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and you can correct me if I'm wrong too, Michael, approximately $2 million dollars to complete
<br /> the Master Plan. Is that the number?
<br /> YEE: I'm unsure of the exact number, but it's certainly not a small number.
<br /> DELIMA: So, so in terms of the Agency's powers, I know that there was some public testimony
<br /> about (inaudible) they're looking at the board; we really don't have the ability to extend leases. I
<br /> think the Senator hit the nail on the head that the legislation does provide some mechanism as
<br /> part of this pilot project to do so and I'm not the attorney for these, for the members of the public
<br /> that wanna have their, like for example Country Club, extended, but they are on month-to-month
<br /> leases and I'm not certain under the, under the 3058 whether or not, if they are on a month-to-
<br /> month lease, whether they qualify because it provides if they're, prior to expiration of their lease
<br /> and technically maybe if they're on month-to-month maybe the AG might read it in a way that
<br /> says it suggests that they can still qualify. Because it still requires such a significant investment
<br /> that if somebody wants to invest that money, why not let them. But those are some of the
<br /> questions I have. I think we're all excited about the ability for people to invest and extend
<br /> leases, at the same time, the relevancy of the agency can only be relevant if we have the Master
<br /> Plan developed. And I'm—did they, was there money allocated?
<br /> KAHELE: You know, there was a sister bill to 3058 which was specifically written for Banyan
<br /> Drive and both bills made it to conference, and unfortunately the Banyan Drive bill that would
<br /> have focused on that, it would have appropriated money, matched the County's investment in
<br /> Banyan Drive should the County choose to invest and partner with the State on the financial
<br /> piece of the Master Plan, would have been able to accomplish that, and unfortunately that bill
<br /> never made it out of conference. It was one or the other and couldn't have both. So with—that's
<br /> something a 2019 legislative priority. You know others have proposed different management
<br /> mechanisms of Banyan Drive, creating a, you know, another board within DLNR. I'm fully
<br /> supportive of the BDHRA and its powers under Chapter 53 and of course, you know, with
<br /> working with the administration. I wanna see the BDHRA do what it was intended to do, but I
<br /> also realize it has limitations if you don't control the land and you don't have financial resources,
<br /> which is where I personally feel the State's obligation is to do that. The State is the landlord for
<br /> Banyan Drive, we collect about a million dollars in rent on the peninsula. The Naniloa pays a
<br /> significant amount of that rent annually every year, of course they have the largest piece of land
<br /> down there which includes the golf course. But there's not much that's being reinvested in
<br /> Banyan Drive. DLNR has done studies, about a half-million dollars' worth of tourism studies,
<br /> and market studies, and different types of studies. But what we really need is the Master Plan
<br /> that's done in a collaborative effort, you know, within our community so we can really feel like
<br /> this is the vision for Hilo. What do we want Hilo to look like? What do we want Banyan Drive
<br /> to look like in the future? And it, it really is the nexus for everything. It's the nexus for the
<br /> harbor, for our cruise ship industry, for our airport, for bringing back domestic flights from the
<br /> mainland, for attracting international flights and it's a centerpiece of everything, so.
<br /> DELIMA: Anyone else want to jump in? Because one way that I kind ofI was trying to argue
<br /> for in the past that if we're not increasing density, you know, why can't we consider this a
<br /> Master Plan and I was, again, I was told this, it doesn't qualify as a Master Plan. Because until,
<br /> until such time that we are empowered as an Agency, we cannot take any action. We cannot
<br /> even go to the DLNR and to the Board and say we want to do a memorandum of understanding
<br /> for the development of, for example, Country Club where we want to solicit interest. So the last
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<br /> Banyan Drive Hawaii Redevelopment Agency
<br /> July 25,2018 Minutes
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