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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PWMTC 2020/11/05 2018-2020 Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit 28th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii November 5, 2020 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit ORDER: was called to order at 2:28 p.m. in the Council Chambers, Hilo, Hawaii, by Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Chair Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member(came in later) Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Karen Eoff, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference from Kona) STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Jim Cain: Bill 217 (Comm. 1130), in support. (See Comm. 1130.1) Susan Collins: Bill 217 (Comm. 1130), comment. Heather McNeill: Bill 217 (Comm. 1130), comment. Melani Ide: Bill 217 (Comm. 1130), comment. (representing Bishop Museum) Sheena Lopes: Bill 217 (Comm. 1130), in opposition. PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 Jackson Bauer: Bill 217 (Comm. 1130), in opposition. (representing Na Ala Hele Trails and Access Program, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife) Elizabeth O'Keefe: Bill 217 (Comm. 1130), comment. Also see the following written testimony relating to Comm. 1130 (Bill 217), which were presented at the meeting: Dorothy Bowers, Comm. 1130.2 Noah Brustin, Comm. 1130.3 Bobby Camara, Comm. 1130.5 Sunee Campbell, Comm. 1130.6 Cory Harden, Comm. 1130.7 Marissa Harman, Comm. 1130.8 David Hunt, Comm. 1130.9 Lori Johnson, Comm. 1130.10 Ron Johnson, Comm. 1130.11 Zachary Judd, Comm. 1130.12 Dr. Ku Kahakalau, Comm. 1130.13 Dr. Tawn Keeney, Comm. 1130.14 Dr. Graham Paul Knopp, Comm. 1130.15 Colleen A. Lawrence, Comm. 1130.16 Richard L. Lawyer, Comm. 1130.17 Charlotte Leger, Comm. 1130.18 Mary Marvin Porter, Comm. 1130.19 Joan Maute, Comm. 1130.20 Gloria-Ann Pualani Muraki, Comm. 1130.21 Seth Nickell, Comm. 1130.22 Janice Palma-Glennie, Comm. 1130.23 Christopher Rathbun, Comm. 1130.24 Michelle Suber, Comm. 1130.25 Gyongvi "Momi" Szirom, Comm. 1130.26 Mary True, Comm. 1130.27 Sheryl Vierra, Comm. 1130.28 Dorian Weisel, Comm. 1130.29 Toni Withington, Comm. 1130.30 Frank Wroblewski, Comm. 1130.31 Jeff Yamauchi, Comm. 1130.32 Krisha Zane, Comm. 1130.33 CHR. LEE LOY: Mr. Clerk, I think we should start with Communication 1100. Page 2 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 1100: REQUESTS A DISCUSSION WITH SSFM INTERNATIONAL REGARDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF SIGNAGE FOR HELE-ON BUS STOPS AROUND HAWAII COUNTY From Council Member Susan L. K. Lee Loy, dated September 29, 2020. Postponed: October 20, 2020 (Note: There is a motion by Ms. Kierkiewicz, seconded by Ms. Poindexter, to close file on Comm. 1100.) Comm. 1100.1: From Council Member Sue Lee Loy, dated November 4, 2020, transmitting hardcopy of the PowerPoint presentation. (Note: At this time, Mass Transit Administrator Brenda Carreira came forward to address the members of the Committee.) CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. With that, I'm going to have staff pull in Brenda who is waiting. And I'll also direct the rest of my colleagues to Communication 1100.1, which is a very short presentation provided by Mass Transit. Brenda, if you could please walk us through your presentation. MS. CARREIRA: Okay, thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. And I'm sorry, it should have been the Public Works and Mass Transit we're making it in today. Regarding the bus stop signage, before we move on, is I'd like to say a big mahalo to SSFM. In fact, Cheryl Soon and Joanna Herkes they really did the work, and we've enjoyed their labor; also for Kasie Kailikea, who is part of my office, big time with(inaudible) and bus stops and regarding this matter, the bus stop signs. So I'm going to be showing you some samples of the signs, but what I've done before that, is Joanna Herkes did contact, I believe, each member of the Council to look at one of the (inaudible) vehicles. That was part of it that we wanted to be able to put on our signs. And that we also did, as I would just wanted to let you know, a memorandum or the memo that SSFM did, I was able to forward it to Department of Public Works, Aaron Takaba, who is with the Traffic and the Signs Division to make sure we were okay as to what we wanted to do. And we were able toI was able to get a very quick response for him. Page 3 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 (Note: At this time, Ms. Carreira provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of subject presentation, see the DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is made a part of the record, see Comm. 1100.1.) CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Brenda. You know, I took this up because I know SSFM was reaching out to all the Council Members. You know, COVID hit and everybody's focus went in a different direction, which is okay. But what I actually hear you asking for is more feedback from Council Members on signage. But I think what we also need to hear is how this ties in to the overall route plan, because many of us have traveled all over. We're getting on a bus, getting on a train, you know, there's a particular stop we want to make. We know to get on the Red Line or the Blue Line. Help us Brenda, as Council Members, understand how this ties into the overall Mass Transit Master Plan and the overall unrolling of the various routes and the timing of that rollout of the various routes. MS. CARREIRA: Okay, sure. I'd be happy to do that. Well, one, with these particular—what we're doing right now, and always, actually during this time is really relooking at all the routes, looking at ridership. We're looking at the safety of where bus stops are, do we need to change that? And we are renumbering the routes. That's all part of the Master Plan. We're starting to do that, too. So on these particular bus stop signs, they will have the numbers of the different routes. And before we roll out all the new things, we would be having either completely sharing or virtual meetings, or newspaper accounts to give people time to get used to the new things. So on each sign, whatever is going to stop at that particular bus stop, would be on the sign; and that way if we do go there and they're aware of what the routes are, it will say the very—all of the routes that are going to stop at that sign. If you don't see your number of the route that you're supposed to be; you're actually at the wrong place. And so there will be a different number—well, same numbers in a lot of places, like Kona or in Puna, but there will be different bus stop numbers, you know, on the bottom. And what we're also working on is that the bus—the mobile transit app. That is supposed to—although it's not necessarily connected to aI mean, like digitally to the sign, but the mobile transit app would also have all the same routes that is going that we have on Hele-On and what the hope is with the transit app, it's going to connect with all of our routes. And then that's going to be through a device, electronic device or phone. And be able to say the bus—for (inaudible) supposed to go by bus stop sign for 1218, that a person on the website, I mean on their phone. We have a connection, like a synchromatics or whatever it is with the mobile transit app, so we would know, that person would know exactly where the bus is, is it on time, you know, did it leave? You know, all of those things. Page 4 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 That's the hope to connect everything together, which is definitely also part of the Master Plan. But part of the signs were, yeah, we needed new ones. We needed to make sure that they're visible, they're noticeable that everybody knows, and can hopefully try and see it at night. I wish we could do it neon. You know, so a lot of it had to do with what type of paint we had—we would use. But that's kind of the connection that we wanted to have. But part of it was making sure all (inaudible). Although, the routes are in progress. It's always in progress. You know, somebody says, "Hey, it's not safe." We're going to change it. So that's always good. We talk and we're going to look at. But during this entire time, we have refurbished, redone routes, making it better. From people getting input from drivers, talking to people who call us today, "What about this place?" Checking on safety. Roberts has been a big help when we have questions. So it's a collaborative effort with everybody. But signs, it's the first time that you would have a bus stop sign kind of like Honolulu that will tell you the route numbers, and trying to get like, you know, Kona, for whatever part of it on that sign. (Inaudible) a bigger sign. So I hope that answers your question, Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you, Brenda. And I noticed this is rather clunky because we're trying to figure it out at this point. So with that, I'm actually going to yield to the rest of my Council Members, if there are any questions. Because I see Mr. Kaneali`i-KI einfelder's light on, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Thank you for doing this, Brenda. This is exciting. I think a lot of our ridership has been wondering where the stops are, where they need to be and wanting to track that better. And we have the SSFM Master Plan from Mass Transit. It's all coming together, so mahalo for that. My only question, kind of regarding the more the technological side, can we implement some kind of a QR(Quick Response) code on the signs? So that someone can scan it with their phone, is that something that's being discussed? MS. CARREIRA: Yes, sir. And I'm sorry, I didn't mention that. But that tech — I think that's even what they have in Oahu. But sorry, that is always something that—you know, because we're still going to be portraying. We want to make something—so yes, the QR code actually is the one that is (inaudible) connection. Thank you, sir. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, it's something I had asked Joanna, I think. And I just wanted to make sure we were going to continue to do that. Because that way peoplea lot of people have smartphones, and they can Page 5 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 actually scan the sign where they're at, see where the bus is at, how long before it gets to them, and that's beautiful if we're helping create a more streamlined Mass Transit system for our ridership. Okay, good. Mahalo. Thank you. MS. CARREIRA: Thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Anyone in Kona? MS. VILLEGAS: Yes,please. MR. KAMELAMELA: Go ahead, Ms. Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah, I just really want to put out and compliment whoever is doing been doing the art for this. I know a few months ago I spoke with Ms. Herkes and saw some examples of the artwork potentially to be used on our signage, and what I continue to see here is just—it's really beautiful. It's really reflective of our island. It's unique. Ccs' (carbon copies) and topographies and the colors that are being shown and reflected here, having worked in marketing with the Kona Brewing Company for so long. And these kind of graphics and stuff, this is just really, really cool to see what exemplary and professional product is being put out. So thank you so much for that. I'm really excited for the reflection of the Big Island that our Mass Transit collateral and materials are aiming towards. So thank you so much. MS. CARREIRA: You're welcome. And that's—all of this is SSFM. SSFM always meeting with us, and we were going through different colors. But they've just been 300 percent awesome. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Anyone else in Kona? MS. DAVID: No, we're good. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Seeing none, you know, Brenda, maybe you could share how would the community begin to engage. We talk a lot about engaging community. And part of that is the ownership, right? And if they engage in this process, especially it's something like signage, or you know, the various artwork on the signs. How do they engage? How do they provide that kind of input? We want a Mass Transit system that's involving community because the community will use it. But when they have ownership in stuff like this, it helps. How do they do that? MS. CARREIRA: Okay, and thank you for asking. Part of it is one, I know I would be asking for the help of each of the Council Members. I do know that SSFM, when we did the community meetings for the hubs, they knew (inaudible) through us having meetings, and I know now it has to be virtual. So I think that's going to be part of it is, before rolling out anything is to—well one, again with the Page 6 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 new leadership that's going to be happening in December. But I know with Mitch Roth, he has a lot of community ties and relationships, as do all of you. So that's where I will be asking for help, to say, "Hey, what groups do we need to—how can we set up the virtual meetings," and to introduce a lot of the new things that are going to be happening with Mass Transit. And so, I don't have a specific plan right now. (Inaudible) but I'm willing for all kinds of suggestions and recommendations, and will also be talking with SSFM to help in this matter, yes. CHR. LEE LOY: Well, thank you for that, Brenda. Like I saidI mean, we're just at that infant stage, and I just wanted to put it out there that this is the time for community to engage. And it sounds clunky and lumpy right now, but hopefully with community input and more progress, you know, it will start to work nicely with the overall Mass Transit Master Plan. So with that, not seeing anymore comments, I have a motion to close file on Communication 1100. All those in favor? Vote on Comm. 1100: The motion to close file on Comm. 1100 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy –8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung– 1. Excused: None. CHR. LEE LOY: Moving on our agenda. Thank you, Brenda. Thank you so much. MS. CARREIRA: Alright, everybody. CHR. LEE LOY: Alright. Moving on to—looks like Bills for Ordinances. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. (There were none.) BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Page 7 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 Bill 217: AMENDS CHAPTER 24, ARTICLE 10, DIVISION 4, SECTION 24-278 OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO PEDESTRIANS Amends Section 24-278, Schedule 26 (Roads closed to pedestrian traffic), Subsection (a), Hamakua, by adding a portion of Waipi`o Valley Road running from the Waipi`o Valley lookout to a point near its entry upon the valley floor. Reference: Comm. 1130 Intr. by: Ms. Poindexter Motion to Approve: Ms. Poindexter moved to recommend passage of Bill 217 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. CHR. LEE LOY: Ms. Poindexter, this is your matter. Go ahead. MS. POINDEXTER: Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, with tourism opening up again we needed to, you know, it's time to address the safety of the public on a County road that's like no other County road. I mean, this is, I think, the only County-owned road that is accessed through a 4-Wheel Drive. It's such a You know, we've heard one of the testifiers talk about the road initially being made for a pedestrian-type of access, meaning the residents getting out of the valley and bringing their taro to market, and they're right. And for mules, for donkeys, right? And we've got to remember that. The purpose of that road was for the residents and taro farmers. It's their livelihood. This is their home. UnfortunatelyI say "unfortunately"because now it's a public road owned by government that we have to allow public access. So we're looking at vehicular access and pedestrian access. And one testifier talked about, you know, we should have been doing studies, you know, before this comes. Well, to tell you the truth since I've been in office for eight years, every single day we take the statistics of local traffic, rental car traffic, pedestrian, hikers going in, both local and visitor traffic. You know, we have had a lot of discussion on road issues as well as the health of the valley itself. And Council Member Tim Richards has come on several occasions to some of the meetings addressing the health conditions of the animals. You know, the horses were starting to get sick, and we're trying to find out why. So there are a lot of issues in Waipi`o. And so what we did was we put a working group together because we keep having these community meetings and taking in all this information. And before I came into office, for years they've been trying to deal with this and come up with some type of solution. And there's not just one solution. There are many things happening in the valley that we have to address. Now, so the working group, right now we have our police captain from Hamakua on that group. We have Research and Development with that group. DPW, which Page 8 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 is our Department of Public Works. Parks and Rec., because our Ranger Program is there; that's Park and Rec. employees. We have the Mayor's Office on. We have Corp. Counsel, of course, because everything we do, you know, we have to keep in mind the legality of all—of how we move forward, and what is allowed and what is not allowed. We have from the Waipi`o Taro Farmers Association, the president and some of the members, and we have Haola O Waipi`o. The men of Pa`a, we included them. They're not a group from the Waipi`o area, but they're in the Puna area. But a lot of their service—and some of their people have family, and they work they work the lo`i down there. They've been going down and helping, volunteer in the valley for cleanup or whatever that needs to be done in the valley, so they're on this group, also. Because Waipi`o Valley is not just public access for District 1. This is public access for everyone, right? So trying to include everyone. Bishop Museum, of course, because they are one of the biggest landowners. And then we have Kamehameha Schools because of the beach area. DLNR (Department of Land Natural Resources), Bob Matsuda has been so wonderful with sitting on this group in our calls every month. DOCARE (Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement) is involved. Representative Mark Nakashima, from the State level. And then we've included Department of Agriculture as well because of farming. At the next meeting, they said we're going to have the Hawaii Tourism Association because we did have Ross Birch on; we're bringing him back on again. We were working with the rental companies to see how we can minimize the traffic going down into the valley because the rental agreement already says that they should not be taking the rental cars into the valley. That is one of the restrictions, but there's no enforcement, so that is what we're trying to work on with the rental companies. How can we enforce that? Can they put a fine on it, or whatever? But they've had several occasions where rental vehicles have gone down. They weren't familiar with the valley. If you've seen some pictures on social media, it was immersed in water. So the amount of money that the tourist paid on that I can only imagine. So there's you know, it's so difficult because a lot of them don't speak English, as well, so they don't understand when the ranger or educational officer is trying to explain to them how to traverse that road. That you've got to give the upcoming traffic has the right-of-way, so you've got to pull out on the pullout. The problem there is we have so much traffic going in and out and so many hikers. When I went down with Dorothy Gamayo, and I don't know if it was Corp. Counsel that time, couple years ago, and we were going down, hikers were going down, hikers were coming up. People were on the—where the guardrails are and on the valley wall. And when we went down we needed to pull aside because the cara truck was coming up. All of those tourists jumped over the guardrail to get out of the way of the vehicle. Now, that is really dangerous. Page 9 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 The other tourist that was walking was on the wall, and they tell the tourists don't walk on the wall, because if a vehicle loses the brakes, the first place they're going to go is they're going to go for the wall. But there's no control of that. You know, just last month we had someone lose brakes, and they went into the wall. And I think they tumbled. I think it turned over too, and luckily no one was killed. And luckily we had the COVID thing out and the restriction, so you didn't have much hikers at all. I think it was none at that point. I've got to look at the statistics. We do have statistics. So I want to go back to—in January, before COVID hit and we had the closure of the stay-home orders and all of that, you know, on a busy day we would have over 300 rental vehicles going into the valley. That is not including the local traffic. And you can get these statisticswe have them back for years, right, since I've been in office and maybe even before that. And then we had on that same day we had I think it was between 150 to 200-plus hikers per day that week, when I was looking in the month of January. So it's a recipe for disaster, you know. And then here theI heard one of the testifiers say, "We need to walk. I went to the back or to the top of the—whatever." How do you get there when it's all private property? So the owners of the valley, the residents, are complaining that there is so much trespassing going on in the valley, and crossing through their property. I've had pictures that was sent to me of people who were defecating in the valley. I mean, it was gross pictures. But where they going? You have—in one day you have 300 vehicles, then you have 200-plus hikers, don't tell me that those hikers going hike down and they don't have to urinate or defecate somewhere, right? If they go to the beach, they may be lucky enough to get into a restroom or a portable toilet that is not full. So a lot of times they don't even use the portable toilets, they use the bushes in the area around the beach area or go in the water. The Taro Farmers Association, Haola O Waipi`o and all of the community, the residents and taro farmers, are asking for some type of regulation and also a study on the road. Our DPW (Department of Public Works) had hired a Geotech and environmental engineering firm, and right now they're assessing, you know, the carrying capacity of the road and if there is any undermining of the road because of, you know, all the storms we've been having. And we don't know what the carrying capacity is. That report is supposed to come back in mid-December, according to David(Yamamoto) at DPW. You know, I respect the testifiers. One of the good things about bringing it to Council is that it opens it up to the broader public. So I appreciateI truly appreciate the testifiers coming to testify about, you know, using the road for exercise, which I totally disagree with because that road is not to use for exercise. This is for the livelihood of the people of the valley. And yes, they want to Page 10 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 welcome visitors, but at what cost? You know, are they going to lose their cultural heritage? You know, what are we doing? But back to bringing it to Council, this is a way that we can discuss it as representatives for each district on this island without violating the Sunshine Law. And I would encourage the constituents of each district to contact their Council Members if they cannot make testimony, you know, whether it be written or via WebEx. And share your concerns, because Waipi`o is for everyone to enjoy. But the one thing we need to remember, again, and I'm going to keep saying this, we have to keep in mind the residents who have been there for generations. And our taro farmers. This is their livelihood. Not all of the taro farmers live in the valley, they live in other districts, as well. So my intention today is to keep it at the committee level till we can get more public input from the entire island. And then—and concerns that they may come up with. Because they're going, "Well, you know in Honolulu they get—they restrict how many cars go down," and blah, blah, blah, and we looked into that. We looked into why that is allowed on Oahu in some areas and why we couldn't do it in Waipi`o. And correct me if I'm wrong, Joe, but it's because some of the areas in—like Honolulu has a different a protection. What is it called? Yeah, Joe, can you come up for a little bit? (Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Joseph Kamelamela came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. POINDEXTER: Because the reason why I need you to explain that too, is that we have people watching, and the public needs to the broader public needs to understand the things that we've already tried to do with restricting traffic. And we're going to try and—we're looking into a permitting system as well for the vehicular access, but we're working at one thing at a time. But, Joe, it was a Special Management Area, or what was it called, the difference? MR. KAMELAMELA: Good afternoon, Chair and Members of the board. Joseph Kamelamela, Corp. Counsel. Anyway, yeah, so some of the areas that we looked at, you know, they had created a Special Management Area. And so we had looked into that as one way in which to help regulate what needs to be regulated to ensure the safety of not only the residents but the visitors and people utilizing the road. But to actually do a management area, it can take a very long time. For example, I've seen like Kauai and some other parts of the State, you know, it takes decades sometimes just to create. You know, taking decades is kind of too long to resolve a safety issue that has to be addressed. But it's a safety issue that has existed for over 30 years now. You know, there has been a death on the road over 30 years ago that people don't really remember. Page 11 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 So what we have before this Council now, is just one of the ways to help regulate what we can. Because there are other things that we are considering and which Council Member Val Poindexter had talked about, which is a study being done by Public Works as to what's the carrying capacity. That's an important issue because it goes to—if there's a necessity to do certain things, it's good that we try to get a handle on all of it now rather than risk the possibility of a collapse of the road. That's what the study is for. It's a GeoTech study. MS. POINDEXTER: Right. Thank you, Joe. And yeah, when we talk about the collapse of the road, if we wait till that happens, then we've destroyed the lives of so many people down in that valley and their livelihood. You know, so while working on this pedestrian access, simultaneously we're working on other issues. You know, some things that are beyond our control as a County with the health and environment of the valley floor itself. Because we only own the road. And for the testifier that was concerned about Waimanu Campers—and then I got a message from a Charlieoh, okay—one of the attorneys saying about the access rights, gathering rights, and we're working on that. So with R&D (Department Research and Development), this working group which is just a wonderful working group, talked about what are the options for people who have—don't have a vehicle or way into the valley if they needed to gather food. So we're working with R&D to see if, you know, we would be able to contract out some type of shuttle service. A testifier said, "Hey, we've got to start charging. You know, we have a lot of tourist. Start charging and make money." It's not about that. What we want to do is protect the cultural heritage of that valley, to be able to share it for generations to come. We don't want to over—we don't have over-tourism and kill that cultural heritage and collapse that road. I mean, we need to take action now to provide safety not only for the people of the valley, the residents, taro farmers but for the entire public. So I'll yield at this time. And I want to hear from my colleagues before I ask for a postponement. Thank you, Madam Chair. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Poindexter, and really providing all of the background on all of this. Because it's a short bill, and there's a big story behind it. So with that, I'm going to ask anyone in Kona, any comments, input? Okay, back in Hilo? MS. VILLEGAS: Sure. Sorry, we were just looking at each other for who is going to go first. Okay, sure. CHR. LEE LOY: Okay. Ms. Villegas? Page 12 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 MS. VILLEGAS: Yes,please. Thank you. You know, this immediately brought to mind the organization that worked on Kauai, in H5'ena. After the flooding there, it was an opportunity for a pause for that area, and they took the initiative at that time to really put into place the transformative management practice for that area. That still to this day is fairly mind-blowing what they were able to accomplish and the model that they were able to put into effect. And I am hopeful—in fact, they won an international award for what they did and how they did it, an indigenous peoples award. And I'm hopeful that as this conversation continues that there may be opportunities to—I'd love to reach out to reach out to the group. Talk to them about how they did it, what they did, what did it entailed, and just to how we can implement better management practices for our areas that tend to be inundated with visitors whoI mean, who can blame them, Waipi`o Valley is one of the gems of this island. But how we can actually take steps to follow in their leadership model for the potential of managing this area. Waipi`o, I've always held very close to my heart, but have also seen some of the kind of tragic degradation. Kind of like the tragedy of the Commons, that's when nobody really knows who's specifically responsible for it. I also most recently was able to watch a film called Public Trust, and it focused on Public Trust lands, and having access to open spaces and lands for people to traverse, explore, and navigate, and the importance of that for all of us. So navigating our way to a balance I think is going to be the goal. Thank you, Val, for bringing up this conversation, and also for your sensitivity in not trying to just rush it through, but for allowing the conversations to continue around this as we enter a new term in which you will be deeply missed. But I just wanted to throw that out there as a potential way to collaborate and connect with what was done on Kauai. And it's been an award-winning and a precedent setting. And I think there's real opportunity for us to navigate a similar path for resolutions and solutions for what's happening in Waipi`o. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else in Kona? Because I have Mr. Richards. MS. DAVID: Chair? CHR. LEE LOY: Oh, go ahead. MS. DAVID: Chair Lee Loy, this is Council Member David. CHR. LEE LOY: Oh, go ahead, Ms. David. Page 13 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 MS. DAVID: Thank you. Mahalo. And I would like to actually also thank Val Poindexter for raising this issue which has been a long-standing concern of residents of Waipi`o as well as it is an island-wide issue and concern. And I also respect the fact that she recognizes—and I thank the testifiers for bringing up issues that surround the access rights and that sort of thing. And I think Waipi`o is very special and unique and as much as what its traditional historic uses were back in the days. And like anything else, the economy, tourism growth, and just going through the changes in a community, has brought rise to a lot of the concerns that she raises not only for Waipi`o, but I believe for the entire Island of Hawaii. But what I also see, and I think it's very appropriately the timing is appropriate, is the fact that—the comparison of what is being proposed here. And because of what has been going on and what we are experiencing now, our beaches, everywhere on this island, and then the State because of COVID, it was an awakening moment for me because of the lockdown and stuff that everyone I think witnesses that our resources, our ocean resources, because of this pandemic became really alive again without any traffic. And I think it was like a wake- up call that that if we intend to move forward in this economic, rebuilding post-COVID, I think we have to do it very differently as far maintaining our economic growth and the overuse of our resources. So, Ms. Poindexter, I believe you are on the right path of starting something. I have no idea what would be the actual solution for this. But I think if this made everyone aware of what—how valuable preserving our natural and cultural resources are, especially on this island. I would yes, I do support your intention of keeping this in committee because I would be very interested in hearing the other studies and reports that you are awaiting from departments and agencies. So I thank you for the foresight in holding it back in committee. So with that, I'll yield. And say mahalo to you again. Aloha. CHR. LEE LOY: Mahalo nui, Ms. David. Ms. Eoff? Okay with that, I have Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. And Val, yeah, thanks for bringing the conversation forward. You're right, I've spent a bunch of time down in that valley and I know that road quite well. You know, again listening to all sides of the conversation, there is a very large concern. Interesting, the conversations about the access points, designation of the road today, trail previously. I've always been curious about the construction of that road because I cannot imagine walking a bulldozer down that road, but someone did. I agree also that being very sensitive to all sides of this. You know, we've talked story with the taro farmers. You and I have worked on the issues down there, the whole horse issue, concerns for that, and I hear you with all that. Balancing the Page 14 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 free access down there, balancing that against the tourism side and the tourism impact side. And I appreciate the fact that you want to kind of want to pump the brakes a little bit on this one, every pun intended, for that road; because it's not quite ready for primetime yet, but it's close. And I think those conversations going forward, I'm very happy to participate in them. The taro farmers are growing down there. And terrific, we don't have enough taro being raised on this island. And I think we are, I don't know, under 70 acres total statewide, I think, in lo`i, so there's plenty potential down there. We have to be sure that people can have the access that they are entitled to getting down there, but it is private lands. So there's a lot of work to get done on this. And I'm very, very happy to work on this because I've—how are we going manage Waipi`o? And what's it going to look like in 2060, 2070, not just today, not 10 years from now. So I like the fact that we're having this conversation now. I know ofI think there were three accidents this last year that happened there; thankfully, no fatalities. But that heightens our concern. And it is a County road. It's kind of funny to get down to the back to the valley and you see "End of County road." You don't expect to see a sign like that. But to the point we have a liability thing as the County road that we have to be mindful of. And I know when I've seen people jump over those guardrails when I'm driving up, I'm going, "Whoa, don't take any steps backwards because it drops." So, more work is needed here. I know you're stepping away, but I'm very happy to help pick this up and keep this conversation going. And I was actually trying to look at a map to see if Waipi`o is District 1 or District 9. I'm not sure what it is. It is District 1, okay. So anyway, I appreciate you bringing the conversation forward, and we do have a lot of work to do, but people are at the table now. That's what we need to get done. Chair, I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. Kierkiewicz, please. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thanks, Val, for putting this forward. Waipi`o is a special place. I mean, it's not just a destination or a community resource. It really is a treasure because of its cultural significance. I mean, Kamehameha, you know, he grew up there, and he would bring his warriors after battle to refresh and rejuvenate; and because of that, I think we have to be really heightened and sensitive in how we proceed. Page 15 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 I appreciate you bringing this forward. Some folks, friends of mine that are part of Pohaha I Ka Lani, one of the board members reached out. They do see an issue with folks just trespassing and doing things as you described on private land. That I don't want to really get into publicly because they're just unsavory acts. It's incredible that people behave in that way, and it's sad because it is a place of cultural significance. So I just wonder with a bill like this, because there are mixed feelings about it, you know, is there any discussion around supporting the upper rimlands? Because that is a place where folks are beginning to remove gates, traverseI mean, there was a massive party there during Labor Day weekend. There's dumping of illegal vehicles. So there's just a lot of, I think, issues that I don't know if our community groups are prepared to deal with should something like this pass. Again, they like the idea of it, but at the same time, you know, what is the holistic strategy to deal with the impacts of something like this? So,just some food for thought. I think a management plan similar to what Kauai has done in H5'ena is something really interesting to explore. And we've got to get community in the driver seat on this, you know, stewarding the land. I was reading through some of the testimony, and something interesting I saw was from Dr. Ku Kahakalau (see Comm. 1130.13), and she put for the idea of some kind of amendment to ensure that folks that are accessing the valley for educational purposes, and that's what Pohaha I Ka Lani does, that they be exempt from this. So I hope that's going to be part of the discussion and maybe an amendment to the bill. I certainly want to make sure our local kids, right, our local residents are able to access the lo`i so that they can be educated, they can be empowered, and also access being in the land because being out there is truly like medicine. You know, you don't have to manipulate nature. It's just beautiful as is. And so, I just wanted to share that mana`o. Thanks for bringing the conversation forward. And I'm really excited to see how this kind of unfolds. Chair, I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Val, I think this is good that you brought this forward. You're balancing a few different things; you know, stewardship, public safety, and public access. I spoke to one of the testifiers last night. I had nice discussion with them, and we touched on different things, you know, what was to be accomplished by this, but also how to provide access, because Waipi`o Valley is a special place and a lot of people want to visit it. I think really the intent was to block pedestrian access. And a lot of local people go there, but I think most local people go there with a truck and they're ready to get down to the valley via a vehicle. So that was something I was thinking about. Page 16 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 But two different things within our County really touched on this, which is the Hawaii Strategic Tourism Plan as well as the `Rina Aloha values. Not too many weeks ago we got an email regarding reopening, and the email was, I mean, the content really touched on ho`okipa, which is sharing a kuleana between host and visitors. And I think that can be easily applied to this situation because this is where we have more of a want from our community to express and teach, and for visitors to understand what's happening and to understand the place that they're visiting. I think that word represents, it's just a good way of looking at this situation, where the Waipi`o community is trying to take a little bit of control of what's happening there, and I appreciate that. And I've been working with a couple different groups here, in Puna and in Hilo, regarding the same thing. This has really been an outcome of COVID, where you have the community wanting to take more control over what's happening in their community, have places that are special to everyone, but finding a way of having more input in what's happening, and not just being at the whim of tourism, you know, these outside input. So I really appreciate what you're trying to do here, and I'll support this. I look forward to seeing what happens going forward. And I'm sorry you won't be here for the grand finale, but just I think this is a good thing that you're doing here. So mahalo for bringing this forward. And just to share a story. I think this is to me this explains the significance of Waipi`o Valley. I went surfing there about maybe seven, eight years ago. We went down early in the morning, and we caught—the morning session was beautiful. At about 9:00 or 10:00 o'clock we were leaving. As we came up the dirt road, in the middle of the dirt road, underneath the mango trees, was a donkey and a hawk sitting in the middle of the road. I couldn't believe it. It's kind of unbelievable to see the two different animals sitting in the middle of the road, and they both just sat there. They didn't move. Even as we got within 10, 20 feet, and we stopped the truck and we're staring at them, and they just stared at us. And then the hawk flew up into the tree, the donkey walked off of the road, and then we proceeded. And it was just—that valley has such a special significance, and it's very protected, spiritual. I mean it touches on everything. So whatever we can do to help preserve that, because you can't—you're not going to find that feeling that specialness in many places anymore. So what you're doing is good. So I appreciate it, and you have my support. And mahalo for bringing this forward. MS. POINDEXTER: Thanks. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Ms. Poindexter. Page 17 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, and I'd like to say, yeah, Tim, definitely going to include you on this group that we meet monthly, you know, because you've been involved already with a lot of issues down in Waipi`o. I'd also like to say that when we talk about the importance of Waipi`o, when you read history and look at I took Hawaii politics in college, and Waipi`o was where Hawaii politics began. Because Umi-a-Liloa, who was conceived in O`okala, in the stream, in O`okala, went to find his father Chief Liloa in Waipi`o. Because when his mother gave birth to Umi-a-Liloa, it was told by the Chief that if it is a boy, send him to me. So that's what happened. And if we know the history of Umi-a-Liloa throughout the Hawaii Island, but especially on the Hamakua Coast, he was the one who created the ahapua`a system. And his mode of governanceI remember in college I had to choose who would you want to be like, and I said, "Umi-a-Liloa." Because his mode of governance was that the people actually ruled. He just did what was right by the people. He created the ahupua`a system because he knew that from the mountain to the sea we needed to survive in communities in that way, because of the waterways, yeah, and the survival. He was smart. The guy was brilliant, right. And even Kamehameha, he wanted to be—and wanted to rule a lot like Umi-a-Liloa did. So when we talk about the history, it is unbelievable what happened in Waipi`o. There's so much more. But I just wanted to say when we talk about Hawaii politics, that's where it started. It was in Waipi`o Valley. And to all of the residents and taro farmers, you know, my loyalties lie first with you, because this is your livelihood and I know what you're trying to protect. And to all of us visitors who don't farm there or who don't live there, you know, I ask that we all respect their views. And I ask that they also respect our concerns and us giving input to what can make it a great place to share but not to destroy it. And right now it's being destroyed because of the people coming into the valley and just I hate to say this because it just sounds terrible, urinating and defecating all over. And we need to care for that valley because the valley will care for us, and it has for many, many, many years. So I'll yield at this time. And thank you, Madam Chair, for allowing this to come on to this committee. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Poindexter. Anyone else? Chair Chung? MR. CHUNG: Did everybody talk? CHR. LEE LOY: Yes. MR. CHUNG: Okay, sorry I came in late, yeah. But I could see the passion that was being demonstrated by Val on this thing. I know it's a tough issue because Page 18 PWMTC-28 November 5,2020 there are some people who object. But I also do know you put in a lot of time; you know, meeting with the community and getting pulse for what was going on. I think this really requires a broader discussion. You know, you guys talked about the historical significance of Waipi`o Valley; so very important to all of us, and I think we all know that. I know it's a place where people like to go and recreate, right? It's very important for the tourist industry, too. But at some point we're going to have to decide whether, you know, how important that is as a historical area, and maybe just restrict the access to that place. And maybe you go by permit. You allow certain amount of people to go, you know,per month,per year, or whatever it is. I don't know how you're going to regulate that, but you cannot just let people go unfettered. It's a broader—it's a bigger discussion than whether it's safe for pedestrians or not. It comes down to, you know, what can that valley sustain, really, and what's fair. You know, what kind of balance do we want to strike? But I do recognize the work the work that you put into this, Val. Thank you very much. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair Chung. You know, with that, Ms. Poindexter, absolutely, I support all the hard work that's gone into it. It's not an easy solution. And we had one testifier talk about stew, right? And sometimes when you've got to make stew, got to cut up the vegetables and shake it up a lit bit. But with that, I know you want to put up another motion? Vote on Motion Ms. Poindexter moved to postpone Bill 217 to to Postpone: November 17, 2020. Seconded by Mr. Richards and (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy –9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 19