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HomeMy WebLinkAbout19Aug2010 AC Minutes 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 BJ Leithead Todd Director Margaret Masunaga Deputy Director William P. Kenoi Mayor Thursday August 19, 2010 Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Barbara Bell called the Puna Community Development Plan (PCDP) Action Committee (AC) meeting to order at 3:02 p.m. in the Kea’au Community Center, with the following persons present: Action Committee: Barbara Bell, Frank Commendador, Larry Higgins (left at 4 p.m.), Keikialoha Kekipi (arrived at 5:10 p.m.), Jeffrey Krepps, Madie Greene, Wesley Owens, Daniel Taylor, Tim Tunison. Staff: Larry Brown (Planning Department, Project Manager), Elizabeth “Liz” Hultman-Salfen (Planning Department, Community Planning Assistant), Lahilahi Verschuur (Planning Department, Recorder). Public servants: County Councilman J Yoshimoto and Shelly Ogata, 3rd District Members of the public: 2 ANNOUNCEMENTS None PUBLIC TESTIMONY None APPROVAL OF MINUTES Wes moved to approve the minutes of the July 15, 2010 meeting; Madie Greene seconded. All voted in favor. NEW BUSINESS 1. Communication No. 2010-35: Cost of Government Commission A. AC Members discussed the Commission’s request for information. B. Frank and Madie were tasked to prepare a response letter for AC approval at the next meeting. 2 ing ; 1. Subcommittee Reports A. Amendment Subcommittee i. Larry B. provided an update on the status of Bill 194. The County Council Planning Committee voted on Aug. 3 to hold a public hearing because some members didn’t feel comfortable voting on Bill 194 as a package and wanted an opportunity to hear input from more Puna residents. He said there would be at least two more public hearings before the full Council. ii. AC Members discussed doing additional community outreach to help broaden the range of viewpoints represented at the public hearing on Bill 194, scheduled for Aug. 30 at 6 p.m. at the Kea’au Middle School Cafeteria. iii. Barbara announced that Shelly Ogata, 3rd District Legislative Assistant to J Yoshimoto, had just informed her that Council Member J Yoshimoto is available to come to the AC meet and explain the rationale behind the amendments contained in Bill 194 and to discuss specific concerns of the AC with the Bill. iv. Dan moved and Madie seconded amending the agenda and invite J Yoshimoto to comment on Bill 194 during this meeting. All voted in favor of this addition to the agenda. B. Budget and Finance Subcommittee i. Larry B. reported on the procedure for funding requests: a. For general operating budget requests, the AC should submit a memo to the applicable department head via the Planning Director by the end of October of each year; and b. Capital Funds Improvement Project requests need to be submitted by the end of November, through the Planning Director to the appropriate agency. ii. AC Members discussed drafting a memo detailing CDP Action Committee funding support needed for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Larry B. said the Puna AC should only request funding for the Puna AC. No action taken. C. Malama I Ka Aina Subcommittee i. No subcommittee report D. Growth Management i. Parks and Recreation: Jeffrey reported there is movement around a proposed park in HPP may need a work plan. ii. Larry H. reported that Volcano has an exemplary community center (Cooper Center) and suggested inviting the director, Linda Ugalde, to come speak on how the center is used and funded. Frank moved to invite Linda Ugalde to appear as a guest speaker and talk about the successes and challenges experienced at Cooper Center; Jeffrey seconded. All voted in favor. E. Transportation i. Larry B. reported that he has submitted a draft scope of work to DPW for a consultant contract to produce a Functional Classification report for the Puna Makai Alternate Road (PMAR). A consultant selection committee has been suggested to DPW Director Warren Lee that will recommend a consultant to Director Lee to produce the report. Funding could 3 come from an earmark line item in the 2004 Federal Highways budget. 2. Implementation work plans A. Larry B. presented 10 draft plans. The AC would be the funnel for getting the work plans into the sub-committees and community groups. The intention is to provide a standardized tool to help guide and track progress towards implementation of prioritized actions in the PCDP. It is also hoped that posting of the work plans online with linkage to the action implementation matrix will stimulate public awareness of the implementation process. Digital copies of any draft work plan or a blank template in MS Excel will be provided to anyone upon request to Liz or Larry. B. Support staff will be creating online hyperlinks for work plan reports. C. Dan suggested having a priority-setting session. 3. Council member J. Yoshimoto arrived at 4:05 to address Bill 194 and: A. Confirmed a public hearing on Bill 194 is scheduled for Aug. 30 at 6 p.m. at the Kea’au Middle School Cafeteria. B. Gave background on Bill 194. Expressed his primary concern that the PCDP would allow for expansion of Kea‘au to create a second city. C. Wants floating zone and transfer of development rights tools taken out of the Puna Community Development Plan (CDP) for clarity until they are codified into county-wide statutes. D. Said the concern about action word verbiage in the CDP is about legal liability in the event that the CDP is challenged by someone. Barbara suggested making a disclaimer at the beginning of the plan to clarify the language used throughout. E. Said it would be possible to separate out some of the amendments within Bill 194. A council member would have to initiate a motion to amend Bill 194. F. Barbara asked about the form-based code a consultant is creating for Honokohau and whether there could be an island-wide video conference to keep development language consistent. G. Reported that addition of “roundabouts” to the list of traffic calming features in Sec. 4.4.3.a as recommended by the AC has been included in the amended version of Bill 194. H. Discussed proposed amendment to reduce the aquifer protection area makai of Wao Kele O Puna and how it might impact the Hawaiian Homeland developments in the area. J Yoshimoto said he would talk to Corporation Council to get clarification on zoning and minimal infrastructure requirements. I. Discussed removal of the word “preliminary” to describe the village center boundaries in Bill 194’s CDP maps. J Yoshimoto wasn’t aware of the discrepancy and said he’d look into it, as well as floating zone/transfer of development rights, action language, and square footage limitations for commercial zoning in Kea’au. 4. Continued discussion of implementation work plans A. Larry B. suggested authorizing sub-committees to recognize and work with community groups who want to take action on certain projects. B. Frank asked if the chairs of subcommittees have authority to delegate sub-subcommittees. The AC discussed the need and strategies to get word out to get more people to involved in the 4 process. C. Larry B. reminded the AC Members that the work plans are drafts and are subject to amendment as different needs and challenges are identified for each action. 5. Action Committee Workshops A. No discussion. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1. Cultural Resources Commission letter A. Jeffrey drafted a letter to the mayor to request funding for a Hawai’i County Cultural Resources Commission. Dan moved to accept the letter, Madie seconded. In the course of discussion certain concerns over the relevance and sensitivity to the host culture provided in the adopted Hawai‘i County Cultural Resources Commission were raised that suggested to some AC Members that the scope of the letter may not be adequate. Madie withdrew her second. Motion died due to lack of a second. AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING 1. Work plan implementation 2. Cost of Government Commission letter 3. Invite Volcano Community Center director to speak 4. Cultural Resources Commission letter 5. J Yoshimoto report back ADJOURNMENT Dan moved to adjourn, Madie seconded. Unanimous vote to adjourn at 6:31 p.m.