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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-04-14 Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission MinutesHAWAII COUNTY PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES- REGULAR SESSION April 14, 2008 Department of Liquor Control Conference Room 101 Aupuni Street, Suite 230 Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Present: Chair Hannah Springer Vice -Chair Paul Campbell Commissioner E. Kalani Flores Commissioner Kim Garcia Commissioner Terri Markovich Commissioner Sarah Moon Absent: Commissioner Bill Gilmartin Others Present: Amy Self, Deputy Corporation Counsel (arrived at 10:44 a.m) Harry Yada, Property Manager, Finance Alexandra Kelepolo, Clerk III, Finance CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chair Hannah Springer at 10:07 a.m. Ms. Springer then welcomed Ms. Terri Markovich to the Commission who will be representing District 1 (Hamakua). STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Flores moved for approval of the minutes of January 14, 2008 regular session, seconded by Commissioner Garcia and carried unanimously by voice vote. Mr. Flores amended the minutes of February 11, 2008 to change the meeting location on the top of Page 1 from Hilo to Kona. Commissioner Flores moved for approval of the minutes with the noted corrections of February 11, 2008 regular session, seconded by Commissioner Garcia and carried unanimously by voice vote. Ms. Springer then noted that there are no minutes to approve from March due to a lack of quorum. -1- WRITTEN COMMUNICATION Communication No. 08 -004: Signed Petitions to "Protect Coastal `O`oma H from Development" Motion: Vice -Chair Campbell moved to receive Communication No. 08 -004. Seconded by Commissioner Garcia. All members voted aye, motion carried. Communication No. 08 -005: Various Letters & E -mails of Support to "Protect and Save `O`oma II from Development" Motion: Commissioner Garcia moved to receive Communication No. 08 -005. Seconded by Commissioner Moon. All members voted aye, motion carried Communication No. 08 -006: Letter to Mayor Harry Kim, from Laura C. Schuster, re: Resignation from Council District 2 of the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission effective February 11, 2008 Motion: Commissioner Garcia moved to receive Communication No. 08 -006 Seconded by Vice - Chair Campbell. All members voted aye, motion carried Communication No. 08 -007: Letter to Pete Hoffman, Chairperson, and Members of the Hawaii County Council, from Mayor Harry Kim, re: Transmittal of 2007 Annual Report to the Mayor for the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission (with Attachment 1 only) Motion: Commissioner Garcia moved to receive Communication No. 08 -007. Seconded by Commissioner Moon. All members voted aye, motion carried. DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE REPORT Mr. Yada reported that the 2007 Annual Report was received at the County Council Finance Committee meeting on March 24, 2008. He mentioned that some council members expressed concern over the use of funds for management, however it was unusual that the Chair felt there was no need for further prioritization. Mr. Yada then announced that in March of this year, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife, through its Recovery Land Acquisition (RLA) program, announced the award of 1 million dollars to the County of Hawaii for the purchase of the parcels in Kawa`a owned by Mr. Olson. He also told the Commission to expect the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) to confirm the 1.5 million dollars approved by the Legacy Land Commission (LLC) sometime in April or May. In addition, the County is processing the grant agreement from the LLC for the 1.2 million purchase of Kawa`a (Johnson) so that the County can get reimbursed by the State for advancing the funds. -2- Mr. Yada noted that a preliminary title report was forwarded to Mr. Olson's representative and the County is still awaiting a response. A "yellow book appraisal" will need to be done meeting federal guidelines since the grant monies will be coming from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. Mr. Campbell then asked what is going on with Puapua`a. Mr. Yada replied that there is no money right now since all the monies are earmarked for Kawa`a. Mr. Yada noted that the Council's response in not prioritizing the list is that once Kawa`a was purchased, the next priority that was passed in 2006 is Honoli`i. Ms. Garcia asked Mr. Yada on some of the County's concerns in regards to management. Mr. Yada replied that there was some discussion on what Ms. Debbie Hecht suggested but no real consensus was made. Ms. Garcia then mentioned that the committee will have to look for other funding sources for maintenance and management. OFFICE OF THE CORPORATION COUNSEL'S REPORT Ms. Springer noted that Deputy Corporation Counsel Amy Self is unavailable and therefore deferred this report. CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT Ms. Springer welcomed Ms. Markovich to the Commission and had nothing further to report. COMMITTEE REPORT Mr. Campbell mentioned that Ms. Debbie Hecht and some others are working on creating a bond initiative proposal to use some of the 2% funds to leverage 100 million dollars in bonds. The taxpayers would need to vote on it and as the funds are used they would be billed a very minimal amount. Ms. Springer asked if that initiative will be presented to the public for the 2008 election season. Mr. Campbell replied yes. Ms. Garcia asked if the funds could be used for management and maintenance. Mr. Campbell replied that it could be used for management, plans, acquisition, etc. Ms. Springer asked Mr. Yada to share his insight on how the 2% fund could be used for leveraging. Mr. Yada mentioned that he's not sure how much of the fund would be committed for 100 million dollars. He further noted that issuing that much bonds could affect the County rating in general along with higher interest rates of all County bonds. Ms. Springer stressed that this is a fairly complex matter and the committee needs to bring forth more specificity. Mr. Flores stressed that he doesn't think the 2% fund can be used to leverage bonds since the County Code is specific to how the monies can be used. He added that he would like to see the -3- proposed language for the initiative. Mr. Campbell mentioned that Ms. Hecht will be attending the next meeting in Kona to provide information and answer questions. Ms. Garcia then mentioned that she spoke with a grant- writer, Ms. Sandy Demoruelle who suggested that she contact Na Leo Hawaii to film a video at different park locations to present to grant foundations and community groups with the purpose of getting funding for management. Ms. Springer suggested that Ms. Garcia refer to Section 2 -217 of the Hawaii County Code and review the specific duties and responsibilities of the Commission. Mr. Flores felt that maybe a good idea would be to create a short video and send out to various organizations to bring in monies to supplement the acquisition of lands. Ms. Garcia stressed that they've discussed this before and noted they as a Commission agreed that there's a need for maintenance and management. Ms. Self then stated that it is the responsibility of the County's administration to manage the properties once acquired. Ms. Garcia asked if she can do this as a private individual. Ms. Self replied yes, however not on behalf of the Commission. Ms. Self told the Commission that if they are looking at leveraging funds to purchase lands it leaves more money in the 2% fund that could possibly be used for management. Ms. Self explained that leveraging is like matching funds or giving your money more power when trying to obtain federal, state or private funds. Mr. Yada added that a good example is Kawa`a. Once all the properties are acquired, the County would've only paid out less than half the total acquisition amount by leveraging and obtaining grant monies from state and federal agencies. Ms. Moon expressed her concern and feels that acquisition is more important than management, and that open space and wilderness areas are very valuable. Mr. Campbell then commented that the proposed bond initiative would be used for acquisition and /or management. He added that since there are no funds readily available for management, assistance could also come from community groups, however, they must be 501(c)(3) non - profit organizations to qualify for state and federal funding. Ms. Springer asked Mr. Yada for an example of a community group that has been identified for management of County lands. Mr. Yada stated that Honuapo is a good example. It was purchased with a combination of state, county and federal (National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration) funds. The County is working with Ka`u Preservation through Parks and Recreation with assistance from Trust for Public Lands (TPL). He further added that if federal monies are used for acquisition, you don't have an option of not doing anything, you must meet the required conditions stated in the grant agreement. Ms. Springer added that the Commission considers inviting Lea Hong of TPL and Rob Shallenberger of The Nature Conservancy to a future meeting to discuss management possibilities. Ms. Garcia asked if there would be funding available to assist community groups in managing County lands and parks. Ms. Self stated that this is outside of the Commission's duties, and if the County goes in and puts any kind of improvements, the liability goes up. Mr. Flores commented that the committee was formed to explore alternative methods of funding sources and feels that they're going way beyond their duties. Ms. Self reminded the Commission that they must abide by the responsibilities outlined in the Hawaii County Code and its fine to do things on an individual capacity but not on behalf of the Commission. UNFINISHED BUSINESS • Continue discussing concerns of the Commission for possible use of the Open Space Fund for maintenance and management of properties acquired with the Open Space Fund, which would require an amendment of the Hawaii County Code by the County Council Ms. Springer asked each Commissioner to comment on whether the Hawaii County Code be amended to use a portion of the open space fund for management and maintenance and not only acquisition. Ms. Markovich replied acquisition. Ms. Garcia feels that it should expand to acquisition, management and maintenance. Ms. Moon replied acquisition. Mr. Campbell replied acquisition. Mr. Flores noted that presently, the funds are so limited; it wouldn't be practical to use the money for anything else but acquisition. Ms. Springer concurs with acquisition. Mr. Flores suggested that the Commission consider discussing maintenance and management options for properties already acquired by the County at a future meeting. • Continue discussing amending the Commission's rules and adoption of the rules pursuant to Chapter 91 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes Ms. Self stated that since this is only an advisory Commission they won't need to go through Chapter 91 rulemaking process. -5- She suggested that the Commission may want to consider adding to their rules the process on how to handle situations when landowners want to be removed from the list. In addition, also include the process of updating the prioritized list. Ms. Springer asked that this discussion remain on the agenda and at the next meeting all Commissioners will bring a copy of the rules for amendment. • Continue discussing scheduling and strategies for 2008 Ms. Garcia asked if whether the Commission will keep on receiving suggestion forms from the public. Ms. Springer replied yes, however the focus this year will be on explaining the Commission's process clearly to the public at the Mayor's request. Ms. Springer noted that they will still need to generate a report and in the time leading up to that the Commission can look at their rules and come to a decision in May. Mr. Flores clarified that in prior discussions they would not assess forms this year, however try to re -visit the previous requests, identify any existing access easements and update if possible. Ms. Self then mentioned that when discussing easements they should check with the Planning Department first. Ms. Springer then noted that the panel discussion with resource representatives can be in July. In addition, they can start drafting the annual report in August and submit to the Mayor sometime in December. NEW BUSINESS Commission to discuss management plans and how they can contribute to the planning process Mr. Yada commented that given the resources available, he was looking at possibly using some of Finance's budget to initiate a cultural and natural resource assessment. If the budget is approved the following year by Council, a comprehensive management plan can be drafted once the inventory and assessments are completed. Ms. Self added that the Council recently passed a bill creating a Cultural Historic Resources Commission to be under the Planning Department effective January 2009. ANNOUCEMENTS The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 12, 2008, 10:00 a.m., at the Department of Liquor Control Conference Room, 75 -5722 Hanama Place, Suite 1107, Kailua -Kona, Hawaii. ADJOURNMENT Chair Springer adjourned the meeting at 12:07 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Alexandra Kelepolo, Clerk III -7-