Enchanted Lake Residents Association, Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Via Zoom, Tuesday, 26 March 2024
PRESENT: Greg Colbert, Mike Compton, Gus Gustavson, Linda Jenks, Connie Jewell, Todd Jewell, Margaret Novack, Alan Richardson, and Cindy Turner
ABSENT: Don Young, Fran Tannen, Danny Medeiros, and Melody Spencer (Admin Asst)
CALL TO ORDER – Gus Gustavson, Treasurer: The meeting was called to order at 7:08 pm. A quorum was declared.
APPROVAL OF THE FEBRUARY MINUTES – Gus Gustavson: Draft minutes were emailed to the Board prior to the meeting A. Richardson moved to approve the amended February minutes and M. Compton seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.
FINANCIAL REPORT – Gus Gustavson: G. Gustavson emailed the comparison of expenses in February 2024 to July 2023 and the Profit & Loss Budget vs. Actual Report for the month ending February 2024 to the Board along with the following summary prior to the meeting:
ELRA Financial Report March 2024
There are no significant expenses for the ELRA finances in the month of February 2024.
The American Savings Bank January end of month balance is $2,252 in Savings and $28,023 in checking.
Comparison of expenses year-to-date (Jul-Feb 2024) with last year (Jul-Feb 2023) is attached. I have also attached the comparison of income and expenses to the approved budget. There are no significant differences and expenses are on track with the budget.
In March we have paid $1215 to Sean Connell for lake cleanup labor and supplies.
Additionally, one of our Capitol One CDs matured in early March and Alan rolled it into short term Treasuries. Details will be provided in the March 2024 report.
Finally, we have collected delinquent assessments from seven of the homeowners on the delinquent list, with partial payment from two others.
Delinquent Account Working Group: The working group continues to examine the facts and will bring possible recommendations for solutions to the Board when finished.
ADMINISTRATION:
2024 Goals and Objectives Review/Revisions – Todd Jewell: had previously emailed the current version of the document. He noted no change other that an update to the Elections Committee. He again asked that everyone update or amend as necessary.
Communications Reports – Margaret Novack: M. Novack stated that she was going to provide a monthly listing of outgoing and incoming correspondence, similar to what D. Young had been preparing. It is important for the Board to know what we were saying, to who, and whether we had received a response. With that in mind, if anyone is communicating outside the Board about ELRA issues, please CC or BCC the Secretary. If letters are being produced, please be sure that the Secretary has received copies for our records. This will help us speak with one voice and stay on message.
Strategic Communications Plan. As raised in the February Board Meeting, M. Novack observed that there had been a series of recent correspondence, whether email, oral testimony, or letters in support of a variety of ELRA interests. If we could develop a plan about who to communicate to about what and when, of messages might carry more weight. A simple plan was laid out several years ago when ELRA thought that the start of dredging was imminent. This might be used as a template for the Board today. Novack will email copies of the old plan to the Board this week, for comments.
February Kailua Neighborhood Board – T. Jewell attended the meeting. He emailed the Board ahead of the meeting copies of the KNB Agenda, draft Lanikai Transportation Management Plan, and Slides depicting the Rapid Resilient Reefs for Coastal Defense presentation. The following are topics that should be of interest to the Board:
- Mayor Blangiardi will hold a Kailua Town Hall on Thursday, March 28 at 6:30 in Kailua Intermediate School. ELRA Board Members are encouraged to attend.
- Rockslide mitigation project at the entrance to Lanikai starting April 1, lasting one month. 8:30-3:30 weekdays, parking restricted for duration of project.
- Lengthy discussion about electric bikes. Max 750 watts (1HP) and <20 MPH and has pedals, means it’s a bike.
- Discussion of Kailua Beach hours. Many parks in City & County are closed from 10p-5a, Kailua is not one of them. Even if it were, can still transit park to have access to beach and enforcement at the beach transition can be difficult.
- Lisa Martin talked about Little Red Fire Ants. Lanikai survey complete, they have worst infestation on Oahu, second to Hawaii Island. 7 pockets, 3 not under treatment, but treatment starts on 16 March 24. Keolu Hillside is next for a survey, and they have an infestation.
- Interesting presentation about nature-based alternatives to traditional shoreline hardening. Received $25m grant from DARPA for 5-year project, Research complete, looking to deploy in waters off Marine Base (football field size, with 60 of the structures). Dual purpose, provide coastal protection by reducing wave energy, and to seed and expand corals. Seeking input before moving to permits
- There was testimony for the motion regarding Senate Bill 3202 and House Bill1630 which require the counties to allow the development of a minimum of four housing units per residential lot as small as 1200 square Feet. There is real fear that this will pass the House/Senate as there has been little formal opposition or negative comments. Call to action. There is only going to be a single hearing on this. Several other Neighborhood Boards have passed similar resolutions. Motion Passed 13 to 0, 1 abstention (Kelli Anne Kobayashi).
- Levani Lipton talked about the meeting with Department of Facilities Mgt to ask questions about hydrodynamic water separator on Akiohala Street (mentioned two neighbors participated). Shared this would be a drop in the bucket in terms of addressing a very significant water quality issue we talked a lot about data and data driven policy and actions and they expressed why they had chosen this was not entirely based in data but they are trying to use it to leverage more funding and create other types of projects to address storm water for the entire County.
- A meeting with SWOOSH (Stormwater of Oahu Stakeholder Hui) was discussed, and that there has been a push since 2019 by Mayor to fill 100 positions and they have filled 74, 3 of them storm drain cleaners.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Dredging Committee – Greg Colbert reported that he had an encouraging response from a property owner regarding the ELRA proposal for use of its property to deposit dredge materials. Further discussions and meetings with potential dredge contractor Kris Gorlay and the property owner also took place. Greg asked for a re-confirmation from the board regarding who should be on the dredge committee.
As Don Young appears to be unavailable for the near future, the dredge committee membership was revised to include Linda Jenks as a substitute for Don. Current committee members are Greg Colbert, Chair, Gus Gustavson, Cindy Turner, Bob Bourke and Linda Jenks.
A request for an extension of the State of Hawaii 401 Water Quality Certification approval which expires in May of 2024 will be needed. Ed Chen of the Department of Health Clean Water Branch indicated that the application for extension should be made via the new website established by the DOH. It was emphasized by Ed that Gus Gustavson was listed as the organization contact in the original application and he should continue as the contact for the extension in order to assure continuity. Otherwise, a new application may be required. Bob, Gus and Greg will be meeting to work on the online application extension.
Greg also reported on visiting the Kaneohe site where Kris Gorlay was currently operating his dredge to clear an ocean access channel near his home. Hugo de Vries also attended, and Bob Bourke was linked in via FaceTime. The group saw the large polymer bags used to contain the wet dredge materials and watched very clear water drain from the bags into a culvert that returned the water to the dredge channel. The dredge appeared to be operating well in general but had a heat warning during the visit that stopped operations for a short period.
Environmental Committee – Linda Jenks reported that there were no new berm openings during the past month. A large amount of sediment spilled into the lake March 7, 2024, from a water main break in the Enchanted Lake area.
- There are no current reports from Derek Esibill. Contacted Derek again on 3/11/24, and he assured us that he will be formulating the reports that we need prior to the meeting. I will forward anything I receive.
- As reported in the KNB section there was a meeting with Department of Facilities Mgt to ask questions about hydrodynamic water separator on Akiohala Street. C. Turner and L. Jenks attended.
- On 28 February 28, 2024, Cindy Turner and Levani Lipton met virtually with Dave Smith and Marigold Zoll of DOFAW to discuss and better understand their concerns regarding installing a system that would drain a controlled amount of water from Kawainui Marsh into Kawainui Stream and the Kaelepulu estuary. They presented DLNR with a few alternatives provided in an engineering report. The one that they seemed to be interested in was the following: Streamflow restoration using a drainpipe and gravity system.
They recommended that we consult with the Army Corps of Engineers to identify the opportunities and what kinds of permits / regulations we would need to work under to make this project come into fruition. Also in attendance was Representative Natalia Hussey-Burdick because we understand that this project will require funding and we wanted to provide a framework so our Representative could help us advocate for this important initiative. - On 18 March 2024, C. Turner requested an email Board Approval for some environmental studies students at HPU, who are doing a study in the watershed, to do a few samplings in the lake over a period of a year. They will be doing 2 sites in the wetland — one at the stream before it enters the lake, and one on the lakeside of the wetland. A majority of Board Members Voted APPROVAL.
Operations Committee – Mike Compton: This month, one fisherman was asked to leave, and one boat was returned after the winds.
Docks. There were two requests for docks this month:
848 Wana’ao requested permission for a “Mobile Floating Dock” through the ELRA Email Portal. This was challenging because they needed approval in two days and they were renters, not owners. They were able to quickly assemble the documents necessary for approval ie permission from owners, diagram, and dimensions of dock. The ELRA ExCom approved the installation.
644 Keolu requested information as to how to access the lake in order for workers to remove a storm-damaged dock and replace it with a new one. This remains a work in progress.
Membership Committee: No report.
Community Relations Committee: Connie Jewell: The ELRA Annual Meeting Survey to try to determine what might be best for the 2024 Annual Meeting was sent to the Community on 18 March 2024.
There was a 32% response rate. A summary of the responses are:
- 35% of the responders had attended the 2023 Annual Meeting.
- 65% had not, mostly because they had another commitment.
- 50% prefer the Mid-Pacific Country Club
- 52% had no preference as to day of the week, however ELRA Bylaws require a Saturday Meeting.
- 33% prefer a Lunch meeting and 35% had no preference. 20% said Dinner.
Based on these responses, a MOTION was made by G. Gustavson and seconded by M. Novack, that plans should be made for an October Luncheon at the Mid-Pacific Country Club. The Board approved this motion unanimously.
OTHER BUSINESS: None
NEXT MEETING:
- Board of Directors Meeting: 9 April 2024 at 7:00 pm at Emmanuel Episcopal Church
- Kailua Neighborhood Board Meeting: 4 Apr 2024 at 7:00 pm – M. Novack
AJOURNMENT: Gus Gustavson adjourned the meeting at 8;40 pm.
MINUTES SUBMITTED BY: Margaret Novack