Special Master recommends Orchidland receivership

[Punaperson]

randomq: 'A long way from anywhere ? Not really..."

You miss the most basic point: you chose to move to the far side of the last island of the most remote archipelago on the planet ( and as noted in terracore's post, 'either on the flanks of an erupting volcano or in it's rift zones' ).

People who moved here knowing and accepting these realities tend not to grumble about what they do and do not have. It is very often the people who believe the rosy pictures painted by real estate agents and think they are moving to a suburbia that complain the loudest, and demand that ' we have to sue ' to get what they think they deserve.

kalakoa: ' Is it unreasonable to expect a better return on your mandatory HOA dues ? '

But I do think I've gotten a reasonable return on the fees I've paid: when I first moved into OLCA, most roads were passable only by jeep or truck, and bringing a machete to clear vegetation off the roadway was standard. The only way to get up Auli'i past 37th was by dirt bike. Now it's paved.

k: 'that tired old "we can never afford to fix the problem"

This goes back to the point that you get what you pay for. If you can afford the taxes, both state and property, to pay for the upgrades you keep bringing up, please do so. I, for one, cannot.

[randomq]

Punaperson, we may be far from the mainland, but we're relatively close to shopping, services, entertainment, and lots of other adventurous people!

As far as taxes go, it's been shown that Puna generates more revenue than it receives at the local level. Perhaps after that imbalance is corrected things will look rosier. I wonder how much FTR each subdivision is owed.

[kalakoa]

If everyone quit bitching and started paying their road dues we could have some nicer roads.

If I were convinced that my road dues would be spent on roads (that I actually use), sure. History suggests that the "road dues" will be spent on lawsuits to decide who gets to control the money, or perhaps for road improvements that benefit "certain people" (not you).

No jobs? With an Internet connection you can route around the local economy.

Provided that you have the right skillset, and a remote employer.

In any case, I'm not convinced that "more roads for more cars to make more trips to town" is really the right answer ... but so long as we have cheap gas, everything will be made to fit the "more cars" solution.

the people who believe the rosy pictures painted by real estate agents and think they are moving to a suburbia that complain the loudest, and demand that ' we have to sue ' to get what they think they deserve.

Agree, but in my case, there was no real estate agent. I chose this life, the transition is just more difficult than anticipated, but I'm not giving up.

What I do want (again) is: some minimal infrastructure provided as a return on my investment, not "pay dues/taxes and hope for roads".

[Chunkster]

If everyone quit bitching and started paying their road dues we could have some nicer roads.

This assumes that the associations will be well managed. The great majority of HPP owners and I have paid our road dues on time every year, and my road and those of everyone else I know on an unpaved road have gotten worse. This has been particularly true since funds have been used to pay for the paving bond and for chip seal.

The real problem is the model of governance of these subdivisions. The only oversight with any real muscle is the ability of the stakeholders to sue the association. Witness Orchidland's landing in receivership via suit, a fate many of us envy. In an environment of low participation, rogue boards which violate bylaws have nothing to fear but a lawsuit by the members. And even then, they can use the resources of the members to defend themselves.

I am convinced that the association model is broken and that "democracy" doesn't work, at least in HPP. A judge appointed board of non-residents with annually reviewed and published audits would be a huge improvement. We have proven to be utterly incapable of managing ourselves on a volunteer basis.

[kalakoa]

I am convinced that the association model is broken and that "democracy" doesn't work, at least in HPP.

Again: is there a subdivision with a functional HOA/board/road dues, which one, and what are they doing differently?

Ainaloa puts down new pavement on a regular basis. Unpaved roads in Kopua are pretty nice. I don't see anyone complaining about Fern Acres. What do these have that Orchidland and HPP don't?

[Chunkster]

@kalakoa: What those three subdivisions you mention have that HPP doesn't are smaller membership bases and far fewer miles of roads to maintain. Some have suggested that HPP's size is a big part of the problem, but I'm ambivalent as to whether breaking it up into smaller units would work.

[My 2 cents]

Kalakoa: "Many people (myself included) do not want, nor can they afford, full pavement."

Terracore: "Agreed. If people are regularly driving 40 on a 15MPH cinder road, I can't imagine how fast they would drive if it was paved."

Chunkster: "A nicely maintained gravel or cinder road would be nice . . . and enough for me."

I agree too, and while the 4 of us don't make a majority, it does illustrate that not everyone is gung ho to pave everything. Years ago, when designing the paving plan, it became clear that opinions ranged from "pave everything" to "pave nothing". A compromise was reached, and the plan was to pave only the entry roads and leave the side roads gravel. I believe that most folks were satisfied with this compromise.

Special Master wrote: "They appear to be doing a similar job on the roadways as other groups or Boards have done in the past......it satisfies the residents with temporary improvements that are affordable. The better practice is to pave or chip seal the roadways"

Aside from the fact that she is disregarding what "satisfies the residents" and gives no indication of where the millions of dollars will come from (is she planning to set us up with a bond fiasco similar to HPP?), I have to point out that she is very adamant about the contractors having to be licensed. So where are her credentials for making recommendations on methods of road maintenance? Is she a licensed contractor? Does she have a degree in civil engineering? Has she ever even worked as a gopher on a road crew, licensed or not?

As dysfunctional as our system is currently and inherently, receivership will not fix it. Our current boards BOTH have the best interests of Orchidland in mind, they just don't agree on what that means. Giving complete authority to someone who is out of touch with our residents and our governing documents will only take us deeper into the quagmire. See "post receivership HPP".

[kalakoa]

What those three subdivisions you mention have that HPP doesn't are smaller membership bases

I have suggested this before -- for example, Kopua has only 104 lots, so it's possible to get everyone in a room and agree on something. (Their unpaved roads are nicely maintained, apparently without drama.)

OLE and HPP have thousands of owners; no wonder they can't agree.

Let us never forget that any governing entity of sufficient size will tend towards self-preservation regardless of its original function. Consider the State Energy Office as an example: they have long since figured out that they don't have to actually produce anything.

[My 2 cents]

On the home page of the OLCA website, http://orchidland.org there is a summary of the agreement that was reached between the 2 groups at the March 1st hearing. It is provided by the Wirick group. I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of it, but as it is a summary there may be some additional important details. It may take a few days to a few weeks for the actual complete ruling to come out. I haven't been able to find any statement from the Arthurs group. Here is the Group W statement:

In brief, the Court Hearing held on Thursday, March 1, 2018 was in favor of the Defendants including OLCA Board members and the Orchidland Community Association.

OLCA is NOT being ordered into receivership!

The OLCA Membership elected Board of Directors: President Steve Lyon, Vice President Donald Stoner, Secretary Frederic Wirick, Treasurer Tegen Greene, Road Chair Gerald Akana and Directors: Sky Platt, Doug Anderson, Jermai Cann, Steve Baca and Paul Imaizumi were listed on the State of Hawaii DCCA/ BREG business registration on March 1, 2018.

The March 1st Hearing was lengthy, a few hours, most discussion took place behind closed doors with the attorneys in the Judge’s chambers, and after consulting with the clients, an agreement was reached and approved by the Judge.

Summarized terms of agreement as stated at the end of the March 1st Hearing:

(Actual Court order being prepared by OLCA Defendant’s attorney, Michele Luke, next week)

— Unfreezing of OLCA accounts, these funds have been frozen since March 2016 and total over $120,000. These bank accounts, records and statements will be handled by OLCA’s book and record keeper, Ken Ah Lo of Data Processing Services, Inc.

— OLCA Mandatory Road Maintenance Assessment fees are to be made out to Orchidland Community Association, Inc. and sent to Data Processing Services, Inc. c/o Ken Ah Lo.

— No use of unlicensed contractors for road improvements. Since July 2015, only licensed contractors have been used for OLCA road improvements.

— Former SM, Nancy Cabral would monitor but would not interfere with operations or dictate management of: OLCA financial accounts by DSP, Ken Ah Lo; monitoring of the upcoming ballot count/ election process; and transparent consulting with the Judge for legal guidance.

— Lift of discovery, discovery or dispositive motions Hearing May 8, 2018. With the final filing due by April 20th, and final response April 30th.

— New Court date is March 21, 2019.
_______________

This mostly seems positive. The fact that receivership was not ordered makes me assume that all of the financials were in order and the association is functioning acceptably in the court's eyes. Not sure why the continued monitoring. I'd like to know who is paying for that.

I also see that the court date for the remainder of the claims has been pushed back a whole year to March 21, 2019. A few details would be helpful here as well.

[My 2 cents]

Still no actual court order, but the minutes of the hearing have been posted on the court's website. They support the Group W summary, and as court documents they should be trustworthy. Maybe we'll be ably to start calling them "The Board".

I'm going to copy and paste the minutes here, and hope for the best:

19
MOT
3C01
CV
03/01/2018 08:30
A
DEFENDANT FREDERIC B WIRICK'S MOTION TO LIFT DISCOVERY STAY FILED 1/19/19
DEFENDANTS WIRICK, STONER, GREENE, WEWERS, AKANA AND NOMINAL DEFENDANT ORCHIDLAND COMMUNITY ASSOCI-ATION INC'S JOINT MOTION TO STRIKE PORTIONS OF
SPECIAL MASTER NANCY CABARAL'S REPORT FILED 1/19/18
PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR ORDER 1) APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE SPECIAL MASTER'S REPORT; 2) APPOINT- ING MASTER RECIVER; 3) FOR LEAVE TO FILE DISPOSI-
TIVE MOTIONS FILED 1/19/18
GRT
CTRM
Cal. Type
CV
Priority
0
Judge I.D.
JGNAKAMURA
Video No.
Audio No.
Minutes
CONVENED @ 11:08 AM; REPORTER: GERALDINE SAFFERY APPEARANCES: T. HOGAN, ATTY/PLTF D. FARMER, ATTY/PLTF T. HOGAN, ATTY/PLTF M. LUKE, ATTY/DEFT WIRICK C. PEREZ-MESA, ATTY/STONER, WEIRS, GREEN & AKANA L. ASHIDA, ATTY/ORCHIDLAND COMM. ASSO. D. HARADA-STONE, ATTY/DEFT (VIA T/C) . FARMER: PARTIES HAVE AN AGREEMENT RE: THE FILINGOF DISPOSITIVE MOTIONS AND LIFTING OF DISCOVERY STAY, REQUESTED CT TO ENDORSE THOSE; AS TO REQUEST FOR RECEIVER, PARTIES HAVE AGREED THAT NANCY CABRAL SHALL CONTINUE TO ACT AS A REPRESEN- TATIVE OF THE CT, NOT TO CONTROL BUT TO MONITOR 1) THE ELECTION PROCESS, 2) TO MARSHALL THE ACCTS, TO UNFREEZE THE ACCTS AND ALLOW MONIES TO BE USED BY MR. AH LO, ACCOUNTANT TO MAKE PAYMENTS FOR THE ORGANIZATION; THERE SHALL BE NO UNLICENSED ROAD- WORK TO BE DONE GOING FORWARD; INFORMED CT A TRIAL DATE HAS BEEN SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 25, 2019 AND THERE IS ALSO AN OMNIBUS HRG SCHEDULED ON MAY 8, 2018 AT 8:30 A.M. TO DEAL W/DISCOVERY AND DISPOSI-TIVE ISSUES; . LUKE: PARTIES HAVE AGREED TO THE UNFREEZING OF THE ACCTS BASED ON THE CT'S ORDER FROM TODAY'S PROCEEDINGS; BANKS WILL BE ADVISED TO UNFREEZE THOSE ACCTS; THE BANK STATEMENTS WILL BE DIRECTED TO MR. AH LO'S ATTENTION; MR. AH LO WILL OVERSEE ALL OF THE ACCTS FOR THE ASSOCIATION; MS. CABRAL SHALL ACT AS THE CT'S "EYES/EARS" TO ESSENTIALLY MONITOR PERIODICALLY THE WORK OF MR. AH LO; PARTIES HAVE AGREED THE MANDATORY ROADWAY MAINTEN-ENCE ASSESSMENTS WILL BE PAID BY THE OWNERS DIRECTLY TO DATA PROCESSING SERVICES INC. TO MR. KENNETH AH LO'S ATTENTION; THE ORCHIDLAND COMMU- NITY ASSOCIATION BOARD REPRESENTS THAT THERE WILL BE NO USE OF UNLICENSED CONTRACTORS FOR ROADWAY IMPROVEMENTS GOING FORWARD; THERE IS A LIFT OF THE DISCOVERY STAY AS WELL AS THE FILING OF ANY DIS- COVERY RELATED OR DISPOSITIVE MOTIONS; HRG ON THE MOTIONS ARE SET FOR MAY 8, 2018 AT 8:30 A.M.; DEADLINES FOR SUBMISSIONS OF MOTIONS/OPPOSITION WILL BE ACCORDING TO COURT RULE AND MOTIONS ARE TOBE FILED NO LATER THAN 4/20/18; OPPOSITIONS NO LATER THAN 4/30/18 & REPLIES 3 DAYS PRIOR TO HRG; ******SEE CONTINUED MINUTES********

20
HRG
3C01
CV
03/01/2018 08:30
B
CONTINUED MINUTES
CTRM
Cal. Type
CV
Priority
0
Judge I.D.
JGNAKAMURA
Video No.
Audio No.
Minutes
THE APRIL 30, 2018 TRIAL DATE IS VACATED AND TRIALIS RESCHEDULED TO MARCH 25,2019 AT 9:00 A.M.; CT SHALL ISSUE A NEW TRIAL ORDER RELATED TO PRETRIAL DEADLINES; RE: MS. CABRAL'S ROLE RE: MONITORING AND BEING THE CT'S REPRESENTATIVE, DURING ELECTIONPROCESS; SHE WILL ALSO MONITOR THE HANDLING OF THE ACCTS BY MR. AH LO; IF THERE APPEARS TO BE DIFFICULTIES/IMPROPRIETIES SHE WILL HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO REPORT TO THE CT ANY OF HER CONCERNS;. CT: INFORMED PARTIES BECAUSE OF THE CONTROVERSY, HE HAD NOT SPOKEN TO MS. CABRAL AFTER HER REPORT; WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THE LATITUDE TO CONSULT W/MS. CABRAL MORE OFTEN AND TO PROVIDE ADVICE; . FARMER: FELT IT IS APPROPRIATE AND NECESSARY IN THIS CASE; . LUKE: INFORMED CT SHE WAS OKAY W/THAT; WOULD LIKESOME TRANSPARENCY TO THE EXTENT WHERE THERE ARE SPECIFIC ISSUES/CONCERNS, WOULD LIKE NOTIFICATION;. CT: ASSURED MS. LUKE PARTIES WILL BE CONSULTED; . PEREZ-MEZA: POSITION IS THE SAME AS PREVIOUSLY STATED BY MS. LUKE; HAD NO OBJECTION TO THE CT CONSULTING W/MS. CABRAL; . ASHIDA: HAD NO FURTHER INPUT AND NO OBJECTION TO CT'S RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING MS. CABRAL; . HARADA-STONE: HAD NOTHING TO ADD RE: AGREEMENT AND HAD NO OBJECTION TO CT'S CONSULTATION W/MS. CABRAL; . CT: ALLOWED MS. LUKE TO SUBMIT A FORM OF THE ORDER FOR TODAY'S HRG; . RECESS. .