REGULAR
MEETING MINUTES
Wednesday, February
18, 2009
Lili'uokalani Elementary
School
Cafeteria
Call
to Order: The meeting was called to order
by Chair Vernon Tam at 7:15 p.m. with a quorum of eight (8) members. Note: This
board of 11members needs a quorum of six (6) members to have quorum and take
action.
Board
Members: John Cater, Abigail Leong, Ginny Meade,
Sharon Schneider, Dori Smith, Leonard Tam, Vernon Tam, and Mark
Terry.
Members
Absent: Daniel Carvalho, Lori
Yamada.
Guests:
Lieutenant Roy Hayamoto, Sergeant Calvin Tong (Honolulu Police Department,
District 7), Ann Wong (Board of Water Supply), Candace Van Buren, Lydia
Chock (Leahi Hospital), Glenn Yamasaki, Susan Jackson (Governor’s
Representative), Donne Dawson, Representative Barbara Marumoto, Gordon Tam,
Aisha Olivas, Jay Ishibashi (Mayor’s Representative), Bertrand Kobayashi
(Staff of Duke Bainum), Dylan Nonaka (Staff of Charles Djou), Anthony Aalto,
Representative Lyla Berg, S. Sonoda, Carol Hoshiko and John Lane (Neighborhood
Commission
Office).
Filling
Vacancies: There were no volunteers for
the open seat in Sub District
1.
PUBLIC
SAFETY/ COMMUNITY AGENCY
REPORTS:
Honolulu
Police Department (HPD): Lieutenant Roy
Hayamoto, District 7, distributed the January statistics sheet and noted there
is a comparison sheet that covers different neighborhoods in this district for
the last six
months.
Burglaries
20, Thefts 37, Unauthorized Entry into a Motor Vehicle (UEMV)
28.
For
solutions to longstanding problems, report it on their website,
www.honolulu.org/patrol/d7
and they will respond within 48
hours.
Questions,
comments, and
concerns:
A
resident reported a commercial white Chevy van that parks on 15th
avenue for days at a time. Hayamoto said that he will check on
it.
Honolulu
Fire Department (HFD):
None
Board
of Water Supply (BWS): Ann Wong
reported:
·
No water main breaks in the month of
January.
·
The BWS is pleased to announce that Wayne Hashiro has recently joined the BWS as
the new manager and chief engineer. As manager, Hashiro will be responsible for
the overall strategic direction and management of the BWS, with a focus on
furthering the departments mission, “Water for Life — Ka Wai
Ola,” and expanding its efforts to become a truly world class water
utility.
Questions,
answers and
concerns:
Schneider
stated that there is a lot of construction going on at Lurline Street. Wong
answered that yes there is a new main installation there.
PUBLIC
INPUT AND
CONCERNS:
Carol
Hoshiko, the Kapiolani Community College Dean of Advancement, mentioned that the
school is building an advanced culinary institute. John Martin is handling the
Environmental Assessment and a copy of it will be given to the
Board.
Leonard
Tam commented that he is concerned about the number of pedestrians injured while
crossing the street. Yesterday, a 23 year old woman was struck while crossing
Pi’ikoi Street at 9 am. The driver of the vehicle said that she did not
see the pedestrian. The police said that the sun may have obscured the
driver’s view of the pedestrian. The young lady would not have been
injured if she had continued to check oncoming traffic, and not walked in front
of the oncoming SUV. Tam notices many people crossing the street without
checking for traffic. He himself was almost killed while crossing Pahoa Avenue
at 13th Avenue last year. He had checked for oncoming vehicles and
one vehicle was about two blocks away. While crossing he looked at the vehicle
and noticed that it was very close to him. He ran to the sidewalk as it zoomed
past him. The driver was speeding and did not see anyone. If he had not
continued to look, he would have been killed. The legislature should change its
priority and encourage pedestrians to check for oncoming traffic and walk
defensively. Tam would like the Board to address the issue of pedestrian safety.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS: Update on refurbishing of
Kaimuki Christmas Tree. L.Tam reported that, on February 11th, Mike
Hall of the Department of Facilities Maintenance sent two crews to disassemble
the Kaimuki Christmas Tree. One crew used a large boom truck and the other crew
used a smaller boom truck. The vinyl coating on the steel cables was cracked in
places and was broken off where the cables rubbed against the pipe tees. Since
both the rope lights and the vinyl coated steel cables were in bad condition,
Tam decided not to salvage them. The crews cut the steel cables, which made the
disassembly of the tree easier. It took the two crews about three hours to
dismantle the tree. The pipes, collars, and bolts were moved to Tam’s
house where he will treat the corrosion. They will be stored at Kaimuki Park
when he is finished refurbishing
them.
NEW
BUSINESS:
QEXA
(Quest Expanded Access Program): Aura Wilson
Presented: Ohana Health Plan provides managed care services to seniors, people
with disabilities, and the blind. They have been contracted by the State of
Hawaii to provide managed care services for this population group. Department of
Health awarded them the new Medicaid program. They have a very experienced
leadership team. They are a mainland-owned company that is managed locally. The
nice thing is that it is more comprehensive then other programs. The other nice
thing is that people who are isolated have a service coordinator to advocate for
them. It is income-eligible: $12,460 for a single person and $16,700 for a
family. Smith asked where the funding comes from and Wilson answered from the
federal
government.
Proposed
Film and Digital Media Center at the Hawaii Film Studio.
George Atta Presenting. This project is being
proposed on the existing film studio site. The studio has SME approval and
special district approval. The project will replace an existing, large
warehouse-like structure. They are staying within the 25 foot height limit. They
will have a three-story structure built that will not affect the existing view
plane because they will be cutting down into the hillside. The traffic study has
been done and the traffic impact should not be significant. People who are
concerned about parking can feel good to know that the master plan calls for a
two-story parking structure to replace the existing surface
parking.
ELECTED
OFFICIALS:
Mayor
Mufi Hannemann’s Representative: Jay
Ishibashi reported: The bus stop benches that we have been discussing have been
removed because they are a safety hazard until they can be fixed. There has been
a lot of talk about the state of the economy and that is one of the reasons why
the Mayor went to Washington, D.C. last month to get our part of the stimulus
package. He will go again on Friday to meet with Obama and Biden to discuss new
details. Hopefully, we get all or a good part of the allotted 700 million. The
Mayor is having his 5th State of the City Address tomorrow at the
municipal auditorium. Anybody who is interested in running for the Neighborhood
Board needs to register by the deadline date, Friday, February 20,
2009..
City
Councilmember Duke Bainum: Bert Kobayashi
passed out a report and highlighted: that budget numbers have not been released
yet, but they should be tomorrow at the State of the City Address. Rapid transit
is the big issue around the City with many wondering if it should even be built.
Bill 7 states that people with building permits need to finish their work or
their permits will be canceled. Bainum was pleased to confirm the appointment of
both Kirk Caldwell and Joan Manke to their City
posts.
The
Kapiolani Park Trustees met last week to consider Bill 2(2009), which seeks to
restrict camping at Kapiolani Park. Action was deferred until next
month.
City
Councilmember Charles Djou Representative: Dylan
Nonaka passed out a report and highlighted: Bill 067 has been vetoed by the
Mayor and has returned to City Council. It would have banned text messaging
while driving. Djou supports the Honolulu rail route that includes the Airport
and Pearl Harbor. This would connect the two largest sectors of our local
economy to the rail
system.
Governor
Linda Lingle’s Representative: Susan
Jackson passed out a report and highlighted: The State is following the stimulus
package very closely. People are counting on it to be the magic bullet but it
isn’t. It will have restrictions and a time limit on the money. So far the
stimulus package already is several hundred pages in length. It will provide low
interest loans to counties for their transit projects. Each department has been
charged with following their areas special interest. The short form bills are to
add things after the deadline. The governor left for Washington D.C. today with
Duke Aiona for a meeting with Obama. Everyone wants to know how the Governor is
going to close the budget deficit, and the Governor is working with the
legislature to do so. Terry asked if the Governor intends to use money from the
rail transit fund to close the State deficit. Jackson answered that she has no
public
position.
State
Senator Les Ihara (9th District): Senator Ihara
passed out a report and highlighted that Smith testified on Senate Bill 673.
There are some constitutional problems that stopped the bill last time. The
current bill will authorize the counties to regulate care homes themselves.
Schneider asked if someone wanted to build a house would they have to jump
through all of these hoops. Ihara stated no, only building a care home should
trigger these extra
steps.
State
Representative (House Speaker) Calvin K.Y. Say (20th
District):
None.
State Representative Barbara Marumoto (19th
District): A report was circulated and Marumoto
highlighted: U.S. Navy Lieutenant Andy Baldwin, M.D., from the
“Bachelor” TV series, was featured at Wai’alae Elementary
School. He told kids to eat healthy and to get out and exercise often. At the
same event, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recognized the
Hawai‘i State Department of Health’s
Healthy Hawai‘i Initiative
(HHI) for its work to combat childhood obesity
in Hawai‘i. The award was presented to Health Director Chiyome
Fukino, M.D.
Marumoto said that House Bill 22
will make it a misdemeanor for individuals such as Kawamoto to keep neglecting
his
properties.
State
Representative Scott Nishimoto (21st District):
A report was circulated: No
representative.
State
Representative Lyla Berg (18th District): Passed
out her report and highlighted: The attorney General is in Washington, D.C. to
represent the State in the Ceded Lands issue that is going to the Supreme Court.
Representative Berg submitted testimony in early January to the Wailupe
Consolidation Task Force in which she suggested the task force consider other
perspectives than simple financial calculations when making decisions regarding
the future of the
school.
The
Hawaii Youth Conservation Corps (HYCC) is a hands-on education and service
learning program for young people to learn the principles of natural resource
stewardship and the importance of sustaining Hawaii’s unique natural
environment. The HYCC offers a summer program in which students work to protect
and preserve Hawaii’s unique
environment.
Charter
schools are public schools, funded on a per pupil allocation which is separate
from the Department of Education. They are state-legislated, legally
independent, innovative, outcome-based schools that operate under
contract.
APPROVAL
OF MINUTES FROM NOVEMBER, 2008 REGULAR MEETING
corrections followed:
·
Page 1 – Should read January and not October in several announcements.
There
were no objections to the minutes being adopted as
amended.
TREASURER’S
REPORT: Balance of
$2651.31
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Chair Tam announced the
following:
·
The next board meeting will be March 18,
2009.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting adjourned at 8:56
p.m.
Submitted
by:
John Lane, Neighborhood
Assistant
Reviewed
by:
Vernon Tam, Chair
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