Friday, March 28, 2008

Governor's Turtle Bay working group seeks input

The Governor's Turtle Bay Advisory Working Group is encouraging the public to stay involved with the efforts to acquire the Turtle Bay property.

Residents can visit www.hawaii.gov/gov/turtlebay for news, meeting minutes, legislative progress, video of the community talk story and more.

The group welcomes the public's ideas and feedback. E-mail the group to receive regular updates at TurtleBayAWG@gmail.com.

The group meets next on Wednesday.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Turtle Bay plan gains support

What started as a surprise statement in the governor's State of the State speech could be headed toward reality, with legislators and community members backing a proposal that would preserve Turtle Bay from further development.

More on the story at Honolulu Advertiser

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Hearing Relating to the Purchase of Turtle Bay

The Senate Committee on Water and Land heard testimony on SB2423 SD1, which provides tools for the acquisition of 850 acres of land at Turtle Bay, including five miles of pristine coastline on O‘ahu’s North Shore.

More info at Governor Linda Lingle's area of the Hawaii state website.
Watch the video.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Time to Preserve Turtle Bay Land is Now

It is critical that we support Gov. Linda Lingle's proposal for the state to buy the land surrounding Turtle Bay Resort.

We need to preserve and protect this undeveloped land for ourselves and future generations. Once it is dug up or paved over, it will be gone forever.

The governor has a great idea, and the Legislature is considering a bill to approve the purchase. The people of Hawai'i need to voice their support to keep this part of the country country.

We will not get a second chance to do it right.
Anne Sabalaske
Honolulu

Turtle Bay bill advances

The measure would let the state buy the land to preserve it.

Plans to halt development of the Turtle Bay area are gaining momentum in the state Legislature, according to House and Senate supporters.

Yesterday a House committee approved the bill to permit Gov. Linda Lingle to stop development by arranging for the purchase of the Turtle Bay resort and surrounding property.

More at the Honolulu Star Bulletin

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Hundreds meet with Lingle on Turtle Bay

Gov. Linda Lingle last night told a crowd of more than 500 people that the proposed state purchase of Turtle Bay property is a chance "to plant our flag in the sand" against runaway development.

More at the Honolulu Advertiser

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Turtle Bay exec says buyout idea hurting

The general manager of the Turtle Bay Resort said a proposal by the state to purchase the North Shore resort has already "severely impacted" business and has placed the "primary economic engine on the North Shore in a potentially perilous position."

More at the Honolulu Advertiser

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Chamber's Position on Turtle Bay Resort's Proposed Expansion

Letter from North Shore Chamber of Commerce:

Aloha Members,

I am writing to inform you of a motion that was passed at our February Board of Directors Meeting and share some of the general feelings of the board. The motion that I am referring to is as follows:

"The Board of Directors of the NSCOC previously decided to NOT take a position on the proposed Turtle Bay Resort expansion. However at the recent January membership meeting, a motion was presented and passed which does not reflect the position of the board nor its entire membership."

As stated in the motion, the board had previously discussed the proposed expansion of the Turtle Bay Resort and felt that as a Chamber of Commerce it would be inappropriate to take a position in this situation. The Chamber's key role is to support business and educate members regarding issues.

Here are the circumstances that led to the above action. At the general membership meeting on Jan 31st a motion was made, in accordance with our Bylaws, to amend our meeting agenda to include a discussion about Turtle Bay . The motion was seconded and we allotted 5 minutes on our agenda to discuss this item. When we reached this item on the agenda the following motion was made and passed:

"The North Shore Chamber supports the existing Turtle Bay Hotel and Operations and opposes the full expansion plan as proposed.”

As I have already stated above, the board does not feel it appropriate to take a position in this situation. Furthermore, I feel while the motions made at the membership meeting were within the guidelines of our bylaws, it was not a fair and open way to deal with this issue. If the Chamber is going to take positions of this nature, I would expect that we would provide a forum to hear from both sides and make our entire membership aware that we would be having this type of discussion. I am not suggesting we do this, rather pointing out that this motion was made and passed without due diligence.

Please feel free to contact me or any of our board members should you want to comment on this issue.

Mahalo,

Josh D. Heimowitz
Chairman
North Shore Chamber of Commerce
Phone: 637-4615 Ext. 32