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North Kohala Community Development Plan Advisory Group

Meeting of _June 1st 2026______ Kohala Judiciary Building.

Minutes by _____annalene _______

Call to order at __4:32pm______

Approx ___8_____ in attendance from the community. _____5______ In attendance from AG committee:
Annalene Williams, John Winter, Sadie Young, Kathy Matsuda, Boyd Bond,

___May_______Meeting minutes approved – yes

SubGroup meeting reports:

Affordable Housing:

Keep Existing Housing Stock Local. 

Kohala Community Land Trust (KCLT) is developing a selection matrix to distinguish people “in need” of housing and working on ground leases. The members of the trust are the trustees, and therefore, it functions differently from a regular non-profit. KCLT would hold the title to property in the name of the Trust. 

There will also be workshops and educational sessions for distressed homeowners coming up!

Development & Planning

Senior housing, Jeremy McComber clarified that the empty units are not filled immediately due to financial issues. There are also important obligations for finding tenants. Jack Hoyt agreed to learn more about the Kohala Senior Housing project, including communicating with the other property managers and finding out if it is owned by the County of Hawaiʻi.

It is – comment by attendee

Hawi Nani: No new updates. If not building houses, these parcels will likely not be considered “affordable” by our community, and wouldn’t be of interest to this group. 51% need to be affordable, that means 25/ 24 the 1st time around, and 40/39 lots in the second presentation. 

Donations & Fundraising

Letter & cover letter complete

Our group might agree that steering significant contributions toward KCLT would be beneficial, whereas our group welcomes small donations (less than $1,000) for travel to testify.

New Items

Seeking the organizer of the KHS Anniversary to find out the schedule and if our group could have a presence at the event to ask residents to fill out our survey.

We discussed revisiting the mission of the Affordable Housing Group and how we can leverage public land as the CDP showed access off the highway, connecting Hawi & Kapaʻau, and being close to services as priorities for future housing developments. 

The Hawaii County General Plan for 2045 Article Section 6.2 states that public land is a long-term community asset, and there exist dedicated funding tools, as well as special zoning and permits for these types of properties.

Rascha agreed to attach Strategy 3.3 “Non-profit housing corporation(s)” from the 2008 NKCDP Chapter 4, Section 3 on Affordable Housing.

Mike Kier reported 97 visitors over 6 Sundays to his container home model at the base of Kynnersly, and we discussed ways to improve the external appearance of the homes. 

The next meeting will be June 10th, 9 am at Pomaika’i Café. Library

Agriculture:

No meeting in May.

Next meeting June 25th, 5 pm at the Resource Center office. 

Next meeting, the Agriculture group will attend the Kohala leg of the regional Food Summit

Which is scheduled to be June 22nd 4:30 – 7pm at the Hub Barn, organized by the County of Hawaii’s Research & Development Department. Attendees will be asked to register. To receive information about the event please register for the Agriculture group’s mailing list by heading over to kohalacommunityplan.org/agriculture; there is a subscribe button

Community Access:

Pololu Lookout. 

6th annual “E Lei O Pololu” was held May 16th, lookout closed to the public.

A proposed $1 million budget package for trails is in the state legislature but we’re not sure if it passed. It is separate funding from the green fee program.

A proposed law to avoid procurement for stewards didn’t pass.

The land donation for the parking lot is still waiting for the landowner to finish rezoning and the donation.

A grant for the trail head restoration could have a contract executed soon.

Engineering for the parking area needs Governor’s approval before construction begins.

Pololu Rim Subdivision: Surety began building the access road without a grading permit; when the county inspector visited, Surety stated the road was not for the subdivision but for private road use, which a private owner is permitted to do, so no violation was found. The subdivision itself still has not received final approval.

Water variance = catchment. 

Kohala Shoreline. A wildfire group is trying to get in touch with the landowners to access their properties to get a wildfire survey.

Offer to owner for open space purchase, but no reply from landowner

Announcement. Holomua Marine Resources needs public input

Next meeting June 3rd, 4:30pm Senior Center.

Growth Management.: 

Old Coast Guard Road status remains the same. Toni is still trying to get with David Tarnas and Tim Richards to convince the State to resurface so that the County would be willing to take it over.

Surety subdivision near Kynnersley Road to take 94 acres and divide into 4 parcels which is appropriate for current zoning. Discussion regarding water and CDP hopes for changing this site to residential zoning for future affordable housing. Recent communications from Planning Dept. states the final decision is being “deferred” indicating the request is being reviewed.

No approval yet; subdivision that conforms to zoning. Affordable housing identified this parcel as a prime affordable housing site and might go into the general plan as a potential affordable housing parcel

Discussion noted that 20-acre lots are difficult to sell — too large for most homeowners and too small for most farmers — raising questions about affordability and the site’s viability for the community’s housing needs.

Pololu subdivision: Roadway and water variances have been approved. There appears to be a discrepancy because the EPIC file does not contain the time extension request letter or the Final Approval by the planning director. However, work has begun on the access road.

Hawinani update. Developer, Mark Lester, has communicated with Jack Hoyt that he has hired a consultant to address issues. Discussion about how the consultant should work with the three neighborhoods being highly impacted. Rascha offered thoughts on rural planning committees and Heritage Planning Work by Kamuela Plunkett, archeologist and planner.

Next meeting is June 10th, 5pm, Senior Center.

Culture and History:

Did not meet in March or April due to weather.

Next meeting will probably be June 11th.

next meeting June 8 or 15

Health and Wellness:

Report from Kohala Hospital. Brian Alejandro RN  says the hospital plans to offer inpatient dialysis soon. It will be operated by MidPacific Hospitalists, the new inpatient physician team

Radiology hours are expanding and are now available from 7am to 3.30pm Monday to Friday.

The emergency room waiting area has reopened to the public for the first time since the covid pandemic.

Report from Hamakua-Kohala Health. Focus is on expanding dental services particularly in Kohala and in an alternative location to the existing clinic.

Keiki day camp will be held June 1,2 and 3. 30 children only with a focus on fun and creative activities including first aid.

June night market will feature food trucks and a concert in the barn

The Saturday market is under new management, the Hawaii Farmers Union Foundation.

Also sponsoring Kohala Night Market

The food program formerly called Kohala Kares is now sponsored by St. Augustine’s Church Food Pantry and is held at 4pm each Friday

Pickling and fermentation workshops are scheduled for June 6 or 26th from 8 am to 4.30 pm

A health and wellness summit is being held on June 12 and 13 in Hilo. There will be six tracks – Medical response, Mental health and psychosocial support, volunteer and donation management, shelter support, long term recovery support and food security.

Next meeting June 19th, 4:00pm. Senior Center.

Utilities:

MicroGrid Update– The committee is working on a visit to the HECO Operations Center in Hilo for our next meeting.

postponed

Greenwaste Update- Neither Karl nor Barbara have received responses from the Solid Waste office to their queries regarding the volume and/or cost of transporting the greenwaste from our Transfer station to the main dump. John suggested an in-person visit to the office in Hilo.

4 years ago they tried to dedicate a container at the transfer staition for greenwaste – will cost $500 000

General Plan Update– The 2026 County General Plan is before the County Council for approval but an Alternative General Plan has been introduced. It is doubtful legally that an Alternative General Plan drafted by one council person could be approved with no public process. Instead, a better process would be to approve the existing General Plan with amendments where appropriate.

Microcrid: decoupling wind farm and installing a battery = heart of plan

Community member raised detailed questions about the wind farm’s capacity (~10MW), the proposed 30MWh battery, switchgear requirements, and cost per household. HECO is taking 1–2 years to determine the minimum viable battery size before issuing a new RFP.

Next meeting is June 17th, 3:30pm Senior Center

Parks, Roads Erosion Control and View-planes (PREV):

The high- and elementary school drop-off and pick-up congestion proposal will be the subject of the June meeting.

Principals of both schools, road crews and Cindy Evans

Mountain Road still has stretches needing resurfacing. Particularly m.p. ~6.5 – 8 (south of the lookout) and 13 – 14. Work is presently being done on the road, hopefully addressing these two spots.

Next meeting is June 17th, 5:00pm Senior Center.

New Business

Announcements:

Mr. K recycling event: Saturday June 20th 10 am – 3pm most electronics at St. Augustines Recycling costs: solar panels at 55¢/lb, lithium batteries at 97.5¢/lb, and lead acid batteries at 10¢/lb, with a requested donation for alkaline batteries.

Survey at the food summit: there was a discussion about whether the affordable housing group could place their survey/table at the June 22 Regional Food Summit.

General Plan tabling discussion: members discussed testifying at council this week to table the 2045 General Plan until after the August 5 primary, when two new council members will be seated. John noted the outgoing members still have relevant experience.

Report From Our Council Representative, James Hustace.

  • Bill 157 – Committee (6/2); establishes a disaster recovery program.
  • Bill 163 – Committee (6/2); establishes an Aina Kūpuna real property tax program.
  • Bill 164 – Committee (6/2); proposes Council confirmation for Housing administrator.
  • Bill 165 – Committee (6/2); initiates charter amendment regarding PONC maintenance fund.
  • Bill 66 – Council (6/3); ongoing General Plan review with multiple amendments pending.
  • Bill 152 – Council (6/3); initiates charter amendment regarding County Auditor staffing authority.
  • Bill 156 – Council (6/3); updates nonprofit grant eligibility requirements.
  • Bill 158 – Council (6/3); initiates charter amendment regarding County Manager system.

Hybrid system – manager & mayor

Discussion followed on Bill 158, noting that this would create a hybrid system where both an elected mayor and an appointed county manager share responsibilities — unlike typical municipalities that use one or the other.

  • Bill 159 – Council (6/3); initiates charter amendment regarding biennial operating and capital budgets.
  • Council will also be holding our final reading of the County Budget on Thursday, June 4.

Adjourned at.  ___5:18pm____

Next meeting: on Monday,___July 6,2026______, 4:30pm, Senior Center.