Communication No. 2019-26- Alii Parkway Subcommittee Report

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Communication No. 2019-26 Sub -committee on All I Parkway Report October 15, 2019 Background information regarding the Ail l Parkway sub -committee Back in 2017, the Kona Community Development Planning Action Committee (KCDPAC) was tasked to recommend a prioritized Capital Improvement Project (CIP) list to the Planning Director. One of the top three choices was the traffic and safety concerns and how it played into the quality of life for commuters between South to North Kona. Instead of creating new projects, the KCDPAC thought to use an existing project such as Alii Parkway that still had funding sources attached to it. Therefore, the KCDPAC agreed to recommend the AIN Parkway Project, to which the Planning Director vetted to the Mayor. In paraphrasing the Mayor's Office, due to the initial community response regarding the archaeology sites that stalled the project, the Mayor will consider resurfacing the Alii Parkway Project if the community concerns regarding the archaeology sites were revisited. Aside from traffic and safety concerns, the discussion among KCDPAC members now included the families who are connected to the archaeology sites. Also mentioned were possible alternatives that would possibly downsize the Parkway to a two-lane road to avoid archaeological sites, and increase open -space and access to the sites for lineal and cultural descendants. The Alii Parkway sub -committee was tasked to contact the families who were connected to the sites and to notify the Mayor of its outcomes. The sub -committee did not conduct consultation that would suffice the County's legal obligation to consult the community, nor it intends to submit design mitigations however, the intent is to assist the KCDPAC in deciding if it would re -recommend their initial CIP request with recommendations from those who were previously consulted regarding the archaeology landscape. Along with members of the Mayor's office and the Planning Committee, the sub -committee members met with families who have cultural and lineal ties to some of the archaeology sites that were in question. ACTION ITEM Should the KCDPAC vote on vetting all or part of the recommendations listed in this report, I would move to sunset this sub -committee. Summary The sub -committee met on three occasions last year to discuss outreach strategies to reconnect with the families who were previously consulted and who continue to steward their sites. We drew a list of lineal and cultural descendants who contributed to Final Burial Treatment Plan (FBTP) prepared for the County of Hawaii by Paul H. Rosendahl, Ph.D., Inc. (PHRI) in April 2001. The sub -committee focused on families who were previously consulted because it is not in the KCDPAC's purview to consult new community members who want to engage on the merits of the project, but to consult those who had previous affiliations to the archaeology sites that resulted in a stalled decision for the project. The selection of lineal and cultural descendants was based on reviewing historic accounts and documents dating back to 1973 regarding previous archaeological research for the Ali'i Parkway, ethnographic surveys to included oral histories recorded by noted kupuna within the Kahului-Keauhou region, and discussions with past members of the Hawai'i Island Burial Council (1992-1993). A mental timeline was developed to see how far, wide and specific we needed to cast our outreach efforts without hindering the County's obligation to consult with the public.