NORTH KOHALA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ADVISORY GROUP
MEETING DATE: Tuesday, February 4 th , 2025, 4:30 pm
PLACE: Kohala Judiciary Building (near the Police Station)
AGENDA
CALL TO ORDER – Please put all cell phones on silent mode.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
PUBLIC COMMENTs ON AGENDA ITEMS : Members of the public are welcome and ARE invited to speak to any items on the agenda. Public comments and input are welcome at designated periods at the beginning and end of each meeting. People may, however, speak during AG discussions, if the situation warrants. Please raise a hand to be recognized. Comments should be limited to three (3) minutes in length per agenda item, subject to the discretion of the chair. Recommendations for agenda additions for the next meeting should be made during the input session at the meeting end.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING.
Introduction of new AG Member.
CIP PRIORITIES. The AG will present the 2025 North Kohala CIP priority list with the top 5 ranked priorities and the cover letter sent to the Director of Planning on January 9 th .
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
Affordable Housing
New Project Updates – The North Kohala Community Development Plan encourages protecting ag. land while promoting dense housing near town centers.
Hawi Nani 201(H) project . We await the new administration as the Planning Department requires instruction from the Mayor for water meters for the project. It still requires a State Land Use classification change, as well as county rezoning (County Code Chapter 25), then subdivision approval (County Code Chapter 23). Opportunity for public input at each step.
Phase III of Hawi HICDC Self-Help also needs zoning changes as it is larger than 15 acres. The project proposed 18 lots on 30 acres and is in the final phases, but is currently on hold.
Existing Housing Stock – Lots of interest in the newly revived Kohala Community Land Trust, which seeks donations of existing homes, money, property, commercial and retail buildings that include affordable rentals, or buildings that are no longer in their designated use to bolster our North Kohala rental market.
We are keeping an inventory of homes that are vacant and/or in need of repair to put more rental housing on the market. Please provide home addresses and any relevant information about the owner’s contact and the condition of the home at our next meeting. More Section 8 landlords are needed as a contribution to our community, properties just need to be fully permitted and livable.
Agricultural Lots and Housing – The large landowner meeting was joined by representatives from the ag. group and it was understood that farmer business plans would be necessary for leasing ag. lots. GoFarm, The Kohala Center, and Hawai’i Farm Credit all provide support for experienced or aspiring farmers.
Next meeting February 12 th , 9 am at Pomaika’i Cafe.
Agriculture
January 30 th meeting cancelled due to storm.
An issue that the Agriculture Working Group has been working on concerns the availability of agricultural land to farmers. Three bills are now in progress to provide funding for the State’s
Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC) to purchase agricultural land (and an industrial parcel for agricultural processing, value-added facilities, or indoor farming operations) in North Kohala. These parcels would provide additional opportunities for Kohala’s agricultural community to license affordable and potentially productive farmland. There will be hearings on these bills in the near future.
Next meeting, February 27 th , 5-6:30 pm, Kohala Resilience Hub Barn.
Community Access (see maps on last page for locations)
Pololu Lookout .
No EA is needed.
Visitor numbers were up to 839 in December,
Bike groups are not allowed to ride to Pololu. Ordinance of County Bill 217. Stakeholder will meet with Townscape soon to continue the progress.
Upolu Airport East Councilman James Hustice will introduce a resolution for the county to go into negotiations with the landowner for a PONC purchase..
Honoipu. Ongoing conversations with the Department of Interior as to why the federal government should turn over the Old Coast Guard road to the County.
Pali Akamoa . Jackson Bauer of DLNR trails division needs to talk to the homeowners association about relocating the trail to a safe spot.
Mahukona . HILT’s progress since 1-year acquisition on December 11th of Mahukona.
Student activities. Camping program. Replanted native plants. Volunteer program.
Water well restored.
Have cleaned Maumalei Heiau.
Working with Parker Ranch on fire mitigation.
HILT is working on a long-term management plan & hopes to present by March 31 st .
Had community meetings for amenities for the park and will have 2 more.
Kohala Coastal Trails Connectivity Group . Will have the next meeting in February.
Kaiholena . NPS, HILT, & Ala Kahakai trail association will do a site visit focusing on conservation.
Kohala Shoreline .
Greg Mooers is retired but is helping review the public access and historical preservation plans.
Going to be an archeologic survey because of the fire & bulldozed fire breaks. Our group had requested a site visit.
Is the proposed trail encroaching on the protected areas of cultural & burial sites? Is one of the sites impacted by the trail mislabeled?
Is it an agricultural terrace or a burial?
Kohala Kai . NPS and the landowner are still in negotiations for the conservation easement. NPS may want community stewardship & enforcement for their program.
Rails-to-Trails . The latest draft is done in digital form and available. Hard copies will be available in February. Need to research if the trails or rails are part of the Highway Act.
Oceanfront Database . Is up to date.
Next meeting, February 5 th , 4:30pm Senior Center.
Kohala Culture & History Advisory Group (KCHAG)
Kohala Oral History Project Collaboration : Kohala Oral History Project received two NEH grants for two projects. One called Taste of Kohala celebrating food and culture, gathering recipes. The other is a grant focused on climate change in Kohala. Partnering on that with UH Hilo, Kohala Center, and wants to partner with KCHAG to identify kūpuna to talk to. Also looking for themes outside of grant scope (ghost stories etc.) Wants to do interviews during Kohala Reunion, but acoustics in Hisaoka Gym not good.
Water Updates : CWRM gave overview of what they do. Still trying to engage the community to gather info on existing & historic lo’i. Grants being sought for fish passage, removing debris jams etc. Emphasis on creating water hui again. Interest expressed in getting a group of volunteers coordinated to help with or without grant money. Log jams and felled trees in Niulii/ Waikani streams.
Fiscal Sponsorship : Grant list sent over by NKCRC. Will do Zoom meeting on 2/25 to determine which grants to consider. Interest again over grants for research on O’ahu.
Kohala Reunion : Doing kanikapila on Front Porch being built by Kanani with mo’olelo; no amps. Need list of artists to ask and prepare schedule. Talk Story recording at Heritage Center since recording better. Things need to be solidified by the May meeting.
Stream Name Change : For the switch of the Niuli’i/Waikani streams which needs to be corrected on the map. Still need to meet with person who has maps, and record oral history to submit to State Board of Geographic Names.
Next meeting: Date TBD, 10am, Walker Hall, Kapa’au.
Growth Management
Met with Community Access. See above.
Next meeting is February 12 th , 5pm, Senior Center.
Health and Wellness/WRK
The Alzheimers Association gave a presentation and would like to give a training for our community. Also has a monthly care giver support through Tutu House.
Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). Kohala Resilience Hub has meeting Tuesday with their, Nutrition Educator with to see what they can offer to Kohala.
Ohana Fun Day – Resilience, Health & Wellness fair, March 8 from 10-1pm. At Hisaoka Gym. Booths by BISAC, CERT, Hamakua Kohala Health Center, Food Basket, Pro-body Therapy, Ohana Health Plan, Kohala Police Dept. doing Keiki ID, Fentanyl Task Force, HELCO, Angela Mulligan Marriage & Family Therapy, and more. Kohala Project Grad will have a sign waving for Ohana Fun Day on March 8 from 9:00-9:45 at the high school and will head to park
9:45-10:00 to continue sign waving. Drug prevention and drive sober signs. Next Meeting February 21 st , 4:00pm at Kohala Resource Center.
Parks, Roads, Erosion Control and View-planes (PREV)
Roads. The traffic problem at the high school was discussed with Principal Stafford and several ideas to reduce congestion were discussed. Another meeting will be held on Feb. 6 th at the high school to investigate further.
Next meeting is February 19 th , 5 pm. Senior Center.
Utilities
A bit of confusion exists as to whether or not a new RFP will be required first before the grant for a battery or batteries is pursued.
Beers Road Water Line Replacement – Toni Withington reported that a consultant will be hired by DWS to scope out the replacement line. The aged line currently in place has suffered 20 leaks in 9 years, partly due to high pressure needed on a stub line. There is also a nearby group of residents on Kamolei Place who are experiencing low water pressure that could be incorporated into the new line to help both sets of residents. This could be accomplished by connecting Beers Road to the Malia Ridge line. Beers Road gets its water from the reservoir on Iki Road. Hopefully we will get an update in about a month.
Waste Management – John Winter will contact Sustainable Kohala regarding the situation at the local transfer station where green waste and household waste are combined for disposal. Green waste and household waste should be handled separately at the local transfer site. This is a good project for the Utilities group to pursue.
Fire Preparedness – A brief discussion was held on Fire Preparedness. John indicated that Hawaiʻi Wildfire Management Organization and Fire Wise are tackling this issue. North Kohala remains at risk despite more plentiful rainfall in general.
Undersea Cable and Broadband projects – Toni reported that surveying is taking place for an undersea fiber optic broadband cable to come ashore at Upolo. The existing cables to Kawaihae are reaching their end of use. There are two projects – one by HawaiianTelcom and one by the University of Hawaii along with a private group. Ultimately all the islands in the State will be connected as well as existing underserved communities.
Old Coast Guard Road -Toni reported that the new Mayor is on-board to get the transfer of the road from the federal government to the County comp leted after many years of delays.
Next meeting is February 19 th , 3:30 pm. Senior Center.
NEW BUSINESS:
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
PUBLIC INPUT AND AGENDA SUGGESTIONS FOR THE NEXT MEETING
The Next Advisory Group Meeting will be Held on Tuesday March 4 th , 4:30pm, Judiciary Building.
ADJOURNMENT
NOTICE : The purpose of the public hearings is to afford all interested persons a reasonable opportunity to be heard on the above items. They may also bring up another item for consideration by the AG. A person wishing to submit written testimony may email winterj@whitman.edu.
John Winter, Chair NORTH KOHALA CDP ADVISORY GROUP
