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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAC Minutes 12Aug2014 JNZY OF h,� William P.Kenoi �:•'�� �'.ol Duane Kanuha Mayor Director Bobby Command f•• N�M >e oF'N►�' Deputy Director County of Hawaii PLANNING DEPARTMENT PUNA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE Aupuni Center • 101 Pauahi Street,Suite 3 • Hilo,Hawaii 96720 Phone(808)961-8288 • Fax(808)961-8742 Tuesday,August 12, 2014 Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Patti Pinto called the Puna Community Development Plan (PCDP) Action Committee (AC) to order at 3:00 p.m. in the Kea'au Community Center. The following persons were present: Action Committee: Elmer Solis, Leila Kealoha, Patti Pinto, Susan Osborne, Rene Siracusa and Oshi Simsarian. June Conant arrived at 3:03 p.m. and Sharon Daun arrived at 3:58 p.m. Farris Etterlee was absent. Staff. Hans Santiago—County Planner and Keiko Mercado—PCDP Planning Assistant. Members of the public: 15 ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: None ANNOUNCEMENTS: • Rene announced that there would be Disaster Assistant and Recovery Centers set up at Pahoa Community Center on August 14 & 15 from 8 a.m. —8p.m. and at Mt. View Gym on August 16 & 17 from 8 a.m. — 8 p.m. Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA), State and County agencies along with not-for-profit and non-governmental agencies will be on hand to provide information on available services. Information collected will help HI-EMA and Hawai'i County evaluate whether the criteria for a federal disaster declaration has been met. For more information please call 733-4300 or email askcivildefense @scd.hawaii.gov • Patti asked for an update from each member of the AC on their current situations post Hurricane Iselle. PUBLIC TESTIMONY: Eight people signed up to testify and they all chose to defer their testimony until their agenda items came up for consideration by the AC. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Susan moved to approve the minutes of the July 8, 2014 meeting as submitted. Second by Elmer. The motion to approve the minutes as submitted passed with 7 votes aye, 0 votes nay. (Sharon was not yet present). NEW BUSINESS: 1. Connectivity and Emergency Response Subcommittee (CERS) Report (Communication No. 2014-55): Marlene Hapai summarized the subcommittee meeting minutes for the May meetings and reported on the activities of the subcommittee since then. Planning continues for the PREP Fair, exhibitors and presenters are being trained and final details are being secured. Hawai'i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer More volunteers are needed and a special volunteer training will be held on Tuesday, August 19, 2014 at 5 p.m. at the Kea'au Community Center. Information gathered in the mapping rooms at the PREP Fair will be used to update the CERS priority lists. 2. Communication No. 2014-54—Volcano Long Range Plan (VLRP) Subcommittee: Representatives of the VLRP subcommittee presented the July 2014 version of the VLRP for AC members to review and provide comment on,with the idea that the VLRP would be forwarded on to the Planning Director. Public Testimony: • Jeffrey Mermel, 38 year Volcano resident, testified that great effort has been put into the VLRP, that the plan is ready to be presented and he asked for the endorsement of the AC in order to push the plan forward. • Vikki Milon, Volcano resident, testified in support of the VLRP. Her written testimony, identified as Communication No. 2014-57 is posted on the Puna CDP website at http://tinyurl.com/2014-Communications. • Paul Freeman, Volcano resident and former board member of the Volcano Community Association, testified that working on the VLRP was one of the most important things that he's done. Tremendous effort has resulted in a great plan. • Tim Tunison, 32 year Volcano resident, testified that he loves living in the native forests with the native birds and being surrounded by forest reserves. He noted the many historical structures in Volcano and the importance of the creation of a special overlay district and special design district. • Patrick Conant, 16 year Volcano resident, testified that Volcano is a"sweet spot" and he wants to keep it that way. Poorly regulated development needs to be prevented and the plan spells out what, why and how we plan to do that. His written testimony, identified as Communication No. 2014-58 is posted on the Puna CDP website at http://tiLiyurl.com/2014-Communications. • Diane Ware, Volcano resident, testified that she fell in love with Volcano while looking for land in 1989. She became passionate about protecting the rain forest and became involved with the Natural Resource Working Groups, Malama I ka'Aina. She is in support of the VLRP. Dan Taylor presented a slideshow that gave a brief glimpse into Volcano Village and its immediate surroundings. He spoke of the areas rain forests and native birds, historical structures and the type of development that that VLRP wants to prevent. Dan touched on the importance of preserving the Volcano that they all know and love. Lots of hard work and a tremendous grassroots effort has gotten them to the point of submitting the plan to the AC for consideration. The subcommittee looks forward to the AC's review and comments and encourages the AC to forward the VLRP on the County Director of Planning for further review and comment. 3. Communication 2014-44—Special Permit Application (SPP 14-167): The AC considered submitting a response to the Special Permit Application submitted by Peter Blake asking for the allowance of the operation of a Lunch Wagon and Eating area on a 2,400 square-foot portion of a 0.7-acre parcel within the State Land Use Agricultural district being TMK: 1-9- 03:002. Public Testimony: • Patrick Conant, Volcano resident, testified in opposition to the allowance of the Food Truck operating on agricultural land. His written testimony, identified as Communication No. 2014-59 is posted on the Puna CDP website at http://tiLiyurl.com/2014-Communications. • Pat Halpern, Volcano resident,testified that she has some safety concerns because of the area that the food truck is operating in. Because the food truck is visible from the highway, people stop on the shoulder and run up to get their food from the food truck. Due to Hurricane Iselle and the loss of electricity, phone and internet access, not all AC members were able to thoroughly read all of the agenda documents. Because of this,Rene moved to table this agenda item until the next AC meeting so that all AC members would have the appropriate chance to read through the application. Second by Sharon. The motion passed with 8 votes aye and 0 votes nay. June moved to draft a letter to the Windward Planning Commission to request more time to review this Special Permit Application. Second by Elmer. Motion passed with 8 votes aye and 0 votes nay. Rene moved to un-table agenda item #3 and postpone it until the next AC meeting. Second by Elmer. Motion passed with 8 votes aye and 0 votes nay. 4. Communication No. 2014-53—Mass Transit Subcommittee (MTSC) report: June reported on the status and activities of the Mass Transit Subcommittee. The main focus has been preparing all of the necessary materials for the PREP Fair—informational display boards, maps and a questionnaire. 5. PCDP Town Meeting Subcommittee: Leila, Elmer, Susan and Sharon have been working on gathering information and putting together material to be used at the PREP Fair to inform community members about the PCDP and its implementation. They will have a banner, tri-fold presentation board, 3 fold brochure, copies of the 4t'Annual Report and copies of the PCDP. 6. Budget Subcommittee: The AC was provided with copies of the current comprehensive Capital Improvements Projects (CIP)budget through FY 2013-14, the Puna specific portions of FT 2014-15 CIP budget and the forms and instructions for submitting CIP and General Operating (GO) budget requests for the FY 2015-16 budgets. Public Testimony: • Jon Olson testified that money requested should be based a level of service. Details should contain the population numbers of the intended recipients and you have to balance that off against the level of service that Hilo has. Level of service is a Federal piece of information. Tax dollars collected on empty lots is high, HPP for example was approximately 2 million dollars. Elmer, Susan, Oshi and Farris were selected to serve on the Budget Subcommittee. Farris is out of State so Patti will serve in his place until he returns. Due to Hurricane Iselle and the loss of electricity, phone and internet access, not all AC members were able to read the budget information thoroughly, therefore, the Budget Subcommittee is requesting a meeting with Larry Brown as soon as possible to better understand what is expected of them. 7. Communication No. 2014-50—Grubbing and Grading: Patti introduced the AC to the Grubbing and Grading brochure that Volcano Community Association produces, and posed the question "Would the AC be interested in considering taking action to begin addressing the problems created by improper grubbing and grading?" Public Testimony: • Jon Olson testified that grubbing and grading is already out of control and it is his opinion that the County needs to step in and take control. He urged the AC to get involved and take a stand on this issue. Patti and the rest of the AC members agree that this subject of grubbing and grading is perfectly in line with the Malama I Ka'Aina section of the PCDP. Rene, with Malama O Puna, will draft a bill addressing a penalty for heavy equipment operators who violate the grubbing and grading laws already in place. Leila and Elmer will work on creating a brochure for distribution by realtors and different agencies. Tim Tunison, from the VLRP will provide the template of the brochure that they use. 8. Communication No. 2014-51 —Amendment to AC Guidelines: Patti presented a suggested change to the AC's operating guidelines regarding subcommittees. Elmer moved to accept Communication No. 2014-51. Second by Susan. Motion passed with 8 votes aye and 0 votes nay. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 1. May 2013—April 2014 PCDP Annual Report DRAFT: The revised draft of the Fourth Annual Progress report on Implementation of Actions in the PCDP was presented to the PCDP AC for review and approval. Elmer moved to accept the revised edition of the Fourth Annual Progress Report. Second by Susan. Sharon asked if Project 911 on page 4 could be edited to read"Mountain View Village Playground Project". Rene asked that on page 9,the third bullet under 3.3.3.a. be deleted, and that the date on bullet five be verified. Patti moved that the friendly amendments made by Sharon and Rene be reviewed by Larry and enforced as he sees fit. Second by Elmer. Motion passed with 8 votes aye and 0 votes nay. The original motion to accept the revised edition of the Fourth Annual Progress Report passed with 8 votes aye and 0 votes nay. 2. Implementation Matrix: The AC discussed options for accessing, completing and submitting the revised Implementation Matrix forms. It was decided that the forms would be uploaded to the website for general access and that CD versions would be available to those AC members who would like them. Updated information that needs to be added to the Matrix will be sent to Larry and Keiko who will input the updates into the system. AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING: (September 9, 2014) 1. Review of Malama O Puna's draft bill regarding the liability of heavy equipment operators and grubbing and grading. 2. Grubbing and grading brochure 3. Budget Subcommittee 4. Prep Fair 5. Town Meeting Subcommittee 6. Communication No. 2014-44 7. Communication No. 2014-54 (VLRP) ADJOURNMENT: The Chair, without objection, adjourned the meeting at 5:51 p.m.