HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-03-03 Draft Puna CDP MinutesMitchell D. Roth
Mayor
Lee E. Lord
Managing Director
Zendo Kern
Director
Jeffrey W. Darrow
Deputy Director
County of Hawai‘i
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
PUNA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE
Aupuni Center • 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 • Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720
Phone (808) 961-8288 • Fax (808) 961-8742
Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer Page 1
Thursday, March 3, 2022 1
DRAFT Meeting Minutes 2
CALL TO ORDER 3
Chair Franny Brewer called the Puna Community Development Plan (PCDP) Action Committee 4
(AC) to order at 5:09 P.M. Due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting 5
was held via the Zoom interactive video platform. 6
ROLL CALL 7
AC Members Present: Franny Brewer (Chair), Leilani DeMello, Leila Kealoha, Susan Osborne, 8
Kanoe Wilson 9
AC Members Absent-Excused: none 10
County Staff: Planners – Heather Bartlett, Keiko Mercado, Jaslyn Nathaniel 11
County Officials: Council Member Ashley Kierkiewicz 12
1 member of the public attended the meeting via Zoom. The meeting was also available for 13
synchronous viewing via the COH Planning Department YouTube Livestream. The livestream is 14
available at Puna CDP Action Committee Meeting March 3, 2022 - YouTube. 15
ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: None 16
ANNOUNCEMENTS: 17
1. Welcoming Melissa Leilani DeMello and Kanoe Wilson to the Puna CDP Action Committe: 18
Committee Members DeMello and Wilson introduced themselves as this was their first 19
official committee meeting. Each shared their reasons for joining the Puna AC and 20
emphasized their desire of giving back to their home community of Puna. 21
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 22
Committee Member Osborne made a motion to approve the January 19, 2022 minutes. Motion 23
seconded by Committee Member Kealoha. Motion passed with 5 votes aye, 0 votes nay. 24
www.planning.hawaiicounty.gov/ CDP@hawaiicounty.gov Page 2
PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS: One (1) member of the public provided oral testimony: 25
Patrice MacDonald, representing herself, testified on Agenda Item 3. She informed that no 26
buyout offer was received for her family’s housing in Kapoho and that to her knowledge there 27
are 500 lava evacuees currently living in Mountain View. Ms. MacDonald expressed her concern 28
over the way the lava recovery funding was distributed as all the money went to District 4 and 29
HPP and there is no funding for District 5. She shared that the people are also concerned about 30
how there is no transfer station or village center, and issues with traffic caused by the 31
roundabout. She also noted that the Keaʻau Armory is very important to District 5 as it is the only 32
option for an emergency shelter and it was left out of the plan. 33
Committee Member Osborne informed Ms. MacDonald that there are many opportunities for 34
community engagement in Kīlauea Recovery process including the Resilience Action Team 35
Committees (RAC’s) as well as quarterly Revitalize Puna updates and other events that can be 36
found on the County’s website. She encouraged Ms. MacDonald to find that information and 37
pass it on to others in her network. She also informed that the Buyout Program is still open for 38
engagement. 39
BUSINESS: 40
1. Information Sharing: Sharon Hirota, from the County Office of Housing and Community 41
Development, presented an overview of several programs and centers that were launched in 42
partnership with community based organizations. She encouraged AC members to share 43
these programs with their networks: 44
• Emergency Rent Assistance – Provides financial assistance to help residents ensure 45
housing stability by helping them to get caught up on rent and utility payments. Based on 46
the Puna zip codes, the program has helped over 500 households and paid out over $3.1 47
million in rental assistance to households in the Puna area. 48
• Landlord/Tenant Mediation Center – Provides landlord/tenant mediation services. After 49
the lifting of the moratorium there was a temporary modification to the landlord-tenant 50
code that requires landlords and tenants to go through a mediation process before 51
entering into the court system. 52
• Coordination Center – Provides a free centralized service that helps residents navigate 53
critical financial, housing, and health-related issues. The Center’s objective is to ensure 54
that lack of knowledge about available resources does not stand between residents and 55
the help they need and is designed to help residents with one-on-one coaching and 56
connectivity to community-based and government supported services. 57
• Homeowner Assistance – Provides Hawaiʻi homeowners who are experiencing financial 58
hardship associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and have incomes at or below 150% of 59
the area median income with assistance that will lead to long-term mortgage resolution. 60
The program grants up to $30,000 to assist homeowners with paying past due mortgages 61
or reduce monthly payments. 62
• Financial Empowerment Centers – Provides free, one-on-one financial counseling as a 63
public service to all residents. Centers are staffed with trained counselors to help 64
residents manage money, decrease debt, improve credit, and access all other services 65
offered by the centers to find financial stability. 66
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Chair Brewer questioned how much longer the Emergency Rent Assistance Program would 67
exist. Ms. Hirota informed that the first round of Federal funding needs to be spent by 68
September 2022, but that Hawaiʻi County was fortunate enough to receive a second round of 69
funding which will go through September 2025. 70
Committee Member DeMello questioned if there were any income requirements to apply for 71
the services provided by the Financial Empowerment Centers. Ms. Hirota confirmed that 72
there are no income requirements; applicants just need to be 18 years of age or older. 73
OHCD Presentation Slides available here: 74
https://records.hawaiicounty.gov/Weblink/1/edoc/115262/Communication%20No.%202022-07%20-75
OHCD%20Financial%20Empowerment%20Presentation.pdf 76
Additional information can be found here: https://www.hawaiicounty.gov/departments/office-of-housing 77
2. Action Committee Support of Hawaiʻi Ports-of Entry Biosecurity Program: Chair Brewer 78
introduced a draft letter, addressed to the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council, outlining Action 79
Committee support for the Hawaiʻi Ports-of Entry Biosecurity Program. She provided a brief 80
description of the program and her hope that the Puna AC would move to transmit the letter 81
so it could be shared with State legislators and potential federal funders to help subsidize the 82
program. 83
Discussions were had and each Committee Member expressed their gratitude to Chair 84
Brewer for bringing the letter forward. Each member stated that they were in full support as 85
programs such as this are necessary for Hawaiʻi’s infrastructure, especially in the Puna area. 86
Committee Member Wilson suggested that the letter be brought forward to the other Action 87
Committees as well so that they may be able to solidify and unify their support for the 88
program across Hawaiʻi Island. Ms. Mercado informed that she would provide the letter to 89
each of the AC Chairs. 90
Council Member Kierkiewicz suggested that the Puna AC reach out to State Representative 91
Greggor Ilagan and State Senator Joy San Buenaventura as they are in the midst of the 92
legislative session and may be able to introduce concurrent resolutions in both houses. This 93
would be a way to have bills introduced which could call for appropriations of funding to 94
support the program. 95
Committee Member Osborne made a motion to accept and send the communication. Motion 96
seconded by Committee Member Kealoha. Motion passed with 5 votes aye, 0 votes nay. 97
Communication No. 2022-06 available here: 98
https://records.hawaiicounty.gov/Weblink/1/doc/115130/Page1.aspx 99
3. Synergies Between Implementaion of the Puna CDP and the Kilauea Recovery and Resilience 100
Plan (KRRP): Ms. Mercado explained that the priority recovery goals and objectives were 101
based on the goals and objectives of the Puna CDP and centered around village town 102
centers, infrastructure, natural and cultural resource management and health and well-103
being. She informed that as part of the implementation process, the recovery team launched 104
a network of Resilience Capacity Areas and Action Teams to support community-based 105
actions, noting that all of the Puna CDP AC members are participating in said Action Teams. 106
Ms. Bartlett shared a prioritization spreadsheet of the goals and action items, with notes on 107
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whether an RCA Team had put focus or effort towards the item. Action Committee members 108
used the spreadsheet to explore mutual interests and discuss investigatory subcommittees 109
and community liaison groups, as applicable. 110
Committee Member Wilson requested clarification on Action Item 1 with regards to the 111
accessibility to areas of scenic and culture interest. Committee Member Kealoha expressed 112
the importance of not taking away the accessibility to those areas and to ensure that the 113
aesthetic, cultural, and natural value of those areas remain. She elaborated further that 114
“how” these areas are being accessed, with regard to behavior and attitude, should reflect 115
the paradigm of the people who are actually from the area. 116
Further discussions were had when reviewing each action item as the AC identified 117
similarities and overlap between various items. Further strategies were discussed with regard 118
to the protection of biological, historical, and cultural resources. Chair Brewer also noted that 119
some items would better fit into the General Plan (GP) and questioned whether they should 120
be put through a different process as updates to the CDP are pending. Ms. Mercado 121
informed that the comprehensive update to the GP is currently a priority of the Planning 122
Director and is being given the attention it needs. She shared that the conversation around 123
what gets lifted up into the GP and what remains in the CDPs will be part of the planning 124
program conversation that AC members will be a part of. 125
Council Member Kierkiewicz shared that the Planning Director provided them with an update 126
on the GP and seemed to indicate that by the end of year, there would be a draft to share 127
with the public, ACs, and planning commissions as there will need to be a level of 128
engagement that occurs. She noted that from her understanding, the intention is to pull a lot 129
of what is in the current CDPs into the GP. She hoped that after the adoption and approval of 130
the GP that all the CDPs would be reviewed at the same time allowing ACs to focus on 131
specific areas island wide. She informed that there are line items in the budget that provide 132
financial capital for the ACs to take action. She encouraged engagement with the Cultural 133
Resource Commission and the State Historical Preservation Division (SHPD). She informed 134
that the SHPD has numerous amounts of documentation on different historical sites and 135
resources that have yet to be digitized. She shared that if the AC could get access to that 136
information, it would assist with managing public access to historical and cultural sites and 137
help to ensure people are coming with respect and the right intention. 138
Committee Member Kealoha noted that many of the priorities in the spreadsheet are items 139
that are currently being worked on through the Natural and Cultural RCAs and through 140
community efforts with non-profit programs. Community Member Osborne also noted that 141
the plan for the roundabouts going from Keaʻau to Pahoa is already being executed. She 142
requested a progress update from DOT to confirm her understanding. If this project is 143
already being executed, it can be removed as a priority. Committee Member Kealoha also 144
noted the major issue with the Ainaloa roundabout and hoped there would be a solution 145
soon. Ms. Mercado suggested that the AC continue to edit and provide notes on the action 146
items so that staff could provide a revised version, and come back to identifying priority 147
areas at a later date so the AC could create investigatory subcommittees and community 148
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groups as needed. All AC members agreed and requested that staff provide any updates on 149
the various actions items that are already in motion as well. 150
Information on the Kīlauea Eruption Recovery Planning Process available here: 151
https://recovery.hawaiicounty.gov/planning-56 152
Information about the Resilience Capacity Area Teams available here: 153
https://recovery.hawaiicounty.gov/revitalize-puna/resilience-capacity-areas. 154
Presentation slides available here: 155
https://records.hawaiicounty.gov/Weblink/1/edoc/115524/Communication%20No.%202022-08%20-156
Puna%20AC.RCA%20Synergies.pdf 157
4. Framework for Action Committee Run Meetings: Ms. Mercado informed that some Action 158
Committees have expressed interest in hosting their own official meetings. She explained the 159
possibility of the ACs having the option to convene between the already scheduled quarterly 160
meetings and provided high-level framework for running these meetings. Sunshine Law 161
would need to be adhered to and Robert’s Rules followed. Ms. Mercado assured that 162
planning staff would provide templates and resource packets and would continue to make 163
connections as the AC needed. Staff would also continue to post the agenda and minutes to 164
ensure compliance with the Sunshine Law. 165
Community Member Osborne questioned if it would be ok to convene on an “as needed” 166
basis as all of the AC members are involved in the RCA Teams and other groups. Ms. 167
Mercado confirmed that the AC would be free to convene at their discretion. 168
Chair Brewer questioned the amount of notice that the AC would need to give before hosting 169
a meeting. Ms. Mercado informed that the Sunshine Law requires the agenda be posted at 170
least six (6) days prior to the scheduled meeting. 171
Committee Member Wilson questioned what would be an appropriate facility for an in-172
person hybrid meeting. Ms. Mercado informed that that is something staff are still working 173
on as more COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. Choosing meeting venues would depend on 174
availability as well as ensuring the appropriate equipment can be provided such as 175
connectivity and stable bandwidth for Zoom-hybrid meetings. Staff have been exploring 176
different county facilities as well as private facilities in each community so that community 177
members won’t have to travel far distances if they wish to appear in-person. 178
Presentation slides available here: 179
https://records.hawaiicounty.gov/Weblink/1/edoc/115525/Communication%20No.%202022-09%20-180
AC%20Meeting%20Framework.pdf 181
5. Election of Action Committe Members: 182
Committee Member Osborne made a motion to nominate Franny Brewer as the Chair of the 183
Puna CDP AC. Motion seconded by Committee Member Kealoha. Motion passed with 5 votes 184
aye, 0 votes nay. 185
Chair Brewer made a motion to nominate Susan Osborne as Vice-Chair of the Puna CDP AC. 186
Motion seconded by Committee Member Wilson. Motion passed with 5 votes aye, 0 votes 187
nay. 188
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PROPOSED AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: 189
1. Prioritization spreadsheet exercise 190
2. Update from State DOT Hawaiʻi District representative, Harry Takeue 191
3. Kīlauea Recovery Update 192
4. Update from State Legislature representatives 193
5. Update on the budget/submit budget input 194
OTHER: Council Member Kierkiewicz advised Ms. Mercado to provide the AC with the budget 195
hearing schedule. She informed that those hearings will be streamed online and will allow people 196
to provide public testimony on various subjects and priorities related to the budget. She advised 197
AC members to take the opportunity to provide testimony as individuals and as an AC if they 198
were able. 199
ADJOURNMENT: Committee Member Kealoha moved to adjourn. Seconded by Committee 200
Member Wilson. The motion passes with 5 votes aye, 0 votes nay. 201
The meeting was adjourned at 7:10 P.M. 202
These meeting minutes and all related documents are available in the Planning Department’s 203
Puna Community Development Plan Action Committee folder via the County of Hawaiʻi Public 204
Documents Repository. These documents may also be requested from the Planning Department 205
by calling (808) 961-8288 or emailing cdp@hawaiicounty.gov. 206