Conducted via Zoom: Present: D. Young, J. Bean, J. Fernie, G. Colbert, G. Gustavson, M. Novack, C. Turner. D. Medeiros, A. Richardson, F. Tannen and M. Spencer (Administrative Assistant).
Absent: R. Castanha, S. Harding, D. K roll, M. Compton, D. Dawson and L. Jenks. Guest: Bob Bourke, Science Advisor
The meeting was called to order by D. Young, President, at 7:13 pm. A quorum was declared.
President D. Young introduced our newly elected board member Fran Tannen and congratulated the newly reelected members: Greg Colbert, Cindy Turner, and Don Young.
He then expressed appreciation to those members of the board for whom this was their last meeting: Doug Kroll, Jean Fernie, and Rod Castanha. He also noted that the board-approved Certificate of Appreciation had been presented to Rod Castanha, in recognition of his lengthy service on the board, on 22 Oct 2021.
Guest: B. Bourke was introduced and invited to make his presentation. Included here are his principal points. More detail can be found at Att 1.
For the ELRA to safeguard the future health of Kaelepulu Pond, and the property values of homes around the pond, it is important to see the pond as part of the larger estuary system including the Kaelepulu Wetland, Kaelepulu Stream, Kawainui Stream, the Hamakua Wetlands, and Kailua Bay. To restore the health of this ecosystem, and the services it provides to Kailua’s citizens, it is important to fix six basic problems:
- Restore partial flow (~2 cfs) from Kawainui Marsh to the Kawainui Stream around the Kawainui Levee.
- Eradicate ALL mangroves from the estuary system.
- Compel the City to open the stream mouth on a lunar monthly basis.
- Compel the City DFM and State DOH to do a better job in preventing silt runoff from construction in the watershed.
- Compel the City to inspect more storm drains and install more pollution reduction structures.
- Complete the dredging of Kaelepulu Stream.
11-1 TASK: Send Zoom information concerning the B. Bourke briefing to Marine and Coastal Zone Action Committee concerning storm drains and their negative impacts on our nearshore waters in Honolulu the board and to interested political figures**D. Young ** COMPLETE
Minutes: The draft Minutes for October 2021 had been circulated via email prior to the meeting. M. Novack took time to discuss the status of tasks that had been assigned at previous meetings. Following a brief discussion, J. Femie moved approval and G. Gustavson seconded the motion that the October 2021 Minutes be approved. The following members abstained since they were not present at the meeting: G. Colbert, J. Bean, and F. Tannen. The remaining members approved the report unanimously.
Finance: G. Gustavson provided via email the monthly report of October 2021 receipts and expenses, compared to the Budget approved last month. Both receipts and expenses are tracking our budget pretty closely. We have received $33,124 from the Assessed Lots, which equates to 107 members. We have received $5400 from Voluntary KCA membership, which equates to 18 members. There were no significant expenses in October. Our general liability insurance policies were renewed during the latter portion of the month. G. Gustavson brought to the attention of the board just how significant the costs for Liability Insurance are for the Association.
D&O Insurance $3104.00
General Liability Insurance $ 11,256.79
D. Young expressed his thanks to Alan Richardson and Adam Bookatz for their continued support of the ELRA finances.
A motion was made by F. Tannen and seconded by G. Colbert that the October 2021 Finance Report be accepted. There were no abstentions. The motion was accepted unanimously.
Administration: D. Young had shared his Communications Log prior to the Meeting. See discussion relating to Dredging under the Dredging Committee report
Kailua Neighborhood Board Meeting Nov. 4, 2021
The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Levani Lipton.
The reports from the public agencies were similar to recent months. There was a presentation by Ryan Shlock and Jeff Cheng about building solar canopies over the Castle Medical Center Parking lot, that is adjacent to the main parking lot. Not much debate, other than curiosity over the fact that Castle could not tap into that power source in an emergency.
There was a presentation by Randall Wakumoto, Program Administrator for the Honolulu Storm Water Quality Division, on the rollout of the Storm Water Utility, to which we will all soon be paying additional taxes. The good news from the presentation seems to be that they will be taking more ownership of clearing out and maintaining the openness of streams, canals, and ditches in the waterways.
There was no mention of progress on getting the DFM’s presentation on their plans for maintenance of the Kaopa Silt Basin.
Annual Report: D. Young announced that the 2020-2021 Annual Report had been sent to all ELRA Members via the USPS. Young thanked the board members for their input and review. It was noted that the input for the report also took place during the same very busy time-period as the board prepared for an elections process that was being invented on the spot. He thanked M. Spencer, the ELRA Administrative Assistant for her hard work in stuffing the 16-page report into many envelopes.
Election Official Results: The following candidates were elected:
- Greg Colbert
- Dustin Dawson
- Fran Tannen
- Cindy Turner
- Don Young
M. Novack reported that the 2021 Director Election process worked as hoped for. Understanding that ELRA Director Elections had always taken place in-person at the Annual Meeting, this was a challenge. Combining the Postal Service mailings of paper ballots and the e-ballots sent via email, the Election Committee received 60 valid¹ ballots (42 paper and 18 e ballots). This is a greater number than received during the last several Annual Dinner-related voting.
All ballots were counted by the Election Committee, with attention paid that there was only one ballot per household and that these households are paid-up on their annual assessments.
Many thanks to M. Spencer who stuffed envelopes for three separate elections-related mailings, C. Turner who designed the e-ballot and various association-wide emails, and J. Fernie and G. Gustavson who validated the eligibility of the voters.
Election of 2021-2022 Officers: As is custom, the ELRA Directors elected their leadership for the coming year during the first meeting following the election of new directors. The leadership is as follows:
President – Don Young
1st Vice President – Jeanette Bean
Treasurer – Gus Gustavson
Secretary – Margaret Novack
Committee Reports:
Dredging Committee: The board continues to await a response from the Attorney General’s Office related to the use of the Hawaii Youth Facility grounds to deposit dredged materials.
Considerable discussion was devoted to how best to encourage this office to move a request that had first been referred to them in March 2021. ELRA cannot move forward with Dredging without this response. D. Young described the various ways he and Oceanit (contractor in support of dredging) had requested help.
Some discussion was then devoted to whether and when ELRA should request assistance from our elected officials. It was agreed to table this discussion until the December board meeting.
A motion was made by G. Colbert and seconded by C. Turner to table the discussion relating to the request of an elected official until December 2021. The motion was accepted unanimously.
Membership Committee: D. Young repeated the observation made in last month’s meeting that the lines of communication and approval as relates to potential new members needs to be clarified. M. Compton had stated that he did not think that the Membership Committee should be handling money. Young indicated that he would work with Compton to propose a process.
11-2 TASK: Work out best lines of communication and procedures appropriate for the Membership Committee to consider and on-board new members. **M. Compton and D. Young**
Operations Committee:
Security: M. Compton reported via email that the Lake has been fairly quiet this month. There has been a noticeable increase in the compliance with Hawaii State Law for lifejackets on children under 13 after we emphasized it in our newsletter and Lake Rules. The security boat is running well. There were no major spills or rain events. The Lake level is moderately low. Compton stopped several watercraft this month and gave out several copies of the Lake Rules book. One new tenant asked for a watercraft application. Two kayaks were fishing for barracuda in the Lake. They had two large barracuda they released when directed to do so. One survived but the other appears to have died. They were polite. They had entered from a Lake lot (980 Iopono Drive) but did not have stickers.
Cleanup: M. Compton reported via email that after the 808Cleanup volunteer effort last month, he was given the name of a potential contractor for clean-ups. Compton spoke to Matt at Aloha Junk Man (808) 953-9683. Matt and his partner are interested. They have helped other clean-ups by hauling trash but they may be interested in being the primary. Matt is interested in fishing and helping the Kailua waterways. Compton will give him a tour of the Lake next week.
(As an interesting side note. Matt says he regularly catches CATFISH in the canal behind the marsh wall (near Kaha park down to Windward Boats. We will have to watch to see if catfish become established in the Lake.)
D. Young reported that he had had a discussion with the agent for ELRA Liability Insurance. This agent stated that it would be best to engage with a company that had its own liability insurance. If it was necessary for individuals to work on the Lake in any capacity, an individual Liability Release Form should be executed. (NOTE: the Safety Officer is covered by ELRA Liability and D&O Insurance as he is a board director.) Young provided an example of a form he had drafted (Att 2) based on the one the C&C uses. Some board members felt this form was unnecessarily complex. It was suggested that other examples of Release Forms existed and they should be sought.
11-3 TASK: Locate and collect other Liability Release Forms** All
Environment Committee: D. Kroll reported via email that the Lake has stayed pretty stable in the past month, as it has for at least the last three months. Water clarity oscillates from being quite clear to fairly opaque. Water depth and salinity round the Lake has stayed the same. Plenty of tilapia mature and young ones. Rock crabs are seen in the canal portion of the Lake. The observations the group has been making over the past year are helpful as a historical record, but the quarterly water sampling being done under contact to Pacific American Foundation will provide a much clearer picture of Lake health. Kroll suggested that the historical log we’ve been doing could be put on pause for a while; also noting the observation data we’re collecting have a lot of variables just even regarding lighting during the course of the day and how that affects visualizing clarity, color and animal life.
Storm Drain Marking: L. Jenks relayed via email that she had made contact with the person in charge of organizing the stormwater drain markings. She will pick up supplies, enough to supply two teams. The email has waivers that anyone volunteering will need to sign, and a safety checklist. Jenks plans to dedicate time on the mornings of Nov. 11th, 12th and 13th, a Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to get started on marking some of the drains on Pahumele and Keolu. We can also choose some on Wana’ao, and any other street that has unmarked drains. There are a lot that need to be marked. Please let everyone know that if they want to volunteer on any of those days, call or text me, and we’ll coordinate the times.
Closing statement: D. Young requested all the directors review the current Goals and Objectives and to be prepared to discuss and update them during the December Meeting.
Next Meeting Date: The next Board meeting will take place by Zoom on Tuesday, Dec 14, 2021 at 7pm. The next KNB meeting will be Dec 2, 2021. G. Gustavson is scheduled to attend.
Adjournment: G. Gustavson moved adjournment, which was seconded by J. Bean. The affirmative vote was unanimous. The meeting adjourned at 8:29 pm.
Respectfully submitted
M . Novack
Briefing by Bob Bourke, Science Advisor, 9 Nov 2021
For the ELRA to safeguard the future health of Kaelepulu Pond, and the property values of homes around the pond, it is important to see the pond as part of the larger estuary system including the Kaelepulu Wetland, Kaelepulu Stream, Kawainui Stream, the Hamakua Wetlands, and Kailua Bay. To restore the health of this ecosystem, and the services it provides to Kailua’s citizens, it is important to fix six basic problems:
- Restore partial flow (~2 cfs) from Kawainui Marsh to the Kawainui Stream around the Kawainui Levee. An analysis of this problem and an experiment to test its worth was conducted by Oceanit for DLNR in -2015. Funds to further the project were provided in the 2021 legislature championed by Chris Lee and Lisa Martin, however these funds were apparently used for another (also deserving) Kawainui Marsh project. Community support needs to be garnered for the allocation of funds in the 2022 specifically for the Kawainui Marsh to Kawainui Stream flow restoration project.
- Eradicate ALL mangroves from the estuary system. This effort is 80% complete, but it was 90% complete about 4 years ago. Pressure needs to be applied to the City to force them to remove the mangrove from portions of Kawainui and Kaelepulu channels for which they are responsible, the ELRA should pass a regulation requiring all shoreline members to remove all mangrove from their frontage with a fine for those (KS!) who do not comply.
- Compel the City to open the stream mouth on a lunar monthly basis in keeping with the drainage agreement between the City and the owners of the Lake…… but wait until after the City has granted all permits for disposal of the dredge spoils.
- Compel the City DFM ad State DOH to do a better job in preventing silt runoff from construction sites within the watershed.
- Compel the City to inspect more storm drains and install more pollution reduction structures in Kailua. Special funding of $1.66M has been supplied to DFM for BMPs in Kailua. Support Lavani in the KNB to make sure these funds are spent wisely and quickly.
- Complete the dredging of Kaelepulu Stream to improve circulation within the estuary to the pond.
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¹ Five additional ballots were received that were duplicative, or from members who were not up to date with assessment.