MINUTES
Attendees:
Robin Bond, Chairman, Kim Beasley, CIC, Bob Heidrich, HYC, Susan Harper, HYC, Jeff Brennan, CSX, Chris Woolaway, Sea Grant, Arlen Walsten, Terry Rice. USCG Ret., Capt. Paula Carroll, USCG.
Call To Order and Approval of the Minutes
Chairman Robin Bond opened the meeting. No quorum was present so the minutes were presented for review but not for approval. The meeting was conducted on an informational basis.
AGENDA Item #3 – Treasurer’s Report
Chris Woolaway reported that current finances total $1,462.25. Expenditures for this month included $41.95 for the web site.
AGENDA Item #4 – Board member replacement – Pilots Association
Robin reported that Mr. Sinclair Brown has been elected by the Pilots Association as the Alternate Representative. Also Iwalani Stone will be the new representatives for Yachting. Welcome aboard.
AGENDA Item #5 – Membership Meeting Topics – October 16th.
a. Day Use Moorings. This presentation will focus on current discussions regarding new sites. Also, the State’s maintenance program as well as the overall status of the program will be discussed. Terri Leicher and Ellyn Tong of Malama Kai will make the presentation. Jim Shoecraft won’t be able to make the meeting. Discussion followed that the current status is that they are going through the permitting process again. This may take several years. Also, there may be money available from the Coral Reef Task Force, which is a program of the Department of Commerce and Interior. Apparently CNMI and Guam have received grants to install moorings. This money may be available to Hawaii once the permitting process is complete.
b. NOAA Weather. This presentation will be conducted by Andy Nash from the NOAA Weather Service. He will discuss the current policies related to reporting weather warnings over the radio. Storm warnings are critical to letting the public know about potential dangerous weather conditions. HOST is concerned that when a heightened storm warning condition is called the service concentrates exclusively on the storm and doesn’t discuss other possible ramifications such as weather conditions between neighboring islands.
Lt. Tom Griffits will also be invited from the USCG to discuss current Coast Guard policy related to the Hurricane Plan.
c. Whales. Reg White will brief HOST on the results of the Vessel Collision Avoidance workshop recently held on Maui. HOST may be a vehicle to help move this discussion forward.
AGENDA Item #6 – Sixth National Harbor Safety Conference
Robin reported that he is on the Program Conference Committee but as of now there is no real news.
AGENDA Item #7 – Combined Federal Campaign
Robin reported that we have not received any money as yet but it is probably too early in the program. Early next year HOST expects to have a booth at two locations to let people know who and what we are. That may help.
AGENDA Item #8 – Pending HOST Safety Issues:
a. Diving SOP – No news in Hawaii as the lawyers are still reviewing it. However, the SOP has reached Guam and Saipan as an example for possible use there. Saipan has asked the USCG to enforce SNUBA regulations but the USCG has pointed out that they have no authority over non-commercial SNUBA activities on inspected vessels. The SOP process, which is an industry standards approach to safety, may serve to provide guidance for these communities on issues like this.
b. SOP 6-98 Commercial VHF Comms. – Louie Alday is working on updating this SOP. He is currently preparing a letter/questionnaire to be sent out to commercial radio users.
c. Kawaihae Harbor Tug and Barge Safety – No news to report.
d. Harbor Entry During a Disaster – No news to report.
e. PR Education Committee – We still have not heard the final word from DOBOR on mailing out information related to the new regulations on EPIRB/VHF Radios and Children in PFDs. It seems as though they want to consolidate our
prepared brochures together on one page. Robin said we had no objections to this. More to follow.
AGENDA Item #9 – Homeland Security
Captain Terry Rice reported that there was no real news on Homeland Security. However, He did want to discuss several points of interest to HOST. Bill Mossman’s recent letter to the governor asking for reconsideration of the Harbor Security Zones implied that the USCG did not take into consideration the comments provided by HOST. He wanted to clarify and emphasize that USCG did value HOST comments and took them into consideration as much as they felt the could.
Secondly, The new Maritime Transportation Security Act has passed Final Rule Making. This act requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to promulgate rules related to implementation of Vessel and Facility Security Plans as well as other things. Currently only very large vessels are required to have Automated Identification Systems (A.I.S.) transmitters. The cost of these unit as built to current specifications, is about $10,000. per unit. In the future any ship over 60 feet will be required to have these systems in any are that has a Vessel Tracking System receiver. Honolulu currently does not but probably will have soon. Currently, comments are being taken on the DOT Docket regarding a Notice of Proposed Rule Making. Under consideration (and discussion) is whether a different “grade B” specification could be used for certain types of vessels. These units would cost about $2,000. and represent a significant savings. Comments on this will be taken until December.
Discussion followed that this might be a good topic to bring up at the next HOST General Meeting. Robin asked Terry if he would discuss this and he agreed.
On his last point Terry reminded the Board that we had originally intended to review our SOP’s every two years. Recently there appears to be some public confusion regarding the HOST SOP suggesting 2 tugs be used on certain sized vessels. The SOP seems to imply USCG enforcement. The USCG has no
authority to enforce non-regulation. When we review our SOP’s we should make certain they clearly state that they are industry standards not regulation.
Announcements
1. There will be a Fisherman’s Forum October 21st from 18:00 to 21:00 Hours at Fisherman’s Wharf Restaurant. Interested public is welcome. NMFS and State Division of Aquatics Resources will be in attendance. Topics will include Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) and Reporting of Catches by Recreational Boaters.
2. A workshop is being planned by the Asia Pacific Economic Council (APEC) on Derelict Fishing Nets. It is being sponsored by the U.S. State Department, Fishing Industry and Recyclers. It will be held in Honolulu in January. More information to follow.
3. HOST will have a booth at the 4th Annual Harbor Festival to be held November 8th. We could sure use a new banner. Kim volunteered to have on made. Volunteers to man the booth are always welcome.
The next meetings are as follows:
· Next Membership Meeting October 16th, 2003
· Next Board Meeting November 13th , 2003
General Membership meetings will be held at the Marine Training Center, Sand Island and start at 2:00 pm.
Board Meetings are held at the Hawaii Yacht Club and start at 3:00 pm
Adjournment
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.