One proposed charter amendment on Kauai could make it easier for the county to partner with volunteer organizations to care for properties it has acquired under a fund designed to preserve natural resources.

The question going before voters is: “Shall up to 5% of the County’s Open Space Fund be available for the maintenance of lands, property entitlements, or improvements that were paid for by the Fund?”

The Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund was created in 2002 and funded by a portion of the county’s annual real property tax revenue. This year, the Kauai Council appropriated more than $1.1 million for the fund.

The idea for this charter amendment is to use some of the money from that fund to pay for lumber, equipment or other supplies groups need to care for the county’s open spaces.

In the past, the county has struggled to partner with volunteer and nonprofit organizations to maintain those areas, according to Kauai’s Charter Review Commission.

“We have community groups that are willing to step up and help maintain important public spaces,” commissioner Jan TenBruggencate said. “But they’re often just volunteers willing to work and don’t have funds for buying rakes and mowers and shovels.”

The proposal came from a commission that oversees the open spaces fund and was approved in September 2023.

At the time, questions were raised over how groups could access the funds if the charter amendment passed and who would have oversight of the spending. County attorneys said it could be similar to a grants process and suggested the commission create rules and reporting requirements for recipient organizations.

Since it was created more than 20 years ago, the fund has been used to purchase or make improvements to four areas on Kauai that total just over 7 acres of land. 

Those areas include the Pak Hook Tong Cemetery in Kekaha, a lot next to Black Pot Beach in Hanalei that’s now used for parking and a boat ramp, the Halulu Fishpond and the Kaumumene Coastal Access trail leading to Hideaways beach in Princeville.

Earlier this year, the Kauai County Council voted to use the fund to acquire two parcels in Hanapepe that were significant to a massacre there in 1924 that became a flashpoint for the labor movement.