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McCully - Moiliili Neighborhood Board # 8

REGULAR MEETING MINUTES

THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2007

KING WILLIAM LUNALILO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CALL TO ORDER:  Chair Ron Lockwood called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. with 13 members present which established a quorum.

MEMBERS PRESENT:  Marijane Carlos (left at 9:20 p.m.), Scott Cheever, Linda Dela Cruz, Al Furuto, Gordon Furuto (left at 9:00 p.m.), Mimi Gans, John Gollner II, Les Hata, Serena Kyi-Yim, Betty Lou Larson, Ron Lockwood, Shauna Tabor, Michael Tareff.

MEMBERS ABSENT:  Clifton Takamura, Stephanie Visaya Bose

MEMBER'S SEATS VACANT:  One in Sub District 1, one in Sub District 2

GUESTS:  Capt. Vause (McCully Fire Station), Sgt. H. Ishida, Officer S. Fujitori, Sgt. Young, (District 7 HPD), Pat Lee (Honolulu High Capacity Transit Corridor Project), Jim Manke (UH Manoa – Chancellor's Office), Mark Oto (Mayor's Representative), Kevin Ishinaga (Board of Water Supply), Representative Scott Nishimoto, Jenny Kaya (Representative Nishimoto 's office), Sandra Kunimoto (Chair, Department of Agriculture), (Senator Brian Taniguchi, Susan Miyao (Senator Taniguchi's office), Les Vallarano (S.O.R.T. representative), Carl and Lillian Novak (McCully Citizen's Patrol), Richard Loyd (McCully Citizen's Patrol), Jay Yano, Shirley Koczan, Kevin Killeen, Janet Inamine, Tom Heinrich, Bonnie Trustin (Neighborhood Commission Office staff).

SAFETY & COMMUNITY LIAISON:

HONOLULU FIRE DEPARTMENT, (HFD) Capt. Charles Vause from the McCully Fire Station, reported:

1. There were 15 structure, 2 rubbish and 3 vehicle fires; 69 medical and 32 miscellaneous emergencies.  There were no major or unusual incidents and we had a quiet New Year's Eve.

2. Construction has commenced at the Ala Wai Maintenance Facility to house Engine 49 during the building of the new fire station.

3. Fire Safety Tip: Fire, building and U.S. postal codes, along with City ordinances, state that all property owners shall place their house number so it is legible and visible from the street or road fronting your property.  This will assist the Honolulu Fire Department and other first responders in locating your home quickly in the event of an emergency.

HONOLULU POLICE DEPARTMENT (HPD) - Sgt. Young, Administrative Sargent of District 7 East Honolulu, reported District 1 and 7 statistics were distributed and asked everyone to read in their handout about the new law regarding booster seats for children four to seven years old.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1.   Member Carlos still has a problem on the promenade on the Ala Wai Canal with the homeless which has been going on for ten years and now it is worse.  When the police crack down on them they go away.  Young responded that it takes a joint effort from all three districts.  There are so many groups who leave their items there but you don't see them.

2.   Member Gollner asked if the police advise neighbors of businesses where there has been a robbery that there is a perpetrator on the loose so they would look out for them.  He is specifically referring to the recent robbery at the Radio Shack across from Washington Middle School.  The day after, he walked a two block

radius letting the businesses know the robbery had taken place.  He knows from his work professionally

that perpetrators come back to the same place over and over.  If the police don't do this currently, would you be willing to work with me as the Neighborhood Security Watch coordinator, and I will give you more feedback from the neighborhood as I walk around speaking to people.?  Young responded that they don't have a specific policy about suspects who are not caught.  Robbery is a class C offense.  If a suspect is at large we'll look for them but we don't have a policy to notify neighboring businesses.

UH – MANOA - Jim Manke of the Chancellor's Office reported the following:

1.   Although he is retiring, he will continue to be the representative from the University to the McCully/Moililili Neighborhood Board meetings:

2.   Ground was broken for Frear Hall on November 21, 2006 with a target completion date of May, 2008 and it will be open for occupancy in the autumn semester of 2008.

3.   UH – Manoa commencement in December saw 1700 new graduates in various fields.  School will resume January 8, 2007.

4.   UH Manoa Centennial starts January 13 and he passed out information delineating events for the first six months inviting as many as possible to attend and participate and look forward to see past graduates.

Questions, Answers and Concerns:

1.   Frear Hall is named for Mrs. Frear who was a Regent for the University for 24 years who was an author and poet as well as the spouse of a governor of the territory of Hawaii.

2.   Resident Heinrich thanked Manke from the Manoa and McCully boards for the amount of time he has   spent over the years during his long relationship with the University and for his wife Joan's Executive Secretary position running the Neighborhood Commission; they are both greatly appreciated.

KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS – Tara Young, from the Commercial Assets Department, presented their findings from surveys taken by 34 people at the Moiliili Days Festival.  Kamehameha Schools own 10 acres in the Moililili area that begins around Puck's Alley extending ewa along South Beretania Street down to the recycling center at Isenberg and four residentially zoned parcels in the lower Isenberg area. 

They want to know community needs before they do construction to be respectful of the land owners.  From their charette in 2002 and responses at Moililili Days Festival, they found the community is a diverse one with a strong sense of place which has historic continuity and is a convenient location which people want to perpetuate.  The main responses to answering "What, if anything, could we do to improve the quality of life for the people of Mo'ili'ili? were .1) affordable/rental housing 2) improve, restore and maintain older buildings 3) parking 4) open spaces, trees and landscaping at Puck's Alley 5) safety 6) pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and crosswalks.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1.   Answered resident Killian that she is not involved in transit plans affecting bicycles.

2.   In 2007 they will do outreach to the community and asked Heinrich for suggestions on that.

3.   Could not comment when asked if Kamehameha Schools plans to acquire the Bowl-a-Drome site because they do not comment on their acquisitions.

4.   Responded to Gollner that she would consider including the survey she presented tonight in the next NB newsletter.

MAYOR'S REPRESENTATIVE - Mark Oto answered the issues at the last meeting:

1. The Kaaha Street mini park sign that was vandalized sign was due to be replaced December 29, 2006.

2. Environmental Services did contact the building manager at Ala Moana Manor who said the rodent problem is being addressed working through the State Department of Health.

3. Shopping carts being left along the Ala Wai is actually the issue of homelessness.  The Department of Parks and Recreation has been removing 15-20 abandoned shopping carts weekly.  His office meets with the Mayor, fire and police on a weekly basis to go over homelessness coordinating with the State homeless coordinator, Sandy Miyoshi.  Particularly right now, we are addressing the homeless issue in a Waianae park but it is island wide.  The State Representatives Saiki and Nishimoto and Caldwell and Senator Taniguchi gave them a $2 million grant last session to work with the homeless coordinator to addressing homelessness as a supplement.  The Governor did open up the Kalailoa facility.  Oto's Community Services department gets federal grants to address mental health issues and federal waiver grants to assist the homeless to become work ready and get help finding jobs.  Carlos responded that the people with the shopping carts are males doing drugs who don't want help to change because then they can't do drugs.  They also are stealing bikes and breaking into cars.  Oto reported his office is working with non-profit organizations on those issues also.

4.   Suggested people fill out an application which can be found at the Neighborhood Commission web site to run for the 2008-2009 election; we urge you to apply and run for office.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1.   The tax increase is ½ of one percent which brings our tax rate to 4.712%. 

2.   He will respond to Gollner regarding the City's response to the resolution with pictures that he submitted requesting reinstatement of a bus stop in front of Washington Middle School.

3.   He will check to see if the City is coordinating with the State on the upcoming Department of Transportation conference.  He reported the Mayor created a group of people on the City staff to work on the City Charter amendment related to making Honolulu pedestrian and bicycle friendly; He will advise who is on that committee.

4.   Member Larson requested the person responsible for closing and locking the gate to the Ala Wai Park Gate from Laau Street not do it at 9:30 p.m. but on time at 10:00 p.m.; she has seen cars parked inside the gate at 9:30 p.m. and they'll be locked in until the next morning.  There is also a discrepancy about the time the park closes because the signs don't match – one says 9:00 p.m. but one at the Hihiwai Exit gate says the park is "closed from 10 p.m. to 5:00 a.m."

GOVERNOR'S REPRESENTATIVE  - Sandra Kunimoto, Chair of the Department of Agriculture, reported the Legislature will be in session January 17, 2007.  There were no questions.

BOARD OF WATER SUPPLY:  Keith Ishinaga reported:

1.   There were no mainbreaks for the month of December.

      2.   Brought the Board of Water Supply Calendars for distribution.

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3.   Water Saving Tips: 1) Your tap can release up to three gallons per minutes depending on your fixture so don't let it run.  2) Low flow toilets use only 1.6 gallons per flush, as compared to the older ones that use 3.5 to 7 gallons.  Switch your old toilet out today and take advantage of the low flow toilet rebate from BWS.  For more information, go to our website at www.boardofwatersupply.com and the conservation pull down menu takes you to our special programs and rebates section.

Questions, answers and concerns:

      1.  He will respond to Chair Lockwood as to the Board of Water Supply's purchase of the Army water supply      system and how that addition will affect the service to an increased number of residents.

2.   He will check a continuing water leak of a sprinkler head right at the point of the intersection of King, Beretania and University in the last area with grass for resident Heinrich.

3.   He will check for Chair Lockwood the fire hydrant at King and Isenberg by Mo'ili'ili Field which was at a right angle tonight.

HONOLULU HIGH CAPACITY TRANSIT CORRIDOR PROJECT - Pat Lee reported December was a long month due to hearings on Transit Bill 79.  We had a 15 hour transportation committee meeting December 14, 2006 and in a six and one/half hour final meeting December 22, 2006 in which Bill 79 C252 was passed approving the generic fixed guideway system as the chosen alternative.  The route runs either from Kapolei to Saratoga up to Farrington Highway or straight down Farrington.  It is up to the City administration to determine before the preliminary engineering which option to take:  going down Kamehameha Highway either to Salt Lake Boulevard or Nimitz Highway to the airport, then to Dillingham and on to town through Halikowila up Kapiolani Boulevard, and up University Avenue to the Hawaii University at Manoa.  The committee also put back into the ordinance the optional Waikiki spur.  You can follow the activity on this bill on the City website at www.honolulu.gov.

Questions, answers and concerns:

Lee responded to Carlos about whether lanes of Kapiolani Boulevard would be needed to implement the fixed guideway system; he understood the land acquisition required station locations in some parts of Kakaako.

ELECTED OFFICIALS:

Councilmember Ann Kobayashi:  - Was not present; her newsletter was distributed.

Representative Kirk Caldwell: - Was attending a policy meeting; his newletter was distributed.

Representative Scott Nishimoto – Representative Nishimoto invited everyone to his yearly luncheon after the opening of the legislature January 17.  Jenny Kaya is his new office manager who will be coming to meetings when he can't attend.

Representative Scott Saiki – Was unable to remain at the meeting; distributed his newsletter.

Senator Brian Taniguchi - Senator Taniguchi reported the legislative session opens this January 17.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1.   Responded to member Larson, there was an omnibus housing bill last year on which he participated but wasn't the director.  This year Senator Oakland will be dealing with public housing and the homeless and I will be dealing with affordable housing.  Larson looks forward to Nishimoto being able to implement the Governors' desire for new affordable housing units.  Nishimoto said there are many budgetary items to consider so they will have to see what is financially possible.

2.   Responded to Cheever that his housing committee is not involved in historic preservation, that is for the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

FILLING OF VACANCY:  No one responded to be considered for the vacancies in Sub Districts 1 and 2.

PRESENTATION – S.O.R.T. – (Save Our Race Track) -    Chair Lockwood explained we are asking for this presentation because we have had many complaints about racing on University Avenue, McCully Street, Kapiolani Boulevard, South King Street and Beretania Street.

Les Vallarano of S.O.R.T. gave a presentation on their effort to reopen the Hawaii Raceway Park which has been closed.  It is 67 acres in Campbell Industrial Park which was constructed in 1964 by racing enthusiast Jimmy Pfleugger.  One of the main reasons the park was built in 1964 was to curb illegal street racing.  Construction costs at that time were approximately $750,000.00.  He showed pictures of the area and explained them such as:  an aerial view of Hawaii Raceway Park with a drag strip, road course, go cart and dirt circle tracks; a quarter mile drag

strip that brought in thousands of spectators every weekend; cars racing on various tracks; various keiki races;

motorcycles that race on the track; motorcycle tricks; pictures of kids drifting in their cars; go cart activities for keiki on a separate go cart track; police consulting the drivers, drag car racing; the motorcross track for dirt bikes; and public restrooms are available.

On the news they were reporting a world class facility for racing was proposed in Kalailoa but as of this date there are no identified investors.  One of the problems is the law requires the track to be in an industrial area where the cost of just the land is very expensive – the last parcel sold in Campbell Industrial park went for $70 million and when you add that to the construction fees it becomes over $120 million giving the return on investment as less than 1% therefore constructing a world class facility is not feasible. 

S.O.R.T. was formed in early 2006 with the goal of saving the track and having the county acquire it.  There are no race tracks – we want to develop a rapport between racers and the police.  We are asking you to support our three resolutions – 06-120, 06-121 and 06-122.to have the county acquire the Hawaii Raceway Park.

Questions, answers and concern:

1.   Member Larson clarified this is privately owned land with a price of $5.8 million; can you clarify who you want to fund this and for how much?  The State and County might work a land swap proposition depending on what the County can work out.

2.   Member Tabor, a licensed Sports Car Clubs of America member since 1976 in Hawaii, reported we have worked tirelessly for the last five-six years to get children off the streets and on to a racetrack in a controlled environment teaching them how to control their cars in a safe and sane way.  When we had the racetrack we were very successful with autocross events where professional drivers are in the car with kids who are licensed and learn driving safety; the SCCA road race teams of teens driving enhanced cars, and the enormous building of drag strip racing which have shown that children are willing to come into a safe and sane environment.  Tabor's chief position as regional starter is the safety of all those on the track and that's what they are trying to teach all children who come there.  The raceway park is not inciting kids to race; instead they are learning how to safely and sanely race on a track by professionals.  To achieve this they need their race track back.

3.   Member Hata is a former champion race driver and hot rodder from Kahuku.  Racing on the track kept him

off the streets – it works.  Vallarano told Hata the resolutions were introduced in early 2006 and will be valid for some time; we hope something significant will happen for us in 2007.  If they zone the track commercial and start putting buildings there it would be hard for the State and County to acquire the park with those other interests there.  Our main concern is that if this track is not allowed to be developed because of the high price of commercial property, we won't see another one on Oahu.

4.   Chair Lockwood wants the Board outreach committee to work on this issue some more so he is

rescheduling the meeting for January 24, 2007 to know more about more about the issue before he votes on it.

5.   Member Cheever asked if the Super Ferry comes in and cars can be taken to the neighbor islands, couldn't they race there just as well?  Since commercial real estate is very expensive would this be another option?

Vallarano reported that the Super Ferry goes over to another island only once a day so the races would have to be at night which would be costly.  S.O.R.T. wants to keep the ticket price down and affordable for

the average young person at $12.00 as opposed to $700.00; an unfeasible price for a round trip to transport their car by Super Ferry.  In the Kapolei Business Park there are 900 acres of available land and S.O.R.T. only wants 67 acres.  Racing there on weekends and nights wouldn't be an issue for businesses that basically aren't open then and the warm, dry weather is good for racing.

A. Furuto moved that the Board consider the S.O.R.T. Resolutions presented to them to be able to put it to a vote which was seconded by Shauna Tabor.

Questions, answers, and concerns:

Resident Killeen liked Cheever's comment about the increased value of commercial land so this gift to the people with an extravagant hobby would be pushing commercial real estate and agricultural land higher.  Why not get money from the City and County to make bike paths; he proposes bicyclists would support bike paths; what money are you putting up for the race car track and what will the price tag be?  Vallarano said there was a proposal to have a world class race track that would cost $200 million and for that price we couldn't get investors and there isn't enough population to have those big events here.  We only need 67 acres; with some lots available in the lower Campbell Industrial Park, 900 acres of empty space available in Kapolei Business Park and 5,000 acres in Kalailoa which will be opening with some commercial land so we have plenty of commercial land which we feel is a better location than a residential area.  When you said it's an expensive hobby, as racers we want to form a non-profit organization to lease the track – we're not asking for it for free like other parks.  Paying the County for the land lease we will pay for whatever bond financing and land they have so they won't have to raise taxes; it will be self-funded.  S.O.R.T. will bring to the table $1 million to renovate the track.

The resolution to put the S.O.R.T. Resolutions on the table for a vote failed by a vote of  8 – 2 – 3 needing 12 votes to be accepted.  Aye - A. Furuto, G. Furuto, Gollner, Hata, Carlos, Taleff, Cheever and Tabor Nay – Larson and Dela Cruz  Abs – Gans, Lockwood, and Kyi-Yim.

Vallarano responded to A. Furuto that S.O.R.T. is not asking for a world class $120 M track, they are happy with one for $5.8 M.

Chair Lockwood will take the S.O.R.T. information to the outreach planning committee meeting January 24^th, not the date listed in our agenda, to hear more details and understand their proposal more clearly contacting S.O.R.T. after the meeting.

HOUSEKEEPING:

Bus Stop at Washington Middle School – City Department of Transportation Services responded to our request to reinstate the Washington Middle School bus stop saying basically "No." but they will watch it and see if conditions change to warrant one.  This information was sent to the board members in your minutes mail out.  Chair Lockwood responded to A. Furuko that the Transportation Department gave a reason for their negative response but he will be following up with Senator Fukunaga and Washington Middle School.  Written report given to all Board members.

Kaimuki High Streambank Clean-up November 30 – 120 people came and it was a great success improving habitat for the ducks, native birds and getting rid of all the invasives.  Written report given to all Board members.

Totally Against Graffiti meeting of December 5^th – The meeting was held at Lunalilo School with 30 people in attendance sponsored by the police department and the Attorney General's office.  (This was the same night as the Hawaii 2050 meeting at McKinley High School.)  Rules were set up by the above mentioned departments and people were divided into three work groups to work on specific projects; they will reconvene at the end of January.

Written report given to all Board members.

Hawaii 2050 Meeting – On December 5, Chair Lockwood joined others at the tenth meeting in 30 days on all four Hawaiian islands on this topic.  He listed the guiding principles, components of their planning process, data and research projects in the attachment that went out with the minutes to all Board members.

Board Election Candidates & Deadline – provided candidate applications for those interested

Board Candidate Training – will be held in March or April for all candidates to prepare them

Stream Status – Behind Ala Wai Elementary the pit for the sewer project's micro-tunneling phase is now 44 feet deep, 40 feet wide in all directions with one foot of gravel at the bottom.  They are starting to lay the concrete pad and by the middle of next week they will start the tunneling.  We will have to follow up on the noise.

Lock Box Self Storage Company – They are located at McCully and Kapiolani; they are still waiting for a response on their plans submitted to Planning and Permitting in September, 2006 so they can begin construction.

New Traffic Light – will be installed at the corner of Coyne and University by the Varsity Theatre.

Moiliili Community Center Annual Breakfast Meeting – will be held at 8:00 a.m. January 20, 2007 at the Pagoda Restaurant which will cost $16.00; Chair Lockwood has application forms.

Martin Luther King Day Parade will be January 15, 2007.  They are asking for groups to join them reporting to Ala Moana Park at 7:30 a.m. that morning for the 9:00 a.m. event.  Chair Lockwood has the number to call.

RESIDENT CONCERNS: - None

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Lunalilo School Lighting Issue & Resolution – Chair Lockwood reported we have a resolution on the table which we can take from the table or start a new resolution.

Member Gollner introduced a resolution called "Resolution by the McCully Mo'ili'ili Neighborhood Board Requesting King William Lunalilo Elementary School to Turn the Campus Lights Back on Overnight".

Gollner distributed a copy of a petition to each Board member with signatures from residents on the four blocks surrounding the school which were given to the McCully Citizen's Patrol over a period of days.  Along the border of the school, everyone Gollner approached with the petition supported it.  Only about six of the people he spoke with had been approached by the principal; others thought the school had electrical problems.  One of the people Gollner spoke with had been broken into and said one of the first questions the police asked was if he has lights around his house.  Gollner said the generally held feeling is a place with lights on will be safer than a place with lights off.

Gollner has the log of the McCully Citizen's Patrol that shows no decrease in illegal activity.  On New Year's Eve alone the McCully Citizen's Patrol asked two different sets of people to leave because they were drinking alcohol on the campus and had beer bottles lying around.  On two previous occasions we have seen broken beer bottles on the campus and that is unsafe for children.

Carlos moved the Board vote and Gans seconded the motion.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1.   A. Furuto asked Gollner if the lights go back on and the incidence of arson and crime rises, could the Board discuss the issue again and Gollner answered "yes."  Gollner reported that the head of Security with the Department of Education didn't indicate that turning out the lights would be safer; they told him they turned off the lights saying "let's give this a try and see if it works."

2.   Gollner answered Larson who asked what other schools do, he said overwhelmingly they turn their lights on and Mr. Tatuno, the Director of Security, admitted that nearly all schools that had tried the policy of turning the lights off have turned them back on.

The vote to support the Resolution that the McCully Mo'ili'ili neighborhood requests Lunalilo School immediately resume having the campus lights on overnight, for the safety of the students, and the safety of the community was passed by a vote of 12 – 0 -1 with Kyi-Yim abstaining.  (See Attachment A to the minutes for the entire copy of the Resolution.)

TRANSPORTATION:

Carlos presented a Resolution for support of the City Council for a Fixed Guideway System.  Carlos moved to adopt the Resolution to Support Fixed Guideways which was seconded by Gollner.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1.  A. Furuto has heard a lot of different discussions from many groups at many meetings but rail and the fixed guideway is also not the solution for ewa traffic.  They need eight new lanes going out like a double decker of Nimitz to Pearl City and they haven't looked at that; some of the lanes could be used for express buses. 

He can't support the few lanes they are proposing.  Carlos answered that no one has discussed how many lanes there will be – there are only two choices and this tells the City Council we would rather have a fixed guideway.

2.  Pat Lee reported the City Council is selecting the technology which could be monorail, light rail, rapid rail, or rubber tired automated buses; that decision will come.  Right now the number of lanes for the fixed guideway will be a one track in and one track out system from Kapolei to the University of Hawaii.  Lee answered Cheever that the difference between local and mainland ridership is that from ewa west they want to ride because they have no other options to get out of traffic congestion; being in a train car for 35-40 minutes to get downtown is better than being stuck in traffic for 45 minutes just to get to Ft. Weaver Road and then proceed downtown.  Local ridership is no different than any American city.

3.   Gollner was at the Council hearing when they discussed and passed the mass transit Bill 79.  After hearing from the experts they realized they didn't want to be "married to the train".  With the fixed guideway you can load fire trucks and ambulances on them.  Roads can tend to break but you can repair them more easily than rail tracks and the most compelling reason is the carrying capacity of the fixed guideway which is exponential compared to that of rail.  He feels it is important to tell the Council what the community feels.

4.   Carlos feels that mass transit will greatly affect our neighborhood so we should make our opinions heard.  It will highly impact Kapiolani Boulevard, the trees, going past all the expensive properties.  Units in her building are selling already because owners don't want to take a chance on loosing the value of their property as this monolith will go past it.  She is disappointed with this Board for not making resolutions and letting our representatives know how the Board feels, except on an individual basis.  Carlos is voicing not only her opinion but the opinion of everyone with whom she has talked to in her district.  The other end of the island needs this; if you have rail you have to have rail all the way.  If you have a fixed guideway; I don't understand why you say it's a track because there's a big difference between a rail and a fixed guideway where buses and ambulances and vans can use it which is my understanding.  Something like that has a lot more flexibility because they can come down to the street level and have dedicated lanes; she feels this is much more agreeable to our district.

5.   Pat Lee responded that across the United States and internationally when you have transit development, property values increase rather than decrease.  That's why the City Council looked very carefully at "transit only development" so there are opportunities for affordable housing and commercial retail opportunities.  Secondly, there was a project proposed by the past administration called Bus Rapid Transit which proposed what you are describing – dedicated lanes, taking lanes away used for buses coming off the ramp from Middle Street and going onto dedicated lanes through downtown.  That project didn't receive much support.  Carlos responded it was because the administration always wanted rail.  Lee responded the Harris administration was pushing for the Bus Rapid Transit; this idea was brought before this Board many times in 1998 through 2000.

6.   Gollner reported that data from research done for his job found the people of Ewa Beach want the fixed guideway, not rail.

Gordon Furuto left the meeting at 9:00 p.m.

7.   Resident Inamine thanked Carlos for bringing up the impact of rail to our community which she has spoken about all last year because of her she concern with the ugly view going up University Avenue coupled with the 24 hour running of the rail.

Chair Lockwood called for a vote accepting the Resolution on the Fixed Guideway which failed with 7 – 2 – 3 needing nine votes to pass.  Aye: - Gollner, Hata, Dela Cruz, Carlos, Gans, Lockwood, Cheever. Nay:  Taleff, Kyi-Yim.  Abs: A. Furuto, Larson, Tabor

Chair Lockwood asked Carlos to put a committee meeting together to get more input on the fixed guideway and find out where its going to be built.  Carlos sees no point in having a committee meeting because the Board doesn't want to make a commitment on the train so they should get what they deserve for not taking action. 

A. Furuto feels the Board's discontent should be expressed to the City with a resolution so they know how the community feels.  Chair Lockwood will put Furuto's comments in the January 24^th outreach committee meeting. 

NEW BUSINESS:

Public Recognition of McCully/Moililil Neighbors & Organizations – A. Furuto wants to give property owners Letters of Appreciation who allowed use of their land for machinery to sit there to dredge the Makiki Stream and others offered their lots but the land wasn't large enough for the bulldozers.  He wants them to know the community officially appreciates their offers.  He provided a list of names for consideration.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1.   A. Furuto responded to Kyi-Yim that the McCully Board Chair could have sent these out himself but he wanted everyone to know about it.  Asked that Ann Kobayashi, Scott Saiki, Scott Nishimoto, Brian Taniguchi.  Kyi-Yim said to give notice to A. Furuto because he was helpful.

2.   Chair Lockwood's felt Fogarty Realty has to appear before the Board for a lot they own so could look like favoritism on the part of the Board.  He is looking for people such as KNDI which has helped the community for over 50 years and because of the certificate the McCully Board gave them, State Civil Defense is considering giving them a generator to get them up on the air because they have broadcast in 17 different languages.  Helping out on a one time thing is not enough – the crews were already addressed by letter and some of those mentioned had Furuto's campaign signs in their yards.  Chair Lockwood recounted how A. Furuto was acknowledged by the police, City Hall and then applauded by the Board when two children lost at the Moiliili Days festival were found by him and when recognized he said he was not looking for public recognition.  The Board will continue to give him what he deserves.  A. Furuto responded that he has corrections to what Chair Lockwood said with an email stating exactly what transpired; actually only one person to recognize has his campaign sign to whom he is writing a note. 

Gans moved and A. Furuto seconded to vote on giving Letters of Appreciation to people mentioned above who assisted with the stream cleanup.   Discussion ensued to decide who is worthy of being on the list.  A. Furuto amended the motion to delete Takasaki and Fogarty Realty companies which passed unanimously.   Larson requested knowing who made their land available to the City and County to do the work on the stream which A. Furuto said were Mr. Takayama and Mr. Shimomiya.  Kyi-Yim called for the question.   Chair Lockwood stated the amendment being voted on was to give Letters of Appreciation to the two property owners – Mr. Takayama and Mr. Shimomiya.  The amendment failed with a vote of 6 – 4 – 1 needing nine votes to pass.  Aye: Dela Cruz, A. Furuto, Hata, Kyi-Yim, Tabor, Gollner Nay: - Cheever, Gans, Larson, Lockwood Abs: Taleff   The vote was taken on the original motion recognizing all but the two real estate firms and the politicians who were added and it failed, 6 – 4 – 1 needing nine votes to pass.  Aye:  A. Furuto, Gollner, Hata, Dela Cruz, Kyi-Yim, Tabor. Nay:  Gans, Cheever, Larson, Lockwood. Abs:  Taleff

The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m..

Submitted by:

Bonnie Trustin,

Neighborhood Commission Staff