UPDATE 7/22/17 The next meeting on August 9, 1:30 PM will in fact be in Kihei at the Community Center on Lipoa. We do not know who will attend besides KCA. Also of note to those concerns with trees, the County is looking for a new County Arborist to replace David Sakoda.
7/12/17 #kihei
What do you know about the Maui County Arborist Committee (MCAC)? Here is what is on the Administration’s Website today:
Responsibilities
The Maui County arborist committee which shall consist of nine members appointed and who may be removed by the Mayor with notice to, but without approval by, the County Council. The members shall be residents of the County with professional or other interest in landscape beautification.
There shall be six nonvoting, ex-officio members consisting of: the arborist, the plan reviewer, the Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Director of the Department of Public Works, the Director of the Department of Planning, and the Director of Housing and Human Concerns or their respective designees.
The scope of the committee shall include recommendations for; a landscape planting plan in public areas throughout the county, shall be a reviewing body for any landscape planting in public parks and street beautification programs and shall recommend exceptional trees to be protected and provide appropriate protective ordinances.
As far as we can determine, none of these directors “or their respective designees” show up at these meetings; none were there at this meeting.
Our concern and reason for giving testimony this afternoon was the matter of a grove of milo trees along the paved walking path on the North (back) side of the main building at the Kihei Community Center (KCC).
Since then Council member King continuously tried to schedule a public on-site meeting to explore the purported reason to remove the trees – homeless congregating in the vicinity. We find this reasoning to remove a grove of healthy trees puzzling at best and going toward ludicrous.
The all volunteer advisory committee advised they will try to arrange such a meeting.
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Hopefully there are others who will agree with the comment above, re removal of KCC trees:
“We find this reasoning to remove a grove of healthy trees puzzling at best and going toward ludicrous.”
(Incidentally, do these trees block a view of the ocean ?)
Mahalo for your continue input. No sir no ocean views are blocked by them. The provide shade and beauty along a walking path that runs mauka-makai at the rear of the Community Center. The other side of the path is the rear of an apartment complex on Pi’ikea.
That said, we stand corrected in stating committee is “advisory”, as it has existing authority under the County Code. Mo’ betta.