Almost $1.2 million has accumulated in a special account since voters in 2012 approved setting aside money for nonprofits to compete for grants to help take care of land bought with open space funds.
But the county has yet to award its first stewardship grant.
That concerns some members of the County Council, who on Wednesday quizzed the administration on why grants haven’t been awarded.
“There’s plenty of money, and the longer we wait, the longer there’s money just sitting there,” said Puna Councilman Greggor Ilagan. “That’s not what I want to see government become.”
Council members’ questions echoed similar concerns voiced in late 2013 by the county Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission about a lack of a process to solicit, evaluate and award proposals from qualifying nonprofits.
The job has fallen to the county Department of Parks and Recreation. Director Clayton Honma brought the council an analysis of five applications from nonprofits wanting to take care of county-owned land at Ka‘ooo and Kaiholena in North Kohala, Waipio in Hamakua and Kawa Bay in Ka‘u.
But because no council member has sponsored a resolution awarding any money, no action was taken.
“We’re Parks and Recreation. We don’t give out grants to begin with. This is our first go-round,” Honma said. “When this program fell into our laps, as far as the funding goes and overseeing the funding, there was no person in a position then to review the grants or administer and oversee the applications.”
The 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. According to the charter, the county must advertise by Aug. 1 of each year, provided money is available.
“There may have been some miscommunication at the outset, and being this is our first time doing this, it’s understandable,” said Hamakua Councilwoman Valerie Poindexter, who was concerned that typical grant-awarding processes weren’t followed in selecting the first group of finalists. “Some things maybe we have a little flawed, and it’s a learning process for us.”
Council members, learning that the county did advertise for grant applications in July 2014, asked what’s taking so long. The next round of grant solicitations will go out later this month, without the first wave being awarded.
“We wanted to make sure we were thorough,” said Jason Armstrong, a public relations specialist for the department. “We didn’t want to make any mistakes or rush the process.”
So far, the county has spent about $200,000, primarily for consultants to verify boundaries, conduct archaeological and flora and fauna studies and haul off green waste, according to the June 5 PONC report.
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.