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McCully - Moiliili Neighborhood Board # 8

REGULAR MEETING MINUTES

THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2007

KING WILLIAM LUNALILO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CALL TO ORDER:  Chair Lockwood called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. with a quorum of eight present.

MEMBERS PRESENT: Marijane Carlos, Gordon Furuto, Mimi Gans, Les Hata, John Kato (left at 8:40 p.m.), Serena Kyi-Yim, Betty Lou Larson, Ron Lockwood, Shaunna Tabor, Clifton Takamura (arrived at 7:15 p.m.).

MEMBERS ABSENT: None.

VACANT SEATS: Two vacancies in Sub District 1, three vacancies in Sub District 2.         

GUESTS:Mark Oto (Mayor’s Representative, Senior Advisor, Department of Customer Service), Jim Manke (University of Hawaii at Manoa), Capt. G. Harbottle (McCully Fire Station), Capt. R. Green, Sgt. Yagami, Lt. E. Nishiyama, Sgt. E. Egami, Sgt. A. Togami, Officer J. Hendricks (Honolulu Police Department), Senator Carol Fukunaga, Senator Bruce Taniguchi, Susan Miyao (Senator Taniguchi’s office), Tara Young (Kamehameha School, Senior Asset Manager for Development), Alvin Fukumoto, Tom Heinrich, Jason Yoshida, Sandee Fulton, Klement Kondratovich, Shirley Koczan, Harry Chu, Tara Young, Piilani Kaopoiki, Dora Johnson, Evelyn Chang, Raymond Lalosin and Lillian and Carl Novak (McCully Citizen’s Patrol), Bonnie Trustin (Neighborhood Commission Office Assistant).

PUBLIC SAFETY AND COMMUNITY LIAISON (35 MINUTES)

HONOLULU FIRE DEPARTMENT – Had a call; presented later in the meeting.

HONOLULU POLICE DEPARTMENT - Sgt. Yagami, District 7, East Honolulu Station distributed their statistics for June which appeared as: 3 robberies, 1 burglary, 5 UEMV, 5 auto thefts, 0 assaults, 8 property damages, 34 motor vehicle collisions, 2 DUIs, no sex assaults or family offenses, 2 drug offenses, and 1 graffiti incident.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1.       Resident Sandee Fulton complained about a barking dog that has irritated the neighbors for over a year. The owner is often not at home nights to monitor the dog.

2.       Capt. Green reminded people to attend their Neighborhood Coordinator’s Citizens’ Patrol meeting July 12th at 7:00 p.m.; email Tony or Jason with your RSVPs. Capt. Green noted that there is no such thing as a “near-collision report.” If you need an officer call 911 for a traffic incident, harassment report or the like and file an “incident report.”

Clifton Takamura arrived at 7:15 p.m., making 10 members present.

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA: Jim Manke, representing the Chancellor of the University, reported it is a quiet summer on the campus. At the August Board meeting they will give a presentation on their Long Range Development Plan so everyone should questions ready.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1.       The fall term at school starts August 20, 2007.

2.       If you will be doing a Power Point presentation next month, you will need a 20 foot plus extension cord.

KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS: Tara Young reported they acquired the Varsity Theatre lot. The Varsity Motos lot will be paved in two to three weeks now that the proper permits have been approved.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1.       Young reported Kamehameha Schools will be meeting in the next six months with consultants to discuss how they will present their plans for the area in the first quarter of next year.

2.       The business replacing Magoo’s will be a restaurant and bar.

3.       Lockwood saw a presentation given by Kamehameha School’s representative, Susan Todani called “The Developer’s Perspective on Transit-Oriented Development” and Chair Lockwood has asked her to make the same overview presentation at the Board meeting in November.

MAYOR’S REPRESENTATIVE: Mark Oto, Senior Advisor for Community Services, reported on the requests from last month:

1.   The City Department of Transportation Services (DTS) will conduct an investigation at Makahiki Way and Waiola Street and Citron and McCully streets with cars blocking the area and will present findings at the next meeting.

2.   The McCully Chop Suey Sign was returned to the applicant because the variance request was incomplete and he is working with them to address that.

3.   The City Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) reported they are at Stadium Park on a daily basis, Monday through Friday, and the park is cleaned by a crew two times daily on weekends. To help the homeless, Oto’s department is trying to get homeless service providers, such as the Institute for Human Services, to talk with each of them so they can go elsewhere. The City has maintained its position that it will follow the State’s lead in building transitional shelters for the homeless.

4.   His supervisor met with the property manager of 2577 Laau Street and saw no problems with bulky items. The supervisor told the property manager that the City will continue to pick up items but they must monitor illegal dumping.

5.   He is still working with his department on the bulky item situation on Waiola Street with the property manager.

6.   Phase One of the McCully Pool was to have been the restroom, offices and gymnasium but during construction they found structural problems. They now project the gym will be completed in 2009 and the pool will open in 2010.

7.   The Council adopted a bill which would give a portion of the proceeds to affordable housing.

8.   On Saturday, July 14, the administration is sponsoring a Transit-Oriented meeting from 8:30 a.m. to noon at Leeward Community College, offering an opportunity to hear expert speakers from Portland, Oregon and Denver, Colorado, who are associated with transit systems in their cities.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1.   Sandee Fulton asked that ticketing and signage be addressed at Dole Street and Oto will follow up.

2.   A resident asked the City to pick up the mountain of rubbish at 574 Kamoku Street.

3.   Lalosin reported there is lots of drinking by teens and others around the Ala Wai Recreation Center even though there are signs posted and the police have warned them not to drink. One night the police came at 10:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. but each time the group came back and drank again. Lalosin asked if the City could send a notice telling the Rec Center there is no drinking in the City park and could they find other ways to notify people not to drink on their property.

4.   Oto will get a list from HPD of the calls they received from 5 to 7 p.m. on July 4, 2007 requesting people were not obeying the law setting off fireworks illegally in city parks..

5.   Chair Lockwood announced a new website has been provided by the City at “driveakamai.org” noting construction projects that affect traffic (updated daily). Also call 768-3777 for the information.

6.   Mrs. Novak is tired of seeing the women who live at the bus stop across from Times Supermarket on King Street; one has dogs and the other has a cart with rabbits. Oto has sent staff from a service agency to see if they can help one woman leave the area but they were not successful. He knows of whom she is speaking.

7.   In response to Larson, he reported he has a meeting on Monday representing the City, working with Kaulana Park, the State Homeless Coordinator on the Waianae coast, and Sandy Miyoshi, the State Homeless Coordinator to find an alternative site to the one in Kakaako as an urban area site for the homeless.

GOVERNOR’S REPRESENTATIVE: Sandra Kunimoto, the Governor’s Representative, was off island so Chair Lockwood gave highlights of the report:

1.   The State Department of Agriculture is working diligently with the ferry staff to make sure all invasive species are not transported interisland via the ferry system – they practice with dirty cars, etc. and go over inspection procedures for crop transportation between islands. They will continue to do this as they have staff changes.

2.   To sustain local food production, the Agriculture Department is asking residents to buy eggs and milk from local producers. Act 221 was signed in June subsidizing meat, cattle and pig operations that meet certain criteria which will be in effect for two years. The UH Agriculture College and human resources will work on ways to continue this service beyond the two year limit.

There were no questions.

BOARD OF WATER SUPPLY: The representative, Keith Ishinaga, could not attend the meeting so Chair Lockwood read highlights from the report. There were no main breaks for the month of June. Oahu’s winter was drier than normal but we are not in a serious drought situation as on Maui and the Big Island because unlike other islands, we don’t rely on surface water or catchment systems that react quickly to rainfall. However, we use more water during the summer so use it wisely; do not waste and if drought conditions continue, conserving now will help prolong the need for more stringent conservation measures.

Water Tip of the Month - Please be careful during this brushfire season that puts a strain on the Honolulu Fire Department and also on our water sources.

ELECTED OFFICIALS:

COUNCILMEMBER ANN KOBAYASHI: Councilmember Kobayashi was not in attendance but her report was circulated.

REPRESENTATIVE KIRK CALDWELL: Representative Caldwell was not present but his report was circulated.

REPRESENTATIVE SCOTT NISHIMOTO:  Representative Nishimoto was not present but his report was circulated.

REPRESENTATIVE SCOTT SAIKI: Representative Saiki did was not present but his report was circulated.

SENATOR CAROL FUKUNAGA: Senator Fukunaga circulated her newsletter and reported the following:

Mr. Charles Carrole is now the head of the Policy Committee for Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization (OMPO). OMPO has included the Lunalilo On-ramp project in their Draft FY 08-11 Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) as Project S14, Interstate Route H-1, Lunalilo Street Off-Ramp and On-Ramp. The OMPO Policy Committee will meet on July 17, 2007 to decide what projects to delete or defer to produce a “Financially constrained” FY 08-11 TIP. If you are interested in this issue, your letters of support would be helpful to keep the Lunalilo on-ramp project in the FY 08-11 TIP.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1.   She explained to Larson that where the wall exists at the Lunalilo off-ramp an underpass is being considered.

2.   Sustainability planning regarding this area is addressed in Senate Bill 1925 (SB 1925) that consolidates counties that are involved in the 2050 project. The Governor will veto the 2050 task force although the legislature wants it to continue. She asked residents to call the Governor and support the bill.

SENATOR BRIAN TANIGUCHI – Senator Taniguchi circulated his report and reported the following:

1.   They are considering many bills with “no” votes; they need a 2/3 vote to override them.

2.   If you are interested in a specific bill you should call or write the Governor because she doesn’t have hearings on bills so she relies on the input of residents and wants your feedback.

Questions, answers and concerns:

Senator Fukunaga, Chair of the Economic Development and Taxation Committee, explained to Kyi-Yim that the tax break for families with salaries of $60,000 or less was provided by the State Department of Taxation. They gave a range amount, adding more to the lower end than the upper end to help the legislators arrive at the figure of $60,000 or less. Kyi-Yim feels taxpaying government workers who are married are being excluded from this benefit because their basic income is $36,000 and if two in a family work for the state government their salary goes over $60,000.

FILLING OF VACANCIES - No one came forward to fill the two vacancies in Sub District 1 or the three vacancies in Sub District 2 covering the area from Manoa/Palolo drainage canal to Paani Street so this item will be continued to the next meeting.

PRESENTATIONS:  Chair Lockwood announced there is no presentation tonight but next month there will be two, one from the State Department of Transportation on pedestrian safety including their plans for South King Street, Beretania and other locations and another will be the Long Range Development Plan at the University of Hawaii at Manoa which mostly affects Moili’ili. During that meeting please keep questions concise to keep the sessions brief since there will be two presentations in one night.

HOUSEKEEPING:

1.   The Neighborhood Commission meeting was cancelled for June 25 because many members were out of town.

2.   The Neighborhood Board Task Force meets twice a month and is making mid-term reports so they can start deliberating on their findings to adopt recommendations for presentation to the City Council. Their next meeting will be Monday, July 19.

3.   The Oahu Metropoliltan Planning Organization (OMPO) meets the third Wednesday of every month; their next meeting is July 18 at 3:30 p.m. They are discussing the Lunalilo On-Ramp project – nothing gets approved without the confirmation from OMPO. There were no volunteers to be a representative for OMPO meetings.

4.   At the last Makiki Stream clean up volunteers noticed the silt in the stream was much softer than last year and the level is back to where it was before the flood in March of 2004.  The next clean up will be August 11^th.

5.   A paving project on University Avenue is planned from Hihiwai Street to Coyne Street, including night work at major intersections, and is now projected to take three months, weather permitting.

RESIDENTS’ CONCERNS:

1.       Chair Lockwood is involved in developing a series of in-school and commercial public service announcements with the Attorney General and some media people to address Hawaii’s low high school graduation rates, truancy problems, drop out rates and teen pregnancy for high school as well as middle school students. The program will assist students develop story boards, written messages, and take videos all themselves for a greater impact. It could take two years to find funding and get the message out but it is needed when it has been found that a pregnant girl has a five percent chance of graduating from high school and in Hawaii only seven out of ten high school students graduate. Chair Lockwood will give updates of their progress.

2.       Larson advised Chair Lockwood tonight that residents are upset with a rent increase in their building but the Board can do nothing about it – that is an internal problem to the residence.

NEW BUSINESS:

Kyi-Yim moved, and Carlos seconded, to take the McCully Recreation Center/Bowling Resolution, item 8B on the Agenda, out of order which was ADOPTED unanimously.

Kato moved and Takamura seconded to adopt opposing the possible use of the McCully Recreation Center for a bowling alley.

Chair Lockwood read the Resolution aloud. (See attached). Kato explained to a resident that he was informed by the maintenance person for the McCully gym that employees from Councilmember Kobayashi’s office were taking measurements of the gym area to set up a bowling alley and therefore Kato wrote the Resolution.

Kyi-Yim was sent an email she distributed to the Board tonight from a group proposing a family entertainment center be built by private developers and in the interim they are trying to extend the lease contract at Waialae Bowl which she thinks Kamehameha School owns. Their vision is for 40 lanes and concessions; she will be following up on that. She also got a copy of the original Resolution 07-190 supporting a bowling alley by Councilmember Kobayashi and they hope the City will donate some land possibly negotiating a land swap for an Ala Wai area site as a possible location. There were 150 bowlers who showed up at a meeting earlier in the month and they were very concerned.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1.     When Takamura suggested considering the Stadium Bowladrome site which has a bowling alley, Kyi-Yim reported Hawaiian Homelands wants too much rent for any business venture to be able to afford it.

2.     Resident Piilani Kaopoiki endorses this Resolution; living on Houoli Street there is too much congestion from the traffic already let alone another development on her street. She doesn’t think that would be the best use for that land.

3.                 Kato explained he mentioned no alternative cites in his Resolution because he didn’t have any information on which to base support or opposition. He is not against a bowling center but all the connecting streets to the site mentioned above are residential and traffic gets so backed up now people in the neighborhood can’t use their streets to get to their homes and traffic gets backed up in Waikiki and on the freeway. He requested the Board support the Resolution.

4.  Larson clarified that the McCully Recreation Center was not named in the Resolution by Councilmember Kobayashi but they were looking at that specific site.

Takamura called for the question opposing a bowling alley at the McCully Rec Center.  The Resolution opposing the possible use of the McCully Recreation Center for a bowling alley was ADOPTED unanimously, 10-0-0.

The Fire Department’s report was taken out of order because they just returned from a fire.

HONOLULU FIRE DEPARTMENT: Capt. Gary Harbottle, McCully Fire Station No. 29, was delayed tonight as he was at a fire. The statistics for June were 7 structure, 4 brush and 5 rubbish fires, 80 medical, 5 search and rescue and 2 miscellaneous calls. There were no major incidents.

The Fire Safety Tip is to take time to childproof your homes, especially since children are on summer vacation. Check for potentially dangerous situations, i.e. electrical shock, accidental falls or poisoning from medications, cleaning fluids and houseplants. Keep matches and lighters in a safe place and out of the reach of small children.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1.         Their fire tonight was at Kuhio Village in Waikiki at 2463 Kuhio Avenue.

2.        On July 12 their station is moving from their University Avenue and Date Street location to the maintenance yard at the Ala Wai where they will be in makeshift trailers. They will have an upgraded system to log their record of neighborhood fires and they will get a new tower truck.

3.    He responded to a resident that he couldn’t monitor the bridge of the stream where everyone is having so many problems.

4.       Since reading the newspaper this morning that mentioned the HFD has lost inspection records of high rises, Chair Lockwood asked where the inspection data would be stored in the new facility. Harbottle reported 99 percent of the building inspections they have were done in the last eight years. When they reinspect a structure they are updating their records for any structure changes which is more important than the number of people living there or the contact person because when fighting a fire they are dealing with the contents of a building within a structure. Firefighters go to the sites, walk the area and talk to engineers who run the building or a tenant or manager to learn about the structure. Harbottle explained the error they reported in the newspaper was due to a computer problem which can happen to anyone.

5.        Capt. Harbottle suggested resident Fulton call Fire Prevention Services to report a neighbor who looks like he has a housekeeping fire hazard. 

John Kato left the meeting at 8:40 p.m. because he was not feeling well, leaving a quorum of nine members present.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

First Board Recess – Larson moved for the Board to take its first recess this September, which was ADOPTED by unanimous consent, 9-0-0.

Board Walkabout for Public Safety – Chair Lockwood explained how and where he walked in his neighborhood citing areas to cut or fill in sidewalks and used a color code for each different kind of item on a map so it will be easy for DTS to identify where the upgrades are needed when DTS attends the August meeting. He gave maps to each Board member to fill out similarly as they walk their area of the neighborhood to be returned to Chair Lockwood before the next meeting.

Lunalilo Elementary School Follow up – Chair Lockwood reported the Star Bulletin and Honolulu Advertiser newspapers are beginning a report on the subject. He reminded the Board that homeless people are living in this

school. He suggested the neighbors and Board talk and/or call the principal and the media about their feelings about having the lights at the school turned out at night. Chair Lockwood noted there were NO lights for tonight’s meeting.

NEW BUSINESS:

Visible Leadership and Outreach of Neighborhood Board Members – Chair Lockwood asked the Board members to decide what their passion is, get involved in it to stretch themselves and serve the community. Tabor shared about a project she is starting with the Boys and Girls Clubs. She and others would be adult advisors to form a teen club run by the teenagers. Some of their plans are to have a snack bar, a social room, and a tag wall where the teens can do their art and also be recruited to help clean up tagging.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1.     Resident Mrs. Novak is concerned the teens will create too much noise at Waiola and Algaroba streets. The live bands would be too noisy when they have parties in her residential neighborhood. Tabor responded she will need Novak’s help with her neighbors. At this point they are just in the planning stages and they do want to talk with all the neighbors as the project moves forward.

2.     Larson asked if the Board was going to present awards to students at a Board meeting. Chair Lockwood responded that the meeting might need to be at the school of the students being honored.

MINUTES – Additions and Corrections for June 7, 2007:

Page 1 – Under “Election of Second Vice-Chair - add after “circumstances”, “beyond our control.”

Page 3 - Under University of Hawaii - #3 change “Department of Education and Architecture” to “College of Education and School of Architecture”.

Page 5 – Under Councilmember Ann Kobayashi - #1 in the last line change “loose” to “lose”.

Page 9 – Senator Carol Fukunaga – Question #2 should read: “A Transit-Oriented Community Planning kick-off meeting will be held on June 12, 2007. Due to the Office of Information Practices’ interpretation of the Sunshine Law, no more than two board members can attend a community meeting on a subject which is pending before the Neighborhood Board. She encouraged the McCully/Moili’ili Board not to place the issue on the board’s agenda, so that all members would be able to participate.”

Gans moved and Kyi-Yim seconded to approve the minutes as corrected which was ADOPTED unanimously, 9-0-0.

TREASURER’S REPORT – The report was read by the Treasurer Hata. The operating budget at the end of May was $292.56 The June 1 charge for the newsletter was $3003.74 and the refreshment account has a balance of $33.91 after the May expense for refreshments of $50.07.  For 2008 the Board is appropriated a total of $4,179.00; $1.520 for operating expenses, $2,539 for publicity and $120.00 for refreshments. The report will be filed subject to audit.

Discussion on Olelo ensued as a way to do reach out to the community.

COMMITTEE REPORTS ACTIONS AND NEXT MEETINGS:

1.   Larson reported the Affordable Housing/Homeless Committee will begin meeting in October.

2.   Schools and Community Outreach Committee will be chaired by Tabor and assisted by Chair Lockwood.

ADJOURNMENT:  The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m.

Submitted by

Bonnie Trustin

Neighborhood Assistant