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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0991.014 2016-2018 P/PWPRC COWtgg1 co . CD August 5, 2018 0-' o. County Council, County of Hawaii . Committee on Public Works and Parks and Recreation ism Re: Comm. 991 –Discussion with Parks and Recreation regarding Na Hoa Holomoku removal '•om.- Bayfront Beach Dear County Council Members, I'm finding it hard to figure out where to begin. I am dismayed by the actions of Parks and Recreation in regards to Hilo's sailing clubs,Na Hoa Holomoku (NHH) and the University of Hawaii's student sailing club. I want to specifically thank the offices of Jen Ruggles and Aaron Chung for their help on this issue. I know many other council members have been made aware of this ongoing issue and appreciate all your support. There are several documents I am including in an attempt to paint a more complete picture of the situation. • A Brief History of Na Hoa Holomoku O Written in preparation of a May 5`"meeting with Parks and Recreation (cancelled) • Notes from an office and on-site meeting with Parks and Recreation August 8, 2011 O Details discussions related to moving from a location next to the Kamehameha Canoe Club to our current location. • December 9, 2011 letter from Parks and Recreation giving permission to move to our current location. • April 20°1, 2018 Letter from Parks and Recreation instructing UH Hilo to remove their sailboats from Bayfront O Deputy Director Messina told me on the phone that there would be no return date, as neither the UH or NHH sailing clubs were welcome on the beach. • April 29`h, 2018 Hilo Tribune-Herald article quoting myself and Director Waltjen • Director Waltjen is quoted making this totally false statement"They probably had a verbal contract with the past director," Waltjen said. However, she said that some boats on the beach do not belong to either UH-Hilo or the Na Hoa Holomoku Yacht Club, but remain on the beach illegally, with some people even operating businesses from their boats." O All boats on the beach were owned by either UH-Hilo,Na Hoa Holomoku, or its members. 0 No business is being operated from our site, or ever has been while our club has been here. • Notes from June 12 meeting with Parks and Recreation O We requested this meeting be delayed, as I was unable to attend because. No response from Parks &Recreation until the morning of the meeting, where they said it would be held with our without us... as others had already been invited. Our commodore and two other board members were able to make the meeting. O Director Waltjen started the meeting by handing out the MOA between the State and the County to manage the portion of the beach where our club is located. • Director Waltjen stated that this was for the purpose of canoe clubs only, but this is not what the MOA states. It clearly states ocean recreation generally. as tQ, • Comm. No ` 1 Ref. To:P.1 W RC Ref .Date ' SID L 131 ö O Director Waltjen distributed a draft MOA, created by Parks and Recreation, from 2011 between Na Hoa Holomoku and the County.This was the first our club had ever seen of this document. • July 2nd, 2018 letter from Parks and Recreation (received on July 6th), again instructing us to move our boats from the beach by July 31"for"scheduled clean-up and restoration work". O There again is no statement we can return after the work is complete. • July 7`h, 2018 letter I wrote regarding the impact vacating the beach by July 31". (even for 1 month) O Youth Sailing Summer Camps (reprieve granted by Managing Director Okabe) O Youth Sailing End of Summer Regatta(cancelled due to agreement) O Club Sail days for August/September is in jeopardy O Summer regatta series is in jeopardy O Training for state championships (on Oahu in September) is in jeopardy 0 Unclear whether any recreational sailing will be possible if the park is closed • July 9th, 2018 cover letter to Parks and Recreation attached to my July 7`h letter and hand delivered to Parks and Recreation that morning, addressed to both the Director and Deputy Director. The basic questions I asked in my July 9`h cover letter have never been answered. Parks and Recreation has not communicated with me regarding any of my concerns. What is the nature of the work to be performed? What is being cleaned up and what is being restored? Will the park be open for use during the time-frame of this work?Is the work being performed beneficial to the current use of this area- sailing? Will the fence we have around the area we use still remain? Will we be welcomed back on September 5, 2018? Will we have an MOU? By direction of Managing Director Okabe, Parks and Recreation gave us permission to remain at our site through August 10`h, so that the Junior Sailing camps could be completed. I am very much appreciative of this consideration. On July 31 S`, Mac Cooper, our commodore received a proposed MOA from Parks and Recreation. There are major issues we have tried to have addressed, but so far, no progress. • It is a one year term and does not renew. • We are required to leave the beach any time maintenance is required. • Parks and Recreation can terminate the agreement basically without cause. • Clarification as to whether members personal boats are allowed. We have been teaching sailing on Hilo Bay since 2001. We have been at this location on the beach for seven years. We have always worked the the P&R maintenance crews to move any equipment in areas where they needed to work—trimming the coconut trees or trimming the ironwoods. Parks and Recreation will not tell us what work they are planning this time, whether is it compatible with our use of the area for sailing, and hasn't inquired as to what would be beneficial to us. WHAT EXACTLY IS THE CONCERN OF PARKS AND RECREATION? They seem to be trying to come up with excuse after excuse of why we need to move. We have 150 families who are members of our club this year. This is somewhere between 300-400 community members. They come from all areas/districts on the island—Ocean View, Volcano, Waimea, Black Sands, Kapoho (before the eruptions).... Membership roster and home towns have previously been provided to Parks and Recreation. We are the only community sailing program on the islands. This is something very unique. For$70 a family can join for a year,they have access to our boats twice a month year round. We provide basic water safety and sailing instruction to both kids and adults. We provide are the only club to operate a recreational program. Hilo Bay is the safest place on the Big Island to teach beginning sailing. The Big Island Sailing Foundation teaches junior classes out out of Honakahau Harbor, which is busy with commercial traffic, and at Keahou, where there is also significant commercial traffic to deal with . The YMCA teaches out of the Kawaihae Small Boat harbor, but the space is limited and will become significantly more difficult once the new boat ramp open there. I have been involved with this club for seven years,just after they moved to the currently location on Bayfront. I fell in love with the concept of making sailing available to everyone interested at minimal cost. I have seen only one other program even close to this, in Boston, where youth sailing is free to any child interested. This summer,we hired a sailing instructor to teach nine weeks of junior sailing camps. My wife and I were there every day to assist. We had 25 students go through our courses, Beginner 1, Beginner 2 and Intermediate Sailing. Most attended two weeks of camp. Parks and Recreation has made this quite a challenge. My hope had been to prove the concept and the demand, with hopes of repeating and expanding in future years... I had even hoped Parks and Recreation could be a partner and help advertise the classes in future years... Somebody thinks this is all a bad idea. We were notified last year, we will have to vacate in 2020 for the World Sprint Championships. I'll just simply say, I don't understand why this needs to happen. Our boats were on the beach, during the last World Sprints held on Hilo Bay. Sailing should be something Hilo Town is proud of, not something to be hidden from view when the world comes to town. Please, whatever it takes.. Make small boat sailing on Hilo Bay a permanent fixture. Give NHH, and the UH Sailing Club, the same type of MOA as the ten plus canoe clubs which currently have space in in Bayfront Park. We are all important to satisfying a diverse community;just as soccer fields, tennis courts.... one size does not fit all interests. We cost the county nothing to use this space and we provide much needed recreation to our community. Respectfully, Richard Greever 149 Maikai St. Hilo, HI 96720 808-966-8404