HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0595.100 2020-2022 / Cam ci[
bill ►12-
R£F HQ Comm. !
DAVID Y.IGE WILLIAM J.HILA JR.
GOVERNOR !d CHAIRMAN
STATE OF HAWAPI 3{, L HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION
JOSH GREEN °aq{ .�,-'.4' TYLER I.GOMES
LT.GOVERNOR cit i DEPUTY TO THE CHAIRMAN
STATE OF HAWAN
STATE OF HAWAII
DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS
P.0.BOX 1879
HONOLULU,HAWAII 96805
TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM J. AILA, JR, CHAIRMAN
HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION
BEFORE THE HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL
HEARING ON APRIL 6, 2022 AT 9:00 AM VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE CD
CD
SUPPORT WITH AMENDMENTS
BILLS 112 & 115, RELATING TO "KUMU HOU" AT WAIKOLA PROJECT 1
April 5, 2022 ° p
Chair David, Vice Chair Chung, and members:
The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) would support this bill if language
proposed by the project developer is added to the bill. That language would require that two
percent(2%) of the gross sales proceeds derived from the first-time sale or resale of any
residential unit or time share interest be donated to the Waikoloa Foundation, and at least 25%
(or%) of those funds support water resource development for Hawaiian Homes Commission Act
projects within the South Kohala district.
DHHL has two major tracts in the district of South Kohala in Kawaihae (approx. 10,000
acres and 200 homestead lessees) and in Waimea (approx.. 13,000 acres and 450 homestead
lessees). In particular, DHHL's Kailapa Homestead Community in the ahupua'a of Kawaihae
would greatly benefit from the developer's proposal, The Kailapa Homestead Community lacks
a sustainable, secure, and affordable source of water, even though the water uses of the
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) for homesteading are one of the four"Public
Trust" uses of water that are supposed to be secured water before private commercial uses of
water are provided for.
Homestead lessees in Kailapa receive water from the private Kohala Ranch water
system, at rates that are at least four to five times the County Department of Water Supply rate
for residential use. In addition:
• Under certain circumstances, the Kohala Ranch can give DHHL notice and stop
providing water within two years.
• DHHL has no water for additional homesteads beyond the currently available or
leased lots, even though the DHHL waitlist is notoriously long and DHHL has
land holdings right here in a community that desperately needs housing for
DHHL beneficiaries
In 2015, DHHL commissioned a feasibility study of potential water source options to
service the Kailapa Homestead Community. None of the potential options identified in the 2015
feasibility study can be implemented without significant funding. The proposal by the developer
Comm. No' °
ef. To° PILMNI
Ref. Date—APR Date R 6 20F2
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands
Page 2
of the Kumu Hou at Waikoloa Project would provide a mechanism by which to address the costs
to develop water source options.
Please support passage of Bills 112 and 115 only if the language proposed by the
project developer is added to fund water resource development for Hawaiian Homes
Commission Act projects within the South Kohala District.
Thank you for your consideration of our testimony.
Sincerely,
William J. Aila Jr., Chairman
Hawaiian Homes Commission