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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-07-08 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 July 8, 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, Eugene Punzal, and Johanna Ventura. The following Commissioners were absent: Linda Dela Cruz, and three (3) vacancies. The following staff members were present: Nani Sadora and Duke Nakamatsu. CALL TO ORDER Chair Souza called the meeting to order at 1:37 p.m. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: It was moved by Johanna Ventura and seconded by Beryl Blaich to approve the agenda. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES — Regular meeting minutes of 6/10/10 and executive session minutes of 5/27/10. Regular meeting minutes of 6/10/10 —Approved. MOTION: It was moved by Tessie Kinnaman and seconded by Johanna Ventura to approve the 6/10/10 meeting minutes. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. 1 Executive session minutes of 5/27/10 — Deferred. MOTION: It was moved by Beryl Blaich and seconded by Eugene Punzal to defer approval of the 5/27/10 executive session minutes. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. ANNOUNCEMENTS Commissioner Ventura announced that she attended the first ad hoc committee meeting in preparation for the County's public process for the island-wide parks master plan. She said that they discussed a potential classification system for the County parks and the time frame for the community process is 2011. She said the CAC is still organizing and will meet about once every 3 months. She stated that if the Commission would like her to do a presentation, she suggested placing it on a future agenda for discussion. Ms. Sadora distributed copies of an article in the Garden Island Newspaper regarding the Larson's Beach access. She announced that the article was concerning an easement offered by the land owner. She said the County Council deferred action and the Planning Committee is awaiting a report from the BLNR. She said the Council will revisit the issue on August 25. Chair Souza requested a copy of the BLNR report when it is available. Commissioner Blaich announced that it was mentioned in an article and at the Kilauea Community Association meeting that Don Wilson said he offered an easement to the County before and it had been turned down. She requested that staff try to determine which easement was offered, when, and why it was turned down. Commissioner Blaich also announced that there was an article in the news referencing parcels being chosen on Oahu that their Open Space Commission was not happy with, and the fate of their commission was uncertain. Chair Souza announced that there was an email regarding the County of Hawaii's Charter Commission taking action to not place on the ballot a proposal for a 2% dedication to the Open Space Fund. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 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. 2 Ms. Sadora stated that the press release was printed in Saturday's Garden Island Newspaper. Chair Souza stated that the placement of the survey in Wednesday's Garden Island Newspaper was excellent, and she asked the staff to thank the Garden Island staff. Staff announced that paper surveys were distributed to the all neighborhood centers and public libraries and they are also available at the Planning Department counter. Ms. Sadora announced that she and Commissioner Blaich attended the Kilauea Community Association meeting. She said that the association was very receptive to participating in the survey. Commissioner Blaich stated that they reviewed the major recommendations and accomplishments from last year. Ms. Sadora stated that they also displayed the reports from the past years and they encouraged the public to take the survey online. Commissioner Blaich stated that she will be attending the Koloa Community Association meeting on July 15th for another presentation at 6:30 p.m., so she will assist Commissioner Kinnaman and Ms. Sadora with the survey distribution. Commissioner Ventura stated that the H5'ena-Hanalei Community Association does not meet again until the week preceding the survey deadline, but their President was in favor of the Commission forwarding a condensed press release with a link to the survey to him and he would be happy to send that out to all of their members and supporters by email. Chair Souza stated that she will attend the Wailua Community Association meeting on Saturday July 24th from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Kapa'a Library. The Commission received public testimony from Elsie Godbey. Ms. Godbey stated that she saw the Commission's presentation to the Council and heard that Salt Pond Park expansion was the second recommendation on the list. She stated that the Salt Pond area is on Government land and seems to fit all of the criteria for acquisition using the fund. She questioned if it could be acquired via executive order, like with the Airport and the drug rehab center. She noted that it is a historical area that deserves to be preserved. Chair Souza stated that the Commission agreed with Ms. Godbey. She informed Ms. Godbey that the Commission has requested staff initiate conversation with the DLNR to begin implementing research on it. She stated that they need to start new conversations to receive updates and possibilities. She recommended that Ms. Godbey submit a survey and reference the Puolu Point area. She said 3 the Commission listed it as a high priority in the past because it is needed and it would not require an excessive amount of money. Ms. Godbey stated that it was announced at the Council meeting that they intend to move the fire rescue station to Llhu'e. She felt that would be a good time to acquire the property. She stated that Hanapepe does not really have an open space area aside from the existing Beach Park. Commissioner Ventura suggested that Ms. Godbey take additional surveys for others in the West side area. The Commission thanked Ms. Godbey for her testimony. Ms. Sadora stated that she received a phone call from a concerned citizen regarding the motor cross path, across the Omao area that is used by 500 plus riders. She said they were questioning how they could best advocate for continued use of this trail. She said there is a zip line being proposed for the area. She said they have over 2,000 people that would speak to preserving the motor cross and questioned if they should complete 2,000 surveys or if they should submit one survey with a petition of 2,000 signatures. She stated that there is a substantial annual run, and this is one of the last areas that bikers have been able to use since 1995. Commissioner Ventura questioned the ownership of the land. Ms. Sadora stated that the person applying for the zip line is Knudsen, but she hasn't been able to research the exact area and land owners yet. Chair Souza stated that there was an article in the newspaper advertising the Hare and Hound race. Commissioner Kinnaman stated that there is a trail that the bikers follow and that annual event is very well attended. She stated that the land across from the church in Omao is A&B property and the land going up to Kahili Mountain is owned by Knudsen. Commissioner Blaich stated that the more surveys that are submitted the better, but that he could also submit a petition. She stated that other places may come to mind when individuals take the survey. Commissioner Kinnaman questioned if the motor cross users received permission to blaze the trails since the person was not aware of who owned the land. She suggested keeping use of the area to a minimum to help minimize erosion. Chair Souza agreed that 2,000 surveys would be better than a petition for data collection purposes. 4 Commissioner Ventura noted that the Commission's recommendations would be put forth to the Council by the end of the year and the Council would take up decisions in the Spring of 2011 and would have to weigh this site against other recommendations. She suggested that the caller be notified that it would not be an immediate solution and that he may want to rally support and engage the land owners directly for a more immediate line of communication. Ms. Sadora stated that she informed the caller about the annual survey and how selections are made. She stated that they were also looking for other avenues to express their concern. Commissioner Kinnaman stated that the purpose would be for outdoor recreation similar to hunting. Chair Souza stated that there was a very good article in the newspaper regarding the last Hare and Hound race. Commissioner Kinnaman stated that she would suggest a petition and attaching it to one survey since they are all going to contain the same information anyway. Ms. Sadora stated that she will leave it to the caller's discretion and will notify him that recommendations are not necessarily quantitatively based. Commissioner Ventura stated that she was in a dilemma because although this activity qualifies for the first criteria, she was concerned that it may be potentially detrimental to other criteria such as erosion. Chair Souza noted that the Hare and Hound event would be taking place on July 25th if any of the Commissioners wanted to attend. Status on filling of vacant Commissioner positions. Ms. Sadora stated that the interview process for the Council appointee is still ongoing and that there were no updates from the Administration. She stated that they announced the Commission vacancies at the Kilauea Community meeting and encouraged interested candidates to contact the Council members or the Administration. Commissioner Punzal agreed that people in the neighborhood boards are the right people to ask since they are very community minded. Update and discussion of the 2010 public input process pursuant to Ordinance 812 for developing an annual list of priority projects to be reported (2010 Report) to the Kaua'i County Council and the Mayor. 5 Ms. Sadora stated that Sue Kanoho from the Kaua'i Visitors Bureau will be available to speak to the Commission at the July 22nd meeting. She said that she has another meeting scheduled for that day and she is requested limiting her presentation to one hour. Commissioner Blaich stated that the Commission was hoping that Ms. Kanoho could speak to the Commission on how the Visitors Bureau views the impacts of the visitors guide books and any options they have considered to deal with them. She was also interested in hearing her views on liability issues for State, County, and private property. Commissioner Ventura stated that she was sitting in on a conversation with Ms. Kanoho when she explained that the occupancy rates reported on the news are only tied into the major hotels and do not necessarily represent true occupancy. She felt it would be interesting to have Ms. Kanoho speak on what the occupancy really is. She said that occupancy rates may be higher where a large number of homes serve as vacation rentals. Commissioner Blaich stated that she would be interested to know if Ms. Kanoho is aware of any funding opportunities for acquisition that the Commission should be aware of. Chair Souza asked staff if the Forestry and Wildlife division of the DLNR would be making available for Commission education. Ms. Sadora stated that she is still trying to determine the appropriate person to speak to the Commission. Regarding the meetings with Council members and the Mayor, Ms. Sadora stated that Deputy Planning Director Aiu has been communicating weekly with the Administration but there is no confirmation on dates. Chair Souza noted that the Commission may want to consider proposing an amendment to Ordinance 812 to omit the word "disabled" from purposes of the fund. She said that they omitted it from the press release, but they may want to propose removing it from the Ordinance since anything that the County acquires would need to be in compliance with ADA requirements. Commissioner Ventura clarified that the word "disabled" would not be necessary to specify because County policies would comply with ADA requirements. Chair Souza noted there was also a difference of interpretations. She stated that the Planning Director's interpretation of disabled access was "not effectuated" access or "blocked" access. Commissioner Blaich stated that there may have been a specific intent and the issue might be the language. 6 Ms. Sadora stated that the County Attorneys Office was looking into clarification of the intent. Chair Souza noted that the word "disabled" was omitted from the press release and she suggested that it be brought to the attention of the Council members and the Administration during the Commission's meetings with them. Review and discussion on 3/11/10 North shore field trip. MOTION: It was moved by Johanna Ventura and seconded by Tessie Kinnaman to defer this agenda item. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. 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 3:48 p.m. Respectfully submitted bv: Duke Nakamatsu, Support Clerk 7