MIN CHARTER 2018-08-10 (2018-2020)

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Hawai`i County Charter Commission -2 August 10, 2018 doesn't pass such as this year. So all of that's already been put in there, and there's a lot of safety nets for us, and we really like those. The one section that causes us a little bit of grief is Section 10-15. That's the Public Open Space, or PONC (Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Fund) section. It's not that we don't think open space is a good thing, it's in times of emergency or during a recession, having over $6 million go directly to open space before anything else, that can be challenging. I know we have a large budget, but $6 million is a lot of money. So we want to look at ways that maybe that could be amended or looked at, and some of the options, you know, it could be eliminated from the Charter completely and put back in the County Code. That's how it was originally. The percentage itself could be reduced. I believe ours is two percent and every other County is one percent. So ours is by far higher than anybody else. We could cap the amount. So instead of just continually putting it in each year, we could actually set a cap for it. Or at least have the ability to suspend in tunes of emergency or recession, you know, if needed. Or even opening up the allowable uses. You know, it's very much to buy land, it's not to develop it. We can't even use it to put restrooins on the land. A lot of these have significant cultural areas, and we want to be able to use the restroom in the correct location. But we can't even use it for that. So I think it's just that it's so restrictive that if we could even open it up for, you know, at Ieast the basic minimum construction. Especially since it says that most of these are to be used for park facilities, at least being able to us it for that. In addition to that, you know, the PONC maintenance fund goes with it. I think that section is a little detailed. Nonnally some of this might be in the County Code. But you know, at least we have that opportunity, and a lot of nonprofits have come in to help maintain a lot of the open space we own now. So our main area is 10-15. CHR. ADAMS: Thank you, Director. Any comments or questions for the Director? Please, Commissioner Todd. MS. TODD: In terms of expansive uses of the fund, right now there's a provision on page 40 of the Charter, Subsection (c)(1)(E) that talks about protection of watershed lands to preserve water quality and water supply. I've also thought about whether some of this money should be available for the purchase of Lava Zone 1 lands, just as public safety. Because it would preserve open space, but it would also serve to mitigate future disasters, which end up costing the County quite a bit of money in terms of taking care of the area, evacuating people. So I would look forward to, if you had any recommendations in the future in terms of additional expansion of uses of the fund. I've taken notes, so I'm hoping that you Page 19