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Home My WebLink About2024-02-29 PL-SMA-2023-000046 Tamara D. Goesch Testimony From: Tammy To: WPCtestimony Subject: PL-SMA-2023-000046 TESTIMONY Goesch Date: Thursday,February 29,2024 2:24:47 PM Attachments: TESTIMONY Goesch 2024 Feb 29.doc Please find attached my testimony for the Windward Planning Commission meeting on Thursday,March 7,2024. Sincerely, Tamara D.Goesch DATE: February 28, 2024 TO: Windward Planning Commission, County of Hawaii FROM: Tamara "Tammy" Goesch, Co-Owner, Colony I Unit #17, Punalu'u P.O. Box 822, Pahala HI 96777 2454 NW Westover Rd, #104, Portland OR 97210 (541) 990-3043 * eurotel(aT,proaxis.com NOTE: This testimony is submitted on my own behalf- my views are shared by my #17 Co-Owner and spouse, Christian P. Stehr RE: SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA USE PERMIT APPLICATION PL-SMA-2023-000046; Applicant: BLACK SAND BEACH, LLC Dear Esteemed Planning Commissioners, It is with a heavy heart that I address you in the matter of PL- SMA-2023-000046 submitted by Applicant BLACK SAND BEACH, LLC (hereafter, for the sake of brevity, BSB-LLC). I very much appreciate the opportunity to weigh in on this highly consequential Application and its merits - or lack thereof- and thank you for your diligence and patience in evaluating my input as well as that of many, many other concerned stakeholders. While the APPLICANT in this matter is indeed BSB-LLC, one must ask: exactly who or what is BSB-LLC? Informally, most discussions related to not only this application, but also myriad land use and development matters at Punalu'u and in Kau over the last several years, revolve around one name: EVA LIU, aka XIAYUAN LIU(hereafter, for the sake of brevity, EXL), commonly understood to be the individual behind the veil of the BSB-LLC as well as multiple other LLC's. Before this or any further EXL-related application is approved, I believe the County needs to do due diligence and establish exactly who or what entity will and can be held responsible if stipulations, codes, regulations, etc. are violated - particularly if harm is done to the land, the water, flora and fauna, persons, or existing real property in connection with this application - and above all if written as well as verbal promises and representations are not honored. The truth is, I and many others have personally experienced EXL's inability and failure to fulfill her obligations and promises. My husband and I have been owners of a condo at Colony I since 1996. We pay property taxes, income taxes, and TAT and GE taxes in Hawaii; we operate according to the STVR rules; we have properly registered a car in Hawaii. We are law-abiding citizens who willingly follow rules for the good of all. Although we visited the Big Island every year since 1996, it wasn't until the COVID era that we began to spend many weeks per year at Colony I (we felt safe there). In doing so, I began to notice a general decline in the surrounding properties, which, it turned out, had all come under the ownership of EXL in the 20-teens. (Of course, my condo and the 75 others that comprise Colony I at Sea Mountain are completely surrounded by EXL lands, and thus directly affected by her more than many other parties.) In particular, I noticed things like broken outdoor furniture littering the landscape, a burned-out car, a total shut-down of the golf course operation, and distressing conditions at the golf course ponds (which I understood to be part of the water and sewer system). The ponds were very low, they were filling with weeds and broken limbs, they were scummy and ringed with snail egg casings - very different from the previous two decades. Wondering who was responsible for these deteriorating conditions, I began my research. I soon learned EXL owned everything, including the very utility which has provided water and sewer service to my AOAO since its inception: Punalu'u Water and Sanitation, LLC (hereafter, for the sake of brevity, PWS-LLC) (Interesting, this utility was actually a corporation, not an LLC, prior to her acquisition). I then did a deep dive into the PUC dockets related to EXL's acquisition of PWS-LLC — that is, to be certified as the Owner/Operator. I learned that EXL acknowledged its dilapidated and neglected condition, declined to file for a rate increase given its condition, and pledged in redacted documents a 7-figure sum available for repair and updating of PWS- LLC (the base line condition being documented in a report she was required to and did submit). And yet.......today the physical condition of the utility is worse than ever. My understanding is there is no back-up water pump; the back-up well is unusable; the reservoir leaks miserably; huge amounts of electricity are used to replace water lost to leaks; there is no generator on hand; etc., etc., etc. In short, I understand that virtually none of the concerns noted in the condition assessment submitted to the PUC have been addressed in some FIVE years! We already saw a failure of the Ninole Lift Station last year, a narrowly averted ecological disaster. The sewer treatment system is an aging dinosaur. Catastrophic failure looms! Apparently EXL has not been able to retain required professional management for PWS-LLC. She does have two highly skilled operators who are considered heroes. But EXL does not provide more than a tiny fraction of the financial resources she represented she had available and would put into the utility. If either the water system or the sewer treatment system fails, the property values of PWS-LLC residential customers - which include not only Colony I, but also Kalana Estates - effectively plummet to ZERO. The viability of the County park at Punulu'u - which serves thousands of locals and visitors weekly - is severely compromised. Ostensibly the PUC certification process exists in part to forestall that disaster, does it not? The PUC certification process is also relevant to the viability of the fire hydrant system at Punalu'u. To function as intended, the system needs water from PWS-LLC, and the hydrants - owned by EXL - need to be functional. But multiple fire inspections have documented that the hydrant system is woefully out of compliance. Some hydrants are simply missing. Some hydrants are clearly broken - even a child can see that. I understand valves have not been consistently tested and maintained over the years. Inoperable hydrants are not marked as required. And this is the situation in an area that is dry and drought prone, and subject to fierce winds - much like Lahaina on Maui. It is almost as if someone has decided the hydrant system doesn't need to be workwise, since the water supply is not guaranteed anyway, given the lack of a back-up pump and generator. But can that really be so? Do the PUC and the County have no enforcement tools? Do they not care about the safety of life and property out in rural Ka'u? In the face of this highly disturbing state of affairs - fearing for my own safety and the safety of my property, as well as the greater community - I needed to understand the chain of accountability and responsibility. I searched various public websites, including in particular the Business Registration Division of the Department of Commerce & Consumer Affairs on Hawaii.jzov. Starting with a search for BSB-LLC, and connecting the dots from there, I have learned that a byzantine web of multiple related LLC's and trade names can be traced back to just one individual, namely EXL, and a storefront mailbox in California: 4101 DUBLIN BLVD STE F # 238 DUBLIN, California 94568 A list of related and connected entities (probably not comprehensive) includes the following: LLC's & LP's: Ka'u Valley, LLC Ka'u Farms, LLC C & A Punalu'u, LLC Punalu'u Water and Sanitation, LLC C & A Tea, LLC Ka'u Nui, LLC Hawaii Investment Funds LLC Gold Mountain Holdings International, LLC YJY Investment, LLC Ka'u Royal Hawaiian Coffee & Tea, LP TRADE and OTHER NAMES: Ka'u Valley Coffee Mill Ka'u Valley Farm Ka'u Valley Ranch Ka'u Valley Tea Naalehu Ranch Some RELATED WEBSITES and FACEBOOK Pages: UluKauHawaii.com (which featured a now infamous full-color full- page photo of an Asian tourist petting a turtle, with the title Black Sand Beach- screenshot available) kaunui.com punaluublacksandbeach.com Kauvalley.com Ulu Ka'u Farm Partners, Members, Managers, & Agents: (a revolving panoply of names, some unique, some showing up in connection with multiple entities) Jintao Shao Yugia "Yoga" Yang Jiaying "Zach" Hou Michael Lam Lloyd Nakano Wesley Y.S. Chang Ling Zhong Chang Iwamasa as well as some of the LLC's above, rather than individuals The common denominator in this tangled web is EXL. EXL's track record of achievement and business success in Ka'u is underwhelming, to put it mildly. And now she wants to be granted a permit to build a mega resort. However, given her poor track record in starting and successfully operating anything, I believe it would be extremely irresponsible to grant her Application. I understand that EXL's ventures in Ka'u over the last approximately 8 years have led to dozens of firings and lay-offs. I don't believe any of her ventures have been successfully realized, but rather have eventually shut down, from produce-growing to coffee production, agri-tourism to pizza trucks. She has gone through a number of highly experienced managers, eventually parting ways for undisclosed reasons. I've been told PWS-LLC can't even issue regular billing statements. Despite declining to file for a utility rate increase, EXL has entreated various individuals to voluntarily [?!] pay her extra money for sewer and water. Her current partner - YJY Investment, LLC - consists of two individuals (Y. Yang and J. Hou) with indiscernible track records in a development of the scale contemplated. To make a long story short, EXL has in fact tried to entice and cajole people like me to support her mega resort application by saying if she gets her resort approval, then she'll "fix" the utility when she builds out the resort. We all know that under the best-case scenario the resort build-out is years down the road. And the fact is that EXL's obligation to fix the existing utility-pre-dates and is completely independent of her resort application, not to speak of the fact that the utility has been and is failing NOW. The fact that she is not fulfilling that obligation should be grounds enough to turn down SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA USE PERMIT APPLICATION PL-SMA- 2023-000046, because that failure is indicative of a complete and willful failure and inability to respect rules, regulations, and legal obligations. Ironically, I understand that in the full application, EXL implies that the utility is basically pristine, and inasmuch as it is running at only 10% of (ORIGINAL - over 40 years old!) capacity, requires no investment. If the Planning Commission were to order a current EIS and/or EA in conjunction with its consideration of this application, that misrepresentation would be corrected. I will close by urging the Planning Commission to in any case order a current EIS/EA, not least because of sewer, water, and fire safety matters, but also the following concerns: * electric grid capacity * noise pollution (both from construction and operation) * construction impact on air quality * asbestos abatement * boat ramp access * traffic (both internal circulation and at the highway) * evacuation planning * tsunami zone * light pollution * increased crime * employee housing * impact on housing supply * odor from expanded sewage treatment * impact on fire & other emergency response times and services * increased need for water to serve required building sprinklers * increased need for water for guests, residents, and staff * trash and garbage volumes * vermin and vectors * nene * turtles * PONC-identified Conservation parcels held (hostage?) by EXL Thank you again for your consideration of my concerns. I believe many of them are shared by numerous other stakeholders. Sincerely, Tamara D. Goesch