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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN LAAC 2026/04/07 (2024-2026) DRAFT Committee on Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions 23`'d Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii April 7, 2026 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions ORDER: was called to order at 10:55 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair Mr. Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, Vice Chair, Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. James E. Hustace, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba,Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member(came in later) Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Absent& Excused: Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member 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:' Dane Kealoha: Res. 513-26 (Comm. 815), comment. Beldon Kealoha: Res. 513-26 (Comm. 815), comment. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, if you could read in our first item, please: LAAC-23 April 7,2026 ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 499-26: AUTHORIZES AND DIRECTS THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE TO EXCHANGE REAL PROPERTY IDENTIFIED AS PORTIONS OF TAX MAP KEY: 2-8-010:999, SITUATED AT HONOMU, SOUTH HILO, FOR PUBLIC ROADWAY AND PUBLIC ACCESS PURPOSES The County seeks the exchange of property with the Stella May Swain Trust to align and straighten Wailele Road and ensure public access to the Hilo Forest Reserve. Reference: Comm. 794 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball (B/R) and Comm. 794.1: From Council Member Heather L. Kimball, dated March 27, 2026, transmitting testimony with exhibits from, Trustee of the Stella May Swain Trust, Stella Larsen, relating to Res. 499-26. Motion to Approve: Ms. Galimba moved to recommend adoption of Res. 499-26. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. KIMBALL: I will mention we der have the landowner on Zoom, as well as their attorney,. Mr. Arai is not available today,but he's submitted a letter with regard't6 this property. We also have representatives from DPW (Department of Public Works): I will just say that this is something that occurs, unfortunately, frequently in District 1 where we have the underground road not matching the road on'the flat maps. And it is unfortunately a pretty arduous process. The letter speaks to the challenges of a decades' long process to actually finally resolve this. This is the last step. So, hopefully, we've learned from this process so we can help others resolve these matters more expediently. But I do thank everyone for their patience and ask my colleagues for their support. So, any questions for me or the applicants or the department, feel free. Seeing none, all in favor say "aye." Any opposed? Vote on Res. 499-26: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 499-26 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kimball —8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: None. Page 2 LAAC-23 April 7,2026 Relinquish Chair: At this time, the Chair relinquished the chair to Vice Chair Onishi at 11:05 a.m. ACTING CHR. ONISHL Okay. Mr. Clerk, Resolution 500-26. 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 RES. 500-26: The following individual registered to speak and carve forward when called by the Chair: Blake McNaughton: In Support. Res. 500-26: URGES THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE TO AWARD A GRANT TO MAKAHANALOA FISHING ASSOCIATION FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF CERTAIN PUBLIC ACCESSEASEMEN`Z'S IN PEPE`EKEO Reference: Comm. 795 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to recommend adoption,of Ides. 500-26. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. ACTING CHR. ONISHL Go ahead, Ms. Kimball. MS KIMBALL. Thank you. So,just to be clear,this resolution has two purposes. The first is to provide this.award of grant funding to the Fishing Association to do the work, as Blake said they've been doing for these many years. Ihave already confirmed with the Finance Department that funding is available through the department's Property Management's Budget. Typically, we would not need a resolution for a grant of this size to be approved by Council_ However, we did want to create for the permanent record, a basically one-stop-shop document that provided the history of this area and the final disposition of all of the different easements to the agreements, ordinances that have taken place. So, doing the abstracting about what was actually our County's responsibility was a challenge. So, we didn't want anybody to have to recreate all of that work ever again. So, we put it together in a timeline and provided the resolution that was adopted by Council in its final form that has all the meets and bounds for the easements that the County is responsible for. It is kind of a unique situation. There are, to my knowledge, not very many situations where the County has per a subdivision action, required easements, and then taken on the responsibility ourselves for the actual maintenance of that. Usually, it is given to the landowner. So, this is unique. Page 3 LAAC-23 April 7,2026 The other thing that is unfortunate and unique about this is that when the County took responsibility per the agreement for the management of these easements. It was not assigned to any given department. So, it is not Parks, it is not Planning, it is not DPW, it is not Property Management. So, this is something in the larger scheme of things we're going to have to solve. But for this area, the solution is to work with the folks who have taken on this kuleana for all of these years and get their support to be responsible for our duties to this area. So, I provided you all with a map, and I just wanted"to make sure everyone was very clear where these easements are. So, dawn here is the highway coming from Hilo. If you're familiar with Pepe`eke6, the gear is right here leading down to Sugar Mill Road. The Hu Honua property is right here. This is the gated subdivision that is north of Sugar Mill Road. The second half over here on the south side, all of those easements pretty much were set up so that they were maintained by the adjacent property owners. It's this north side where we set up the easeents. So, the big one is this entire shoreline, basically, from here all the way; there's a little gap here. And over here, that is all 25-foot'setback from the shoreline and a 10-foot easement within that area. That is the County's kuleana to maintain. There's also a couple of perpendicular accesses to the shoreline. They're here and here. Andthen there's one over here in fr6ti of Hu Honua that I'm not actually sure we can'keep open; and then, another one here going. This is where the old plant used to be. So, there's a big stone structure there. So, you can see, it's;a pretty massive area that we have to be responsible for per these agreements. I think;.that the $25,000 is going to get us started here. But ultimately, this is probably going to need a larger amount if we continue to contract with a nonprofit to do this maintenance. And we'll have to go out to RFP (Request for Proposal)that hope we design in such a way that the people eligible are those associated-with the space in ancestral connection. So, that's what we're looking at, and I ask for my colleagues' support in passing this through to Council. Thank you. ACTING CHR. ONISHL Okay, any other members? Chair Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. Just a clarification. So, is this a resolution urging or approving the award? MS. KIMBALL: It's a resolution urging because we don't actually need to approve. The Finance Department has the authority under Chapter 2 to grant to nonprofits of$25,000 or less without Council approval, like I said. So, that part of it not necessary, but we wanted to kind of put it all together as a single item. Page 4 LAAC-23 April 7,2026 MR. INABA: Okay, and this grant was applied for and is being awarded? MS. KIMBALL: Once we approve this, they will enter into negotiation because there's other aspects of this like who will do the surveys. There's more to the contract than just the money, and we'll probably have it pass into the next fiscal year, given what timeframe we have into this fiscal year. MR. INABA: Understood. Thank you. In support. ACTING CHR. ONISHL Okay. Ms. Galimba.- - - , MS. GALIMBA: Quick question. What does maintaining,the easements entail? (Note: At this time, Makahanaloa Fishing Association"President Blake McNaughton came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. MCNAUGHTON: Blake McNaughton,President of Makahanaloa. So, the language in the easement that the County accepted is in a mobile and walkable condition for that I0-foot,wide strip. We did`a lot more during our Aloha `Aina Days, we planted native species. You know we have trees that fall down along the road that we have to clear,but the majority of it will be mowing and weed whacking and possible emergency work when trees fall. MS. GALIMBA: I see, thanks. So, there is a road along the top? MR. MCNAUGHTON: The trail which is what it's called in the easements is on to top,cif Old Plantation Road. So, there's a road there, and you know, there's rocks inside and'that's when we try to maintain it. But it's not like a designated road in any map. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you very much. ACTING CHR. ONISHL Any other members? Okay, if not, I have a couple questions. So, maybe Property Manager, Shannon (Arquitola), maybe you can answer this. But, okay so,you folks with this funding, the grant, would that be purchasing equipment or supplies to help maintain this area, or you folks already have the equipment and everything, and this is just for hours of work? MR. MCNAUGHTON: Right now, we have equipment already, and so this is mainly for the labor. I think there's some monies in there from our initial conversations for gas and those kind of nonrenewable resources. But,yah, mainly labor. ACTING CHR. ONISHL Shannon, if you can come up and you can introduce yourself. Page 5 LAAC-23 April 7,2026 (Note: At this time, Property Manager Shannon Arquitola came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. ARQUITOLA: Good morning, Shannon Arquitola, Property Manager. ACTING CHR. ONISHL So, my question is, will your division be monitoring all the expenses? MS. ARQUITOLA: This hasn't been discussed just yet. There are details that need to be sorted out, and happy to work with Council Member Kimball as well as Blake folks at Makahanaloa Association.. ,So, there's a little bit of discussion that we need to have. ACTING CHR. ONISHL Great. Okay, all those in favor or approving Resolution 500-26 say "aye." Those opposed. Vote on Res. 500-26: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 500-26 was carried (Approved) by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba; Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Acting Chair Onishi —8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali'i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: None. Relinquish Chair: The Acting Chair relinquished the chair to Chair Kimball 11:17 a.m. Res. 513-26: AUTHORIZES TILE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE TO ENTER INTO NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE ACQUISITION OF CONSERVATION EASEMENTS FOR ALL OR A PORTION OF THE PROPERTIES IDENTIFIED AS;TAX'MAP KEYS: 5-2-009:025 AND 026, ALSO KNOWN AS THE KEALOHA FAMILY LO`I, SITUATED IN THE AHUPUA'A OF NIULI`I, DISTRICT OF NORTH KOHALA, UTILIZING THE PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION FUND The County seeks to acquire approximately 2.39 acres of land to protect and preserve cultural and natural resources and open certain areas of the property for education, gathering, and cultural practices. The parcel is listed as priority number two in the 2025 Annual Report of the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission. Reference: Comm. 815 Intr. by: Council Member Hustace Page 6 LAAC-23 April 7,2026 Motion to Approve: Mr. Hustace moved to recommend adoption of Res. 513-26. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. I just want to mahalo Uncle Belden and Dane (Kealoha) for being out here today and sharing some history and partnership with the Kealoha Lo`i. Thank you, Uncle Beldon. Really,appreciate your commitment and dedication to your family space; the heritage of Kohala in the Niuli'i area. As you've all heard, and I'm happy to bring it back on if there's any questions about the property and the work that's going on there. This property, in particular, scored second on the list in the 2025; 91 percent on the score there. So, it met a lot of the criteria from the commission, and also has those matching funds from USDA'NRCS (United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Services) to make that commitments and match what we have at the County, $150,000 for that conservation easement. Also, grateful for that partnership with Hawaii Land Trust to monitor that space and work with County in'alleviating some of the pressure there. So, some great attributes of this property and the commitment from community and community partners and organizations to see this happen. You know, historically, Uncle Bondon talked about this and Dane as well. We don't'have many of our Lo`i Kalo remaining. So, this is one of those last few remaining Lo`i Kalo that have been reactivated, energized by community; a strong commitment from the family to ensure it into the future. So, fantastic attribute— Bringing Bringing students and community into that space for educational purposes, maintaining cultural heritage in that Kohala region, of course. There were some questions that the commission went through about water. But the family acquired access rights to pull from the streams there in that area and work with the State to insure that potential there. Just going into the "Whereas" clause, states that"Preservation of productive agricultural lands; protection of natural resources; and protection and perpetuation of cultural and `aina-based education." So, fantastic project to pursue and protect for community into the future. So, I welcome the questions and support from my colleagues. Thank you so much. CHR. KIMBALL: Any other questions or comments on this resolution? Council Member Villegas. Page 7 LAAC-23 April 7,2026 MS. VILLEGAS: Just want to express my gratitude, Council Member Hustace for your support in this. I lived up in Makapala when I was in the seventh grade, and got to spend some time in that community. And to see the perpetuation of the practices and the allocation of resources, especially, our County resources in supporting the lineal descendants and those committed to that time and that place. As we continue to navigate such massive flood occurrences, looking back at how the Native Hawaiians in the host culture mitigated. Scene.of those flood occurrences, we're seeing them in Maui now and,just utilizing that historical knowledge and wisdom in supporting the restoration and regeneration as we yearn to manage our resources better. So, thank you to the ohana for doing that: And from my lifetime, I'm so grateful to get to sit here at a time when this is what we're getting to allocate resources to. Because they were decades when this would never have been a possibility. So, mahalo to everybody for bringing this to this point and how much further we get to go. But these are those steppingstones on that path. So, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Villegas. Anyone else? Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Just more thing. Shannon, if you could come up just quickly for a quick question. So, there was an element to the NRCS funds, and it's the County. I know you can't speak'all on behalf of the County, but for the Department pf Finance. But z'm encouraged by Dane and Uncle Beldon to work actively with Finance to make sure the paperwork is moving forward for the timing of the NRCS funds. Have those conversations been ongoing that you're aware of? MS. ARQUITOLA: At this'point, we have not had in-depth conversations about this. But as far as the next steps, should the resolution pass, it would be under consideration by the Mayor, then we would have further conversations about that and how to move forward. MR. HUSTACE: Okay. It's just that there's an interesting timing element for this funds. So, we just got the Mayor's report on this, so, that's why we kind of pushed this one as fast as we could out the door following that report. So,just want to ensure that those funds are matched and we can receive those additional funds. MS. ARQUITOLA: We're happy to have that conversation with you to get more details about the timeframes,just so that we have that information and we're in alignment. Page 8 LAAC-23 April 7,2026 MR. HUSTACE: Absolutely, and I have had conversations with Deputy Managing Director (Merrick)Nishimoto to kind of move this process as we kind of, yeah, don't lose the opportunity. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chair. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Anyone else? Alright, seeing none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 513-26 and forwarding to Council with a favorable recommendation, please say "aye." Any opposed? Vote on Res. 513-26: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 513-26`was carried (Approved) by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkie icz,Onishi, Villegas,, and Chair Kimball'—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: With that, it is 11:24 a.m: We have no further business. This meeting is adjourned. ADJOURN- There being no further business, ChairKimball adjourned the meeting MENT: at 11:24 a.m. Approved: Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair (Date) Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions Committee HK/dt Page 9