Paradise Racer
10-04-2008, 12:26 PM
We're happy to present an exceprt from the HCDA Meeting Minutes for Sept 3rd, 2008, where we made our initial KRP Presentation. This is from a DRAFT of the meeting minutes, if changed, I'll will update the post.
Read, and make up your own mind on who's for this project...and who's trying to stop it. And why...
Since Tracy was not able to post up the actual video, here are the minutes.
D. SORT, LLC Presentation on Kalaeloa Race Track
Chairperson Lai introduced Mr. Christopher Messer and Mr. Michael Kitchens from Oahu Motorsports Advisory Council (“OMAC”) who would be providing the presentation on SORT.
Mr. Messer and Mr. Kitchens presented a summary of the SORT presentation enclosed in the packet distributed to the Authority Members.
Before taking questions on the SORT presentation, Chairperson Lai established a committee to work with HCDA staff on resolving the issues with the proposed Kewalo Basin Rules. The committee would be comprised of Members Formby, Dwight, Kimura, Chang and Saito.
Chairperson Lai asked whether Members had questions for Mr. Messer and Mr. Kitchens.
Member Kane stated Mr. Messer and Mr. Kitchens had worked with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (“DHHL”) for the past six months to meet the requirements imposed on them and had met with organizations recommended to them. SORT made a presentation to the Hawaiian Homes Commission which had been unanimously supported and made themselves available to the Kapolei homesteaders during community meetings. It had been a long haul for everyone to find an interim use until a permanent site can be found. Member Kane acknowledged the work that had been done by SORT to mitigate and change some of their plans based on comments received during discussions with DHHL and community stakeholders.
Member Mukaigawa asked whether there would be a racing school on weekdays, and the racetrack would be open on weekends and occasional holidays.
Mr. Messer stated that was correct.
Member Mukaigawa asked whether drag racing would be allowed.
Mr. Messer replied the immediate opportunity did not allow for a drag strip. The original plan to include the drag strip might have jeopardized the project, so plans were changed.
Member Saito inquired as to what constraints were involved with the drag strip.
Mr. Messer stated that the physical property did not allow for a quarter mile drag strip with a safety shut down area. There is a layout that shows a one-eighth mile drag strip that might eventually be extended to a quarter mile drag strip. In order to construct the drag strip, they would have to relocate the dirt track.
Mr. Kitchens stated if the facility were designed for drag racing, it could only support drag racing by itself which represented only one half of the users. Since there are no race tracks in Hawaii for road racers, they decided to build the dirt track first, but are designing it to be relocated fairly easily.
Member Saito asked how it was determined that 2015 would be the date by which SORT would be in a permanent solution.
Mr. Messer stated that it had taken two years to get to the current point and he estimated it would take a minimum of three to four years to plan and relocate to a permanent facility.
Mr. Kitchens added that there could be a possibility that a private developer might come in and build a facility. Hawaii Raceway Park (HRP) had recently opened up for bid, however, no one stepped forward to bid. Member Kane of DHHL and Member Saito of the Department of Accounting and General Services have worked hard to assist SORT. He noted he had 300 letters of support and over 1,500 signatures on their petition in support of a racing facility.
Member Okada asked for clarification on the SORT organization.
Mr. George Grace, Jr. from the audience stated he is the attorney and developer for SORT which is a nonprofit organization. SORT does not have the space to support drag racers, but would help raise funds to send them to the neighbor islands where they can participate in racing.
Mr. Kitchens responded that his group is OMAC and is primarily composed of former tenants of the race track and the people who used to run the events. Earlier in the year, SORT and OMAC decided to work together to build the temporary facility.
Member Souza asked if SORT had met with the Kalaeloa Public Safety Group (“KPS”).
Mr. Messer replied they had not met with KPS. However, they had received a list of approximately fourteen agencies and responded to the concerns brought up in their meetings.
Member Souza posed questions regarding the number of spectators that a drift session would produce and the nature of the traffic study that SORT completed. She stated there would be substantial impact on the parcel and the adjoining community, Coast Guard, Surfing Beach, people staying in the cabanas and the housing areas as well on the roadway where the sides of the road are not up to standard. Over a thousand spectators had shown up at a recent event at HRP.
Mr. Messer stated the HRP event was not a drift session and they have about 300 spectators at a regular drift session. Major events that were sponsored and advertised did draw a greater number of spectators. For the traffic study, they did observations and counted cars in front of the property.
Member Souza asked whether SORT had spoken to anyone at the U. S. Coast Guard.
Mr. Kitchens replied that several attempts had been made to contact the U. S. Coast Guard, but they had not received a return call.
Member Souza posed questions to Mr. Grace regarding his plans to address the potential for fires, especially during summer months.
Mr. Grace responded that he would do his best to meet every safety requirement on the property and prevent problems in the surrounding areas.
Member Souza posed questions regarding whether Mr. Grace had met with the Department of Land and Natural Resources (“DLNR”) and the State Historic Preservation Division (“SHPD”) and whether he was aware of the cultural sites, iwi and endangered species on the property.
Mr. Grace responded that Mr. Messer and Mr. Kitchens would meet with DLNR and SHPD, and they were very aware of the cultural sites, iwi and endangered species.
Mr. Grace questioned whether there was a conflict of interest with the questions from Member Souza.
Member Souza asked Deputy Attorney General Sandra Ching for an opinion. Ms. Ching stated that questions from Member Souza were within the parameters.
Member Souza posed questions regarding installation of lighting.
Mr. Grace stated they had not reached that stage in their planning. He commented they had stadium lights that had been donated, but were not sure if they would be able to use the lights.
Member Souza asked whether SORT was planning to fix the deteriorated roads at Roosevelt and Coral Sea since they would be adding a substantial increase in vehicular traffic.
Mr. Grace stated he would help in any way he could although he did not feel the racetrack would impact the area any more than the population of the Barber’s Point Naval Air Station when it was open.
Member Souza asked whether SORT had talked to DLNR about the archaeological survey.
Mr. Messer responded he did not think DLNR had jurisdiction over the archaeological site. He had talked with the Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club and reviewed all the public archaeological reports for the area. He had discussed the reports with an archaeologist, but did not wish to release the name of the archaeologist at this time.
Member Souza noted the purpose of the presentation was to get SORT started on the temporary oval track which would be moved later for a road course. She asked if it was adequate for drifting.
Mr. Messer replied in the affirmative.
Member Souza stated she thought it was a go-cart track.
Chairperson Lai stated the Authority would take public comments. He noted there were various perspectives and opinions on the SORT issue and inappropriate behaviors would not be tolerated. He reminded speakers to limit their comments to two minutes.
Mr. Glenn Oamilda from the audience stated he lived in Ewa Beach which has long been impacted with traffic and development. He is a member of the Ewa Beach Hawaiian Civic Club and is a native Hawaiian who is sensitive to the cultural aspects in the development. Hawaiians used to traverse from Wahiawa to Makua, a contiguous route that included the beach shore. He stated Ewa Beach has not been involved in the grass roots process.
Well, this is Part 1 of the minutes. Couldn't fit the whole thing here. Too many characters.
Read, and make up your own mind on who's for this project...and who's trying to stop it. And why...
Since Tracy was not able to post up the actual video, here are the minutes.
D. SORT, LLC Presentation on Kalaeloa Race Track
Chairperson Lai introduced Mr. Christopher Messer and Mr. Michael Kitchens from Oahu Motorsports Advisory Council (“OMAC”) who would be providing the presentation on SORT.
Mr. Messer and Mr. Kitchens presented a summary of the SORT presentation enclosed in the packet distributed to the Authority Members.
Before taking questions on the SORT presentation, Chairperson Lai established a committee to work with HCDA staff on resolving the issues with the proposed Kewalo Basin Rules. The committee would be comprised of Members Formby, Dwight, Kimura, Chang and Saito.
Chairperson Lai asked whether Members had questions for Mr. Messer and Mr. Kitchens.
Member Kane stated Mr. Messer and Mr. Kitchens had worked with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (“DHHL”) for the past six months to meet the requirements imposed on them and had met with organizations recommended to them. SORT made a presentation to the Hawaiian Homes Commission which had been unanimously supported and made themselves available to the Kapolei homesteaders during community meetings. It had been a long haul for everyone to find an interim use until a permanent site can be found. Member Kane acknowledged the work that had been done by SORT to mitigate and change some of their plans based on comments received during discussions with DHHL and community stakeholders.
Member Mukaigawa asked whether there would be a racing school on weekdays, and the racetrack would be open on weekends and occasional holidays.
Mr. Messer stated that was correct.
Member Mukaigawa asked whether drag racing would be allowed.
Mr. Messer replied the immediate opportunity did not allow for a drag strip. The original plan to include the drag strip might have jeopardized the project, so plans were changed.
Member Saito inquired as to what constraints were involved with the drag strip.
Mr. Messer stated that the physical property did not allow for a quarter mile drag strip with a safety shut down area. There is a layout that shows a one-eighth mile drag strip that might eventually be extended to a quarter mile drag strip. In order to construct the drag strip, they would have to relocate the dirt track.
Mr. Kitchens stated if the facility were designed for drag racing, it could only support drag racing by itself which represented only one half of the users. Since there are no race tracks in Hawaii for road racers, they decided to build the dirt track first, but are designing it to be relocated fairly easily.
Member Saito asked how it was determined that 2015 would be the date by which SORT would be in a permanent solution.
Mr. Messer stated that it had taken two years to get to the current point and he estimated it would take a minimum of three to four years to plan and relocate to a permanent facility.
Mr. Kitchens added that there could be a possibility that a private developer might come in and build a facility. Hawaii Raceway Park (HRP) had recently opened up for bid, however, no one stepped forward to bid. Member Kane of DHHL and Member Saito of the Department of Accounting and General Services have worked hard to assist SORT. He noted he had 300 letters of support and over 1,500 signatures on their petition in support of a racing facility.
Member Okada asked for clarification on the SORT organization.
Mr. George Grace, Jr. from the audience stated he is the attorney and developer for SORT which is a nonprofit organization. SORT does not have the space to support drag racers, but would help raise funds to send them to the neighbor islands where they can participate in racing.
Mr. Kitchens responded that his group is OMAC and is primarily composed of former tenants of the race track and the people who used to run the events. Earlier in the year, SORT and OMAC decided to work together to build the temporary facility.
Member Souza asked if SORT had met with the Kalaeloa Public Safety Group (“KPS”).
Mr. Messer replied they had not met with KPS. However, they had received a list of approximately fourteen agencies and responded to the concerns brought up in their meetings.
Member Souza posed questions regarding the number of spectators that a drift session would produce and the nature of the traffic study that SORT completed. She stated there would be substantial impact on the parcel and the adjoining community, Coast Guard, Surfing Beach, people staying in the cabanas and the housing areas as well on the roadway where the sides of the road are not up to standard. Over a thousand spectators had shown up at a recent event at HRP.
Mr. Messer stated the HRP event was not a drift session and they have about 300 spectators at a regular drift session. Major events that were sponsored and advertised did draw a greater number of spectators. For the traffic study, they did observations and counted cars in front of the property.
Member Souza asked whether SORT had spoken to anyone at the U. S. Coast Guard.
Mr. Kitchens replied that several attempts had been made to contact the U. S. Coast Guard, but they had not received a return call.
Member Souza posed questions to Mr. Grace regarding his plans to address the potential for fires, especially during summer months.
Mr. Grace responded that he would do his best to meet every safety requirement on the property and prevent problems in the surrounding areas.
Member Souza posed questions regarding whether Mr. Grace had met with the Department of Land and Natural Resources (“DLNR”) and the State Historic Preservation Division (“SHPD”) and whether he was aware of the cultural sites, iwi and endangered species on the property.
Mr. Grace responded that Mr. Messer and Mr. Kitchens would meet with DLNR and SHPD, and they were very aware of the cultural sites, iwi and endangered species.
Mr. Grace questioned whether there was a conflict of interest with the questions from Member Souza.
Member Souza asked Deputy Attorney General Sandra Ching for an opinion. Ms. Ching stated that questions from Member Souza were within the parameters.
Member Souza posed questions regarding installation of lighting.
Mr. Grace stated they had not reached that stage in their planning. He commented they had stadium lights that had been donated, but were not sure if they would be able to use the lights.
Member Souza asked whether SORT was planning to fix the deteriorated roads at Roosevelt and Coral Sea since they would be adding a substantial increase in vehicular traffic.
Mr. Grace stated he would help in any way he could although he did not feel the racetrack would impact the area any more than the population of the Barber’s Point Naval Air Station when it was open.
Member Souza asked whether SORT had talked to DLNR about the archaeological survey.
Mr. Messer responded he did not think DLNR had jurisdiction over the archaeological site. He had talked with the Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club and reviewed all the public archaeological reports for the area. He had discussed the reports with an archaeologist, but did not wish to release the name of the archaeologist at this time.
Member Souza noted the purpose of the presentation was to get SORT started on the temporary oval track which would be moved later for a road course. She asked if it was adequate for drifting.
Mr. Messer replied in the affirmative.
Member Souza stated she thought it was a go-cart track.
Chairperson Lai stated the Authority would take public comments. He noted there were various perspectives and opinions on the SORT issue and inappropriate behaviors would not be tolerated. He reminded speakers to limit their comments to two minutes.
Mr. Glenn Oamilda from the audience stated he lived in Ewa Beach which has long been impacted with traffic and development. He is a member of the Ewa Beach Hawaiian Civic Club and is a native Hawaiian who is sensitive to the cultural aspects in the development. Hawaiians used to traverse from Wahiawa to Makua, a contiguous route that included the beach shore. He stated Ewa Beach has not been involved in the grass roots process.
Well, this is Part 1 of the minutes. Couldn't fit the whole thing here. Too many characters.