CALL TO ORDER: Acting Chair Fred Madlener called the meeting to order at 6:45 pm.

Members present: Jeff Harris, Alex Ho, Kimberly Lowe, Fred Madlener, Toby Rushforth, and Christine Woolaway. There was a quorum.

Members excused: Mark Heckman and Edward Laws

Executive Director: Sarah Young

CSF: Judy Nakamura.

Guests: Bob Bourke (Oceanit Laboratory), Lynette Cruz and Steve Kubota (Ahupua’a Action Alliance), Matt Lyum (Waiakalua Loko I’a Fish Pond Preservation Society) and Mary Protheroe (Kaneohe resident).

COMMENTS FROM THE COMMUNITY:

Mary Protheroe – Mary lives near Kaneohe Bay and has always been involved in environmental perspective. She is interested in what is happening in Kaneohe Bay because of increased siltation and erosion (loss of land and the ability to get into the bay due to siltation). Through KBAC’s research, the people around the bay may be able to learn why there is so much siltation, what can be done to fix it and advice on preventive measures for future generations. KBAC’s perspective is that it is a watershed wide problem and not centered only near Kaneohe Bay.

Bob Bourke – Bob presented a pictorial talk on how much the Kaneohe Coastline has been lost due to coastal erosion. He showed pictures of the coastline with computer based lines showing how far inland the coastline will be in future years. His company created a working model to find solutions to coastal erosion. One has to look at biology, coastal currents and geology to clean up the water. He suggested that KBAC look back to see what people have done before implementing something. The bigger problem with water quality is not the issue of pesticides but turbidity. A pragmatic approach must be taken and the easy problems should be solved first. His office likes to solve problems and has seen that KBAC is closer to implementation.

 

 

 

 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR – Sarah Young presiding

Director Young summarized the following events attended by her in the past six weeks:

Participated Events	Relevancy to KBAC Activities
Hawaii Congress of Planning Officials annual conference	Many platforms of GIS exist and we need to invest in training and find user friendly and easy to use systems for community outreach. More effective and efficient public outreach strategies are needed. Creativity and technology need to be used.
Kailua Beach Cleanup Activities	Kailua Beach was clean with not much garbage or debris. About 10 ladies from the Correctional facility have been engaged in combing the beach Mondays and Fridays from 7:30 am to 11:00 am.
Public Hearing for the City's Sustainable Development Plan	Informed the Commission on KBAC’s activities and shared our Preliminary Water Quality Problem Identification Report.
APA's From the Groundup Conference	Met Benton Pang, who shared his experience with volunteers and mentioned KBAC’s contribution to their program. Impressed with Malama O Manoa’s Visibility and their presentation on building a trailing with volunteer force along the Manoa Stream. Talked at length with Helen, the president. Purchased 7 handbooks for KBAC’s team and three community libraries.
Ahupua'a Heeia excursion	Shared KBAC’s vision with four groups from the Big Island, Kauai, Waianae and Heeia. Listened in on presentations given by the Hewlett Foundation, a granting agency. Raised questions about fishpond management, the Kupuna council and shared my experience with the group on wetlands issues. Met people from Kailua.
Committee for the Governors Conference on Volunteerism/Restorative Justice	Listened in on discussions on safe and constructive use of prison labors for environmental cleanup activities. Established contacts with people with great experience in this area.
Waimanalo Environmental Justice Program Evening Meeting	Only resource people showed up and challenges on how to improve public participation in Waimanalo communities have been discussed.

Program Oversight

The draft Memo of Understanding (MOU) for Hui Ulu Me’a Ai and the Waimanalo Health Center have been completed. The subcommittee will assist Director Young in fine tuning the details.

KBAC has spent $10,000+ to build a partnership with Windward Community College through its MOU. Hopefully KBAC can offer GIS classes for community members.

A project criteria must be in place before more proposals can be received.

ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS – Chair Fred Madlener presiding

Approval of September 14, 1999 minutes. The minutes were approved.

Steve Kubota spoke on "Public Trust and the Ahupua’a Plan". The question was raised: How can KBAC incorporate the ahupua’a model into their program? The Memo of Agreement between KBAC and the Ahupua’a Action Alliance hopes to implement the ahupua’a concept. He said it is important to understand not only the cultural protocol but also why water is so important to the Hawaiian people. Disputes were rare in the old system because one never fought over sacred water. The same values one gave to humans were also the same values given to the land. Everyone in the community has a dual role: we’re beneficiaries and also trustees of the land. Everyone has a right to clean water. In the 70’s, problems were dealt with in an adversarial manner but now the buzzword is "partnership" between trustee and beneficiary. The model is a kind one because it is not about ethnicity but land based.

A question arose about a pesticide project and Bob Bourke suggested checking back on previous results and seeing how many samples are going to be needed for it to be reliable. Director Young will check into this and outline for/against the project and examine if it is in the context of the Consent Decree.

Public Trust – Steve Kubota passed out a handout entitled "Preliminary Draft – Ahupua’a Tenant Rights and the Public Trust Doctrine". This draft was prepared by the Ahupua’a Action Alliance to facilitate discussions on how the Ahupua’a concept can be incorporated into KBAC’s overall programs to support its mission.

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

Nov. 9, 1999 Tuesday Hale Alakai #118

Dec. 14, 1999 " "

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned by Acting Chair Fred Madlener at 10:30 pm.



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