OHA staff brief trustees on three legacy properties; community testifies to protect Wailupe burial site

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs land department briefed the Committee on Investments and Land Management on July 23, 2025, about activities at three legacy properties and received multiple public testimonies asking OHA to preserve a Wailupe parcel where iwi kūpuna were reported.

Laurie Walker, interim director of land assets, said the presentation covered Palauea Cultural Preserve in Kīhei, Maui (TMK 21020034); Hoʻomana in Waialua, Kauai (TMK 41004021); and Kekaha Armory in Kekaha, Kauai (TMK 13002023). Walker said each briefing was high level and focused on stewardship, recent assessments and near-term work plans.

Palauea Cultural Preserve (Maui) Walker said the Palauea property is approximately 20.1 acres of conservation/preservation land that contains archaeological features and a halau. The University of Hawaiʻi Maui College stewards the site under a license and the land department is developing a comprehensive management plan with the Palauea advisory hui; the department is targeting an October 2025 completion for the plan. Planned property improvements include a donation-funded concrete parking pad and boundary fencing to exclude ungulates, and OHA-funded roof repairs after storm-related leaks. Walker said a May fire-assessment identified overgrowth near neighboring properties that the department is addressing by thinning and mulching. Walker said future projects are funded by a mix of donations and OHA funds.

Hoʻomana (Waialua, Kauai) Walker said Hoʻomana is a thrift-store operation on roughly 1 acre. OHA holds a ground lease with the State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and subleases the property to the Hoʻomana thrift-store stewards. The thrift operation provides weekly outreach services — hot meals, showers, clothing and hygiene items — and partners with local organizations to offer medical services.

Walker said a condition of the DLNR ground lease requires conversion of an on-site cesspool by 2027. Lakia (spelled in the transcript), who discussed project procurement, said an initial slimmed-down cost estimate for design, topographic surveys, engineering drawings and an archaeological inventory survey sits at about $95,000. Lakia told trustees the lease is a 65-year grama lease that expires in 2081 and that OHA does not charge a lease fee to the sublessee.

Kekaha Armory (Kekaha, Kauai) Walker said the Kekaha Armory was transferred to OHA by executive order; OHA holds management authority but not title, and the property is ground-leased to Kekula Nihao o Kekaha (a charter school) for $1 per year. Walker said the facility serves roughly 50 K–12 students and includes a certified kitchen, an audio-visual recording studio and a library. A professional condition assessment identified priority fire and life-safety system repairs estimated at about $45,000; Walker said those repairs are budgeted for the coming fiscal year.

Public testimony on proposed land transfers and Wailupe After the land-department briefing, several community members testified about a Wailupe parcel (TMK 36-2023006) and related neighborhood protections. Testifiers — including Michael (last name not captured), Nialista Otis, Helani Sonorapalli (said her group is a 501(c)(3)), Malia (family name in transcript uncertain), Kainalu Kapoleohaloakamaʻi and Jermaine Myers — described a history of disturbances at the site, reported discovery of iwi kūpuna and funerary objects, and urged OHA to preserve the parcel in perpetuity.

Testifiers said the parcel’s history includes a report of eight individuals (four children, four adults) and associated artifacts found in a nearby cave; they described past community action to stop machinery that they say threatened an infant burial cave in 2022. Several speakers said they have conducted archaeological inventories, worked with the county and County Historic Preservation staff, organized community stewardship workdays, and consulted with genealogists and historians.

Jermaine Myers, an OHA beneficiary and Nanakuli Hawaiian homestead lessee, asked trustees for clarification about whether the Wailupe TMK (transcribed as 136023006) went through due diligence phase 1 and when the board approved the parcel to proceed to phase 2. Myers said he had not found the parcel in prior ILM agendas and requested administration to clarify the record; he also referenced public filings and identified a landowner as LNK Investment LLC and named members associated with that company as the current owners.

Trustee questions and administrative responses Trustee Jesse Akaka asked for details about the Hoʻomana cesspool conversion costs and lease length; administration responded with the $95,000 estimate and said the lease is a 65-year gram a lease that expires in 2081 with no lease fee. Trustee Lindsey asked whether any additional requirements beyond cesspool conversion had been imposed given the property’s location in a flood zone; administration said the site faces flooding challenges but that no additional OHA requirements are in place at this time. Trustees asked about cost estimates and confirmed the Kekaha repairs are budgeted for the coming fiscal year.

No votes were taken on property transfers during this meeting. Trustees were provided status updates and cost estimates and heard community requests for OHA to pursue protective, long-term stewardship of the Wailupe parcel.