The Maui County Council on Jan. 27 passed Bill 2 (2025) on second and final reading, approving an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) framework with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Hawaii State Historic Preservation Officer to address disposition of materials from the historic Spring House at the Lahaina Public Library and to create a vault on the old library property to store salvaged artifacts.

The ordinance was approved by a 9-0 vote after landowners and community members urged the council to pursue options that would preserve the Spring House’s cultural materials while clarifying who would bear costs and risks.

Council member Tamara Poulton, who moved the measure, told colleagues the bill’s primary effect is to authorize a vault and artifact-storage plan tied to a memorandum of agreement with the Army Corps and the state preservation office. "Every physical structure that's able to tell a story of where we came from and how we got here is precious to us right now," Poulton said in urging support for the motion.

Wanda Parker, who identified herself as the daughter of Kenneth and Georgia Lynn, the landowners of 666 Front Street (the property that includes the Spring House), told the council her family had sought help from county, state and federal agencies after the 2023 wildfires and that a FEMA engineer had concluded the Spring House "was not suitable for restoration." Parker said the site was covered by a 75-year lease entered in the late 1960s that had been returned to the family when the lessees terminated it May 31, 2024, placing responsibility for the property back on the owners.

"We have always wanted to work together to try to save the spring house," Parker told the council, and she asked the county for assurances that the family would not shoulder undue burden or lose access to government-sponsored debris cleanup if preservation work proceeded.

Deputy Director Wade, speaking for county recovery staff, told the council the Army Corps will not be able to perform shoring and bracing under the Corps’ current period of performance. "There isn't adequate time to receive the materials for shoring and bracing within our period of performance with the Army Corps of Engineers," Wade said. Wade said surface-level clearing has been completed at the site, the Army Corps plans to fence the Spring House for safety, and any additional clearing or structural stabilization would need to be carried out in partnership with the property owner.

Members stressed the council’s intent to assist the landowner where feasible. Poulton said the family’s decision to forgo an earlier government-funded demolition created an opportunity to evaluate restoration, reuse of foundational stones and creation of a memorial (Pohaku). Vice Chair Yukie Lee Sugimura and other members said they supported working with the Lehi family and with community stakeholders to pursue engineering evaluation and to identify options for preserving stones or other artifacts if full restoration is not feasible.

Testifier Jen Mather, who identified herself as an ethnographer working on a report for FEMA and community groups, described the Spring House and other fragments of Lahaina’s built landscape as culturally significant and thanked the landowners for engaging with preservation efforts. Resident Tom Crowley urged the council to consider practical safety concerns while also listening to the property owner.

The bill text and accompanying exhibit refer to a vault on the old Lahaina library property to receive and store artifacts and masonry removed from the Spring House and nearby structures. County staff said the vault provision covers material removed from the library site and related stonework that the community and the owners hope to preserve, and that the Army Corps’ agreement would address custody and disposition of artifacts recovered during debris operations.

With the council’s vote, the measure advances the county’s ability to finalize an MOA/IGA with the Army Corps and the State Historic Preservation Officer to manage the short-term handling of materials from the site and to secure a storage location for artifacts. Council members said the next steps include an engineering evaluation to determine whether restoration is feasible and continued collaboration between the county, the Lehi family and community cultural stewards. No new county appropriation was announced at the meeting.

The council closed the special meeting after members voted 9-0 in favor of the ordinance and thanked speakers who testified.