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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-03-12 NKCDP Minutes Final NORTH KOHALA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE MINUTES MEETING DATE March 12, 2012 TIME 4:30 pm PLACE Kohala Senior Center, Akoni Pule Highway, Kapaau, Hawaii 96755 ATTENDANCE 1. Members Present: Joe Carvalho, Hermann Fernandez, Susan Fischer, Frank Cipriani, Giovanna Gherardi, John Winter, Collin Kaholo, and Christopher MacKillop 2. Members absent: Marlene Ching Also present were Project Manager Rosalind Newlon and Terry Dunlap from the Office of the Hawai’i County Planning Department. 3. Public Attendance: Pat Moore, Robert Green, Eric N. Schmidt, Jesse Wells, Mike Fischer, Lynda Wallach, Toni Withington, Stephanie Naihe Laxton, Denise, and April K. Lee. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC: Eric N. Schmidt said he was doing a documentary for the next three months and then narrated a poem on Mahukona Beach Park. Denise requested that the meetings start at 6pm instead of 4:30pm. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS: Minutes of the February 13, 2011 meeting were discussed and several changes were noted including; under New Business delete the first sentence and delete part of the last sentence after bulletin board; delete beginning of last sentence; Under Subcommittee reports, make a correction that the variance is a request for relief from R-39 road standards; Under Infrastructure A, delete first sentence. Motion for approval was made by Giovanna Gherardi and seconded by Hermann Fernandez with those changes and unanimously approved. REPORTS 1. LAND USE PERMIT ACTIVITY REPORT – Rosalind Newlon, NKCDP Project Manager reported on Planning Dept. permits received in the previous month for the North Kohala district. There was a question about the access to the L-Three Holdings Subdivision application and whether they were going to drill a well. Hermann noted that there are various access points for that pending subdivision application and did not have information about the well from DLNR. 2. INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE WILL PROVIDE AN UPDATE ON THE PLANS FOR A COMMUNITY MEETING AND IMPROVING COMMUNICATIONS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY – Giovanna Gherardi met with Toni Withington and her son 1 regarding creating a website and discussing the community meeting. Rosalind Newlon indicated that creation of a website by the Action Committee would first need approval by the Planning Director. NEW BUSINESS: 3. REVIEW DRAFT LETTER FROM ACTION COMMITTEE REGARDING REQUEST FOR IMPORTANT AGRICULTURAL LANDS (IAL) TO BE IDENTIFIED AND MAPPED - This agenda item was deferred until further research can be obtained. OLD BUSINESS: 4. ORIENTATION FOR NEW ACTION COMMITTEE MEMBERS – Joe Carvalho asked if the AC members had any questions regarding the handouts he had provided on the subcommittee process and AC member expectations. Frank Cipriani said that it looks like it is his job is to recruit members for the agricultural subcommittee. Hermann Fernandez offered a list of the original agricultural subcommittee members. John Winter noted that at least one subcommittee member other than an AC member attends the AC meeting. 5. DISCUSS SUBCOMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS – The following subcommittee assignments were made: Agriculture - Frank Cipriani Infrastructure A - John Winter and Giovanna Gherardi Public Access - Joe Carvalho and Christopher MacKillop Infrastructure B - Susan Fischer Growth Management - Hermann Fernandez and John Winter Affordable Housing - Collin Kaholo Marlene Ching – floating subcommittee member 6. NKCDP AC SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS : Pat Moore, HELCO administrator, reported on reliability for North Infrastructure B Kohala and said that he would be talking about that in more detail in the future and said that it is still a concern of theirs and that any routing is preliminary and would need to go through rights of way. Pat also informed the committee that the Public Utilities Commission has restarted the utilities long-range planning process called integrated resource planning (IRP), if the Commission would be selecting an Advisory Group and that a request to be on the Advisory Group must be submitted to the Commission within the time frame as noted in the Commission’s order. Unlike past IRP planning where each electric utility had its own Advisory Group, there will be just one for HECO, HELCO, and MECO now. Expansion of geothermal and an undersea cable for electricity transmission are issues that will probably be considered in IRP. He referred to Docket 2012-0036. Hermann Fernandez asked if increasing the reliability meant a loop system. Pat said yes. John Winter asked about the location of the poles and Pat said it depends on how the easements are secured. 2 Hermann Fernandez said that the Land Use and Permit report Growth Management: did not change for this month. He reported that the Harrison variance was approved. Hermann also noted that he needs the Land Use report earlier than he received it this month. Hermann said his subcommittee reviewed his draft Important Agricultural Lands (IAL) recommendation letter and did not suggest any changes, other than he noted that there were some diverse opinions on IAL among the subcommittee members. Hermann also reported that University of Hawai‘i Tropical Agriculture Department was sending out questionnaires to large landowners on protecting IAL in Hawai‘i, and that it was a 10-page survey, and that he hopes that it will help designate IAL. There was discussion by the AC members on what would be the downside of having IAL and large tracts of land for farming and that it is not a necessity to protect farming. An example was given of large scale farming and the use of pesticides. Other members noted that large scale agriculture complexes in North Kohala are needed. Joe Carvalho said that nothing is happening at Hapu’u-Kapanai’a. He Public Access: said that the Kauhola lighthouse is just about purchased and that they still need about $51,000. Joe asked Margaret Wille to provide an update on the Pahoa trail. Margaret said that she walked the trail to see where the public access should be and also what works for the client who owns the property. She noted that the house is in foreclosure and that there is a title company involved. Margaret said that the public access goes through a wall. Margaret said that she is trying to redesign the subdivision lines and put the public access where it logically should go. Joe Carvalho said that they are looking at the first cut of the trail. Margaret said it makes sense to go up to the first gate nearest the ocean and to guide people to the easier trail. Toni Withington said that there is a lateral and mauka-makai access. Joe Carvalho continued his report by providing an update on the new parking lot at Upolu Airport; he said it is a long range plan and it depends on who buys the property. Joe said regarding the grant of easement documents that they will work with GIS mapping from the Park Service to identify trails. Stephanie Naihe Laxton said in regards to the Kauhola Lighthouse, she is waiting for Dave of the Trust for Public Lands (TPL) for the dignitaries for the celebration that is being planned by Malama Kai. She expects the closing of the purchase to occur in June. Stephanie said that she asked the TPL what are the rights of the roads and it was determined “no vehicular access” – “pedestrian access only”. Stephanie also requested that if the subcommittee is doing GIS mapping of trails to send a letter requesting permission to gain access on the Lighthouse property. John Winter reported on the painting work that was being performed Infrastructure A: at Kapaa Beach Park. He said that the pavilion has been scraped clean, refurbished and painted, and has plumbing. John said that the work was done by the Veterans, Lions Club and a few other volunteers. Giovanna Gherardi said that Mahukona needs a lot of work and that Linda is spearheading the efforts to restore that beach park and will see how the Department of Parks and Recreation can help. She said that Toni Withington was helpful in coordinating a meeting regarding the feral cat issue and 3 whether it is tied to the Impetigo problem. There was a question raised if it is legal for people to feed feral cats in a public park. It was said that it would be in the best interest of the Parks dept. to take care of the feral cat situation. Collin Kaholo said that the Catholic Charity meeting was Affordable Housing: cancelled. He said the subcommittee is looking at transitional homes and educating the younger generation to get involved in their programs. Collin said that the self help program is moving forward in a positive direction. He said that interested parties need to fill out an application and that their finances need to be in order to qualify. Collin said that any other type of home besides self help would be for someone to donate land or sponsor housing in Kohala. The question was raised whether partnership housing would work. Joe Carvalho asked if the Kohala Land Trust is still a viable organization. Stephanie provided an email address. – No report Agriculture ANNOUNCEMENTS : Giovanna Gherardi said that Sarah Pule was working on a th blessing scheduled for May 12 at Keokea Park, and that this Saturday that there would be a memorial at King Kamehameha Park at 2:00pm at the Gym . STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC: Stephanie Naihe Laxton inquired about the large lighted signs and requested that the AC members look into the sign code requirements and if they need funds they can work with the community. Margaret Wille made a comment regarding IAL and stressed that the CDP wants the community to take the lead in this process and the cost is about $70K. Margaret said everything is a case by case basis when looking at IAL. She also mentioned Strategy 1.7 and 1.9 and then mentioned Representative Mark Nakashima and reported on a funding bill coming up. Margaret then said she spoke to the Director of Parks and Recreation, Robert Fitzgerald, about availability of funds. Denise had a question about the Subway store that she had heard about. Denise also says the community wants to get involved and that the timeframe doesn’t work for when the meetings begin. Stephanie said that for the Kauhola Lighthouse that there would be no conservation easement. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: Administrative Matters Schedule of meetings Land Use Report Report by Investigative Committee – community meeting and improving communication IAL Update Subcommittee reports NEXT MEETING: Date: Wednesday, April 11, 2012 Place: North Kohala Senior Center Time: 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm 4 ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, Giovanna Gherardi made a motion and Frank Cipriani seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting and was unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 6:07 pm. 5