Public Comments on County of Hawai‘i’s initial Action Plan for Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery Funds The County of Hawai‘i received 93 written comments during the 30-day public comment period for its initial Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery Action Plan that was submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The comments are listed below in chronological order with personal information redacted. Following the comment period, HUD provided additional clarification on how duplication of benefits (such as insurance payouts and Federal assistance programs) would be handled. *** Looking for more information about the voluntary buyout and if anyone as started a list that we need to get on etc I think this is a well organized plan. I would however like to know if the state has looked at the impact on small business and market vendors. We are the heart beat of the island keeping the markets going but since the lava flow many market vendors have suffered. Is their any funding or grants that can be created to support and help maintain market vendors? Does this include homes that were not permitted? I know that you do not have your plan approved yet but I wanted to get on the list somehow and make sure you have my information. I have 2 parcels of land on Hawaii at Leilani Estates. I am currently in the military stationed in Virginia and was planning on retiring and building there. Unfortunately our land is now inaccessible due to the lava covering our road and partially covered in lava. "I have two tax keys (9.6 acres combined) of agricultural land in an isolated area. The buyout plan seems to only include residential zone land. I was planning to build a single family home on my ag land and farm. I would like to see all landowners included in the buyout option, not just 'residential' zoned properties. I am currently renting elsewhere in Puna (not in the impacted area) and paying a large seller financed mortgage for my land in the isolated area. Please consider expanding your priority list to include agricultural land with no buildings (yet). ############### ################ I own a House in Leilani Estates. It sit Four streets up from fissure 8. It is unliveable with the insurance company. And all this happen during the Volcano eruptions. So we are still displace. If we are qualified please let me know. Thank You! ######################## 1 | Page First of all mahalo nui for this very very much needed help after my complete loss of home and business on Hinalo street. No insurance and living on FEMA has been beyond difficult however I do now have new property in Hawaiian Shores area. I will need every cent possible to actually build something. I am hoping to get at least a percentage of what the property and permitted structure were valued at not to mention the extra cabins fully furnished and large gym filled with amazing fitness equipment all lost. Please and thank you I had to relocate from my home in 2014 because the lava came 60 ft from my home. I was forced to leave with my family. I planed to relocate to my property in Nanawale when I recovered. I was forced to move to California where I had family to help me. When the flow occurred again I was unable to start rebuilding plans. Will funds be available to me? Good Afternoon. Thank you for putting together an easy and complete summary. I have one question. A large part of my loss was personal property inside the house that we could not remove. Insurance covered only a portion of this. My total real property loss was about $100,000 above what was covered by insurance. The personal property loss was an additional $40,000 above insurance. I am sure many others have similar situations. Will the personal property losses be part of the recovery? Thank you. Will non citizens be considered for the property buyout program? Thank you ################################# Our home in Leilani Estates was lost to the eruption on May 25, 2018. Fortunately, we had insurance coverage and they paid us promptly for the loss. Fortunately, we had insurance coverage and they paid us promptly for the loss. That payment covered the structure (primary residence) and outer buildings plus contents, but nothing for the land. Are we entitled to apply for the buyout program to “sell” the land to the program? Our house burned down in the 2018 eruption. The insurance paid us for our loss. Is this recovery fund for buying back the land? It is under fissure 8. Mahalo Hi, I just read this article: https://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2020/07/21/buyouts-for-properties- impacted-by-2018-eruption-supported-in-new-plan/?fbclid=IwAR36r1S3a3LjPs5y7- 3xai0Qy104_w3EsafXY4XMxfY4REl-c9j5Q8o4X3o I lost my home, farm, and clinic to the 2018 flow. My parcel TMK number is ##############. My question is regarding "assessed value of the property" described in the article: What does "property" include? Does it include one's house in addition to the value of the land and improvements such as bulldozing and orchards? My home was still under construction and about 90% completed so if the value of the home is included in "property," a fair and 2 | Page accurate assessment would need to be made for the stage of completion. Also, I had no home owner's insurance. Hope to hear back and thank you. Aloha- I would love to talk to someone that could help me out with this process. To see if it would be a good choice for me. Thank you A lot of us are misplaced, and continue to be displaced. The gift of these funds is a gift of our lives back. We lost our homes, our lives, our way of making a living. We lost our sense of being, sense of purpose. We lost our compass. We are looking to local and federal government to help us regain what we lost. A modest home, sense of security. This is a comment from the President of Royal Garden subdivision and Community Association. I see nothing about Royal Garden subdivision, yet we had request Condemning of The whole subdivision in 2016, Mayor Kim agreed on doing so. A group of rep's have met us over and over nothing was yet too be ready to go. We have been destroyed for 35 years and nothing like this was ever offered, and by law it should have...April J. Of long term planning, knows about this! Dear Sir/ Madam: I totally disagree with this program. Really... my tax dollars will be given to citizens who either lost their home, lot or received damage to their home due to the 2018 Kilauea flow. This is bullshit. Aloha. Mahalo for the time to respond and for your dliigent efforts. There is a lot here to unpack. Just a few thoughts, and sorry I offer no solutions to my initial reflections at this time: First, if residents, small businesses and farmers etc. knew what roads might be opened in the near future, it would surely affect their decisions on the buy out and relocation proposals. Roads before Buy Outs! That said: *Buy outs proposed for 300 parcels with median before disaster value stated as 316,000 (mine was valued at much more) and only offering 230,000 for buy out? Then cleared of all structures, then becomes "non developable land???" * Seems to me this action plan has irreversible implications for lower Puna, much of which is in Lava Zone 1 and 2. If folks still own their land, they should be allowed to return and rebuild if they so choose, with support from the County and its permitting processes. Yet this implicitly states no HUD or CRDGB funds can be used in Lava Zones 1 and 2. *I find it interesting that there is no insurance data available as that would definitely affect the financial outlook on the amounts offered in the buy outs. If FEMA, insurance and other matching funds will be subtracted from the buy out prices offered, this data will need to come forth. *There is a big focus here on folks relocating to Town Centers. Our Puna communities are OUR centers. We are very self-sufficient and choose a rural lifestyle, Pahoa is our closest town center. Many of us do not want to move into newly created neighborhoods and new subdivisions. *This plan mentions widespread community input...yes,I have attended most of the many talk story sessions and meetings, as well as most County Council meetings, Yet, it seems that perhaps the main desires of the communities are not really being heard...I believe the County agenda is paramount and predetermined. Many thanks to Douglas Le and his team for coming onboard and being 3 | Page willing to come to the table. *I attended the Youth Speak Out panel held at PHIS There were 3 students on that panel who mainly responded to the question, "What does Puna Strong mean to you?" The large audience that was reported in the media was really only 5 students and their parents, 2 teachers, 1 Counselor, and 2 Principals The next day did have a bit better attendance and had more particular data recorded on whiteboards. I would not call this active community youth engagement. *I need to better define a few terms...who is granter and grantee mentioned? (County, projects, individuals)?? What is Slum and Blight? *Relocation concerns state that no one can ask for assistance if they are now permanently relocated.