HPP Special BOD Meeting Tuesday, May 5th at 6pm

[JerryCarr]

I just called the HPPOA office, and they confirmed that there is indeed a Board meeting at 6pm today.

[Menehune]

Let's go down the agenda list and I'll give you what I remember:

I. Call to Order - Normal.

II. Roll Call - A little confusing - Jeff Spaur has withdrawn his resignation! No explanation.

III. Approval of Agenda - Normal.

IV. Owner Input - 20 people - I look around and no hands are raised to speak - So I did. Tried to address the lack of information in a timely manner. Recommended email of minutes to board members for approval instead of waiting for next meeting. Some dissension - so I asked for them to think about it. Another raised hand - something about the paving - I didn't catch it all.

V. Special Business - Nothing noted that I remember.

A. Opening of bids - From around $850,000.00 to $1,100,000.00. The Board will think about it.

B. Specifications for Repair/Resurfacing of the Main Roads - This is where the meeting bogged down - after all was said and done - I was shocked that the Board was still coming to grips on HOW to pave the 3 out of 4 main entry roads.
This process has been going on for MANY years and it still "sounds" like day ONE!
The newest board member suggested filling/fixing the roller-coaster ride on Paradise somewhere around 10th. And AWAY we went on the WHY's, WHY-NOTS and so forth!
IMHO - I feel the Board has lost focus on the MAIN reason we are PAVING roads - TO PAVE ROADS - not redesign or re-engineer the existing ones!

C. HPPOA President’s Resignation - Repeat of roll-call info. - Jeff Spaur withdraws resignation - no explanation given.

D. Current Problem - to be discussed in Executive Session - NO Explanation!

VI. Adjournment of Board of Directors’ Meeting - EVERYONE leaves except the Board - they are going to have their "Executive Session". As I was leaving, heard Susan the General Manager say the Board was going to discuss firing her - NO explanation given?


"That's All Folks" - This is NOT accurate - just what I remember!

"Each thing I do I rush through so I can do something else" - Cemetery Nights/Stephen Dobyns

[JerryCarr]

I can't add a lot to the report Menehune made, but there are few additional things I think are worth mentioning.

The bids tonight were for a total of four miles of roads. The cost per mile still seems high to me, but no one else seemed to think so. A decision on accepting a bid will be made at the April 15 meeting.

This was the second time the roads in question have been bidded. Apparently the specifications the first time around were not clear to the contractors and their bids had to be redone. It was very interesting to hear the contractors speak to the Board about how they could help define the specifications in terms of what they know how to do and what equipment and materials are available.

I found it somewhat shocking that the engineer that HPPOA has hired as a consultant did not know that an important piece of cost-cutting equipment is available on the Big Island. He also was not aware that a money-saving asphalt base mixing method was available as well. He kept saying his experience was in California some time ago, and that did not inspire confidence on my part. As a result of the new info on equipment and materials available and a proposal to fix the "roller coaster" spots on some of the roads, the decision on the specifications for repaving the trunk roads has been put off until the April 15 meeting.

An important fact that I did not know is that the overlay and other improvements on the four trunk roads will cost in the neighborhood of $4,000,000. That is over a third of the available bond money.

The Board was required by the by-laws to go into Executive Session to discuss personnel matters. As Menehune noted, no explanation was given. Of course, if any personnel changes are made, they will become apparent at some point.

Cheers,
Jerry

[Youser]

Jerry, Menehune,

Thank you for your reports of the meeting, they were very helpful and informative.

Perhaps the support Jeff received from Punaweb made him decide to continue on? Whatever is going on with the board I am just hoping they pull themselves together and see this paving project keeps going properly and efficiently.

I may have missed this, but what roads are now being bid on to be paved and when are they expected to be done? The information I last heard was 1st and 16th - is this all across, or just between some of the trunk roads? Or have they decided to do different roads now? What other roads are involved?

I am also concerned to hear there is talk of firing Susan - do you think this just an angry person flapping at the mouth?

Thank you again for the feedback!

[Beachboy]

wouldn't it be good just to bring in fresh blood? When there is Cancer, one should cut it out or remove it somehow. They all need to go down the road. They wasted a lot of money from HPP in my opinion.
Hell , at 12 million to pave what they did. I'm sure we could have paved it ourselves for a lot cheaper!

Folks, don't get fooled by nice pleasantries upon entering the Hui Office. There is gross negligence going on in that office!
Hell, I know people in the park that haven't paid their road fees in 10 or more years. Yet others pay every year. Is that fair to them that not everybody pays yearly? Of course it isn't,yet that office doesn't want confrontation....only a pay check! Someone should lose their job for this over sight alone?

Like I said yesterday, the one worker for the HPP/Hui has busted three of those clearing blades for grass & weeds on side of our cinder roads. At $5,000.00 a blade don't you think this guy should have been sent packing? The Hui doesn't, they just replaced the blades with our road funds! Now wouldn't any of us lose our jobs if we broke expensive equipment at our jobs not once, or twice, but three times!!!! Plus it is my understanding that the Hui always goes with the highest bid on almost everything. No stomach for negotiations perhaps? Nah, I think everybody should be removed...even the president. Being cordial is no reason for keeping someone around no matter how bad previous presidents have been.

Why hasn't the Hui moved forward on the park that was suppose to be built across from Hui? I was told if my kids wanna play on soccer field at Hui that they must pay a fee? What kinda crap is that? One more reason these ****ers should be sent packing. We have a bad economy and the Hui wants to squeeze residents for money? Why not try squeezing contractors for once instead of residents?
Nah, remove the Cancer...and start at the top and proceed to the bottom to remove every single bit of this diease!

-----------

Let's get together and over grow the government!!!!

[oink]

Jerry, Menehune,
Thanks for the reports. Being an off island owner I get totally left out of the loop.

Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.

[Seeb]

Thanks for the reports

[JerryCarr]

Youser, the bids were for 1st and 16th between Makuu and Kaloli, IIRC. I will be interested in seeing which bid is accepted at the April 15 meeting. The difference between the highest and lowest is enough to pave another mile of road. Of course, accepting the lowest bid is not always the smartest thing to do. Hearing the contractors' points of view last night was a real eye opener.

Cheers,
Jerry

[riceflower]

I attended the meeting last night, hadn't been to one in a decade. I was also struck by the fact that they had hired a guy from the mainland, rather than a knowledgeable local guy to advise them on writing the specs. The engineer seemed nice, but he didn't know what is happening in Hawaii as far capabilities, prices, etc. Rod T. is a great guy, but all the issues he brought up should have been discussed prior to calling for bids. I appreciate the service to our community that all the board members are rendering. Serving on Boards is a pretty thankless job. As for Menehune's comments on the minutes, it would be nice if we, the people, could know what was going on as soon as possible. I wanted to just see the board, so I at least would know who they are. It also would have been nice to hear why Spaur withdrew his resignation.

I quit going to board meetings at HPP in the 90's when they always seemed so contentious, and like personality fights between the participants. This one seemed way more amicable, I will try to attend the April 15th meeting. It is our fault for not going to each meeting and speaking out on issues that concern us, when the board does stuff we don't like. For example, I wish I had been involved when the whole idea of paving the roads was on the table. I would have opted for bringing water to all the lots before paving. Water is the one thing in life that we have to have. I liked the rural nature that HPP once had, before paved roads and the speeding it brought, and I like the dark, unlit streets at night. We can still see the stars on a clear night.

[PaulW]

"Bringing water to all the lots" is an even more of a waste of money than paving,
we get free water delivered from the sky every day!

With the main trunk roads paved nobody has to drive more than a few hundred yards
on dirt roads so I'm not sure why there is so much interest in paving. Maybe one
or two cross-streets but do we really need more than that?