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McCully - Moiliili Neighborhood Board # 8

Regular Meeting Minutes

Central Union Church, Parish Hall

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Call to order:  The meeting was called to order by Chair Ron Lockwood at 6:31 p.m. with a quorum of eight members present.

Board Members Present:  Marijane Carlos, Judy Devilbiss, Mimi Gans, Les Hata, John Kato (arrived at 6:36 p.m.), Klement Kondratovich, Betty Lou Larson (arrived at 6:36 p.m.), Ron Lockwood, Shaunna Tabor, Clifton Takamura.

Board Members Absent:  Serena Kyi-Yim.

Vacant Board Seats: Two seats in Sub District 1 and two seats in Sub District 2.

Guests:  Mark Oto (Mayor’s Representative, Deputy Director, Budget and Fiscal Services); Council Member Ann Kobayashi, Candance Van Buren (Representative Scott Nishimoto’s Office), Tom Heinrich (Senator Brian Taniguchi’s Office), Capt. D. Beckert (Honolulu Fire Department/McCully Station), Sgt. E. Egami (Honolulu Police Department/District 1) Capt. Green, Ofc. T. Kahapea, Capt. R. Green, Lt. G. Lum Lee, (Honolulu Police Department/District 7), Julie Lindberg (Board of Water Supply), Tom Eisen, George Atta (Group 70 International, UH Long Range Development Plan), Garin and Lorna Fukushima, Sean John , Daisy Murai, Janet Inamine, J. Golajki, Carl and Lillian Novak and Raymond Lalosin (McCully Citizens’ Patrol), Bonnie Trustin, Neighborhood Commission Office Assistant).

PUBLIC SAFETY & COMMUNITY LIAISON

Honolulu Fire Department (HFD):  Capt. Beckert, McCully Station, reported the following:

• February statistics were: 1 rubbish, 1 vehicle and 5 structure fires; 63 medical calls, 1 search and rescue and 14 miscellaneous calls.

• Safety Tip:  According to the U.S. Fire Administration, cooking fires are the leading cause of house fires and fire injuries nationwide. Take the following precautions to minimize your chances of starting a cooking fire:

1.        Do not leave cooking food unattended. If you must leave the kitchen, even briefly, turn off the heat and take a spoon or oven mitt with you to be reminded of the food on the stove.

2.        Do not become distracted with attending to children, answering phone calls, watching television, etc. as it can have devastating results when the stove that is on is unattended.

3.        Keep ignitable items, such as dishtowels, paper or plastic bags or curtains, at least three feet away from the range top.

4.        Keep an ABC-rated fire extinguisher near the kitchen and learn how to use it.

There were no questions for the Fire Department.

Honolulu Police Department:  Sgt. Kalani, District 1, reported the following:

• February statistics were 7 assaults, 4 burglaries, 3 DUIs, 1 drug offense, 2 graffiti incidents, 24 motor vehicle collisions, 1 motor vehicle theft, 4 property damage, 2 robberies, and 7 UEMVs.
• Both suspects were apprehended for the two robberies mentioned.

John Kato and Betty Lou Larson arrived at 6:36 p.m. numbering ten board members.

• Sgt. Kalani gave the following suggestions to avoid purse snatchings that are on the rise. 1) Leave your purse at home carrying only essentials and keep them close to your body. 2) Be aware of the area around you and stay in well lit places. 3) If someone confronts you, don’t look away but look directly into

      their eyes and watch their hands; they expect you will not be able to recognize them. 4) Let a purse go if     it is ripped away from you, and know most purse snatchers strike from behind.

Questions, answers and concerns: 

1. The duty of a police officer at a road construction site where a lane is closed is to provide safety and direct cars into the available lanes as well as provide service regarding anything else that happens in the area including pedestrians crossing illegally.
2. Responding to a question about the responsibility of officers on duty at a road construction site, Sgt. Kalani explained the officer is responsible for everything in the area where he is situated including citing pedestrians who are crossing in crosswalks illegally.

Honolulu Police Department:  Ofc. T. Kahapea, District 7, presented their statistics packet which included a chart showing a monthly comparison of statistics in Neighborhood Board Nos. 1 through 8 for January and February (Hawaii Kai No. 01; Kuliouou/Kalani Iki No. 02, Waialae/Kahala No. 03, Kaimuki No. 04, Diamond Head/Kapahulu/St. Louis No. 5, Palolo No. 6, Manoa No. 7 and McCully/Moiliili No. 8) as well as a “Drive Wise Hawaii” Brochure for Mature Driver Safety. Ofc. Kahapea reminded everyone before approaching an ATM machine look to see who is around and make eye contact and to please drive safely with aloha.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1. Takamura noticed after a pedestrian was hit at the crosswalk fronting Times Supermarket on King Street, drivers try to go around pedestrians. Ofc. Kahapea advised that a new law states on one way streets, if there is a pedestrian in the crosswalk, everyone has to stop no matter what lane they are in. Since everyone is in such a hurry, the police suggest pedestrians get the attention of the driver before entering the crosswalk. Capt. Green will send an officer to look at that location.

UH - Manoa:  Jim Manke, the Chancellor’s representative, reported the following:

• The UH Long Range Development Plan (LRPD) will be presented later in the meeting.
• A candidate for the position of University’s Athletic Director will be presented to the Board of Regents at next weeks’ meeting for approval.

There were no questions for Mr. Manke.

Kamehameha Schools:  Paul Quintiliani and Kathy Camp gave an update on their activities regarding the old Varsity Theatre; Tara Young was out of town.

• Building was built on pile, (construction that drives piles into the ground on which the foundation is set), going down to the coral shelf, and slab, however the building is severely settling causing separation of exterior grade slab from the building wall and a crack in the ceiling/roof slab.
• Consideration of life and safety issues are leading them to consider tearing the building down.
• After Varsity closed there were multiple break-ins and much of the memorabilia was stolen therefore Kamehameha Schools put up wood and bars over the windows. Also, the  homeless began living there.
• They are contacting groups in the performance arts to see if they want any remaining Varsity fixtures and furniture.
• They want to save as much of the Varsity marque as possible although the letters in the sign are rusted and attached by wire.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1. This month they will remove asbestos using a licensed contractor.
2. Soon they will put in a temporary parking lot.
3. They own the property up to the Church of the Crossroads.
4. Demolition of the theatre is projected to take from the end of March until May.
5. Heinrich advised that Malama O Manoa and other groups have a great interest in the Varsity and its historical pieces.

Mayor’s Representative:  Mark Oto, Mayor’s Representative reported the following:

·         The Mayor presented his budget March 1st and the Council will review it on March 11th.

• The Pothole Hotline, 768-7777, is now connected to the website www.driveakami.org .

Questions, answers and concerns:

1. Heinrich asked there be consideration from the City Council for the $20,000 Olelo project to air neighborhood board meetings.
2. Carlos reported the Ala Wai promenade area is being well taken care of but asked the Keawe tree be manicured at the Ala Wai Manor because it is hanging very low.
3. Oto will follow up on the crumbling wall at Ala Moana Park.
4. L. Novak thanked the City for pruning the trees at the McCully Recreation Center but asked for replacement of the broken lights on the Japanese Language School.

Governor’s Representative:  The Governor’s Representative was not present. No report was available.

Board of Water Supply (BWS):  Julie Lindberg distributed the flyer on Water System Improvement Projects and presented the following information:

• One main break of an eight inch pipe at 738 University Avenue on February 27^th. The pipe was installed in 1957.
• BWS wants to pump high quality water which requires a systematic replacement of the aging mains.
• BWS works to coordinate their water main changes with the City’s street resurfacing projects.

Elected Officials:

Councilmember Ann Kobayashi:  Representative Kobayashi distributed her newsletter and reported the following:

• Legislature to follow-up on issues discussed at the Town Meetings February 20th including the Capitol Improvement Projects requested by Chair Lockwood and the early morning noise issue.
• City Council is waiting for neighborhood boards’ responses to Councilmember Djou Neighborhood Board Term Limit Resolution.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1. Carlos thanked Representative Kobayashi for keeping her stand on rail. She supports rubber tires on concrete that can go on regular concrete.
2. Sewer and water construction projects are coordinated and when finished they try to do no further work to the roads for two to three years.

The following elected officials were not present but their reports were circulated: Representative Kirk Caldwell, Representative Scott Nishimoto, Representative Scott Saiki, Senator Carol Fukunaga, and Senator Brian Taniguchi. 

FILLING OF VACANCIES:  There were no volunteers to fill the two openings in Sub-District 1 and the two openings in Sub-District 2.

HOUSEKEEPING

Stream / Watershed Status Report - see: www.manoawatershed.oceanit.com

Ala Wai Canal Bypass Update - go to www.beachwalkbypass.com

Hausten Ditch - No action due to cost.

Makiki Stream - Clean up postponed due to bad weather.

Manoa Stream - April 12th by Kaimuki High School near Date Street.

Palolo Stream - April 12th by Kaimuki High School near Date Street.

McCully Chop Suey Sign – response was delayed by 15 days.

Pedestrian Safety Issues and Map – Chair Lockwood sent it to Council Member Kobayashi and all area       legislators.

Neighborhood Commission – At their last meeting, they denied a 2004 complaint from A. Furuto

RESIDENTS’ CONCERNS

1. L. Novak reported a man on a 10-speed bicycle rode by her car on Algoroba Street at night, grabbed her door handle and would not let go. This was a few days after a woman was attacked in front of the Tesoro gas station at King and Punahou Streets. Chair Lockwood will notify HPD District 1.
2. Heinrich asked to be advised of the standard of marking street intersections, how to report aging signs and asked if the signs were being stolen.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

UH Long Range Development Plan:  Vice Chancellor Kathy Cutshaw introduced George Atta from Group 70 International, whose Long Range Development Plan (LRPD) was approved by the Board of Regents at their November 7, 2007 meeting. Mr. Atta’s presentation follows.

• Mr. Atta noted a parking study estimated the number of faculty and student cars parked outside the campus was 1,200. Therefore Group 70 and UH Manoa, via the LRDP, planned construction of two new parking structures; one behind the Kennedy Theatre with 360 parking spaces and another by the quarry adjacent to an existing parking structure with 900 parking stalls.
• At the Manoa Neighborhood Board Meeting, there was discussion to eliminate parking on University Avenue on the mauka bound lanes between the Architecture building and Maile Way to open the right hand lane during peak hours. Group 70 International and the University do not object and will propose this idea to the City.
• The University and their traffic and parking consultants based their proposals on the following assumptions: 1) The University’s population would not increase 2) The new rail system will not be serving the University. Therefore, 14 major intersections used by students and teachers were studied and the only one that would require mitigation would be at University Avenue and Dole Street. Recommended extending the off ramp into an exclusive right hand lane and adding a second right hand turn lane from Dole Street onto the Lower Campus Road.
• The Infrastructure Wastewater and Drainage Consultant is assessing the capacity of the drainage ditch behind the Biomedical Building on the boundary of Mid Pacific Institute’s campus. There will be ongoing consultations with the City to assure that wastewater flowing from the proposed buildings can be handled by the City’s infrastructure.
• Since this LRDP was approved by the University Board of Regents last November, preparation is being made for an Environmental Assessment (EA) which should be approved this June. The master plan, or Plan Review Use (PRU) is required by the City to go forward with the project and will be filed in the summer. The City Council will hold a public hearing, send it to committee and provide two additional opportunities for public input, before the Council’s decision is made to approve the PRU or not.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1. Renovation of the campus music building is part of the Biennium Report and can be found at www.manoa.hawaii.edu/ovcafo.
2. This presentation will be given at the Diamond Head/Kapahulu meeting, Thursday, March 13th.

3.   There is a repair and maintenance contract for the music building which is separate from this           LRDP.

Neighborhood Board Task Force:  Takamura reported he will have a meeting of his Permitted Interaction Group on April 22nd at 7:00 p.m. at McDonald’s on King Street.

Resolution 07-379 Term Limits for Neighborhood Board Members:  Discussion ensued with the following responses from board members:

• Larson felt term limits could damage the whole neighborhood board system and is against term limits. There are enough board member seat openings so everyone can serve.
• Kato advised that members with longevity on this board such as Larson, Takamura and Chair Lockwood, are very involved in making things happen for the community by attending meetings and workshops. The last time this board had a full compliment of members was in 1987.
• Gans noted this board is a volunteer position unlike other City officers. It would be expensive to print ballots and hold an election on this issue.
• Kondratovich is against term limits.

Larson moved to approve a resolution as follows: “Be it resolved that the members of the McCully/Moiliili Neighborhood Board No. 8 oppose term limits for neighborhood board members. and Be it resolved that copies of this Resolution be transmitted to all City Council Members, the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu and all Neighborhood Boards.” seconded by Carlos. The motion was ADOPTED by unanimous consent, 10-0-0. (Aye - Carlos, Devilbiss, Gans, Hata, Kato, Kondratovich, Larson, Lockwood, Tabor, Takamura.)

NEW BUSINESS

Resolution - Eminent Domain of Property for Public Use - Gans moved to defer this Resolution to work on the verbage seconded by Tabor. Discussion ensued.

• Kato noted he made this resolution more difficult for developers to be able to bring new development into this neighborhood.
• Larson asked if it would affect affordable housing.
• Inamine asked whether the words “public conversion” meant “eminent domain” and Kato said “Yes”. She was concerned about paragraph 4, “Neighborhood Board Number 8 support the consolidation of private land for private concerns for the expressed purposes to better allow higher density,” with conditions following that statement. Inamine citied that in 2002 private landowners in Waikiki were told the City would condemn their properties if they did not sell them to Outrigger Enterprises which resulted in benefiting the developer instead of the public from the use of eminent domain. Inamine noted parents and grandparents live frugally to pass on their properties to their children and wondered if said properties would be subject to eminent domain and consolidation to benefit developers. Kato agreed. The motion to defer the Resolution was ADOPTED 8-0-2. (Aye – Carlos, DeVilbiss, Gans, Hata, Kondratovich, Larson, Tabor, Takamura Abstain – Kato, Lockwood). Chair Lockwood will send the resolution to this board’s Housing Committee for consideration.

Transit Oriented Development for Public Input - Discussion ensued with the following concerns:

• The station at Ala Moana Center is proposed to be 8 feet above ground.
• This bill would limit parking spaces on the road so people would be forced to ride the train. The rail height of seven or eight feet does not allow the rail to grab at that much of an incline.
• Inamine reported Mr. Berg, who visited the Fruitvale TOD in Oakland, California, presented a power point presentation at the February 20th OMPO meeting which showed For-Lease signs on windows and businesses that had no customers in that TOD area. He played a CD during his presentation so people could hear how loud the passing of the trains were when he was there and explained the cost of managing the TOD would require additional funds than what was projected.
• Inamine made reference to an article by Kathleen Calongne “The Truth about Transit-Oriented Development” regarding Portland’s light rail system where no TODs have been built after ten years. Calongne citied that although Portland offered “millions of dollars of tax breaks and subsidies” only a few of the TODS are fully occupied and many have high vacancy rates.”

APPROVAL OF DECEMBER 6, 2007 MINUTES

Page 1 – “Fireworks” should be spelled consistently.

Page 2 – University of Hawaii, Question 2, line 5 - Change Chancellor’s home to “President’s home”.

Page 2 – Kamehameha Schools – Line 6 delete words “from Star Market to the animal shelter”.

Page 9 - Second line – change “all the items were “hot” to “a lot of the items were “hot”.

Page 9 – Second paragraph second line, capitalize “Browning”.

The December 6, 2007 minutes were ADOPTED as amended by unanimous consent (10-0-0).

APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 7, 2008 MINUTES

Corrections were as follows:

Page 4 – # 4 change “water gushing onto” to “water gushing near”.

Page 3 – under “Mayor’s Representative paragraph 3 change from “will be a beneficiary” to “will be one of the beneficiaries”.

Page 7 – In “Support Affordable Housing” paragraph, change from “in Kailua 226 apartment units would” to “262 apartment units at Date and Laau will have their land leases expire in 2012.”

The February 7, 2008 minutes were ADOPTED as amended by unanimous consent (10-0-0).

TREASURER’S REPORT:  Treasurer Hata reported as of February 2008 the balance of all accounts is $3,997.31. Postage spent last month totaled $72.48. The report was accepted as read.

COMMITTEE REPORTS AND NEXT MEETINGS: 

• Affordable Housing/Homeless Meeting with Chair Larson presiding will be held February 13th beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Care A Van, 1640 South King Street.

• Public Safety & Legislative Affairs Meeting with Chair Gans presiding will be held Tuesday, March 25th at 7:00 p.m. at the Moiliili McDonald’s.

• Schools and Community Outreach Meeting with Chair Tabor presiding will be held Thursday, March 20th at Bubbies in Moiliili.

ADJOURNMENT:  Meeting adjourned at 8:29 p.m.

Submitted by

Bonnie Trustin

Neighborhood Assistant

Proofed by

Chair Ron Lockwood