Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-3-24 Open Space Commission Minutes COUNTY OF KAUAI PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, & NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION FUND COMMISSION Liliu'e 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 Kaua'i was held on March 24, 2011, in the Lru'e Civic Center, Moikeha Building Meeting Room 2A/2B. The following Commissioners were present: Tessie Kinnaman, Chairperson, Linda Dela Cruz, Maurice Nakahara, Eugene Punzal, and Jean Souza. The following Commissioners were absent: Johanna Ventura, and three (3) vacancies. The following staff members were present: Nani Sadora, Duke Nakamatsu, and Deputy County Attorney Ian Jung. CALL TO ORDER Chair Kinnaman called the meeting to order at 1:15 p.m. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Kinnaman noted that review of unresolved issues was not on the agenda. Ms. Sadora stated that the Planning Director was not going to be available to speak with the Commission today and that the report was not yet finalized for the Commission's review. MOTION: It was moved by Jean Souza and seconded by Eugene Punzal to approve the agenda as amended. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES — Regular meeting minutes of 2/24/11. Regular meeting minutes of 2/24/11 — Deferred. 1 MOTION: It was moved by Eugene Punzal and seconded by Jean Souza to defer approval the 2/24/11 meeting minutes. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. ANNOUNCEMENTS Ms. Sadora announced that the reports have been transmitted to Council and that the Commission is tentatively scheduled to present at the April 6, 2011 Council meeting. Commissioner Souza questioned if there was any information about the HCPO conference. Ms. Sadora stated that there are meetings occurring but there were no updates on a location or date. She noted that it will be held sometime in September. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Status of filling of vacant Commissioner positions. Ms. Sadora stated that Mr. Isobe had no updates to report from the Administration and that the Council was still working to appoint their seat. Commissioner Souza stated that Mr. Isobe was going to follow up on the possibility of commissioners switching seats. Ms. Sadora stated that Mr. Isobe was still working through the details. Commissioner Souza questioned the Council's recent appointment. Ms. Sadora stated that the recent Council appointment had to resign. Commissioner Souza clarified that Mr. Isobe was going to check on the possibility of Commissioner Nakahara switching to the Kilauea-Ha'ena position to free up the At-large position without jeopardizing his service. Commissioner Nakahara stated that he would be okay with switching positions. Commissioner Punzal noted that this was the last meeting of his 90 day holdover. He questioned if he could still continue to help out if quorum was needed. Ms. Sadora stated that the maximum holdover is 90 days, but noted that he did not serve his maximum term and was eligible for reappointment. 2 Commissioner Punzal stated that he wouldn't be available for reappointment of a full term, but thanked the Commission for that consideration. Review and discussion on the commission's presentation of the County of Kaua'i Public Access, Open Space, & Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission 2010 report to the Kaua'i County Council and the Mayor. Staff distributed copies of the draft PowerPoint presentation. Ms. Sadora stated that she used the executive summary and the aerials from the report. Chair Kinnaman noted some printing errors in the printed report. She stated that the Piwai recommendation was not bulleted. Ms. Sadora stated that was the only recommendation that was not bulleted in the report when it came back from the printers. Chair Kinnaman stated that the 4t" sentence of the 2nd paragraph on page 3 of the report states that the five of the nine commissioners represent specific geographic areas, but noted that it should state six of the nine commissioners represent specific geographic areas and three at large. Commissioner Souza stated that the formatting problem on page 1 of the executive summary probably happened when the document was downloaded on the printers' computer. She noted that she did not recall that formatting error on the drafts. Ms. Sadora stated that she did not notice the printing error in the proof that she was given. Regarding the error on page 3, Commissioner Souza suggested that everyone take responsibility when editing future final drafts. She noted that if a correction is made to the master document, it should also include a closed bracket for HA'ena. Chair Kinnaman noted that at the top on page 6 "exciting" should be "existing". Ms. Sadora stated that she would make the corrections to the pdf document that is posted online. Regarding the PowerPoint report, Commissioner Souza requested that the cover be consistent with the annual report. She noted that phrases would be better than complete sentences for PowerPoint presentations and suggested that the information be bulleted. She stated that the PowerPoint would be more for the public's benefit. She suggested that following the program background and purposes of the fund, it would be good to have the 2010 year in review, then the public input process, followed by the recommendations. She suggested that the presentation should be complete but not long. She stated that slides could be assigned to different Commissioners. 3 Commissioner Dela Cruz stated that she was assigned the public input process. Ms. Sadora stated that Commissioner Nakahara was assigned the recommendations, Chair Kinnaman was assigned the background and accomplishments, and Commissioner Souza was assigned the year in review. Commissioner Souza questioned if the Commission would be scheduled early in the agenda. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that communications are usually midway on the agenda, but they could request that the Council Chair takes the communication from the Commission out of order. Commissioner Souza stated that when the Council honors someone it could take a while. Commissioner Dela Cruz stated that she would need to check her availability for that morning. Commissioner Souza stated that it would be more beneficial for the Council and the public if more commissioners presented, but she would be able to fill in for Commissioner Dela Cruz if she was not going to be available. The Commissioners practiced their presentation roles. Commissioner Souza questioned the reference to their Ordinance amendment proposals. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that they could refer to the amendments as Ordinance 812 or Section 6-14 of the Kaua'i County Code that implemented the Charter provision. He stated that the Administration would have to introduce it to the Council, but the Commission can state that they have been working on potential amendments. Commissioner Souza stated that she will also speak about the vacancies on the Commission. She stated that she would not be speaking about the unresolved public issues. She said that if there are questions she will note that the Planning Department has made a commitment to submit a report. Regarding the public input process, Commissioner Souza suggested indicating that the law requires the Commission to annually gather public input and that both new and standard means were used in 2010. Regarding the recommendations, Commissioner Souza questioned if the aerials should be displayed. 4 Ms. Sadora suggested displaying the aerials without the ownership information. She stated that all of the information is in the report, but felt that it would be more important to include the recommendations and why there were included. Commissioner Souza stated that the first recommendation would be the Kaneiolouma Heiau Complex area expansion. She recommended stating the main point for each photo that explains the rationale for the recommendation. Commissioner Nakahara questioned if staff would be present. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that he will be there. Ms. Sadora stated that the Commissioners could email her their talking points and she would print them out and have them ready for the presentation. She stated that Council Services will have the PowerPoint set up and ready to go. Review and discussion on draft dossiers for Council's consideration on recommended sites for acquisition. Regarding the Commission's question on possibly acquiring the lease for Nukumoi Surf Shop, Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that it would probably not be the best course of action for the County to acquire the lease from a land owner, but rather to acquire a fee simple interest or a conservation easement over the property that they could enter a stewardship agreement. Chair Kinnaman questioned if the Hoban acquisition would be difficult. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that it would have to be a purchase. He stated that with the Larson's Beach access they got at grant of easement and the Council would have to sign off on it. He said generally the County would have to accept liability for the maintenance, then it would be recorded with the Bureau of Conveyances. Commissioner Souza asked for clarification that Hoban could also be an easement. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that they could acquire the easement. Chair Kinnaman stated that the County already owns the drainage easement. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that they could redefine the terms of the easement and create an access easement. Commissioner Souza noted that the drainage easement allows the land owner to have control over the surface. She stated that there is a fence around the property. Ms. Sadora questioned if that could be explored as part of the dossier communication. 5 Deputy County Attorney Jung questioned if there were discussions with the land owner. Ms. Sadora stated that the dossier would determine whether it would be the Planning Department or the County Attorney's office that initiates discussions. She noted that the process for condemnation was indentified in 2006/2007 and the land owner was unwilling at that time. Commissioner Souza questioned if acquisition of easements would have to be friendly and willing or if they could be adversarial. Deputy County Attorney stated that they normally purchase easements. He noted that it is normally imposed as a permit condition. He stated that this scenario is different because they would need to obtain an independent appraisal and negotiate a price. Ms. Sadora stated that funds from Kukui`ula are still available and the balance is $248,000. Chair Kinnaman stated that there would be other work that needs to be done because of the stone wall blocking the entry. Ms. Sadora noted that the previous appraisal was done in 2006 and they would need to have a reappraisal. Regarding the Nukumoi Surf Shop, Commissioner Souza stated that in previous years, the Commission thought that it would be cheaper to acquire the lease than acquiring the fee. She questioned if the Commission would still want to move forward with fee acquisition or conservation easement acquisition since they now know that acquiring the lease is not a possibility. She noted that the funds would currently be insufficient. Chair Kinnaman stated that there could be some other sources of funds like with the Hodge property acquisition. She stated that purchasing the fee would be more conducive for the cultural practices of the area. Commissioner Souza stated that if something could be worked out where a portion of the fund can be used with other funds she would be okay with that. Ms. Sadora stated that the Planning Director has not had the opportunity to review the current edits to the dossiers. She stated that the dossiers would be the Commission's position that they are requesting the Council to act on. She said that producing the report provides the Council with the opportunity to see the recommendations and take action. She said producing the dossiers would be an endorsement as a Commission and from the Planning Department for the Council to take additional action outside of what is being produced in the annual report. 6 Commissioner Souza stated that perhaps a dossier for Nukumoi Surf Shop is premature. She stated that before the Commission presents Nukumoi, someone should set up the package. Ms. Sadora stated that when Hui Malama O Kaneiolouma presented to the Commission, they had already championed a lot of the work. She stated that their group could be the champion, and could come back to the Commission with some other sources of funding for the acquisition. Commissioner Souza stated that with the Hodge property, the Land Trust spoke to the Commission, made sure it was on the priority list, then came back with other funding sources and asked for a certain amount from the Open Space fund to support the acquisition. Ms. Sadora stated that the Commission would not want to discount the importance of this acquisition, but agreed with Commissioner Souza that the Open Space funds alone are not sufficient for the entire acquisition. She stated that there is internal work that can be done in looking at the process and the costs involved with conservation easements. She said there is a role that they could be active in, but more with Hui Malama O Kaneiolouma. Commissioner Souza agreed that the Nukumoi dossier was not ready to be submitted to Council. She suggested that the organization may want to follow the Land Trust model for the Hodge property. Ms. Sadora stated that organization may have progressed since their last communication to the Commission. MOTION: It was moved by Jean Souza and seconded by Linda Dela Cruz to defer action on the dossier related to the Nukumoi Surf Shop. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Commissioner Nakahara questioned how the dossier would affect the recommendation in the report. Commissioner Punzal stated that the dossier would not be submitted, but it would still stand as a recommendation. Commissioner Souza stated that the Council is currently unaware that the Commission is working on dossiers so she didn't anticipate any questions regarding them. She stated that they could note that the Commission has been working on a process to bring forward sites that they felt the Planning Department could be a champion for like the Land Trust was for the Hodge property. 7 NEXT MEETING DATE AND AGENDA TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION Commissioner Souza requested that the Salt Pond Beach Park expansion and the former Hoban property dossiers be placed back on the agenda. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: It was moved by Jean Souza and seconded by to Eugene Punzal to adjourn the meeting. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 3:36 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: Duke Nakamatsu, Support Clerk 8