HILO — The Hawaii County Council is so concerned about the island’s trees it added $120,000 to the budget to hire and equip a professional arborist.
But a committee charged with protecting trees has languished for eight years without ever having members appointed. The Arborist Advisory Committee last met in May, 2008, according to online documents for county boards and commissions. Mayor Billy Kenoi took office in December of that year.
“It’s not a tree-hugger administration,” said Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille, a frequent critic of the mayor.
Wille said Thursday she’s asked Kenoi’s administration many times over the years to seat the committee before she finally gave up.
Terms of the committee members are co-terminus with the mayor’s, according to county code. The members are appointed without council confirmation.
Kenoi didn’t return a telephone message by press time Thursday.
But Charmaine Shigemura, an executive assistant to the mayor who is charged with filling boards and commissions, said the Arborist Advisory Committee has been especially hard to fill because of the specialized nature of the membership requirements.
The committee is supposed to have six members, including the Planning Department director or designee and one member who is actively employed in the practice of landscape architecture. The four other members are selected on the basis of active participation in community beautification or research or organization in ecological sciences such as ethnobotany or Hawaiiana.
“Planning was unable to find the required members,” Shigemura said. “That’s been the challenge.”
The committee’s function is to oversee the county’s exceptional tree program, ensuring trees aren’t unnecessarily removed during development and redevelopment. The committee is also charged with creating lists and maps of exceptional trees and advising property owners about preserving and enhancing trees.
At the request of Puna Councilman Greggor Ilagan, the council voted 7-2 earlier this month to add the position of county arborist to the Department of Public Works, with an annual salary of $80,000. The budget will also provide another $40,000 for equipment.
Ilagan said the arborist would be invaluable not only helping the county get a handle on its hazardous tree program, but also to help curb the spread of rapid ohia death, a fungus that is threatening the endemic trees on the island.
The money for the fiscal year starting July 1 will come from a current fund for removal of albizia and other hazardous trees that has so far not been used. It’s likely that money will be needed in future years, however, forcing the county to find another funding source later.
But the majority of the council believed the position is worthwhile, not only to know which trees to cut, but equally as important, which trees to leave alone.
The council’s decision to add an arborist followed another outpouring of community opposition to the removal of a dozen trees from Kamehameha Park in North Kohala. More than 60 of the parkgoers had filled the videoconference site at the park during the first reading of the budget in May.
Wille said the county wants to cut more trees from the park, but she’s hoping the community can reach a consensus on the issue. For example, a clear understanding of why a tree needs to be cut, and a plan to replace it, are factors that should be discussed prior to cutting, she said.