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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-12-12 NKCDP Minutes Final NORTH KOHALA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE MINUTES MEETING DATE December 12, 2011 TIME 4:30 p.m. PLACE North Kohala Senior Center (the old courthouse) 54-3900 Akoni Pule Highway, Kohala, HI 96755 ATTENDANCE Members Present: Joe Carvalho, Ron Friman, Giovanna Gherardi, Hermann Fernandez, Susan Fischer, Collin Kaholo Excused: Marlene Ching, Bob Martin Planning Department: Rosalind Newlon Public Attendance: Frank Cipriani, Judy Rogers, Susan Laughlin, Joy Mi, Lynda Wallach, Karen Martinez, William J, Frollach, and Liz Purtell STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC: Karen Martinez said that she would like to be able to communicate with County staff on agenda items if needed. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of the September 12, 2011, October 10, 2011, and November 14, 2011. Hermann Fernandez suggested changes to October 10, 2011 minutes to delete the reference to road variance and the Harrison subdivision, in the Land Use Report Section. Motion was made by Hermann Fernandez and seconded by Giovanna Gherardi and all in favor to approve the minutes with the change made to the October 10, 2011 minutes. AC members expressed appreciation for a community volunteer who responded to requests for help with the minutes. Due to County rules for the recorder to be a paid position and current budget constraints, the offer cannot be accepted. Rosalind Newlon will take the minutes for the months she is present. Giovanna Gherardi will take minutes for the January meeting. 2. Election of Chair and Vice Chair. There was discussion of the AC to wait until the vacancies on the AC were filled. Rosalind Newlon advised them that the election needs to occur on an annual basis. It was decided to elect a Chair and Vice Chair to hold the position until March 2012 and see if the vacancies are filled by then. Giovanna Gherardi made a motion that the current Chair, Joe Carvalho be the Chair until March 2012. Ron Friman seconded the motion, with all in favor. Ron Friman made a motion that Susan Fischer serve as Vice Chair until March 2012, and Hermann Fernandez seconded the motion with all in favor. 3. RECRUITMENT OF NKCDP AC MEMBERS Three applicants were interviewed. Recommendations will need to be made. REPORTS: 1) LAND USE PERMIT ACTIVITY REPORT Rosalind Newlon, NKCDP Project Manager reported on Planning Department permits received in the previous month for the North Kohala district. A question was asked whether the Harrison Variance request pertains to road width. Hermann Fernandez responded that the applicant is asking for a lower standard on how the roads will be constructed. NEW BUSINESS: 2) Community Meeting – Joe Carvalho said that the meeting is usually in February or March, and they generally provided subcommittee reports, overview, and a lunch was provided by the Sustainable group, and it was held on a Saturday. There was discussion that there were constraints due to the vacancies on the AC and to wait until the new AC members are on board. It was decided to wait until end of March or early April to hold the meeting. There was also a suggestion to create a planning group to coordinate the community meeting. There was a motion by Giovanna Gherardi to have Hermann Fernandez, Giovanna Gherardi, Joe Carvalho and Collin Kaholo on the Investigatory group to plan an annual meeting, and it was seconded by Ron Friman and all were in favor. Community Notification. 3) Statements from the Public were requested earlier for this item before discussion by the AC. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC: Karen Martinez: Post a newsletter and subcommittee reports at the Takata Store. Frank Cipriani: Post notices at Churches and religious places of worship. Susan Laughlin: Religious organizations can have representatives communicate through their bulletin boards used in the community. Reach out to other organizations. Introduce AC and subcommittee members to the public at the AC meetings. Frank Cipriani: Approach the small business association. Karen Martinez: Create an email list. Frank Cipriani: Go to Aquaculuturehub.org. and get West Hawai‘i Today to post notices to write articles about the AC. Susan Laughlin: Gather input for a focus group. Karen Martinez: Is there more than one meeting a year that the AC can meet with people. Susan Laughlin: Can agendas be posted on bulletin boards ahead of the meetings. Discussion by the AC followed. Ron Friman suggested an electronic bulletin board, also known as a silent radio used by CERT for emergency reasons. He would like to propose a way to purchase one at a cost of $15-20k, and use a fund raiser to obtain the funds. Joe Carvalho suggested identifying certain bulletin boards in the community to post minutes, agendas and subcommittee reports. Giovanna Gherardi said that the Infrastructure A subcommittee came up with a suggestion to communicate with the community. 4) Proposals for Inclusion in Capital Improvement Project (CIP) Budget. It was stated that no additional CIP inclusions are anticipated other than the Mahukona Beach Park restrooms. Joe Carvalho suggested that we see if the restrooms could be built as a cost less than previously estimated. OLD BUSINESS: 5) NKCDP Subcommittee Reports the Growth Management subcommittee reported that the Subcommittee Growth Management: met and had a long discussion on farm dwellings and reviewed essays on farm dwellings and HRS 205. Hermann reported that Larry Nakayama of the Planning Department said that the road variance for the Harrison Subdivision would be decided this week. He also had a brief discussion on the State land use designations of Urban, Agricultural, Rural and Conservation and discussed Important Agricultural Lands (IAL) and the need for a consultant to identify IAL. Hermann reported on two subdivisions from the land use report; one is a 40 acre lot proposing 2 lots, and the other is the Sargent subdivision in the middle of Hawi near the gym, proposing 5 lots at 17,000 sq.ft. each, with water being the limiting factor. He said the CDP recommends more density in Kapaa and Hawi, so it is consistent with the CDP. The Growth Management Subcommittee meets every first Monday. The Subcommittee reported that at the last meeting they discussed the Public Access: problem with fisherman cutting fences and that the subcommittee will notify tournament organizations regarding the problem. Joe Carvalho said that in regard to the Kauhola Lighthouse there is a fundraiser that is trying to get $107,000 by December 31, 2011 and they already have some matching funds. He reported that the Upolu airport restoration project will start in January to work on the areas destroyed by ATV’s and bikes. Joe said that they are working on grant of easement documents to see where they stand with the Planning Department. Joe reported that there is a draft EIS for the Marines for use of Upolu airport and that comments are due by December 27, 2011 and that they are trying to get a public meeting in North Kohala. The Subcommittee reported that the repair work at the Mahukona and Infrastructure A: Kapaa Beach parks is on hold during the holidays. They are trying to get toilet facilities at Mahukona and trying to upgrade toilet facilities and power washing at Kapaa. Giovanna reported that John Winter will be making name tags for the AC for the meetings and is also looking at a small radio station to see what is going on in the way of communicating. Giovanna said that Toni Withington provided suggestions for community outreach to neighborhoods. Additional suggestions included writing a series of fact sheets; make speakers available; and outreach through community meetings. Giovanna suggested an investigative group be formed for things the group could do and/or may take this project back to the Infrastructure A subcommittee. The Subcommittee met on December 5 at the Kamehameha Park conference Infrastructure B: room. Methods to notify the community of meetings were discussed, focusing on bulletin boards at Takata Store and the two Post Offices. Susan pointed out those with Hawi and Kapaau post office boxes are fortunate to receive the Kohala Mountain New for notices, while North Kohala residents with postal boxes in Kamuela or Kawaihae are not so fortunate. Susan displayed the Redundancy map showing the route of the electric loop proposed for North Kohala. Subcommittee efforts are now being focused on the wind farm, and potential improvements for Hawi Substation. For the wind farm to provide back-up electricity when HELCO is not available, an on-site generator with a capacity equal to the wind farm’s output would have to run 100% of the time. The next meeting will be on the third Monday of January at St. Augustine’s meeting room. The Subcommittee reported that there will be no meeting on December Affordable Housing: 22, 2011. Collin Kaholo said that the Self-help Phase II is on-line with people working on the weekends and holidays to complete homes. He said he found out Self-help is Section 8 and have support to have homes in place. Collin said that with Habitat Homes, land is the biggest problem and they are looking at State land, which would take at least 4 years to get all the players in place. They are looking within the community for support. He said that they need to work with the Community Resource Center to help with the paperwork and presentations to the community to see that young people don’t have to spend so much money for housing. No report. Agriculture: STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC: Frank Cipriani – Requested Growth Management Subcommittee notes. ANNOUNCEMENTS: none NEXT MEETING: Date: Monday, January 9, 2012 Place: North Kohala Senior Center Time: 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Agenda: Update on Upolu Airport Information on Electronic Bulletin Boards Subcommittee Reports ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, it was moved by Giovanna Gherardi, seconded by Hermann Fernandez, and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at 6:20 p.m.