CALL TO ORDER: Acting Chair Edward Laws called the meeting to order at 6:50 pm.

MEMBERS PRESENT: Mark Heckman, Alex Ho, Steve Holmes, Ed Laws, Fred Madlener, Toby Rushforth and Christine Woolaway. There was a quorum.

MEMBER EXCUSED: Jeff Harris

CONSULTANTS: Donna Ashizawa and Eugene Dashiell.

CSF: Judy Nakamura.

GUESTS: Andrew Brittan (Prof. of Microbiology at HPU), Steve Kubota (Ahupua’a Action Alliance), Doug Kroll (Kailua resident), Royce Jones (Geographic Decision Systems International - GDSI), and Iris Miyoshi (UH graduate).

COMMENTS FROM THE COMMUNITY:

Andrew Brittan – HPU will begin an offshore water sampling program from Kaneohe Bay to Rabbit Island. They would like to know what kinds of information would be valuable to KBAC. Chair Laws replied that anything related to trash would be of interest to the council and recommended that he speak to Maqsudul Alam (UH – Dept. of Microbiology).

Steve Kubota handed out a brochure from the Hawaii Dept. of Health warning people not to eat contaminated fish and shellfish from Pearl Harbor and urban streams in Honolulu. Should the steams in Koolaupoko have the same warning? There has been a focus on phytoremediation which involves the use of aquatic plants to improve water quality. Information is available concerning what kinds of native plants to use for stream restoration, where to plant and when to plant.

TECHNICAL PROGRAM REPORT - Eugene Dashiell Coordinator

Gene introduced Iris Miyoshi, a recent UH graduate in environmental studies. She is one the interns selected to help implement the Technical program this summer.

Royce Jones (GDSI) presented a proposal to assist KBAC with getting GIS available onto the internet. He proposed four tasks which would include a class at the end of each task.

Task 1: Organize KBAC GIS Database

Task 2: Provide static maps over the internet

Task 3: Provide data for download over the internet

Task 4: Provide dynamic maps over the internet

A motion was made by member Holmes and seconded by member Ho to approve the proposal. Discussion ensued and the motion passed unanimously.

C. Gene discussed his monthly report:

Erosion control initiative: He hopes to meet with DOT-highways representatives to reach agreement of sites for treatment.

Waimanalo watershed: He inspected the erosion control of the Waimanalo Watershed group and was impressed with their progress and their plant nursery.

Kailua-Enchanted Lake: He is continuing to work on this subject and has been in contact with city personnel.

Kaneohe area: He has selected a student intern to help with preparation of stream data base for use in stream inventory in order to evaluate and make recommendations regarding potential restoration projects.

TMDL: He is continuing to attend the EPA-sponsored monthly meeting and has also been asked by EPA Region 9 to participate in planning a watershed conference to be held in Hawaii.

Newsletter: He has completed the first newsletter. A motion was made by member Holmes and seconded by member Ho to accept the newsletter and have Gene mail it out to the community. The motion passed unanimously.

Student interns: He is in the process of selecting several interns to help implement the Technical program this summer. One will work on GIS in the Waimanalo watershed, another will assist with stream data and GIS mapping, and another will help with plastics reduction initiatives.

VOLUNTEER WATER QUALITY MONITORING COORDINATOR – Donna Ashizawa Coordinator

Watershed mapping: With assistance from volunteers, Donna has completed the upper portion of Kaneohe Stream but will need an inflatable boat to map the lower deeper segments. She will be holding two GPS/GIS workshops for the volunteers this week so that they can view their data as it will appear on the internet.

Waiahole Taro Festival: KBAC was represented at the Waiahole Taro Festival, held on May 29^th. It included tours of the lo’i and provided a comfortable forum for community members to come together and learn about kalo and related issues.

Maunawili Elementary: Deanne Takeno, the Enrichment teacher for Maunawili Elementary School, and Mary Frances Higuchi of Hawaii Geographic Alliance met with Donna to think of ways to introduce the ideas of watershed issues to Deanne’s students. They plan to start a pilot curriculum on the Kailua watershed using GPS and GIS, which will include current as well as historical and cultural knowledge. The students will present a GIS-based timeline that shows the changes that have taken place with respect to water use and how it flows to the sea.

KBAC website: the new domain name for KBAC will be www.kbac.net.

Notice of Resignation: Donna handed a letter of resignation effective July 8, 1999.

ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS – Chair Ed Laws presiding

Approval of May 11, 1999 minutes. The minutes were approved.

Dell server maintenance: A proposal had been presented for maintenance at a cost of $40/hour. After much discussion, it was decided to accept the $40/hour with a cap of $1,000. The maintenance contract will be renewed at that time.

Kapaa Quarry road: Member Holmes had met with Sgt. Tome of the Police Department to discuss hiring off-duty policy officers. Judy had contacted a private security firm to get ideas on deterring litterers along the quarry road. The council members were not happy with the options and member Holmes will report back at the next meeting on more solutions.

Maqs Alam proposal – Dr. Alam is a microbiologist at UH who is developing a technique to detect specific bacterial pathogens in natural water samples. He submitted a proposal: Detection of bacterial pathogens and their vibility in the environmental waters of Koolaupoko area. After much discussion member Holmes moved and member Ho seconded the motion to accept the proposal. A sub-committee consisting of members Heckman, Holmes and Laws will work with Dr. Alam to define some elements of the experimental design.

Marine Environmental Administrator – Member Woolaway passed out a draft of the Administrator position. Discussion ensued as to whether or not KBAC wanted to put together a DOH grant to the EPA for funding. It was finally agreed that member Woolaway would contact the DOH to see if they would be interested in funding this position. KBAC would have to commit to a one-to-one match with the DOH monies.

The following are tentative KBAC dates for future meetings to be held at Windward Community College:

                        July 6, 1999             (Tuesday) -   Hale Alaka’i #118

                        Aug. 10, 1999               "                                 "

                        Sept. 14, 1999             "                                 "

                        Oct. 12, 1999               "                                 "

                        Nov. 9, 1999               "                                  "

                        Dec. 14, 1999            "                                  "

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned by Acting Chair Edward Laws at 9 pm.