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WAIALAE-KAHALA NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD

REGULAR MEETING MINUTES

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2006

WESLEY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

CALL TO ORDER:   Chair Lester Fukuda called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.; a quorum was present with

MEMBERS PRESENT:  Gerri Digmon (arrived 7:15 p.m.), Stan Fichtman, Lester Fukuda, Sylvia Himeda, Leo Hura (newly appointed), Lucinda Pyles, Kelley Roberson, Richard Turbin (arrived 7:07 p.m.).

MEMBERS ABSENT:  Michael Troy. 

GUESTS:  Capt. Tim Turgeon (Honolulu Fire Department), Lorna Heller (Board of Water Supply), Officer Jason Hendricks, Officer K. Kobayashi, Sgt. K. Numausau, Acting Lt. Howard Ishida, and Maj. Nakagawa (Honolulu Police Department), Representative Barbara Marumoto, Senator Sam Slom, Keoki Miyamoto (Mayor’s Representative), Kathleen Kelley (Citizens Against Noise), Councilmember Charles Djou, Mark Anderson (Governor’s Representative), Lance Tom, Kamuela McCormick, Lauri Kauhane, Marie Richardson (Neighborhood Commission Office staff).  

INTRODUCTION OF BOARD MEMBERS AND GUESTS: Everyone present introduced themselves.

The agenda went out of order to Honolulu Fire Department. 

HONOLULU FIRE AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS:

Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) - Capt. Tim Turgeon reported:

·         Total of 90 alarms including:  3 structure, 1 rubbish, 1 vehicle fire; 73 medical and 12 miscellaneous emergencies; one major incident - fire on Brokaw Street.

·         Fire Safety Tip:  Halloween costumes - ensure they are flame-resistant, made of lightweight fabric, brightly colored, clearly visible to motorists; decorate with reflective tape; keep costumes lengths short; use natural cosmetics versus mask; carry flashlights.

·         Reminder: emergency medical assistance is provided by HFD to Honolulu Emergency Services Department, both respond in emergency. HFD’s 42 fire stations and HESD’s 17 ambulance units allow rapid response.

Questions & Answers:

1.       Fire station is structurally sound and incurred no damages the day of the earthquake. Generators provided power.  Received 17 calls of people stuck in the elevators, a structure fire in Kuliouou with one fatality, and the last alarm received was at 3:00 a.m.

2.       Turgeon - there is roughly a 30 minute window should a volcano on the Big Island generate a tsunami before it would affect Oahu.  No tsunami generated by the Big Island earthquake; familiarizing yourself with emergency/evacuation information of the front section of the phone book. 

Richard Turbin arrived during this portion of the meeting (6 members present).

Honolulu Police Department (HPD) - Maj. Mark Nakagawa thanked community for following the directions disseminated over the radio; most people stayed home and phone lines were not inundated with calls. By 9 a.m., Chief Correa and his command staff started mapping out emergency plans. In District 7 - 17 officers were staged to key intersections in the district; others were posted and monitored the traffic.  Within a few hours HPD increased staffing by about 50%.

Gerri Digmon arrived during this portion of the meeting (7 members).

Questions & Answers:

1.       Turbin thanked HPD for responding and taking care of the traffic situation the day of the earthquake. Miyamoto thanked HPD for escorting DTS workers for follow up traffic signal work. Nakagawa thanked DTS getting the traffic signal lights up and running.

2.       Tom - community wants the bus stop re-instated on Malia Street.  When H-1 Kalanianaole traffic is heavy and people are parked in the bus stop area it backs up traffic on Malia Street.  Consider no parking on that side of the street. Nakagawa - hoped that the community understands that traffic backup arises whenever there are situations on Kalanianaole or H-1. Tom - people tend to drive in the opposite lane into oncoming traffic.

3.       Hura - on noise violations from cars, mopeds or motorcycles:  there is a difference of opinion regarding discretion of officers in Wakiki compared to Waialae Kahala, when enforcing and citing loud vehicles. Police District 6 is stricter on enforcement.  Maj. Nakagawa will research the matter.

4.       Roberson - thefts Beat 759 were significantly higher in September than August.  Officer - Beat 759 encompasses the Kahala Mall area where most of the thefts occur and could be attributed to school being out during the summer months 

5.       Digmon - requested that HPD keep an eye on the Assets School bus dropping students off on travel lane of Malia Street and blocking traffic especially during the afternoon pickups. 

6.       Black Point resident and a member with the “Citizens Against Noise” brought the power point summary of what was presented at the State Capitol, which mainly included issues regarding modified mufflers.        

The agenda resumed order back to Filling of Vacancy.

FILLING OF VACANCY - Chair Fukuda opened the floor for nomination to fill the At-Large vacancy. Pyles nominated Leo Hura. Hura gave a brief background of himself. Turbin moved to close the nominations; Roberson seconded the motion. Being there were no other nominations, Hura was elected by acclamation. The Board took a brief moment for the administration of the Oath of Office. Hura was congratulated and took his seat with the Board. The Board now has a full compliment of board members.

REPORT FROM MAYOR’S REPRESENTATIVES:

Mayor’s Report - Keoki Miyamoto, Deputy Director, Department of Facility and Maintenance and filling in for Lavern Higa, reported the following:

·         Bus shelter on Malia Street - a bus shelter will be relocated to this location by the end of this year.

·         Garbage collection on Ala Wai Boulevard during rush hour (7:30 to 8:30 a.m.) - DTS nor ENV have enforcing powers over the private collectors.

·         Ala Wai Sewer Project - DTS report, contractor has a street usage permit to close up to two lanes from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Construction manager has been asked to remind contractor of permit requirements. For further problems please contact DTS Street Usage at 523-4529.

·         Ainakoa Community Park’s irrigation system, schedule for grass fertilizing and the water fountains - DPR’s response at the July 20 meeting was: a) the irrigation system is on automatic timer, watered late evenings to early morning (6 days a week) and has been operational for over two months, since repaired in late April 2006. b) The park is fertilized once a year or more as necessary by Maintenance Support Services (Chemical Treatment Crew). c) The two functioning water fountains are sufficient for this park. There are no plans at this time to replace the older drinking fountain.

• Ainakoa Community Park (questions to the departmental responses) - 1) A maintenance supervisor does a visual inspection regarding the condition of the grass (green grass, less than 40% inutile weeds, spots caused by fungus and or malfunctioning irrigation). 2) Park is treated once a year (mid January) by a MSS chemical treatment crew, although not done in 2006 due to construction.  In 2005, it was done manually by roving crews with a manual spreader in late February.  Work request initiated for aeration and fertilization. Interested citizens are welcomed to volunteer and help through park and volunteer programs (C.J. Jamile 351-1642).

Questions & Answers:

1.       Digmon clarification - bus shelter relocated to the corner of Malia Street; Miyamoto agreed. Tom suggested that the old bus stop area be “no parking” or restricted parking.

2.       Turbin suggested a regulation preventing trash collection off the main thoroughfares etc., between 6:30 and 8:00 a.m. Miyamoto to discuss with DTS also HPD could help if it is a traffic obstruction; or better scheduling on the collectors part.

3.       Digmon - second water fountain is necessary due to usage at Ainakoa Community Park.  

Board of Water Supply (BWS) - Lorna Heller:

·         No main breaks in September.

·         General Water Announcements:  a) Safety and Security at BWS facilities – concerns about national security and the increased thefts and vandalism of public property; BWS is proactive in effort to protect water supply. However, community partnership to keep an eye on our various properties, especially the remote ones is very important (should you see anything that looks out of the ordinary or suspicious occurring at one of our sites please call the police first). Law enforcement responds faster to the situation. Follow up calls to BWS can be made to ph. 748-5000. BWS appreciates assistance to keep our water supply safe. b) Water Conservation Tip:  Use a broom to clean up your driveway. Eliminating even a weekly five minute pavement hose-down can save you between 625 and 2500 gallons per year depending on the flow rate and frequency of use.

Fukuda – BWS to follow-up on the over grown landscaping on Halekoa Drive, and the problem of having silver fences instead of green fences, which better blends in the area.

Councilmember Charles Djou – Council member Djou distributed his newsletter and highlighted:

·         The trash collection issue was raised three years ago (Waikiki Neighborhood Board and residents were upset about the early morning noise… switching the trash collection time to its current times).  

·         Council is in recess this week, back in session next week.

·         November 1 is the expected transit system report. 

·         Charter Amendment - favors the Ethics Commission Rule, Recycling and the Liquor Commission.

Turbin – suggested trash collections after 8:30 a.m., to help the traffic problem along the Ala Wai. Djou will ask, but because of all the businesses (restaurants, etc.) and truck deliveries also encounter that same problem. Turbin clarified that Miyamoto indicated that obstruction is a traffic violation and they should be ticketed.

Electricity went out… status unknown so meeting adjourned at 7:54 p.m.

Submitted by,

Marie Richardson

Neighborhood Assistant