STAND. COM. REP. NO. 582

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 1457

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Media, Arts, Science, and Technology and Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 1457 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NORTH KOHALA,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to acquire lands adjacent to the Kohala Historical Sites State Monument to provide public access to the cluster of historical sites, including the Mo'okini Heiau, and to protect the historical sites by providing additional buffers.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Mo'okini Luakini, Inc. Your Committees also received comments regarding this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, and Kamehameha Schools.

Your Committees find that Act 166, Session Laws of Hawaii 1992, now codified as section 6E-38.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, was intended to preserve and protect an important cluster of historical sites in North Kohala on the island of Hawaii. Collectively, this cluster of sites is known as the Kohala Historical Sites State Monument. Act 166 mandated that certain real property be acquired in order to ensure the unimpaired preservation of the visual, cultural, and historical aspect of the monument, and to provide an adequate buffer surrounding the sites.

Your Committees find that the additional land has not been acquired, despite the State's efforts to do so through gifts or land exchanges. Your Committees support the acquisition of the lands adjacent to the monument as necessary to provide public access to the Kohala Historical Sites State Monument, including the Mo'okini Heiau, and to protect the site. Your Committees further believe that this measure is critical in ensuring that the Department of Land and Natural Resources renews its efforts to acquire, through land exchange, the lands necessary to protect and preserve the Kohala Historical Sites State Monument.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Media, Arts, Science, and Technology and Water, Land, and Agriculture that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1457 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Media, Arts, Science, and Technology and Water, Land, and Agriculture,

____________________________

RUSSELL S. KOKUBUN, Chair

____________________________

CAROL FUKUNAGA, Chair