HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-31 PRTCPS Meeting Notes 11-14-16Communication 2016-31
PAHOA REGIONAL TOWN CENTER PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE
November 14, 2016 8:00 am
Luquin's
MEETING NOTES
Present: Mark Hinshaw, Patti Pinto, Jon Olson, Larry Brown, Madie Greene, Eileen O'Hara, Oshi
Simsarian
Luguin's Parking Lot
Elmer was unable to be present, but phoned in the following report:
"Sal informs me that the County took the parking lot out of escrow. Offered him 100k less for the
property with the building. Sal then told the owner of the building that it will cost him 100k to buy
that piece of land. Owner of building said that he'll take the building down by the end of November.
In addition, Paul's property is on Sal's land about 2 feet. Hopefully that's an easy fix. Sal hopes he
can get the same deal from the County after the building is demolished, although he's scared that
things will change with the new administration
It is the opinion of the Pahoa Steering Committee that the new administration will be supportive of
the project.
Opening Up Pahoa Parking Lot:
We need to have the County open the Neighborhood Center parking lot 24/7. At this time, the lot
stays open until about 8:00 pm when the Community Center is in use. When the public uses the lot
for Pahoa parking they risk having their care locked in for the night. It could take a long time to get
the Luquin's parking lot up and in use by the public, we need the County lots to be open. We will
add this to the agenda for our discussion with Mayor elect Harry Kim. Council member elect O'Hara
made a note of the request.
Meeting with Mayor Elect Kim:
We discussed our planned meeting with Mayor Elect Kim. The Mayor Elect says that the 19th is not a
good date for him to meet with the Pahoa folks. We will use the meeting time to discuss and
prioritize our agenda and schedule a meeting with the Mayor in January in conjunction with the
PCDP Action Committee.
Puna priorities we suggested at today's meeting are:
• The planning consultant and waste water treatment study which is "shovel ready". We
discussed the necessity to address the burgeoning population of HPP and its needs and
impacts on the Puna infrastructure, but it appears that we should start with the Pahoa Plan.
• The possibility of creating a commercial area/community center in HPP and the
infrastructure that would be required to support such an effort.
• The parking crisis in Pahoa
• Signage in Pahoa
Communication 2016-31
• Extension and widening of Post Office Road
• Puna Regional Library(s)
• CDP Action Committees to resume meeting monthly
• Puna homelessness and houselessness solutions
• Puna connectivity and emergency response
• Multi -faceted problems of the water department, needs to serve all of Hawaii County
communities, notjust its customers. Needs to deal with apparent arbitrary distribution of
water meters. Upgrade water infrastructure.
• The future of the Pahoa Medical Center, that we actually need a Puna Trauma Center.
A brief discussion of the Mayor Elect's appointments. As we will not be meeting with him before his
inauguration, our recommendation of April Surprenant as Planning Director will not reach him
before he makes his decision.
Kuwahara Development:
Mark reported on the possibility of a 4-plex movie theater in the shopping center. The theater
people are most interested in the center location where there is an existing house that was
supposed to be a restaurant. Jon McElvaney has urged them to consider the upper corner as a
location.
Ongoing, systemic violations of Executive Order 12898, Letter to United States EPA, FEMA, US
Department of Justice, US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, US
Department of Health & Human Services:
We briefly reviewed the cover letter, discussed who will be a signatory, County and State
Representatives, Community people. Eileen took electronic copy of the document and will convert
the files and email to the Steering Committee. We will present the letter to the Action Committee.
Adjournment 9:15 am.
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