HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0940.001 2008-2010 Page 1 of 3
Pit/mu EL
Murashige, Laura CC - MM. C14L1
From: Tiffany Edwards Hunt [newswoman @mac.com] LI' OCT b ._.
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2010 1:04 PM
To: counciltestimony @ co.hawaii.hi.us; J Yoshimoto; Brenda Ford.toffmanrt;
dikeda @co.hawaii.hi.us; Dominic Yagong; Guy Enriques; De 6 ishi;
kgreenwell @co.hawaii.hi.us; Emily Naeole
Subject: Pohoiki Plan phase 1
Attachments: the pohoiki plan.rtf; ATT00022.html
Council members,
The following story was slated to publish in the Big Island Weekly tomorrow, but is being held over
until next week's edition for lack of space. Due to the timeliness of this information with regard to Res
391 -10, I am sharing this with you.
Tiffany Edwards Hunt
(808)938 -8592
Newswoman@. Mac.com
Www.bigislandchronicle.com
Begin forwarded message:
From: Tiffany Edwards Hunt <newswomanmac.com>
Date: October 3, 2010 12:43:03 PM HST
To: Yisa Var <yisavarggmail.com>
Subject: Re: Pohoiki Plan phase 1
By Tiffany Edwards Hunt
Making its way through the Hawaii County Council is a resolution submitted by Puna Councilwoman Emily
Naeole- Beason calling for the County of Hawaii to lease little over 21 acres from the Kealoha Estate headed by
Kuulei Kealoha Cooper Springer to create a new public swimming area at Isaac Kepo'okalani Hale Beach Park,
or Pohoiki.
Naeole- Beason didn't respond to a request for comment on Resolution 391 -10 or her office's work in months
preceding the resolution to obtain a federal appropriation for the public swimming area. However, Big Island
Weekly was able to sit down with Cooper Springer and Mayor Billy Kenoi for details on what is being
envisioned at Pohoiki.
Cooper Springer is the granddaughter of the late Muilan Pelekumu Young and James "Jimmy" Kealoha, a
grocer turned politician. Known as the "wonder boy" of Hawaii politicians for his popularity among the
constituency, Kealoha served as a territorial representative and senator before serving three terms as a Hawaii
County board supervisor and six terms as a Hawaii County chairman. He also served with Governor Quinn, as
the first Chinese American and Native Hawaiian lieutenant governor in the United States.
Land at Pohoiki has been in the Kealoha family for four generations. Initially there was 1,000 acres. Now there
are 510 acres, mostly zoned agriculture -1 acre. If you are standing in the parking lot on the "Shacks" side of
Pohoiki, the Kealoha Estate land is everything to the right and mauka, even beyond the new section of Highway
132, known as the bypass road.
In a meeting with Big Island Weekly, Cooper Springer laid out on her dining room table plans dating back to
April 1960 that call for a resort hotel, shopping center, resort cottages, and homes to surround a beach park at
"Laepaoo," the area known today as Pohoiki, from "GR6845 to Napalapalai." As the plans indicate, Kealoha
envisioned a development for Pohoiki that would provide a tax base for the County and offer jobs for the
residents of the area.
"Being the public servant that he was," Cooper Springer said her grandfather implored her to, "Take care of this
property for generations to come. Don't sell out." She and the rest of the Kealoha Estate feel a responsibility to
balance his vision for development of Pohoiki with the needs of the present -day community. Cooper Springer
noted that her grandmother used to go down to the Pohoiki property and soak in the hot pond as a remedy to I
Comm. No.
Ref. To:
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Page 2 of 3
her arthritis. As a result, the family dubbed it, "Pelekumu's Pond."
"I hear his voice in my ear daily, 'take care of this property for generations to come, "' Cooper Springer said of
Kealoha. "Grandma would say, 'Take care of my pond. "'
Envisioning what to do with the 510 acres, "in a perfect world," Cooper Springer would like to see that both the
needs of keiki and kupuna are met. "Kids are lost. There is no source of wisdom, of the old style. There is no
sense of morals or ethics. Kupuna can teach the kids that." Cooper Springer would like to see a cultural park at
Pohoiki, in which native plants such as the orange and yellow Ohia, the hawaiian flag plumeria and acid free
pineapple grow in abundance. She doesn't imagine a Polynesian Cultural Center so much as a recreation of
Hawaiian culture — with canoe building, a community garden that would include the gourds and ti leaves
necessary for hula instrument and skirt making, an amphitheater for hula festivals, an area for lu'au, arts and
crafts, food vendors, a kupuna center, a 24 -hour health center or wellness clinic, even a birth center, and a
Hawaiian cultural lab school.
Beyond the cultural park, Cooper Springer envisions a development that would be a mix of a Kona Village -type
resort along with self -help or affordable housing and homes for the middle - class. She notes, with the proposed
resort and housing, there has to be a means to generate capital for all the amenities that would be offered to
the public with the public swimming area and cultural park
Cooper Springer noted that the vision for development of the Pohoiki property is still being sketched and she
and the rest of the Kealoha Estate welcome the community's input. A website is being put together for the
Kealoha Estate, www.kealohaestate.com, and there will be a link on the website for the public to offer input.
Cooper Springer acknowledges the Pohoiki development may not come to fruition in her lifetime. But, in the
short term, she is amenable to a lease with the County of Hawaii for "Pelekumu's Pond," being a testament to
her grandmother. She is concerned about upkeep and maintenance of the proposed public swimming area.
She worries that the community as a whole may not respect the pond. She and other members of her family
have pulled out trash and abandoned vehicles from the property, even had to chase off squatters.
"People want, want, want. I want people to respect the aina. Don't just talk, walk it," Cooper Springer said.
Married to the late Emory Springer, a police officer and member of the Hawaii Labor Relations Board, Cooper
Springer is all too familiar with the poor police protection in lower Puna. Cooper Springer and the Kealoha
Estate have offered to the County a portion of their Pohoiki acreage for a police substation there. Cooper
Springer would like to see the County take her family up on their offer for the police substation land. In the
interest of public safety, she would also like to see the old section of Highway 132, or Red Road, between the
Pohoiki "Shacks" parking lot and the intersection with the new section of Highway 132, closed off. She would
like to see speed bumps or raised cross walks installed in the section of the Red Road from the intersection of
Pohoiki Road and the "Shacks" parking lot. "I don't want to see a child die from a drunken fool speeding or
drag racing," Cooper Springer said.
Resolution 391 -10, which authorizes the County of Hawaii to enter into negotiations with Cooper Springer and
the Kealoha Estate for a multi -year lease, is expected to be approved by the Hawaii County Council on
Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010.
Early this year, prior to the resolution being introduced by Naeole- Beason, Resort Management LLC prepared
an artist's rendering of the public swimming area and Pohoiki Cultural Center, estimating the design and
construction would be $36.7 million. Resort Management LLC did not return a phone inquiry as to who
authorized and paid for the rendering and estimate. The Resort Management LLC rendering and estimate was
included in an appropriations request from Naeole- Beason to U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka's office seeking $40
million in federal funds for the project. Akaka's office did not return a phone message seeking comment on
what has become of this appropriations request.
The appropriations request does not include a cost for leasing the land necessary for the public swimming area
and cultural park. However, $260,000 is listed to pay salaries for six board of directors of a non - profit
organization proposed to manage the swimming area and cultural park. Among the potential board directors
listed in the appropriations request are Desmon Haumea, Larry Kuamo'o, Jerry Konanui, Kimo Blankenfield,
Melissa Dixon, and Cooper Springer.
Cooper Springer said she was not consulted prior to being listed as a potential board director in the
appropriations request. She admits that the appropriations request was the cart before the horse," since it
preceded the resolution authorizing lease negotiations.
Naeole- Beason did not respond to a request for comment on the appropriations request, on details of the
proposed non - profit organization, on how the potential board directors were decided upon, why they would
need to be paid, and generally on her vision for the Pohoiki public swimming area.
Mayor Kenoi, meanwhile, said County property manager Ken Van Bergen has met with Cooper Springer, but
won't be negotiating a lease agreement until after the resolution makes its way through the County Council. It
is not yet known how much the lease will cost the County. Kenoi assured that "a lot has to happen before any
development can take place in that area." He noted, for the development of a pond, there needs to be an
environmental assessment and the involvement of the Army Corps of Engineers. He said he has heard of
conceptual designs and proposals for the cultural park and public swimming area, and he dismissed a rumor
that they include white sand and fake rocks.
Any proposal is a long way off," Kenoi stressed.
He said he appreciates the willingness of Cooper Springer and the Kealoha Estate to offer up land for
expansion of the Isaac Kepo'okalani Hale Beach Park and he is open to discussing the possibility of land being
donated for a police substation. "I am very open to conversations and discussions that would make the
community safer," the mayor said. He also said he is agreeable to traffic mitigation on the Red Road, such as
speed bumps and /or raised crosswalks.
10/5/2010
Page 3 of 3
"Right now, the focus is on Pohoiki phase 2," Kenoi said, noting phase 2 includes a large pavilion and
playground. The playground will be between the size of the Shipman Park and Old Pahoa Village playgrounds.
"I have found that the kupuna and keiki together, being family friendly, more families will be at the park and it
will be safer and user friendly," the mayor said.
10/5/2010
On Oct 3, 2010, at 4:49 PM, Yisa Var wrote:
Did you send this story yet? I have your pictures, but not the story.
Thanks!
Yisa
On Fri, Oct 1, 2010 at 10:57 PM, Tiffany Edwards Hunt
<newswoman @mac.com> wrote:
Kuulei Cooper Springer, of the Kealoha Estate, envisions huts such as this
depicted Kona Village hut in a Pohoiki Cultural Park that would accompany
her family's proposed development. The artist's rendering shows the cultural
park that would surround a public swimming area at Isaac Kepookalani Hale
Beach Park. Photo by Tiffany Edwards Hunt.
Tiffany Edwards Hunt
(808)938 -8592
Newswoman cr Mac.com
Www.bigislandchronicle.com
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