{"id":327,"date":"2014-04-01T23:26:12","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T23:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/EH\/?p=327"},"modified":"2015-01-29T19:30:07","modified_gmt":"2015-01-29T19:30:07","slug":"board-talk-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=327","title":{"rendered":"Board Talk"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
Film Office Seeks DLNR\u2019s Help with Unauthorized Productions<\/b><\/p>\n

Hawai`i film commissioner Donne Dawson begged the state Board of Land and Natural Resources for help with certain \u201cmisbehaving\u201d productions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need assistance in sending a strong, clear message that they cannot come to our community, do what they what, where they want, how they want and then actually evade [state enforcement] officers and evade boating officials and actually deny that they were conducting filming activity. It\u2019s just completely unacceptable. We need your help in doing our job [by] enforcing and imposing the strongest fine allowable to do by law,\u201d she told the board on January 24.<\/p>\n

With regard to the fine, she was referring specifically to Volcom, Inc., which had been denied a filming permit but proceeded last August with filming professional skaters using a floating half-pipe ramp that had been towed offshore of Wai`anae.<\/p>\n

The film office has no enforcement authority, but does have agreements with the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Department of Transportation to help police filming on lands owned by the two departments. At the Land Board\u2019s meeting, the DLNR\u2019s Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation recommended fining Volcom $5,000 for conducting commercial activities out of the Wai`anae Small Boat Harbor without a permit from the agency.<\/p>\n

DOBOR administrator Ed Underwood said Volcom representative Clint Moncata had agreed to pay the fine, but Dawson urged harsher punishment.<\/p>\n

Volcom is a $600 million company and a $5,000 fine \u201camounts to not much more than a standard location fee for a film production. I don\u2019t believe it\u2019s going to act as a deterrent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Moncata was apologetic, but said the production needed to go forward because there was a lot of equipment in place and people had come from out of town to film, Dawson continued. Moncata did not testify at the meeting.<\/p>\n

She also said Volcom had filmed with the ramp at Ahu O Laka (also known as the Kane`ohe Bay sand bar). Although a DOBOR commercial use permit was not needed for that, \u201cthe fact of the matter is they needed a film permit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The film office is struggling with several productions that have \u201cbeen abusive of their filming situation that have refused to rectify the situation or the damage,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The History Channel\u2019s\u00a0American Jungle<\/i>, a \u201creality show\u201d based on Hawai`i island about rival hunting clans, is one problem show, Dawson noted. The DLNR launched an investigation last year into whether the show violated department rules and regulations, such as hunting at night, with spears, or in state forest reserves, among other things.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [DLNR] Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement is alarmed by the hunting practices depicted in the\u00a0American Jungle<\/i>series,\u201d DOCARE chief Randy Awo said in a press release last November.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing if they\u2019re going to come back. We\u2019ve had some positive discussion with executives,\u201d Dawson said.<\/p>\n

The pilot for a \u201csister show\u201d to\u00a0American Jungle<\/i>, called\u00a0The Arc<\/i>, was recently shot without permits at Pohoiki, also on the Big Island, she continued. That reality show was expected to start filming in January. Based on her discussions with the DOCARE, the vessel to be used on the show is \u201cquestionably seaworthy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Another show using DOT lands that just wrapped filming nearly caused two accidents, she continued, \u201cone involving myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just the tip of the iceberg. We are struggling predominantly with the reality genre. They\u2019re difficult to control,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Although the office has no enforcement powers, she said a bill introduced in the state Senate (SB 2079) could help. The bill would make reality, unscripted, and \u201csoft-scripted\u201d television ineligible for film production income tax credits.<\/p>\n

Dawson also said the film office\u2019s agreements with the DOT and DLNR could be amended to include stiffer language regarding enforcement.<\/p>\n

With regard to Volcom, given Dawson\u2019s concern that $5,000 was too small a fine, at-large board member David Goode asked, \u201cwhat number would send a message?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hawai`i island board member Robert Pacheco noted that the law allows the board to impose a fine of up to $10,000 for a first offense. Pacheco and Maui board member Jimmy Gomes asked about the possibility of assessing administrative costs, as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope we could [have them] replace the piers in Wai`anae harbor and call it even,\u201d Underwood joked.<\/p>\n

Gomes, however, was serious. \u201cWe should be very concerned,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we could implement a max fine so it\u2019s not just a slap on the wrist and come to the board with an X-number of admin fees, I think that\u2019s a protocol we should follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

O`ahu board member Reed Kishinami then moved to increase the fine to $10,000 and asked DOBOR to include administrative costs in any future actions. His motion was unanimously approved.<\/p>\n

***<\/strong>
\nHonolulu Sea Water Air Conditioning<\/strong>
\nMust Post $4.5M Bond For Pipe Removal<\/strong><\/div>\n

DLNR Land Division administrator Russell Tsuji doesn\u2019t want the state getting stuck footing the cost for removing an abandoned six-foot diameter pipe installed by Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning, LLC. So on February 14, his division recommended that the Land Board amend the company\u2019s perpetual easement to require the company to post a bond equal to the cost of removal of most of the pipe, about $4.5 million.<\/p>\n

Years ago, when the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai`i Authority took over management of Keahole Point from a now-defunct state agency, a lot of money was spent removing large pipes that had been left loose on the ocean floor and were damaging coral, Tsuji said.<\/p>\n

HSWAC grudgingly agreed to post the bond, so long as it could pay the amount over 25 years. For years one through ten, the company will pay about $45,000 a year. By years 21 through 25, it will be paying about $456,000 a year. The company\u2019s easement requires it to maintain the pipe for the easement term, so the bond would be used only if the company somehow abandoned the pipe or was otherwise unable to fulfill its obligations.<\/p>\n

Although the bond amount won\u2019t cover complete removal, \u201cthat\u2019s all they could afford,\u201d Tsuji told the Land Board last month. He added that the company insists that the pipe, at least in the nearshore area, will not move around and damage marine resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cTruthfully, we\u2019re not terribly pleased with it, but we have no choice. We need the easement,\u201d company CEO Eric Masutomi said of the proposed amendment to add the performance bond.<\/p>\n

He said he wasn\u2019t worried that his pipes would come loose, like those at NELHA. \u201cThe engineering is quite sophisticated,\u201d he said of his project. The pipe, once installed, will be an asset \u201cworth a tremendous amount to another user,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Board members seemed unsure of whether the entire bond amount was necessary. But because the easement amendment would allow the Land Board to relieve the company from having to post the full amount, board members unanimously approved Tsuji\u2019s recommendation.<\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

***
\nBoard Grants Permit
\nFor Schweitzer Seawall<\/b><\/div>\n

\u201cWith great trepidation,\u201d Sam Lemmo recommended on February 14 that the Land Board approve an after-the-fact Conservation District Use Permit for a seawall and stairs in Keonenui, Maui.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an aversion to [shoreline] hardening,\u201d Lemmo, administrator of the DLNR\u2019s Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands, told the board. But in this case, the seawall and stairs owned by Henry and Diane Schweitzer are flanked by two other seawalls and the backshore is clay. In fact, most of the shoreline along Keonenui Beach has been replaced by seawalls, an OCCL report to the board states.<\/p>\n

Removing the Schweitzer wall would serve no purpose, Lemmo said.<\/p>\n

The 40-to-50-foot long wall was built in the 1980s and, according to the Schweitzers\u2019 attorney, Paul Mancini, the Schweitzers thought their contractor had obtained all the necessary permits. Years later, they found out he had not.<\/p>\n

In 2012, the Schweitzers paid the DLNR $6,000 in fines and administrative costs for violating Conservation District rules. They opted to seek a permit to keep the wall rather than remove it.<\/p>\n

The Land Board approved Lemmo\u2019s recommendation to grant the permit. The couple still needs to obtain an easement from the DLNR\u2019s Land Division to cover the 500 or so square feet of state land that the wall and stairs occupy.<\/p>\n

***<\/strong>
\nHilton\u2019s Friday Fireworks<\/strong>
\nGet Discount from New Fee<\/strong><\/div>\n

The fireworks display that Hilton Hawaiian Village has put on every Friday for the past 25 years is a kind of public service. That\u2019s basically what the Land Board decided last month when it chose to exempt the hotel from a new right-of-entry fee it imposed last year on all aerial fireworks displays. For years, the fee was a nominal $50. But last June, the Land Board increased the fee to $550 in recognition of the fact that the public is excluded from safety buffer zones and staging areas during these displays.<\/p>\n

On February 14, Land Division agent Kevin Moore told the board that given the 200,000 square foot safety zone imposed by the Hilton during its fireworks shows, the department, using standard commercial use rates, could charge $19,000 a day. However, the division has settled on $550 as a compromise, he said.<\/p>\n

Last October, Hilton has asked that its Friday shows, which are put on solely for its guests and the public, be exempt from the fee increase. The Land Division recommended denial.<\/p>\n

At the Land Board meeting, Hilton Hawaiian Village vice president Jerry Gibson provided several pictures of the crowds that gather on the beach to watch the hotel\u2019s Friday show.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe three thousand people on the beach await the first flare and applaud the last boom as one more successful Friday night has ended. Equally important, local businesses which serve both local customers and visitors have showcased the Hilton fireworks event as a benefit to their respective business operations,\u201d he wrote in testimony to the board.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, each Friday, some 500 to 600 people from the military\u2019s Hale Koa hotel \u201cwait with anticipation to watch the show,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Not including the permit fee, Hilton spends $446,887 a year for the Friday fireworks, he wrote.<\/p>\n

The Hilton agreed to pay the increased fee for those fireworks shows that outside parties pay to be put on. Gibson told the board that it does about eight to ten of those a year in addition to the Friday shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not asking for leeway on things we get revenue from,\u201d Gibson said.<\/p>\n

Rick Egged, president of the Waikiki Improvement Association, added that on a normal night, there are very few people on the beach.<\/p>\n

Land Division agent Barry Cheung said over the years he had received only one complaint from a member of the public excluded from the beach for a fireworks show.<\/p>\n

At-large board member Sam Gon, who had initially commented that the fee should have been $19,000, said he was swayed by the public testimony. He added, \u201cMy family has enjoyed this from their lanai.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/strong>
\nWai`anae Non-Profits<\/strong>
\nGet 30-Year Lease<\/strong><\/div>\n

On February 14, the Land Board granted a 30-lease for 1,122 acres to two non-profit groups in Wai`anae \u2013 Ka`ala Farm, Inc., and Ho`omau Ke Ola.<\/p>\n

Ka`ala Farm, which owns and leases two adjacent parcels, previously held a maintenance right-of-entry to the culturally rich property. Formerly part of the state Department of Agriculture\u2019s Wai`anae Agricultural Park, the land was returned to the DLNR in 2012. The DOA had cancelled the lease of its previous tenant, who had reportedly let cattle roam wild.<\/p>\n

The groups plan to use the property, once known as Wai`anae Valley Ranch, for a variety of educational, cultural, agricultural, and workforce development programs. Those programs include trail restoration, aquaponics, community gardening, organic farming, animal husbandry, and a therapeutic art center, according to a Land Division report to the board.<\/p>\n

\u201cHo`omau Ke Ola is a residential and outpatient substance abuse treatment program that incorporates native Hawaiian culture into its curriculum. A large component of the program is reconnecting clients to the land through once a week work days at Ka`ala Farm. KFI and HKO will continue this partnership as they restore the lands of Wai`anae Valley Ranch,\u201d states the 2012 application by Ka`ala Farm.<\/p>\n

***<\/strong>
\nLand Sale Forces Resolution<\/strong>
\nOf Conservation District Violation<\/strong><\/div>\n

The DLNR Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands is finally close to resolving a six-year-old violation case involving the conversion of an old coffee mill at Pohoiki, Hawai`i, into a single family residence.<\/p>\n

On January 24, the Land Board fined the homeowners, Lawrence and Ida Smith, $14,000 and assessed $1,000 in administrative costs. They were given six months to file an after-the-fact Conservation District Use Application for a downscaled home and a year to pay the fine.<\/p>\n

The violation first came to the OCCL\u2019s attention in 2008 via a complaint, but the agency did little more than correspond with the couple and its representative, Ken Fujiyama. But recently, \u201ca new opportunity has arisen that requires them to resolve [the violation],\u201d OCCL administrator Sam Lemmo told the Land Board at its meeting in January.<\/p>\n

Hawai`i County plans to buy 26 acres at Pohoiki from the Smiths to add to its Isaac Hale beach park. But the Smiths cannot subdivide their 35-acre parcel \u2013 which would require a Conservation District Use Permit \u2013 without first resolving the outstanding Conservation District violation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the hammer,\u201d said attorney Sue Lee Loy, who represents the Smiths.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the Smiths offered to pay a fine of up to $15,000 and to file an after-the-fact CDUA for the mill conversion, which Lemmo said he thought was reasonable.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as they pay the fine, we\u2019d allow them to file [a CDUA] for a single family residence and the subdivision,\u201d Lemmo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did it take so long to be resolved?\u201d Maui Land Board member Jimmy Gomes asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good question. … There\u2019s no excuse,\u201d Lemmo replied. \u201cA lot of times we have cases that are just hanging out there. We can\u2019t get people to make moves.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Hawai`i County property manager Ken Van Bergen, the county has been working toward acquiring the Smiths\u2019 property since 2010 and was initially unaware of the Conservation District violation. He noted that the Smiths had also faced a county violation, but that had been resolved.<\/p>\n

Although Lee Loy said the Smiths are eager to sell the property, they can\u2019t pay the fine right now and would prefer that it be paid when the county\u2019s purchase of the subdivided property closes. The county plans to pay $1.515 million for the property.<\/p>\n

Van Bergen asked the Land Board whether it could grant a conditional approval of the subdivision right now, but Lemmo said he could not recommend such an approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rule is clear: we can\u2019t process until the violation is resolved,\u201d Lemmo said, adding, \u201cWhat we\u2019re asking for is a pittance for allowing the violation to persist for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lemmo was also unsure whether subdivision could proceed without the fine having been paid.<\/p>\n

The deputy attorney general advising the board that day said the board\u2019s decision to find a violation and impose a fine was \u201cnot the forum to determine whether violations have been adequately cured. … If it becomes a hangup, deal with it later. You have a narrow issue before you.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

***
\nScientist Tries Electrofishing
\nTo Control Invasive Fish, Frogs<\/b><\/div>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s going to happen to all those frog legs?\u201d joked Big Island Land Board member Robert Pacheco.<\/p>\n

On January 24, the Land Board unanimously granted a one-year special activity permit to scientist Robert Kinzie to remove mosquito fish and bullfrogs from Hale`iwa\u2019s Uko`a wetland using an electrofishing device.<\/p>\n

Kinzie, of SWCA Environmental Consultants, is helping First Wind and landowner Kamehameha Schools manage the wetland as a habitat for the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat and endangered waterbirds.<\/p>\n

Reducing the number of invasive predators will make more insects available to the bats and birds, and will also reduce predation of waterbird chicks by bullfrogs, a DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources report to the Land Board states.<\/p>\n

The report also states no native fauna have been documented in the wetland in recent years.<\/p>\n

According to DAR biologist Alton Miyasaka, electrofishing has not been used much in Hawai`i.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to do selective removals, we feel there\u2019s a possibility it can be effective. We want to tag along with them to see if it\u2019s something we can apply elsewhere,\u201d he told the Land Board.<\/p>\n

Kinzie testified that electrofishing is commonly used by fisheries biologists, but has not really been used for alien species control and \u201cis something we\u2019re trying to take a look at.\u201d<\/p>\n

First Wind operates a 69 megawatt wind farm on Kamehameha Schools land at Kawailoa on O`ahu\u2019s North Shore.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Volume 24, Number 9 March 2014<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Film Office Seeks DLNR’s Help with Unauthorized Productions Hawai`i film commissioner Donne Dawson begged the state Board of Land and Natural Resources for help with certain “misbehaving” productions. “We need assistance in sending a strong, clear message that they cannot … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,25,36,20],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-board-talk","category-invasives","category-march-2014","category-tourism","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}