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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-08-14 Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission Minutes (Hilo Mtg)HAWAII COUNTY PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES - REGULAR SESSION August 14, 2006 Department of Liquor Control Conference Room 101 Aupuni Street Hilo Lagoon Centre, Ste. 230 Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Present: Kenneth Kaneshiro Paul Campbell John Replogle E. Kalani Flores Ruth Walker Benedict Yung (left 11:30) Laura Schuster Absent: Jocelyn Garovoy Hannah Springer Others Present: Amy Self, Deputy Corporation Counsel Stacie Waltjen, Secretary Chris Yuen, Planning Director (left 11:44 a.m.) Stanley Iwamoto, Finance CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chair John Replogle at 10:04 a.m. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS Chair Replogle stated that there was a member from the public, Sara Burgess, who wanted to speak on a topic under Old Business regarding category and criteria sheet therefore she was going to hold off until that item was taken up by the Commission. DISCUSSION WITH PLANNING DIRECTOR, CHRISTOPHER J. YUEN Mr. Yuen thanked the Commissioners for inviting him to speak which essentially was a follow up to the Commission sending over its recommendations to the County administration. As a result, they had an "in house" meeting and realized they had questions of the purpose and the extent of some of the areas that the Commission had recommended. Mr. Yuen thanked the Commission for their work; they were very impressed by the list that the Commission gave. Mr. Yuen stated that there are a number of factors they have to consider in looking at an acquisition. Many of the possible acquisitions imply future management by the County; they can't just buy them without having a plan in place even if the goal is to not develop a full blown park with parking lot, restrooms, etc. Mr. Yuen stated often times there are management issues such as: do they increase public access and if so what will come of it and how do they handle it. When the County government takes over, it's expected that the County will take care of it. If there is a hazardous issue, the County has to take care of it in the liability aspect. Mr. Yuen expressed he would like to engage in a dialogue so that he may have an idea of what the Commission and the public wants and what the purpose of the acquisition is so they can understand what they need to do to meet those purposes, beyond just acquiring. (Maps were then passed out by Mr. Yuen) Mr. Yuen asked the Commission what they have been working on since April. Chair Replogle replied the Commission talked about redoing the intake forms, adjusting the criteria and discussed the problems that the Commission had run into. Mr. Yuen stated they understood Kawa`a however they had a question about the extent of the area that the Commission would like the County to look at for acquisition. In looking at the map where it was marked "SM ", that was around Nmole cove, south of Punalu`u Beach Park. Mr. Yuen clarified that "SM" is a company that owns the Punalu`u area; the former C. Brewer Punalu`u development. The map showed the various properties, each of the dotted lines represented tax map key parcels. The 234 acres of Kawa`a was bought on an option. Real Estate agent Marcia Johnson owns that now. Most of the rest of the property is owned by "Olson ". There is a 100 acres owned by the Apiki's which a lot of people have a fractional interest in the property. The "Carrol" property has been controversial in Ka`u in the last few months. The State owns the property by the highway. After that is the Honu`apo property. Commissioner Paul Campbell asked Mr. Yuen if the 234 acres included the spring which was just north of the bay where everyone surfs; just below the heiau. Mr. Yuen replied yes. He stated the heiau was on the north side of the bay and the access trail is on the 234 acres. Mr. Yuen stated the County administration was currently doing an appraisal of the 234 acres. Mr. Yuen stated that it was a big stretch of coast between "SM" and Honu`apo with several different owners; Olson being the largest owner in addition to the 234 acres; Chair Replogle stated the priority was from the Olsen 81 acres to the Johnson 234 acres and that the 106 acres is where the turtle nesting takes place. Chair Replogle stated the Olson goes across the highway. Mr. Yuen stated he owns quite a bit of property mauka. Chair Replogle stated he could see the confusion and that the Commission didn't think about that. The Commission was mainly talking makai of the highway. 2 Mr. Yuen stated there were still private properties remaining on Honu`apo and they were working on that. The Albertson property has possibility of land reconfiguration. Mr. Yuen moved on to Waipi`o Valley. Mr. Yuen stated they were clear on what the Commission was talking about however the issue for the County administration was that it had to be part of a bigger picture. The message from the Commission was this would be a site or possibly a ranger /informational station. It implied a larger program involving Waipi`o Valley. Mr. Yuen stated in the beginning they didn't see it being a compelling property to buy by itself. There are a lot of issues with Waipi`o Valley such as the beach, sanitation, safety issues and the taro farmers. Commissioner Campbell stated it tied into what Mr. Yeun's presentation was about management. Commissioner Campbell stated Kamehameha schools met with the Sierra Club and they wanted active participation from other groups in managing. Commissioner Campbell stated they had to look at the bigger picture; the management that Mr. Yuen had talked about for Waipi`o Valley implied there was something bigger going on and Kamehameha Schools might like that, as long as there were entities that could manage it for them or with them. Commissioner Flores stated part of the discussion was not necessarily to do with the bottom of Waipi`o Valley but the "connectiveness" to the County's facility at the top and being able to expand and accommodate people that came to the lookout. Commissioner Flores stated the Commission thought the existing parking lot and facilities were going to be in need of accommodating the people who came to the area such as the lookout. Commissioner Flores stated the property would help accommodate parking and an informational center for the public. That was the concept, not the County expanding its aspect into the valley. Even if there was a ranger program, whether it's by the County or someone else, that could be a facility or informational center that could be the gateway into Waipi`o Valley. Commissioner Kaneshiro talked of Mr. Toledo, a taro farmer down in Waipi`o Valley, and what his vision and the vision of most people down there was not to have the public come into Waipi`o Valley. They would like the general public to stay up on top but still experience Waipi`o Valley. They would like to have exhibits set up such as growing taro to show what was going on down there. Mr. Yuen stated there were two different areas in Waipi`o Valley; one being the farming area and the other being the beach and that he was very disinclined to keep the public from going to the beach. Commissioner Kaneshiro stated tourists out of curiosity may go mauka which would lead into the agricultural area. Mr. Yuen replied it would be a management issue. He stated there was no set place for parking and that it was an informal place where the public enjoys. Mr. Yuen 3 stated there was a County road that went in the back. Mr. Yuen stated he understood more of the vision and that Waipi`o Valley needed to fit it into a program, so they needed to have a concept of what the program will be to make that work. Commissioner Schuster stated when the decision was made to put them on the list, the Commission tried looking at the planning documents that were given to them to see if they correlated with some of the County's vision. Commissioner Schuster stated she was just in Pololu Valley for the first time and it was easy getting in and out; no vehicles. Commissioner Schuster stated if there was that kind of opportunity for Waipi`o Valley with just walking down the road, there are options. Maybe it's an opportunity to start discussing and thinking about the larger picture. That's what the Commission was chosen to do; to put together these properties that really should be looked at in a much broader context. Commissioner Walker stated after the Commission did the evaluations they discussed involving Mr. Yuen or someone from the Planning Department to give them a clearer picture of what areas they were specifically talking about. Chair Replogle stated part of Waipi`o Valley was the idea of a ranger program. It could be like Kealakekua Bay where the public has to watch a video or something before they can go. That type of ranger program; someone there to answer questions, someone to call 911 but basically what the Commission had in mind was to not to take over valley. Deputy Corporation Counsel Self stated on August 23, 2006 the Council will have a resolution regarding purchasing this piece of property. Dr. Fred Holschuh will be introducing the resolution. Commissioner Flores stated the K6ke`e museum on Kauai, is a small quaint building set up as an exhibit and informational /educational center. It's run by a non- profit group and they generate revenues by the sales of the visitor's center yet they provide educational information to the public. Commissioner Flores stated this could occur on the Waipi`o property. That would be another possibility where they provide a service for the general public. Commissioner Flores stated the other idea was to help enhance and supplement the County's existing facilities. Mr. Yuen moved onto P6hue Bay, a sandy beach in the middle of large property ownerships. The access to P6hue Bay is a very bad four wheel drive road. Mr. Yuen questioned what the long term vision of how to handle the area was and the extent of what to purchase. Mr. Yuen stated the issue was the sensitive ecological aspects to P6hue Bay such as the turtle nesting and in some respects not having a lot of people there makes it an easier management situation. On the other hand, if the County purchased it with the idea of providing a beach park to the public, then the County would have to do something about the four wheel drive access, which meant committing millions of dollars to upgrade the access. Mr. Yuen stated there maybe a different strategy for what was 0 done here if the goal is ecological preservation vs. public access. What was the Commission's ultimate goal? Chair Replogle stated it was too small of a place to open the flood gates of humanity and the County's role would be to purchase a conservation easement from the big land owners which would protect the archaeology further down the coastline. Chair Replogle stated it was a conservation area for the turtles and possibly for educational purposes. Until it's developed down there, there is no road. You have to walk in on the old trail which you would have to get permission from the Ranchos subdivision to get to that trail, which is on the lower south corner of the subdivision. Commissioner Yung stated what he's hearing was no matter what they look at to purchase they would have to put in roads for access. Mr. Yuen stated it depended on what the purpose of the purchase is. Mr. Yuen stated if there was an area in the mountains that people wanted to purchase and preserve as a forest area then there would be no need to put a road in since they wouldn't be building it for the public. However, if they bought a beach area with the idea that it would be a public beach park, then they would have to commit to building a road. Mr. Yuen stated it's important to understand what the underlying purpose is. Mr. Yuen stated it also brought up an alternative for using acquisition versus land use system to control development. Mr. Yuen used Pohue Bay as an example stating that it's currently a State Land Use Conservation but there was a potential that someone could go and get a conservation use permit for a home. In giving approvals, there would be lots of opportunities to say stay away from Pohue Bay. Mr. Yuen stated part of the question would be, what was the long term vision besides just buying it and what he was hearing was to not make Pohue Bay into a beach park Chair Replogle stated the majority of the people who live in Ocean View see it as their personal beach and they want it open and they want to charge. When the gate wasn't there, people would drive down with their 4 wheel drive and it would be filled with people; it was really bad. Chair Replogle stated if it was a County park, it may not get that bad. It's a very fragile place, even the reefs on the Kona side. Chair Replogle felt that a conservation easement would keep development from happening and it would force the current land owners to protect the cultural and ecological site. Mr. Yuen moved onto Punalu`u and the question was what the priority was. Mr. Yuen stated there are different areas within Punalu`u, a lot of small ownerships. This is an area where the location of shoreline becomes tricky. The shoreline may not be where it was shown. The County does not own the site where the pavilion is, it is on the "SM" property. Mr. Yuen thought they were on some kind of yearly agreement. Mr. Yuen asked the Commission what the goal was, to buy land to move development back from the beach or to make sure the County has a long term use of the beach park that exists. Chair Replogle stated it was to move the development back a certain distance so that the beach and the whole area would be protected and never be over run. It could be 5 tricky due to the lots right along the road. Chair Replogle stated that was the sense he got from the people; they didn't want to lose the beach and pavilion. Chair Replogle mentioned the report that the Ka`u preservation did, in the month of April they counted how much people came to beach and he remembered the count to be 32,000 people. Chair Replogle stated they've closed off the road from the lei stand to the pavilion which was a good thing. Chair Replogle stated the concern is to protect Punalu`u and not allow it to fall into the developers hands. Commissioner Laura Schuster stated that was case for Nmole. It was more about protecting the coastal areas from development but still provide access. As it was, not necessarily anything more improved just protecting it. Mr. Yuen asked if the Commission had any sense of how far back from the shore. Chair Replogle stated the sense he got was to the road by the old restaurant. Chair Replogle stated the restaurant would be taken out of there, the parking lot would be a place where people could park and from there they would walk to the beach with no driving onto the beach. They could have wheelchair ramps and the lei stand could be moved up near the parking lot. Chair Replogle stated the road that swings around just below the golf course all the way to the golf club house is what he understood they wanted protected. Chair Replogle stated maybe they could have a pavilion on the present parking lot. Chair Replogle stated the Ka`u Preservation Group did not want any building from the highway down. Mr. Yuen moved onto Maulua Gulch and disclosed that he owns property overlooking the gulch. Mr. Yuen asked what was the vision for the fourteen acres. The Commission identified two parcels; one parcel in the gulch that had a house on it and the other didn't. Commissioner Flores stated there was one parcel for sale in that area and the person who submitted the application stated that it was one of the few accessible areas to the coast on Hamakua. Commissioner Kaneshiro stated it was mostly for fishing. He stated that coming from Honoka` a side is pretty dangerous to turn into the road. Commissioner Yung asked if it was a beach access would we have to put in facilities. Mr. Yuen stated it depended on the level of activity that you wanted to have. If it was more for fishing and there's not a large group of people, then it's won't be necessary to put in restrooms, paved roads or a parking lot. If they bought a place that was a nice beach, it's hard to open it to the public and then manage and control it. It's tough to 31 handle it like a resort would such as Mauna Kea Beach Hotel; when the parking lot is full, they have a gate and a person stopping people from going in. Commissioner Yung asked if turning in from the Hamakua side is dangerous and it's owned by County, what happens? Mr. Yuen stated if they say this place is a County beach access, they would need to have a safe turnaround. They need to keep in mind public safety even if they are talking about a low level facility. Mr. Yuen moved onto Mahukona. In referring to the maps that he brought, he marked Akoni Pule Highway, Lakapaki Park which is State owned, a light house on Federal property and another small property which is State owned. Mr. Yuen stated most of the area right around and north of Mahukona Harbor is owned by Surety. They have the zoning for a small resort. The area north of the bay is one acre zoning. The zoning has a number of conditions requiring public access. Mr. Yuen asked if this was another example of wanting to purchase property to prevent development or to purchase property to expand. Mr. Yuen stated there was a small County park there. Commissioner Flores stated there were couple reasons why. One was to expand the County's facility in the area because of the existing County Park which is really small and possibly expanding camping in that area. The other was the protection of sites in the area. Commissioner Flores stated it came up because perhaps there may be a time where the entitlements could be bought out from them. There are major cultural sites makai of the road. Mr. Yuen stated this was a question again as to how much do you work with the land use controls versus acquisition. There will always be a limited amount of money when working with acquisition. Mr. Yuen clarified that the Commission partially desired to not see development, partially to expand the County Park and partially to protect the historic sites. Chair Replogle stated he heard from the Kohala people that they wanted to see their coast line protected and not developed. He stated that the task force in Ka`u was finishing up making recommendations and decided to go for a mile and a half set back, which he felt was a little unreasonable but on the other side of that maybe some 500 meters or more; just no building on the coast ever, that could be accomplished with zoning. Mr. Yuen replied setbacks depended on the terrain. There are places where it's more open. There are places where you can build houses a few hundred feet away from the beach and the public would never see them and there are other places where it would stick out. If you lock into a set distance or concept, it may not fit everyplace. 7 Mr. Yuen stated in looking for things to purchase, the prime types of areas to purchase are these small private holdings that are surrounded by State land in a sensitive area such as Okoe. Mr. Yuen stated in situations such as this where a person has a house there and the State has regulations, it tends to lock things up. However, you have to look at what the State's doing. Mr. Yuen stated that you are not permitted to camp on State land when it's not a park, such as Kiholo. In many places along the coast, you will find State land and just a few acres of private land often times at the choicest spot such as Kiholo. Mr. Yuen stated sometimes it's too pricey but as a general thing to look for, this is the kind of property that would pay the big dividends. Commissioner Flores stated there were other parcels that the Commission submitted that fell into that category. Commissioner Flores questioned the status on Surety, makai of the highway with the existing resort entitlements in that area. Mr. Yuen stated they were coming up against their time limits. They have some legal arguments. They have a zoning condition and SMA permit that say they were supposed to do certain things by certain dates. Mr. Yuen moved onto Keamuku which the Army just purchased. Mr. Yuen moved onto Kapoho. Mr. Yuen stated the Commission listed what is labeled the "Oda" property. Mr. Yuen stated that it used to be the shoreline however the 1960 lava flow made a new shoreline and landlocked the "Oda" property. Mr. Yuen wasn't sure if the purpose was to get an easement across the "Oda" property to use an existing road to get to Champagne Pond. Commissioner Campbell stated they were asking to get that easement to the land since it's a beautiful shoreline. The public goes down there all the time and camp. It's an easy 4 wheel drive road. Commissioner Campbell stated the public goes down there and trash happens. Commissioner Campbell stated the people want this developed more with an access and to keep the artifacts on the other side of the lighthouse intact which has already been desecrated. Commissioner Campbell stated a burial site was there. Commissioner Campbell stated the purposes which was access and historic and cultural preservation. Mr. Yuen asked if the existing road goes across the "Oda" property. Commissioner Campbell replied no and that it goes out to the lighthouse and from there is the 4 -wheel drive road. Mr. Yuen clarified that the idea would be to make an access across the "Oda" property because it's closer and Commissioner Campbell added that it would keep people away from lighthouse and the burial site. Commissioner Campbell stated it could be closed off. Mr. Yuen moved onto Mau`umae. Mr. Yuen stated the question was what property were people looking at acquiring and what was the extent. Mr. Yuen stated the County owns Spencer Park and that there was a trail that goes to Mau`umae. It's a nice small white sand beach. Mr. Yuen stated there was also a gravel road with parking that gives public access to Mau`umae. The property itself is one small parcel. It has a RS 15 zoning which means you can make a residential 15,000 square feet lot. To develop there, you would need a SMA permit to develop a RS 15. Mr. Yuen stated since the location is on the beach and in South Kohala, it would be a pricey piece of property, if you were talking about acquiring it. Mr. Yuen stated the surrounding area is a huge property owned by the Queen Emma Foundation. This property is currently zoned for one acre lots. To develop it, you would need a SMA permit. The Queen Emma Foundation has been low -key about development. Chair Replogle stated as he understood it, it was to connect Spencer to the Mau`umae Beach with a trail with public access to the beach and not much more than that. Commissioner Campbell stated the Alakahakai Trail goes right through there already. Mr. Yuen stated the trail is on firm legal status. This trail continued on to Mauna Kea, crossed the beach and goes to over to Hapuna. Mr. Yuen stated it was secured as a long term public access and that it was pretty close to the ocean. He didn't think that there were any potential for building between the trail and the ocean. Chair Replogle stated he thought the concern was that it would connect through and not have someone buy the end lot and said that you couldn't go through. Mr. Yuen moved on to Puapua` anui. Mr. Yuen stated they didn't have a lot of questions since it was pretty clear it was an archaelogical preservation area and an open space area. Mr. Yuen stated the property had zoning but would need a SMA permit and the zoning was for single family homes. Chair Replogle stated he was told by Curtis Tyler that this place was being sold. Mr. Yuen stated it's been bought and sold. The last group that he met was contractors and developers out of Maui but he wasn't sure if they sold it or not. Mr. Yuen moved onto Ke`ei beach. Mr. Yuen stated often times the tax map key numbers don't identify the specific parcels so they had questions as to what the Commission thought was important to acquire and what were the purposes. On the sketch map, most of property around what Mr. Yuen called Ke`ei beach is owned by Kamehameha Schools. They have a summer camp facility there. There are a bunch of kuleanas that are owned by various people; some by Hawaiian families and some have been sold to others. Chair Replogle stated it was an access issue and he heard at the Kona meetings that Kamehameha Schools were talking about closing off access and that was what the M concern was. Chair Replogle wasn't sure if it was to purchase but it was definitely an accessissue. Mr. Yuen stated he thought there was a County Road through there. Commissioner Flores stated when they read through the applications they were looking at acquiring Ke`ei, but in general you could still access it by the house lots by walking in. Commissioner Flores stated you could park your car in front of the kuleanas, but you would still have to walk through the area. The beach area is before the Palemano Point. Commissioner Flores stated the general concern was that it would be developed. Commissioner Yuen stated there was no access. Commissioner Schuster stated there was a road in the back of KSBE to go out to Ke`ei and then it dead ends by the old Greenwell's place right at the beach. Commissioner Campbell asked if it was a gated road. Commissioner Schuster wasn't sure but it was not gated the last time she was there. Commissioner Yung stated he knew it was gated and that someone lived next to that. Commissioner Campbell stated this was a management issue was well because Kamehameha Schools gated the road because they couldn't manage it properly. Commissioner Campbell stated Kamehameha Schools would let organizations use it if they had insurance and you built a relationship with them but that left the public out. Commissioner Flores stated the public could go but not onto the Kamehameha Schools land. The walk from where you park your car by the kuleana was not that far to the beach. Commissioner Flores stated not having all the parking was good because the beach is so small. There is no bathroom facility. Mr. Yuen stated it had helped him to hear the discussion because if it was public access then he could assure that current level. Mr. Yuen stated on the development side, this property would have to go thru all the stages to get developed. It's a state land use conservation, it's an open area in the County general plan and it's not zoned for any kind of development. Mr. Yuen stated if there was a problem with public access then they could preserve that. He was pretty sure there was a county road thru the kuleana. Mr. Yuen stated the other general question they had was, there were a number of properties listed and it was already government and they weren't sure what the purpose of the listing was. 10 Chair Replogle stated the State pieces were more for partnership type. Chair Replogle stated if a road or facility needed to be there, the State may let the County do it but they managed it after. In the case of the mauka lands people were concerned with the water shed. Chair Replogle stated it was like a second list where all the government was grouped together. Commissioner Shuster stated it was more about opportunity for partnering. Commissioner Flores stated having a clear and intent purpose of the acquisition in the report is what needed to be clarified. Mr. Yuen stated it would help out because there are different visions that people might have for the same piece of property. Commissioner Schuster stated there seemed to be the question of what the reason for the acquisition was. Commissioner Schuster stated on the front of the forms, there were five items that they could check off and often times all five were checked. The Commission didn't want to put words in the mouth of people who gave them the opportunity. Mr. Yuen stated most of these involved major commitment. What they have to do in the County administration before going ahead with anything was touching base with the people who were interested and see what they had in mind. Commissioner Schuster stated what they came away from having the public meetings was that people wanted to have a voice. Commissioner Campbell stated the Commission is also saying to the County to not feel so burdened because there are possibilities for partnering or having other organizations involved. The County won't be stuck with the management of the properties. Commissioner Kaneshiro stated at one of their last meeting, someone from the Hawaii Coastal Estuarine Land Conservation came to speak and they talked about various acquisitions. Commissioner Kaneshiro talked about Pohue where there is ecological preservation, maybe this was an opportunity to get some funding from CZM. Commissioner Kaneshiro asked Mr. Yuen if he thought the Commission should put in ideas of where they could look at getting funding. Mr. Yuen replied it would help the County. Chair Replogle stated one of the things to consider was to hire someone to work with the County. That person would keep track of the list and do the follow up. Mr. Yuen stated there were different skills in a conservation type purchase than what the County traditionally does. 11 Deputy Corporation Counsel Self reminded the Commission that per the ordinance, one of their duties and responsibilities was to explore methods of funding land acquisition and make recommendations to the Mayor. Commissioner Flores asked if there was anything they should include in the criteria form or assessment of the property that would help them out. Commissioner Flores stated besides making sure the TMK numbers were correctly identified, was there anything else that should be included in the initial submittal of their forms. Mr. Yuen stated it would be helpful if people would identify groups that were interested in the area and who were knowledgeable about the area. Mr. Yuen stated if they had that information and if they needed further refinement to make it a priority, the County would know who to talk to. A recess was taken at 11:45 a. m. Reconvened at 11:57 a m. DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE Stanley Iwamoto of the Department of Finance reported that $6000.00 was budgeted for this year's committee operations which included meals, mileage and meeting costs. Land acquisition costs were 2 million dollars which included 1 million from last year and 1 million for this fiscal year. Specific acquisition needed to be appropriated by the County Council and additional funds may be available from the general fund. Mr. Iwamoto stated in other words, if they were interested in purchasing a piece of property that cost 5 million, since they had 2 million available, the administration could go to Council and submit a resolution for another 3 million to purchase the property and the County Council would have the has final say about the 3 million. Commissioner Schuster asked how much the Commission spent last year on committee operations and Mr. Iwamoto replied that last year's budget came out of the administration. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Walker stated page 1, line 4 should be culture, page 4, first line, apiece should be one word and page 8 under communication 6097, the paragraph after that, line 2 should be trail. Chair Replogle stated it's not Nahele Advisory Council, it's Na Ala Hele. Commissioner Flores stated page 3, second paragraph, 4th line, it's Ike Aina instead of Eke. 12 Commissioner Flores moved for approval of the minutes as amended for July 10, 2006 regular session, seconded by Paul Campbell and carried unanimously by voice vote. WRITTEN COMMUNICATION Communication No. 06 -100: Memorandum dated June 28, 2006 to Hawaii County Council, County Clerk and all County Boards and Commission from Lincoln S.T. Ashida, Corporation Counsel regarding Office of Information Practices Opinion No. 06- 04. Deputy Corporation Counsel Self stated this was similar to the time when Commissioner Kaneshiro turned in his report of the community meeting and the names, addresses and phone numbers of the people were attached to the report. If a person is at a public meeting and their name, home address and home phone number is on a list, you can't give out that information. Deputy Corporation Counsel Self stated businesses have no privacy interest but an individual does. This was sent out to all boards and commissions just as a reminder. Commissioner Flores asked how that would apply to the suggestion form. Does that become a public document? Deputy Corporation Counsel Self stated they could get it but it would be redacted first; their personal information would be blacked out. Commissioner Flores asked if there was a disclaimer that could be put on the form. Deputy Corporation Counsel Self stated we are not allowed to do that. If someone calls and wants to see the survey forms for a particular property, we have to provide that information but we would redact it. Communication No. 06 -101: Email from Mark A. Koppel dated July 4, 2006 with a follow up letter to Mr. Koppel to be discussed with the Commission. Deputy Corporation Counsel Self stated Stacie Waltjen sent him a survey via U.S. mail to complete which he hadn't sent back and until he sent back the survey form, this shouldn't be considered by the Commission. This was just to let the Commission know what happened. Chair Replogle stated we will hold the information until Stacie got his paper back, until then, put it on hold. 13 Communication No. 06 -102: Draft of Hawaii Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Plan dated June 2006 from Brian Szuster. Chair Replogle stated it was interesting. CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT Chair Replogle stated on August 23, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. at the Council meeting, they will be having hearings on a resolution to purchase the Waipi`o property. Deputy Corporation Counsel Self encouraged all of the Commissioners to attend to show their support. Commissioner Flores asked who was submitting the resolution. Deputy Corporation Counsel stated it was Dr. Fred Holschuh. Commissioner Flores asked if this was after reviewing the Mayor's list. Deputy Corporation Counsel Self stated Dr. Holschuh was introducing the resolution but she was not sure what the rest of the Council would do. Commissioner Flores asked if the funds they are looking at were from the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Preservation Commission and Deputy Corporation Counsel Self replied yes. Commissioner Kaneshiro stated he would call Mr. Toledo to let him know of the meeting. OLD BUSINESS Sara Burgess, a member of the public, stated she was disappointed that her Save Honolulu Landing did not make the list. Ms. Burgess wanted clarification of what the process was and what else might be possible. Ms. Burgess stated she would focus her brief comments about the survey form because she did fill out the form and it said that if you put your name and address down you would be notified about meetings via email or mail and she doesn't believe she received any. Ms. Burgess stated she seen the ad in the newspaper and that is why she came. Ms. Burgess stated she hoped that the Commission would continue on and receive more proposals in the future. Ms. Burgess stated if that was the Commission's intention, then the process should be made clearer to the entire community. Ms. Burgess stated at one meeting she went to there was a man that was very upset and she took it upon herself to talk to him because she felt he didn't understand the purpose and the process or what power he might have in it all and she was not well received. Ms. Burgess stated it seemed the Commission's goal was to have a lot of involvement and people interested. Ms. Burgess stated when they have another round, more education as to how the process was going to work and what part an individual could actually have be explained. Ms. Burgess stated she also went around and talked to people in the area and there were a lot of people concerned about it. She was willing to work up an organization and re- submit a proposal. Ms. Burgess stated the other thing she learned was how it got down to money. Ms. Burgess stated she could see Chris' strategy of looking for a piece within a piece. Ms. Burgess stated in general, she would like to re- submit or to be on the list in the future. She would like to be informed of future meetings. Ms. Burgess stated she also got involved in the 2% for land and that she was 14 starting to look at other possible sources of support. Ms. Burgess stated she got a suggestion from someone at the Maku`u Market to contact Oprah. Ms. Burgess stated she was the one that apparently created the land rush in Puna. Ms. Burgess stated she was upset because someone on her unpopular street bulldozed a piece of land and bulldozed a 200 year old ohia tree and then realized they bulldozed the wrong one. Ms. Burgess stated this kind of thing was going on with careless development and greed. Ms. Burgess stated after someone leased the land which she calls part of the Honolulu Landing area and bulldozed it in day, it was the habitat of a Hawaiian hawk and there was a nest there that some of the neighbors were keeping an eye on. Ms. Burgess stated the baby birds were found dead due to starvation because their land was taken away. Ms. Burgess stated she has decided to run for State house representative. Ms. Burgess was interested in learning that a lot of land was actually owned by the State and it's not being taken cared off. Chair Replogle stated Ms. Burgess could re- submit for the Honolulu Landing again before Sept. 5th, 2006. The other people from her community could submit forms as well and they all will be taken into consideration. Ms. Burgess stated she thought the Commission had a difficult job and she was hoping that the funds and duties could be expanded. Commissioner Flores stated more information that she could provide about the land, the more help it is in assessing the property. Commissioner Campbell stated putting the information about the `Io nests would be a good thing to help bring the focus to it. Commissioner Campbell stated this was an ongoing thing and the Commission would be starting the public intake process next year because the Commission has to update for December and that the 2% is what they were working so hard to get on the ballot and now they have to get the word out because that's where the major funds can come from. Deputy Corporation Counsel Self stated the Commission has 2 million but the Mayor can go to Council and ask for another additional 3 million because the Commission's budget is up to 5 million. Commissioner Schuster thanked Ms. Burgess for bringing to the Commission's attention that she was not contacted thru email even though she marked it down on the form. The Commission would check on the forms to see who marked that. Lunch taken at 12:33 p.m. Reconvened at 12:57 p. m. Chair Replogle stated the Commission was still on Old Business. 15 Commissioner Flores stated at the last meeting the Commission circulated some suggestions and changes and at today's meeting Commissioner Kaneshiro's comments were circulated. Deputy Corporation Counsel Self stated one of the things the Commission had to do was look at other means for funding. When the Commission hands in their next list, they could try and do some research as to what other funding was out there. That information would be helpful to turn in when they turn in their list. Deputy Corporation Counsel Self stated one of the things that Chris stated that was confusing to them was preserving versus public access. It's as if those two uses were conflicting. Deputy Corporation Counsel Self stated if you want to preserve which meant they would have to purchase it and just maintain as an open space with no road built. But if you want it as a beach where people could have access then you would have a management issue. Deputy Corporation Counsel stated those were the things that the Commission had to think about. From an administrative point of view, that was the help they were looking for. Commissioner Flores stated it lead to a more detailed narrative for those specific ones which could be extracted Commissioner Kaneshiro stated the Commission needed to go back and look at what their charge was. Commissioner Kaneshiro stated from what he remembered, it was to make suggestions as to where they could get funding and provide a list to the Mayor. The Mayor in 60 days would provide this list to the County Council; the County Council was the implementing agency. Chair Replogle stated the top six on the list should be completely researched. The Commission could look into funding and attach it with the property. Chair Replogle stated when the Commission gave the list to the Mayor, he would have six to look at with the options and problems attached. Commissioner Flores stated at the last meeting, what he proposed was similar to what they were discussing. The idea was to delete Criteria 5 and 6 because it dealt more with due diligence type of aspects and putting Criteria 1, 3 and 4 into the Suggestion Form. The other was asking the public to provide attachments to detail more specifically how public access would fulfill the five purposes. Commissioner Flores stated they could add in to elaborate further, what was the intent, long term vision or strategy for this proposed acquisition. Commissioner Flores stated that he looked on the internet to see what the other County's have done and they ask for a lot more than what the Commission was asking therefore it was not unreasonable. Commissioner Flores stated the proposals were passed out at the last meeting. At the last meeting they also made revisions to the Suggestions Form. Commissioner Flores stated they took out the word "Optional" and put in "Contact" so they had to provide a contact number. They also discussed taking out the whole line about emailing and 16 putting a statement in about going to the website to get more information about the meetings. Commissioner Flores stated another thing that could be added to the Form was identifying community organizations, groups or individuals that could be contacted for further information about proposed acquisition. Commissioner Flores stated a draft of the Suggestion /Survey form could be done so they could look at it again since there was no pressing deadline. The other part was the Criteria Assessment Form. Were they going to accept it now and use it as a trial run? The Commissioners were all in agreement. Commissioner Kalani Flores made a Motion to use the 2007 Assessment Criteria Form which was submitted as a draft from July 10, 2006 as an assessment form to evaluate the forms received by September Yh. Commissioner Kaneshiro seconded. Chair Replogle called for a vote on the Motion, all members voted aye by voice vote, motion carried. Commissioner Flores stated that the Commission could make more revisions for the following year. Chair Replogle stated it would be good if every year, two of the Commissioners could be sent to the Land Trust Alliance National Conference. Chair Replogle stated it would be very beneficial. Three days of it were classes about conservation easement, funding, tax benefit. It's all about partnerships, how to protect land and land trust issues. Deputy Corporation Counsel Self stated that it could be brought up to Finance. Deputy Corporation Counsel Self stated she got a call from a guy from the Planning Department on Kauai and he saw the Commission's report to the Mayor and was very impressed. He said that it was very concise and to the point. Deputy Corporation Counsel Self stated he wanted to know how the Commission managed to get 5 million in their land fund and he was also impressed with all the community meetings that the Commission had. NEW BUSINESS Chair Replogle stated he and Commissioner Campbell went to Kona and testified in support of the 2% initiative resolution. The Council had a resolution on the floor either to accept the County Clerk's finding, which was out of 10,000 signatures only 3,600 were good or they had the option of overriding that; which they did. It would be on the ballot. They are planning to have a kick off campaign for the 2 %. Chair Replogle stated if there was an emergency, the County Council can get the funds however they will need two public meetings before they can take the money. 17 ANNOUCEMENTS The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 11, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. at the Department of Liquor Control Conference Room, 75 -5722 Hanama Place, Suite 1107, Kailua -Kona, Hawaii. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Campbell moved to adjourn the meeting; Commissioner Kaneshiro seconded the motion and all members voted aye. The meeting adjourned at 2:06 p.m. spitted, Secretary W.