Papaloa Bay Community Resource Cultural Center
Background
The Kīpahulu Community Association (KCA) was established in 1993 to support the needs and advance the collective well-being of the Kīpahulu community. In partnership with another local nonprofit organization, a community center was developed in the decade following KCA’s founding through a combination of grant funding and extensive volunteer labor.
In recent years, however, changes in access and use have resulted in this facility no longer being available for KCA’s gatherings and programming. As a result, KCA has relocated its meetings, community events, and celebrations to Kīpahulu Point County Park. While this has allowed continuity, it has also underscored the urgent need for a dedicated, permanent space—a true “home”—to support the full range of community-building activities envisioned for this rural and geographically isolated area.
Need for the Papaloa Bay Community Resource Center:
Over the past year, a grassroots group of more than 40 Kīpahulu residents and their keiki—including both long-standing Native Hawaiian families and other local residents—has gathered weekly on Saturday mornings. These gatherings, currently held in the parking lot of Palapala Ho‘omau Church, focus on strengthening community relationships, deepening cultural and spiritual connection, and advancing local food security initiatives.
Despite the limitations of meeting in an improvised outdoor space, this group has already contributed significantly to the community through:
Roadside cleanup efforts
Harvesting bamboo for a traditional fishing boat launching structure
Volunteer work in lo‘i restoration and maintenance
Cultural enrichment programs, including Hawaiian craft workshops
The acquisition and stewardship of dedicated KCA land would provide a stable and culturally appropriate gathering place in a Canoe Hale. It would also support the development of a community garden and food forest, creating a reliable source of fresh food for local distribution.
Planned features include essential community resources such as an automated external defibrillator (AED), a helicopter emergency landing site, produce distribution systems, and a plant nursery for propagation and sharing.
Land Acquisition Opportunity
KCA established a Land Search Committee to identify a suitable site for a permanent community resource center, and an ideal 2.64-acre parcel adjacent to the Palapala Ho‘omau Church gathering area has been discovered.
This parcel is being offered to KCA at a reduced price of $50,000, representing a rare and time-sensitive opportunity. Securing this land would provide a long-term foundation for community resilience, cultural revitalization, and food sovereignty in Kīpahulu.
To ensure the long-term protection of this resource, KCA will establish a legally recorded land covenant at the time of purchase. This covenant will guarantee that the land remains under KCA ownership and is used in perpetuity for community benefit, cultural practice, and resource development. It will safeguard the property from privatization, misuse, or transfer outside of its intended purpose.
Governance & Stewardship
KCA is committed to stewarding this land through both strong community governance and alignment with ʻike Hawaiʻi.
The organization operates through a Board of Directors and a membership-based structure, with regular public meetings that ensure transparency and accountability. Stewardship of the Resource Center will be guided by kūpuna and community leaders.
This work is grounded in core Hawaiian values:
Mālama ʻĀina – caring for and restoring the land
Kuleana – shared responsibility across the community
Laulima – collective effort and cooperation
Aloha ʻĀina – deep respect and love for the land
Together, these values create a framework where land stewardship is reciprocal, intergenerational, and community-led.
Project Overview
KCA’s vision includes:
Purchase and protection of the 2.64-acre parcel
Installation of a safety fence along the coastal cliff
Removal of invasive vegetation and ecological restoration
Construction of a 20’ x 30’ traditional Canoe Hale
Development of a kalo patch and vegetable garden
Installation of a rainwater catchment system
This process will itself strengthen community bonds through shared labor and stewardship.
Budget Summary
Total Funding Requested: $109,000
Total In-Kind Labor Contribution: $117,500
Total budget: $226,500
Detailed Budget
Phase 1: Land Acquisition
Purchase & closing costs: $55,000
Legal services (in-kind): $2,500
Phase 2: Safety & Clearing
Fence installation: $7,500
Labor (in-kind): $14,000
Phase 3: Canoe Hale Construction
Materials: $30,000
Labor (in-kind): $42,000
Phase 4: Land Restoration
Equipment: $5,000
Labor (in-kind): $42,000
Phase 5: Garden Development
Equipment/materials: $2,000
Labor (in-kind): $10,000
Phase 6: Water System
Tank & plumbing: $10,000
Labor (in-kind): $7,000
Closing Statement
This project represents a critical investment in the future of Kīpahulu. By securing and stewarding this land, KCA will establish a permanent, community-held space for cultural practice, food security, and connection.
The inclusion of a land covenant ensures that this resource remains protected in perpetuity. Combined with strong governance and deep community commitment, this effort will create a lasting legacy for future generations.
Sincerely,
Kipahulu Community Association Board
Addendum:
As described in the proposal, a grassroots group has been meeting weekly and building community among Kipahulu residents. Called “Na Koa Anuenue”, it is a mutually supportive group with KCA, and its mission is well aligned with KCA’s. This group will comprise many of the volunteers who will implement our proposed project.
They, in turn, will benefit from having a covered meeting space and a community garden for promoting food security.
Na Koa Anuenue Mission
Our mission is to nurture a community grounded in Hawaiian culture, philosophy and symbolism, where shared knowledge and collective practice strengthen our daily lives. We are committed to building a subsistence way of life that emphasizes cooperation, kinship and the well-being of all generations. Through open dialogue, cultural learning and the redistribution of resources, we cultivate social stability, emotional support, and respect for both youth and elders, ensuring that all are welcomed, valued and cared for.
This supplemental testimony is submitted in my capacity as President of Kai Action Institute, a new Hawaiʻi 501(c)(3) nonprofit, to clarify that a revised version of my previously submitted testimony and accompanying proposed budget amendment has been transmitted to correct minor formatting and numbering inconsistencies identified after submission.
The corrections are strictly non-substantive and include: • correction of section numbering to ensure sequential order • correction of duplicate section labels • correction of internal fund naming for consistency • restoration of page numbering in standard Council format • removal of spacing irregularities in section headers • alignment of the budget proviso block with the document title • uniform capitalization of the Maui Living ʻĀina Stabilization Investment Trust Fund name
No policy, fiscal, legal, or operational elements of the proposed amendment were changed. The donation-only structure, zero County fiscal exposure, performance-based release conditions, audit requirements, and Council control provisions remain identical to the version described in my prior testimony.
This supplemental submission is therefore provided solely to ensure clean formatting, internal consistency, and ease of review for Councilmembers, staff, and the public record.
All arguments, rationale, and conclusions stated in my prior testimony remain unchanged and are incorporated herein by reference.
Also, for the record, Kai Action Institute is prepared to accept a $15,000,000,000 donation now, to be transferred to the County of Maui with exactly 0% overhead or processing fees immediately upon execution of the proper budget and/or MOA legislation.
Mahalo nui loa,
Travis Liggett, M.S.
President
Kai Action Institute +1 (808) 866-9320
info@kaiaction.org
Aloha esteemed Chair Lee and Members of the Council,
I respectfully propose adoption of the Maui Living ʻĀina Stabilization Trust (‘MLAST’) Fund budget proviso. This proposed amendment establishes a legally constrained, donation-only philanthropic framework for conditional investment in essential public living life-support systems, while preserving full Council fiscal authority and imposing no obligation on County funds.
The proposed amendment structure is intentionally conservative. No tax revenues are committed. No debt is authorized. No future appropriations are required. No funds may be released unless donations are actually received, deposited, certified, and conditioned through measurable performance metrics and audit requirements. If no donations occur, the amendment has no fiscal effect. The downside exposure is zero.
Within that conservative fiscal container, however, the amendment authorizes something unusually powerful: the formal recognition and investment in our unique islands’ living life-support systems at the County scale. Food, water, housing, healthcare, wastewater, reefs, and watersheds together constitute the operational infrastructure of human continuity. Investment in these systems is not speculative; it is foundational.
A literary analogy is instructive. Mary Shelley’s creation in Frankenstein required a metaphorical lightning strike to animate assembled components into a functioning new life form. Likewise, this amendment assembles the structural financial elements of a living allocation system and creates a lawful mechanism through which philanthropic capital may provide the animating charge of something entirely new.
With such a budget amendment, the Council is not creating the energy or spending any taxpayer dollars; it is responsibly installing the metaphorical lightning rod, a mana capture, storage and distribution framework for the ages.
In that sense, the Maui Living ʻĀina Stabilization Trust Fund functions as a Hawaiian lightning rod for sustained prosperity, a grounded, audited, and fiscally neutral mechanism designed to safely attract and channel philanthropic energy into the deployment of next-level life-sustaining infrastructure at unprecedented scale.
The amendment also reframes resilience. Physical bunkers for the ultra-wealthy provide protection only to those inside them, and only so long as external ecosystem-level life-support systems function. Islands, when extensively supported by food security (i.e., 80% vs. 8% local production), potable water (no waiting list for new meters), functioning sanitation (100% effluent disinfection), stable housing (0% unsheltered), and truly healthy ecosystems, each island of Maui nui would become an integrated living bunker, a self-sustaining system of fully-restored mokus, rather than inert sheltered spaces with a finite pantry that will eventually run out. This amendment invests not in walls, but in the integrated living systems that make survival possible for... everyone.
Viewed in that light, the proposal is effectively an authorization to invite life into a perpetual resilience structure, a "living ark" capable of scaling over time as donations are received, without imposing any cost on taxpayers or limiting future Council discretion.
Most importantly, this amendment costs citizens zero cents. It authorizes no spending absent donations. It creates no entitlement. It creates no obligation. It simply establishes a lawful container capable of receiving philanthropic capital, subject to audit, metrics, and Council control.
In practical terms, it creates a channel and framework for extremely favorable outcomes that otherwise cannot occur without a nonlinear increase in resources with a new ecosystem for partnerships, a disruptive force for resilience, and a container for investment in the living ʻāina that could last indefinitely.
A vision, respectfully, for miracles in local governance that are fully documented, audited, and fiscally neutral.
For these reasons, adoption of this amendment is both conservative and forward-looking, legally constrained yet operationally meaningful, and represents one of the most defensible zero-risk authorizations available to the Council.
Mahalo nui loa,
Travis Liggett, M.S.
+1 (808) 291-9934
travis.liggett@gmail.com
Kīpahulu Community Association Budget Request:
Papaloa Bay Community Resource Cultural Center
Background
The Kīpahulu Community Association (KCA) was established in 1993 to support the needs and advance the collective well-being of the Kīpahulu community. In partnership with another local nonprofit organization, a community center was developed in the decade following KCA’s founding through a combination of grant funding and extensive volunteer labor.
In recent years, however, changes in access and use have resulted in this facility no longer being available for KCA’s gatherings and programming. As a result, KCA has relocated its meetings, community events, and celebrations to Kīpahulu Point County Park. While this has allowed continuity, it has also underscored the urgent need for a dedicated, permanent space—a true “home”—to support the full range of community-building activities envisioned for this rural and geographically isolated area.
Need for the Papaloa Bay Community Resource Center:
Over the past year, a grassroots group of more than 40 Kīpahulu residents and their keiki—including both long-standing Native Hawaiian families and other local residents—has gathered weekly on Saturday mornings. These gatherings, currently held in the parking lot of Palapala Ho‘omau Church, focus on strengthening community relationships, deepening cultural and spiritual connection, and advancing local food security initiatives.
Despite the limitations of meeting in an improvised outdoor space, this group has already contributed significantly to the community through:
Roadside cleanup efforts
Harvesting bamboo for a traditional fishing boat launching structure
Volunteer work in lo‘i restoration and maintenance
Cultural enrichment programs, including Hawaiian craft workshops
The acquisition and stewardship of dedicated KCA land would provide a stable and culturally appropriate gathering place in a Canoe Hale. It would also support the development of a community garden and food forest, creating a reliable source of fresh food for local distribution.
Planned features include essential community resources such as an automated external defibrillator (AED), a helicopter emergency landing site, produce distribution systems, and a plant nursery for propagation and sharing.
Land Acquisition Opportunity
KCA established a Land Search Committee to identify a suitable site for a permanent community resource center, and an ideal 2.64-acre parcel adjacent to the Palapala Ho‘omau Church gathering area has been discovered.
This parcel is being offered to KCA at a reduced price of $50,000, representing a rare and time-sensitive opportunity. Securing this land would provide a long-term foundation for community resilience, cultural revitalization, and food sovereignty in Kīpahulu.
To ensure the long-term protection of this resource, KCA will establish a legally recorded land covenant at the time of purchase. This covenant will guarantee that the land remains under KCA ownership and is used in perpetuity for community benefit, cultural practice, and resource development. It will safeguard the property from privatization, misuse, or transfer outside of its intended purpose.
Governance & Stewardship
KCA is committed to stewarding this land through both strong community governance and alignment with ʻike Hawaiʻi.
The organization operates through a Board of Directors and a membership-based structure, with regular public meetings that ensure transparency and accountability. Stewardship of the Resource Center will be guided by kūpuna and community leaders.
This work is grounded in core Hawaiian values:
Mālama ʻĀina – caring for and restoring the land
Kuleana – shared responsibility across the community
Laulima – collective effort and cooperation
Aloha ʻĀina – deep respect and love for the land
Together, these values create a framework where land stewardship is reciprocal, intergenerational, and community-led.
Project Overview
KCA’s vision includes:
Purchase and protection of the 2.64-acre parcel
Installation of a safety fence along the coastal cliff
Removal of invasive vegetation and ecological restoration
Construction of a 20’ x 30’ traditional Canoe Hale
Development of a kalo patch and vegetable garden
Installation of a rainwater catchment system
This process will itself strengthen community bonds through shared labor and stewardship.
Budget Summary
Total Funding Requested: $109,000
Total In-Kind Labor Contribution: $117,500
Total budget: $226,500
Detailed Budget
Phase 1: Land Acquisition
Purchase & closing costs: $55,000
Legal services (in-kind): $2,500
Phase 2: Safety & Clearing
Fence installation: $7,500
Labor (in-kind): $14,000
Phase 3: Canoe Hale Construction
Materials: $30,000
Labor (in-kind): $42,000
Phase 4: Land Restoration
Equipment: $5,000
Labor (in-kind): $42,000
Phase 5: Garden Development
Equipment/materials: $2,000
Labor (in-kind): $10,000
Phase 6: Water System
Tank & plumbing: $10,000
Labor (in-kind): $7,000
Closing Statement
This project represents a critical investment in the future of Kīpahulu. By securing and stewarding this land, KCA will establish a permanent, community-held space for cultural practice, food security, and connection.
The inclusion of a land covenant ensures that this resource remains protected in perpetuity. Combined with strong governance and deep community commitment, this effort will create a lasting legacy for future generations.
Sincerely,
Kipahulu Community Association Board
Addendum:
As described in the proposal, a grassroots group has been meeting weekly and building community among Kipahulu residents. Called “Na Koa Anuenue”, it is a mutually supportive group with KCA, and its mission is well aligned with KCA’s. This group will comprise many of the volunteers who will implement our proposed project.
They, in turn, will benefit from having a covered meeting space and a community garden for promoting food security.
Na Koa Anuenue Mission
Our mission is to nurture a community grounded in Hawaiian culture, philosophy and symbolism, where shared knowledge and collective practice strengthen our daily lives. We are committed to building a subsistence way of life that emphasizes cooperation, kinship and the well-being of all generations. Through open dialogue, cultural learning and the redistribution of resources, we cultivate social stability, emotional support, and respect for both youth and elders, ensuring that all are welcomed, valued and cared for.
Aloha Chair Lee and Members of the Council,
This supplemental testimony is submitted in my capacity as President of Kai Action Institute, a new Hawaiʻi 501(c)(3) nonprofit, to clarify that a revised version of my previously submitted testimony and accompanying proposed budget amendment has been transmitted to correct minor formatting and numbering inconsistencies identified after submission.
The corrections are strictly non-substantive and include: • correction of section numbering to ensure sequential order • correction of duplicate section labels • correction of internal fund naming for consistency • restoration of page numbering in standard Council format • removal of spacing irregularities in section headers • alignment of the budget proviso block with the document title • uniform capitalization of the Maui Living ʻĀina Stabilization Investment Trust Fund name
No policy, fiscal, legal, or operational elements of the proposed amendment were changed. The donation-only structure, zero County fiscal exposure, performance-based release conditions, audit requirements, and Council control provisions remain identical to the version described in my prior testimony.
This supplemental submission is therefore provided solely to ensure clean formatting, internal consistency, and ease of review for Councilmembers, staff, and the public record.
All arguments, rationale, and conclusions stated in my prior testimony remain unchanged and are incorporated herein by reference.
Also, for the record, Kai Action Institute is prepared to accept a $15,000,000,000 donation now, to be transferred to the County of Maui with exactly 0% overhead or processing fees immediately upon execution of the proper budget and/or MOA legislation.
Mahalo nui loa,
Travis Liggett, M.S.
President
Kai Action Institute +1 (808) 866-9320
info@kaiaction.org
Aloha esteemed Chair Lee and Members of the Council,
I respectfully propose adoption of the Maui Living ʻĀina Stabilization Trust (‘MLAST’) Fund budget proviso. This proposed amendment establishes a legally constrained, donation-only philanthropic framework for conditional investment in essential public living life-support systems, while preserving full Council fiscal authority and imposing no obligation on County funds.
The proposed amendment structure is intentionally conservative. No tax revenues are committed. No debt is authorized. No future appropriations are required. No funds may be released unless donations are actually received, deposited, certified, and conditioned through measurable performance metrics and audit requirements. If no donations occur, the amendment has no fiscal effect. The downside exposure is zero.
Within that conservative fiscal container, however, the amendment authorizes something unusually powerful: the formal recognition and investment in our unique islands’ living life-support systems at the County scale. Food, water, housing, healthcare, wastewater, reefs, and watersheds together constitute the operational infrastructure of human continuity. Investment in these systems is not speculative; it is foundational.
A literary analogy is instructive. Mary Shelley’s creation in Frankenstein required a metaphorical lightning strike to animate assembled components into a functioning new life form. Likewise, this amendment assembles the structural financial elements of a living allocation system and creates a lawful mechanism through which philanthropic capital may provide the animating charge of something entirely new.
With such a budget amendment, the Council is not creating the energy or spending any taxpayer dollars; it is responsibly installing the metaphorical lightning rod, a mana capture, storage and distribution framework for the ages.
In that sense, the Maui Living ʻĀina Stabilization Trust Fund functions as a Hawaiian lightning rod for sustained prosperity, a grounded, audited, and fiscally neutral mechanism designed to safely attract and channel philanthropic energy into the deployment of next-level life-sustaining infrastructure at unprecedented scale.
The amendment also reframes resilience. Physical bunkers for the ultra-wealthy provide protection only to those inside them, and only so long as external ecosystem-level life-support systems function. Islands, when extensively supported by food security (i.e., 80% vs. 8% local production), potable water (no waiting list for new meters), functioning sanitation (100% effluent disinfection), stable housing (0% unsheltered), and truly healthy ecosystems, each island of Maui nui would become an integrated living bunker, a self-sustaining system of fully-restored mokus, rather than inert sheltered spaces with a finite pantry that will eventually run out. This amendment invests not in walls, but in the integrated living systems that make survival possible for... everyone.
Viewed in that light, the proposal is effectively an authorization to invite life into a perpetual resilience structure, a "living ark" capable of scaling over time as donations are received, without imposing any cost on taxpayers or limiting future Council discretion.
Most importantly, this amendment costs citizens zero cents. It authorizes no spending absent donations. It creates no entitlement. It creates no obligation. It simply establishes a lawful container capable of receiving philanthropic capital, subject to audit, metrics, and Council control.
In practical terms, it creates a channel and framework for extremely favorable outcomes that otherwise cannot occur without a nonlinear increase in resources with a new ecosystem for partnerships, a disruptive force for resilience, and a container for investment in the living ʻāina that could last indefinitely.
A vision, respectfully, for miracles in local governance that are fully documented, audited, and fiscally neutral.
For these reasons, adoption of this amendment is both conservative and forward-looking, legally constrained yet operationally meaningful, and represents one of the most defensible zero-risk authorizations available to the Council.
Mahalo nui loa,
Travis Liggett, M.S.
+1 (808) 291-9934
travis.liggett@gmail.com