HILO — Some $1.86 million is sitting in a special account to maintain property purchased with open space funds, yet only two organizations have so far been awarded grants to spend the money.
The slow place of getting stewardship grants to nonprofit groups irks at least one member of the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission. Tim DeLozier, who represents Hamakua and Waimea, said Monday that he’d like to see the process move faster.
He put the onus on the county Department of Parks and Recreation, which is charged with oversight by the county charter.
“More than $1.8 million is just sitting there. How much more hundreds of thousands of dollars is going to accumulate while projects need maintenance,” DeLozier asked. “There’s a lack of initiative in Parks and Recreation on this. Given their history and their lack of initiative, I think we need to be proactive on this.”
The charter says the fund will be “administered and managed” by the department. However, “adequate staff to carry out the provisions” of the requirement “shall be provided” in the department, according to the charter.
Parks and Recreation Director Charmaine Kamaka, who took over in early December, said the main problem is a dearth of qualified nonprofits applying for grants. There were only five applicants last year, and only two qualified, she said.
“The grant money is there. That’s not the issue,” Kamaka said Monday. “The issue is completing the grant application with a track record to prove you have the ability to carry out the project.”
A new round of solicitations for grant applicants will begin in August.
The maintenance activity got off to a very slow start. Although money started accruing in the fund in March, 2013, no grants were paid out until March of last year.
A 2012 charter amendment set aside 0.25 percent of property taxes to go into a maintenance account. That’s in addition to the 2 percent set aside to buy land. About $350,000 to $400,000 annually is deposited into the fund, depending on tax revenues and interest.
Since the program began, at least $300,000 has gone for consultants, equipment, waste hauling, herbicides and the like, according to a financial report ending March 7. Another $58,450 has been paid to one of the two nonprofit grant awardees, Pohaha I Ka Lani.
Pohaha I Ka Lani was the only nonprofit getting a grant last year, for stewardship of the Waipio Valley Lookout. It received another grant this year to continue the work. Pohaha I Ka Lani was awarded $94,500 this year.
The other grantee is Hawaii Wildlife Fund, which was awarded a grant of $13,200 that it would use for a project costing $36,744.64 at Kawa Bay.
According to the charter amendment, the money can be used for repair work, conservation and restoration of soil, forests, shorelines, native wildlife, streams and wetlands. Wildfire and fire prevention activities and repair of existing buildings to meet code requirements, replacing signs and installing and repairing fencing and cattle guards are also allowable projects. Archaeological surveys, buffering of Native Hawaiian historical and cultural sites and biological studies for protection of Native Hawaiian plants and animals round out the list.
