The Vultures in
Group 70 International
Sightings from The Catbird Seat
~ o ~
February 2, 2007
Kamehameha plans
North Shore changes
The trust is re-evaluating its property, taking public comment
and preparing to draft a plan
By Kristen Consillio, Star-Bulletin
KAMEHAMEHA Schools, the state's largest private landowner, is re-evaluating the future of roughly 26,000 acres of land it owns on Oahu's North Shore.
The $6 billion trust is conducting a master plan for its North Shore property, which includes 15,000 acres of conservation land, 9,000 acres of agricultural land and 2,200 acres of rural community land zoned for commercial, agricultural and residential use.
Kamehameha Schools wants to make changes to improve what it deems underutilized land and infrastructure to support diversified agriculture, educational, cultural and economic projects.
"With the changes that are happening in agriculture, particularly biofuels and further diversification of agricultural in general, the land on the North Shore that is currently not under cultivation could be viewed as candidates for some of those uses," said Kekoa Paulsen, spokesman for Kamehameha Schools. "We don't have any preconceived ideas."
THE master plan includes 15 acres of commercial land along Kamehameha Highway throughout Haleiwa, some of which is underutilized, Paulsen said. Its largest commercial holdings in the area include the land beneath the North Shore Marketplace and Haleiwa Shopping Plaza.
Architecture firm Group 70 International Inc. won a contract to conduct the master plan. Kamehameha has held more than a dozen small-group meetings since last July, with three to 10 people at a time, and a planning workshop with about 150 North Shore residents in November.
Ward Research mailed about 2,000 surveys this week to randomly selected area residents to get broader input on what is needed in the community.
Additional meetings are scheduled through August. A plan is expected to be completed by September and implemented shortly afterward, said Giorgio Caldarone, Kamehameha Schools' regional asset manager, adding that full implementation could take 10 to 15 years.
"We're not doing another Turtle Bay. We're not doing another big resort -- it's almost the exact opposite of that," he said. "It's really about making the North Shore a better place by looking at traffic issues, infrastructure and preserving and enhancing agriculture."
Bart Smith, a Pupukea resident who attended one of the early community meetings last year, is concerned about any potential new developments on the North Shore.
"I think they have a lot of valuable land that could be put to good use," Smith said. "The main thing for people is to keep the country country."
NORTH SHORE resident Mary Barter, 61, said there remains widespread concern that the re-evaluation will merely result in more development in the largely rural area. "The community hopes that they did listen to what we have to say and that the meetings aren't just a PR exercise," she said.
Pupukea resident Larry McElheny, 62, who also attended one of the meetings, said, "They're obligated to periodically re-evaluate the best use of their lands. It's a perpetual trust -- it's not a typical business where they have an exit strategy and in 10 years they're going to sell and move on."
Kalani Fronda, Kamehameha Schools' land asset manager, said the trust is looking to strengthen sustainable activities and is considering "value-added" agricultural products, alternative energy, senior assisted living and affordable-housing projects -- proposals that came out of the community meetings.
Fronda said some vacant agricultural land could be repositioned for commercial use as a transportation hub and for entertainment venues, cultural activities and retail projects.
http://starbulletin.com/2007/02/02/news/story01.html
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October 10, 2003
Hemmeter projects and
persona larger than life
Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - by Gina Mangieri
Chris Hemmeter is not one to tinker. In projects from the 1970s through the 1990s, he preferred to start with a gigantic clean slate -- which meant a lot of razing, digging and grading -- before turning his visions into grand developments.
The Hyatt Waikoloa Village, now Hilton, is like Disneyland without the rides -- except for a 175-foot water slide and both boats and trams to shuttle guests through the property. More than $7 million was invested in artwork for an open-air gallery, which includes statues of mainland mountain animals. The project used enough pink flagstone from Arizona to stretch 75 miles if laid end to end.
Hemmeter's Kauai project, too, got over-the-top treatment. The 356-room resort includes a 26,000-square-foot pool -- the largest in Hawaii. Its champion-designed links would be followed by a golf-course boom that would leave 30 new courses in the islands in 10 years. The original hotel grounds included many larger-than-life sculptures, which the new owners removed.
"I remember looking at his hotel in Kauai after it was built, and to me it was kind of weird," former Hawaiian Electric CEO Dudley Pratt recalls. "It was all for show."
Others in Hawaii agreed some projects were over the top. Environmental groups criticized the operating requirements of his hotels in everything from water and electricity consumption to waterfront development approaches.
Hemmeter filled in 1.8 acres of submerged lands to develop Waikoloa. It's a point of contention today as a land dispute that still has the landowners at odds with state Department of Land and Natural Resources after U.S. District Judge David Ezra ordered the hotel compensate the state for use of public lands. Besides resource consumption, some saw his projects as forgoing Hawaiiana for fantasy.
Hemmeter's response is that a resort must keep the customer's fantasy escape in mind.
"You have to serve customers the wine they want, not the wine you think they should have," Hemmeter said. If developing here today, however, Hemmeter says he would work in a way "more compatible with Hawaii's environment and culture."
President Jimmy Carter agrees Hemmeter has the capacity to develop with nature in mind and says he has flexibility in style.
"Chris' creative mind and love of the natural world ... are evident in the design of the Carter Center," Carter told PBN. "He is constantly probing for excellence, searching always for the cutting edge of exciting achievements and daring experiments in architectural design."
A development that appealed more to the classical senses came in his renovation of the former Armed Forces YMCA on Hotel Street, on the site of the first Royal Hawaiian Hotel built in 1872 and demolished in 1926. He sold it to a Japanese investor, who later sold it to the state to serve as offices and an art museum.
Right place, right time
From 1968 to '71, more than 17,000 hotel rooms came to Waikiki. Money was flowing from investors. Hemmeter was positioned to join the building boom.
And his projects earned a wide visitor following. Hemmeter said Hyatt reaped significant revenue on Oahu and Maui, and even today the Hilton Waikoloa Village is a hit.
"Barron Hilton [hotel chain chairman] told me Waikoloa is their No. 1 resort in performance and popularity," Hemmeter said.
Hemmeter had a knack for seeing possibility where others did not. But he was also in the right place at the right time for his style and taste for design and risk, many say. He built during the bubble, and in a way that some say he probably couldn't have once it burst.
"Later, it could not have been done," Pratt said. "People have come back down to earth."
His major developments in Hawaii rode the 1980s all the way to the top, and few failed to be sold for more than they cost to develop. The Kauai hotel was struck by Hurricane Iniki and sold for a fraction of the $135 million development cost, but the two golf courses -- included in the original development price -- had previously been sold for $250 million.
Hemmeter's only Hawaii project to lose value upon sale was Waikoloa, which sold for about 25 cents on the dollar. Hemmeter and former business partner Diane Plotts said no local lenders were hit with a loss.
"Waikoloa sold for less than we built it for, but it was the kind of project that was needed to activate all the other thousands of acres in Waikoloa," Plotts said.
Bankers familiar with Hemmeter's projects say their operating expenses exceeded revenue, but Hemmeter counters that they must have been successful because "they all sold for extensive profits, except Waikoloa."
Admirers and critics
Plotts and former partner Henry Shigekane both credit Hemmeter as the wizard of Hemmeter Investment Co. But Hemmeter and others say his partners were also essential to his success.
"One of Hemmeter's big strengths is that he surrounded himself with good people," said Stuart Ho, son of Chinn Ho, adding he recalls his father had a favorable impression of Hemmeter back to days together at the Ilikai.
"It was amazing growing up with him as a father," said son Mark Hemmeter, developer in Colorado. "The best lesson I learned was that taking risks is a very good thing."
In an industry where smooth talking, favors and connections can be just as important as a good idea and solid capital, many who know Hemmeter say he and his team instead had unquestioned integrity.
Francis Oda, Group 70 architect, first met Hemmeter when he was developing King's Alley. The development would mean a car-rental agency had to move, and Oda was involved in helping with the agency's new site. Oda recalls Hemmeter made it his personal mission to ensure the agency ended up with lucrative Kalakaua Avenue frontage despite his development.
"He was all over solving their problems for them, and that impressed me," Oda said.
Many others also praise his integrity. Though they also concede his bold endeavors left some people uncomfortable.
"He was so extreme in carrying out his vision," said Beadie Dawson, an attorney, entrepreneur and community leader who recalls meeting Hemmeter in the 1960s when she worked in hotel public relations. "I think there's an element of jealousy out there about what he was able to get done."
"He went into so many projects, some were bound to be controversial," former Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi said. "But hey, he made things happen."
A sting after 30 years developing
When the state didn't choose Hemmeter's Aloha Tower development proposal in 1989, many recall a bitter reaction. Hemmeter acknowledges it was a tremendous letdown.
"When I lost it, my comment was, 'I didn't know you wanted two palm trees and chewing gum,'" he said, still critical today of the winning bidder. Today, his bitterness is softened by hindsight. The young man made old before his time by cancer sounds more wounded than angry about the lost deal.
"I was enormously hurt," he said, adding that he had $1.38 billion in financing lined up for the venture.
He said he believes he had the best ideas for the project -- which involved a floating market, a sports arena and an aquarium. He even hung on to his Aloha Tower portfolio, today a timeworn set of renderings yet to be rendered neutral in Hemmeter's imagination. He turns the pages, orchestrating his ideas, and the music he said was his best sales tool still comes through in tones weakened by the slurs of Parkinson's.
"When we lost Chris to the mainland, we lost one of our greatest assets," retired Bank of Hawaii CEO Larry Johnson said of Hemmeter's move to the mainland in 1991.
"There is no one that can fill his shoes," son Mark said.
There is broad consensus that he has set a standard for creativity and productivity. Many compare him with Henry Kaiser who brought so many changes to Hawaii in the decades before Hemmeter's arrival in the 1960s.
Though Hemmeter has lived off-island for more than 10 years, he brought with him upon his return this week a new economic development plan (see page 46) for the islands, one he says would "maximize our assets -- the land and the people."
Many already see him as an important contributor to Hawaii's economic development after statehood. Hemmeter estimates his Hawaii projects have employed as many as 30,000 people.
"Chris Hemmeter is an extraordinary businessman, developer, community leader... and friend," President Carter said.
"Hawaii needs to appreciate his contributions to the visitor industry and the state," Johnson said. "His legacy will live here forever.
Reach Gina Mangieri, PBN editor, at 955-8030 or gmangieri@bizjournals.com
http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2003/10/13/story3.html
May 17, 2003
Trust sets record on
educational spending
Despite losing money, Kamehameha Schools
still spends $144.2 million
By Sally Apgar, Honolulu Star-Bulletin.com
Kamehameha Schools spent a record $144.2 million on educational programs in its last fiscal year, according to records filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
The money was spent on its preschool to grade 12 students and to reach thousands more Hawaiian children in off-campus educational programs or financial aid.
"The emphasis and focus of the trust has been extending the legacy to more Hawaii children, and I think the financial activity of the trust reflects that," Kamehameha spokesman Kekoa Paulsen said yesterday about the increase in educational spending.
At the same time, Kamehameha, like many companies and institutions over the past two fiscal years, was hit hard in the stock market and on other investments. Unlike the previous two years, last year's losses were not offset by the whopping windfall the trust received from selling its stake in the New York investment firm of Goldman Sachs LLP after it went public.
For the year ending June 30, 2002, the trust listed a loss of $93 million for one group of investments compared to a gain of $548 million the year before when it benefited from selling shares in Goldman Sacks.
The trust, which has $4 billion in assets, had revenues of $174 million in fiscal 2002 compared with revenues of $303.5 million the year earlier when the trust spent $138.7 million on educational programs.
What the trust spends on educational programs is budgeted a year or more ahead of time so it is not directly tied to the revenues earned in the year the money is spent.
In fiscal 2002, Kamehameha educated 4,835 students in its preschool-to-grade 12 program, which serves about 7 percent of native Hawaiian children.
"We reach more than 12,000 other students through various programs outside of the campuses," said Paulsen....
In addition to education programs, Kamehameha spent $120 million on capital and major repair projects. Among the major projects is the design and initial construction of high school facilities for Kamehameha's Maui and Hawaii campuses.
In the late 1990s, when the five trustees each earned between $800,000 and $1 million a year, the big news of the annual tax return typically was how much they made. But since the investigations of the IRS and the state attorney general and the ouster of the previous board, major educational and financial reforms have been instituted.
Last year, all five trustees together made a total of $525,000. The trustees' individual compensations ranged from a low of $99,000 to a high of $113,500.
The highest paid officer was Wendell Brooks Jr., the trust's former chief investment officer, who received $504,160 in salary and $4,088 in employee benefits. Brooks left in November 2001 and the amount included a severance package, said Paulsen.
Hamilton McCubbin, who resigned recently as chancellor and chief executive, was paid $350,240 in salary, $8,608 in benefits and $103,500 for his expense account and other allowances. McCubbin has a $400,000 severance package with the trust.
Colleen Wong, the chief legal officer for the trust, who has been appointed acting CEO, was paid $168,831 in salary and another $9,231 in benefits. Mike Chun, headmaster of the schools, was paid $195,057 and $1,111 in benefits.
During the height of the scandal of the late 1990s, the trust maintained armies of inside and outside accountants and lawyers. Now, the highest paid outside firm is Group 70 International, a Honolulu architectural firm that was paid $5 million.
Arthur Andersen, the accounting and management consulting firm, came in second at $1.5 million.
http://starbulletin.com/2003/05/17/news/index2.html
August 16, 2002
Land owner leads move on Moiliili
Dobelle's UH 'college town' concept advances
Terrence Sing, Pacific Business News
Land owner Kamehameha Schools has joined the University of Hawaii and Moiliili community groups and merchants in discussing the creation of a college town near the Manoa campus.
"This was a sort of coming together," said Karl Kim, professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Hawaii, describing a recent meeting organized by Kamehameha Schools, Moiliili's largest private land owner.
The area under discussion is the University Avenue corridor from the campus makai to about South King Street. Under the college town concept, the corridor would be replete with book stores, coffee houses, apartments and other facilities commonly found near American bastions of education.
"At this stage we are still looking at options and we are trying to envision the future and build a sense of community and collaboration that we can work together on," Kim said. "The first thing we need to do is acknowledge the leadership of Kamehameha Schools in general and Sanford Murata [director of the schools' commercial assets division] in particular in terms of bringing together all the participants in the community to participate in the 'charrette' process." (A charrette is a short, intense design or planning activity.)
Kamehameha Schools owns about eight acres in the area under discussion.
Concept moving forward
UH President Evan Dobelle initiated discussion of a possible college town when he arrived a year ago. He is credited by supporters with having created a college town in the community surrounding Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., where he was president from 1995 to 2001.
"It is one of his [Dobelle's] strategic areas of concern," Kim said. "If you follow the trajectory of recent events, we've made amazing progress from having just a concept a year ago. Since then we've had a symposium at the university, a major conference sponsored by the Urban Land Institute's Hawaii Chapter and now a planning 'charrette.' These are not all isolated events. If you add all these things up, we are clearly getting closer."
Kamehameha Schools has hired Honolulu-based Group 70 International Inc. and New York-based Cooper Robertson and Partners to prepare a regional plan for Moiliili that fits into the Moiliili college town concept.
"We have retained a planning consultant and they are gathering information from the University of Hawaii and Moiliili community and assembling the ideas into some suggested plans," Murata said. "It's too premature to release anything at this point."
A holistic approach is being sought, Kim added.
"Part of the process involves understanding not just the physical requirements, but also the social and economic requirements," he said. "What would make a much more desirable area? What can we do to the environment to enhance the quality of the experience? What would make a more attractive place for investment or people to live, study and interact together?"
During the meeting, much thought was given to the flow of both automobile and pedestrian traffic, Kim said.
Community reacts
The charrette — held at the Willows restaurant under the auspices of Kamehameha Schools and the University of Hawaii, drew about 85 participants, including Dobelle and other UH administrators, faculty and students.
"Bear in mind, we are just collecting information at this point," Murata said. "There is no plan to respond to at this phase, just a collection of ideas, suggestions, visions, aspirations, hopes, dreams."
Kamehameha Schools views it as a collaborative process, he said.
"So we didn't expect opposition," he said. "We just expected everyone to express themselves and we would respect those comments. We want to start with a clean sheet of paper so that we are guided by what we gather and what our planners suggest looking at from a new set of lenses."
Murata said two property clusters are being considered for development.
"One cluster would be on University Avenue from King Street to Kalo Place," he said. "The other cluster is on Beretania, from University to Isenberg Street."
Murata said the clusters have a variety of tenants who support the planning process. He offered few details at this stage.
"It was not a time for us to say what we plan to do because we want to hear and obtain input from everyone before we get to the point of suggesting what to do," Murata said. "We anticipate six months before we have something that's ready to present to our trustees, and we will have a series of drafts before then, which we will share on a selective basis."
In the past, the McCully/Moiliili Neighborhood Board has been opposed to development of any kind, said Chairman Brian Akana.
"Right now, the board as a whole, though, has no position on the Moiliili college town concept," Akana said. "Nor have they taken an official vote on anything. It's just in the informational stage right now with us. But I'm still questionable about it. We don't know enough about it to make a decision one way or another."
The university sent a representative to the neighborhood board's June meeting. However, many of the board's questions could not be answered, Akana said.
Joel Stauring, planning chairman of the McCully/Moiliili Neighborhood Board, represented the neighborhood board at the charrette.
"Joel liked the renderings," Akana said. "He said it looks like it's going to be something good for the community."
www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2002/08/19/story2.html
May 16, 2002
Kamehameha
top pay went to
lawyer in 2001
Nathan Aipa earned more than
the trust's CEO, IRS data show
By Rick Daysog, Star-Bulletin
The Kamehameha Schools paid its former top lawyer $413,630 during its last fiscal year, making him the estate's highest-paid employee, according to records filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
Attorney Nathan Aipa's 2001 compensation was nearly $100,000 higher than the $321,026 paid to estate Chief Executive Officer Hamilton McCubbin and was more than double the $170,636 paid to the trust's current chief legal officer, Colleen Wong, for the year ending June 30, 2001.
It is also double the $195,000 that the $6 billion charitable trust paid Aipa during its previous fiscal year.
Aipa, who left the estate last year and is now in private practice, said his compensation included his base salary as well as a severance package. Trust officials declined comment, saying it was a personnel matter.
Aipa, who served as the estate's first chief operating officer before stepping down, has been criticized for his role in the estate's three-year legal battles with the state, the IRS and members of the local Hawaiian community.
Robert Richards, a special master appointed by the probate court, faulted Aipa's handling of the trust's outside law firms, which represented interests of the estate's former trustees at the expense of the estate.
Aipa is just one of several former and current employees who received big payouts in 2001. According to the estate's Form 990 filing with the IRS:
>> Former Chief Investment Officer Wendell Brooks earned $300,000.
>> Ex-Chief Administrator Rodney Park received $260,023.
>> Gilbert Ishikawa, the estate's former tax director, was paid $271,610.
>> Eric Yeaman, the estate's current chief financial officer, earned $224,532.
>> Michael Chun, Kamehameha Schools' president, earned $188,718.
Current estate trustees Doug Ing, Diane Plotts and Nainoa Thompson, who joined the board on Jan. 1, 2001, earned $51,000 each, while trustees Robert Kihune and Constance Lau received $122,000 and $100,500, respectively. Former interim trustees Ronald Libkuman, the Rev. David Coon and Francis Keala each received $49,500.
Lau and Kihune also served as interim trustees.
Prior to their removals in 1999, former trustees Richard "Dickie" Wong, Lokelani Lindsey, Henry Peters, Oswald Stender and Gerard Jervis each earned as much as $1 million a year.
The estate's annual Form 990 filing also provided a broad look of the estate's investment and educational operations.
The nonprofit Kamehameha Schools posted total revenues of about $303.6 million during the 12 months ending June 30, while the Kamehameha Activities Association, a tax-exempt support organization, recorded total revenues of about $1.3 billion thanks to the recent sale of stock in Goldman Sachs Inc.
On a consolidated basis, the two organizations grossed about $1 billion during its 2001 fiscal year, up from $936.3 million in the year-earlier period.
The trust said it spent about $192 million for educational programs and school construction last year and is poised to spend an extra $200 million this year.
The estate said it paid the local architecture firm Group 70 International $2.82 million largely for work related to its Maui and Big Island campuses, which are under construction.
The trust also paid $2.1 million to the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen LLP and $1.85 million to the Washington, D.C., law firm of Miller & Chevalier to resolve various tax issues with the IRS.
The Kamehameha Activities Association also paid Miller & Chevalier $488,091 during the 2001 fiscal year.
April 8, 2002
Group 70 wins Schofield contract
The Honolulu architectural firm Group 70 International has been hired to provide design services for the $48 million renovation of Quad F at Schofield Barracks.
Group 70 president James Nishimoto, who is a colonel in the Army Reserves, will be project architect in the refurbishment of the quad's four three-story buildings.
They are historically registered structures in Schofield's vintage-1930s historic district whose post-industrial style emphasized functionalism. They were used in the filming of the movie "From Here to Eternity."
Group 70, a firm employing more than two dozen architects that designed The Lodge at Koele and the Maui and Hilo campuses of the Kamehameha Schools, says the plan is to complete the design this summer so work can start soon after.
September 18, 2003
To: Jeffrey H. Overton, Chief Environmental Planner
Group 70 International, Inc.
925 Bethel Street, 5th Floor
Honolulu, HI 96813-4307
Dear Mr. Overton:
Subject: Upcountry Town Center (UTC) Revised Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (R-DEIS)
The Kula Community Association (KCA) Board of Directors met on September 9, 2003 to discuss the Upcountry Town Center DEIS. The KCA Board wishes to place on the official DEIS record the following general comments, specific comments, and recommendations. We expect that the Final EIS will address both our concerns and questions. Furthermore, we ask that the Land Use Commission, Office of Environmental Quality Control, and the Maui County Planning Department and Planning Commission seriously consider the issues which we raise.
General Comments
A. We request that the Final EIS reflect and respect the thought that went into developing the Makawao-Pukalani-Kula Community Plan adopted as an ordinance in July, 1996.
The triangular shaped parcel where the 40 acre UTC is being proposed was thoroughly reviewed and discussed during the many meetings leading to the adoption of the Makawao-Pukalani-Kula Community Plan 1990's update. At that time the members of the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) recognized a need for additional Upcountry commercial space, senior housing, a cultural site/museum, park/open space, and light-industrial. However, the CAC members recommended an alternative Kulamalu site as being a superior location for most of those activities and an area near the Kula Post Office as a designated light-industrial site....
Among the reasons for selecting the other sites were: the desire to avoid having
commercial activities so close to the new King Kekaulike High School - in other
words, to provide a large open-space buffer; the determination that the three
roads which surround the proposed UTC would be negatively impacted by
bringing so much traffic to the area; and the concern that the proposed
commercial area would have anchor stores that would negatively impact the old-time, mom-and-pop stores and the Upcountry lifestyle which they reflect. When
the thoughts and concerns of the CAC were made clear, Maui Land and Pine
(ML&P) graciously withdrew their proposal.
The Citizen Advisory Committee, Maui Planning Department, Maui Planning
Commission, and the County Council all confirmed the community’s wish to leave
this area in agriculture. Now, only seven years since the Community Plan was
adopted, ML&P is again proposing to re-designate their 40-acre parcel at the
Pukalani Triangle. The Final EIS should explain what is significantly different now
from when the Community Plan was adopted as an ordinance....
C. In 2002, in response to the original DEIS, the Kula Community Association wrote a long letter to GROUP 70 INTERNATIONAL, INC. with many concerns about the UTC. Unfortunately, the reply by GROUP 70 was inadequate, vague and incomplete. The Kula Community Association expects that in the preparation of this FEIS that there will be complete and meaningful responses. Please do not answer our concerns by merely going through the mechanics of answering our questions....
4. There is a long-standing list of upcountry residents (over 600 meter applications with many asking for multiple meters) who are awaiting water meters. Will this UTC project jump ahead of all those patient residents anticipating their meter? If not, is it appropriate to reclassify and zone the land-use prior to the existing residents getting their meters? What if there is not enough water?
5. Given the shortage of water in Upcountry Maui, what will be the effect of ML&P
drilling for water in close proximity to sites where the County of Maui Department
of Water Supply plans to drill?...
8. Given the large built-up area (See #1 above), traffic impacts are a major
potential problem. We are concerned about all three of the neighboring
roadways, the intersections, and several specific traffic patterns:
a) School Traffic: There is a need to accurately calculate the traffic flows to the new, nearby Kamehameha School which will soon have an enrollment of 1200+ students, many of whom will drive. Kamehameha is now building the high school campus, and most of the students and staff will pass by the UTC site during the morning rush-hour peak and at 2pm-3pm. There also will be increasing traffic to and from the Kamehameha pre-school.
b) Tourist Traffic: The DEIS Market Study indicates 3,000 visitors accessing the project each day. This raises two traffic issues. Many tourists will be driving down from Haleakala after watching the sunrise, during the peak morning commuter rush and at the time when students will be driving to school....
Thank you for your attention to our comments, questions, and suggestions. The KCA represents Upcountry residents who cherish the rural atmosphere of the Upcountry region. These wishes are clearly expressed in the Makawao-Pukalani-Kula Community Plan, as well as in Kula Community Association’s vision and purpose statements (in the masthead on this letter). We look forward to your response and the incorporation of our comments into the Final EIS.
Karolyn Mossman, President, Kula Community Association
Cc: Maui Land and Pineapple Company
Mr. Anthony Ching, Director, Hawai’i State Land Use Commission
Genevieve Salmonson, Director, Office of Environmental Quality Control
Senator J. Kalani English
Representative Kika Bukoski
Mayor Alan Arakawa
Michael Foley, Director, Maui County Planning Department
Councilmember Charmaine Tavares
Pukalani Community Association
Makawao Community Association
Maui News
Haleakala Times
Kula Community Association
P.O. Box 417 - Kula, HI 96790
The vision of the Kula Community Association is to preserve open space, support agriculture, maintain a rural residential atmosphere, and to work together as a community. The specific purpose of this association is to improve the quality of life for the residents of Kula, to promote civic welfare, and generally to benefit the community of Kula.
Campaign Spending Commission Meeting
Leiopapa A Kamehameha Building, Room 204
May 8, 2003, 3:00 p.m.
Members Present:
A. Duane Black, Della Au Belatti, Clifford Muraoka, Mona Chock, Richard Choy
Staff Present:
Robert Watada, Tony Baldomero, Jon Itomura, Ellen Kojima
Russell Suzuki, Deputy Attorney General
Call to Order:
Meeting convened at 3:01 p.m. with Chairman Black presiding.
Consideration of Minutes:
Ms. Belatti moved to accept the minutes of April 17, 2003, Mr. Choy seconded.
Motion carried.
New Business:
Conciliation Agreement 03-08 Shimabukuro Endo & Yoshizaki and Howard
Endo
The investigation found a pattern of excess and false name contributions to
Jeremy Harris, Ben Cayetano, Mazie Hirono and Mufi Hannemann. Mr.
Howard Endo was cooperative during the investigation and has agreed to a fine
of $32,000.
Mr. Muraoka moved to accept the conciliation agreement with Shimabukuro Endo & Yoshizaki, Ms. Chock seconded. Motion carried.
Conciliation Agreement 03-13 Group 70 International, Inc.
Investigation found that during the period of 1996 to 2001 Group 70 and its
officers made contributions totaling $55,000 to several candidates and
$36,000 to Jeremy Harris. Rather then be subjected to a lengthy
investigation Group 70 agreed to acknowledge making four excess
contributions, two in the period before 2000 and two after the 2000 election
period. They have agreed to a fine of $2,000.
Ms. Belatti moved to accept the Conciliation Agreement with Group 70 International, Inc. Mr. Muraoka seconded. Motion carried.
Conciliation Agreement 03-18 Hida Okamoto & Associates, Inc. and Harvey Hida
Investigation found that excess contributions in the amount of $3,650 was made
to Jeremy Harris. They have acknowledged the excess contributions made by
the company and its officers and have agreed to a fine of $1,000.
Mr. Choy expressed his concern that the fine was excessive as opposed to what the previous company was fined. He felt that the company should be fined $500 instead of a $1,000.
Ms. Chock moved to accept the Conciliation Agreement with Hida Okamoto & Associates, Mr. Muraoka seconded. Motion carried.
(Aye: Black, Belatti, Muraoka and Chock No: Choy)
Conciliation Agreement 03-19 Alan Nishimoto
Investigation found that Mr. Nishimoto an insurance broker made an excess
contribution of $2,000 to Jeremy Harris. He has agreed to a fine of $500.
Mr. Muraoka moved to accept Conciliation Agreement with Alan Nishimoto, Ms. Chock seconded. Motion carried....
Communication to Commission:
Legislation
SB 459, did not pass. This was the bill that contained the campaign reform
measures.
HB 401, passed. This bill administratively attaches our office to the Department of Accounting and General Services....
Chair Black moved to convene executive session to consult with counsel.
Public session reconvened and with no further business to discuss Chair Black adjourned meeting. Meeting adjourned at 4:05 p.m.
State of Hawaii, Campaign Spending Commission
May 9, 2003
Campaign spending office levies fines
The ruling is for illegal donations to
Harris, Cayetano and Apana
By Rick Daysog, Star-Bulletin
The state Campaign Spending Commission has approved more than $35,000 in fines against four local companies for making excessive political contributions.
By a 5-0 vote, the five-member commission approved a $32,000 fine against the engineering firm of Shimabukuro Endo & Yoshizaki Inc., which made $22,500 in excessive and false-name contributions to Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris, former Gov. Ben Cayetano and ex-Maui Mayor James "Kimo" Apana during the 1998 and 2000 elections.
The commission also voted unanimously to fine local architecture firm Group 70 Ltd. $2,000 and local insurance broker Alan Nishimoto $500.
According to the commission, Group 70 made $4,000 in excessive contributions to Harris, while Nishimoto gave $2,000 in over-the-limit donations to Harris.
By a 4-1 vote, the commission approved a $1,000 fine against Hida Okamoto & Associates Inc., which made $3,750 in excess contributions to Harris.
Under state law, donors can give no more than $4,000 to a mayoral candidate and $6,000 to a gubernatorial candidate during a four-year election cycle.
The fines are among several dozen issued against local government contractors by the commission during the past two years.
So far, the state has collected about $300,000 in fines.
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Originally Posted: July 21, 2008
Last updated July 21, 2008, by The Catbird