Enchanted Lake Residents Association, Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Tuesday, 11 June 2024
PRESENT: Greg Colbert, Mike Compton (virtual), Linda Jenks, Connie Jewell (virtual), Todd Jewell (virtual), Margaret Novack, Alan Richardson, Fran Tannen, Cindy Turner, and Melody Spencer.
ABSENT: Gus Gustavson and Danny Medeiros
GUESTS: Randall Hew
CALL TO ORDER – Greg Colbert: The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm. A quorum was declared. Guest Randall Hew was introduced.
R. Hew had requested to meet with the Board to discuss his concerns about some governmental actions and documents that are foundational to the establishment of the Enchanted Lake residential area. He opened with the statement that he was “grateful to be here because we are all neighbors, and we should all share his desire to terminate the Supplemental Declaration No. 2 (2016) to the Declaration of Protective Provisions (DPP) dated March 12, 1962.”
Hew provided several maps, diagrams, and copies of letters previously mailed via USPS to Board members. He provided a history of his parents and ultimately his own years-long efforts to eliminate the DPP.
Interspersed with his sharing his concerns about the Supplement, he asserted that the property sizes are incorrect because the developers had not abided by code; that he had unsuccessfully sought relief from paying his property taxes because part of his current property is under water; and the ELRA had not paid sufficient attention to the 1963 Kaelepulu Pond Drainage Agreement.
When asked directly what he wanted ELRA to do, he did not have a specific answer, but suggested that the board should take action to eliminate the DPP. This would require a dissolution vote of ¾ of all lakeside owners and is not an action being considered by the board.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: not for publication
OPEN SESSION:
APPROVAL OF THE MAY MINUTES – Greg Colbert: M. Novack emailed draft minutes to the Board prior to the meeting. L. Jenks moved to approve the May minutes and A. Richardson seconded the motion. The minutes were approved. M. Novack abstained from the vote due to her absence last month
FINANCIAL REPORT – Greg Colbert: G. Gustavson emailed the Monthly Financial Report for the month ending May 2024 to the Board along with the following summary prior to the meeting:
There are no significant expenses for the ELRA finances in the month of May 2024.
The American Savings Bank May end of month balance is $2,252 in Savings and $29,997 in checking.
Attached is the ELRA Income and Expenses year to date compared with the approved budget. In the income line for Assessed DPP, about $3300 of the income is from three delinquent properties settling their accounts. Additionally, $859 of the Late Fees income is from one of those settlements.
Greg Colbert, our lake cleanup contractor Sean Connell, and others conducted a major multi-day cleanup of Kimo’s Cove this month. The labor and material expenses for this cleanup will be reflected in the June report.
The Financial report was approved by acclamation pending audit.
A. Richardson reminded the Board that 30 Jun is the end of the Fiscal Year. All invoices for expense reimbursements should be sent to the Treasurer before that date.
ADMINISTRATION:
Communications Log: provided by email
May Kailua Neighborhood Board Meeting Report – from KNB Minutes:
Resident & Community Concerns
- Hawaiian Homes: David Pound, Jim Hancock, Legrand Pound, Jon White, and Jason Garrett raised concerns with the proposal to develop Hawaiian Homelands on the Kalaheo Hillside.
- Oahu Pentathlon: Matt Kern announced the Oahu Pentathlon on Saturday, August 3, 2024. The race portion in Kailua will be the swim portion, across Kailua Bay, from the boat launch to Castle’s Beach.
- Stop Sign: White raised concerns about the new stop sign on Kainalu Drive.
- Dogs in Parks: White and resident Sakamoto raised concerns about residents training dogs in City Parks where dogs are not allowed.
- Roundabout: Resident Sakamoto raised concerns about visually impaired individuals traversing through the Kalapawai Roundabout.
- Aikahi Shopping Center [1:09:03]: Resident Len Rossoff raised concerns with potholes on the roadway fronting Aikahi Shopping Center.
Board Business: Individual Motion
Levani Lipton introduced the following motion. The Kailua Neighborhood Board is concerned about the negative impacts of mangrove trees in the Kawainui and Kaelepulu Streams and requests that the Department of Facility Maintenance (DFM) remove all mangroves from sections of both canals under the city’s management. A coordinated effort between the city, state, and private landowners is needed to eliminate mangroves from the Kawainui and Kaelepulu Streams in order to protect water quality, fish and waterfowl habitat, and maintain the flood water capacity of these channels. Other landowners along the various shorelines have taken responsibility for mangrove removal, including: (a) the Enchanted Lake Residents Association (ELRA), with assistance from the Department of Health and Kamehameha Schools, removed massive mangrove forests from the pond and wetland twenty years ago; (b) the Kailua Canoe Club and ELRA removed all the mangrove in the canal between the lake and the ocean a decade ago with assistance from the Hawaii Community Foundation; (c) the state Department of Land and Natural Resources has removed most of the mangrove from the Kawainui Stream adjacent to the Kawainui Levee and adjacent to the Hamakua Wetland; (d) Alexander & Baldwin removed all the mangrove from both sides of the Kaelepulu canal just below the Hamakua Bridge. The city has done little to remove the mangroves from sections under the city’s management. Mature mangroves in the city managed waterways are actively re-seeding other sections of the waterway. These seedlings have the capacity to regrow huge swaths of mature trees within a decade. The Kailua waterways are almost a closed system, so eliminating all of the remaining mangroves will stop the ability of mangrove to re-seed. It is urgent that the city remove all mangroves from sections of the canal under the city’s management in order to not undo all of the efforts already taken by other stakeholders.
Lipton Moved and Weller Seconded the Motion to request that the Department of Facility Maintenance remove all mangroves from sections of Kawainui and Kaelepulu Streams under the city’s management. A roll call vote was conducted, the Motion WAS ADOPTED 13-0-1
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Community Relations Committee, Annual Meeting Planning Status – Connie Jewell: There are no updates as regards the Annual Meeting.
C. Jewell asked if there were any plans for a gathering on the lake for the 4th of July, as had happened in previous years. It appears that Board Members who usually provided the leadership for these events will be unavailable this year, therefore there will be no formal plans. It was suggested that a Newsletter might share with the community that the Fireworks are readily viewed from the lake.
Elections Committee – Margaret Novack: Novack had previously emailed a listing showing which current Directors whose three-year term will be ending in 2024. She asked if these three will be interested in running again and the answer was yes.
She then asked if there were any suggestions for possible candidates to serve as Directors in the upcoming election. Three names were provided, and three current Directors agreed to approach them to ask whether they had an interest. A copy of the “New Directors Orientation” will be sent to these Directors to use as part of the recruitment. Directors are cautioned not to use the document until the Minutes are brought up to date on the ELRA Website.
Dredging Committee – Greg Colbert: G. Colbert reported that the private property owner is still considering our request to place dredge materials on their property.
Environmental Committee – Linda Jenks: L. Jenks reported one berm opening during the middle of May, was still open for a few days, opened when we had several days of heavy rain. Heavy influx of muddy waters during the storm. The source of the muddy water was not clear, but it appeared to be coming down through the channel that empties into the wetland.
A thank you letter was sent to Director of DFM Gene Albano for our meeting that included Greg Colbert, myself and Bob Bourke (by phone). We wanted to express our appreciation for his time and attention, and we included a packet of information on indications for opening the berm that Bob had created. Cindy also included a calendar of ideal times to open the berm. We also have a list of proposed BMPs for future projects that was created by Bob, that we will be giving to Mr. Albano in conjunction with a proposed meeting with Council Member Esther Kia’aina regarding future projects.
One of the projects we would like to see is for City & County to purchase the land adjacent to the Keopa Silt Basin. At this time, it is not clear if the land is zoned conservation or residential. Cindy Turner has requested the Council Member Esther Kia’aina look into how the is actually zoned.
C. Turner reported a meeting with Gene Albano, Randall Wakemoto and Levani Lipton, KNB. Lipton wanted to present the 500 signatures requesting “clean water” to the mayor. Ultimately, Lipton presented the signatures to Albano as part of a program taking place at the Kaʻōhao Public Charter School.
After the presentation, the group traveled by car to view Kailua Beach Park, Keolu Hardened Channel (leading to lake), Wetlands, and up into the Aka’aka’awa Street neighborhood to observe the drainage structures leading from Olomana Heights. Albano stated that his goal is more maintenance openings of the berm.
Turner noted that there is a closure in a section of Old Kalanianaole Road, due to a collapsed section of the road as a result of recent heavy rains. This likely also contributed to the muddy runoff into the lake.
Operations Committee – Mike Compton:
Mangroves: Successful clean-up last weekend. Lots of mangrove and trash. Eagle Scout candidate Carolina organized a challenging project that had about 20 volunteers.
Thank you to Greg and Darren for all their help! G. Colbert reported that residents of Kukilakila were very supportive.
Lake Security: New boat fishing on lake. Approached by Greg. New residents on the canal by bridge. They said they would like to join. The Boat requires a new battery. ~$150. Will get receipt and add to gas receipt. Stickers have been ordered for this year and next year for a slight discount. $1,125 for two years.
Kimo’s Cove: G. Colbert reported that there are two docks in the Cove that are in bad shape and make cleanup there even more difficult.
Kimo’s Cove Cleanup: During the second week of May 2024, our lake area experienced a number of rain storms that stimulated opening of the beach berm by the City and County of Honolulu. With the berm open, lake levels dropped during low tide periods which more prominently exposed some of the built-up trash in Kimo’s Cove. That cove area has been problematic for many years.
On May 14th, the ELRA board got a request from the residents of the cove to try a clean-up while the lake bottom areas were more exposed. ELRA responded the next day by engaging our clean-up contractor. We used the recently constructed lake clean up barges to support a 5-day cleaning effort involving Sean Connell (our contractor) and another paid helper (Kalani Kollars). Joining the effort was Greg Colbert of the ELRA board and Jim Scofield, a resident of the cove. Wanda Scofield provided some great lunches for the crew. We purchased additional long handled tools, nets and a large amount of trash bags.
Over the five days, we removed some 250-300 bags of mud coated debris. In essence, the cleaning became a manual mini-dredging operation. The effort resulted in a stunning change to the cove.
Click to view the pictures and narratives.
Membership Committee – Danny Medeiros: No report
OTHER BUSINESS: None
AJOURNMENT: G. Colbert adjourned the meeting at 8:40 pm.
MINUTES SUBMITTED BY: Margaret Novack
NEXT MEETING:
- Board of Directors Meeting: 9 July 2024 at 7:00 pm – Via Zoom
- Kailua Neighborhood Board Meeting: 11 July 2024 at 7:00 pm – Alan Richardson