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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-10-07 TENVISION PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAII HEARING TRANSCRIPT OCTOBER 7, 2005 A regularly advertised hearing on EnVision Downtown Hilo 2025, a Community-Based Vision was called to order at 10:41 a.m. in the County and Living Action Plan for Downtown Hilo Building, Councilroom ƒ Room 201, 25 Aupuni Street, Hilo, Hawaii, with Chairman Fred Galdones presiding: PRESENT:Fred Galdones ABSENT & EXCUSED: Jeffrey McCall C. Kimo Alameda Allen Salavea William Graham Andrew Iwashita Rodney Watanabe Rene€ Siracusa Hannah Springer Diane Noda, Deputy Corporation Counsel RoyTakemoto,DeputyPlanningDirector Norman Hayashi, Planning Program Manager Phyllis Fujimoto, Staff Planner Jeff Darrow, Staff Planner And approximately 21 people from the public in attendance. EnVision Downtown Hilo 2025, a Community-Based Vision and Living Action Plan for prepared by the Friends of Downtown Hilo Steering Committee. Downtown Hilo GALDONES:Commissioners, we are on new business Agenda Item No. 4, EnVision Downtown , Norman. Hilo 2025, a Community-Based Vision and Living Action Plan for Downtown Hilo HAYASHI:Thank you, Mr. Chair. For this particular application, I€ll defer to the applicant or, not necessarily the applicant, but that will be Ms. Alice Moon from the Friends of Downtown Hilo Steering Committee, as well as Susan Gagorik from the Planning Department who served on this steering committee; and they will be making the presentation before you today. GALDONES:Susan, before you folks proceed, just one moment. SIRACUSA:Mr. Chair. GALDONES:Commissioner Siracusa. 1EXHIBIT B SARACUSA:Yes, in the interest of time, there€s an awful lot of people here and I start thinking, my God, if everyone wants to testify -. Would it be appropriate or legal for us to do a little straw poll just to get a feeling of how the Commission feels about approving this plan before we begin? No? NODA:No. GALDONES:I just have two -. SIRACUSA:Okay. GALDONES:I just have two people that signed up for testimony. Okay. Susan, you are representing, staff, right? GAGORIK:Yes. GALDONES:Okay. So you will be making a presentation also? MOON:Yes. GALDONES:So, Ma€am, can I have you sworn in, then? MOON:Sure. GALDONES:Please raise your right hand. GAGORIK:I should be sworn in, too? GALDONES:If you€re representing the staff, normally we don€t swear in the staff people. HAYASHI:It€s an unusual situation where Susan will also be representing the Downtown Steering Committee. GALDONES:Oh, I see. HAYASHI:So I think in that particular case she should be sworn in. GAGORIK:Okay. GALDONES:Oh, okay. Then I€ll have both of you ladies sworn in then. Please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Hawaii County Planning Commission? GAGORIK:I do. 2EXHIBIT B MOON:Yes. GALDONES:Okay, thankyou. Ladies, could you please state your name and your residence address. MOON:My name is Alice Moon. I reside at 121 Lokoaka Streetin Hilo, Hawaii. GAGORIK:My name is Susan Gagorik and my address is PO Box 188, Volcano, Hawaii. GALDONES:Ladies, you may proceed with your presentation. MOON:Thank you. Thank you, Planning Commission Members, for your time today.I€malittlenervous.I€veneverdonethisbefore,butthat€skindofwhat€sexcitingabout this whole process, is that it has never been done before; and so there may be a little bit of confusion. But we worked through all that because we are a grass roots community based effort to envision a future for Downtown Hilo. And we brought along some of our friends and supporters just because we are a little nervous. I do really thank you for this opportunity to present to you today. The Planning Department has provided a background report and I believe that the Commission has had an opportunity to review the community-based vision and living action plan for Downtown Hilo; and we really appreciate your time in this consideration. I€d also like to thank Susan Gagorik and the Planning Department in their support and encouragement throughout this entire process which has taken a little over a year and is still on- going. We really hope that this is going to serve as a model for other communities here on our island, and perhaps in the State and beyond. This has been a really unprecedented community planning process, as you can probably imagine having reviewed the document. It has never been done this way before; and we€re, again, very excited about that fact. But we want to make clear on a couple of things, that this is not the end of the planning process, this is really the beginning. It€s also not a perfect plan. We had some challenges with it; and I would like to bring up again the fact that this entire process was done, again, in a community-based grass roots effort without the services of a paid planning consultant, not that we would recommend this for any future community based efforts because it was a tremendous amount of work and it continues to be such. I just wanted to point out a couple of things to you today; and that is that when we came together to put this process together all of us that were in the initial workshop that were invited by Susan to come together to do this community visioning process, we all thought two things: We didn€t want this to be a plan that sat on the shelf. And in Downtown Hilo there have been several plans that have come through for various reasons. We were also very concerned that Downtown Hilo with all of the changes in our society, on our island here, we didn€t want Downtown Hilo to end up being like Kailua-Kona. And I know nobody has said that, but I€m going to say that, we didn€t want it to end up like Lahaina. And I€ve lived in Hilo, fortunately, for over 40 years. My family has been here since 1960; and we€ve seen a lot of changes. I grew up in Downtown, I 3EXHIBIT B love Downtown, my office is down there right now. I do a lot of events down there. But I€ve also worked for the Downtown Improvement Association, with the Hilo Main Street Program. And I was fortunate to meet lots of wonderful people. And some of the people that I€ve met included people from Lahaina who were looking to relocate because there were just too many people there and prices were too high for rent and to run a business. So we€re very concerned about that. And those were two factors that brought us together and our outreach into the community. Because of the rigorous outreach that we had included in our road show, and on page 87 of the document is the road show schedule, we€ve reached everyone that we could possibly reach in many various ways, from elected officials to walking and talking to Downtown people, businesses as well as people on the street, from Lions Club presentations to community association, to over 10,000 questionnaires that were distributed at the road show, at each of the road show presentations, as well as over 9,000 in the Hawaii Tribune Herald. We did radio interviews.AndIdon€tknowifyou€vebeenkeepingupwithourcolumn,aroundDowntown, we€ve been discussing it, this community vision and action plan, quite frequently in that column. So we did a tremendous amount of outreach and invitation to the community. And the result is this is the community speaking to us here through this document. The community identified 56 lead solution partners, and at least two times as many, if not three or four times as many, supporting partners. So the community came together and said these are the folks that we think could help with this vision. And 18 lead solution partners including myself have already signed on for this project for this process. So it has been a tremendous amount of outreach into the community. And we ask you to realize that this is the community€s voice here speaking to us, guiding us; and we€d like this to become a guide book for the community. The top two lead solution partners, no surprise, are the DIA (Downtown Improvement Association) and the County of Hawaii. When we first started the process of determining who could be a lead solution partner for these actions steps, hundreds of action items, as again you may have reviewed some of them, the government was at the top of the list in the very beginning. And we took careful time for and asked the community to consider other entities and other people because we realized that the government was not going to be the answer to all of the problems and to develop all of the actions. So it took very thoughtful and deliberative contemplation and extracting from community members who they thought could help us get these actions done. So we€re ready to move forward with this. We put up a map, thank you, I think Alice from the Planning Department ran and got this. Just for your reference this is included in the vision and action plan of the Downtown Hilo area that we€re talking about. I would like to turn it over to Susan Gagorik for a few words. And, again, I thank you for your consideration today. GAGORIK:Thank you, Alice. I am a Planning Department staff and I was assigned to work with the Friends of Downtown Hilo Steering Committee. I have to say this was one of the most rewarding, exciting and challenging projects that I€ve worked on. During the last 15 4EXHIBIT B months, we have met thousands of people that have worked hard to make Downtown Hilo what it is today and that are excited about implementing the actions that are listed in this action plan. I think the mere fact that Alice Moon and I are sitting here before you side by side making this presentation tells you something about our community visioning process. It has required us to change the way we do business as normal. We have had to acquire a new kind of mindset in terms of how we solve our problems and how we plan for the future. The plan talks strongly about collaboration, it talks about building partnerships, and it also talks about really developing leadership in our community. You know, we have strong leadership now but they€re all growing old. We need new leaders. And this process really helps you to identify new leaders, emerging leaders, I guess, I should say. So it€s an exciting process. And as Alice said this plan is not perfect, it is evolving, it is in motion, it€s changing through the new vision partners that are being identified, and also new people who are excited about being part of the process. We do have a request, Mr. Chairman. If this process is endorsed by the Planning Commission andalsoapprovedbytheCountyCouncil,wewouldliketotakethisdocumenttopublication. And doing this process will involve us doing a final review; and we would like your permission to make any non-substantive changes that will help to make this look a little more professional, I should say. There may be some typographical errors left. We may have missed people in the acknowledgements which we really want to include, and we may want to do some slight adjustments in moving things to make it better. And we would like your permission to do that after the County Council reviews the document. As Alice mentioned briefly, implementation is the key to this plan. You know, it doesn€t stop here. This is the kick-off for implementation; and our goals are after publication to do a celebration in January and an implementation kick-off where we begin to work with the vision partners to really help guide them as being active leaders to making the plan happen. Alice and I are here to answer any questions you may have. Thank you. GALDONES:Thank you, Ms. Moon and Ms. Gagorik. Commissioner Alameda. ALAMEDA:Thanks, Chair. You know, when I think about community development just as this one, Downtown Hilo, I can€t help but think about the host culture that the native Hawaiians - . And I do noticed in your road show you did go to some of the Alu Like kupuna, the Keaukaha Community Association, was Panaewa -. Just from your own memory with some of the native Hawaiians you spoke to, most of them were in favor of the proposal, or what kind of input did you get from the native Hawaiian community? MOON:Well, I think as most communities they were in favor of the process and what we were trying to accomplish. They provided us with lots of good feedback and asked to be included continually as, you know, we€ve made an effort, and, again, without substantial funding and without really any staffing to support it. The outreach and update has been slightly challenging but they have asked to be included in the future. We have made outreach, also to 5EXHIBIT B guide some of the projects that we have identified, some of the actions that we have identified. So I feel in general the Hawaiian community is looking at this in a good way. GAGORIK:And if I may add, Commissioner Alameda, if you look at pages 22 and 23, they were the results of the actual survey that we conducted. And you will note that education, culture and arts is a key focus area for downtown and that people really value cultural events. And I think that€s where that feel of the local -. MOON:And particularly the host culture and the Hawaiian culture. GAGORIK:Yeah, right. ALAMEDA:Good. I noticed that. Thank you. GALDONES:CommissionerSpringer? SPRINGERI€mjustwonderinghowthisplansynchronizeswithothergeneralregional or community plans. Like, for example, how this fits in with the General Plan. GALDONES:Norman, would you be able to comment on it? HAYASHI:I€d like to defer that question to the representative. GAGORIK:I believe, Commissioner Springer, that community visioning is a segue to community development planning. Community development plans are mentioned in the General Plan. There is no mentioning of a community visioning process. It€s really out of the box. But what we discovered was that this became a very vital method to bring the community together, because I think the value of the visioning process is that it brings people together to look forward in the future where they can develop a shared vision; and it allows them to come back to the present and begin to think of how they can achieve that. And part of that process means knowing the values of the community. And we€re beginning to understand now the values are very important aspects for a community planning, because how we value our communities are what we want to see in the future. And I think that this is a kick-start for community development planning. What we€ve discovered during the process was that the books that are presently sitting on the shelf were picked up. This document required us to look in the dungeon for some of the old plans, as Leonard Bisel is there today and he is helping with the Wailuku River project. But they had to go dig through all of these boxes to find plans that were hidden, because people had kind of forgotten about them. But this plan allowed us to pick up that landscaping plan, it also requires us to pick up the Downtown Improvement Association Plan that was done, because there are some key information that can help make this happen. So they work all in tandem. SPRINGER:Mr. Chair? GALDONES:Proceed. 6EXHIBIT B SPRINGER:So then part of the purpose in requesting the publication of the document be it to use it as a template when the County goes out to do the community development planning prescribed in the General Plan? GAGORIK:It€s a starting point for that. SPRINGER:Thank you. TAKEMOTO:I can elaborate. Actually, you asked a good question because in the General Plan, the General Plan officially recognizes the General Plan itself plus community development plans; and there€s no real specific mention of special area type plans like we have for Kailua-Kona. Although there€s nothing in the General Plan, there is a master plan for Kailua- Kona. There has been a plan for Downtown Hilo which was, actually the genesis of that one was part of the Hawaii Redevelopment Agency, you know, as a response to the tsunami flooding. Butmaybewhatweneedtodoisthinkaboutofficiallyrecognizingtheneedforthespecialarea plans where there are special needs. But getting back to the specifics of this Downtown Hilo Plan, what it did for the Department, I think, is really open our eyes to a different way of approaching planning and as a, almost like an experimental methodology of what we can use when we get into the community development plans. And, in fact, it has already influenced us in how we€re approaching the community development plans for, the first one being Kona; and we also are initiating, for the areas that are not funded for community development plans, we are going into what we€re calling a community readiness program where we€re going out to the community applying the lesson from this Downtown Hilo, emphasizing the process of how we get the community involved, building the capacity of the community so that hopefully the outcome is a more aware community that is able to participate in the decision-making processes in more meaningful and effective ways. SPRINGER:Thank you. GALDONES:Thank you, Mr. Takemoto. Commissioner Siracusa. SIRACUSA:Yes. I found it very interesting -. You know, in taking part in lots of meetings in the past - certainly when the Puna Community Development Plan was calling town meetings and taking input from the community; and later on when we started working on applying for Pahoa weed and seed we started looking at what our assets were, and what are needs were, and where we wanted to go, and how we wanted to get it. And it was so interesting to see that a lot of the same concerns and issues that there are in Puna were also in Hilo. I like your plan a lot and I do want to say that it amazed me that the people in Hilo are a lot more like the people in Puna than anybody thought; and that€s good. GALDONES:Commissioner Iwashita? IWASHITA:I really want to applaud all the effort that you€ve put into developing this plan. And I don€t know if you were here earlier when you heard my comments about, you know, my strong beliefs that community development planning, you know, is really the direction to go; 7EXHIBIT B and you€ve provided a good experience, I think, in starting on that road. I guess I€d like to know from you some ideas about -. The concern that I have is that, you know, I think the Council and the Department, the government, you know, really should get behind some specific proposals to help implement some of the ideas that you have here, together with the developers and all the other shareholders, in the process. And so I understood the comment about, you know, this is like a step towards getting something more specific in terms of what we€re calling community development plans and that, my understanding of that is that€s going to be law, it will be a County ordinance. So, if you can, I€d like further comments about what steps you anticipate taking going down that road. MOON:Well, we from the beginning have, you know, working with the Planning Department has been just a Godsend, really. I mean Susan Gagorik, all of the folks who have supported us in the Planning Department, it gave us kind of an inside track, so to speak, with other County Departments. I€ll just give you a little example. I€m a pretty small business, micro-business,andwhenIgooutandaskforsupportofsomethingpeoplekindofgo,oh,well, who are you, you know, where you€re from, what€s your -? You know, they€re looking at me as though kind of a small business, I don€t really know who you are. In partnership with County agencies or departments, when we go and say we are Friends of Downtown Hilo and we are supported by the Planning Department, people listen. The other point I€d like to make is that all along the way we€ve had the support of the Mayor, we€ve had the support of the two Councilmen who share our district - Stacy Higa, of course, has the majority but Donald Ikeda has a small sliver of Downtown as well. They have come to our workshops, they have attended our meetings; we have gone to them and presented information. Also the department heads, the various department heads, Pat Englehart and Pam Mizuno of the Parks and Recreation has been very involved. The Department of Environmental Management has been involved. Public Works, Bruce McClure, and Jiro Sumada have been very, very involved in all of the processes. At some points along the way, you know, they have said, okay, we€ll take that project. So we€re identifying them in the action plan for a specific action. Some of them were self-identified. So we€ve had that support from, and I€m missing a few I€m sure, Research and Development, Jane Testa, from a real strong group of the County Department Heads. So I think when it comes to taking the action, on one hand some of the things are already happening. Some of the things that were developed in the plan have already gotten started. On the other hand, some of these items may not ever come to fruition because these people are going to be the ones who, the lead solution partners are going to be the ones to determine is this a feasible project. So the community has spoken and said this is our vision; and now it€s up to the lead solution partners and the implementation committee. And we do have an implementation strategy in place; and that€s something else that was fairly unique about this plan, about this process, is that we built in the succession, so to speak, of the Friends of Downtown Hilo for implementation. So part of the implementation plan is to go out there and secure the rest of the lead solution partners in developing these actions. I don€t know if that answers your question or not. IWASHITA:It helps. 8EXHIBIT B MOON:Okay. GAGORIK:Can I try? IWASHITA:Sure. GAGORIK:On page 83 there is a list of lead solution partners that were identified in the plan. Implementation again, Commissioner Iwashita, is another organic process for us. I don€t recall us taking a plan to implementation; and this is our first effort to do this; and we€re starting with an implementation committee. And this committee, one of the first responsibilities of the committee will be to meet with the lead solution partners, and to help them to understand the plan and how we want to move forward in a collaborative manner. And through this process we hope to educate them on the key components of the plan, and how all of the parts need to work in tandem, and that the partnership roles are real critical. Several of the actions have, have commitmentfromCountyagencies;somehavecommitmentsfromprivategroupsand organizations. For example, parking is one of the top issues in Downtown. And Public Works was assigned as a lead vision solution partner. Bruce McClure has shown us his support by coming to meetings, he attends DIA meetings, and there is a subcommittee being formed to really look at the parking issue now. So that action is being worked. There are other actions that are being pursued by different groups also and they will begin to move forward with that; and we€re hoping the implementation committee will keep track of this. This is a real big task and it€s also a challenge. We€re hoping perhaps next year we may be able to bring in some help from a community in Hillsborough, Oregon that are at their five-year review period of their action plan. So they may be able to provide us with some insight on the process. GALDONES:Commissioner Siracusa. SIRACUSA:I seem to remember something in the plan about outside seating like sidewalk Caf± kind of thing; and I know that there are problems legally with putting chairs and tables out on sidewalks. There are rules about that. And so there may be a necessity to change some of the rules, or in some cases change some County laws as well. And I€m wondering if the implementation committee is going to be the one who would look at these things and see legislative ways to leap over some of the obstacles to achieving your visions. GAGORIK:It will not actually be the implementation committee because the implementation committee steers the process. The actual group would be the lead solution partners; and I believe it was Public Works in this particular -. SIRACUSA:In that instance. GAGORIK:In the plan it was identified as Department of Public Works. But we also have a vision partner in the community who is very interested in getting the laws changed. So 9EXHIBIT B we€re hoping to form a subcommittee to make sure that they can be reviewed adequately and see if this is a feasible process. SIRACUSA:Well, I€m glad to hear that you have identified that as a need in order to move forward with your plan and figured out how you€re going to do that. Thank you. MOON:Yeah, we€re trying to look at the constraints, obviously, to some of these; but we had to stop short of actually, you know, determining whether it was feasible or not. We really just, this is again a guide that the community has these dreams and visions; and if it€s possible let€s do them. But the lead solution partners are going to be the ones to help us figure that out, you know, if it is feasible to do those things. SIRACUSA:Yeah, thank you, Alice. GALDONES:Arethereanyfurtherquestions?CommissionerIwashita. IWASHITA:Yeah,Ifullysupporttheprocess.ButIwanttoencourageanythingthat you can do to keep the community involved and keep the people involved. And I have a concern actually when you talk about lead solution partners, right, and then start deferring, I don€t know if that€s the correct word, but start deferring implementation of your plan to lead solution partners. Because now you€re starting to go back, to me that€s going backwards. And that you need to keep the community effort and the interest and empower that so that it gets done. You know, if you need to widen sidewalks to accommodate, you know, putting tables out, you need the community to keep pressing on getting that done. If you need, you know, to make changes so that this free bus system works better in Downtown Hilo, then the community needs, I mean, you need to do that. If you leave it up to Tom Rounds, and Tom Rounds is a great guy; you know he has a lot of good ideas, he€s a real busy but, you know, I mean, to me this is your plan. If you step away from it and said okay, here, take care of it for us, then you€ve stepped away from it. So, you know, that€s just my observation. GAGORIK:Thank you. And we will need you to continue to remind us so that, as we€ve had to remind ourselves during this process, that who is the greater community that this plan is for and how can we make sure we capture all of those ideas. And we had to constantly check ourselves in processing the information. I mean it€s easy to just say, okay, put that aside and put this aside. But we had to bring all of the ideas together and make sure we were able to summarize and capture what the community wanted. IWASHITA:My suggestion is that, you know, you have put a lot of effort and come out with a lot of good ideas, and to make them work you need to keep at it, basically. And that I really see the community -. I mean, you€ve got to be selfish about this in a way, right? The community, it€s your community, it€s your shops, it€s your apartments, it€s your houses, you know, and it€s your neighborhood. And if you wanted this to happen, to make it better, right, to have more people there, to have a diverse economic community that€s striving, then you need to do it. I mean, and that€s, I€m here to say I would support an effort to do that, any proposals to change laws, you know, zoning laws, design laws as far as how buildings are going to be built and what they need to look like, you know, to maintain the architectural integrity of old 10EXHIBIT B downtown Hilo. All of those things, you need to stay on top of that; and those are good things that can be done. But laws need to be made to do it; and, you know, you need to work with the Council people and the people who have the actual legal authority to do it to get it done. But my concern is that if you allow the community to step back away from the process now then it€s going to end up with a lot of dust on it. GALDONES:Ms. Moon? MOON:Well, we appreciate your concerns; we have those concerns also. And that€s why we€re really looking very carefully at the implementation process to assure that it involves community members all the way along the path. And, again, just the volume of the lead solution partners and then multiply that by the supporting solution partners, I think that, I mean, I personally can say, you know, I€m going to be, I€m a watchdog. So, I mean, I am involved in it as much as I can. IWASHITA:Be a bull dog. MOON:Yeah, well, I€ve been accused of that. But, you know, this is, you speak of yourcommunityand,youknow,Ijustwanttoremindusallthatit€sourDowntown.Sowe€re all stakeholders. So when you see these happenings, I encourage you to participate in them and to be a part of that community because you are a part of the Downtown Community, whether you live, work, play or even just drive through there. And, you know, your comment about the Puna people, we had lots of, several Puna people involved in our process; and they, too, expressed that, boy, you know, we€re a lot alike, we have a lot of the same issues and concerns. So I think it behooves us to take all ownership of this process and all along the way that€s what we€re going to insist on. So I invite you to become part of that process as well. And I appreciate your comments and feedback, it€s important. GALDONES:Okay. Any further questions or comments to Ms. Moon or Ms. Gagorik? Otherwise, there are two individuals from the public who have signed up to testify. Susan and Alice if you could render the chairs to these people. Excuse me, sir. Mr. Clark, are you going to be testifying, too? CLARK:Yes, sir. GALDONES:Could you please come forward, then I can have you folks sworn in at the same time. Is there anybody else from the public going to be testifying? Can you please step forward, too? Do we have enough chairs for all of you? Could you please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Hawaii County Planning Commission? TESTIFIERS:I do. GALDONES:Okay, we€ll start with you, Ma€am. Could you state your name and your residence address. Could you speak into the microphone so we can have you recorded. Ma€am? 11EXHIBIT B RADFORD:Barbara Radford, 234 Anela Street, Hilo. CLARK:Edward Clark, Keaau. Professor Bernier-Nachtwey posted around the Councilroom pictures of the various planets. BERNIER-My name is Professor Bernier-Nachtwey, simpler would be Chris. NACHTWEY: My wife is giving you something to look at. GALDONES:We have to swear you in first. BERNIER-Oh, swear in. NACHTWEY: GALDONES:Couldyoupleaseraiseyourrighthand.Doyouswearoraffirmtotellthe truth on this matter now before the Hawaii County Planning Commission? BERNIER-Oh, swear in. NACHTWEY: GALDONES:Could you state your name and your residence address. Could you speak into the microphone so we can have you recorded. BERNIER-Bernier-Nachtwey, E. Floyd. NACHTWEY: GALDONES:Okay, sir, you may begin. BERNIER-If you could wait a moment, it will just be a second. NACHTWEY: GALDONES:Sir, you need to speak into the microphone -. HAYASHI:Sir, can you use the mike. BERNIER-Oh, I€ll speak louder. NACHTWEY: GALDONES:So that we can have you recorded, thank you. BERNIER-Actually I€ve always found that microphones have a fluttery sound. NACHTWEY: Hannah, Chris, Fred, Ivan, Rene€, Andrew, William, I want to at least say hello to you because you€re the people that are doing this and I€d like to try to be friendly. First thing I wanted to do was cite for you on your, right here, do you see this? What€s happening to 12EXHIBIT B the microphone. Okay, right on your own logo you have a volcano and you have the sun. These are two things that are uniquely Hawaiian. And Hawaii is the center in the sense of navigation and astronomy; and it€s the farthest place from any place in the would. And it has the most highly developed unique astronomy center that had their fingers slapped a little while ago for being disrespectful but I€m sure that will develop beyond this. And then the sun -. Well, what I€m proposing here is that you have, we have, testing, we have a unique condition that is already here; and with a very simple, very simple addition of lights you can have a tremendous self-identity thing for Hilo. We€ve already got the new astronomy center up by the University. We€ve also got the astronomy center up at the top of the mountain, Mauna Kea. So what I€m proposing is that we would have lights on the harbor at one foot distances like, well, this is covering it, but over here Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto at one foot to the million miles. It becomes not only a symbolic imagery, it becomes an educational imagery. Any one who comes into Hilo, anyone who comes to the port that visits Hilo, they see this. Okay, that€sthefirstpartofit. ThenIwantedyoutoconsiderthis,acelestialparkforHilo.Closedownalltheroadsand parking in front of Hilo, the celestial town, except for the Highway behind the fence and one entrance at each end. Do we cater to people in cars with exhaust fumes or do we specialize in people? How do I propose a celestial theme for Hilo dedicated to navigation and astronomy? How about a park with a dozen or so picnic benches with chess, checkers, a skateboard court, a marble court, a jungle gym, Hawaiian golf (you use a bowling ball instead of a golf ball), a joggers path around the park, bikes, pedicabs and horse with carriage. Okay, what this is is a proposal for participation in the town. Okay? Around the park, gardenias, pikakes, ginger, roses and plumeria - all walkers, young and old are blessed with the celestial aromas, the heavenly aromas of Hilo. Hilo is this special place. It€s magical. All stores would use the existing cobblestones. You notice these right here the little drawings, the existing cobblestones are actually in along the front of the stores. They€re totally neglected, they€ve been there for a hundred years. Just like the little rings on the side street, nobody notices them, those used to hold the horses. Okay? Those existing cobblestones where the cement series of block in between the cobblestones would make it wide enough for an emergency vehicle. But the middle one would be able to use for, for instance, the chairs for disabled people so that within the cobblestones it would go blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah; and, of course, it would irritate the old people. Okay, so all stores would use the existing cobblestones for a second walkway joggers path. Every restaurant in Hilo should have a sidewalk caf± (more activities) sports and concerts. How about a dozen kiosks? Money. There you go. If it becomes a park, you put a dozen kiosks there and each one is dedicated to the different planet and then you charge the fee for the kiosks it will pay for upkeep of the park. It will pay, $2,000 to $3,000 for a dozen kiosks, that€d be $25,000 a month. That would pay for itself; and I€m certain that people would go to all of these 13EXHIBIT B as they stroll in the park. Without a doubt, New York with its central park was pioneering; and the people that have put that through have had millions of people appreciate it. And every one has an appreciation for that because it was far thinking and it was humane. Okay? How about a dozen kiosks, okay? For heaven€s sake, never give up your cars. You might have to walk a block or two. Of course, there would be no carbon monoxide in the stores or bouncing off the stores when you walk along the Kings Avenue. I€ll make it quick. The sidewalks are a conduit as you walk along of exhaust fumes. They enter from the bay, swoops over, brings all the carbon monoxide into the front of the stores, swooping around, and then it goes inside the stores; and then it goes back to start the whole sequence over again. How many times have you heard old people say that they get dizzy when they walk in Hilo? That€s because of the carbon monoxide. Those thousand cars are parked there every single day and people leave them running constantly. Okay? The exhausts are a conduit. Cars took over about a hundred years ago and we have been sucking up their cancerous pollution ever since. We need to be far thinking. We need to be courageous, not cowardly. We need to have Mayor KimbecourageousKimandinitiatewiththeCouncilthiswholethingandpushitthrough.Not how do we do it but do it. Okay? After all the Hawaiian Polynesians were the greatest th navigators in the world prior to the 20 Century technology. Pele€s island is the highest and lowest place on the place of the earth withthe greatest observatory complex ever created. Our celestial park would move from the Hilo fence at a gradual incline up to three feet high and slope downward to the stores. Rich Hamakua soil installed right over the existing black top will defend against those who will say, Who€s going to pay for the millions it will cost to tear up the asphalt?‚ Just put it right over the top, plant the grass, have the flowers. And except for maybe additions of trees here and there, it would take very little as far as movement of existing things. No trees uprooted. All existing trees to enhance the park. It€s about time they put lights on the breakwater, the first proposal. Well, their harbor pilot said to me when I told him about the project to put small lights on the breakwater at intervals, it€s abouttime.Well,IknowIsoundalittleverboseinsayingthis.Buthowdoyousaysomuch without being verbose? But, hopefully, it was colorful enough that it kept your attention, that youenjoyedit,orthatmaybeyoumightdiscussitorconsiderit.Iwouldsaythatputtinglights on the harbor would be a minimal expense and would accent the environment. It would accent the imagery and it would complement Hilo, the new astro center, and the astronomy centers at the top of Mauna Kea. It would also accent education because there is a new thing that has been developed that simplifies our solar system into small fractions in numbers, that being that the distance from the sun to the earth is like one, the distance to Jupiter would be like five, the distance to Saturn would be like ten, the distance to Uranus would be like twenty, thirty, and forty. Who cannot remember five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty versus four billion, nine hundred and sixty four million, eight hundred seventy two, seven hundred seventy eight million, five hundred forty three thousand two hundred and twenty two? So, I mean, those numbers are mindboggling. We have coming out of Hawaii a pioneering educational presentation about our whole system that we live in. 14EXHIBIT B So from big to small, from high to low, at least consider this harbor lights things first and then, of course, the monumental idea of a park, which as I understand it a lot of people are very slow in plotting. I think you could go in there tomorrow with a truckful of dirt, cover it over, and then rename all the streets after the Kings of Hawaii. Who remembers, what€s his name, Furnow, Furneaux? And why is it Shipman? But if you had the Kings of Hawaii like Paea, Kamehameha, Iolani Liholiho, Kauwike Awili, Alexander Liho, Lunaliho, Kalakaua, Liliuokalani, and Kaiulani with arches, you know, like wrought iron arches; and that€s the presentation of history, the monarchy, the Hawaiians and also the really sophisticated feeling of wrought iron. Well, anyway, that€s my fanciful thing; and I appreciate all of you, I won€t say your name all over again, but I certainly do appreciate it. And if, my nickname is Chris, so it€s a little simpler than Bernier-Nachtwey. So I hope you enjoyed it or appreciated it. This is one other thing you might take a quick look at. This was a proposal for a children€s jungle gym. And the jungle gym would also be an educational thing cause it would teach the informationaboutourHiLoplace,Hilo,HiLo.Sothankyou. GALDONES:Thankyou,Chris.Mr.Clark? CLARK:Justbriefly,EdwardClark,designer,planner,projectmanager.I€vebeen involved with this process for Downtown Hilo since 1987. So these ideas presented have been an evolution, not from myself but from the entire community. We€re not presenting plans that just came to us now or just off the top of our head. There were planning sessions where the entire community came together in different sessions, at different times, to voice their ideas, to present their plans; and the result is what you see now. It is still a process; and it€s one which I invite you to implement because of the importance to the Downtown. We need the planning and we need your authorization to make it officially an enterprise of the County. I simply want to add my Amen to what had been said before as to the importance and the urgency for this matter. Thank you. GALDONES:Thank you, Mr. Clark. Commissioners, any questions of Mr. Clark? Ma€am RADFORD:I also have been involved with the planning of this; and it has been a wonderful experience. I have had the experience to have done it in Washington state in this district of Bellview or the City of Bellview. And when I started it was the groundpoint; and we actually were able to publicize a book that actually that City still uses today as a referral, so we don€t forget we need a business plan. Some of the things that I wanted to share with you guys is -. Commissioner Springer you had a good question about the General Plan, and Chris Yuen brought up the subarea; and those are typical to see in my experience. I€m a realtor and have been in the commercial end for quite some time. I find that this plan is very helpful in creating a subarea such as Downtown Hilo, possibly, but I also want to thank the County for bringing up the new General Plan to date after a long process and to see that there is so much of that high density commercial that€s running through our Kinoole, Kilauea and Kam. And so I think that it fits well into the plan. One of the things that is in our plan is creating economic vitality within our town and safe streets which is 15EXHIBIT B really important to our community and our citizens. And with the proposal, they talk about mixed use projects; and hopefully with the help of the County we€ll be able to see those things coming up. As regards to your thoughts and your concerns about stakeholders -. When I hear stakeholders, I think about people who actually own land in the Downtown area. How involved are they? You know, I don€t know how many were actually involved in the process. I€m sure there were quite a few. We have a lot of business people who were involved and still are involved. I see that, I put out a letter to our stakeholders, actually ones who own land in Hilo in the Downtown core to find out what their involvement would be, if they were interested in seeing change and that they get involved with the process. And I see that there has been a lot of movement, as far as purchasing and selling of land in the downtown core as well as fixing it up; and that was the primary goal, is to see our downtown Hilo revitalized, that people take those old buildings and fix them up. So I hope that you€ll consider this proposal and actually enforce it. I think it would be a great book forustofollow. AndinregardstoourfriendChriswhowasupheretalkingabouthisideas,Ithinkthatmaybehe should get involved in our transportation because we do have parking issues and we€re considering in the proposal a thought of having off-site parking and having shuttles go into down so that would alleviate some of the traffic. He can get involved there, and beautification of our town. GALDONES:Thank you. Commissioners, any questions? Otherwise, thank you, both of you for being here, making your points of view heard by us. Thanks. RADFORD:Thank you. CLARK:Thanks. GALDONES:Could we have Ms. Gagorik and Ms. Moon back up, please. We€re getting close to decision-making. I€m giving you folks the opportunity to come with a closing comment. MOON:Well, a lot has been said today and you€ve had some thoughtful comments and questions. I appreciate once again your time in looking at this wonderful community based vision and living action plan, Ike ia Hilo, Envision Downtown Hilo 2025; and I just encourage you and ask that you pass along a favorable recommendation to the County Council to adopt this plan as a resolution in support of the plan. GAGORIK:I€d just like to thank you today for hearing us and being open to reviewing a new kind of planning. Thank you. GALDONES: Ms. Gagorik, I just want to clarify one thing, that you are asking the Commissioners to give it a favorable recommendation, with the understanding that there may be clerical and formatting changes but no substantive changes made to the plan? 16EXHIBIT B GAGORIK:Right. GALDONES:Okay, thank you. SIRACUSA:I€m prepared -. GALDONES:Commissioner Siracusa. SIRACUSA:I€m prepared to make a motion. GALDONES:If there€s no further questions of the Commissioners, the Chair is prepared to entertain a motion. Ms. Siracusa? SIRACUSA:InthematteroftheEnvisionDowntownHilo2025,acommunitybased vision and living action plan for Downtown Hilo which was prepared by the Friends of Downtown Hilo Steering Committee, I move that we send a favorable recommendation to the Hawaii County Council and that that recommendation will include the understanding that a publishable version of the plan shall not include any substantive changes but only minor changes to make the presentation more readable. IWASHITA:Second. GALDONES:It has been moved by Commissioner Siracusa and seconded by Commissioner Iwashita that the Friends of Downtown Hilo Steering Commission EnVision be Downtown Hilo 2025, a Community-Based Vision and Living Action Plan for Downtown Hilo given a favorable recommendation and be forwarded to the County Council with the understanding so stated. Further discussion on the motion? Hearing none? Norman? HAYASHI:Thank you, Mr. Chair. Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Aye. HAYASHI:Commissioner Iwashita? IWASHITA:Aye. HAYASHI:Commissioner Springer? SPRINGER:Yes. HAYASHI:Commissioner Watanabe? WATANABE:Aye. HAYASHI:Commissioner Alameda? 17EXHIBIT B ALAMEDA:Yes. HAYASHI:Commissioner Graham? GRAHAM:Aye. HAYASHI:Chair Galdones? GALDONES:Aye. HAYASHI:Mr. Chair, motion carries. GALDONES:Thank you, Norman. Ms. Moon, Ms. Gagorik, you folks will be notified inwriting. GAGORIK:Thankyou. MOON:Thankyouverymuch.IlookforwardtoseeingyouinDowntown. Thediscussionendedat11:25a.m. Respectfully submitted, Sharon M. Nomura East Hawaii Secretary 18EXHIBIT B