(BIVN) – On May 3, 2018, the Windward Planning Commission voted to approve the Hāmākua Community Development Plan, or CDP. The Hāmākua CDP took nearly ten years to draft, vet and review. The planning commission approval was one of the final steps before adoption. And the video of the meeting has not been published online until now.

Although Big Island Video News recorded the meeting, we were unable to edit, render, and upload the footage. May 3 was also the day that the eruption of Kīlauea Volcano began in Leilani Estates. That day set off a three month scramble to cover the natural disaster. The Hāmākua CDP video was put on the shelf.

In the year 2018, Big Island Video News uploaded 991 videos to our YouTube channel. However, not all of them were published.

Today we publish five of the most interesting, with brief descriptions. The Hāmākua CDP video is the first. Here are four more.

Kahaluʻu Ma Kai

The issuance of a lease to Kamehameha Schools for submerged lands in Kahaluʻu, Kona was discussed at the state legislature in 2018. The above video mixes the recording of the senate committee meeting and footage of the work to demolish the Keauhou Beach Hotel courtesy Kamehameha Schools. Kahalu‘u Ma Kai is being transformed into “an innovative, 21st-century educational complex that will serve as the piko (hub) for Native Hawaiian ʻāina-based, science, technology, engineering, arts & math education in West Hawai‘i,” school officials say.

HPP Cell Tower

Another item from the May 3 Windward Planning Commission meeting that was left unpublished due to the eruption. Verizon Wireless was seeking an application for a Use Permit to allow the construction of a 155-foot cell tower in Hawaiian Paradise Park.

Geothermal Air Monitoring Update

Before the eruption of Kīlauea Volcano changed the conversation in regards to the Puna Geothermal Venture facility, the Hawaiʻi County Council discussed unresolved issues at the power facility.

Sand Piles On Hilo Bay

In April, during the preliminary budget discussions between the Hawaiʻi County Council and Mayor Harry Kim’s administration, Parks and Recreation director Roxcie Waltjen tells the story of the giant sand piles along Hilo Bay.

Stay tuned: Next we do five unpublished eruption videos from 2018.