HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-04-12 HCDP Minutes DraftMitchell D. Roth
Mayor
Lee E. Lord
Managing Director
Zendo Kern
Director
Jeffrey W. Darrow
Deputy Director
County of Hawai‘i
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
HĀMĀKUA 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
Wednesday, April 12, 2023 1
DRAFT Meeting Minutes 2
CALL TO ORDER 3
Chair Tawn Keeney started the Hāmākua Community Development Plan (HCDP) Action 4
Committee (AC) meeting at 5:09 P.M. This meeting was held online via Zoom, and in-person 5
at the Honokaʻa People’s Theatre. Quorum was not established at this meeting; thus, only 6
presentations were heard and committee business was not addressed and there were no 7
votes. 8
ROLL CALL 9
AC Members Present: Tawn Keeney, Nicolette (Niki) Hubbard, Brad Kurokawa, 10
AC Members Absent-Excused: Desiree Cruz, Carol Ignacio, Crystal Kua, and Robert Nishimoto 11
County Officials: Deputy Corporation Counsel, Suzanna Tiapula 12
ANNOUNCEMENTS: 13
Chair Keeney announced that the Planning Department is currently seeking applicants for 14
the Hāmākua Action Committee. He noted the department’s efforts to find interested 15
community members and the notice in the Hāmākua Times asking for interest in 16
membership. 17
Chair Keeney announced that the Action Committee is seeking a volunteer secretary to 18
take meeting notes and colaborate with the Planning Department accordingly. 19
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 20
This item was derferred as quorum was not established. 21
BUSINESS: 22
1. Council Member Kimball Updates: 23
Impact of Kona Low storms on community resulted in working sessions with Hawaiian 24
Electric and Hawaiian Telcom to find ways to improve responses and response times 25
to this type of event. Council Member Kimball noted that Hawaiian Electric reinforced 26
www.planning.hawaiicounty.gov/ CDP@hawaiicounty.gov Page 2
telephone systems to resolve reporting issues. If clients need to report an issue, they 27
may now call and record a message or speak with an actual person. 28
Council Member Kimball encouraged the use of Civil Defense’s website link to report 29
property damage. If ever the threshold for FEMA funding is met, those who submitted 30
claims in advance may get reimbursed. She noted the incident where the Hāmākua 31
ditch got blocked and members of community had to pay for water. Those situations 32
would be the type to report on the Civil Defense website. 33
The Department of Environmental Management’s new Vehicle Tow Program will allow 34
property owners to request for one (1) car towed off their property, per year, to be 35
disposed at the Hilo vehicle disposal site. Currently the County pays for disposal, but 36
not towing. The program will resolve that towing barrier and is estimated to start in 6 37
months. Applications may be submitted on the Environmental Management website. 38
Animal Control is now a separate agency and no longer under the Hawaiʻi Police 39
Department. While under the police department, animal control positions were short 40
term contracts, which limited the people who wanted to apply. Now, with the new 41
agency, the animal control positions are civil service positions. Council Member 42
Kimball hoped this change would improve staffing and animal control issues. 43
For updates regarding Waipiʻo, status quo with Emergency order will remain for now. 44
Residents can go down with four-wheel drive and no pedestrians or visitors are 45
allowed to drive down in the valley. Tree trimming and rock fall work is ongoing. The 46
Steering Committee continues to meet. 47
Bills underway: 48
o Property owners in the Homeowner class get the home exemption on value, 49
homeowner rate on tax and 3%-year cap on assessed value. People in the 50
dedicated agriculture program or non-dedicated agriculture program, do not 51
have the cap protection, and home value increases affected many. Council 52
Member Kimball informed that they are trying to add the cap to primary 53
residents of farmers agriculture land. They are also working on requiring 54
documentation to get the agriculture exemption as they have seen many who 55
claim they are doing ag but are not. 56
o Council is in the process of developing Draft 4 of the Short-Term Vacation 57
Rental bill. See https://www.hawaiicountytar.com/ for a copy of the current 58
draft and FAQ page. 59
o Bill 194 was vetoed by the mayor. Council will revisit since it was vetoed. 60
o Council has put funding towards homelessness and homelessness services. 7.5 61
million budgeted for homeless services and development of housing. The 62
Office of Housing will be tasked with most of this and addressing these 63
challenges. 64
PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS: 65
Two (2) members of the public provided comments on Agenda Item #1: 66
1. Community member Cory Harden, shared that she appreciated Council Member 67
Kimball’s update on Bill 194 as she thought it was very important for members of the 68
www.planning.hawaiicounty.gov/ CDP@hawaiicounty.gov Page 3
public to have a say on how long developers have to complete their development. She 69
confirmed with Council Member Kimball that this would be revisited on April 19th and 70
encouraged everyone to contact their Council members to support this bill as it would 71
take 6 council votes out of 9 to override the mayor’s veto. 72
2. Community Member Phaeton Keeney, requested recommendations on strategies to 73
form a community group to work on PONC purchases in Hāmākua area. She would like 74
to find the best way or structure for community to interact and work with the CDP 75
Action Committee for these types of purchases. 76
Council Member Kimball shared that the AC, as a County Committee, are guided by 77
Sunshine Law. She provided several options to engage in any kind of project. The first 78
option, to form an informal working group with members of community and only two 79
members of the AC at most. Another option would be to form a Permitted Interaction 80
Group (PIG) where up to four AC members could participate. The benefit of this option 81
is that you may include more AC members. A disadvantage would be that your work is 82
not discussed by the AC as a whole until the work is done. Council Member Kimball 83
informed that Deborah Change was District 1’s representative on the PONC 84
Commission. She encouraged the AC to reach out and have Ms. Chang present on the 85
PONC application process. Nominations for PONC properties already happened for this 86
year. 87
2. Presentation from Indy Singh related to Community Healing Gardens: 88
Indy asked to acknowledge the land that we are on and those who have cultivated it 89
before us and acknowledge all the different types of people who have come to cultivate 90
the land in the past and presently. He thanked County staff, AC members, and all the 91
guests and expressed gratitude for the conversation going forward. 92
Mr. Singh started his presentation by encouraging everyone to think about which 93
community members needed support the most for the whole community to thrive. 94
Nurses, local farmers, teachers, elders, and students were mentioned. Mr. Singh noted 95
that food directly affects our health and soil health affects our food health and community 96
health. He encouraged cultivating discussions for actions to be taken soon to create 97
centralized places where healthcare, education, and food can be supported through 98
community gardens. 99
Mr. Singh shared that he hosted a civic action rally in Puna to address farming, healing, 100
different ideas and solutions, and relationship with the Hawaiian culture. He also did a 101
civic action rally at the Hakalau Farmers Market and attended a Kohala Ag Vision 102
Committee meeting. Mr. Singh shared that his takeaway from all of those meetings was 103
that it comes down to having accessible Hawaiʻi County supported community gardens 104
that are education and well-being hubs. He expressed that these should be at schools and 105
senior centers. Mr. Singh shared that he learned of seniors getting reprimanded for 106
growing food in their units and how the County issued them eviction notices. He 107
expressed that the County should be providing public money to senior housings facilities 108
that support gardening, and not reprimand seniors for gardening. 109
www.planning.hawaiicounty.gov/ CDP@hawaiicounty.gov Page 4
Mr. Singh shared his experience with the East Hawaiʻi Organics Facility in Hilo, which was 110
started by a small group and is now a full-blown operation supported by the County. They 111
create and distribute mulch throughout the island to local and new farmers. 112
Mr. Singh encouraged everyone to think about and share their ideas on how the County of 113
Hawaiʻi can support community healing gardens, where nurses, educators, and farmers 114
can be supported. 115
Mr. Singh shared a recent article, covered by KHON2 News, about the food insecurity 116
rising in Hawaiʻi for keiki and kupuna. He expressed the severity of this situation and how 117
it will not improve unless willful actions are taken. He noted the importance of finding 118
places to bring back the cultural and traditional ways of sharing and giving food. Mr. Singh 119
shared several suggestions from audience. The first, to audit vacant County owned lands 120
and see if the community can use them for gardens. Mr. Singh shared that something 121
similar to this did happen in California. Another suggestion was for the County to support 122
people providing advice on how to grow food. 123
Mr. Singh informed that he would continue to meet on farms and outside of this rigid 124
format to make progress towards this effort. He encouraged everyone to show up to his 125
meetings and to share their email with him for more information and meeting notices. 126
PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS: 127
Two (2) members of the public provided comments on Agenda Item #2: 128
1. Community Member Phaeton Keeney asked who ‘we’ in Indy’s group is, and if he was 129
in a certain community group or represented an organization. 130
Mr. Singh stated that he is just a member of the general public at the moment. He 131
understood the value of non- and for-profit organizations and noted that he also had 132
those types of relationships with different organizations, but for now they are just 133
calling in community for this initiative. He informed that they would gather again in 134
May. 135
2. Community Member Diana Cantu-Reyna shared her disappointment that Council 136
Member Kimball left this meeting early and wondered if there was a better way to 137
engage council members and hold their attention to be present. She noted other 138
meetings that Council Member Kimball had left early and felt that there was lack of 139
engagement with community members. Ms. Cantu-Reyna also shared that her 140
nonprofit, Cultivating Self, supports Indy’s initiatives and would be grateful to have the 141
County support their work. She encouraged everyone to visit their site and hoped 142
more would get involved to support these initiatives https://www.cultivatingself.org/. 143
Chair Keeney shared that he would like to support the visions presented. He noted 144
that AC would pass on their concerns to Council Member Kimball. He encouraged 145
communicating directly with Council Member Kimball as well as he knows she is very 146
receptive to communications from the community even though she is very busy. 147
3. Permitted Interaction Groups Updates to AC: 148
This item was derferred as quorum was not established. 149
www.planning.hawaiicounty.gov/ CDP@hawaiicounty.gov Page 5
4. Public Access, Open Space, & Natural Resources (PONC): 150
Community Member Phaeton Keeney shared that Tony Whitington, of North Kohala, 151
came to Honokaʻa at the end of March to present their community’s success with PONCs. 152
She explained that the presentation inspired them to do the same for the Hāmākua 153
district. She learned that there are properties that are already proposed for PONCs in 154
Hāmākua. 155
See Communication No. 2023-09 PONC Past Project List here: 156
https://records.hawaiicounty.gov/WebLink/1/edoc/122705/Communication%20No.%202157
023-09%20PONC%20Past%20Project%20List.pdf 158
Ms. Keeney informed that not much has happened since 2006-2007, other than the 159
purchase of the Rice property in Waipiʻo, which is now reserved for public open space and 160
is being stewarded by a community group in the area. She also informed that there is a 161
South Hilo community group, which is working on two areas in Pepeʻekeo near the Hu 162
Honua project site. Ms. Keeney would like to connect with them and gather more 163
community engagement on thinking about going forward to submit next year’s list in 164
January 2024. She would also like to use Ms. Whitingtonʻs advice on non-profit formation 165
for this purpose to connect and prioritize efforts. She informed that there was no formal 166
name to their group but they are looking to connect with more people, as the group 167
currently consists of those who were at the presentation in March. She noted that they 168
have also connected with Blake McNaughton, who is leading the Pepeʻekeo PONC 169
purchases, and Jackson Bauer of the Na Ala Hele trails group. 170
Chair Keeney shared that Council Member Kimball encouraged the AC to share 171
suggestions for connections to people in their areas who are interested in access and trail 172
preservation. 173
Committee Member Kurokawa advised that the first place to start with PONCs would be 174
with an owner who is willing to sell their parcel. 175
5. Action Committee Meetings: 176
This item was derferred as quorum was not established. 177
PROPOSED AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: 178
1. Permitted Interaction Groups Updates to AC 179
2. Format of Future AC Meetings 180
3. Honokaʻa Business Association presentation 181
4. Presentation from Blake McNaughton on Pepeʻekeo PONCs 182
ADJOURNMENT: 183
The meeting ended at 6:20 P.M. 184
These meeting minutes and all related documents are available in the Planning Department’s 185
Hāmākua Community Development Plan Action Committee folder via the County of Hawaiʻi 186
Public Documents Repository. These documents may also be requested from the Planning 187
Department by calling (808) 961-8288 or emailing cdp@hawaiicounty.gov. 188