Written testimony received 04-20-2023

Fairfax(Pat) Reilly
468 Ahakea Street
P.O. Box 630111
Lanai City, HI 96763-0111
Email: kimchi745@gmail.com

RE: FISCAL YEAR 2024 BUDGET: county.clerk@mauicounty.us

Chair Sugimura, Member Johnson, Council Members, Aloha welcome to Lana’i. Mahalo for providing this in-person opportunity to present our community needs and vision.

I am Pat Reilly, a forty-five-year resident of Lana’i and a retiree from Lanai High and Elementary School after thirty-one years of service.

My “theme” is building a resident community.”
-Affordable housing permitting long-term commitment to all aspects of services and businesses.
-Agriculture Park: Farm to School; Agriculture support to students P-20; Farm to Table for the community to build a core agricultural economic sector.
• Support for “essential workers” including federal, state, county, non-profit, for-profit employees who provide the fundamental “organs” of our island.
-Support for the programs that maintain our viability through our life span from families’ through the end of life.

Lana’i offers unique challenges as does each island within the county. While our recent figures indicate a 2% unemployment rate in a labor force of 1800 (DEBDT, Feb 2023) a high inflationary spiral leaves many on the margins of meeting their families’ needs. We need your assistance.

Let’s make some lemonade out of lemons.

Affordable housing for sale and rent to encourage residents to remain on Lana’i to raise families.
-County Affordable Housing Project.
-SB1596 places Teacher Housing both on campus and off.
o Recruitment and retention of teachers are critical.
o Non-profit-preschool
o Highly qualified teachers, P-20 are essential to our community.

Strong health care and financial support throughout the lifespan systems through non-profit and for-profit agencies.
-MEO services: needs some refrigeration/office space
-Office of Aging
-Health Services
-Kina’ole
-Lana’i Community Health Center
-Straub Clinic
-Kaiser Hospital services.

Good Morning, Councilmembers

My name is Alberta de Jetley. My family has been a part of the Lanai community since 1951 and I personally returned to Lanai to live in 1996. We have a great community to live in and I am hoping you can help it become even better. I am testifying in favor of creating a dog park on Fraser Avenue.

In September 2022, I noticed we had a lot of new residents in our community with dogs. I started a Facebook group titled “Dogs of Lanai” and since its inception, we have 210 members today. Dogs are a great way to meet your neighbors and to share your common interest, our dogs!

There is a 1.02 acre county-owned park which is under-utilized on Fraser Avenue. It is located near the Iwiole and Kanepuu apartment complexes, has ample space for roadside parking, nearby existing waterlines, and would be a wonderful place for a dog park.

You may ask, why do Lanai residents need a dog park when we are surrounded by acres of open space? Our island is noted for its deer population. Deer and dogs don’t mix well and a dog off-leash can easily be injured or lost.

The main elements of turning this open park into a dog park is to fence it into two sections, for large and small dogs, with a central gated foyer where we can unleash our dogs before they enter their section. A child’s wading pool makes a great pond for them to sit in or a watering hole too!

I’ve taken my dog to the Central Maui and Makawao dog parks and both do not have bathrooms nearby. Parking will not be a problem as most of the park’s users will walk to it from the adjacent apartment complexes.

Dog parks allow our pets to run and play in a safe environment. It is also an excellent way for new residents to meet other dog families and become a part of our community. I hope you will consider making this unused park a place we can use and enjoy.

Alberta de Jetley
330 Fraser Avenue
P. O. Box 630601
Lanai, HI 96763 email: adejetley@gmail.com ph. 808-649-0808

Council Member Paltins Submission of $200,000 match for TIP MC28 for West Maui Greenway

Aloha Chair Sugimura and members of the committee,
Thank you for allowing ʻIkenākea Development LLC to submit testimony in STRONG SUPPORT FOR the proposed fiscal year 2024 budget for the County of Maui. ʻIkenākea Development is a local family owned and operated affordable housing development company headquartered in Honolulu that builds affordable residential projects of all types across the state. Our residential communities serve individuals, families, and kupuna with income levels ranging from 30% area median income (AMI) and up to 120% AMI. The extremely low- to the very-low income (30-60% AMI) housing units are built using a combination of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, Rental Housing Revolving Funds, and the use of Hula Mae Multi-family bonds issued through the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation (HHFDC).

The Hale O Piikea Affordable Housing Development is set to transform the housing situation for residents in Kihei, providing 223 affordable rental units for families and kupuna with an income at or below 60% AMI. To ensure successful financing of this vital project, it has been broken down into three phases. These phases will be funded through a combination of low-income housing tax credits, hula mae multifamily bonds, and rental housing revolving funds.

The community's needs have been considered throughout the project's development, ensuring that the final result will be consistent with the community's wishes. For many families and kupuna on Maui, this project will provide a truly affordable home.

Construction for Phase 1, which includes 90 family units, is set to begin in July 2023. Phase 2, which will offer 97 units for kupuna, is scheduled to start construction in September 2023. While we are still waiting on an allocation of tax credits from HHFDC for Phase 3, which will have 36 units for families.

The current economic climate has presented several challenges for all three phases our project, including a sudden surge in interest rates, inflation, and rising construction costs. As a result, we have encountered a financial shortfall, and securing grant funds from the County's Affordable Housing Program has become essential for the successful completion of our projects.

The grant funds will serve as a critical bridge in our financing stack, ensuring that we can continue construction without delay and ultimately provide affordable homes for those in need. We are deeply grateful for the support of the Affordable Housing Program, which recognizes the critical importance of affordable housing in our community. Together, we can work towards a brighter future where everyone has access to safe, secure, and affordable housing.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on this measure.
Mahalo for your consideration.

Sincerely,
ʻIkenākea Development

Christopher Flaherty, Managing General Partner
ʻIkenākea Development LLC

Aloha Chair Sugimura and committee members,

In addition to its intrinsic value, culture provides important social and economic benefits. With improved learning and health, increased tolerance, and opportunities to come together with others, culture enhances our quality of life and increases overall well-being for both individuals and communities. Hawaiian culture is the very fabric of our livelihood.

As of now, Festivals of Aloha is the only festival planned for Hana. There will be no Limu or Taro festival planned for this year. On Lanai, there are only two major festival events, FOA along with Pineapple. On Molokai I, along with an amazing committee of community members, coordinate the only two Hawaiian community parade events, Kamehameha and Festivals of Aloha. The third is their Christmas parade. We are the longest running tri-isle festival.

Last year we went back to in person in full force with events on Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Hana and added Wailea - the 3 day event was hosted by the Four Seasons Maui at Wailea. We celebrated 20 years of the Richard Ho‘opi‘i Leo Ki‘eki‘e Falsetto Contest and started the first wahine falsetto contest in the name of Carmen Hulu Lindsey. Our festival is two months long with events happening on almost every weekend.

As coordinators, safety always comes first but it has also become one of our newest financial challenges in addition to increased shipping cost and delays. Last year we paid exponential amounts of funds for police and security that are being required by Parks for permitting. This expense used to be taken care of by volunteers but the bill is significantly higher than other program expenses. It’s also a challenge to budget for as Police rates vary depending on who is taking the assignment and their rank. In addition Parks fees to utilize County facilities like community centers, have gone up as well.

Due to COVID our proviso was decreased from $100K to $60K with matching from HTA of $40K. This year we are uncertain of the Hawaii Tourism Authorities focus as they are delayed in sending out an RFP. With the addition of Wailea to our hui of towns and the increased expenses for safety, we are asking for $120,000 to mālama our growing community needs this year.

Thank you all for your hard work and consideration.
Me ka ha‘aha‘a, Daryl Fujiwara, Festival Director