Posted on by Andrew Clark

December 2021 Newsletter

E Malama kakou kekahi I kekahi

(Let’s take care of each other)

Welcome to the Makaha Valley Plantation Newsletter for December 2021.  This is written by neighbors for neighbors – whether owner or occupant you’re a valued member of the community and we’re excited to get to know you! Our mission is to connect our neighbors through fun, service, community, sharing, and important information.

Santa Claus is Coming To Town!

Santa Clause is coming to MVP in time for Xmas! Bring the family to meet Santa, take a photo, enter the raffle and get a free candy cane:

Front Office BBQ Area
Sunday, December 12th – 4pm to 6pm

The event is entirely free, run by volunteers, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Holiday Lights

It’s been a surreal year so let’s celebrate the season with a festival of lights on our lanais! These neighbors already have a head start:

We’d love to see your lanai! Send a picture to mvpcommunicationcommittee@gmail.com for a chance to be featured in the next newsletter.

The Pools And Amenities Are Open!

It is with great joy that we announce that the pools are officially open now! With Governor Ige’s update we are returning to a pre-covid way of doing things. Please respect others, be safe, and we look forward to seeing you there for some R&R!

Bill 41 Could Change Short Term Rentals from 30 days to 180 days!

Oahu Department of Planning and Permits (DPP) with the help of the Hotel Lobby has waged a war against AirBnb, VRBO and Short Term Rental (STR) owners; there is an effort to increase the minimum 30 day stay to 180 days. You can learn more about the hotel lobby’s push to fight short term rentals on https://www.pbshawaii.org/short-term-rentals/ and https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/11/honolulus-battle-against-short-term-rentals-begins-again/

There is a group assisting Short-Term Rental owners in the fight against Bill 41. For those interested in getting more information on this issue contact OSTRA or Oahu STR Alliance oahustralliance@gmail.com to receive the latest info.  Bill 41 not only impacts local and out-of- state property owners but impacts locally owned property management with many employees. One speaker on PBS says that 70% of short-term rentals are owned by off-island owners. If you are an owner locally based or out of the area, please get involved and submit testimony to the city council. Our representative for Waianae, Andria Tupola, voted against Bill 41 but it was moved forward by a 7-2 vote for Bill 41. 

Giving Back

We’re grateful for the hard work that the front office, security team and maintenance crew perform each and every day at our lovely plantation. They do so much to keep our happy little piece of paradise running, so if you’d like to give a gift please feel free to do so in the front office. Any gifts from the community will be shared among the entire team with Aloha!

Local Donations

In the spirit of Laulima (many helping hands-cooperation), we would like to encourage MVP to donate during the holiday season to local churches, food banks and charities.  Women of Waianae, is a non-profit that funds higher education for non-traditional students www.womenofwaianae.org. Another local charity Na Kama Kai (children of the sea) provides free-to-the community ocean clinics and programs to empower our local Keiki.  Donate through paypal at www.nakamakai.org.  If you have a charity that you would like to share, please post it on Nextdoor

Local Food Banks

If you know someone who is in need of food, there are many community resources for nutritious food.  If you are able to make a donation or volunteer, this is a good way to contribute to our local community! Kapuna Pantry opens at 10am and remains open as long as supplies last at these locations:

  • Monday: Kamehameha schools community 87-790 Kulauku Street
  • Wednesday:Wai’ane Elementary School 85-220 McArthur Street
  • Thursday: Hoa Aiea o Makaha 85-220 McArthur Street (next to elementary school)
  • Friday: Queeen Lili’iokalani Childrens Center Nanakuli 87-1876 Farrington

Quick Headlines

  • We hope you have had a chance to check out our newly designed website! Visit www.makahavalleyplantation.org We have chosen the dolphin as our theme because nai’a (Dolphins) are often called the “angels of the sea”. In Hawaii they are an adored symbol of joy, healing, and playfulness that thousands of people connect with.  We’d love to hear what you think about the site.  The website has all the information and resources you’re familiar with, and we’ll be adding more features over time.
  • The MVP office is open until 6pm on Tuesdays so that residents who work during the day can take care of business after regular business hours.
  • Celebrate New Year’s local style – Traditionally, surfers at Makaha Beach catch the last wave of the year before midnight and then they celebrate the New Year by catching the first wave of the year right after midnight. (Weather, and surf size permitting—good conditions are low surf and moonlight)
  • New Businesses:  Planet Fitness is now open in Waianae.  Rumor has it that Papa Johns and O’Reilly Auto Parts will soon be in the Long’s business complex in Makaha.
  • Whoops, we goofed…there was some confusion and miscommunication about when the pools would be open. The board and front office were eager to open the pools… unfortunately, in the lead up to Thanksgiving there were a series of communication failures which led to a premature email announcement. We believe it is important to own our mistakes, take responsibility, and be accountable for our actions. We apologise and are working to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Board Meetings

Our HOA Board met on Tuesday October 26 at 6:30 via online Zoom call. Zoom makes it much easier for everyone to attend, especially owners living off-island, and we encourage you to join in future! The first 30 minutes are for general concerns and then the board goes into an executive session where the board meets privately.  During the general October session neighbors expressed their concerns about the growing cat, chicken and peacock populations, the upcoming solar installation, questions about split air conditioning, vehicles with loud exhaust noise, and pool closures. Your voice matters and we encourage you to bring up issues you care about so they can be heard, resolved, and supported.The next HOA Board meeting will be on Tuesday 11th, January at 6.30pm – look out for a meeting email closer to the time with all the details!  Please join the conversation!  We want to hear from you.

A Call For Community Leaders

Aloha – Andrew Clark here! I was elected to the MVP Board with the promise of improving communication and transparency between the community, management, and board of directors. We have updated the website, setup new email services, but now we need your help! We’re looking for members of the community to lead projects, start committees, connect with neighbours, and start living our Aloha values. Our main focus right now is community fun events where we can all meet and mix. Organize a BBQ? A hike? A trip to the beach perhaps? The sky is the limit! So, if you have something on your mind or you’d like to contribute to the mission please get in touch at mvpcommunicationcommittee@gmail.com and let’s find out what we can do together.  Will you answer the call?

Poop

You’ve either stepped in it or stepped around it.  There is a big increase of doggie doo doo that is not being picked up.  Please take a bag with you to pick up after Fido – a moment of inconvenience for 1 person keeps the rest of us from stepping into trouble. There is also peacock poop, you can recognize it by it’s dark black color and Hershey Kiss shape and sometimes sports a Dairy Queen Swirl.  Can’t blame this one on the dogs!

Driving With Aloha

We’ve all done it plenty of times but we’d like to remind everyone that the speed limit in the plantation is 10mph, and  please come to a complete stop at stop signs. We have a very diverse community here, young and old, human, peacock, and stray animals to protect and keep safe.  Please do your part to drive safely and consciously. When we pass the security gate, we are home, time to slow down and take it easy.

Heard it on the Grapevine

There are many ways to get updated information about our community.  There are postings in the flyer boxes at the bottom of every building, bulletin boards at the mailboxes and at the front office, the website, the newsletter, and conversation with neighbors, and the main office.  If you know of a neighbor that may not be able to access this information you can print a newsletter and share it with them, or they can visit www.makahavalleyplantation.org and go to the Newsletter section. The main office will also have a few copies printed out to take.  We want to include everyone!

If you have any suggestions for an upcoming issue or questions we can help answer, we accept submissions and photos between the 1st and 15th of the month. Please send your ideas thoughts and photos to mvpcommunicationcommittee@gmail.com

Until next month,
Lokomaika’i (kindness with aloha!)