North Kohala Community Development Plan Advisory Group
Meeting of _Aug 3, 2026______ Kohala Judiciary Building.
Minutes by __annalene___
Call to order at ___4:35pm_____
Approx ___6____ in attendance from the community. ___________ In attendance from AG committee:
Annalene Kotzé, John Winter, Sadie Young, Kathy Matsuda, Boyd Bond, Jack Hoyt, Karl Toubamn
____July_____Meeting minutes approved –
SubGroup meeting reports:
Affordable Housing:
Meeting focused on strategies to preserve local housing stock and advance community development.
The Kohala Community Land Trust (KCLT) hired Seb Choe as program director to organize their upcoming educational workshops for homeowners and prospective buyers.
Long run – donate land to the trust, deed restriction in perpetuity,
Issues: properties are multigenerational, titles are cloudy
Properties where the house is the family’s primary/only asset (no other investments) make owners more reluctant or unable to part with it even via a trust donation.
Residents are encouraged to support Bill 163, which proposes the ‘Āina Kūpuna Dedication
Program to offer tax relief for descendants of pre-1926 landowners, helping them retain generational lands. passed
Upcoming Kohala Kokua project, which will provide no-cost home health and safety repairs for seniors.
(NKCRC project)
Discussions included exploring the transfer of public land from the State to the County for affordable housing and addressing zoning barriers. However, this has only ever been done when a prospective housing developer was already lined up.
There will be 3 upcoming workshops for existing homeowners and 1 for buyer readiness for prospective buyers.
The next meeting will be August 12th, 9 am at the Kohala Public Library.
Agriculture:
Agribusiness Development Corporation’s (ADC) Halaula Parcel project. Nathan Trump, an ADC board member, briefed the group on the state’s plan to purchase two parcels in North Kohala using $3 million allocated in the state budget (part of a $10M Hawaiʻi Island package). One parcel is ~49.5 acres of agricultural land in Hawi (currently home to the Hawaiʻi Wildlife Center); the other is the former Halaula sugar mill site, now zoned industrial and partially licensed to local operations. The purchase is expected to take about 18 months and includes an environmental review. About $500,000 of the budget set aside for legal, appraisal, and environmental costs.
Licensing on ADC-Purchased Land for Farmers
- ADC-purchased land would be licensed to farmers/ranchers at county-set rates (Kohala rates likely close to Kauaʻi’s: $100/acre/year)
- Licensing can go to individual farmers, small-acreage applicants, or co-ops/associations managing land collectively (as with the Kekaha Agricultural Association model).
- Actual licensing at the North Kohala site is expected to be roughly two years out. In the meantime, interested farmers can submit an Expression of Interest through ADC’s land application webpage — a strong response helps justify further land acquisition.
- Housing is not currently allowed on the agricultural parcel; workforce housing may be feasible on the industrial-zoned parcel, and ADC’s overall housing policy is still under discussion.
Planning Process and Community Engagement
- The University of Hawaiʻi Community Design Center (UHCDC) is developing conceptual site plans for the properties. Their current planning funds lapse at the end of the year, making near-term community input time-sensitive. A $5 million planning budget for Hawaiʻi Island (covering North Kohala plus the Kona and Naʻalehu sites) is included for 2028.
- The “Central Oʻahu Concept” was shared as an illustrative example only (not a proposed plan for Kohala) — it shows a possible mix of EPMF manufacturing suites, a high-pressure pasteurization (HPP) facility, a DOE centralized kitchen, ag warehouses, high-tech (hydroponic) greenhouses, cold storage, and workforce housing.
North Kohala Community Market.
The market management team gave an update, now operating under Hawaiʻi Farmers Union (HFU) insurance and also covering the Wednesday night market. Vendor fees range from $20–$40 per stall with a $10 discount for HFU members. The team is considering moving the market to Sunday to avoid competing with the larger Waimea market, but is running a community survey first after pushback on an earlier attempt to change the day. A permanent relocation to a preferred nearby site remains blocked by restroom and road-access issues tied to the adjacent landowner, though County funding for restrooms could help. In the meantime, the team is improving the current site at the Kohala Village Hub mural (shade, greening, wind mitigation) and actively recruiting vendors — particularly bakers, coffee/beverage sellers, meat and dairy vendors, and entertainment — while also pursuing vendor Wi-Fi access and continuing to help vendors get compliant with insurance and licensing requirements.
The survey is available at: https://kohalacommunityplan.org/agriculture/
A permanent relocation to the banyan tree site remains the goal. $1.5 million was approved in the county budget for restrooms at the PONC parcel, which may help move the relocation forward. The parcel also needs a steward.
Next meeting August 27th, 5 pm at the Resource Center office.
Community Access:
Did not meet in July.
Next meeting August 6th, 4:30pm Senior Center.
Growth Management:
Did not meet in July.
Next meeting is August 12th, 5pm, Senior Center.
Culture and History:
Did not meet in July.
Next meeting will be August10th 10 am at Hawaii Island retreat
Health and Wellness:
Island-wide new program sponsored by Tutu and Me called Safe sleep Pepe. The program was for caregivers who are pregnant in their last trimester or up to 6 months post natal. The focus is to promote safer sleep practices and reduce incidences of SUID/SIDS on Hawaii island via parent line virtual workshops and parent education sessions with Tutu and me Ohana support programs.
Next meeting August 21st, 4:00pm. Senior Center.
Parks, Roads Erosion Control and View-planes (PREV):
Did not meet in July.
The state plans to repave Akoni Pule Highway from Kawaihae to Hawi. Not sure when.
*Expected to start December, per David Tarnas.**
Beers Road– Department of Transportation resurfaced Beers Road even though the new water line has not been installed.
Planning for public meeting at Mahukona Beach Park with Parks and Recreation senior staff and our elected representatives regarding the stalled progress in replacing the pavilion. Time and date TBD- but will be in the Kohala Mountain News.
Money evaporated for Mahukona Pavilion: was priority number one for many years, and now it is not on the CIP Priority List. Would like to invite representatives to ask questions; date & time not determined
Invitees for the Mahukona meeting: Director Hanma, James Kamada, James Hustace, Tim Richards, and David Tarnas
Sent article to Kohala Mountain News, will be checking in with the Mayor’s Office. Talked to Amy (secretary) – did not get a call back. Rarely hear back from the Mayor – worst response rate ever. deplorable
Will email network
Next meeting is August 19th, 5:00pm Senior Center.
Utilities:
Greenwaste Update– Brandon Balmarez of Akani Nursery met with James Hustace regarding the proposal to create a local composting facility, as Aikane currently does composting of its own greenwaste and could expand this operation to create a local facility for Kohala’s greenwaste with support from the County. Group wishes to draft a proposal asking the County to divert savings to this project based on the volume and costs associated with presently trucking greenwaste from our local transfer facility to the landfill. This information has been previously requested from the County without a response.
Karl provided an article from West Hawaii Today dated 6/24/26 headlined “County Urged to Develop Composting Plan.” A primary idea includes creating a network of community-based composting systems across the island. This is a complementary idea to our proposal.
The county reportedly has a contract with the landfill operator that requires delivering a minimum tonnage of waste. If the county falls short of that minimum — which diverting green waste into local composting would cause — the county has to pay a penalty for the shortfall, similar to a “take-or-pay” arrangement. Similar to a contract the county once had with a wood-burning energy facility that required a guaranteed waste supply. – not confirmed if this is the case
Cesspool Update – A fund of $2 million has been created by the State to assist homeowners with conversions to septic. Barbara reported that WaiHome staff visited her property for potentially installing the Mata device that intercepts and dehydrates the solids. They are possibly developing a system to deal with the liquid discharge. How this would work is unknown at present.
Trying to find a way to break down the waste better is complicated; solids get dehydrated, move solid waste into a waste bin, into a bag; the owner is supposed to put the bag in the transfer station.
Screen the liquids; end up with black water; don’t have a solution for that yet. System is designed to work for houses 18 inches off the ground, existing plantation-era homes; a lot of drawbacks at the moment. Solution for blackwater to be dumped into cesspool, only partial solution
Septic – engineers need to do a soil sample @ $5000 to each property owner; can’t use your neighbor’s study. Start the study now so as not to create a bottleneck due to the lack of engineers. UH Hilo developing a program to train engineers for this project only.
Additional step – someone has to do a check and make sure the soil hasn’t been disturbed.
55 000 cesspools on Big Island out of 80 000 for the whole State
Problem doesn’t go away with a septic tank, not solving the problem
Last month a delegation filed trip to the operations center of HECO; keep battery backup plan moving; will be a story in Kohala Mountain News
Next meeting is August 19th, 3:30pm Senior Center.
New Business
Announcements:
- Hawaii Island Agrifood Summit. Aug 15, 12–5pm, Waimea District Park (toward airport)
- Kohala Resilience Fair on Saturday, August 29. This is in partnership with Hawaiian Electric, Civil Defense, and the Kohala Resilience Hub.
- Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, and Resilience (OSCER) and Hawaii public health is sponsoring county-wide workshop to focus on the climate crisis and heat resilience. September 17th. 4:30-700pm, Kohala Intergenerational Center
- Access @ Kapa’a Park – Hui Mamalaoha meeting Aug 5, 5pm @ KIC
- CDP used a lot of maps to draw up the document – created new maps; it has been at Toni’s house for 20 years; they were added to a database (Mahalo Suzi Davis) and will be hosted at the library. Will be available for research
Report From Our Council Representative, James Hustace.
- Bill 169 – Committee (7/7); refines PONC acquisition timeline and reassessment – defeated
- 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.
- Bill 164 – Council (7/8); proposes Council confirmation for Housing administrator.
- Bill 165 – Council (7/8); initiates charter amendment regarding PONC maintenance fund. – defeated
- Bill 152 – Council (7/8); initiates charter amendment regarding County Auditor staffing authority.
> Bill 173 – Committee; establishes a bed and breakfast home property tax class
> Bill 176 – Committee; establishes general plan review process and timelines
> Bill 179 – Committee; updates R&D duties and establishes an economic grant program
> Communication 978 – Committee (8/4); presentation on status of virtual access for county boards and commissions
> Communication 979 – Committee (8/4); presentation on ARPA funding for early childhood systems
> Resolution 603 – Council (8/5); urges Dept. of Agriculture and Biosecurity to implement plant quarantine interim rule 26-1 for coconut rhinoceros beetle host material
> Bill 175 – Council (8/5); updates TVR enforcement and shifts authority to planning
The Planning Department, in partnership with County Councilmember Heather Kimball, will be hosting a TVR (transient vacation rentals) Informational Webinar on Friday, August 7, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.
Below is the link to register for the webinar:
Green fee funding info session, Aug 7, 2:30pm, Office on Aging, Hilo
PUBLIC INPUT AND AGENDA SUGGESTIONS FOR THE NEXT MEETING
The Next Advisory Group Meeting will be held on Monday, September 7th,4:30pm, Senior Center
Adjourned at. ____5:49pm___
Next meeting: on Monday,____sept 7th_____, 4:30pm, Senior Center.