use different, you can use someone’s house for that, if it’s not a
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<br />EXHIBIT B
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