Hawaii Ocean Safety Team
Advisory Board Meeting
MINUTES
Attendees:
Robin Bond, Chairman Kim Beasley, CIC
George Butler, USCG Bob Heidrich, HYC
Susan Harper, HYC Jeff Brennan, CSX
Julia Morgan, Fishing Industry Bill Mossman, Rec. Boating
Arlen Walsten, Ocean Rec.
Call To Order and Approval of the Minutes
Chairman Robin Bond opened the meeting. A quorum was present and the minutes were reviewed for approval. The minutes were approved by consensus.
AGENDA Item #3 – Treasurer’s Report
Chris Woolaway was absent so Robin reported on the latest information regarding our IRS submittal. As reported at the last meeting the IRS has received our slightly modified and resubmitted application. We have not received any word back from the IRS and the feeling is no news is probably good news, and our application is probably moving through the process.
The current bank balance is $1,515.98.
AGENDA Item #4 – 2003 HOST Meeting Dates
Robin distributed the year 2003 Meeting schedule. This schedule reflects the switching of the order of meetings presented at the last Board meeting. Next year the Advisory Board meetings will be held on the second Thursday of every month at 3:00 pm, at the Hawaii Yacht Club. With one exception, the General Membership Meetings will be held the third Thursday of every other month. With the exception of April 24th, these meetings will be held back at Club 14, beginning at 2:00 pm. On April 24th, the meeting will be held at the HCC Marine Education and Training Center on Sand Island Access Road. Refer to the Website for a listing of meeting dates.
AGENDA Item #5 – HOST Christmas Party
Robin reported that the invitations to the Christmas Party went out via a variety of methods. Invitations went to the City Council, the HOST mailing list, the Advisory Board and friends of the Board. Please encourage anyone you think would enjoy it to attend. The party will begin at 6:00 pm and remember parking may be a problem.
Further discussion focussed on party details. Name tags will be provided. The Hawaii Yacht Club has a special sign-in form they have requested that we use. The food list is completed. Leis were discussed and it was decided not to present any.
The Propeller Club will be contributing $250 to help sponsor the event.
AGENDA Item #6 – Pending HOST Safety Issues
a. DBOR – Boating Safety Education Program – Robin
Pearlyn has not called back so currently no news on this program.
b. Kawaihae Harbor Tug and Barge Safety – Robin
Robin reported that we have not issued a letter yet due to election changes in the State government. Currently we don’t know who to direct the letter to.
c. Harbor Entry During a Disaster – Brad and Chris
Progress on this is still pending a meeting. Nothing yet.
d. Letter Regarding Helium Balloons at Harbor Fest
A letter presenting our concerns was sent to Glenn Hong, Young Brothers, and the organizing chair of the Harbor Fest. Also, a letter was sent to Mr. Tom Aki, the person who expressed concern.
e. Hawaii Drift Card Study
Robin reported on a NOAA project being conducted over the next two years, in which drift cards will be placed in the ocean at Barber’s Point. The drift cards are made of balsa wood and non-toxic paint. The public will be asked in a media campaign to report any landfalls the cards make. The purpose is to try to get a better understanding of the currents between Oahu and Kauai. Information will be used to improve the NOAA trajectory computer model and may help in oil spill response. Local oil industry and the Clean Islands Council are providing support for the project. Sample cards and posters were handed out.
The discussion regarding the information campaign associated with the Drift Card Study prompted Robin to report that Ms. Britt Young, a reporter with KGMB Channel 9, had e-mailed Robin expressing interest in finding out more about HOST.
Also, Curtis Ebbesmeyer who is an ocean drift specialist expressed interest in any lessons learned from the study.
AGENDA Item #7 – Fifth Annual Harbor Safety Conference
Robin reported that the Fifth Annual Harbor Safety Conference will be held April 6th – 9th, on the east coast. This was presented at the last meeting and the Board generally agreed that it would be good to send Robin. He was going to look into costs. Reporting back to the Board he pointed out that the cost was approximately $220 per night in addition to registration and airfare. His estimated cost to attend is approximately $1,700 dollars. As this is more than we have in our back account, we are hoping to move forward with this with the assistance of Sause Brothers and other generous members. More to follow.
AGENDA Item #8 – Homeland Security – George Butler, USCG
Kim passed around posters with the security zones displayed. Kim reported that the USCG had reviewed the posters and approved them for production.
George Butler, representing Captain Skuby, pointed out that the MSO has just submitted a proposed final rule that changes the security zones. The Chevron and Tesoro Moorings will be lumped together under one zone. Also, in other areas, certain of the boundaries will be changed. This means that our posters are already out of date.
Discussion followed as to what to do. Go with what we have, or wait. It was decided to wait until the Security Zones are finalized before we begin our educational efforts. It was recommended out that the first DOBOR newsletter that HOST will provide production assistance with should be part of a multifront educational effort on this topic. Kim also reported that the USCG Group (Sand Island) is hoping to produce a brochure to distribute offshore when working with vessels.
The question was asked as to what happened to HOST’s request to participate in the discussion process on revising and finalizing the Security Zones. George pointed out that the only input received came from HOST and the points we brought up concerning areas like Hilo, were taken into consideration.
The Board expressed its interest in continuing to work on this issue with the USCG. We will try to work on our own HOST informational distribution issues as part of the Security Zones educational program.
AGENDA Item #9 – New Business
Marine Investigation Regarding Background Lighting Interference in Harbors.
Robin received a letter from the USCG (mainland) describing concerns raised in some mainland areas regarding navigational interference caused by background lighting near Harbors. The concern is that range lights and buoy lighting systems are being overpowered by shoreline lighting systems. The letter was seeking support/feedback on the question of whether we have a problem in Hawaii. Robin e-mailed the Advisory Board but didn’t really receive much information.
Discussion followed that pointed out some local problem areas, for example, the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor Channel. This is a good issue for further discussion. It was suggested that we bring it up at a General Meeting to ask what people think and to gather a sense of the level of concern in Hawaii. Then we could report this back to the USCG.
Announcements
Susan Harper reminded everyone that there would be a Christmas boat parade beginning at 5:30 pm this Friday night. It will leave the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor, go to Honolulu Harbor, and then return. Hope you can catch it as it should be fun.
The next meetings are as follows:
· Next Board Meeting January 9th, 2003
· Next Membership Meeting February 20th, 2003
Adjournment
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.