The University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents (BOR) approved the appointment of a Maunakea Planning Task Group to review and investigate proposed changes to the Maunakea Master Plan and Comprehensive Management Plan for UH-managed lands on Maunakea. The memorandum that created the group, which will consist of five regents, and its responsibilities was approved unanimously at the boardʻs October 15 meeting.
The Maunakea Planning Task Group is also charged with following up on the requested actions in the BOR resolution from November 2019 that directed UH leadership to strengthen its stewardship on Maunakea and identify other critical issues. The group will make recommendations to the board.
The Sunshine Law governing open public meetings allows a board to appoint a group consisting of less than a quorum of its members to investigate matters for the board. The appointment of the group and designation of its assigned task must be done at a public board meeting. After the group undertakes its assigned task, its findings and recommendations must be presented to the board at a public meeting, and the board cannot act on any recommendations until a subsequent public meeting.
The approved October 9, 2020 memorandum to the UH Board of Regents from Chair Benjamin Kudo:
This is a request that you approve the appointment of a permitted interaction group to be known as the Maunakea Planning Task Group (Task Group), whose scope is to: review and investigate proposed changes to the Maunakea Master Plan and Comprehensive Management Plan (collectively, “Plans”); follow up on the requested actions in Board of Regents (Board) Resolution 19-03 and identify other critical issues pertaining to the Plans; and make findings and recommendations to the Board.
Proposed Task Group members are: Regent Ben Kudo, Board Chair; Regent Alapaki Nahale-a, Board Vice Chair, Hawaiʻi Island Regent, and Regent-member of the Maunakea Management Board (MKMB); Regent Eugene Bal III, Maui Island Regent; Regent Wayne Higaki, Hawaiʻi Island Regent and Regent-member of MKMB; and Regent Ernest Wilson, Maui Island Regent. The Task Group may engage with University Administration, government officials, and outside advisors as needed.
