Board of Directors Monthly Meeting Minutes, Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Present: G. Colbert, M. Novack, R. Castanha, M. Compton, J. Compton, J. Fernie, G. Gustavson, S. Harding, G, Lingle, B. Molyneux, S. Oshiro, A. Richardson, B. Tassie, D. Vonier, and B. Bourke (Scientific Advisor).
Absent: M. Spencer (Administrative Assistant) and C. Turner (Webmaster).
A quorum was called and the meeting was called to order at 7:09pm. Sean Harding was introduced and welcomed. He is our newest board member, elected at the October 2016 Annual Membership Meeting.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the October 11, 2016 meeting were approved.
Finance Report: G. Gustavson reported that Special Assessment Refund checks totally $91,000 have been sent out. Several have not been cashed, but they were cut in July 2016 and are good for 6 months. Regarding yearly assessments, 91 lake dwellers, 16 Kukilakila homeowners , and 6 Associate members have paid thus far. Monthly Income and Expense Reports were reviewed and compared with similar 2015 reports. Errors and Omission Insurance ($3104.00 ) has been paid. The liability insurance premium ($10,500) is pending. Our IRS Form 990 (non-profit) has been filed and accepted by the IRS. A. Richardson stated that we need to file General Excise Tax Returns. We are not required to pay because we are a non-profit, but we must file semi-annually. R. Castanha reported that the bill for the annual dinner meeting at Mid-Pac has been paid.
Election and Confirmation of Board Officers: In view of the current work involved in the extension of the DPP and the added management and planning effort for lake remediation, it was proposed to delay any changes in board officers until March 1, 2017. This postponement was moved by G. Gustavson and seconded by M. Novack.
Nomination Committee: B. Molyneux stated that the nomination process worked well. He also indicated that he would be passing this responsibility to someone else for the next year’s event.
Community Relations: There has been some late night barge activity. G. Gustavson will write a letter to explain the regulations to this lakeside resident and G. Colbert will sign and send it. The installing of new lake signs has been postponed due to the impending dredging activity. December 18th will be our annual ELRA Christmas Barge Party. B. Bourke will be in charge of the evening. Residents are encouraged to decorate their crafts, and to gather at 5pm in the middle of the lake to potluck and party. Afterwards, barges, boats, kayaks etc. will form a parade and carol around the lake.
Lake Maintenance: S. Oshiro discussed the lake cleanup performed on November 11th by members, friends, and coaching staff of the Kailua High soccer team. This was done to raise money for their Project Graduation. We had been told to expect about 25 people to help from 8am to noon and 60 showed up. More than 80 bags of trash plus items unable to fit in bags were removed from the lake. The students were industrious, enthusiastic, and polite. The coaching staff even purchased extra trash bags. In light of the fantastic result, A. Richardson moved and G. Lingle seconded that we increase our $500, agreed donation, to $600 to cover cost of supplies. M. Novack will write a thank you note to those involved. M. Compton reported that her husband is repairing the security patrol boat motor, which has a lot of damage.
Lake Health/Major Dredging: B. Bourke, G. Colbert, and M. Novack met with the US Army Corps of Engineers to discuss the dredging permit. Jessie Paahana, our primary contact at the Corps, and her interim director were present. At the meeting we found that our preliminary Letter of Permission initiated in 2011, is not valid as it is over 5 years old. A new LOP will need to be started. The Corps suggested we include ALL areas within the pond and adjacent wetlands into the LOP to ease the permitting paperwork. A LOP is a form of individual permit issued through an abbreviated permit process that includes coordination with federal and state fish and wildlife agencies and a public interest evaluation, but does not require public notice, and does not require notification of the State Department of Health. The LOP will require coordination with the Coastal Zone Management authority, NOAA (for an Essential Fish Habitat and Endangered Species Assessment) and DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife, and will require selection of both a staging area on the lake perimeter and a permanent disposal site for the dredge spoils. To help the ELRA along this pathway, we are in the process of selecting a consultant. Four consultant firms have expressed interest and the draft Request for Proposals is being reviewed by the ELRA Board of Directors. This RFP should go out soon. Once the LOP is granted, we would have 5 years to complete the dredging in one or more phases. The RFP breaks the dredging into three areas consisting of A) the stream as it exits the pond B) 11 areas around the perimeter of the pond, and C) the Kaelepulu Wetland (this is currently under discussion). The owners of the wetlands would be responsible for all fees incurred in that part of the dredging. There was discussion of having a member of the Board to interact with the consultant to insure the project keeps moving forward without any unnecessary delays. S. Harding will be this person.
Storm Drains: The City, and their consultant AECom, will be giving a public presentation about their plans to upgrade the storm drain system in our watershed to keep pollutants out of the pond and streams and off Kailua Beach. As much as we appreciate the work the City is doing, we do not believe the remedies they’ve chosen will be very effective if and when they ever actually get implemented. Even if all of the proposed filters are installed, it will not enable the City to meet the conditions set in their NPDES permit to achieve 50% trash reduction by 2024 and 100% reduction by 2034. It is very important that the community shows up at the meeting to ask questions and demand that the City meets it’s responsibilities to keep our waterways clean. The meeting will be held at Enchanted Lakes Elementary School on December 7th from 6 to 8pm. The board will publicize the meeting on the ELRA website and email lakeside homeowners on our email listing.
DPP: It was reported that we are short 12 signatures of the 2/3 of all 137 homeowners on the lake needed to ratify the DPP by years end. We need to renew our efforts to reach our goal. D. Vonier offered to take on some extra houses outside of his area if needed. We are encouraged to concentrate on members who are interested in maintaining and improving our lake.
Strategic Plans: M. Novack quickly reviewed the Strategic calendar, noting that we were up to date with the current plans. She reviewed the Action List, thanking S. Oshiro for his hard work on managing the Kailua High School Lake Cleanup and led a round of applause for R. Castanha, whose efforts on the Annual meeting made such a difference. Lastly, Committee assignments were discussed. S. Harding agreed to serve on the Lake Dredging committee. There were no committee changes requested.
Executive session was called by G. Colbert.
Next meeting date: The next meeting will be one week early on Tuesday, December 6th at S. Oshiro’s home.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:10.
Action List: 11/8/16 ELRA Board Meeting
16/3-7 All Provide brief articles for C. Turner to use in the newsletter.
16/9-1 All Work on gathering the remaining signatures needed for the DPP.
16/9-3 A. Richardson and G. Gustavson Redistribute funds at American Savings Bank to bring each account within FDIC coverage.
16/9-4 B. Bourke Finish consultant RFP package.
16/11-1 M. Novack Write thank you note to Kailua Project Grad group.
16/11-2 B. Bourke Notify both papers about meeting at Enchanted Lake Elementary School on December 7th regarding storm drains.
16/11-3 G. Colbert and B. Bourke Formulate schedule for lake openings for 2017 and meet with Ross Sasamura.
16/11-4 G. Gustavson Draft a letter to resident informing of lake regulations regarding late night activities on the lake.
16/11-5 S. Harding Will eventually interact with the yet-to-be hired dredging consultant.