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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-05-27 Open Space Commission Minutes Approved 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 Kauai Public Access, Open Space & Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission of the County of Kauai was held on May 27, 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, Eugene Punzal, and Johanna Ventura. The following Commissioners were absent: Three (3) vacancies. The following staff members were present: Nani Sadora, Duke Nakamatsu, and Deputy County Attorney Michael Dahilig. CALL TO ORDER Chair Souza called the meeting to order at 1:14 p.m. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: It was moved by Tessie Kinnaman and seconded by Johanna Ventura to approve the agenda. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Chair Souza questioned Deputy County Attorney if she should be asking Commissioners if there are any abstentions on motions. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig stated that the Chair could ask if there are any abstentions or if there are any objections. Commissioner Kinnaman questioned if abstentions would count as a "no" vote. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig stated that the Commission would need to have five affirmative votes to pass any motion. He stated that if there were two abstentions and only four aye votes, the motion would not carry. 1 APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES — regular meeting minutes of 5/13/10. MOTION: It was moved by Beryl Blaich and seconded by Johanna Ventura to defer approval of the 5/13/10 meeting minutes. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair Souza announced that she has a student intern working with her who is studying natural resources policy and planning from USC. She offered her assistance to the Planning Department for short projects related to the Commission. Ms. Sadora announced that the office of Boards & Commissions is requiring all meeting materials related to agenda items to be posted online. She stated that they would prefer to have all materials submitted for posting six days prior to the meeting when the agenda is posted. Chair Souza stated that if any Commissioners have reports or handouts, they need to be submitted by the Friday prior to the meeting date. She questioned how furloughs would affect the posting date. Ms. Sadora stated that agendas would need to be posted on the Thursdays prior to the furloughed Fridays. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Status of filling of vacant Commission positions. Ms. Sadora stated that the Council is still interviewing for their at-large appointee, then will be working on the replacement for the Anahola-H5'ena position. There was no update from the Administration. Update and discussion of the Commission's work plan/timeline of events and activities through 2010, to include future Commission education topics and scope and timing of facilitated review of the Commission's vision, goals, direction, priorities, processes, and proposals. Ms. Sadora distributed copies of an article in the Honolulu Advertiser pertaining to the Big Island's proposal for their Open Space fund to include maintenance. She stated that the article was more of a dialog of questions between the Council members. She said she will follow up on any possible written proposals. 2 Chair Souza stated that the Commission also raised similar questions as the Big Island's Council including whether land would be guaranteed to be held in perpetuity and who would receive it. She asked if the Planning Department had any thoughts about the issues addressed in the article. Ms. Sadora cautioned that maintenance could take up a good percentage of the fund. She stated that some of the issues could also be defined as Parks & Recreation Department issues. Chair Souza stated that there was a fear that with cuts to the current County operating budget, some of the other agencies may look to the Open Space fund to fund the maintenance programs, so they were raising a yellow flag. The Commission agreed to replace the proposed amendment to Ordinance 812 Section 6-14.2 (a) (3) with new language. MOTION: It was moved by Johanna Ventura and seconded by Eugene Punzal to replace the proposed amendment to Ordinance 812 Sec. 6-14.2 (a)(3) to: One island wide, at large appointee shall be selected by the seated members. If there is no agreement on the selection of the one additional member within 75 days of a vacancy, the power to fill that vacancy shall fall to the Mayor and be confirmed by the County Council. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. The Commission agreed to delete Section 6-14.3 (f) from their proposed amendments to Ordinance 812. MOTION: It was moved by Beryl Blaich and seconded by Eugene Punzal to delete Section 6-14.3 (f) from the draft proposed amendments to Ordinance 812. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Review and discussion on 3/11/10 North shore field trip. Commissioner Blaich distributed an updated summary of the North shore field trip. Chair Souza stated that when they met with the Mayor to discuss last year's report, the concern was linking the photos with the issues. She suggested numbering the photos and the issues. Commissioner Kinnaman noted that in last year's report the photos were in one section and the comments were in another section. 3 Ms. Sadora stated that the Mayor's opinion was that it would be more valuable to have the information attached to the photos. The Commissioners reviewed each of the field trip observations. Commissioner Blaich noted that there was inconsistent beach access way signage. Chair Souza questioned whether possible opportunities and actions should apply to whoever they think is responsible or whether the Commission should only focus on what they are responsible for. She stated that the Commission may be able to encourage the County to develop and adopt a consistent signage plan. Commissioner Ventura suggested labeling actions as "possible Commission recommendations" and sending the report to various agencies with a cover letter referencing issues with possible opportunities for action. She noted that inconsistency with signage seems to be the most commonly noted opportunity for action. Commissioner Blaich agreed that the recommendations should try to direct appropriate attention. She noted that some of the issues may be State concerns and felt the Commission's recommendations shouldn't be so general that nobody has a sense that they need to do anything. Chair Souza questioned the Commission's role in recommending liability protection for the public access ways. Commissioner Ventura felt that the Commission's role could be to encourage the Legislatures to pursue liability protection. Chair Souza suggested that the Commission could do a Resolution to the State Legislature. She also suggested a running list of potential sites to consider for the year including Ka'aka'aniu and the upper plateau area. Regarding Mauka view from Mile 22, Commissioner Blaich suggested asking the Planning Director to use existing CZO rules to protect the view shed. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig stated that it is possible, but would require a zoning amendment through the Planning Commission and the Council to create an overlay of a constraint district upon certain areas. Chair Souza stated that the task group should be thinking about adding measures to provide permanent protection of highly emblematic Kaua'i view sheds for consideration in the Commission's long range open space plan. Regarding Kauapea Beach East, Commissioner Blaich pointed out that the area was being used for staging for movie filming. She felt it may be considered commercial use of the property. 4 Regarding Queen's Bath, Commissioner Blaich recommended that they may want to suggest that the County issue certification stickers for safe and culturally sensitive guide books. Commissioner Ventura noted that enjoyment of Queen's Bath is damaged if there are more than just a few people. She did not view the limited parking at Queen's Bath as a bad thing, necessarily. Regarding the Cliffs at Princeville and the lack of parking or pull-over areas for viewing, Commissioner Blaich asked the Commission for possible remedies. Chair Souza felt that the public should be allowed to pull over to enjoy the view throughout the entire development. Commissioner Ventura noted that surfers used to stop there in the past and over the years it created issues. She empathized with the resorts for trying to manage the area, but noted that there are many vistas the public is no longer able to enjoy. Chair Souza questioned if the Commission could initiate a discussion with Princeville Development. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig stated that he did not feel it would be outside the bounds of the Commission's authority if they felt there was inadequate access and would like to determine if Princeville would be accommodating before including it on the list. Commissioner Blaich stated that Princeville Development has been in more of a master developer role, but that most of the green belts should still be within their control. Regarding Keonene Beach, Fort Alexander access, Commissioner Blaich stated that the recommendation would be to negotiate with the hotel for expansion of public parking or use of the adjacent gated parking. Commissioner Ventura noted that it is probably against hotel policy for employees to park in the public access parking, and suggested that the Commission notify the management that members of the public have reported employees parking there. Commissioner Blaich stated that the County should also notify the hotel that the sign is misleading. The current sign is "public parking" rather than "public beach access parking." Commissioner Kinnaman suggested that staff look into the permit conditions. She stated that public was previously allowed to park in the gated area. 5 Commissioner Ventura stated that the prior management did not normally have security, but there was sign that stated hotel parking only. She stated that the current management is enforcing it more tightly. Commissioner Blaich suggested researching conditions for public parking. She noted that the Puupoa Beach access discourages public use and asked if there was a route on the ocean side of the hotel. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig stated that the County does own a right-of-way on the right side of the fire station. He said it is being looked at to accommodate potentially new lanes for commercial boating operations, but it is not currently improved. Commissioner Blaich recommended encouraging the County to explore alternative Puupoa area access. Commissioner Ventura stated that she can assist with formatting and inserting photos to the report. Commissioner Blaich asked staff for help with including the TMK numbers. 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 issue relating to the above item. This consultation involves consideration of the Commission's powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and/or liabilities with regard to this agenda item. MOTION: It was moved Johanna Ventura and seconded by Beryl Blaich to move into executive session. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. The Commission moved into executive session. Update and discussion of the 2010 public input process pursuant to Ordinance No. 812 for developing an annual list of priority projects to be reported (2010 Report) to the Kaua'i County Council and the Mayor. Commissioner Ventura stated that she reviewed the press release from the previous year and volunteered to make changes for review at the next meeting. She stated that she would be happy to assist with the data analysis and production of the paper survey. She supported the idea of presentations at the 6 neighborhood associations and would also be happy to assist with the Power Point presentation. Commissioner Ventura left the meeting at 3:50 p.m. Ms. Sadora stated that she spoke with the Garden Island regarding the survey. She distributed copies of the price quotes, based on camera ready documents submitted 3 days prior to print date. She asked the Commission if they would like to run the ad once or twice. She stated that the first section of the Sunday Garden Island would be ideal. She said she is still waiting to hear back from Kaua'i Business and Hoike. MOTION: It was moved by Tessie Kinnaman and seconded by Eugene Punzal to authorize two half-page ads, one in the Sunday and one in the Wednesday Garden Island Newspaper. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Commissioner Punzal asked if there will be an article as well as the actual survey. Chair Souza stated that they will issue a press release including followed by the survey. She noted that the 4th of July weekend would be difficult for good advertising space. The Commission noted that Koloa Plantation Days will be from July 17 to July 25. Chair Souza stated that Koloa Plantation Days would probably begin their major advertising from the week of the July 12th and it would be difficult to obtain advertising space during that week. Commissioner Kinnaman suggested placing the first survey the week of July 7th Commissioner Blaich suggested August 15th as the end of the survey period. MOTION: It was moved by Beryl Blaich and seconded by Eugene Punzal that the public input process for the 2010 report be from July 7th to August 15th All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Chair Souza noted that the Kaua'i Business and Kaua'i People are two different papers. She asked staff to verify if the Advertiser will be continuing the Kaua'i People publications. She said there would probably be a charge for Kaua'i Business. The Commission agreed not to include advertisement on Hoike. 7 MOTION: It was moved by Beryl Blaich and seconded by Eugene Punzal that the 2010 public input process consist of paper surveys in the Garden Island, an online survey, paper surveys at community meetings, and an article in the Kaua'i People if possible. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Commissioner Blaich noted that the Kilauea Neighborhood Association meets on the first Tuesday of every month. She added that the Wailua Community Association meets on a Saturday, but she was not sure when. Chair Souza stated that her student intern starts June 1St and she could have her call all of the organizations to determine when they meet. Commissioner Blaich noted that there were organizations missing from the list in Li-hu'e, Eleele, and Waimea. Commissioner Dela Cruz stated that Waimea does not have a community association, but there is West Kaua'i Business Association. Chair Souza stated that the Commission may have to sponsor one west side community meeting. Commissioner Kinnaman stated that the Koloa Community Association meets the 3rd Thursday of every month. She stated that they usually don't have a general membership meeting in July, but she could include the survey on the Koloa Community Association website. Chair Souza stated that she could call Hawaiian Homelands for a recommendation for an Anahola community meeting. NEXT MEETING DATE AND AGENDA TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION Chair Souza requested the same agenda items be listed for the next meeting. 8 ADJOURNMENT MOTION: It was moved Beryl Blaich and seconded by Eugene Punzal to adjourn the meeting. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m. R §pectfully 5_ubmitted by: Duke Nakamatsu, Support Clerk 9