North Kohala Community Development Plan Advisory Group
Meeting of _JULY 6 2026______ Kohala Judiciary Building.
Minutes by _____Annalene _______
Call to order at __4:33pm______
Approx ___4____ in attendance from the community. ______4____ In attendance from AG committee:
Annalene Kotzé, John Winter, Sadie Young, Jack Hoyt,
____June_____Meeting minutes approved – yes
SubGroup meeting reports:
Affordable Housing:
Kohala Community Land Trust: KCLT is a non-profit governed by the community that is working to keep the housing stock in Kohala out of the market economy through deed restrictions and other mechanisms. We encourage all Kohala residents over 18 to join the KCLT membership base. Since the governance structure is a classic membership-governed organization, the voting members must be residents of Kohala, and 6 of the 9-member board,must be residents. Beth Robinson will serve as Interim Executive Director for the KCLT to plan and budget for the upcoming year. Her term will likely conclude in October.
The land trust board is actively recruiting members with land-trust experience from Kauaʻi and Maui (outside Kohala) to avoid duplicating work already done elsewhere
There will be 3 upcoming workshops for existing homeowners and 1 for buyer readiness for prospective buyers.
Same as what HICD wants to do and the affordable housing group – prepare to purchase a home. Surprising how little prospective buyers know
The next meeting will be July 8th, 9 am at Pomaika’i Café. Library
Agriculture:
Feedback for the regional food summit @ the Hub Barn. The summit’s purpose: to share the County’s draft Five-Year Agri-Food and Community Food Security Plan, gather community feedback, and hear from local practitioners and producers. This is the first of six regional summits being held island-wide, culminating in an Island-Wide Food Summit on August 14–15 (Honokaa and Waimea).
Five-year agri-food system plan
The County is finalizing its first agri-food and community food security plan since 2010, developed in partnership with the Hamakua Institute and The Food Basket. The plan covers all nine districts of Hawaiʻi Island and is grounded in seven guiding principles: biocultural stewardship, cultural heritage and sense of place, producer and practitioner-centered solutions, equity and inclusion, circular and regenerative economy, resilience and adaptation, and community food security.
Core components include 9 district snapshots, 46 issue briefs across key topic areas (products, markets, inputs, infrastructure, and food security), system-level themes to guide collective advocacy, approximately 250 community-led actions being finalized, and a resource/service provider directory. Implementation is intended to be community-led with county support, overseen by a Mayor’s Agri-Food System Plan Task Force currently being developed.
Community members can provide feedback by visiting the Plan Index via this link:
https://canva.link/planindex, read individual issue briefs, and submitt responses via the linked Google Form. The plan is expected to be ready for the Island-Wide Food Summit on August 14–15 (Honokāʻa and Waimea).
Kohala Food Hub — progress update. Established in 2019 as a HIP Ag project, the Kohala Food Hub became an autonomous 501(c)(3) in 2024 and is based in Hāwī. Key 2025 milestones: pounds of local food distributed more than doubled year over year (consistent trajectory since launch), $734,000 paid directly to producers, 750+ families received food at no cost, 125% revenue growth, 160% increase in SNAP spending, and 100+ volunteers engaged. The Hub sources from approximately 200 producers island-wide and offers 500+ local products through its weekly online market. It was the first food hub in the state to accept SNAP EBT online, with Double Up Food Bucks discounts (50% off local produce) available to EBT customers across 10 North Hawaiʻi pickup locations. Current food access programs include Farm to Family, Kaukau for Keiki, Umeke Pono, and Veggie RX, with weekly volunteer opportunities.
Next meeting July 30th, 5 pm at the Resource Center office.
Community Access:
Pololu Lookout: Legislature has appropriated a grant to Na Ala Hele for Pololu trail restoration.
Reason guardrails haven’t gone up at Pololu lookout point: liability — if the county installs a guardrail and it fails, the county is liable
Next meeting Aug 6th, 4:30pm Senior Center.
Growth Management.:
Old Coast Guard Road. Toni is trying to meet with David Tarnas and Tim Richards to get help with the State to repair and County to steward. Ho’ola has received a $325k grant-in-aid to design and improve the old Coast Guard facility. Toni and Amoo Ching are working on easement access from the red cinder road to access the building.
Pololu Valley lookout. The legislature has budgeted a $1 million CIP to start improvements.
Hawinani. Discussion re: Kamuela Plunkett abstract and how great it would be to have this replicated in North Kohala. Toni mentioned students who mentored under Fred Cachola who might want to take this up on some scale. How to identify them?
Give a presentation: what would it take to do a similar thing in North Kohala.
Kamuela Plunkett is a Native Hawaiian land-use planner and research scientist. His work focuses on“Waimea Kālana”—a concept that uses traditional Hawaiian cultural landscapes to guide modern, sustainable land-use planning
New issues:
General Plan (original, not the abbreviated 79 page one) has advanced from committee to the full Council.
Discussion with Karl about building permits/shed permits for Ag land
Container open house at the Aloha / HCFCU intersection . Developer is Mike Kier, cost $60-90k. They are built from used refrigeration containers.
Cost of his is closer to 90K – that is a finished container, still needs a foundation, still needs a building permit, he has had it pre-approved, needs a licensed contractor for the permit, licensed electrician, will also need a wastewater system. Price you are looking at is only for the container, still need to jump through typical loops. Cost goes up if you want it to be legal. The pre-approval process doesn’t make it legal. Was going to be a way to provide affordable housing. Tiny homes legislation didn’t get approved (Cindy Evans), container homes can slip in via ADU
Next meeting is July 8th, 5pm, Senior Center.
Culture and History:
Did not meet in June. Working on reorganization.
Next meeting will probably be July 13th.
Health and Wellness:
Did not meet in June.
Next meeting July 17th, 4:00pm. Senior Center.
Utilities:
Regular meeting.
Microgrid Project- The date for the tour of the HECO Operations Center remains in flux – stay tuned for further updates. – 20th of July
Beers Road- Toni reported that it appears that the Department of Transportation will resurface Beers Road even though the new water line has not been installed.
WaiHome- Barbara reported that WaiHome will make a site visit to her property on June 25.
Smaller leechfield for septic system. WaiHome has done demos on other islands and will do a demo at Barbara Kennedy’s home. WaiHome is a septic system that separates solids from liquid, has been approved by the State
Special meeting with Richard Horn (windmill site owner)
HELCO is apparently looking again at running a redundant line for Kohala power back-up. It is supposed to parallel the highway west toward Opolu and then up and parallel to the present line along the Mountain Road (but at a distance preventing them both from going down by a falling tree). Might this be a better alternative than the battery backup system? Power interruptions as they upgrade the present line may well last 8 hours each day!
Why did the state pause for so long (or just stop) on the Upolu ag. well project? Apparently 6” pipe is piled out there but no installation on the horizon.
The path forward is the same as the Kohala Ditch model — the community would need to form its own water co-op/association to fund and install the distribution line.
Richard also mentioned a new project of his: a macnut shell gasification plant in Kawaihae that is both scalable and dispatchable (it can be downsized to fit the macnut supply and can be dialed up or down to meet demand…unlike solar or wind). Solves the macnut waste problem and supplies power.
West Hawaii Today has an article on the dropping of federal and state solar power tax credits that encourage homeowners to install solar. The solar industry is more than a little worried.
Next meeting is July 15th, 3:30pm Senior Center.
Parks, Roads Erosion Control and View-planes (PREV):
Did not meet in June.
The high- and elementary school drop-off and pick-up congestion proposal has been postponed until the new HS principal arrives and is made aware of the issue.
Next meeting is July 15th, 5:00pm Senior Center.
New Business
Announcements:
- Back to School Bash July 25 10am – 2pm @ the KHS Football field
- Info session at the NKCRC office with a representative of Pili Nā Moku, the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College . Tentatively – on July 25th from 9:30 am – 10:30 am. About a funding opportunity to support community-led efforts that care for ʻāina, strengthen cultural and ecological stewardship, and build resilient communities across Hawaiʻi. Focused on five moku and hui moku: Kona, Kauaʻi; Waiʻanae, Oʻahu; Molokaʻi; Central Maui; and Kohala, Hawaiʻi Island. Up to $1.4 million is available per moku/hui moku to support projects that reflect community-identified priorities and advance long-term resilience.
Vibrant Hawaii is the fiscal sponsor for Kohala. the $1.4M opportunity requires five or six nonprofits to partner together on one project, with a separate track for nonprofits pursuing individual projects. - Rep. Hustace, Senator Richards and Representative Tarnas will be holding a community meeting at the Intergenerational Center to provide legislative updates. Monday, July 20 beginning at 5:30pm
- Kohala Resilience Fair on Saturday, August 29. This is in partnership with Hawaiian Electric, Civil Defense, and the Kohala Resilience Hub.
Report From Our Council Representative, James Hustace.
- Bill 169 – Committee (7/7); refines PONC acquisition timeline and reassessment
- The problem is that money accumulates – submit a list, and they do nothing – no funds for maintenance – the problem is getting them to disburse funds
- Bill 170 – Committee (7/7); defines data centers and distinguishes from data processing centers
- Bill 157 – Council (7/8); establishes a disaster recovery program.
- Bill 163 – Council (7/8); establishes an Aina Kūpuna real property tax program.
- This will be voted on by the committee this Wednesday. Any family that has held land for more than 100 years will get a tax relief. Try to keep local families on their land
- Bill 164 – Council (7/8); proposes Council confirmation for Housing administrator.
- Bill 165 – Council (7/8); initiates charter amendment regarding PONC maintenance fund.
- Bill 152 – Council (7/8); initiates charter amendment regarding County Auditor staffing authority.
Bill 147, transient accommodation will be at the council in August
Mayors office – PONC maintenance fund – looking for stewards – invites non-profit organizations to apply for PONC maintenance funds
Ag tax rate is deadline = September – to apply for Agriculutal tax rate
Adjourned at. __5:33pm_____
Next meeting: on Monday,____Aug 3_____, 4:30pm, Senior Center.