HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommunication No. 2018-08- NKCDP Minutes DraftHarry Kim
Mayor
County of Hawaii
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
Comm. No. 2018-08
Michael Yee
Director
Daryn Arai
Deputy Director
NORTH KOHALA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE
Aupuni Center • 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 • Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Phone (808) 961-8288 • Fax (808) 961-8742
1 Monday, January 8, 2018
2 DRAFT Meeting Minutes
3
4 CALL TO ORDER
5 CDP Planner, LeAna Gloor, called the North Kohala Community Development Plan (NKCDP) Action
6 Committee (AC) to order at 5:04 p.m. in the Hisaoka Gym Conference Room.
7 ROLL CALL
8 Action Committee Members Present: Lehua AhSam, Steve Hoffmann, Keone Emeliano, Jeff Coakley,
9 Jack Hoyt, Jack Olson, Beverly Blake
10 Action Committee Members Absent -Excused: Richard Elliot, Benjamin Ney
11 Staff: CoH Planners: LeAna Gloor, Keiko Mercado, Eric Cook.
12 Members of the public: 9 Members of the public were in attendance.
13 ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA:
14 ANNOUNCEMENTS:
15 1. CDP Planner LeAna Gloor announced that the NKCDP Action Committee is welcoming 5 new
16 members: Steve Hoffmann, Keone (Sheldon) Emeliano, Beverly Blake, Jack (John) Olson, and
17 Jeff Coakley.
18 2. Former Chair, John Winter offered a warm welcome to all the new Action Committee
19 members.
20 3. Planning staff recognized the exiting Action Committee members, Former Chair John Winter,
21 former Vice -Chair Faith Yates, Jack Hoyt, and Lani Eugenio. Exiting members were presented
22 with certificates of appreciation for their time served on the committee. It was noted that Jack
23 Hoyt had agreed to 'holdover' for a few more months beyond his term expiration until his seat
24 is filled.
25 PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS:
26 There was no testimony given from members of the public.
27 APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
28 Committee Member Jack Hoyt moved to approve the minutes of the November 13, 2017 meeting, as
29 submitted with corrections to line 44, which corrected a reference to the Pololu Lookout parking lot and
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30 Pratt Road. Second by Committee Member Lehua AhSam. The motion to approve the minutes as
31 submitted with corrections passed with 7 votes aye, 0 votes nay.
32 REPORTS AND OTHER PRESENTATIONS:
33
34 Community Partner Group Reports:
35
36 Growth Management: Group member, Toni Withington stated that the group had met to
37 discuss a consolidation in Pololu and that the group has not made a recommendation on the
38 matter. It was also announced that the group met to discuss a possible special use permit
39 application for Puakea Ranch. The group also worked on drafting a letter to the Planning
40 Director regarding the possible special use permit for Puakea Ranch.
41
42 Comm. No. 2018-05 Growth Management Notes:
43 httb://records.co.hawaii.hi.us/weblink/DocView.asiDx?dbid=l&id=91557
i1I
45 North Kohala Community Access: Group member, Toni Withington, presented a summary of the
46 group's December 6th meeting. The group is working on getting a new parking lot at the Pololu
47 lookout. The group met with the D.O.T. to discuss the easement and paving the road to the
48 Pololu lookout. It was announced that P.O.N.C. is ready to close on a purchase of a property in
49 Hapu'u and begin the purchasing process of property in Kapanai'a. It was announced that
50 community members met with Dutch Kuyper, the CEO of Parker Ranch to discuss the land they
51 are selling in Hono'ipu, and their desire to maintain public access on the parcel. She announced
52 that Kohala Shoreline LLC., wants to subdivide their land into 9 parcels. The owner has filed an
53 appeal to the Director's decision regarding the environmental assessment, and this will be
54 heard by the Board of Appeals on February 91h, 2018.
55
56 Comm. No. 2018-03 Community Access Group Notes:
57 http://www.hawaiicountycdp.info/north-kohala-cdp/meeting-records-and-information/2018-meeting-
58 communications-and-materials/comm-no-2018-03-access-group-notes-12-06.17
59
60 Parks, Water, Roads: Group member, John Winter, presented updates from the group's recent
61 meeting. The group discussed the CIP item for Pratt Road Improvements. They are currently
62 working on drafting a document between Department of Public Works and all the land owners
63 along Pratt Road, to organize emergency public access. A meeting was held with Friends of the
64 Parks and Mr. Rocha. Mr. Rocha agreed to continue working with Friends of the Parks on
65 improvements and maintenance. A meeting was held with Dan Smith, the Big Island District
66 Engineer for the State Department of Transportation, about various aspects of Akoni Pule Hwy.
67 Members of the public and group communicated concerns about the road to Mr. Smith.
68
69 Comm. No. 2018-04 PWR Group Notes:
70 http://www.hawaiicountVcdp.info/north-kohala-cdp/meeting-records-and-information/2018-meeting-
71 communications-and-materials/comm-no-2018-04-pwr-report-11-15.17
72
73 Affordable Housing: Group member, Jack Hoyt, presented updates for the group's recent
74 meeting where a guest speaker presented about a land trust concept where residents purchase
75 homes but not the land. The goal of the land trust is to create a long-term affordable housing
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76 development. The second topic was tiny houses; the group is currently working to get
77 legislature to rework the zoning laws to allow for tiny houses.
78
79 Director Yee announced that legislators are going to introduce another tiny homes bill. Mr. Yee
80 also clarified that tiny homes can be built on agricultural land as an additional farm dwelling.
81 The Planning Department will put out more comprehensive information so the public will
82 better understand the regulations of tiny homes.
83
84 BUSINESS:
85 1. Roles of Action Committee Members and Planning Staff: Ms. Gloor introduced the Operating
86 Guidelines of the Action Committee to the new members. The role of the CDP Planner is to
87 facilitate the implementation of the CDP and serve as a planning resource to the committee
88 and the community. The planner's role is also to partner with the committee and administer to
89 its needs in fulfilling the committee's duties and responsibilities in the implementation of the
90 CDP, and liaise between committee and government agencies in furtherance of the CDP. Ms.
91 Gloor explained that the month in between each meeting is used by the CDP planners to work
92 on implementation steps.
93 Ms. Gloor explained the role of the Action Committee. "The purpose of the Action Committee
94 is to be a proactive community based steward of the implementation and updating of the
95 CDP." She reviewed the duties and responsibilities of the Action Committee, which read as
96 follows: Attend Action Committee meetings regularly, dedicate 6-10 hours of work in between
97 meetings, attend training workshops, be aware of State objectives, receive briefings from
98 planning dept. on issues related to CDP, assist in updating the CDP, and carry out duties
99 specified in the CDP. She explained the roles of officers of the action committee. The
100 chairperson shall be the presiding overseer of the committee and the vice chair shall be the
101 presiding officer in the absence of the chair person. The roles and rules of operation were also
102 explained for the roles of chair and vice chair.
103 Ms. Gloor concluded by expanding on the staff planning duties. Planning staff serve as
104 administrative support for distribution and posting of agendas and meeting materials,
105 compliance with sunshine law, booking venues and correspondence, creating annual reports,
106 website publications, posting minutes officially, information dissemination with the public and
107 committee members.
108 Operating Guidelines for North Kohala CDP Action Committee:
109 http://records.hawaiicountV.gov/Weblink/1/doc/91926/Pagel.aspx
110
111 2. Election of Action Committee Officers: Ms. Gloor opened the discussion for the election of
112 officers. The seat of Chair was considered first. Committee Member Blake nominated
113 Committee Member Steve Hoffmann for the positon of Chair of the committee. Committee
114 Member Jeff Coakley also nominated Committee Member Keone Emeliano for the position of
115 chair of the committee. Mr. Emeliano declined the nomination for Chair.
116 Committee Member Ah Sam stated that she is in support of Steve Hoffmann or Beverly Blake as
117 Chair of the committee. Ms. Blake made a motion to officially nominate Mr. Hoffmann as Chair.
118 Ms. Ah Sam seconded the motion. The motion passed, electing Mr. Steve Hoffmann as Chair of
119 the North Kohala CDP Action Committee, with 7 votes aye and 0 votes nay.
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120 Mr. Hoffmann nominated Mr. Emeliano as Vice Chair of the committee. Mr. Emeliano accepted
121 the nomination. Mr. Hoffmann made a motion to officially nominate Mr. Emeliano as Vice Chair
122 of the committee. Committee member Olson seconded the motion. The motion passed,
123 electing Mr. Keone Emeliano as Vice Chair of the North Kohala CDP Action Committee, with 7
124 votes aye and 0 votes nay.
125 3. Comm. No. 2018-01 Discussion of 2018 AC Meeting Dates and Goal Setting: It was announced
126 that the meetings would be held on the third Monday of every other month. Ms. Gloor opened a
127 discussion of the meeting venues and inquired about the preference of the committee members
128 between the Hisaoka conference room and the old Judiciary Building. The response from the
129 committee was that they prefer the parking at the Hisaoka Gym conference room, but they prefer
130 the venue space at the Old Judiciary Building.
131 Committee Member Ah Sam inquired if members of the community working groups are able to
132 directly contact the Planning Department without going through the Action Committee first. Ms.
133 Gloor responded, confirming that community working groups may contact the CDP planner directly
134 without having to route through the Action Committee first.
135 Chair Hoffmann asked how the groups are treated differently than the Action Committee and
136 subcommittees. Ms. Gloor responded, explaining that the community groups are not bound by
137 Sunshine Law, and can directly communicate with Planning Department staff without going
138 through the Action Committee. She explained that the groups can get something voted on in one
139 meeting if they have relevant material provided with enough advance notice, as opposed to the
140 subcommittees, which require two hearings.
141 Ms. Ah Sam stated that she would like to see the community groups focus on connecting with
142 existing groups of the same category in the community and working with them instead of forming
143 purely standalone community groups.
144 Members of the committee inquired about having monthly meetings as opposed to the current
145 every -other -month meeting schedule. Director Yee stated that the Planning Department currently
146 does not have the staffing capacity to hold monthly meetings, and so the Action Committees will
147 continue to hold meetings every other month. Director Yee also stated that we will revisit the
148 matter again in a year or two to consider if a change is necessary dependent upon staffing capacity
149 and needs of the CDP Action Committees.
150 Ms. Mercado clarified to the Action Committee that only two Action Committee Members can be
151 placed in each community working group, in compliance with Sunshine Law. It was decided that
152 further discussion of community groups would take place at the March 191h Action Committee
153 meeting.
154 The committee inquired on the logistics of calling a special meeting. Ms. Gloor clarified that special
155 meetings need to be properly agendized and require Planning Staff be in attendance, the same as
156 regularly scheduled meetings. The possibility of a special meeting in February was discussed. It was
157 decided that the discussion of a special meeting would be continued between the Action
158 Committee Leadership and Planning Staff at a later time.
159 Mr. Coakley submitted that he would like to compare goals of the Action Committee with the goals
160 of the general public and see how they match up.
161 Comm. No. 2018-012018 Meeting Schedule:
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162 http://www.hawaiicountVcdp.info/north-kohala-cdp/meeting-records-and-information/2018-meeting-
163 communications-and-materials/comm-no-2018-01-meeting-schedule
164
165 4. Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission (PONC): PONC
166 representative, Susan Fischer, announced that the deadline for suggestions to purchase parcels
167 is now the end of February. There is a total of 16 million dollars in the fund for purchasing
168 properties and conservation resources. There is also 2.3 million dollars in the maintenance
169 fund.
170 There have been many properties purchased in Kohala by PONC and there are many currently
171 in the purchasing process. It was asked what the process of property negotiations is like with
172 the land owners? Ms. Fischer responded that PONC prioritizes a list of properties and hands
173 their recommendations off to the Mayor. The Mayor and County Council handle decision -
174 making on property acquisition from that point on.
175 Ms. Fischer explained that the funds come from 2 percent of the total property tax goes to
176 funding these land acquisitions through PONC. The committee asked if a group needed to be a
177 501C3 work on maintenance for one of the acquired properties. Ms. Fischer responded
178 affirmatively, but also stated that there is a 501C3 in Kohala named Kohala Lihikai for the
179 purpose of stewarding land. For more information please visit the County of Hawai'i website:
180 department of finance: property management: there you will find PONC.
181 PONC Website:
182 http://records.co.hawaii.hi.us/weblink/browse.aspx?dbid=l&startid=13770
183
184 AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING: (March 19, 2018)
185 1. Growth Management Letter to Planning Director
186
187 ADJOURNMENT: Chair Hoffmann adjourned the meeting at 7:05 p.m.
188
189 All Action Committee information can be viewed and downloaded from our website:
190 http://www.hawaiicountycdp.info/north-kohala-cdp
191
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