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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-06-28 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 June 28, 2012, in the Lihue Civic Center, Moikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/2B. The following Commissioners were present: Joseph Figaroa, Chairperson, Maurice Nakahara, Vice Chairperson, Linda Dela Cruz, Luke Evslin, Patrick Gegen, Tessie Kinnaman, and John Lydgate. The following Commissioners were excused: Nathaniel Childs and Jean Souza. The following staff members were present: Duke Nakamatsu, and Deputy County Attorney Ian Jung. The following staff members were absent: Nani Sadora. SWEARING IN OF COMMISSIONER Mayoral-appointed, at-large commissioner Luke Evslin was sworn in by Administrative Assistant to the County Clerk Eddie Topenio, Jr. CALL TO ORDER Chair Figaroa called the meeting to order at 1 :03 p.m. He announced that he will be implementing a round table policy for each agenda item and limiting each commissioner's comment to three minutes. He stated that he will go around three times and the third time will be to state their final comments. He welcomed Commissioner Luke Evslin who is the at-large Mayoral appointee. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: It was moved by Tessie Kinnaman and seconded by Linda Dela Cruz to approve the agenda. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. 1 V:\2012 Master FilesTonamissions\Open Space\Meetings\2012-06-28\Minutes APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES Regular meeting minutes of 3/22/12 —Approved. MOTION: It was moved by Tessie Kinnaman and seconded by Linda Dela Cruz to approve the minutes of the 3/22/12 meeting. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Regular meeting minutes of 4/12/12 —Approved. MOTION: It was moved by Tessie Kinnaman and seconded by Linda Dela Cruz to approve the minutes of the 4/12/12 meeting as amended. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Regular meeting minutes of 4/26/12 —Approved as corrected. Commissioner Kinnaman requested a correction to the last paragraph on page 8 from "or and acquisition package" to "for an acquisition package". Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that it is good to tailor the minutes to be grammatically correct, but noted that the minutes should accurately reflect conversations, so grammatical errors are not the big of a deal. MOTION: It was moved by Tessie Kinnaman and seconded by Linda Dela Cruz to approve the minutes of the 4/26/12 meeting as corrected. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Commissioner Gegen arrived at the meeting at 1:10 p.m. Regular meeting minutes of 5/10/12 —Approved as amended. Commissioner Kinnaman requested clarification to Deputy County Attorney Jung's statement on page 3 regarding the recreational use statute that exempts private land owners. 2 V:\2012 Master FilesTonamissions\Open Space\Meetings\2012-06-28\Minutes Deputy County Attorney Jung clarified that the HRS 520 exempts private land owners from general liability such as people traversing the property to access a waterfall, however he noted that when additional steps are taken to maintain trail ways and install stairs or boardwalks, then there is a possibility of liability. He requested an amendment to include "from general liability for recreational purposes". MOTION: It was moved by Tessie Kinnaman and seconded by Linda Dela Cruz to approve the minutes of the 5/10/12 meeting as amended by the Deputy County Attorney. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. ANNOUNCEMENTS There were no announcements from staff. RECEIPT OF ITEMS FOR THE RECORD There were no items to receive for the record. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Discussion with the County Attorney pertaining to the legal issues involved with recommending acquisition of real property to the County Council as part of the annual report. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that he would be posting a status update under executive session for a briefing on the Kauapea Beach access on the next agenda. Update and discussion of the Commission's work plan/timeline of events and activities through 2012, to include future Commission education topics. Chair Figaroa stated that the Commission has accomplished their field trip. He reviewed the list of potential Commission education topics. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that he could request that the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp send a representative to discuss Hawaiian and traditional gathering access rights versus general access rights that are required through the subdivision process. 3 V:\2012 Master FilesTonamissions\Open Space\Meetings\2012-06-28\Minutes Chair Figaroa stated that he would be interested in a presentation. He questioned if it would be possible to do a teleconference or a presentation via Skype to save on travel costs. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that it could be arranged. Status on acquisition plan for a portion of TMK (4) 2-6-003:017 to obtain a pedestrian public beach access easement to Kukuiula Bay through the former Hoban property. Commissioner Lydgate questioned the square footage of the easement. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that the lot is relatively small between 10 and 12 feet wide by 60 feet. He stated that he had a discussion with the attorney representing the land owners and they are trying to find an appraiser who can value easements alone. He stated that the issue is the value of the easement itself and the potential burden to the property of having the easement traversed by the public. He stated that staff is still going through the procurement process. He stated that the County is willing to look into issuing a variance for an elevated high wall for more privacy to the property. Chair Figaroa clarified that staff is working on finding an appraiser that can assess the value for the easement and that they are still in the procurement process. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that now that they have an acquisition plan, they can negotiate a purchase of the easement through the independent appraisal report, or if the land owner is unwilling, then they would have to request Council approval for a condemnation resolution to obtain interest in that piece of property. Commissioner Lydgate requested a timeline. Deputy County Attorney stated that they would be able to negotiate between three to four months. He stated that an eminent domain process is generally two years but can take up to 10 years. Commissioner Lydgate stated that they need to accomplish it and move on. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that if they are able to negotiate a deal, they would enter into a land sales contract, the Council would need to approve conveyance of the easement, then it would need to be recorded. He stated that it could take a month at Council and anther 2-4 weeks for recording. He stated that the first step would be to obtain the appraisal report. Commissioner Lydgate questioned who would be doing the appraisal. 4 V:\2012 Master FilesTonamissions\Open Space\Meetings\2012-06-28\Minutes Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that they would outsource an independent, third party appraisal. Commissioner Kinnaman agreed that it is difficult to find appraisers who would appraise small easements. She questioned what would happen if they are not able to find an appraiser and whether they could go straight to condemnation. Chair Figaroa questioned if an appraiser has been contracted or if staff is still looking. Staff stated that they are still out for bids but they would not be able to finalize procurement until the next fiscal year which begins next week. Chair Figaroa requested that Deputy County Attorney Jung provide a list of the various steps so they can identify where they are in the process. Commissioner Gegen questioned the parking availability if the access is acquired. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that they would need to negotiate with Kukuiula and have people walk along the road or with the National Tropical Botanical Gardens where there is already an established parking lot. Commissioner Kinnaman stated that people could also park at Spouting Horn. Commissioner Gegen stated that he didn't want to create more congestion at the property location. Commissioner Kinnaman stated that she believes that Kukuiula has plans to move the rock wall along the road more mauka so there may be more roadside parking available. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that this project was being worked on since 2005 to access the small portion of beach near Kukuiula Harbor. He stated that when the zoning approval came through for the master plan from Kukuiula Development to have the County work with the Koloa Community Association to identify a public access area, they chose this access. He stated that they are about 70% there. Presentation by Commissioners Kinnaman and Souza reviewing past Commission recommendations and concerns, and suggestions for future Commission work plans. Chair Figaroa requested deferring this agenda item until Commissioner Souza returns at the following meeting. Commissioner Kinnaman stated that it was her understanding that Commissioner Souza will only be able to attend the July 12 and not July 26 meeting. 5 V:\2012 Master FilesTonamissions\Open Space\Meetings\2012-06-28\Minutes MOTION: It was moved by John Lydgate and seconded by Linda Dela Cruz to defer this agenda item. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. NEW BUSINESS Review and discussion on the 5/10/12 field trip to the South and West side. Commissioner Dela Cruz stated that there was a lot of discussion on the salt pans area and questioned if the County has looked into the sewage issue. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that he would follow-up with the Department of Parks & Recreation and Wastewater Division of Public Works. Commissioner Dela Cruz noted that the community expressed concerns regarding the sewage during the public input process and she wanted to be able to address those concerns before proposing any projects there. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that he doesn't think that the County would be upgrading the facilities, only expanding the park area for camping, but he stated that he would check into it. Commissioner Kinnaman questioned the expansion of the veterans' cemetery and the improvements of the pavilion. She questioned if their restroom facilities are hooked up to a sewer line. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that the permits went through the Planning Commission a couple of months ago. He stated that the subdivision was to expand the plots and to expand the portion of the visitor facility. He stated that Department of Health comments are incorporated into the conditions of approval. He stated that he will check into the requirements. He didn't think there was a sewage facility there. Chair Figaroa requested a copy of the Parks & Recreation master plan relative to the Salt Pond Beach Park area. He stated that the master plan may already address some of those issues. He stated that he spoke with one of the families of the salt pans and he was informed that there are two factions of salt pan communities. He stated that the new generation acquired pans from previous families and there are older families that don't agree with one another. He stated that he scheduled a meeting with one of the leaders of the older communities to try to determine their story and their concerns for the area. He stated that he felt there should be more park area and that the parking area could be expanded mauka. He felt that the main road should be diverted away from the salt pans to provide more of a buffer for the pans, but he wasn't sure of the 6 V:\2012 Master FilesTonamissions\Open Space\Meetings\2012-06-28\Minutes logistics. He stated that he appreciated the insight from the park caretaker during the field trip. He noted that it is the only swimming beach on the West side and felt that it was good that the Commission was focusing on this area. He stated that the Commission should figure out what they will accomplish this year and not five years from now. Commissioner Nakahara stated that he was not on the field trip, but he was helping with salt harvesting on Monday. He stated that most of the pans are on the makai side and the concern would be cars driving to the area where people surf which creates dust that goes into the pans. Commissioner Kinnaman stated that it was a good field trip. She was curious about what Commissioners felt about the Kaneiolouma Heiau. Chair Figaroa stated that he felt that it was rude how people pushed their trash from the hurricane into the heiau area. He felt that it would be a good area to restore back to its original state. He felt that it is a visitor and cultural destination and part of what visitors come to the islands to experience. Commissioner Evslin stated that he wishes he were there. Commissioner Lydgate stated that he felt it was one of the best field trips he has been on. He stated that he has been on several field trips with the Historic Preservation Review Commission. He stated that they should support Mr. Rowe but that they shouldn't intervene until asked to do so. He felt it should be more community based than County based. Regarding the Salt Pond Beach Park, Commissioner Lydgate noted that some years ago the Kauai Historical Society did a two hour program on the salt pans and it would be a wonderful document to have available for the County for background and history. He stated that he was impressed with the Salt Pond Park and the testimony of the care taker who stated that the park was a wonderful amenity that the visitors and community love. He stated that the camping issue is encroaching, but felt that it shouldn't be expanded too far or it will ruin the experience. He felt that the facilities need to be upgraded and would like to know the status of the sewage system, the amenities, and the capacity to expand and improve. He questioned how to reconcile between encroachment and expansion with regard to parking. He questioned the amount of expansion that was proposed for the veterans' cemetery. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that he believed it was 3 acres but he wasn't sure. Commissioner Lydgate questioned if parking and amenities could be included through the veterans' cemetery and if there could be a partnership. 7 V:\2012 Master FilesTonamissions\Open Space\Meetings\2012-06-28\Minutes Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that the veterans' cemetery and the beach park are divided by the Chinese cemetery and the old Humane Society, so there is quite a distance between them. He noted that there is a large parking lot on the East side of the park and there has been discussion on whether or not that should be removed, but that may be an option for additional parking. Commissioner Lydgate questioned what the plan or desire is as a Commission. Deputy County Attorney stated that one of the goals in the report was to acquire a portion of the State property mauka of the park. Commissioner Lydgate stated that it would involve a tradeoff between the State and County. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that the State has done executive orders to transfer property to the County in the past, but some of the property is being leased for agricultural use. Commissioner Lydgate noted that at Lydgate Park they had a marriage between the County and State and when they expanded the camping and soccer fields they took on some of the State lands and gave them some things that they wanted. He stated that he is all for reciprocity wherever possible. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that it is possible but one of the issues was topographical where the hillside starts to climb, so the question is where and how much the County would acquire. He stated that moving the road and parking lot comes at a big expense to repave and reestablish. Commissioner Gegen stated that he wasn't able to attend the entire field trip, but the Kaneiolouma Heiau was amazing. He stated that he is interested in whatever they can do to help facilitate that project from a cultural standpoint and potential visitor center. He stated that there isn't a student on the island that shouldn't experience what is going on there. He stated that all of the parcels are quite diverse in nature from the motorbike track, to a heiau, to a 600 foot easement for fishing, and he questioned how the Commission is prioritizing them. Chair Figaroa stated that the Council also questioned the process. Commissioner Gegen questioned the criteria since there are different values associated with each parcel so that what they are doing is of the greatest value for the most people. Commissioner Nakahara requested a presentation of photos from the field trip since he and Commissioner Evslin were not on the field trip. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that he will request a PowerPoint from Ms. Sadora. 8 V:\2012 Master FilesTonamissions\Open Space\Meetings\2012-06-28\Minutes Discussion on the Commission's presentation of the County of Kauai, Public Access, Open Space, & Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission 2011 Report to the Mayor. Chair Figaroa stated that the presentation to the Council was interesting. He stated that the Council did not seem to be on the same page with the Commission so he had a meeting with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Council's Planning Committee with Commissioners Souza and Kinnaman and the Planning Director. He stated that through that discussion they decided that they need to develop a criteria and how to prioritize the different requests. He stated that it was recommended that the Commission work with the Hawaii Land Trust. He stated that the meeting was about creating a system to follow. Commissioner Kinnaman stated that the Commission already has a list of criteria besides the nine purposes. She stated that the current Commissioners can enhance the list that was set up in 2005. She stated that under each purpose was a list of criteria but over the years they cut back on the criteria using the purposes of the fund. She stated that the Commission can go back to the 2005 criteria. Chair Figaroa stated that Council members change and one body may request one thing, and then the next Council may not be updated. Commissioner Nakahara questioned the reason why Councilwoman Yukimura wanted to include Hoone Road when the report was presented. Commissioner Kinnaman stated that there was a community district fund that Kukuiula Development and the County developed that could be used for improvements in the Koloa, Poipu, and Kalaheo district only. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that was the community facility district bond where the County works with a bonding company and imposes an additional tax on development, and a portion of the funding goes to improvements in that facilities district. He stated they may have heard that the property was in escrow, but there was already a good faith sale on it. He stated that Councilwoman Yukimura wanted to highlight the issue before the sale closed but it was too late. Commissioner Kinnaman stated that Councilwoman Yukimura wanted to use some of Open Space funds to help purchase the Hoone Road parcel. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that there was about $900,000 from the bond, but the price of the property was $3.8 million. 9 V:\2012 Master FilesTonamissions\Open Space\Meetings\2012-06-28\Minutes Chair Figaroa stated that he noted in the meeting with the Planning Committee that even though the Hoone Road parcel was purchased it has been bought and sold 6 or 7 times. He stated that even if it is bought now, at the right time, it probably will be sold again, so they can take their chances again. Commissioner Kinnaman noted that during the site visit, they noted a huge setback on the property. Chair Figaroa stated that the setback is so far back that they would be limited on the building. He stated that Poipu Beach Park seems nice the way it is and seems to work for everyone. He agreed that there is a criteria and he stated that he will be researching the previous reports to educate himself on what was done in the past. He noted that the Council often times does not read the reports. Commissioner Kinnaman stated that since last year, the Commission included the running list of all sites that were recommended and they can fall back on that list too. She noted that there is still interest in those sites. Commissioner Lydgate questioned to what extent is the list community driven. Chair Figaroa stated that they would have to stand by what the community wants at the time. Commissioner Lydgate questioned to what extent are the recommendations a priority to the Commission. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that looking at ratios, the County isn't in the business of acquiring land so it does take a relatively long process. He stated that the Commission began 7 years ago with one acquisition which he helped finalize. He stated that hopefully a year and a half later they can acquire the Hoban easement and keep progressing. Review and discussion on the Rules of Practice and Procedure of the County of Kauai, Public Access, Open Space & Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission and policy on communication and appointment of members to the investigative team. Chair Figaroa questioned who was appointed to the investigative team. He noted that the Chair of the team has resigned from the Commission. Commissioner Kinnaman stated that she thinks it was Chair Figaroa, and Commissioners Souza and Ventura. 10 V:\2012 Master FilesTonamissions\Open Space\Meetings\2012-06-28\Minutes Deputy County Attorney Jung suggested listing appointment of the investigative team on the next agenda so that Commissioner Souza can resign from the team and the Chair can reappoint members. Chair Figaroa questioned the number of members that can be appointed. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that is has to be less than a quorum, but they generally want to have a tie breaker so it should be an odd number. Chair Figaroa deferred the agenda item until the next meeting. NEXT MEETING DATE AND AGENDA TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION Chair Figaroa stated that the presentation by Commissioners Kinnaman and Souza will be continued under unfinished business and new business item along with appointment of investigative team for review and discussion on the rules of practice and procedure. He noted that an update on Kauapea will be under executive session. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that they would also include discussion of work plan/timeline of events under unfinished business. Chair Figaroa stated that he wanted to include a discussion of the criteria. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that it could be included in the presentation by Commissioners Souza and Kinnaman. Chair Figaroa agreed that if they already have criteria and they could be educated on the history. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that he will work with staff on creating an agenda item on reviewing the Salt Pond Park master plan. Staff noted that the presentation of the annual report to the Mayor will have to be arranged by the Planning Director. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that agenda item should be continued under unfinished business. He stated that the field trip will be translated into a follow-up on Salt Pond. Commissioner Lydgate questioned if the amount allocated to the fund has been changed or is in the process of being changed. 11 V:\2012 Master FilesTonamissions\Open Space\Meetings\2012-06-28\Minutes Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that there had been discussions but it would be a major policy call because they would be putting money into the fund that could be allocated into the budget. Commissioner Lydgate questioned the current amount in the fund and when the fiscal year ends. Deputy County Attorney Jung stated that the fund amount is about $1.6 million and the fiscal year ends at the end of June. Commissioner Lydgate requested the updated amount in the fund. Chair Figaroa stated that the next meeting would be on July 12. ADJOURNMENT Chair Figaroa adjourned the meeting at 2:05 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: 1 Duke Nakamatsu, Support Clerk 12 V:\2012 Master Files\Commissions\Open Space\Meetings\2012-06-28\Minutes