RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the mission of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) is to develop and deliver lands to native Hawaiians and to effectively manage the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust; and

WHEREAS, DHHL currently leases private commercial office space in downtown Honolulu from which it carries out its day-to-day administrative and program activities; and

WHEREAS, these office leases will terminate in January 2008; and

WHEREAS, DHHL has acquired approximately 500 acres of land in East Kapolei where it plans to develop more than 1,000 new residential homesteads, along with areas for recreational and community use, and commercial activities; and

WHEREAS, DHHL's East Kapolei lands provide an ideal location for an office building that can house DHHL and its administrative offices; and

WHEREAS, a DHHL office building in East Kapolei can serve as the central headquarters for DHHL's operations, provide meeting space for Hawaiian Homes Commission meetings, and serve as a gathering place for other beneficiary organizations; and

WHEREAS, the East Kapolei site would enable DHHL to better serve its large beneficiary population in the Kapolei, Nanakuli, Lualualei, and Waianae areas; and

WHEREAS, a lease-purchase agreement is required to permit DHHL to construct this new office facility with the assistance of the private sector; and

WHEREAS, a lease-purchase agreement funded by the issuance of certificates of participation is an efficient and expeditious alternative mechanism through which public facilities can be financed; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is requested to enter into a lease-purchase agreement for the construction of a new office facility in East Kapolei to be financed by certificates of participation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the debt service for the certificates of participation will come from the Hawaiian Home Lands administration account; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Comptroller, and Chairperson of the Hawaiian Home Lands.

Report Title:

Requesting the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to enter into a lease/purchase agreement for the construction of a new office facility on Hawaiian Home Lands in East Kapolei to be funded by the issuance of certificates of participation.