HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-06-04 South Kohala Community Development Plan Action Committee Minutes - DRAFTHarry Kim
Mayor
Michael Yee
Director
Daryn Arai
Deputy Director
County of Hawaii
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
SOUTH KOHALA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE
Aupuni Center • 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 • Hilo, Hawai`i 96720
Phone (808) 961-8288 • Fax (808) 961-8742
Monday, June 4, 2018
DRAFT Meeting Minutes
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Kaneali'i called the South Kohala Community Development Plan (SKCDP) Action Committee (AC)
to order at 5:08 p.m. in the Lily Yoshimatsu Senior Center. The following persons were present:
ROLL CALL
Action Committee Members Present: Diane Kaneali'i (Chair), Ruth Smith (Vice -Chair), Eddie Akau,
Kevin McLaughlin, George "Robby" Robertson, Julia Ann Alos, Tristie Licoan, and William Sanborn.
Action Committee Members Absent -Excused: Mark Gordon.
Staff Planners: Bethany Morrison and Heather Bartlett.
Members of the public: 12
ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: None.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: None.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS:
One person signed up to provide comment. He chose to speak at the start of the meeting.
1. David Tarnas, representing himself, testified on agenda items #1 and #2: Mr. Tarnas discussed
the applicability of the Wai'ula'ula Watershed Plan to the work of the Hawai'i Wildfire
Management Organization. He explained that the plan works as an excellent resource for best
management practices in and around the watershed.
He additionally expressed that there is a lot of interest from the public and other community
groups about the Waikoloa Intersection Subcommittee. He felt the interactions with County
officials will serve to better align the project with agency priorities in order to more effectively
get funding.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Committee Member McLaughlin moved to approve the minutes of the April 2, 2018 meeting as
submitted. Second by Vice -Chair Smith. The motion to approve the minutes as submitted passed with 6
votes aye, 0 votes nay [Committee Members Akau and Licoan were not yet present at the time of the
vote].
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BUSINESS:
1. Presentation by Pablo Beimler, Hawai'iWildfire Management Organization [HWMO].
Mr. Beimler provided a brief overview of the history and scope of the Hawai'i Wildfire
Management Organization, a statewide non-profit organization which seeks to reduce the
occurrence and impacts of wildfires through fire -safe initiatives and education. He explained
that a period of heavy rain this year in the South Kohala district has led to an overgrowth of
vegetation which is forecasted to cause a greater likelihood of wildfire over the summer.
He explained an initiative by HWMO to foster the public desire to act and inspire advocacy
through educational programs. He described the process of becoming a fire -wise community
and its benefits, including creating access to federal grant money, lowering insurance rates and
connecting communities. He further explained that the creation of these fire -wise communities
can lead to a network effect that provides assistance that encourages even more communities
to work toward that goal.
2. Discussion of 2018/2019 AC Goal Setting:
At the April 2nd meeting, Planning Staff asked the Action Committee members to individually
submit 3-5 projects that they wanted to work on. Planner Morrison facilitated this discussion in
order to shorten that list into a few, tangible priorities. She explained that through the process
of asking AC members to submit their individual goals and priorities, they ended up with a list
of 21 projects [communication number 2018-06.1]. Each member was asked to place a total of
five votes on the projects they wanted to prioritize, with the option of adding multiple votes to
one project.
For clarity of this discussion summary, many of projects are referred to by the number
associated with a particular line item. Communication Number 2018-06.1 shows these
numbers in the leftmost column of the table. You may view and download
Communication Number 2018-06.1 at the following website:
http://records.co.hawaii.hi.us/weblink/1/doc/93566/Pagel.aspx
Committee Member Sanborn suggested removing numbers 4, 5 and 6 from the list. He
expressed hope that the Mamalahoa Highway Widening project would help with number 4;
that item 5 is an ongoing project that is tied to transportation; and item 6 needs a status
update before moving forward and could be added as a priority later. He also explained that
item 8 needs more guidance and could be considered a priority depending on how feasible
creating an historic district is.
Chair Kaneali'i suggested removing number 18 from the list because it may not be supported
by the Kawaihae community. She also suggested that item 19 might be more of a local project
than something to be tackled by the whole Action Committee.
Committee Member Alos suggested that item 16, if completed, could be a source of income for
the Waikoloa community to use to pay for item 10. She suggested removing item 10 from the
list for now, in-line with that idea. However, this item was later re -added to the list due to a
request from Vice -Chair Smith.
Committee Member McLaughlin suggested removing item 15 because it is similar and more
specific than item 20.
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Vice -Chair Smith commented that item 11 may not be very feasible as an AC project because it
is overall a district -wide issue which is within the State's jurisdiction.
Committee Member Sanborn commented that item 2 is already bound by statewide legislation,
he also expressed doubt for how effectively the Action Committee could work toward item 3.
Staff Morrison added that there is upcoming County policy regarding complete streets to
consider.
In total, items 4, 5, 6, 15, 18 and 19 were removed from the table, leaving 15 items. Staff
Morrison asked the Action Committee members to place their votes upon the remaining items.
The following table represents the resulting votes, the items with the most votes are bolded.
Item # Name Votes
3 Adopt development standards and community plans that mitigate wildfire risk and 1
maximize responder safety, where wildfire danger is present
7 Timely Implementation of Needed Transportation and Circulation Improvements
(Parker (Ala Ohia) Connector Road and Lindsey Connector Road)
2
8 Establish an Official Historic District in Waimea
5
9 Waikoloa Road/Paniolo Ave. intersection improvements
5
10 Plan, fund, and construct a second access road to Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway 2
14 Plan, fund, and construct a community library 1
16 Support projects and programs for environmental restoration and alternative energy 1
17 The County Water Department shall seek new sources of potable water for the 10
Kawaihae area. Complete the development of the Ouli Ouli well
20 Government agencies should consider providing more emergency shelter facilities in 5
South Kohala
21 Construct a wastewater treatment system for Puako Beach Lots 8
The Action Committee generally agreed that the bolded items could be considered priorities
and narrowed the list down accordingly. The AC members who introduced the higher voted
priorities briefly spoke about the projects.
Potable Water in Kawaihae. Chair Kaneali'i explained that Hawaiian Homelands is responsible
for providing the necessary infrastructure for their land which surrounds much of Kawaihae
and that there are additionally 17,000 people on their waiting list. She explained this lack of
resources is driving costs up dramatically [380% within 10 years]. This is also exasperated by a
reliance on the supply of private water from Kohala Ranch. She explained that a major
roadblock they have experienced was that the Department of Water Supply typically drafts
agreements with private developers to build wells instead of developing the infrastructure with
county funding. She suggested that the AC could form a subcommittee to research and reach
out to state representatives or county officials for support. She mentioned constructing her
own private well as a possible solution that other homeowners could also pursue if successful.
-Wastewater Treatment in Puako. Committee Member Robertson explained that after much
work by the Puako Community Association, the most likely solution to the Puako wastewater
treatment issue seems to be to retrofit private, individual treatment or septic systems in the
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area. He explained that they had tried to work with Mauna Lani Resort to link up to their septic
system to no avail. The Puako Community Association is awaiting results of a study of
inexpensive septic systems which they hope to be an effective, low-cost solution. They also
hope to help educate the rest of the Puako community about the systems and different
incentives [such as tax benefits] for switching over. He suggested a subcommittee could be
formed to aid in those efforts.
Waimea Historic District. Committee Member Sanborn suggested that a course of action for the
Waimea Historic District project could be to first research what is involved with becoming an
historic district. He suggested cross-referencing with the Waimea Town Plan, Waimea
Circulation Plan, and plans for constructing connector roads to better understand the
boundaries of this district and its applicability with the general idea for future of the town and
its character.
Waikoloa Intersection. Committee Members McLaughlin and Smith spoke about the Waikoloa
Intersection Subcommittee and explained why meeting regularly and researching the issue has
been productive through increasing their knowledge on the topic. The subcommittee is still
moving along on their project and will provide an update at a future meeting.
Emergency Shelters in District. Committee Member Smith explained that the State Library
building in Waikoloa is an ongoing process where the State Legislature has appropriated money
to purchase the property for the site. This library would serve as an alternate emergency
shelter and community center alongside the current one which is Waikoloa Elementary School.
The Action Committee agreed that Kawaihae is an area which desperately needs an emergency
shelter. Chair Kaneali'i described the Kailapa Community Association efforts to build and
collecting funding for a(n) community center / emergency shelter in Kawaihae. A major
consideration for emergency shelters in both locations is the large amount of people staying in
the resort areas who may need to evacuate shoreline areas to seek shelter.
They outlined a plan of action to further discuss these items at a future meeting and to come
up with strategies for making progress toward these goals.
3. CIP Budget Overview and Action Committee Recommendation Strategy Discussion.
Chair Kaneali'i expressed doubt that the Action Committee would have much influence over
the CIP budget in light of the emergency situation in Puna. With general consent of the rest of
the Action Committee, this item was tabled to be discussed again at a future meeting, if
requested.
AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING: (July 23, 2018)
1. Goal Setting Discussion Continued
2. Other items as identified by the Action Committee or Planning Staff
ADJOURNMENT: The Chair, without objection, adjourned the meeting at 7:32 p.m.
All Action Committee information can be viewed and downloaded from our website:
http://www.hawaiicountycdp.infasouth-kohala-cdp
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