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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-11-12 Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission Minutes HAWAII COUNTY PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES-REGULAR SESSION November 12, 2013 County Building Puna Conference Room 25 Aupuni Street, Suite #1501 Hilo, i 96720 Present: Chair Marilyn Nicholson Vice-Chair Steven Hirakami Commissioner Byrne Baber (arrived @ 10:10 a.m.) Commissioner Timothy DeLozier Commissioner Enock Freire Commissioner Searle Grace Commissioner Wilma Matsumura Absent: Commissioner Debbie Hecht Others Present: Bill Brilhante, Deputy Corporation Counsel (left @ 11:35 a.m.) Nancy Crawford, Director, Finance (left @ 10:44 a.m.) Clayton Honma, Director, Parks & Recreation (left @ 10:44 a.m.) Ken Van Bergen, Property Manager, Finance (left @ 11:43 a.m.; returned @ 11:58 a.m.) Alexandra Kelepolo, Property Management Technician, Finance CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chair Marilyn Nicholson at 10:08 a.m. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS CORY HARDEN Ms. Cory Harden spoke in regards to the Maintenance Fund and talked about how many years of grassroots effort was put in to get the 2% Land Fund set in the Charter. isappointed that after one year there has been no applications for the community to apply for stewardship grants and that the st CAugust 1 deadline since the money is set aside for the consultants to do archaeological plans. Ms. Harden asked for clarification of several questions. What is an archaeological plan plan? - 1 - Can Maintenance Funds be used for: archaeological plans boundary stakeouts (listed in accounting report) burial treatment plans (also listed) How is the County giving local communities a say in planning for their special places? and maintenance actions are given priority? Ms. Harden thanked the commissioners for their consideration. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Ms. Nicholson asked the commissioners to review the minutes. Motion: Commissioner Freire moved to approve the minutes of September 9, 2013. Seconded by Commissioner Matsumura; all members voted aye, motion carried. WRITTEN COMMUNICATION Communication No. 13-046: Letter dated September 11, 2013 from Debbie Hecht to Ken Van Bergen, Property Manager, re: Questions regarding the PONC Maintenance Fund, Implementation of Stewardship Grants and the use of monies from the PONC 2% Fund Communication No. 13-047: Response to questions asked by letter dated September 11, 2013 from Debbie Hecht to Ken Van Bergen, Property Manager, re: The PONC Maintenance Fund, Implementation of Stewardship Grants and the use of monies from the PONC 2% Fund Mr. Brilhante asked Ms. Nicholson to accept and file Communication Nos. 13-046 and 13-047 before they discuss this as an agenda item. Motion: Commissioner Freire moved to accept and file Communication No. 13-046. Seconded by Commissioner Grace; all members voted aye, motion carried. Motion: Commissioner Matsumura moved to accept and file Communication No. 13-047. Seconded by Vice-Chair Hirakami; all members voted aye, motion carried. COMMISSION TO DISCUSS WITH PROPERTY MANAGER KEN VAN BERGEN AND DEPUTY CORPORATION COUNSEL WILLIAM BRILHANTE REGARDING THE MECHANISM OF THE PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION MAINTENANCE FUND, IMPLEMENTATION OF STEWARDSHIP GRANTS AND USE OF THE MONIES FROM THE PONC 2% FUND TO ADDRESS QUESTIONS RAISED IN COMMUNICATION NO. 13-046 FROM COMMISSIONER DEBBIE HECHT - 2 - Ms. Nicholson asked the commissioners to review the communications and commented that it would be more appropriate to have Ms. Hecht present and a representative from Parks & Recreation (P&R) before they discuss this item. Mr. Brilhante noted that Mr. Clayton Honma, Director of P&R was present to address questions and concerns. Ms. Matsumura asked if the Maintenance Fund actually comes under the jurisdiction of this Commission. Ms. Nicholson replied that is something that needs to be clarified. Mr. Van Bergen replied no. Mr. Hirakami noted that it might be good to take it question by question and have Mr. Honma answer any items pertaining to P&R. Mr. Hirakami noted that these questions were drafted by Commissioner Debbie Hecht and the responses were done by Corporation Counsel Bill Brilhante. Mr. Hirakami read question #1: -author of the Maintenance Fund charter amendment, the intent of publicizing the fund once per year and asking for applications was to encourage and empower community groups to maintain and care for these properties. Although publicity would only be once per year, the intention was that community groups could apply any time during the year and they could also apply year after year. Can you confirm that this fund is being used as it was Mr. Brilhante replied that a majority of the monies although sitting in the fund have been accounted for this year so no funds are available for stewardship grants and therefore no publication was done. Mr. Honma added that there are lots of cultural sites on these properties and an inventory of these sites will need to be done. They plan to hire professional services to do this and the cost for these studies will vary and they expect to fully use the fund monies initially there to cover this. Ms. Nicholson asked Mr. Honma to address the issue raised by Ms. Harden regarding what is an archaeological plan and how is it different from an archaeological survey or site plan. Mr. Honma replied that it is very general currently on those lands. Mr. Van Bergen added that an archaeological survey is when they go out to survey the properti We recently did a survey for Kw and it cost 52,000.00 so you can see how fast the fund monies could be used. Mr. Hirakami asked Mr. Van Bergen where did the funds come from to pay for archaeological studies before the Maintenance Fund was created. Mr. Van Bergen replied that we were able to access some plan which was done about four years ago and since the Kw Ms. Byrne Baber replied that in regards to Kaiholena, Mr. Tom Dye has done an extensive plan there and the Kohala community has many partnerships. Community involvement is really important and she hopes that not all the monies are going to only experts since the local community really wants to be involved also. - 3 - Mr. Hirakami read question #2: Funds publicized as the charter calls for, so that community groups could apply for this year-2013? Mr. Hirakami read that P&R said all funds are accounted for and there are no stewardship grant funds available. He commented that as of July 1, 2013 there was about 218,953.00 in the fund and nothing was expended yet. Mr. Honma replied that about 35,000.00 was set aside for Kpapa Park and about publicize for stewardship grants. Mr. Hirakami commented that the public would be happy if they had an idea or estimated cost for each property and what percentage of the fund is going to be used instead of just a statement saying that all funds are accounted for. Mr. Honma replied that he cannot point out the studies are going to cost. Ms. Nicholson asked if there is a way to involve community groups procurement question. Ms. Nancy Crawford commented that a professional could consult with SHPD Baber concurs with that and feels that they have the ability to do that in their community and the intention is to empower local communities to build their capacity on multiple levels to help steward these lands. There are archaeologists, engineers and scientists around the island that are able to do this and some funding could really help. Mr. Hirakami noted that question #3 is just a statement of the charter amendment and question #4 reads: There are several community groups that I have been talking to about applying for funds. Is Mr. Hirakami read that P&R is in the process of developing Stewardship Grants system. He asked how far along is P&R on the process since the public and the community is waiting and hopes that all 475,000.00 in the fund is not going to be all be used for archaeological studies. Mr. Honma replied that they do have a draft grant application that is being reviewed and believes that the County will be going out to solicit for grants next year. Mr. Hirakami asked if the deadline to submit has to be August. Mr. Brilhante replied that he needs to look into it. Ms. Byrne Baber commented that the intention was at least once a year, like a benchmark. Mr. Hirakami noted that #5 was not a question, just thanks for posting the accounting of expenditures from the fund on the PONC site. Mr. Hirakami read question #6: the day afte Mr. Hirakami read that deposits should be from the first quarter after election, so it would be from st January 1, 2013 to whenever the end of the first quarter is. See Section 10-16(d)(1) and Section 5 of Ordinance 12-16 which says first quarter. Mr. Hirakami read additional questions, #1: Mr. Hirakami read that the 2% funds were used as Council found that the stated purpose of the acquisition was for Kpapa Park. There is gravel placed for dust control on some portions of the - 4 - property. These areas of gravel are for parking so that the public can better access Laaloa Beach Park as well as Kpapa Trail. Mr. Hirakami read question #2: Can 2% Land Fund money be used to acquire lands that will be used justification described above in #1. Mr. Van Bergen noted that this is the first time that we acquired an open space property with existing structures and in a densely populated area. What we did was negotiate with the owner a plan at no cost to the County to have the structures torn down and removed, removal of the albizia trees and once everything was clear to lay grass down. In addition, a burial plan was included and parcel 20 was flattened out is now being used for overflow parking for the nearby Laaloa and Phoehoe County parks. Mr. Hirakami commented that the 2% Fund is not specifically to buy land for a parking lot but if we buy several hundred acres of property we would need to designate the access and parking area for the public. Mr. Hirakami read question #3: 2012 or January 2013 to place a covenant on all properties purchased with PONC funds prior to . The language should say: This land was acquired with moneys from the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund. It shall be held in per may not be sold, mortgaged, traded or transferred in any way. Has this covenant been placed as part of the Deed on all of the properties acquired before the last election-November 2012? Mr. Van Bergen replied that the covenants were incorporated into the newly acquired deed for Kaiholena South and we have to go through the process of re-recording deeds back to the County for properties that were purchased prior to the passage of the resolution. Ms. Nicholson asked if there are any more questions. Ms. Byrne Baber asked there a way to that the communities can participate, why do we have to go through private st and we st which gives us only 30 days according to the charter. He wishes it read the way the Charter reads. Mr. Hirakami asked if these maintenance funds are limited to community groups or can P&R use some of this money to maintain these acquisitions. Mr. Honma replied that P&R can use some of the gravel down? Mr. Honma replied that we cannot make new improvements but can services; ommunity groups can be involved? Mr. Van Bergen replied that for professional services you have to be on the list according to the County Code. Ms. Byrne Baber replied that pretty much axes out the community as they are not always consulted; is there a way to involve them more than just a consultation role? You will get a much more detailed, useful plan and survey if you can include them. Ms. Crawford told Ms. Byrne Baber that Mr. Honma - 5 - is hearing your concerns and the contract with the County can address some of the points that are being made. Ms. Byrne Baber was looking at putting the locals to work and if it was possible to sublet to those individuals. Ms. Nicholson added that one of our key criteria when evaluating proposals is community involvement. Mr. Van Bergen replied that there is huge community involvement with Kw, Kpapa but what it comes down to is when you different criteria. Mr. Brilhante added that what Mr. Van Bergen is referencing when it comes to needs to be followed to ensure fairness and accountability. Ms. Byrne Baber commented that this is exactly what they want to do; the money does matter to build local economic capacity. The professionals get the information from the local people, do they ever get paid no. DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE Mr. Van Bergen reported that we are in the final stages of the Kpapa burial plan, it looks good and they did a fabulous job on parcel 31 with the buffering of the burials and the trail. There will be some things done in-house to finalize the plan since it calls for clearing out some invasive species. We are still working diligently on Pohoiki Bay and we are currently in contract to complete the survey since the previous surveyor had some compliance issues. Once the application is filled out we will submit to Planning Dept. and DLNR is willing to work with the County. The survey should be done in about 3-6 months and we can then proceed with this acquisition. OFFICE OF CORPORATION COU Mr. Brilhante reported that he has nothing more to report since his responses to Ms. Hecht was st addressed earlier. He will look into the question of the charter amendment deadline of August 1 to submit stewardship grants to see whether or not that date is flexible. Ms. Nicholson reported that the terms for the commissioners have changed and thanked Mr. Grace and Mr. Hirakami for serving on the Commission. Ms. Kelepolo explained that a recent review by Corporation Counsel of all Commission term dates prompted this since their actual start date is not hold-over for an additional 90 days and hopefully their vacancy can be filled. NEW BUSINESS Commission to review, finalize and approve the 2013 Annual Report to the Mayor (the commissioners went into discussion regarding the 2013 Annual Report to the Mayor) Recess: 11:57 a.m. Reconvened: 12:04 p.m. (the commissioners continued their discussion) - 6 - Motion: Commissioner Matsumura moved to approve the 2013 Annual Report to the Mayor as amended and direct Ms. Nicholson and Ms. Kelepolo to work together to resolve any non- substantial issues. Seconded by Commissioner Freire; all members voted aye, motion carried. Election of new officers for 2014 Ms. Nicholson nominated Ms. Byrne Baber to be Chair. Ms. Byrne Baber nominated Mr. Freire to be Chair. He willing to be the Vice-Chair to assist him. Ms. Byrne Baber said yes she would. Motion: Commissioner Byrne Baber moved to nominate Commissioner Freire as Chair. Seconded by Commissioner Matsumura; all members voted aye, motion carried. Motion: Commissioner Nicholson moved to nominate Commissioner Byrne Baber as Vice- Chair. Seconded by Commissioner Grace; all members voted aye, motion carried. Schedule Commission meetings for 2014 Ms. Nicholson commented that in prior discussions they talked about having the January meeting in Hilo instead of Kona. Mr. Freire announced the meeting dates for 2014 as listed below: January 13 (Hilo) March 10 (Kona) May 12 (Hilo) July 14 (Kona) September 8 (Hilo) November 10 (Kona) ANNOUNCEMENTS The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 13, 2014, 10:00 a.m. in be determined) ADJOURNMENT Motion: Commissioner Hirakami moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Vice-Chair Byrne Baber; all members voted aye, motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 12:43 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Alexandra Kelepolo Property Management Technician - 7 -