Big Island Video News will be featuring the presentations made by the many different speakers slated to talk at the Common Ground series. The archive will be available at this location.

LAUPAHOEHOE, Hawaii – The first of four highly anticipated TMT & Maunakea: Common Ground talks was held Tuesday night in Lauphaoehoe. The meetings are being organized by the Hilo-Hamakua Community Development Corporation. The organization is hoping to bring the community together on the highly divisive issue. Both sides of the argument – for and against building the $1.4 billion project on Mauna Kea – were represented.

The third speaker in Laupahoehoe was Stephanie Nagata, the lead administrator of the Office of Mauna Kea Management. OMKM, as its called for short, is responsible for managing the summit science reserve on behalf of the University of Hawaii, which leases the land from the Department of Land and Natural Resources. Therefore, she is intimately familiar with the many concerns over the use of the mountain, and she is also responsible for sorting it all out as outlined in the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan.

The next meeting in the Common Ground series will be held on Wednesday May 27 at the Kulaimano Community Center in Pepe`ekeo.