Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-02-25 Open Space Commission Minutes COUNTY OF KAUAI PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, & NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION FUND COMMISSION Lihue Civic Center, Moikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/213 MINUTES A regular meeting of the County of Kaua'i Public Access, Open Space & Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission of the County of Kauai was held on February 25, 2010, in the Lihue Civic Center, Moikeha Building Meeting Room 2A/2B. The following Commissioners were present: Jean Souza, Chairperson, Tessie Kinnaman, Vice Chairperson, Beryl Blaich, Linda Dela Cruz, and Johanna Ventura. The following Commissioners were absent: Puna Dawson, Eugene Punzal, and two (2) vacancies. The following staff members were present: Nani Sadora, Duke Nakamatsu, Deputy County Attorney Michael Dahilig, and Facilitator Nadine Nakamura. CALL TO ORDER Chair Souza called the meeting to order at 1:23 p.m. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: It was moved by Beryl Blaich and seconded by Johanna Ventura to approve the agenda. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES — regular meeting minutes of 1/28/10 and executive session minutes of 1/14/10. Regular meeting of 1/28/10 —Approved. MOTION: It was moved by Tessie Kinnaman and seconded by Beryl Blaich to approve the 1/28/10 meeting minutes. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. 1 Executive Session minutes of 1/14/10 — Deferred. MOTION: It was moved by Beryl Blaich and seconded by Linda Dela Cruz to defer approval the 1/14/10 executive session minutes. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. ANNOUNCEMENTS Ms. Sadora announced that there was an article in the Garden Island yesterday regarding Black Pot Park and that the Kaua'i Public Land Trust was waiting for the Legacy Lands funding. She said they received additional funding from the County, outside of what they received from the Open Space funds. Commissioner Blaich announced that the Hanama'ulu community is attempting to save the historic suspension bridge. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Status of Commission staffing and filling of vacant Commissioner Positions. Ms. Sadora stated that she received communication from the Mayor's office that Brant Fuchigami would be filling Commissioner Dawson's vacancy and that she will be working with him on the transition. She stated that Council Services was under the impression that they had already filled the Council-appointed vacancy, but she reminded them that it is still vacant and will track their progress weekly. Chair Souza requested that staff make arrangements to invite both Commissioner Dawson and Mr. Fuchigami accompany the Commission on the field trip. Update and Discussion of the Commission's work plan/timeline of events and activities through 2010, to include potential field trips, future Commission education topics, and scope and timing of the facilitated review of the Commission's vision, goals, direction, priorities, processes, and proposals. Chair Souza reminded the Commission that their homework is to review the current CZO for the March 25, 2010 meeting. The Commissioner received an update from facilitator Nadine Nakamura. Ms. Nakamura stated that when the Open Space Commission was first formed, she worked to help develop a strategy for the Commission and helped to identify 2 the mission and priorities. In 2007, she was retained to gather information on some of the issues they wanted to confront beyond what was laid out in the current Ordinance. She said they developed a list of potential roles of the Commission and defined the process of how a project would be funded using the Open Space funds. She said they looked at the Ordinance that created the fund and discussed changes the Commission wanted to make to improve its roles and the product of the group, and came up with amendments to the Ordinance. She felt that the next step was to work with the Planning Department to ensure that they were comfortable with the approach. She worked with Senior Planner Rick Tsuchiya to fine tune and incorporate their concerns and came up with a final product. Since then, Mr. Tsuchiya has retired, so she sat with Deputy Planning Director Imai Aiu and came up with some additional amendments. Chair Souza requested that Deputy Director Aiu be invited to future discussions. Ms. Nakamura reviewed the proposed draft amendments to Ordinance 812. She said reviewed the two proposed additional purposes for the fund; (9) conserving land for open space and scenic values, and (10) recording new and existing public accesses. Commissioner Ventura expressed concern with recording new and existing public accesses in that she wouldn't want the fund to become a default to record all new accesses. Chair Souza stated that recording accesses can be considered a task that could be included elsewhere. The Commission agreed to remove (10) from the list of purposes for consideration somewhere else. Ms. Nakamura reviewed the additions that the Commission wanted to make to the Administration section; (6) The Commission would also be authorized to: (A) Educate and inform the community of programs, funding sources, tools and best practices with respect to open space and public access issues and concerns, (B) Advocate and propose policies and legislation to further public access and open space efforts on Kaua'i, (C) Advocate and be a resource for open space planning for the county of Kaua'i, (D) Serve as a sounding board and/or resource to implement priority recommendations, and (E) Work with the Planning Department to develop and annual list of public access issues and monitor resolution. She stated that the motivation was that the Commission is receiving feedback from the community, but there is no mandate to do anything with the information. Chair Souza stated that their role is currently to work with the Planning Department to develop an annual list of priority projects to be considered for funding; and solicit public input on the development of the annual list of priority projects to be considered for funding. She said anything that they discuss needs to be directly related, but the public and the Council expects the Commission to have a broader mission. She said they were told that the Ordinance would need 3 to be changed in order to be legitimately involved in other things. She asked the Deputy County attorney for his thoughts. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig stated that the Commission could do things such as non binding resolutions or write requests to the Planning Department, but if the Commission is looking at a Legislative change it would bolster the views of the Commission and allow more latitude to be active. Chair Souza questioned the thinking behind the Planning Department's suggestion that the Commission work with the Department to develop an annual list of public access issues and monitor resolution. Commissioner Blaich stated that she would like to be a part of resolving public access issues, but stated that the Commission would not be able to negotiate between the land owner and the public. She questioned whether they would have to form a task force or committee. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig stated that he would suggest changing the word "advocate" to "promote" in 6B. He suggested changing the words "sounding board" in 6D to a "forum" to receive public testimony. Commissioner Kinnaman questioned whether section 6 could be included under section 5. Commissioner Ventura stated that section 5 states that the Commission "shall" and that section 6 states that the Commission is "also authorized to". She expressed concern that adding to the mandate that they shall do other things may create an expectation for the Commission that may not be achievable, whereas the existing proposal gives the Commission the flexibility to do it if and when the need arises based on the interest, demand, and capabilities of the Commission. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig suggested wording 6C as "promote and steer the development of open space plans". Chair Souza stated that the Commission had discussed the use of the funds for an open space plan. She stated that the thinking at the time was that the Commission could do a plan for internal use. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig stated that self initiating internal plans would be an option for the Commission's guidance and benefit, but would need to work with the Planning Department's resources rather than using Open Space funds. He stated that promoting and participating in open space planning would mean that the Commission would be participating in established processes. Ms. Nakamura stated that the sentiment of the Commission at the time was not to use the funds to do open space planning but to use it for acquisition. 4 Commissioner Blaich stated that she liked 6C the way it was, but 6B would give the Commission more authority and provides considerable initiation capacities if the they wanted to recommend the kind of Legislation that adds to the capacities of the fund, but not make them specifically responsible for open space plans. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig stated that proposing more of a watch dog type of function may draw concern from the Council. Regarding 6D, Commissioner Blaich felt that serving as a forum and implementing priority recommendations should be two separate functions. Chair Souza stated that the Kaua'i Public Land Trust has been successful in achieving a priority recommendation by being a champion for the Hodge property. She stated that they need champions in order to implement recommendations. She said one option would be for the Planning Department to prepare dossiers on projects that they want to see action on, beyond recommendations. She stated that the Commission wants to be involved in implementing priority recommendations as needed and that it is different from acting as a sounding board. Ms. Nakamura stated that the concern was that staff did not want the Commission doing staff work. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig suggested adding "receive status updates concerning the implementation". Commissioner Ventura stated that she wouldn't be satisfied with receiving status updates. She would like dialog and liked the idea of asking that the Planning Department prepare dossiers. The Commission agreed to word 6D as "Work with the Planning Department to implement priority recommendations". Chair Souza asked the Commission if they felt it was necessary to specifically state that they would serve as a forum to receive input since they are open to public input anyway. Commissioner Blaich stated that she would prefer to keep 6D as serving as a forum because someone from the public may want to report that a heiau is being destroyed or something. Commissioner Ventura stated that the public has an expectation that the Commission serves as a forum for those kinds of issues. She felt it would better to include it so that the Commission does not end up in a position where they would be restricted from acting in that capacity due to any future interpretation. Ms. Nakamura recommended "Serve as a forum to receive public input related to land conservation, public access, and open space issues". 5 Commissioner Ventura recommended "Serve as a forum to receive public input regarding issues relevant to the nine purposes of the fund". Regarding 6E, the Commission agreed to propose "Work with the Planning Department to address and monitor resolution of public access issues". Commissioner Blaich felt that responsibility should be clarified for the sake of the public and the Commission. The Commission agreed to propose 6D as "Work with Planning Department to implement priority recommendations", 6E, as "Serve as a forum to receive public input on issues relating to the purposes of the fund", and 6F as "Work with the Planning Department to address and monitor resolution of issues relating to the nine land conservation purposes outlined in section 6-14.1". Regarding appropriation of funds, the Commission proposed adding: (C) Lands or other property entitlements to be acquired may be owned by the County of Kaua'i, other government entity, or non profit organization, on the condition that lands or entitlements are protected in perpetuity, (D) Lands or other property entitlements to be acquired may be managed by the County of Kaua'i, other government entity, private owner, or nonprofit organization, (E) Funds may be appropriated to another government entity, private owner, or nonprofit organization and used to acquire property on behalf of the County of Kaua'i who will eventually own the property, and (F) To further the purposes of this ordinance, appropriations from this fund may be used for investigations and acquisition feasibilities studies, including, but not limited to abstracts, surveys, appraisals, due diligence reports, title reports, and legal research. Commissioner Ventura suggested add "other government entity, private owner, or nonprofit organization" to the end of (E) in place of"who will eventually own the property". Chair Souza suggested reordering (E) and (C). The Commission agreed to propose (C) as "Funds may be appropriated to another government entity, private owner, or nonprofit organization on the condition that lands or entitlements benefit the public and are protected in perpetuity, and (E) as "Lands or other property entitlements to be acquired may be owned by the County of Kaua'i, other government entity or nonprofit organization on the condition that lands or entitlements benefit the public and are protected in perpetuity. Ms. Nakamura clarified that one would be the appropriation and the other would be the ownership. The Commission decided to keep (D) as is. 6 Regarding (F), the Commission agreed to include recording fees. Commissioner Ventura suggested "cost of recordation". Chair Souza questioned whether acquisition could include leases and conservation easements. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig expressed concern regarding the appropriation of funds to another entity. He stated that entitlement could be an easement or a license, but acquiring would mean that the County is acquiring the property. He stated that if the money is being given to another entity to hold the title, it wouldn't necessarily be the County acquiring the property but giving it away to someone else. He stated that the County would have to be on the title and own a portion of what is being acquired, or be the lead agency to pool the money together otherwise it may not conform to the language of the Charter. Commissioner Blaich pointed out that is the situation with the Kaua'i Public Land Trust in acquiring Black Pot Park. Ms. Nakamura questioned if the County could grant the money for acquisition. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig stated that the specific purpose of the fund would be acquiring. Commissioner Ventura stated that if the Commission agrees on the language and functions of the fund, she suggested that they submit the draft and the County attorney could submit any concerns. Commissioner Blaich stated that they are trying to leverage the program and ensure that all conservation options that others use are available to the County. Chair Souza questioned the Maui model in which private entities apply to the County. She questioned if the entities would retain the title. Commissioner Blaich stated that it can vary. She stated that the Waihee preserve was partially paid for by the Maui fund, but is held by the Maui coastal land trust. Deputy County Attorney stated that the way the Charter Amendment is written is that there is an option to purchase or otherwise acquire lands for a number of purposes. He said there is a semi colon after the list of purposes and says "acquiring disabled, and public access to land and open space". He expressed concern because it provides separate acquiring versus purchase or otherwise acquiring. Commissioner Ventura stated that the Commission is trying to make the fund more useable for scenarios that may arise. She suggested that when the 7 proposals are routed to the attorney's office for review, there would be time for research and discourse. Chair Souza suggested that if the attorneys think of options that don't involve charter amendments they should put their energy there. She asked Ms. Nakamura what the next step would be. Ms. Nakamura stated that she will take all of the changes from the meeting, draft another amendment, then circulate it within the Planning Department, the County Attorney's office, possibly the Mayor and Finance Director, Council Chair Asing and Planning Committee Chair Furfaro. She said the suggestion was that she, Ms. Sadora, Deputy Planning Director Aiu, and someone from the Commission sit in on the meetings. She said the question is who would introduce the Legislation. Once feedback is received, amendments to the Ordinance would be made and then she would report back to the Commission on the suggested changes based on the meetings, and then draft a letter of transmittal to the Council. Commissioner Blaich questioned if there has ever been a Legislation that was jointly put forth by the Administration and the Council. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig stated that if part of the strategy is to have Mayoral buy-in, the Commission may want to ask the Mayor if he is willing to introduce the Legislation. Ms. Nakamura noted that after this meeting, she will probably have 10 hours remaining on her contract. Chair Souza suggested that two Commissioners attend the meeting. She volunteered to be one of the Commissioners and requested that staff send out the schedule to all of the Commissioners to determine availability. She questioned the status of the flow chart. Ms. Nakamura stated that the flow chart was an internal document to help to clarify the process. She said that it appears to be playing out with the Black Pot acquisition. She stated that the Commission may want to use the flow chart in the meetings, but the main purpose of the meetings would be the amendments to the ordinance. Commissioner Ventura questioned whether Ms. Nakamura felt if the best use of her time would be to facilitate the upcoming meetings. Ms. Nakamura stated that the Planning Department would take the lead on the Planning Department's and County Attorney's recommendations. She said if she focused her time on the three big meetings, then come up with revised amendments, she would meet with the Commission one last time. She felt that was achievable in 10 hours. 8 The Commission thanked Ms. Nakamura. Review of opinions from the County Attorney's Office pertaining to the authority, duties, and proposals of the Commission. Executive Session: Pursuant to Hawai'i Revised Statutes Sections 92-4 and 92-5(a)(4), the purpose of this executive session was to consult with the County's legal counsel on questions and issues relating to the above item. This consultation involved consideration of the Commission's powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and/or liabilities with regard to this agenda item. The Commission deferred executive session. Discussion of itinerary of sites for the upcoming North shore field trip, including logistics and discussion of issues relevant to sites on the trip itinerary. Staff distributed the field trip agenda prepared by Commissioner Blaich. Commissioner Blaich stated that there is a pending legal issue regarding the point access to Papa'a Bay, so she suggested a drive by to look at the signs and parking. For Moloa'a Bay, she stated that they could view the parking situation, walk on the access to the beach, and look at the start of the Moloa'a trail that goes to Ka'aka'aniu. At Ka'aka'aniu, she stated that there is a public appeal of the DLNR's decision to allow the fencing. She suggested notifying the land owner that the Commission would like to view the trail situation. She suggested looking at the view shed at mile marker 22 as a drive by. She said that they could make a quick stop at Kahili Bay to look at the rock quarry and point out the other parcels in the area that are in the process of being acquired to expand the fish and wildlife refuge. At the Seacliff Plantations the Commission can view the east side of Kauapea Beach. She suggested viewing the accesses along the 'Anini Beach area as a drive by. At Princeville, she suggested stopping at the Westin to view the coast to Queen's Bath, drive by the Sea Lodge area, and park at the St. Regis to look at the accesses to Keomene and Puapoa. NEXT MEETING DATE AND AGENDA TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION Chair Souza stated that the next meeting will be on March 11 and the agenda will be the field trip to the North shore. Commissioner Blaich stated that she will work with staff on the agenda language. Chair Souza requested that Commissioners be at the meeting by 8:15 a.m. for an 8:30 a.m. departure, and reconvene the meeting at 3:45 p.m. 9 Regarding the March 25th meeting, Chair Souza announced that the Planning Department will be presenting their update on the CZO and IAL. She stated that there will also be a discussion on the field trip, the Commission's presentation to the County Council, update on work with Ms. Nakamura, and executive session as needed. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: It was moved by Johanna Ventura and seconded by Tessie Kinnaman to adjourn the meeting. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 4:14 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: Duke Nakamatsu, Support Clerk 10