Hawaii-2014-HR43-Introduced

WHEREAS, Act 140, Session Laws of Hawaii 2008, authorized the Governor to negotiate on behalf of the State with private interested parties to purchase the Turtle Bay property, and the Governor established a working group pursuant to Senate Concurrent Resolution 164, Session Laws of Hawaii 2013, to develop a conservation action plan to explore and identify conservation alternatives for the undeveloped portions of the Turtle Bay Hotel and Resort Property and surrounding lands with conservation or historic value; and

WHEREAS, the Governor's working group engaged multiple stakeholders to negotiate between the State and the developer of Turtle Bay Resorts, LLC, resulting in pending conservation options of conservation easements over the land financed through general obligation bonds authorized by the legislature in the Governor's proposed budget, rather than a fee purchase because the Turtle Bay Resort is unwilling to sell the land in fee; and

WHEREAS, the State is invested in both efforts to protect the remarkable natural resources of undeveloped lands surrounding Turtle Bay Resort's expansion on Koolauloa-North Shore area, while also supporting the economic opportunities and quality of life issues for the surrounding Koolauloa and Waialua moku, specifically in the Kahuku and Waialua communities; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that providing a capable workforce for the Turtle Bay expansion and integrated conservation easement management is connected to well-maintained public education facilities and programs, to support and encourage a capable workforce; and

WHEREAS, ensuring that Hawaii's schoolchildren learn in facilities that are safe, secure, and in good repair is critical to successful education, and a necessary infrastructure component of any increased development and conservation plans of Turtle Bay; and

WHEREAS, older facilities that are poorly maintained present serious risks to the health and well-being of those who use them, illustrated most recently by the collapse of the auditorium roof at Farrington High School in November 2012; and

WHEREAS, older facilities, by nature, require more funding for maintenance and upgrades, particularly for water and electrical systems, and are difficult and expensive to undertake; and

WHEREAS, recognizing the extraordinary costs of capital improvements to ensure the proper maintenance and repair of the State's public schools, the legislature established the State Educational Facilities Improvement Special Fund through Act 368, Session Laws of Hawaii 1989, to earmark a portion of general excise tax revenues to improve school facilities; and

WHEREAS, codified in section 36-32, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the State Educational Facilities Improvement Special Fund is to be used solely to plan, design, acquire lands for, and construct public school facilities and to provide equipment and technology infrastructure to improve public schools and other Department of Education facilities, except public libraries; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Education may also use moneys in the State Educational Facilities Improvement Special Fund or the General Fund for activities intended to eliminate the gap between schools' facility needs and available resources; and

WHEREAS, expenditures from the State Educational Facilities Improvement Special Fund are limited to projects authorized by the Legislature, are subject to certain provisions of the State's allotment system, and must be expended by the Superintendent of Education; and

WHEREAS, there continues to be a backlog of capital improvement projects under the Department of Education's jurisdiction; and

WHEREAS, the Governor's Turtle Bay working group resulted in pending conservation options of conservation easements over the land, financed through general obligation bonds authorized by the legislature in the Governor's current proposed budget; and

WHEREAS, in the interests of fairness, a viable compromise that best serves the various interests of the impacted community, from environmental preservation to infrastructure upgrades such as quality education for the area's workforce, would be to require that surrounding community school upgrades be included as a component to infrastructure funded by the general obligation bonds issued for conservation easement purchases in the Koolauloa-North Shore area; and

WHEREAS, the legislature finds a direct connection between the State purchase of conservation easements at Turtle Bay and a desperate need for surrounding community school upgrades to be included as a component to infrastructure funded by the general obligation bonds issued for conservation easement purchases in the Koolauloa-North Shore area; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, that proceeds from the general obligation bonds issued for the purchase of Turtle Bay lands shall go to the purchase of conservation easements and related infrastructure upgrades, including public school improvements in surrounding communities of Kahuku and Waialua; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, to the Superintendent of Education, and the Chief Executive Officer of Turtle Bay Resorts, LLC.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Turtle Bay Conservation Easement Bonds; School Infrastructure

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	43
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII