Board Grants Permit to Former Tenant To Close, Remediate Moloaʻa Well Site
On February 14, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources granted a right-of-entry permit to allow Jeffrey Lindner to finish capping a well, remove any pipelines and transmission facilities he installed, and complete a Level One hazardous waste evaluation, “as well as complete abatement and disposal, if necessary,” on a state parcel in Moloaʻa, Kauaʻi.
For decades, Lindner held a revocable permit that allowed him to operate the well, which served surrounding agricultural properties that eventually became developed with a number of residences. Unwilling to upgrade and maintain an agricultural water system that needed to meet the state Department of Health’s standards for potable water, Lindner allowed his permit to expire at the end of last year.
The permit the Land Board granted him last month gives him time to complete the closure process.
“It should be noted that the well will be deemed ‘closed,’ but it is not being abandoned since there is interest from the permittee, the County of Kauaʻi, and even the state’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife that the well be available for possible use in the future,” a report from the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Land Division states.
Kauaʻi land agent Alison Neustein told the Land Board that Lindner had already removed pipes that were transmitting water from the well to his delivery system on his own lands. “Anything pre-existing belonged to the state,” she said.
“From what I observed, they’re heavy-duty metal pipes,” she said of the state’s portion of the system. “They looked like they were in fine shape, the portions I saw,” she said.
Last year, before Lindner’s original permit expired, agricultural tenants on adjacent properties served by his well sought to have him be forced to continue water deliveries in October and warned that losing their source of water before they could get an alternative source online would be devastating to farms and businesses.
At the Land Board’s meeting last month, Lindner reported that the tenants on Moloaʻa Hui lands that used to be served by his well were able to get their system online. “We gave them an extra month,” he said.
Kauaʻi board member Karen Ono moved to approve the recommendation with an amendment that the division complete a final site inspection report. The motion passed unanimously.
Land Board Grants Permit To AccesSurf for Ala Wai Lot
AccesSurf, a non-profit organization that provides water programs to people with disabilities, now has a central location to store its equipment.
At its February 14 meeting, the Land Board approved a recommendation from the DLNR’s Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation to grant a revocable permit to the organization to allow it to place storage containers and a vehicle on a 1,200-square-foot parcel at the Ala Wai small boat harbor. Rent will be $40 a month.
Meghan Statts, DOBOR administrator, told the board that the division may look to provide space for the organization at other locations in the future.
“We’re happy to be doing this partnership with them,” she said.
“Founded with the vision of fostering inclusivity and breaking barriers, AccesSurf offers
adaptive surfing, shoreline activities, and therapeutic programs that promote physical and emotional well-being. One of its flagship initiatives, the Waterman’s Program, focuses on
creating meaningful ocean experiences for people with disabilities. Through this program,
participants build confidence, improve physical mobility, and develop a sense of
community while engaging in water sports and ocean safety education,” a DOBOR report to the board states.
Cara Short, executive director of AccssSurf, reported that the group serves 1,500 individuals annually, many of which participate in multiple “experiences” in a given year.
Ann Yoshida, AccesSurf’s training and innovation specialist, testified that she has “personally been affected and have seen the effects of our organization for the past 18 years, being a person in a wheelchair, understanding the challenges we have in accessing the ocean. …
“Since getting back into the ocean, that allowed me to feel like I had a choice in life. I went to school. Traveled around the world … representing Hawaiʻi as a para-Olympian, also an inductee into the Waterman Hall of Fame. The impact that I have is worldwide. I got a doctorate in occupational therapy. This is the power that the ocean has. The power of surfing, paddling, fishing, being able to be connected in that space and how it can affect your family. And practicing the culture … has a huge impact in a person’s life.”
“These are the things that I got from AccesSurf,” she went on to say. “I hope to see that grow in the state of Hawaiʻi.”
Short said that until now, AccesSurf has had to store all of its equipment in “a ton of different places,” including people’s vehicles, homes and storage containers.
“It takes a lot of time and energy to go back and forth. Our office is now in Waikiki. …
The thing about Ala Wai, it’s close to where we work. We also go often to Rock Piles and Bowls … It checks all the boxes,” she added.
Although the permit expires June 30, Statts said that DOBOR is considering including a space for an organization like AccesSurf in its request for proposals to develop the entire small boat harbor.
Community Group to Build $1.7M ‘State of the Art’ Restroom at Haʻena
“[T]his is pretty much unprecedented … for a non-profit group like ours to take on this level of capital improvement. … It’s not just the money. We worked literally for two years planning … You name it, we did it. We went through the whole [Special Management Area] process with the county. It was a huge undertaking. I think when this is all done, you will be very happy to accept this facility,” Chipper Wichman, secretary of Hui Makaʻāinana o Makana, told the Land Board at its February 14 meeting.
At that meeting, the DLNR’s Division of State Parks recommended that the Land Board authorize the construction, by the hui, of a new comfort station within Haʻena State Park on Kauaʻi – one that will eventually be turned over to the state. The hui, which has long been a steward of the area, was granted a revocable permit a few years ago by the board to expand its management activities within the park, including collecting visitor fees.
“It’s a monumental achievement,” the division’s Alan Carpenter said of the proposed new comfort station. “Coming from a group that only has a month-to-month permit, which is insane. The dollar value is north of $1.5 million. This group has banked that kind of money on a month-to-month while also paying the state over a million dollars a year. … This model just continues to break new ground, literally, in this case.”
A long-term lease to the hui has been years in the making. Carpenter reported that his division has a draft submittal for a lease ‘ʻin its umpteenth form” that will come to the board very soon.
In the meantime, hui executive director Pua Chin told the board, “we’re so excited the project is moving. … We’ll be super grateful when we’re able to turn it back over to Alan when we’re all done.”
Wichman added that the station’s wastewater system was “state of art,” and included a triple digester, the effluent from which is considered potable water.
“It goes through a UV light filter. … Literally, drinking water comes out of this thing. You may say it’s overkill, but we are in a very sensitive cultural area. Our loʻi kalo is not too far from this. There is no real possibility that anything from the leach field will make its way into the loʻi kalo system. We wanted to be double, triple sure,” he said.
He explained that the hui has been able to fund the $1.7 million project by “scrimping on our end in terms of staffing. … We felt this was such an essential improvement. … Once this is behind us, we’ll be able to do an even better job of stewarding this landscape.”
Wichman credited Carpenter with being the hui’s “partner in crime” regarding the project.
Board chair Dawn Chang also acknowledged Carpenter’s work. “It does take a staff [member] to have a mission, to be a champion within the department. … There are those that push the limits,” she said.
Wichman said that completing the new comfort station will allow the department to address the existing cesspool-based comfort station at Kēʻē beach, “which is literally on top of iwi kupuna.”
In a press release following the board’s approval, State Parks Division administrator Curt Cottrell said, “Over the years, many people have commented on the lack of restroom facilities at the parking lot. It’s a five-to-15-minute walk to the comfort station near the beach. Moreover, the new station should reduce the number of people who head into the trees to relieve themselves, which will help protect the natural and cultural resources of Hāʻena. While the number of parking spots will be reduced during construction, it’s anticipated residents and visitors can be accommodated via the modified parking plan and increased shuttle capacity.”
— Teresa Dawson
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