Improvements at Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden top the list of awards to nonprofits the administration is recommending for the use of property tax funds earmarked for the county Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Commission.
The County Council Finance Committee will consider the list of nine projects totaling $709,761 at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in Hilo. The council must subsequently submit a resolution in order for the money to be spent.
Parks and Recreation Director Maurice Messina said the list is from the 2020 applications originally intended to be awarded last year. The program was transferred from Parks and Recreation to the Finance Department by a 2020 charter amendment, but Parks and Rec agreed to handle the last year of applications to ease the transition. The process was further slowed when departments were tasked with responding to the pandemic, Messina said.
“The evaluations provided are not an opinion as to the overall merits, importance, necessity, or significance of any or all the proposed stewardship actions. Instead, they are an assessment of the content of the grant applications relative to their perceived eligibility pursuant to DPR’s understanding of the applicable language of the County Charter,” Messina said in a communication to the council. “Each application was reviewed independently, and care taken to ensure that applications were not compared to, or pitted against, one another.”
Messina could not be reached for further comment.
Preservation advocates became increasingly concerned the fund was carrying a large balance with little activity in buying properties or paying nonprofits to maintain them. In fact, the maintenance account has surpassed the $3 million cap where excess funds are supposed to be returned to the general fund.
In response, the PONC Commission formed a committee and the County Council sought an update last year.
Properties are prioritized for purchase each year using a sweep of 2% of property tax revenues each year. A separate account, the maintenance fund, is paid from an additional one-quarter percent.
The top grant award, $191,609, is being recommended for the Friends of Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden. Projects include fencing, plant preservation, restoration, mapping and maintenance, restoration of various buildings including driveway/access improvements, cesspool conversion, conversion of Amy Greenwell’ s former home to an education and caretaker’s facility, and tenting all facilities for termites.
Other grants recommended:
• Na Mamo O Kawa (Kawaa/ Kawaa Bay) Funds requested: $123,500
• Na Maka Haloa O Waipio (Pohoiki) Funds requested: $119,900
• Pohaha I Ka Lani (Waipi‘o Valley Lookout) Funds requested: $92,300
• North Kohala Community Resource Center (Kaiholena) Funds requested: $64,042
• North Kohala Community Resource Center (Hapuu) Funds requested: $37,690
• North Kohala Community Resource Center (Paoo) Funds requested: $37,690
• Kohanaiki Ohana (Ooma Lands) Funds requested: $24,880
• Hoomalu Kau (Kahua Olohu) Funds requested: $18,150
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.