STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2219

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2286

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 2286 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STATE SMALL BOAT HARBORS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Require all use permits at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor to be obtained at public auction;

 

     (2)  Require that public notice of the public auction for a use permit at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor be given and include certain information;

 

     (3)  Require all public auctions for use permits at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor to be conducted by the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources or an authorized employee of the Department of Land and Natural Resources under the direction of the Board of Land and Natural Resources without additional compensation; and

 

     (4)  Establish that a use permit at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor be valid for two years.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Quicksilver Charters, Calypso Charters, Ocean Tourism Coalition, and Teralani Sailing Adventures.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

 

     Your Committee finds that the Ala Wai Boat Harbor is the State's largest small boat harbor, with over seven hundred fifty berths and moorings.  According to the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the mooring fees at Ala Wai Boat Harbor, which are separate from the revenue that is generated by land concessions, such as parking at the harbor, do not cover the costs of managing, maintaining, repairing, replacing, and improving the mooring slips and associated infrastructure used by the boaters moored at the harbor.  This measure will generate additional revenue to cover the costs of the mooring program and associated infrastructure to support the State's boating and ocean recreation program.

 

     Your Committee notes the concern raised by the Department of Land and Natural Resources that conducting a public auction for a person to obtain a use permit at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor would be a tedious process to implement.

 

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Adding language to authorize the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources to contract for services as may be necessary to conduct a public auction for use permits at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor;

 

     (2)  Extending the validity of the use permits at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor from two years to five years; and

 

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2286, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2286, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water and Land,

 

 

 

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair