3/13/20 Newsletter
WAINAKU KAIWIKI COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
March 13, 2020
In this issue:
Attempted Robbery Upper Kaiwiki
Calendar
Minutes of Association meeting of March 7
A white Toyota Tacoma Vintage 2000 was chased off a property on upper Kaiwiki about midnight on
Thursday night. There was an attempt to break into a vehicle; interior lights alerted the resident and 3
men were chased off the property and down the road. The license plate was covered with some kind of
bag. Police were called and came to the location about an hour after the event. Neighbors need to be
watchful, the police said there had been “multiple’ break-ins in the area.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
* Saturday, June 20, 8:30am: Pavilion and Road Cleanup (meet at the park)
* Saturday March 7, Noon Annual Membership Meeting
* Saturday, August 8, Annual end of summer pot luck time TBA
* Sunday, December 6, Holiday party time TBA
The P avilion – a materials list with the requested pricing was submitted to Parks and Rec on Thursday.
The usual time delays will probably be exacerbated by the CoronaVirus pandemi c – still hoping to get to
work this summer.
Annual Association General Meeting – Minutes
The annual meeting of the Wainaku-Kaiwiki Community Association was called to order by President
Gary Barr at 1:00 P. M. on Saturday, March 7, at the pavilion in Upper Kaiwiki Park.
The end-of-summer picnic is scheduled for Saturday, August 8. The annual holiday party will be on
Sunday, December 6.
Discussion was held on communications. Our website is basically inactive; Axel Kratel volunteered to get
it up and running, and to be the system operator for it. Our Facebook page suffers from the same problem
of irregular updates. Regular communications to members will continue to be via email.
While there have been no reports of thefts or break-ins in the last few months, the issue remains a
concern. We should all continue to monitor suspicious-acting people and vehicles, and communicate to
the Association our observations and concerns.
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Gary Barr
Roxanna Lynch
Dan Lindsay
Jean Trefethen
Members at Large: Sharon O’Connell, Pam Brand, Beverly Fuller, Scott Trefethen, Mihaela Ryer, Charlie Pavao (Emeritus)
The renovations to the park pavilion are still progressing, albeit at a glacial pace. Gary is pushing the
county as much as possible, but getting anything from them takes weeks. However, Gary believes it is
possible to have the renovation in the coming year.
ELECTIONS: All current of and Board members were re-elected by unanimous ballot. They are as
follows:
President Gary Barr
Vice-president Roxy Lynch
Secretary Dan Lindsay
Treasurer Jean Trefethan
Members-at-large
Pam Brand
Beverly Fuller
Sharon O’Connell
Charles Pavao
Mihaela Ryer
Scott Trefethen
Heather Kimball, candidate to succeed Valerie Poindexter as our County Council representative, attended
the meeting and spoke about her candidacy.
The passing of Ernest Pacheco, long-time Board member and active Association participant, was noted.
The meeting was adjourned at [TIME NOT NOTED!].
Respectfully submitted,
Dan Lindsay
WKCA Secretary
http://www.facebook.com/friendsoaiwikipark website w ww.kaiwiki.org
email: wkcassoc@gmailcom
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Gary Barr
Roxanna Lynch
Dan Lindsay
Jean Trefethen
Members at Large: Sharon O’Connell, Pam Brand, Beverly Fuller, Scott Trefethen, Mihaela Ryer, Charlie Pavao (Emeritus)
2/29/20 Newsletter
WAINAKU KAIWIKI COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
February 29, 2020
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
* Saturday, March 7, Noon: Annual Membership Meeting & Potluck
* Saturday, June 20, 8:30: Road Cleanup (tentatively meet at the pavilion)
* Sunday, August 9, Time TBD: Annual Summer Potluck
ANNUAL ORGANIZATION MEETING – Potluck social, election of board and of and issues of interest.
The Agenda will include:
● Election of of
● Update on Pavilion renovation
● Meet and Greet with Council Candidate Heather Kimball
● Plastic recycling
● Other issues from the
Bring something to share, food and drink available from noon, the meeting will start at 1:00pm
KAIWIKI CLEANUP
Saturday, Feb. 15 was our road cleanup day, we
had the best turnout yet and consequently the
biggest (unfortunately) garbage haul. Not
pictured, are Sharon O’Connell and Rick, Hilary
and Tom and their friend Rachel (who is from
elsewhere), Charlie Pavao and Jean Trefethen. A
sizable group (hope I didn’t miss anyone). We
in a bit over an hour – from the end of the
pavement all the way to Wainaku – the old saw
about many hands is again validated. THANK YOU!
PARK PAVILION SAGA
I am probably the only one who can testify that
progress, (glacial progress), is being made, as
there are no outward signs that anything is happening. The county has in their possession, for nearly a
month, a list of the materials needed. They now require estimates for all items, something we only
learned this past week. So while frustrations abound, and virtuous patience is being tested, we are
grinding away at it and expect to see material progress this summer, certainly (?) this year. So as we are
in the the third year of working at this, certainty, is a moving target. BUT, when we get the materials in
hand, we will need people to help, that is, to do the renovation work – which is a new roof and all the
support structure as well as siding, gutters and paint.
Park Improvement Steering Committee: Mihaela Ryer, Scott Trefethen, Roxy Lynch, Gary Barr
MEET & GREET – County Council candidate Heather Kimball will be coming by to introduce herself and
be introduced to our community association..
RECYCLING
For those concerned with the recent reduction of recycling services, Paradise Plastics will take 1, 2, 4, 5
plastic containers. Business Services also takes 1, 2’s (bottle shaped). Recycling is dif (shouldn’t be),
a short discussion at our meeting might bring up some avenues that would make it easier for concerned
people to deal with their plastic.
A bit of uplift …. Mauna Kea Magistry
Photo – Gwen Herrington
email: wkcassoc@gmailcom http://www.facebook.com/friendsoaiwikipark
website http://www.kaiwiki.org
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Gary Barr
Roxanna Lynch
Dan Lindsay
Jean Trefethen
Members at Large: Sharon O’Connell, Pam Brand, Beverly Fuller, Scott Trefethen, Mihaela Ryer, Charlie Pavao (Emeritus)
2/12/20 Newsletter
WAINAKU KAIWIKI COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
Annual Membership Meeting Edition
February 12, 2020
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
* Saturday, 2/15, 8:30am: Pavilion and Road Cleanup (meet at the park)
* Saturday March 7, Noon Annual Membership Meeting
KAIWIKI CLEANUP
Saturday, Feb. 15 is our next scheduled Road Cleanup. You may have noticed that the holiday season has
left its presents along the road. Meet at the upper park pavilion at 8:30. Bring gloves, the association will
provide orange vests, garbage bags and water.
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Our annual meeting will be on Saturday the 7th. at noon. Bring something food and stories to share. The
meeting will start at 1:00 after which there will be more time to share stories “of the road”. The meeting
agenda, at this time will include the election of ofers and at-large board members (9 total).
Also an update on the pa vilion r enovation saga which continues to move forward. The list of materials
required to do the work is being prepared for bid. Perhaps we will have enough information to go ahead
and the dates to do the work.
The r ecycling crisis, maybe WKCA can be helpful and then the calendar dates for our traditional August
and holiday get togethers or any other calendar items.
If anyone has other items to place on the agenda please send them on via this email address. Thank you
Gary Barr – current WKCA President
http://www.facebook.com/friendsoaiwikipark website w ww.kaiwiki.org
email: wkcassoc@gmailcom
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Gary Barr
Roxanna Lynch
Dan Lindsay
Jean Trefethen
Members at Large: Sharon O’Connell, Pam Brand, Beverly Fuller, Scott Trefethen, Mihaela Ryer, Charlie Pavao (Emeritus)
2/6/20 Newsletter
WAINAKU KAIWIKI COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
(the occasional association newsletter)
February 6, 2020
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
* Saturday, 2/15, 8:30am: Pavilion and Road Cleanup (meet at the park)
* March 2019: Annual Membership Meeting TBA
KAIWIKI CLEANUP
Saturday, Feb. 15 is our next scheduled Road Cleanup. You may have noticed that the holiday season has
left its presents along the road. Meet at the upper park pavilion at 8:30. Bring gloves, the association will
provide orange vests, garbage bags and water.
PARK PAVILION SAGA
The park pavilion continues to age as we slog our way
through the process to apply the identi funds to the
purchase of materials for the renovation. The good news
is that a materials list has been turned into Parks and
Rec. The other news is that we expect, once the list gets
looked at, some conversation etc. to clarify, modify etc.
We are hopeful of getting to work this summer. Our
Friends of the Park agreement has us, volunteers, doing
the work with oversight from our contractor Cherisse
Marie (also a volunteer) So the beat goes on ……
Park Improvement Steering Committee: Mihaela Ryer, Scott Trefethen, Roxy Lynch, Gary Barr
The rest is for those interested in rain data. If you managed to get this far, and could care less about rain.
Thanks for, well, getting this far (and hopefully see a few of you on the 15th).
Rain Rain ….. Rain.
Now for those interested in rain data.
For the last 20 years – provided by Micah Miller 1998 to 2018 – collected on upper Kaiwiki (Kapa’a Rd. /
Old Kaiwiki) at 1500 -1600 elevation
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Gary Barr
Roxanna Lynch
Dan Lindsay
Jean Trefethen
Members at Large: Sharon O’Connell, Pam Brand, Beverly Fuller, Scott Trefethen, Mihaela Ryer, Charlie Pavao (Emeritus)
Also collected on Upper Kaiwiki perhaps a quarter mile from Micah’s collection from Weather
Underground station ID KHIHILO25 (google station ID to see all data including current readings)
Elevation 1500-1600 ft.
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Gary Barr
Roxanna Lynch
Dan Lindsay
Jean Trefethen
Members at Large: Sharon O’Connell, Pam Brand, Beverly Fuller, Scott Trefethen, Mihaela Ryer, Charlie Pavao (Emeritus)
Follow up letter to the Hawaii County Parks and Recreation
Saturday, July 14, 2018
Gary Barr
2820 Kaiwiki Road
Hilo, Hi, 96720
Office of the Director, Hawaii Co. Parks and Recreation
Hello,
The attached letter was emailed on July 5th. I have not received a response and so I am sending it the old fashioned way, in case it did not reach the intended recipients.
Of the items addressed in the letter, the water has been restored, which we very much appreciate. However, garbage cans are still missing resulting in bits of trash scattered about and signage remains largely absent. I would also like to add one more sign to the list. Neighbors have complained of vehicles in the park way past the 9:00 closing time. I looked for a sign indicating hours and found it above the women’s bathroom, which is not very visible. Perhaps it can be made more visible, such as at the entrance of the park. The graffiti is still present.
With all due respect, I understand that there are unique pressures on county services at the present time, and addressing some of these issues may not be possible for a while. At a minimum, we need the trash cans (and removal service) replaced. We have a larger community event coming up on August 11 (our Annual Summer Potluck) . . . it would be a shame to have a lack of simple resources negatively affect our community outreach efforts.
Of note, the WKCA is working hard to establish a strong working relationship with the County to better serve our community and effective communication is a key component of these efforts. A formal response to our requests would not only be appreciated, but would give us some idea of what and when solutions can be expected, or lacking that, what we as a community can do to resolve some of these issues ourselves.
Respectfully,
Gary Barr
President, Wainaku Kaiwiki Community Association
Cc Valerie Poindexter
www.facebook.com/friendsofkaiwikipark website www.kaiwiki.org
email: wkcassoc@gmail.com
Letter sent to Parks and Recreation
July 3, 2018
Director, Hawaii County Parks and Recreation
Re: Kaiwiki Park
On Saturday, June 30, a group of community members from our association did a cleanup of Kaiwiki Road; something we do 3-4 times a year. When we gathered at the park, we noticed trash, cigarette butts, graffiti in the women’s bathroom, and the water was shut off (without any notification as to why or when it would be restored). Kaiwiki Park has been a long time fixture in our community and over the years community members have regularly taken responsibility for maintenance issues as possible (i.e., small building repairs, periodic cleaning, and general sprucing up). Additionally, we have worked hard over the last year with both the county and the community to revitalize our cherished park. As such, the situation we encountered on Saturday was frustrating and disappointing to say the least. No garbage cans, no water (or associated signage), along with the general disrepair of the building does little to invite the community or encourage appropriate use. It also makes it difficult for those who respect the property and have been working hard to improve it.
We are requesting the following:
1) At least two garbage cans with signage that prohibits household garbage (including potential fines). It may also be helpful to provide the variety with a small opening on top to discourage inappropriate trash.
2) Additional signage regarding the illegality of smoking (including potential fines) on the premises. The one small sign is apparently not enough.
3) We would also request notification when there is a utility problem, ideally both on site and to the email provided below, so that such information can be distributed to the community.
We need the county’s support in taking care of a valued resource in our community. While we understand that resources are limited, we believe that we can work together to protect and even improve Kaiwiki Park. The simple requests outlined above will help us continue making progress. We are happy to meet to discuss these issues further and/or brainstorm additional ideas for improvement.
Sincerely and Mahalo
Gary Barr – President – Wainaku Kaiwiki Community Association.
CC Valerie Poindexter