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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-09-18 SKCDP Minutes FinalMitchell D. Roth Mayor Lee E. Lord Managing Director Zendo Kern Director Jeffrey W. Darrow Deputy Director County of Hawai‘i PLANNING DEPARTMENT SOUTH KOHALA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE Aupuni Center • 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 • Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720 Phone (808) 961-8288 • Fax (808) 961-8742 1 1 Monday, September 18, 2023 2 Final Mee�ng Minutes 3 CALL TO ORDER 4 Chair Smith called the South Kohala Community Development Plan (SKCDP) Ac�on Commitee 5 (AC) to order at 5:03 P.M. This mee�ng was held via the zoom interac�ve video pla�orm. The 6 onsite loca�on to view this mee�ng was in the Waikōloa School Library. 7 ROLL CALL 8 AC Members Present: Ruth Annete Smith (Chair), Julia Ann Alos, Kevin McLaughlin, Bill Sanborn, 9 Karen Anderson, Tris�e Licoan, and Scot Nagata via Zoom 10 AC Members Absent-Excused: Mark Gordon and Peter Hendricks 11 County Officials: Deputy Corpora�on Counsel, Keyra Wong 12 County Staff: Bethany Morrison, Maryam Palma, Talmadge Magno (Civil Defense Administrator) 13 Members of the public: Members of the public atended the mee�ng in person and via Zoom. 14 ANNOUNCEMENTS: 15 Maryam gave a review of the mee�ng protocols: 16 PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS: Writen tes�mony may be submited via email at 17 cdp@hawaiicounty.gov or in person at the Hilo or Kona Planning Department, up to two (2) 18 business days prior to the mee�ng (see the No�ce Sec�on below). In addi�on, members of the 19 public may provide oral tes�mony at the mee�ng on any of the agenda items. To register for 20 access to the Zoom mee�ng please email cdp@hawaiicounty.gov. With discre�on of the Chair of 21 the CP Ac�on Commitee, comments may be made either during the public comment por�on. of 22 the agenda or just prior to the relevant business item and may be limited to three (3) minutes. in 23 length per agenda item 24 Bethany Morrison gave an update on the General Plan. Stated that the online dra� of the 25 General Plan launched today. The public can submit comments online un�l November 20, using 26 an interac�ve comment system. The planning department will be hos�ng scheduled events to 27 gather input, as well as doing presenta�ons at community mee�ngs and other events upon 28 invita�on. You can email generalplan@hawaiicounty.gov for more informa�on. Chair Smith 29 www.planning.Hawaiʻicounty.gov/ CDP@Hawaiʻicounty.gov Page 2 Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer Page 30 31 asked about CDP treatment in general plan update. CDPs were reviewed in prepara�on for 32 General Plan updates, implementa�on is included in the implementa�on sec�on. 33 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 34 Committee Member Anderson made a motion to approve the October 24,2022 minutes. 35 Seconded by Committee Member Licoan. Motion passed with 6 votes aye, 0 votes nay. 36 PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS: 37 David Olajos gave public comment asking about a second access road and if there is an op�on to 38 use municipal bonds to fund it. Chair Smith gave an update on the current status of the proposal 39 for a road related to Waikōloa Heights. 40 Cindy noted that there is a County process each year, someone in the Mayor’s administra�on 41 proposes what goes into bonds from the County each year. Also explained how improvement 42 districts process works (Where all the TMK’s within the district pay for the improvement in their 43 property taxes, which does require voter approval) 44 Julia commented about Waikōloa Heights having an obliga�on to build the second access road, 45 but no further informa�on is available at this �me. 46 BUSINESS: 47 1. Emergency Preparedness: Discussion on the effec�veness of implementa�on of the 48 Emergency Preparedness Plans. 49 a. August 8th, 2023 Wildfire 50 Mary Wainwright gave public comment explaining that she has a pe��on to request for 51 construc�on of a second access road. Mary stated that she has been receiving many comments 52 from residents regarding this issue. She also wants to be sure that the developer is held to their 53 commitment e.g. by having money in an escrow account. Mary also asked a ques�on regarding 54 fire breaks. Julia replied that Tim Richards said he would get a list of fire breaks together for 55 maintenance. 56 Pam North gave public comment via email which was read by Maryam. She recommended 57 installing sirens, a second access road and evacua�on plans. Pam men�oned a bus route to 58 connect the village to the Waikōloa Beach resort area. Also recommended having some buses 59 parked by the Waikōloa school so they could help in an evacua�on. Currently parents are 60 required to pick up their children from the school. 61 Mitch Richardson gave public comment asking if there are any plans for planned burns to help 62 reduce fire load? Elizabeth responded that she would provide more informa�on later in the 63 mee�ng. 64 www.planning.Hawaiʻicounty.gov/ CDP@Hawaiʻicounty.gov Page 3 County Staff Talmadge gave comment on this topic. Civil Defense’s role is to coordinate the 65 County’s response to emergencies/natural disasters, from training and prep to response and 66 recovery. Processes are governed by FEMA rules to qualify for FEMA funding and support. Must 67 follow FEMA-defined “Mission areas.” Noted that Mul�-hazard Mi�ga�on plans are updated 68 every 5 years and update starts this year. (This is a FEMA Requirement) The above listed plan 69 lists a variety of projects related to the mission areas; projects listed in the plan can get federal 70 funding. Waikōloa priori�es need to get into the plan during regular plan updates, which starts 71 this fall. 72 Talmadge described what “coordina�ng” means in terms of working in the EOC (Emergency 73 Opera�ons Center) Clarified that HFD is responsible for wildfire response and has the incident 74 command at the scene; Civil defense provides opera�ons support. Described how prepara�ons 75 go for an event that can poten�ally be seen coming (E.g. fire condi�ons, hurricane) and 76 preparedness for individuals for unexpected events (E.g. earthquake) 77 Regarding the recent fire: there was a no�ce of fire, EOC was ac�vated, call to the Mayor, phone 78 tree calls start going out, start working event (coordina�ng opera�ons, incident ac�on plan (IAP) 79 Fire department called the evacua�on, police went door to door and drove around with audible 80 announcements. 81 Regarding Evacua�ons: decision is the responsibility of the senior officer on the ground, e.g. fire 82 or police. Once it’s called then the decision is formalized in a mayor’s emergency proclama�on. 83 Evacua�ons start off voluntary un�l the Mayor’s proclama�on and then it’s a mandatory 84 evacua�on. Regarding the Mauna Kea situa�on, they determined they would shelter in place 85 with defensive water use. This decision was made by the fire batalion chief. 86 Tris�e noted that communica�on with employees during the event was broken, so there is an 87 effort to put in place a new system to ensure communica�on with employees at the resort; 88 Tris�e explained some of how the Mauna Kea resort management and security were not 89 prepared for an event with road closures, so some work is being done to handle these addi�onal 90 types of situa�ons. 91 Ques�on from the public asked about Waikōloa Village evacua�ons? Chair Smith explained the 92 current situa�on with the emergency evacua�on road and that there have been some prac�ces. 93 94 Ques�on from the public asked about communica�ons at Mauna Kea during fire, social media 95 sites on phones provided beter informa�on. Follow up ques�on, what happens if cell phones 96 aren’t working? AC member Bill noted that Civil Defense has separate communica�on and asked 97 how it is integrated: Talmadge noted that they do have a separate “land mobile” system with 98 different frequencies, the coordina�on is done by people at the EOC since the systems between 99 the departments are not interconnected. There is a backup system where key staff have “AT&T 100 FirstNet” which priori�zes their calls on the network, there is also amateur radio as a possible 101 backup. AC member Karen agreed that the community should work to get the second access 102 road on the project list for the updated Mul�-hazard Mi�ga�on Plan; also that it should go into 103 the General Plan. AC member Julia noted that they should provide our second access road 104 report to the Civil Defense. 105 www.planning.Hawaiʻicounty.gov/ CDP@Hawaiʻicounty.gov Page 4 AC member Bill commented on tsunami evacua�ons crea�ng challenges, such as ge�ng people 106 out of resorts and up to Waikōloa Village and then sheltering those people in the village. 107 Elizabeth from Hawai’i Wildfire gave an update: “Ready, Set, go”, first, prepara�on: have a plan, 108 replace combus�ble materials with non-combus�ble, remove debris. Be aware, sign up for Civil 109 Defense messages, watch for fire condi�ons and be ready. When a fire situa�on comes up, leave 110 early to be clear of possible evacua�on; can come back later if it’s ok. For formal no�fica�ons, 111 developing a system of alerts so that there will be some info (e.g. green level), then more 112 serious informa�on (e.g. yellow level and orange level), then emergency informa�on (red level); 113 Civil Defense terms: Advisory, Watch, Warning (correspond to yellow, orange, red) The new 114 system men�oned above is from “Everbridge” and people can sign up. Noted that Waikōloa 115 Village is in the minority in having a second evacua�on road in Hawai’i; many communi�es don’t 116 have a second road out. Regarding prescribed burns, haven’t typically used it here in Hawai’i due 117 to condi�ons and personnel availability; some tes�ng Maui, but not preferred here at this �me 118 (one other reason is that mostly we have grass and then the grass quickly comes back) Mayor 119 has just created an interagency working group to address fire safety etc. 120 Public comment: David (from Waikōloa school) is on safety commitee for school and asked if 121 there is an evacua�on plan and if he could get access to it. Cindy noted that there have been 122 efforts over the years to put together a community plan for disaster preparedness/response, 123 and the current version should be shown to the County to see what can be done with it. Julia 124 noted that this plan has been submited to Civil Defense and the County but no ac�on. 125 b. August 2022 Mānā Road 126 127 2. Permited Interac�on Group (Subcommitee) Updates: 128 a. Hawai’i Island Tourism: 129 Has not yet met, AC Member Tris�e had an update; she got the dra� 2020-2025 plan from Frecia 130 Savalos for us to review. 131 132 b. South Kohala CDP Review 133 On hold 134 c. Waimea Preserva�on 135 AC member Bill explained that Waimea was founded as a corporate town (i.e. a Parker built 136 town) Working on a framework to make a list of what the community wants to see preserved in 137 Waimea. Bill suggested that using the PONC system is a good way to get input from the 138 community to the County about what should be preserved. Bill said they had a community 139 group mee�ng on this topic and plan to have another. 140 d. County Roads and Bridges 141 i. Waikoloa Heights feasibility study, and second access road possibility. 142 MOU signed by developers and adjacent landowners for feasibility study; public will receive 143 further no�fica�ons as updates occur; developer working on engineering plans. Cindy 144 www.planning.Hawaiʻicounty.gov/ CDP@Hawaiʻicounty.gov Page 5 added that there is a discussion about how the road will intersect with Queen K and Public 145 Works is involved in the discussion. State DOT has also been involved and did note that 146 there was a stated requirement that it not align with the Puakō Rd. Public comment by 147 Michael Konowicz: Director Kern said that the developer must bear the cost of the road, 148 and the road must be built when some trigger condi�on is met (i.e. when some certain 149 numbers of homes are built), but that has not been communicated. Also gave ideas for how 150 to get crea�ve on ge�ng the road built sooner. Noted that the original approval for 151 Waikōloa Heights says that the developer will include fire breaks and use fire-resistant 152 materials, asked Planning to check on this. Public comment from Tiga Kailimai online, from 153 Kailapa community, Her and other HOA board members are CERT cer�fied; she noted that 154 there are no evacua�on routes in her community. Noted they have a pavilion and are 155 working on a bigger pavilion with facili�es for shelter. AC Member Karen men�oned a 156 concern from Puakō about the possibility of the road coming into the Puakō community, as 157 some people might drive down that road and have nowhere to go. AC Member Bill asked 158 about the Puakō evacua�on road (at the end to Mauna Lani), which Karen explained is paid 159 for by Puakō community and locked with a gate that must be opened by a member of the 160 Puakō community (only 3 people have the code) ii. Waikōloa intersec�on traffic control 161 plans. 162 AC Member Kevin commented that the roundabout is not the preferred solu�on, and we 163 really need something now, not nothing un�l the roundabout is eventually done in the 164 future. Mike Konowicz spoke to mayor, said something could be changed, but no 165 commitment, suggested to send a leter. Mo�on: 166 Amended to read: Chair Ruth to send a leter to the mayor to urge moving forward on a 167 traffic light now (instead of a roundabout later) Bill made the mo�on, Tris�e seconded 168 the mo�on. 169 Amended to read: Bill commented to include report previously sent by commitee 170 members Julia, Kevin and Ruth in 2019 to mayor. Roll call vote: Scot, Bill, Kevin, Tris�e, 171 Ruth and Karen: Aye, Julia: Nay [SEE YOUTUBE TIME STAMP 1:09:30 – 1:15:29] 172 iii. Proposed roundabout at Lindsey Rd and Kawaihae Rd 173 Addi�onal note from Bethany: Hulu street evacua�on road ge�ng some surfacing 174 improvements. 175 AC Member Bill also noted that we should consider if we should con�nue the other 176 subcommitees or end them if ac�vity is not going to happen. 177 3. Puakō water and wastewater systems update. 178 To be updated at next mee�ng 179 180 4. Kawaihae potable water discussion 181 Cindy explained that Kawaihae needs water, they get water from Kohala Ranch and don’t have 182 good water pressure (couldn’t fight a fire with it, for example) Cindy also noted that Kailapa 183 www.planning.Hawaiʻicounty.gov/ CDP@Hawaiʻicounty.gov Page 6 doesn’t have evacua�on plans if there is an emergency, they’ve asked for evacua�on mauka. AC 184 Member Kevin asked about possible follow up ac�ons: Cindy said that it is challenging to get 185 water from Lālāmilo down the road to Kailapa/Kawaihae as it requires bigger pipes. Cindy said 186 that they could make a new well up above Kailapa and have their own water. OHA just got 187 $350m for projects, so Cindy suggested they work on the water proposal, but this is in DHHL; 188 chair of commission is also exec director of DHHL, and they have to propose it. AC Member 189 Karen said do whatever it takes to get on the list. 190 Public comment from Cathy said that she is concerned about fireworks, and use of illegal 191 fireworks. 192 James announced next South Kohala traffic safety mee�ng schedule. 193 PROPOSED AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: Proposed 194 mee�ng on Nov. 13, Details TBD 195 November 8, 2023 Mayor will be guest at Cindy’s Mee�ng. 196 197 ADJOURNMENT: 198 Committee Member Sanborn made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by 199 Committee Member McLaughlin. The motion passed with 6 votes aye, 0 votes nay. The meeting 200 was adjourned at 7:02 PM 201 These minutes and all related documents are available in the Planning Department’s Kaʻū 202 Community Development Plan Ac�on Commitee folder via the County of Hawaiʻi Public 203 Documents Repository. These documents may also be requested from the Planning Department 204 by calling (808) 961-8288 or emailing cdp@Hawaiʻicounty.gov. 205