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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2025-02-19 2024-2026 Hawaii County Council 71h Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii February 19, 2025 INVOCATION: Kumu Malani DeAguiar of Simply Truth Ministries gave the morning's invocation. CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawaii County Council was called to order at ORDER: 9:03 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair Mr. Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, Vice Chair (came in later) Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. James E. Hustace, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member (via videoconference from Hilo; came in later) Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member(via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member(via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member PLEDGE OF The Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of ALLEGIANCE: Allegiance. (At this time, County Clerk Jon Henricks led the Council in the Pledge of Allegiance.) PETITIONS, The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Petitions, MEMORIALS, Memorials, Certificates of Merit, and Expressions of Condolence. CERTIFICATES OF MERIT, AND (Note: At this time, Mr. Inaba presented the February 2025 Haweo Award to EXPRESSIONS OF Detective Donovan Kohara of the Hawaii Police Department.) CONDOLENCE: Recess: At 9:12 a.m., the Chair called for a recess. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 9:16 a.m. Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Kristine Kubat: GOEAC-15 (Comm. 97), in support. Rikki Torres-Pestana: Bill 17 (Comm. 77), comment. Rebecca Melendez: Bill 17 (Comm. 77); and Bill 18, Draft 2 (Comm. 77.4), in opposition. Clare Loprinzi: Bill 17 (Comm. 77); and Bill 18, Draft 2 (Comm. 77.4), in opposition. Elizabeth Cook: Bill 18, Draft 2 (Comm. 77.4), comment. APPROVAL The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Approval OF MINUTES: of Minutes. Chair Inaba announced that the Minutes of January 8, 2025, were approved. REPORTS: The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Reports. GOEAC-15 APPOINTMENT OF LAURA ACASIO AS ADMINISTRATOR OF THE (Comm. 97): OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY, CLIMATE, EQUITY, AND RESILIENCE Requires Council Confirmation by: March 8, 2025 (Section 2-271, Hawaii County Code) Motion to Approve: Ms. Villegas moved to adopt Governmental Operations and External Affairs Committee Report No. 15. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball, go ahead. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, thank you. And thank you for the opportunity to speak to this once more, and I want to mahalo the Mayor and the Managing Director for being here as well. I want make clear that my concerns and opposition to this particular nomination are not at all personal. And I appreciate that the testifier that came before us earlier acknowledged that. Page 2 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 My concern is with OSCER(Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, and Resilience) and the vital role that we all agree it needs to play in terms of taking us from ideas and concepts and plans to actual implementation. And when it comes to climate change and sustainability, implementation strategies across the country are the challenge. Like, it's hard to get from ideas to action on the ground. And so, as we were approaching the new administration, and again, Mayor, I'm so glad you're here because one of the reasons that I had such grave concerns is that, and I know that this was before you and I ever had an opportunity to talk about what OSCER is and what it's for. On the campaign trail, you actually said that you didn't think OSCER was necessary. I'm not trying to call you out, but again, we didn't have a chance to talk. Secondly, I know that you have run and have since taken office on the idea of being different and change from the previous administration. And I will say that, nominally, the previous mayor wore the sustainability mantle, right, and I know that you want to be different from the previous mayor. And I understand why you have the community support behind that. And so my concern was that under the new administration, because of that tie of the previous administration, you guys would be less inclined to support OSCER and the actions of OSCER. But we've had a chance to talk, and I'd like to have you just say a little bit, if you don't mind, about your vision for this office going forward under your administration. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball, excuse me. We're on the appointment of Ms. Acasio. So if you have questions about the office in which she's being appointed, you can ask her directly. Any conversation with the Mayor regarding specifics can be asked offline. We want to move forward today. If you'd like to direct your questions to Ms. Acasio, you can do that. She's here in our Kona chambers. MS. KIMBALL: Chair, I have to say I object. I think that this input from the Mayor is relevant to, in particular, my decision-making around this communication as the one that will direct the office. And I have made clear that my concern about the appointment is where the administration's view of the office's future lies. CHR. INABA: So is it in regards to her specific appointment, your question? MS. KIMBALL: It will lead to that, yes, Chair. CHR. INABA: Okay, so real briefly. And then, Ms. Acasio, can you come forward and be prepared to answer questions that Council Member Kimball has? Page 3 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 (Note: At this time, Mayor C. Kimo Alameda and nominee Laura Acasio came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. ALAMEDA: Thank you, Council Member Heather Kimball. It's good to be here again. Yeah, so I did share that, because under Research and Development there is a component on sustainability, and that was there when I was working for the County. So, when this office was created, initially I thought, well, how is it that it's not being addressed under Research and Development? So, but, you know, the will of the people. You guys voted and now we have an office, and so I don't ponder on negativity. It's just a waste of time. So then I think, well, how can we make this office as vibrant, as connected to the other offices as possible? And then here's President Trump, right. He gets elected, right. Because when I talked to you, Council Member Kimball, you said one of the big deals of this office is that it'll get a whole bunch of funding; climate change, equity, diversity, all the words that are now, if you say that in the Federal Government, they might fire you. So now I'm super concerned of the funding that you said would come because of this office. So that's one concern. But that doesn't mean that we're not going to stop addressing issues, you know, climate change issues, environmental issues, alternative energy issues. That'll continue because that's what makes Hawaii who we are. So the office is what it is. I'll support it as much as possible, to whatever degree we need to support it. I think Laura's a great candidate because she'll speak her mind, and we've had many discussions already. Some we agree, some we disagree. And I like that about Laura. I like that she can speak her mind, and we can agree to disagree. So she's the perfect pick, I think, for this office. And she will challenge the other departments as well as support the other departments in coordinating and filling those gaps that we might have around environmental sustainability. So, I see this office as more an environmental sustainability. I think the prior administration, they got stuck on just the word sustainability, and they wore the jacket sustainability but they never—Mitch could never explain what that was, right. He deferred to you. So you got economic sustainability. You got environmental sustainability. You got cultural sustainability. So we need to figure out a way to make all of that work. That's going to be our challenge, and I'm up for the challenge. Thank you. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. I really appreciate you expounding upon that and identifying one of the critical concerns right now is that loss of potential funding to the County through the various Federal programs, which means we need to pivot, right. If we need to look at resources for funding these programs, it is likely going to have to come from other sources or under the guise of different Page 4 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 nomenclature. And my colleague here, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, has, of course, identified this as the Office of Keywords, but we all know that there's actually depth and meaning behind all of these things. So just thank you, Mayor, for that input. I maintain my concerns about the first clause about the minimum qualifications and having had leadership of a major program. We were talking yesterday about something and legislative intent and having to look at the legislative history. You don't need to do that here. I'm the one that drafted those minimum qualifications. And so when we look at legislative intent, when I said leading a major program in sustainability, I'm sorry, as much as it is admirable, leading a community garden for the Boys and Girls Club does not qualify, in my mind, for leading a major program. It's setting objectives. It's managing budget. It's managing staff. It's cross-interagency communication. It's anticipating risks. I mean, there are so many things that I think are beyond the scope of that particular project that doesn't match that first qualification. My other concerns that I didn't get a chance to speak to last time are actually just understanding the bureaucracy of the County. The previous administrator was actually never hired through the appointment process like we're doing now. There had to be, because of various bureaucratic stumbling blocks in HR(Human Resources) and others, a merit-based process. There were something like 18 candidates. Of those, 5 came in for interviews. And these are things that OSCER is going to continue to have to work through. And the nominee before us does not have any experience with the bureaucratic process within the County. With respect to the funding, we have a contract for the energy efficiency grant that we approved. That money is here; it is not frozen. There's no experience having managed contracts with Federal Government or the procurement process through the County. We have the other million dollar grant from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), also not frozen as of the last conversation I had with Finance yesterday. And the candidate has no experience managing the Federal grant process, so I continue to have concerns about that. And lastly, the biggest thing, as mentioned by the testifier, is that community engagement. And this is where I have a question for you, Ms. Acasio. With the Federal money potentially drying up around this area, we are going to have to look to the State. This office will actually require probably some state-level legislation. I understand that you are currently engaged as the plaintiff in a lawsuit against the State House of Representatives. Do you intend to continue that lawsuit? Page 5 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 MS. ACASIO: Thank you for the question, Council Member Kimball. I am one of eight plaintiffs in a good governance request for the courts to clarify the constitutional language and the practice and procedure of the House of Representatives. And yes, I MS. KIMBALL: How do you envision thisagain, this office requires coordination across the County in coordination with our State partners. How do you envision ensuring that those relationships are going to be repaired? And I am not questioning the good governance aspect of the lawsuit. What I am this is politics. And you know, having had been over there at the square building, you take actions like this and it potentially becomes a barrier to the County for some time. I'm not sure we're getting a response. MS. ACASIO: Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't hear a question. MS. KIMBALL: How do you intend to repair the relationships with the members of the State Legislature? MS. ACASIO: Actually, so my relationships with all of the members are as standing because this is not personal. The address is strictly about the clarification in the Constitution, and it has nothing to do with any personal relationships. I remain steadfast in the same relationships that I have had previously, and engage quite readily with many folks at the State Legislature. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Ms. Acasio. Council Member Kimball, your buzzer went off here. I'll come back to you after Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHL I just wanted to kind of make a comment on what Ms. Kimball had asked you. For legislation, you would need, like the other counties in order to be partners, in order for Hawaii County to come forward with a legislation. Legislators, when they do law, it's not just for a specified island. It's statewide. And so we have to understand that it needs to be a group effort. And maybe, Ms. Acasio, you can comment to that too, or give some detail about it. MS. ACASIO: Absolutely. Your point is very well taken. Collaboration is key, not only with the departments and with the administration and with those of you who sit on the Council, also on the State level working with council members of all islands. I know, last hearing, Council Member Villegas brought up a particular lawsuit, for example, that other counties are engaged in on the higher level for fossil fuel industry and kind of larger environmental impacts. The court system is a tool and when the Legislature and other mechanisms need clarification or direction. So, in that sense, I do have a lot of really close Page 6 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 relationships with council members on all islands. And also particularly the request, as you say, is not even about one department. So, yes, it's about collaboration. MR. ONISHL Just another note. We all know about what happened with that half percent that the State Legislature had given to Oahu. Then the AG's (Attorney General's) office had ruled that it needs to be offered to all counties, and that's why today we have that. And it's because when you make a state law, it has to be statewide, and not specified to just one county. So thank you, I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Vice Chair Onishi. Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: First off, I want to just compliment you, Administrator Acasio, for your professionalism and your ability to endure this line of questioning, which I don't believe was appropriate or professional this morning, because asking questions about personal relationships with the State Legislature when we have prior council members currently engaged in lawsuits against them for unethical behaviors and questionable things. I think it is time that we hold account. And it takes courage and determination to have signed onto the lawsuit that you did. And, damn it, I'm sick of cowering for relationships with people that aren't operating with integrity, quite frankly. And I have seen too much hypocrisy, sitting in this seat, from confirming people who were not even remotely as qualified as you are. And having been a co-author, though I will humbly admit Council Member Kimball did the lion's share of drafting for OSCER, but I am very connected with the people and the relationships to the other offices statewide, and where the inception of offices like OSCER came from. And it's based on value systems and the capacity to he `ike `ana is i ka pono, to see the right thing to do and do it. And I believe that you will make decisions based on that value system. I am also very hopeful that the Mayor will, our new Mayor, will embrace and recognize the imperative need for this office. It's not just about environment. And when I first ran for office, people used to say, "Well, aren't you kind of an environmentalist?" And my response was "Well, don't you live in an environment?" So it's not separate from us. It is us. And it is how we will survive as humanity. And a lot of the resources that were coming from the national level I'd like to think are still in the pipeline, unless the absolute chaos and insanity that prevails at a national level cuts those things off. But then we will prevail. And that becomes an opportunity for OSCER to work with our divisions and departments to find ways to improve on the systems we have in a circular economy and with the connections and resources we have here on this island. And I won't be silenced for fear of angering the FOTUS (Felon Of The United States) and the people and the minions who are doing his bidding,period. And Page 7 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 we have to lean in and speak up and stand as a community and an island and a state and a county, because we are stronger together and we have what they want. Unfortunately, right now, other than money, they don't really have what we want. So, I'll get off my soapbox. But I want to say that I'll support your nomination wholeheartedly. I am deeply grateful for you having already arranged for the meeting with the Administration to be able to move forward to talk about this really pivotal piece of legislation that has had lots of positive returns already in the Supreme Court decisions, and has the opportunity to provide resources and financial support for our County to mitigate what we already know are impacts of climate change to our infrastructure. I yield. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Thank you for being here, Administrator Acasio. I just want to kind of follow up, because I do have some of those concerns as well. And I hope you don't feel like these questions are out of line, because I think you know how important this job is. And we'd only be asking these if we all didn't—we think this is a very important job as well. So I want to give you the opportunity to just talk about how many vacancies are there in OSCER right now, and what kind of skills, especially if you feel like maybe those aren't your strengths, that you're looking for. Because, this was brought up in the testimony earlier, you know, what are the things that you're looking for to make your office strong in these hires. MS. ACASIO: Okay, so, and just to be clear that you recognize that in my appointment, as opposed to the other appointments, I haven't started. And so because there was another interim, it was very there was a lot of consideration taken in not overstepping relationships and also positioning, as well as the direction that the current team was taking from the previous administrator. And so a lot of the information is—well, a lot of the deepening of the skill sets my knowledge around the skill sets of the team that we actually have is limited because of that relationship where I have not started work with the County. MS. KAGIWADA: Sure. MS. ACASIO: That being said, I do know that we have at least three openings. One specifically has been posted and been out for recruiting on accounting and HR, which was brought up also in subtlety with Council Member Kimball's commentary about my relationship with County bureaucracy and those kinds of functions. So that position is going to be pivotal and critical for all of us. I have been in contact with folks at Finance, HR, Managing Director's office, in terms of Page 8 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 immediate trainings, but especially around the procurement that needs to go out immediately for our facilities conditions assessment, the energy efficiency block grant. And then there are a few dates that that is actually due in April. But because of all this, we're already planning for immediate rollout and launch of those trainings. But as far as other positions, I know we do have our data management coordinator. He's been crunching a lot of numbers and doing an incredible amount of research, but especially around that efficiency block grant. So, looking—in terms of other aspects, we have grant folks that have grant experience, and we have project managers for delivering our grants. For example, I believe that is also Shelly Ogata. She's new in the office as well, but as the project manager for and coordinator for some of these grants. We do have openings, I believe, for two other positions. But again, that would be subject to communications that we have been having with R&D (Research and Development) and the administration, obviously with you folks. I'm sure there's an engagement with you folks as to reorganization and what that looks like. At some point, things are not in research or development, so they move to perhaps another responsible agency. In that case, some of the things may end up falling into OSCER. With that said, and of course also pivoting with what we're engaging with on the Federal level for dollars, all of that is going to have to be rediscussed, renegotiated, and reallocated. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. I guess the additional thing thank you. You answered a lot of what I was asking. But the one other thing that I guess I was hoping for is about if there were some things that, for instance, Council Member Kimball brought up about maybe those are not your strengths. Clearly, we know your strengths are with working with community. We have a lot of testimony, and a lot of people here have spoken to your strengths. But some of those other things that are really necessary parts for the office and for going forward, was there anything—it may be in staff that you already have even, but are there key components that you are looking to shore up either in new hires or that you feel like the current staff can provide that you maybe are not, you know, to balance out your strengths? MS. ACASIO: I completely know what you're getting at, Council Member Kagiwada, but like I said, I haven't been able to engage thoroughly with our current staff to even assess what their skill sets are to be able to really answer your question. But absolutely, I would. That is something that I can bookmark and get back to you right away. But honestly, I have not been able to engage in that because of a deep respect for authority, or not authority but Page 9 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 MS. KAGIWADA: Right. I'm asking what do you know you need, even if you don't know if it's there yet. I understand you don't know if you need to hire it. But what are the pieces of expertise that you know that the office needs to balance with your strengths? MS. ACASIO: I feel like one of the benefits that I bring is a very broad range of a lot of knowledge about things. So certain deepening around finance; that is something that I will engage closely with Finance,but also bringing somebody in who has an expertise in finance. Certain technical aspects, especially around energy; especially if I understand that we may be looking at shifts in where the energy officer for our County sits. These are all deep conversations, absolutely, that are related to equity and resilience, as you know. So probably more of the technical side. Although, as was stated from even the testifier, we know that a lot of these things are outsourced. Folks have—it's unbelievable and beautiful how many people have reached out to me since our last Council meeting, specifically to either let me know that they are here, they've been involved, they still plan to remain involved. They have explained their technical background so that—and I know as a legislator just to be clear, I also was in and out of classrooms for over 17 years. So I do know management. It's just a whole different—it's all the same skill sets applied in a different arena. Also, the years in the State Senate. So it's not just that I come with project management only from a community garden. There is a whole culmination of a lifetime of skill sets, bringing that into the office. It's important to have a really broad range so that I can relate with the team and help guide that team. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. MS. ACASIO: And outsource. Like, be able to know in our community who are the resources and who have been involved. And also because there's so much greenwashing in this field, we also need to have a deep discernment of what is greenwashing in an era of incredible misinformation. And I would just like to point to that. Some of the testifiers, while I know well, while I don't necessarily see eye to eye with a lot of the statements and the delivery, because I know your work and I know a bit about how this system works versus that, what I really want to address in that is that there's an emergency and people feel it. And so to be able to really engage on all levels, not only with experts in the technical side of things that come to the table, but to be able to discern between a lot of emotions and really important things for our lives that we're facing around having water, right, and how do we share that resource. Is selling our public trust resource water across the globe, is that truly circular? Those kinds of questions that remain. And so that in and of itself is a skill set with broad ramifications. Page 10 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Thank you so much. I appreciate your thinking on this. I look forward to seeing how your team comes together and becomes strong as a whole, and maybe filling in a few of those pukas. Thank you so much. MS. ACASIO: Thank you. CHR. INABA: Anyone? Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. Aloha, Ms. Acasio. Thank you for being here. I appreciate your time last week. We had a brief opportunity to kind of connect. And I appreciate the conversations about the administrator start for OSCER, and maybe that's something we need to revisit as a Council, kind of looking at that together here. But you and I also had a nice conversation about our wastewater challenges, as well as how do we implement more cradle-to-grave policies. So I do appreciate that conversation you and I had. I want to echo a little bit what my colleague said about Council Member Kimball. I do have some concern about the lawsuit that you're a parry to and how that appears for the County, particularly as an administrative level. And how it reflects on our Mayor, administration, and kind of the impact and relationships we have with our State partners. Could you speak a little bit to you sticking with this lawsuit and moving forward with it, how that might impact your responsibilities as an administrator for the department, for OSCER particularly? And kind of that timeline going forward, what does that mean for your responsibilities of filling staff positions if you're having to go and be a part of this lawsuit? MS. ACASIO: Okay, that's a great question. Most likely won't be coming up until at least two years, because of the nature of how the judicial system works. However,just to preface it again, the particular lawsuit, we as administration, as well as you on the Council, the Legislature takes an oath of office to uphold the Constitution and the language in the Constitution. There are three branches of government for a reason. It wasn't created by any of us here today, but they all work together and independently for a reason. So again, going back to that preface of, the premise of the lawsuit is simply asking the court, are the legislative practices and procedures in line with the Constitution. If I was currently sitting as a legislator, as I was a few years ago, I would want to know this answer, because I want to uphold my duty to our constituency as written by the oath that we're taking. How does that impact, is that we're really raising the vibration. And I think it's something that Council Member Villegas brought up, is that we are upholding the nature of civic discourse as an important asset and shifting from pay-to-play or relationship—trades and politics that have to do with relational quid pro quo struggles. And there's a lot of things at the Legislature, and I can attest to it from Page 11 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 being there, that really block and stifle community progress on the County level because of these things. And I personally—again, I don't think that it's personal at all. And in terms of the timing wise, I think what you're referring to specifically is how much time it will take out. My portion in it is fairly limited or fairly small in that I will offer my input and my experience and why we brought it. I will also have to, of course, separate all of my work for the County from this personal endeavor. We have personal leave, vacation, these kinds of things that I could use. And if I need to not prioritize that, I absolutely will because this opportunity with this administration, I wholeheartedly believe in. I'm here for it; hundred percent excited. Ready to collaborate on all levels, even with people in the "House of Representatives,"which the current lawsuit is addressing. And I think I said that earlier in terms of my relationships with people don't change. And also, it's actually up to all of us, right? The HSAC plays a role in influencing and relationships. Everyone on this Council, on all levels, we work in tandem. Departments, right? DEM (Department of Environmental Management) Director, especially, and those that are working on cesspool conversion, communicating with our legislators. And then just one quick last thing. It's a little separate but you did raise it in terms of creating ordinance and working with the Council. Because I understand the legislative process and crafting that legislation, I've already been in so many meetings where I'm like I have a running list already of, ooh, these are great ideas for the Council, should you want to pick it up and should you want to address it, that relate to some of the ordinance and things in our County system that could use an ordinance shift in order to do a lot of the protections and work that OSCER was created to do. So a little bit separate. Thank you for indulging me on answering that. MR. HUSTACE: Of course. And just kind of related to my other question about the lawsuit itself is this, have you had conversations with our Mayor about the lawsuit and his familiarity with what you're pursuing here, and that relationship between you and he and the rest of the administration about how we work together with this kind of ongoing suit? MS. ACASIO: Yes. Another great question. Thank you. I have had conversations with the Mayor and anything—I will leave it to the Mayor to speak to that. I can't speak for him. However, he knows my dedication to this work, and he also knows that I am passionate about good governance, following the Constitution. We have a situation in our State and even across the nation or the United States of an incredible influence of money in politics. We're not going to—at this moment, we're not getting around it. Page 12 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 So there are these little mechanisms to encourage and urge. A perfect example is recently we had a ruling from the Supreme Court on gut and replace. It was a practice that was used where they would take a bill, pass it through all the committees, and then completely change all of the language until an organization—it was the League of Women Voters and Common Cause brought it to the court to say, "Hey, this is a practice that's happening. We read in the constitution this is not allowed." It went through the process. That wasn't ugly. It wasn't necessarily personal. Obviously, the people who were doing it knew they were doing it. But fundamentally, what did the people want? The people want good, transparent, clear governance, especially with public trust. We have heard in testimony earlier public trust is super low. I was reading all between the lines. It's about not trusting the work you're doing. And I know you're doing a lot of work. I see it. Just in addressing that piece, it's really the work that we want to be doing in an era where we just had two legislators imprisoned for fraud. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Ms. Acasio. Thank you. Chair, I'll yield for now. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Heading back over to Hilo, Council Member Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Can you see my light? CHR. INABA: Sure can. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's amazing. Thank you for being here today, Laura. How are you doing? MS. ACASIO: Thank you. Thank you, Council Member. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: You doing okay over there? MS. ACASIO: Oh, I'm good. I'm here for the work. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I love you, Laura. You're awesome. Laura, what does the E in OSCER stand for? MS. ACASIO: Equity. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: What does equity mean to you? MS. ACASIO: Serving truth and justice as opposed to privilege and power. But it really has to do with coming from a place of looking at disadvantaged communities; or environmental injustice is not only a buzzword, but it's a reality. Page 13 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 We have people in our community that don't have access to a lot of the experience or the privilege or the knowledge or—and a lot of it is based in, ultimately, it's in systemic things like racism, late-stage capitalism, as we find ourselves. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So I looked it up. I'll read you a definition. I think it's fitting, given that we're discussing a lawsuit that you brought about, not you brought about, that you're one of eight plaintiffs in. The term equity refers to fairness and justice and is distinguished from equality. Whereas equality means providing the same to all, equity means recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to imbalances. The process is ongoing, requiring us to identify and overcome intentional and unintentional barriers arising from bias or systemic structures. I find that a very fitting definition as the lawsuit that you're a plaintiff in actually seeks equity. So the tool being used against you right now actually speaks to the process that you're willing to go through within the system that you understand maybe better than some of the Council Members here today, as far as the State and judicial systems that are in place to protect the constituents of our State of Hawaii. And that you are truly practicing equity in being a part of the lawsuit that's mentioned today. How do you feel about that? MS. ACASIO: I agree completely; and your articulation, I don't think I could surpass. Thank you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. I said it before and I'll say it again, you fit this department. Your expertise in state politics, your expertise as an appointed senator, your expertise in the community, understanding both, sorry, understanding the cultures that make up this melting pot of a beautiful place that we all call home. As an educator and just as a human being, you fit this department. I'll be supporting your nomination today. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Just checking if there's anyone who hasn't spoken yet. All right, Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah, I just—something popped up and it's a totally viable question. Thank you, Mayor Alameda, for bringing it up. There was people said, well, R&D does this. And I'd like to clarify that R&D essentially is a very flexible department that has the ability, based on the values and priorities of the administration, to focus on different causes or grant writings or exploration of a litany of topics. And because of that, we've suffered as a county because certain administrations don't have a focus on environment, culture. That wasn't their priority. So it left us vulnerable. So I just want to point out that was part of the impetus and the need for the creation of OSCER, and the vision was it sits at a cabinet level. It's not hidden in Page 14 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 R&D. And so the person, the administrator of that office, sits at a cabinet level and can be in the conversations with the directors of the other departments to provide guidance and to provide insights, and to provide suggestions for more evolved options when it comes to technology and sustainability and regenerative practices and circular economy and authentically cultural pono connections. So that was the intention of having a dedicated office and for it to support the other departments, and the Mayor and his office because we all can't know everything. I remember Mayor Kimo saying that during one of the confirmation hearings and that's totally true. But having an office that is tasked with being up to date and connected to best practices, I think, is what brings strength and added value. So I just wanted to share that. And that's why it needed to be established as its own office outside of R&D. I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you. I'm looking to wrap this up. If you can please keep your questions and responses brief. Thank you, Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you, Chair. As you know, I have never been known to be long-winded. So, as usual, I will be keeping it pretty tight. But I did want to just weigh in on this. It is a very difficult sort of conversation that we're having. But I think it's also a good conversation teasing out some of these issues and the values and the reason for OSCER. And I agree with what Council Member Villegas just pointed out, that there is some overlap with Research and Development. But it is actually more of an economic development division rather than something that would be focusing on these really important efforts around sustainability and resilience and equity. And I think the previous administrator or current or whatever in some ways fits the description better. But I also see and acknowledge and respect all of the ways in which you also fit the description and are going to be, I think, a very good leader for this. So I do support your nomination. But I think it's also been a very good conversation, although it has taken up some time. But this is a really important part of our evolution as a government. So thank you for stepping up and being willing to do it. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Galimba. Any final thoughts over in Hilo? MS. KIMBALL: Yes, if I may. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball and then Council Member Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder. Page 15 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. As always, Council Member Galimba, mahalo for kind of summarizing I think what is truly the value of this conversation today and the contribution of everybody involved. And I want to mahalo Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder for sharing that definition of equity. I think it's the E is the one that gets forgotten a lot in OSCER and in practice. And so I appreciate your highlighting and Council Member Villegas, of course, highlighting what the original intention was and purpose, and how OSCER is different from R&D. And I just have one last question for you with regard to our partnership with the Federal Government,particularly with the military branch. What is your willingness to work with the DoD (Department of Defense) on projects related to resilience in the County in OSCER's purview? MS. ACASIO: That's a great question as well. Thank you for that. So, working with the DoD, I feel like it's exactly the same. And it comes under the same mission as OSCER in general with any agency, department, private corporation, in that we have to be doing our due diligence as a County in all aspects of sustainability, climate, resilience, equity in order to move forward. So collaborative projects, I think, are really wonderful. I think what we run into, not just perhaps with the Department of Defense, but also with private corporations, is that one can come out and say they're aloha `aina directly to the Mayor, to the departments and administration staff. Aloha `aina, if you're using it in terms where your practice is extractive and damaging to our public trust resources, then ultimately that's a misappropriation of language and also in order to be able to call yourself something like that. And so in relationships specifically to the DoD, I have no problem working with the DoD. In some ways, I had a good relationship with our colonel in terms of our working relationship. Again, though, this also needs to be held to the highest standard. For example, there is a bill at the Legislature that urges the State to reconsider lease renewals if the entity who holds the lease is not in compliance with environmental or any standards of that lease, but especially in our purview for this office, would be any kind of environmental and resiliency conditions. Just to wrap it up, I know that the Mayor knows I have courage, and that even if we disagree on certain aspects, that I won't be afraid to do my—recommend and do our own due diligence to bring these things to the table, as Councilmember Villegas said, as an equal in the administration. I believe that is the reason why I'm being asked to do this kuleana, is because, as exemplified in the lawsuit, it does take bravery to put—by the way, I'm "A" "C," so I got the name. I'm in the alphabetical order, so that's why it's "Acasio" versus the House of Representatives. It's because it's alphabetical. However, it does take a level of courage to say, "Even though we're doing this practice, we're going to do what's right." And so, as an administrator, I am Page 16 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 obligated to address things with the Department of Defense with professionalism, with my due diligence, and with the responsibility that is codified for being this administrator for this office. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you for that response. The reason I wanted to hear from you on that in particular, is if we're looking at potential Federal cuts through EPA programs or other Department of Interior programs, whatnot, the area that tends to not get cut is DoD. The DoD has been involved in resilience, climate change, adaptation, and mitigation space for decades, actually. It's probably leading the Federal Government in the charge because of their need to protect their resources. And so I don't seeI see that there's potential for conflict, but I also see them as a partner who has—if we look at natural resources investment in particular, they've invested more money in this island with respect to that than DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources) has. Right? So, it is important that we be open and willing to work with them. I'm just going to conclude by saying—and I think it's clear that you have the support of this body. I'm going to vote in support today. I will say that this isOSCER is my baby and you're a mom. I'm a mom of four kids, four daughters; no man's good enough for any of my girls, let me say. And this is maybe kind of a little bit of this situation. I have put my heart and soul into the creation of this office, spent years on it. And the most important thing for me is its success. And I hope that you will be successful. I will be there to support you and the Mayor on the efforts that OSCER is responsible for. And I hope that you will reach out to me, and we can have further dialogue about the growth of the office in the future. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Laura, do you know what your budget is right now for the department? MS. ACASIO: That file is in my car, no lie. It's in my car. I don't have the exact top on my head right now. Apologies. I can get back to you on it as soon as I get to my car. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: No, no, no. It's $840,000, roughly. Let's just call it three quarters of a million dollars. It's not a big department. And it's part of the reason I voted "no" against this department at the very beginning. I'm telling you that because I believe, for the most part, that's County funds, which means your department isn't at risk of losing State funds or Federal funds and being able to operate. So it puts you in a unique position. And correct me if I'm wrong, you should look it over later, but if you're county-funded, which you Page 17 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 should be, and you have three quarters of a million dollars to do the work, then you're not at risk of losing State or Federal funds,which allows you some freedom to not be constrained by cuts in the Federal or State budgets. So I really do hope that you do some amazing work in the upcoming years, and I'll be supporting your nomination as I said before. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor of closing file on Communication 97 and confirming the appointment of Laura Acasio as administrator of OSCER,please say "aye." Vote on GOEAC-15: The motion to adopt Governmental Operations and (Adopted) External Affairs Committee Report No. 15 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. GOEAC-16 NOMINATION OF WENDY SUE BOTELHO TO THE POLICE COMMISSION (Comm. 101): Requires Council Confirmation by: February 27, 2025 (Section 13-4(k), Hawaii County Charter) Vote on GOEAC-16: Ms. Galimba moved to adopt Governmental Operations (Adopted) and External Affairs Committee Report No. 16. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. GOEAC-17 NOMINATION OF LLOYD K. ENRIQUEZ TO THE POLICE COMMISSION (Comm. 102): Requires Council Confirmation by: February 27, 2025 (Section 13-4(k), Hawaii County Charter) Page 18 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Vote on GOEAC-17: Ms. Galimba moved to adopt Governmental Operations (Adopted) and External Affairs Committee Report No. 17. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. GOEAC-18 NOMINATION OF JONELLE M. FUKUSHIMA TO THE WINDWARD (Comm. 103): PLANNING COMMISSION Requires Council Confirmation by: February 27, 2025 (Section 13-4(k), Hawaii County Charter) Vote on GOEAC-18: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Governmental Operations (Adopted) and External Affairs Committee Report No. 18. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. GOEAC-19 NOMINATION OF LESLIE H. HANANO TO THE FIRE COMMISSION (Comm. 104): Requires Council Confirmation by: February 27, 2025 (Section 13-4(k), Hawaii County Charter) Vote on GOEAC-19: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Governmental Operations (Adopted) and External Affairs Committee Report No. 19. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. Page 19 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 GOEAC-20 NOMINATION OF GENE M. NAKASHIMA TO THE LIQUOR (Comm. 105): COMMISSION Requires Council Confirmation by: February 27, 2025 (Section 13-4(k), Hawaii County Charter) Vote on GOEAC-20: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Governmental Operations (Adopted) and External Affairs Committee Report No. 20. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions. Res. 67-25: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF GILLIG BUS PARTS TO THE MASS TRANSIT AGENCY The donation from Oahu Transit Services, with an estimated value of$176,899, would be used to repair buses currently operating in Hawaii County. Reference: Comm. III Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Approve: FC-23 Vote on Res. 67-25: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 67-25 and (Adopted) Finance Committee Report No. 23. Seconded by Mr. Onishi and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. Page 20 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Res. 68-25: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A GRANT AWARD OF $2,000 FROM BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY TO THE ANIMAL CONTROL AND PROTECTION AGENCY Funds would be used for travel expenses for an Animal Control and Protection Agency staff member to attend the 2025 Best Friends National Conference. Reference: Comm. 112 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Approve: FC-24 Vote on Res. 68-25: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 68-25 and (Adopted) Finance Committee Report No. 24. Seconded by Mr. Onishi and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. Res. 71-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO `AHA PUNANA LEO, INC., TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATING TO THE 22ND ANNUAL PULAMA MAULI OLA Transfers $9,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 5); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 122 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 71-25. Seconded by Mr. Onishi. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I look for everyone's support. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor, please say "aye." Page 21 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Vote on Res. 71-25: The motion to adopt Res. 71-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. Res. 72-25: APPROVES THE HAWAI`I STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES' EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE SLATE OF OFFICERS Ratifies the slate of officers approved by the Hawaii State Association of Counties Executive Committee on January 15, 2025, as follows: Hawaii County Council Members Heather Kimball, President(Jennifer Kagiwada, Alternate); Maui County Council Members Tamara Paltin, Vice President(Shane Sinenci, Alternate); Kauai County Council Members Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr., Secretary (Felicia Cowden, Alternate); and Honolulu City Council Members Matt Weyer, Treasurer (Esther Kia`aina, Alternate). Reference: Comm. 123 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball Waived: GOEAC Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 72-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Just ask for my colleagues' support. These are the members of the HSAC (Hawai`i State Association of Counties) Executive Committee approved by the Executive Committee. The only changes from the previous leadership is that Felicia Cowden will now be the alternate for Kauai. And then of course, the City and County of Honolulu has changed positions with Council Member Matt Weyer taking over the treasurer position and Esther Kia`aina taking the alternate position there. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Do you yield? MS. KIMBALL: Yes, Chair. CHR. INABA: All right, Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHL Thank you, Chair. I have a question for Ms. Kimball. So, with this HSAC, does HSAC still follow the rule where every year the officers change to the different islands? Because I remember back in 2012-2014, we made that Page 22 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 rule so that that way each county would have the opportunity to go to a different position, instead of in the past when I first got in in 2008, certain counties would continue to stick with certain positions. MS. KIMBALL: That clause has been removed from the bylaws as of a couple of years ago. So, no, there isn't a fixed rotation for the various positions of the executive board for HSAC. The reason for that has to do somewhat with the need to have City and County of Honolulu maintain the treasurer's position as we resolve some historical accounting issues that were necessary to have them do because it was in their purview. The second reason was for some continuity for some projects that HSAC has been working on. But I will say that we are planning at our next Executive Committee meeting to revisit the idea of rotating the leadership positions. But as of right now, that is not a requirement of the bylaws. MR. ONISHL My understanding was, yes, Oahu, at the treasury position, had some problems, but then I heard that it was taken care of. Oahu did raise enough funds for HSAC to kind of cover whatever I guess situations had happened. At the time when we did it, we never had an executive director who could be there, I guess, knowing through the years how the process is. For example, every—it's kind of like how the County Council is. At one time, we thought about hiring an office manager because sometimes when the chair changes, our clerk would change. And so what would happen is there would be a new set of rules or new plan that would come in. So now because we have that executive director at HSAC, I would feel that you folks should get back into that rotation, because now you folks have somebody at the association that has the knowledge of what's been going on and on. Any comment on that? MS. KIMBALL: If I may, Chair? CHR. INABA: Go ahead. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah. Point taken and that is the sort of purpose of having an executive director, is to have that continuity. Again, the intention is to review and revisit the language in the bylaws around the rotation at the next HSAC meeting, and we'll be happy to communicate your thoughts in that meeting. MR. ONISHL Okay, thank you. CHR. INABA: Further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 72-25, please say "aye." Page 23 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Vote on Res. 72-25: The motion to adopt Res. 72-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Res. 73-25: APPROVES THE NOMINATION OF MEMBERS TO THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES (NACo) BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND THE WESTERN INTERSTATE REGION (WIR) BOARD OF DIRECTORS Requests the Council's approval of the following slates of officers: NACo— KipuKai Kuali`i, Kauai County, and Tommy Waters, City and County of Honolulu; and WIR—Shane Sinenci, Maui County, and Arryl Kaneshiro, Kauai County. Reference: Comm. 124 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball Waived: GOEAC Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 73-25. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. This is the approved WIR (Western Interstate Region) Board and NACo (National Association of Counties) Board of Directors membership. You may note that Hawaii County is not listed. That is because Hawaii County has the honor of being selected for the presidential appointment to the NACo board, that position being filled by Council Member Onishi. Thank you, Council Member Onishi. As you may recall, former Council Member Richards initially brought that prestigious appointment to the County, then it was filled by Council Member Kierkiewicz and then Council Member Lee Loy until she left for the Legislature. So I want to make that clear because we have that presidential appointment, but it is at the discretion of the president of NACo. It is not something that HSAC approves or the councils approve. That's why it's not shown on the resolution. But our County does have leadership kuleana within the leadership of the NACo and WIR boards. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Vice Chair Onishi. Page 24 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 MR. ONISHL Thank you, Chair. This is another one I cannot understand what's going on because I don't know who made the decision for Hawaii County to give up that one seat. And so hopefully it wasn't done by our HSAC representatives because back inagain, I've got to bring back history because it was like this: Kauai had two, Big Island had one, Maui had one. Kauai had the two; it was one NACo and one WIR. Maui was NACo and Big Island was WIR. The presidential appointment used to go to Oahu. But then when I got back onto the HSAC association back in 2012, I changed that because I told our board it was that in case we don't get the presidential appointment, Oahu wouldn't get represented. So we changed the bylaws and having it where each county had a seat at the table. So, that way if we didn't have any appointment from the presidential, we still would have a representative from all four counties. So now I see it's going back to how it was way back. And to me, we talk about equality. We talk about open. It's not happening here. So I cannot support this because I feel that we should, Big Island, have the WIR seat. And the appointment, whichever county gets it, it's lucky for them. And if just so happen we have it, then we have two representatives, right? But that's how it was and it's fair across the board. Because then the thing too, if we don't get any appointment, then we still have four counties that's being represented. So I will not be supporting this. Thank you. MS. KIMBALL: Chair, if I may? CHR. INABA: Further discussion in Hilo, anyone who hasn't spoken yet? Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. I've been privileged to be in many of these discussions. I appreciate Council Member Onishi jumping back in and being the presidential appointee to be on the board and represent us, and bring back information that's critical. I think every member here can go to every meeting and hear what's going on. Every single person here is a member of HSAC and can go to any or every meeting. So I think if there are concerns, for those who are concerned get involved, come to the meetings, and hear what's going on. It's very hard after many years of absence to know what the discussions have been over the years, and I think there are, you know, this is the way it turned out because of what's happened in the last few years. And I completely support it. And I completely support everybody who's interested in attending the HSAC meeting. So, hope to see you there. Thanks. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. Just for an opportunity to clarify without going into too much detail. When Council Member Lee Loy, who had the presidential appointment from the NACo director, went to the State Legislature, both Kauai Page 25 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 and Hawaii County sought to fill the remaining term of that presidential appointment. The NACo president determined that it would not be proper for Kauai to have both the presidential and the WIR fixed board positions. And so, therefore—and also because they knew Council Member Onishi from his past service, chose Council Member Onishi to fill that presidential appointment position. I will say that the equity of having these fixed positions distributed across the four counties will be maintained. In our minutes and in our conversations with the HSAC board, it's been very clear that if at some point Hawaii County were to lose that presidential appointment, which I hope won't happen, we would then get either one of the permanent WIR board positions or the NACo board positions. That is the intention of the body. So there will not be a point in time where Hawaii County does not have representation on either of these boards. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you, Chair. And I just wanted to say that I appreciate the efforts to distribute these seats appropriately. And I think that they are an important way to contribute to the conversation. I was previously having one of these seats. There was a request from Kauai who wanted to have it. And I think that having had the position under Council Member Lee Loy for some time, I think it's a good idea, as you were saying, Council Member Onishi,just to have some rotation around these positions. So this is how it turned out, and I understand your desire to keep as much for Hawaii County as possible. But I think this is about equality and having other counties have their chance to have a seat at the WIR table, which involves getting up at 7:00 in the morning to have a Zoom call with some very western folks. So I wish them luck on this position. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Galimba. Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHL Thank you, Chair. Just to kind of respond to having Council Members attend the HSAC; that's why we appoint our representatives so they can be the voice for the rest of the members, and hoping that they would work for our members and for the County of Hawaii. So we depend on that, and that's what I used to do when I was on the HSAC board. And so I can remember when I was the WIR representative. And then about my last three years, so in 2015, I got appointed by the president to be the NACo appointee. So I gave up my seat, the WIR seat, to a fellow Council Member. And that's when Council Member Paleka became the representative of WIR. And I was lucky enough for the next two more years I got appointed as the presidential appointee. And so for Big Island, we had two positions. We had the appointment from the presidential, and we also had the WIR representative. And all the other Page 26 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 counties were all okay about that. So I'm just hoping that people understand what the history was and why things was done. And it was just to give each county that opportunity. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Vice Chair Onishi. With that, a roll call vote please. There's a motion (inaudible). Vote on Res. 73-25: The motion to adopt Res. 73-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following roll call vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: Council Member Onishi — 1. Absent: None. Excused: None. STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public. PUBLIC ON RES. 77-25 The following individual registered to speak and came forward when called by (COMM. 129): the Chair: Lamaku Mikahala Roy: In opposition. Res. 77-25: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A ROYAL COAT OF ARMS BRONZE PLAQUE FOR THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT The donation from Eddie Vasquez, with an estimated value of$4,000, would be displayed in the Mayor's Kona office. Reference: Comm. 129 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Waived: FC Vote on Res. 77-25: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 77-25. (Adopted) Seconded by Mr. Onishi and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 27 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Res. 78-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HAWAI`I ANIMAL KULEANA ALLIANCE FOR EXPENSES RELATING TO ITS FIVE-DAY DISASTER RESPONSE TRAINING: ANIMAL SEARCH AND RESCUE Transfers $5,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 2); and credits to the Hawaii Fire Department, Fire Operations Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 130 Intr. by: Council Member Kagiwada Motion to Approve: Ms. Kagiwada moved to adopt Res. 78-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you so much. I just wanted to, for the record, get this information out there. HAKA (Hawai`i Animal Kuleana Alliance) is an amazing organization. They're doing important work to help train people to rescue animals in the case of disasters. They first came to fruition after the Kilauea eruption. They've also helped they were out helping with the LA (Los Angeles) fire and rescuing animals there. They are asking for some support here for paying for the cost of renting the space in order to do the trainings, which I'm happy to provide. And I just think this is very important resilience work. The Fire Department, which doesn't usually do a lot of our CRFs (Contingency Relief Funds), is willingly supporting this because they do kind of help with some search and rescueI don't know if that's the right term; I might be using that wrong but they do help with animals in the case of disasters. So, looking for all your support on this. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Mahalo. All those in favor of adopting Resolution 78-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 78-25: The motion to adopt Res. 78-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 28 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Res. 79-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HAWAIIAN PARADISE PARK NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH TO ASSIST WITH ITS PUNA NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM Transfers $12,002 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 5); and credits to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 131 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 79-25. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. This is a big give from my office. I normally do $2,000-$5,000, but for this group, I really did feel strongly about providing them the funding they requested. Council Member Kierkiewicz did grant them funds as well earlier this year. Correct? Yeah. And this cannot speak highly enough, or enough, to what this group does for the Puna community as a whole. Judith Houle just does a tremendous job at providing resources, paperwork, meeting spaces for all of the neighborhood watches in the Puna area. It's a monthly meeting that she does, and she provides everything from legislative updates to animal control paperwork to how to deal with potholes. I mean, anything and everything, she takes care of it if it's public safety related. So to Ms. Houle, greatly appreciate her role in our community. Then to the organization as a whole,just love what they do. So, look for everyone's support and mahalo for the time. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor of approving Resolution 79-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 79-25: The motion to adopt Res. 79-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 29 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Res. 80-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO D.A.R.E. HAWAI`I TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATING TO ITS 2025 D.A.R.E. DAY CELEBRATION EVENT IN WEST HAWAI`I Transfers $3,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 7); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 138 Intr. by: Council Member Villegas Motion to Approve: Ms. Villegas moved to adopt Res. 80-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: I just want to ask for my colleagues' support in this. And send a big shout-out and mahalo to the Police Department for their work to create an exemplary event for our young people. I yield. CHR. INABA: Mahalo. All those in favor of approving Resolution 80-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 80-25: The motion to adopt Res. 80-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Res. 81-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO KA LA`I A `EHU TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATED TO THE OLA KA `I KONA EVENT IN WEST HAWAI`I Transfers $4,806 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 8); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 139 Intr. by: Council Member Inaba Page 30 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Motion to Approve: Ms. Kagiwada moved to adopt Res. 81-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Thank you for the motion, Council Member Kagiwada. I ask for my colleagues' support and welcome the community to attend this event called Ola Ka `I. It's a free community event occurring on March 1"this year at Keauhou Shopping Center. There will be a lot of folks from Ke Kula `o `Ehunuikaimalino and the West Hawaii complex area. Lots of free keiki activities and Hawaiian culture and language programming. So we hope to see you there. All those in favor of approving Resolution 81-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 81-25: The motion to adopt Res. 81-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Res. 82-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO PROJECT VISION HAWAI`I FOR ITS HEALTHCARE OUTREACH PROJECT IN HAWAI`I COUNTY Transfers $7,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 6); and credits to the Department of Research and Development, Hawaii County Resource Center account. Reference: Comm. 140 Intr. by: Council Member Galimba Motion to Approve: Ms. Galimba moved to adopt Res. 82-25. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. CHR. INABA: Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. Spending to help Project Vision (Hawai`i)to bring healthcare to this island. Ask for my colleagues' support. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor of approving Resolution 82-25, please say "aye." Page 31 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Vote on Res. 82-25: The motion to adopt Res. 82-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Res. 83-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HAMAKUA HEALTH CENTER, INC., FOR THE `A`OLE VAPE TEEN DANCE IN HONOKA`A Transfers $2,250 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 1); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 141 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 83-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. Just ask for my colleagues' support and just want to mahalo Hamakua Health and particularly Kai over there who set this up again for the kids up in the area. So mahalo and ask for everybody's help. Thanks. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 83-25: The motion to adopt Res. 83-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Bills for ORDINANCES Ordinances (First Reading). (FIRST READING): Page 32 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Bill 16: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 06-28, WHICH AMENDED SECTION 25-8-33 (Draft 2) (CITY OF HILO ZONE MAP) ARTICLE 8, CHAPTER 25 (ZONING CODE) OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED) BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT CLASSIFICATION FROM AGRICULTURAL (A-la) TO NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL (CN-20) AT PONOHAWAI, SOUTH HILO, HAWAI`I, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 2-3-036:018 (POR) (Applicant: Kristin Frost Albrecht) (Area: 8 acres) The Windward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for the applicant's request for a ten-year time extension to Condition D (Complete Construction) for the development of the Hawaii Island Agricultural Innovation Park and Food Systems Campus. The property is located on the south side of Ponahawai Street, approximately 1,300 feet east of its intersection with Komohana Street, Ponahawai, South Hilo. Reference: Comm. 76.4 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball (B/R) Approve: LAAC-8 (Note: Comm. 76.5, from Council Member Heather L. Kimball dated February 19, 2025, noting a misspelling in the title of Bill 16, Draft 2, was circulated.) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to pass Bill 16, Draft 2, on first reading and adopt Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions Committee Report No. 8. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: We have the Planning Director here as well as the applicant if there are any additional questions for them. I did want to make note of Communication 76.5, which notes the correct spelling. As you noted last time, it was for Ponahawai; it was spelled incorrectly. So we'll have an additional draft that has the corrected spelling. Usually, we don't change titles to bills, but this is an editorial correction. So we're just sharing this via communication. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kimball. Any further discussion? MS. KIMBALL: Chair, actually Planning Director Darrow has something to add. (Note: At this time, Planning Director Jeffrey Darrow came forward to address the members of the Council.) CHR. INABA: Director. MR. DARROW: Thank you, Chair Inaba. At our last hearing, Vice Chair Onishi had asked the question about improvements along Ponahawai Street, and I need to Page 33 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 correct the record on that. This particular change of zone is only for the commercial neighborhood portion of the property. I was under the misunderstanding that that was a requirement to do improvements along the entire frontage. My understanding in speaking with the applicant that their intention is to improve the entire frontage, but I wanted to make it clear on the record that it is not a condition of approval for the ordinance. It's just relating to the neighborhood commercial portion. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Mahalo, Director. Any further discussion? Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHL Thank you, Director, for that information. And to the applicant, I want to thank you, too, because as you go down towards the graveyard, there is all pavedI mean, it's all sidewalks. And to continue that going up, that is really great for the people to walk up on Ponahawai Street. So I really want to thank you guys for doing that. (Note: At this time, Justin Clayton of The Food Basket came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. CLAYTON: Yeah, absolutely. I also want to thank the Council for their continued support;just being advocates for agriculture, local sustainability, and feeding our communities. So with that, I mean, absolutely you have my personal commitment to make those improvements. CHR. INABA: Thank you very much. Could you just please identify yourself for the record. MR. CLAYTON: Oh, excuse me, yes. Justin Clayton. I'm with The Food Basket. CHR. INABA: Mahalo nui. Seeing no further discussion, all those in favor of approving Bill 16, Draft 2, at first reading,please say "aye." Vote on Bill 16: The motion to pass Bill 16, Draft 2, on first reading and Draft 2 adopt Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions Committee (Approved) Report No. 8 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 34 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Bill 25: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2025 Appropriates revenues in the Animal Control Private Contributions account ($2,000); and appropriates the same to the Animal Control account. Funds would be used for travel expenses for an Animal Control and Protection Agency staff member to attend the 2025 Best Friends National Conference. Reference: Comm. 112 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Approve: FC-25 Vote on Bill 25: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 25 on first (Approved) reading and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 25. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Bill 26: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2025 Increases revenues in the Federal Grants —Housing Choice Emergency Voucher Program account($250,000); and appropriates the same to the Housing Choice Emergency Housing Voucher Program account, for a total appropriation of $1,650,000. Funds would be used for housing assistance payment costs for the Emergency Housing Voucher Program. Reference: Comm. 113 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Approve: FC-26 Page 35 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Vote on Bill 26: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 26 on first (Approved) reading and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 26. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of THE DAY the Day (Second or Final Reading). (SECOND OR FINAL READING): Bill 12: AMENDS CHAPTER 5D, ARTICLE 1, SECTIONS 5D-1-3 AND 5D-1-6, OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO THE ELECTRICAL CODE Adds electrical work performed by an electrical utility on any generating plant, receiving station, switching station, distributing station, supply lines or mains, overhead service drop, and underground or station service supply conductor as exempted from the provisions of the County Electrical Code. Reference: Comm. 62 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball and Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder First Reading: February 5, 2025 Vote on Bill 12: Ms. Kimball moved to pass Bill 12 on second and final (Adopted) reading. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 36 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Bill 15: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 16-85 WHICH AMENDED ORDINANCE (Draft 2) NO. 06-114, WHICH AMENDED SECTION 25-8-33 (CITY OF HILO ZONE MAP), ARTICLE 8, CHAPTER 25 (ZONING CODE) OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED) BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT CLASSIFICATION FROM SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL— 10,000 SQUARE FEET (RS-10) TO GENERAL COMMERCIAL—20,000 SQUARE FEET (CG-20) AT WAIAKEA HOUSE LOTS, HAWAI`I, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 2-2-034:066, 078, AND 079 (Applicant: Big Island Candies, Inc.) (Area: Approx. 45,450 square feet) The Windward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for the applicant's request for an eight-year time extension to Condition C (Time Requirement to Complete Construction) and Conditions D, E, and F (Roadway Improvements) for the development of a production facility, cold storage, and visitor center. The property is located along the makai side of Kekuanao`a Street between Laukapu Street and Hinano Street, Waiakea House Lots, South Hilo. Reference: Comm. 75.3 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball (B/R) First Reading: February 5, 2025 Vote on Bill 15: Ms. Kimball moved to pass Bill 15, Draft 2, on second and Draft 2 final reading. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada and carried by (Adopted) the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Bill 17: AMENDS THE STATE LAND USE BOUNDARIES MAPS FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT CLASSIFICATION FROM THE AGRICULTURAL TO THE URBAN DISTRICT AT `OULI, SOUTH KOHALA, HAWAI`I, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 6-2-001:075 (POR.) Reference: Comm. 77 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball (B/R) First Reading: February 5, 2025 Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to pass Bill 17 on second and final reading. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Any discussion? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yes,please. Page 37 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 CHR. INABA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Mr. Darrow, if you could come up, please. (Note: At this time, Planning Director Jeffrey Darrow came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you for being here today, Director Darrow. This is for the State Land Use, so I think it's more inclined towards Planning Department. I'm looking at the map that was supplied with the document. I didn't ask questions at the last hearing, but the idea that we move this property to urban is based on what? And I'm going to preface that by looking at the map. This entire parcel, this area, is rural agricultural. Then we have this little scattering of urban in the middle of all of it, and then the request for more urban development. I'm trying to understand the department's urge for this specific portion of this parcel to be moved to the urban land use designation. MR. DARROW: The General Plan for this entire property is rural. My understanding is, in the proposed General Plan, it is being proposed to be low- density urban. The rural zoning district allows for both the State Land Use urban and rural districts as part of that particular General Plan designation. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Do you have a map in front of you? MR. DARROW: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Is there any urban besides what's being proposed that I can't see on this map that was submitted to the Council? Just on a real basic level. I mean, there's no other urban in the area. I understand that the General Plan as proposed, which has not been established, says that we should move in that direction, but MR. DARROW: The previous `Ouli projects that were done, I believe, by HICDC (Hawai`i Island Community Development Corporation) are also zoned urban. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, but(inaudible) MR. DARROW: Out of that, if you look to the east, that same designation, many change of zones came through to a rural designation. And again, they could have gone urban, but they ended up going rural under the rural general plan. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: This is on the Kanehoa Street side? MR. DARROW: Correct. Page 38 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Besides that, I mean, any other urban? MR. DARROW: Not that I can see on this particular map. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I find it interesting and I find it concerning. I understand that urban is a designation that's going to be required to do this housing density in this project, but I am interested in why we're pushing urban in the middle of nowhere. Our purpose, really, is to put things where they belong and where there's infrastructure to meet the demands of the housing. And in this case, I'm just not seeing it. I may be the sole voice today, but I'm just looking at this map and taking a real common sense approach to this. We have rural; we have ag (agriculture); and then we've got this little pocket of urban that we're growing in the middle of this area. MR. DARROW: My understanding is that both this Administration and the last Administration have prioritized affordable housing. We have been looking for opportunities for affordable housing. This has been a project area that has had previous affordable housing projects. We're all aware of the gift that's been given in regards to this particular property, and the direction of the applicant to be able to provide affordable housing. So the department has been in support of both the projects, as well as the proposed change in the Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide map. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I understand that answer and I understand the administrative direction. I'm just wondering about our approach to converting ag land to urban land and then justifying the reasons. In this case, understanding that the reasoning is we should support affordable housing, but we still have to have proper justification in supporting affordable housing on land designated as agricultural. As much making a point as I am just pointing out the lack of anything urban around this property, and the ongoing push to create an urban center in the middle of an agricultural rural area. MR. DARROW: I understand your concern. When we look at changes from agricultural zoning to an urban or rural type zoning, one of the key areas that we look at is whether or not that agricultural land has potential for agricultural. This particular area has very poor soil. It's classified as e-soils. It's unclassified under the A list, which is the agricultural lands in the State of Hawaii, of importance in the State of Hawaii. So this particular area is not really an area that you would find prime agricultural or good soils for agricultural. It's basically a very poor area for agricultural-type uses. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, so the justification is because we have poor soil, that we should move forward with creating an urban housing area. Page 39 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 MR. DARROW: When you're changing from agricultural to a different, whether it's rural or urban, that's definitely a consideration. Are we taking prime agricultural lands out of our inventory and putting it into another designation that would prevent agriculture? In this particular case, we're not losing prime agricultural land. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. What kind of supporting infrastructure is around this property that I can't see? Hospitals, churches, schools? MR. DARROW: You have Waimea Town, which has some of the best schools in the State as well asI wouldI mean, some would say the nation. We have North Hawaii hospital. We have CHR. INABA: Excuse me. Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, can you ask questions relevant to this specific application and not general questions that everyone might already know the answer to? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, Chair. Looking for some justification again on the land use from ag to urban. And with this kind of a request, Mr. Darrow, is there a need to tie in existing infrastructure that allows for the density increase? MR. DARROW: It will be required. You will need to have wastewater. This particular application, at some point, is going to reach where it's either going to need to be this particular project will either need to be sewered, or they will have to put a wastewater treatment facility. So that is one of the areas of infrastructure that we'll be needing. Water is limited but they do have water available. There will need to be improvements to create additional water sources for the project to grow. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's helpful, Mr. Darrow. MR. DARROW: Thank you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair, I think the reasoning behind the question is pointing out that as we look at housing density increases, we must parallel that with available infrastructure and the ability of that infrastructure to support the density. If not, we are circling back into what we created in the pre- Subdivision Code era that we have across the island from Hawaiian Ocean View Estates to HPP (Hawaiian Paradise Park)to Hawaiian Acres in Puna and beyond. So thank you for the latitude. I appreciate it. I yield. CHR. INABA: Understood. Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Bill 17 at second and final reading,please say "aye." Page 40 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Vote on Bill 17: The motion to pass Bill 17 on second and final reading was (Adopted) carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Absent: None. Excused: None. Bill 18: AMENDS SECTION 25-8-7 (NORTH AND SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT (Draft 2) ZONE MAP), ARTICLE 8, CHAPTER 25 (ZONING) OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT CLASSIFICATION FROM AGRICULTURAL— 1 ACRE (A-la) TO SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL— 10,000 SQUARE FEET (RS-10) AT `OULI, SOUTH KOHALA, HAWAI`I, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 6-2-001:075 (POR.) (Applicant: Hawaii Island Community Development Corporation) (Area: 14.321 acres) The Leeward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for this amendment to the State Land Use Boundaries Map and for the requested change of zone, with an amendment to Condition N(Fair Share), which would allow the applicant to subdivide the property into 43 lots. The property is located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Kawaihae Road and Waiula Drive, Kawaihae 2nd-Lanikepu, Waimea, South Kohala. Reference: Comm. 77.4 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball (B/R) First Reading: February 5, 2025 (Note: Comm. 77.8, from Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz dated February 18, 2025, transmitting comments from the Public Works Department and Hawaii Island Community Development Corporation, was circulated. Also, Comm. 77.9, from Council Member Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder dated February 19, 2025, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 18, Draft 2, was circulated.) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to pass Bill 18, Draft 2, on second and final reading. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Any discussion? Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. Our applicant is here today, so I want to thank you for spending the time here with us today, and appreciate the work you're doing in our communities. So I look forward to working with you going forward. Mahalo. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Kierkiewicz. Page 41 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I just want to make sure that everyone is able to reference Communication 77.8. Our office filed this with Council Services. It is a memo from Public Works Director Hugh Ono. We have Deputy Director Neil Azevedo here. I had asked the applicant Mr. Keith Kato with HICDC to give examples of projects that they've done in the past where they've worked with the County to maybe not meet the Code standards that are currently on the books, but still creating whole communities where we are able to dedicate back the infrastructure that they are creating for these communities. So, Deputy Director, if you want to just take a moment to go over the memo and talk about the commitment that your department, this Administration, has to working with community partners to bring more affordable housing opportunities online. (Note: At this time, Public Works Deputy Director Neil Azevedo came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. AZEVEDO: Good morning. Neil Azevedo, Deputy Director of Public Works. I've been doing construction my whole life. We had a company before with my dad. We did a bunch of subdivisions in Hilo, Ka`u, Honoka`a, Waimea, and Waikoloa. And every single road we paved was two inches, and so far those roads are still holding up. And now when it became County Highways, we never did resurface those roads yet, and that's been the late '80s, early '90s. So that's pretty close to 40 years already, and the road is holding up really good. Drywells, eight foot—I'm sorry, seepage (inaudible), eight feet in diameter. But the height should be the height doesn't outsee the diameter. So that right there—from that drywell, it holds a lot. But when the big rains come, you know hardly any drywell holds anything. Hopefully it flows into the river and gets it good. So the whole thing is—what I'm saying is, two-inch asphalt is good enough as long as there's a six-inch base compaction. And we've got inspectors on the job site; we'll be watching that, making sure everything follows through. As for the drywells, everything will be good. That's all I've got. Thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Deputy, for being here. And again,just reinforcing the partnership that your department has with various affordable housing developers, and ensuring that any of the requests that they are putting forward are reasonable, that they are in no way going to be compromising public health and safety. I really appreciate that. Mr. Kato, you're in Kona but I just want to say mahalo to you for your many years of making housing ownership a reality for hundreds of families here on Hawaii Island. With this project, 43 more Hawaii Island families are going to have their dream of homeownership come true. So thank you. Thank you to Mr. McComber for learning the ropes from you. You have my full support for the request today. Thank you, Chair. Page 42 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 ACTING CHR. ONISHL Okay. Just for the record, Mr. Clerk, Chair Inaba has left the room, so I'm chairing right now. Anyone from Hilo? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yes,please. ACTING CHR. ONISHL Okay, go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Acting Chair Onishi. Thank you for being here today, Mr. Azevedo. Appreciate it. Mr. Darrow, thank you for being here. Just to preface this line of questioning I'm going to run down, I reached out to the Department of Public Works and Planning after our last meeting. I didn't hear back from Planning until last night. I did hear back from Public Works the next day. So thank you for getting back to me, both departments. To the applicant, I'm going to start with you today. How long will HICDC be caring for this project; roadways, housing? What is the length of your term, really, in this project? (Note: At this time, Keith Kato and Jeremy McComber of Hawaii Island Community Development Corporation came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. KATO: If I understand the question, you're askingoh, okay,just say that we will develop the project, and upon completion,we'll seek to have the roads dedicated to the County. So, at that point, that'll be it, yeah. MR. HENRICKS: Mr. Kato, could you please state your name and position for the record. MR. KATO: Oh, I'm sorry. MR. HENRICKS: Just your name and position for the record. Introduce yourself. MR. KATO: Keith Kato, Executive Director of Hawaii Island Community Development Corporation. MR. HENRICKS: Thank you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Kato, for being here today. How long will the affordable housing component be in place for? I believe last meeting it was dated at 15 years. Is that correct? MR. KATO: That's the minimum because that will be the period of the—we have the buyback provision. Page 43 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. After that, the homes, the infrastructure become the care of who? MR. KATO: Well, the infrastructure continues to be the care of the County, and the homes on the part of the homeowners. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And then private roadways that if not dedicated to the County, whose care would those fall to? MR. KATO: In that case, it would be the homeowners. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. And these homeowners, who are the intended applicants or homeowners for this project? MR. KATO: I'm sorry, could you repeat that? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Who are the intended applicants for this proj ect? MR. KATO: Well, okay, so if you're asking who's going to be in the project, that remains to be seen. Our plan is to do a USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) low-income housing self-help program. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Let me rephrase that. Not who, like what last names, but who are the intended applicants as far as the low-income folks. What range of AMI (Area Median Income) are you shooting for? MR. KATO: Up to 80 percent of AMI. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. So this is for low-income housing for local families, or any families that come to participate. Correct? MR. KATO: Yeah. I think, typically, our clientele is young working families. Typically, we have about 50 percent of our project is Native Hawaiian or part Native Hawaiian. But they're all basically employed people just starting out. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you for that. And then the note that was submitted, the memo from HICDC, these previous HICDC subdivisions with paved swales dedicated to the County of Hawaii, these were built to the same standards that you are requesting now? MR. KATO: They're very similar. I think it's like what Neil Azevedo spoke of, two inches of asphalt over six inches of base and four inches of subbase. Page 44 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And that speaks to TMKs 1-6—let's just do the last four5776, 1-31, 3446, and 1-40 in the Kea`au Loop, Pepe`ekeo, Waimea, and `Ouli subdivisions. MR. KATO: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. Okay, thank you, Mr. Kato. Now, to the department. Mr. Azevedo, thank you. I'm glad you're here because I know you know this in and out. What are the current County standards for roadways? MR. AZEVEDO: Neil Azevedo, Deputy Director of Public Works. The County standard is three inches of asphalt, four inches of subbase, and six inches of aggregate. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. That's our current standard and we have a typical MR. AZEVEDO: For the shoulders. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Road diagram revised in 2020, originally from 2017. That's a PDF (Portable Document Format) that people can draw on to see this diagram that we lay out that we spec to anyone in the County building a road, right? MR. AZEVEDO: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And that's three inches of asphalt. MR. AZEVEDO: Three inches of asphalt. The shoulders is three inches of asphalt and six inches of base, the shoulders. So right when the (inaudible) goes out. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. What section of our Code references roadway standards? MR. AZEVEDO: I need to check, sorry. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: There's 23-86 and then we also have a few other sections. If roads are not built to our standard, are they dedicable to the County? And if you don't want to answer that, that's fine; I'll ask Ms. Schoen. Page 45 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 MR. AZEVEDO: As long as our inspectors are inspecting it with the compaction and the asphalt of two inches minimum. After compaction, it needs to be two inches minimum; should be good. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: But not the three inches that we spec out as our typical road build. MR. AZEVEDO: Three inches for main roads would be nice. But for subdivisions where there's no through streets, two inches would be really good. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. MR. AZEVEDO: For this project, this would be nice to just get them going so people can move into the homes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I agree. I love the affordable housing component. I'm not arguing on the affordable housing, but I am watching the there's a very interesting thing happening here where we're actually building things to less-than-dedicable standards and then dedicating them to the County. Ms. Schoen, could you come up, please. I know you're in Kona. (Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Renee Schoen came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Actually, one more question CHR. INABA: Please go ahead, Council Member. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Neil, if you could. MS. SCHOEN: Good morning. Renee Schoen, Corporation Counsel. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Renee, for being here. So I'm looking at—sorry, I'm going to go back to Neil for one second. So 23-86, requirements for dedicable streets, and I really do take this section to heart because it's been such a learning experience for me to have to read through these codes and understand the different specifications we require as a County. So, 23-86, Section C, No. 1 under Section C: "A street serving areas zoned for lots seventy-five hundred square feet to and including one acre, shall have a six-inch minimum select borrow sub-base course, a base course of four inches of compacted crusher run base with filler, and a pavement of two inches of asphaltic concrete or two and one-half inches of asphaltic macadam, applied in three separate applications. Pavement width shall conform to the urban standard as set forth under section 23-41." Page 46 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 So, when I looked at this section, and we talked about the three-inch standard that we supply as our typical road build, and I see this section which calls out two- and-a-half, in this case are we looking at asphaltic concrete, or are we looking at asphaltic macadam? MR. AZEVEDO: Asphalt concrete. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Asphaltic concrete. MR. AZEVEDO: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's what we're putting down? MR. AZEVEDO: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. So how does asphaltic ? CHR. INABA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, your buzzer's gone off here so, please, last question. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Is asphaltic concrete the white concrete we lay down or the black topping that we put down? MR. AZEVEDO: The black. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's asphaltic concrete? MR. AZEVEDO: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, sir. Okay, I yield, Chair, but I do have a couple more questions. CHR. INABA: Opening the floor. Any other questions at this time? Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. I just want to lend my support for this project and for allowing them to proceed with what's currently in the bill. I think it's really important that we get this affordable housing—workforce housing, really built. And I really love the aspect of it that's the people putting in their own blood, sweat, and tears into the projects. Because, not only does that give them a full stake in it, but it also makes it much more likely that what we're getting is people from here getting into these homes. Very hard for somebody living elsewhere to come and work on their own home on a regular basis. So, hoping to get everybody's support and I do support. Thank you. Page 47 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kagiwada. Anyone else in Hilo who hasn't spoken yet? If not, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, I see there's an amendment from your office here. So, if you do intend to introduce it, please go ahead now. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you very much, Chair. To the Council Members and to the department, looking over the typical road build diagram, looking over the concessions asked for by the developer, understanding the need for affordable housing and taking all of that into account, I really do caution us as a body and as a government to make sure that as we build and we push for affordable housing this is a huge push statewide, maybe nationwide that we don't begin to chip away at the basics of how we build. There's concessions being asked for in the PUD (Planned Unit Development)that I brought up last time as far as curbs and gutters. Okay, fine; we have a lot of communities without that. Sidewalks, fine; nice but not necessary. Swales, good. But there's three that caught my attention: dropping down to two inch on the asphalt, which perhaps is not concerning given that these roads are handling and standing up to the test of time. But I do point back to we have road diagrams from 2020 that we refer to that are three inches. And then we have Code that conflicts at two inches. That's problematic, which is part of my confusion. And then the other one was seepage pits in place of drywells in a place that's highly silty with a lot of wind, which is going to lead to the plugging up of our drainage. And ensuring that we're building the correct drainage types as we begin to build out this area as a whole—and, Mr. Darrow, thank you for your comment about wastewater. Those two parts really caught me. So in front of you, Council Members, is an amendment, Communication 77.9. I want to make the motion right now so that we can at least discuss this measure and understand a little bit more about our Code, if you will. Motion to Amend: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to amend Bill 18, Draft 2, with the contents of Comm. 77.9. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair, and thank you for the latitude. To you folks, Deput Director and Director, what I did here was I added in because I could not find anywhere in the zoning ordinance, anything that prescribed a methodology to the construction of the roadways within the subdivision. There was reference to Wai`ula Drive, which is at the front of the property and I think an existing County road. But none of the roads within this proposed subdivision had standards of construction. Page 48 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 In No. 1 in Section D, I have added the language "All roadways within the project area shall be constructed in conformance with section 23-86 of the Hawaii County Code." For a reference for this body, if you are not understanding of that section, Section 23-86 is the requirements for dedicable streets, meaning that if this amendment were to pass, there would now be in place in the zoning ordinance that the roadway shall be built to a dedicable standard. If that's a problem, that means we're stepping away from public safety. So I find this imperative that we begin to make sure that we are building to our own standards if they're not included in the zoning ordinance language, and when we have conflicting PUDs and statements from different departments. Under Section E, we added in the language "All drainage improvements shall be constructed in conformance with section 23-92 of the Hawaii County Code," and added in "except that seepage pits may not be utilized,"which I'm hoping will require the use of drywells in this case. Because, I believe that with the amount of density we're going to allow in this area and looking 10, 20, 30 years down the line, if we implement seepage pits versus drywells, that it will be problematic for the downhill properties that are going to take effect in the future. I would like to hear comments from my fellow Council Members on this amendment. And in that, I would like you to also think down the line as Council Members, as we build communities, that we be very cognizant of both our own Code, our own requirements, as well as what we seek to build for communities, especially our low-income affordable housing projects with roads that potentially can be turned over to community members to care for if they are not built to dedicable standards. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Your buzzer has gone off here again. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Perfect. I yield, Chair. CHR. INABA: The amendment before you is very simple. If you have something to say, you can say so. If not, we can vote. Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: I'll be supporting this amendment. Thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, for digging in here. I see this asI mean, I'm in full support of this affordable workforce housing project, and had my own issues with wishing that the terms for affordable housing would remain longer than the allocated and assigned 15 years. But I see the wisdom in these requirements. And under other circumstances when the land hadn't been completely donated, I could see cost being something to cut. But I also just want to recognize the district you represent being plagued with issues of roadways being built substandard, and now all the challenges for the people that live in those neighborhoods. So, while I'm not privy to exactly what that means for dollars and cents moving forward for this development, and I do Page 49 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 respect and honor the project and the developers for their creativity in looking for ways to cut costs in order to make this pencil and work out and finding those ways, I will be in support of this amendment. Because, I do think that as we look decades into the future, especially with climate change and water flowI have streets in subdivisions in my district where even the drywells that were built weren't built to withstand the capacity of the runoff and the silt and whatnot that are filling these spaces, and causing damage to private property. And these roads were dedicated to the County. So now we do this dance of who's accountable and who's got to pay and whatnot. It's going to be a lot cheaper right now. As we see with costs increasing, it is less expensive to do it now and do it right, than it is to put it off, and especially based on this project being built on land that was purchased and donated for this purpose. So I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Anyone else on the amendment? Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. To the applicant, I believe this is the first time you've seen this amendment then, this language in here? MR. KATO: That's correct. MR. HUSTACE: What limits does this place on you as the developer? I mean, you could elaborate on a cost figure if you'd like, but I'm curious as to what you may not do with other conditions that go beyond what has already been previously discussed at this level. MR. KATO: Okay. I'll address it a couple of ways. Regarding the County Code, there's a provision in the Zoning Code CHR. INABA: I'm sorry, Mr. Kato. Can you pull your mic close to you and speak right on the mic. I want to make sure our colleagues in Hilo can hear you clearly. MR. KATO: Yeah, I'd just like to point out that there's provision in the County Code for a Planned Unit Development, and there's provisions in the Code for deviations. It also comes down to the point where eventually the Council will have to decide whether to take dedication or not. So we are proposing these things within the allowable structure of the Code. And we're doing so to reduce cost. Now, we've looked at curb, gutter, sidewalk. We looked at the difference in the asphalt thickness. Between those two, in this case it'll probably add something like $30,000-$35,000 to the cost of each lot. Page 50 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Regarding the drainage, we spoke with our civil engineer this morning. She felt it would cost about$21,000 to change the seepage pits to drywells simply because the presence of the water well site that's there is going to require extensive piping away from that to get the (inaudible)permits. So these are real cost factors. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you. I appreciate that. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Further discussion on the amendment? Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHL Just to add to that question that Mr. Hustace had. The donation also included some funding for infrastructure, correct? MR. KATO: That's right. MR. ONISHL With that type of money or the amount of money that was given to you folks, is that going to be—is that able to complete the requirements for their street ways? MR. KATO: Actually, no. The donation will not cover the cost of the construction. MR. ONISHL Of the roadway? MR. KATO: Yeah. MR. ONISHL It will help a portion. MR. KATO: It will help, yeah, but it will not cover it. MR. ONISHL But then it's not like something where when you do another development, usually you don't have that upfront donation of money. Correct? MR. KATO: That's right. MR. ONISHL Yeah. Okay, thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair Inaba? CHR. INABA: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I really do appreciate the discussion on this, and for Mr. Kato sharing about the millions of dollars that would be added should this Council approve this particular amendment. And, Mr. Kato, correct me if I'm Page 51 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 wrong, but this isn't the first time that you've worked with the County to seek some leniency within Chapter 23 of our Code in order to realize housing projects. Correct? MR. KATO: This is not the first time. I think we've done it four or five times. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. And looking at leadership here, Planning, Public Works, this is not the only project that you've seen where we've, as a County, granted leniency so that projects can pencil out. Because, the reality is these codes that we have truly make it very unaffordable for our local families to build. Director Darrow, Deputy Azevedo, this isn't the first time, right? There's been other projects. (Note: At this time, Planning Director Jeffrey Darrow came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. DARROW: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. As mentioned at our last hearing, this is typical when we look at 201H projects. They'll come in and they are requesting relief from a number of sections within the Zoning Code, the Subdivision Code, and even other codes. Many times the request is for exemptions on roadway standards. There are other areas of relief, one of them is normally zoning. They request just to change the zoning without having to go through a change of zone application. In those particular cases, the 201H comes before the Council as a resolution and it's approved with those exemptions in place. Later on, they come in and dedicate the road or whatever else is requested to be dedicated. But it is something that occurs. I don't knowI mean, Keith mentioned four or five times with their projects, but we've had quite a number of 201H projects come before us, requesting relief. In this particular case, the applicant is not coming in with a 201H. They're going through the regular process, which is unique. Normally, they could have just come in and requested all those exemptions. Instead, they went through the formal process. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Director. Deputy, anything to add? MR. AZEVEDO: Neil Azevedo, Deputy Director of Public Works. Again, I worked on a lot of subdivisions with my family, and those roads are just two inches minimum we paved. And to this day, wet area is still holding up. It was a housing project on Kawailani, and to this day, the road is still solid and we never did resurface yet. So, for this, II mean, this is a good project going on. And we've taken care of Kea`au. Kea`au is real good. Kea`au, the self-help homes, the subdivision, we maintained that road and that road has no problems, Page 52 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 nothing at all. And that was, I think, the early 2000s. In Kohala, there's one more up there; everything's good with the roads right now. That's all that I've got. Thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you both. And I want to make abundantly clear for the record that by working with the applicant to grant some leniency, there's no compromising public health and safety, because it's been alluded to. I just want to make sure that there are so many checks along the way within the County, working with the applicant, that we are building safe communities for our families. I hope we can end the discussion on this soon. It is a worthwhile project. Keith Kato has an excellent reputation, and we frankly need more people like him that are willing to work with the County, to do the hard work to provide housing inventory for our families. Thank you, Chair, I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Brief final thoughts, Council Member Kimball, and then you can wrap it up, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. And thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder, for presenting this discussion. I certainly realize that it comes with some pretty rough experiences in your district with subdivisions that were created with substandard roadways. However, given that one of these self-help projects is in Pepe`ekeo, and I'm familiar with how it was designed, how this they may not be dedicable standards, but these are more than what you have in your Fern Acres. These are streets. They're fine. As somebody with no education or experience in roadways, they look fine to me. But I did want to ask, actually; I am curious about the drainage. Again, not an area that I have a lot of expertise with. Deputy Director, does that figure that Mr. Kato is presenting, about what would be required for this project around if we were to go with a traditional drainage requirement without using the seepage pits, I think you said about 21,000 per lot. Does that seem about right? MR. AZEVEDO: Deputy Director of Public Works, Neil Azevedo. Sorry, no, I'm not sure. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, okay. The one thing I will say about this particular area with the bay down below and some of the historical dryness and fires over the last few years, there's pretty good evidence that failure to control water has really had a detrimental effect on Pelekane Bay; stormwater. And so I'm not willing to consider this resolution as it is because I'm okay with the street part. But I do see the merit to the drainage part, but I want to know more about what that might cost the development. One of the things we just have to be careful of, and we see this with Waikoloa, right, is that different components of that were allowed to maybe not do as robust a draining stormwater management system as necessary. And then we get the Page 53 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 whole thing put together; you have to have a problem. And I could see us being able to kind of get ahead of that here by requiring the drainages you recommend, Council Member. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, please wrap us up. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. I just want to point to a couple things. We've talked about cost and thank you, Mr. Kato, for supplying cost so briefly, given that you haven't had a chance to look over the amendment. That's impressive. The amendment was very carefully crafted. The importance of the sections that are being requested as required are that they—and if any of the members did read over the planning commission findings given in this document, each exception requested from the Subdivision Code, or Chapter 23, is referenced with a code section. So, the minimum rights of way is County Code 23-41, and this will not affect—the amendment does not affect the right-of-way justifications or the exception. Grades and curbs, 23-50, is not affected by this amendment. Requirements for sidewalks, as requested by relief from the applicant, is not affected. Curbs and gutters exception is not affected. Only the requirements for thickness of pavement, which is the County standard, which I believe now is two inches, so actually would conform with what's existing. So this amendment just ensures that the roads are built to our dedicable standards. And then E requires that seepage pits would not be acceptable and that the applicant must consider drywells or another form of water relieving of the property without impacting other communities. That really is an engineer's job. The importance of what I've just stated is that, like crafting this amendment to what's in front of you, I have only asked for the applicant to conform with our existing County codes, which we've discussed at length today. And then to make sure that we adequately drain the water away from the community and into water—what's the correct word, Mr. Azevedo?water inundation? What is it, water ? CHR. INABA: All right, let's wrap this up. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. I understand we want to move on, but I find this incredibly important. CHR. INABA: Thank you. With that, a roll call vote on the amendment. Page 54 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 18, Draft 2, with the contents of Amend: Comm. 77.9 was carried by the following roll call vote: (Approved) Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, and Villegas —5. Noes: Council Members Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, and Chair Inaba—4. Absent: None. Excused: None. MR. KATO: Mr. Chair? CHR. INABA: Mr. Kato. MR. KATO: I think that this was sort of a quick discussion, and I think in part an inaccurate discussion about the drainage. But I see that the amendment has passed. I'd like to be able to discuss this before we move on. If you don't mind, I'd like to do it right now. CHR. INABA: Please go ahead. MR. KATO: Yeah, okay, so MS. KIMBALL: Chair, motion to waive Rule No. 23 so we may continue the discussion. Thank you. Vote on Motion to Ms. Kimball moved to suspend Council Rule 23 to waive Suspend Council the holdover for the substantive amendment of Bill 18, Rules: Draft 2. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the (Approved) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: Mr. Kato, go ahead. MR. KATO: Thank you. I think people may get the impression that if we use seepage pits as opposed to drywells that there will be a lesser amount of drainage control. That's not true. The same amount of drainage is going to be supplied. If you do a seepage pit, you end up doing more seepage pits than you would have drywells. Say, for example, if you had one drywell, then to handle the same Page 55 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 amount of water you might do two or three seepage pits. It's all going to have to—as part of the typical subdivision process, you've got to do a drainage report. And the drainage report is going to calculate the runoff, and that's going to determine what the drainage facilities need to be. So it's going to end up being the same amount of drainage control, whether it's seepage pits or drywells. The thing is, in this case, because there's a water well site adjacent to the project, regular drywells will not be allowed within I think it's a thousand feet, which means that we have to pipe all of this drainage from the subdivision away from it. And they would construct the drywells there. That is where the real cost differential is. It's not a matter of this hole is shallower so it's a $21,000 difference. No. It's like—since there's piping that needs to be installed. And that is like having a sewer system, essentially. So it in no way will change the drainage impacts. It's just the method of controlling it will be different. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Mr. Kato. Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you, Chair. I'm going to become the queen of reconsideration with this. Given this information, I would like to make a motion to reconsider. Motion to Ms. Galimba moved to reconsider the vote to amend Reconsider: Bill 18, Draft 2, with the contents of Comm. 77.9. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. CHR. INABA: Any discussion on the reconsideration? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair? CHR. INABA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. I do appreciate the opinion of Mr. Kato. The statement preceding the nonutilization of seepage pits as a deterrent from us amending and requiring what our County Code requires is an interesting methodology. Mr. Azevedo, if Mr. Kato was to—if he didn't want to do drywells, does he have other options besides seepage pits? CHR. INABA: Okay, I believe that would be a question for the main motion to of the amendment, but right now, we're on a vote to reconsider the vote. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I agree, Mr. Chair, but to reconsider the vote was based on the comments from the applicant. CHR. INABA: A motion was made so it needs to be regarding whether to reconsider or not. Page 56 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That is the point of the discussion I'm having with the Deputy Director, is whether we should reconsider the vote based on the comments of Mr. Kato regarding the seepage pits CHR. INABA: Okay,please be brief because you had three turns as part of the amendment, and we need to get through this one way or the other. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you for the latitude, Chair. Mr. Azevedo, with the amendment, we've ruled out a seepage pit. What are the options and was the explanation given by Mr. Kato correct? MR. AZEVEDO: Neil Azevedo, Deputy Director of Public Works. For me, seepage pit would work there. I'm not sure; I didn't follow up on the rest of the things so I'm not sure. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: For drywells MR. AZEVEDO: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Would those work as well? MR. AZEVEDO: The drywells, it depends on where we're at, location, and what the specs call for around the water tanks and stuff. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Is the infrastructure that the applicant stated will be required for drywells accurate? MR. AZEVEDO: I need to check on that. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. MR. AZEVEDO: Sorry. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Just to the body, before we do a reconsideration based on what could be a cost and what could be and in fact an amendment that we passed that conforms to our own County Code under our public safety guidelines, I just want you to keep that in mind before you jump to a reconsideration. Thank you, Chair. CHR. INABA: On the vote to reconsider, Mr. Clerk. Page 57 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Vote on Motion to The motion to reconsider the vote to amend Bill 18, Reconsider: Draft 2, with the contents of Comm. 77.9 was carried by (Approved) the following roll call vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—7. Noes: Council Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Villegas —2. Absent: None. Excused: None. MR. HENRICKS: The motion to amend Bill 18, Draft 2, with Communication 77.9 is on the floor. CHR. INABA: Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHL Chair, I think we should postpone this to maybe the next Council meeting. That way members can reach out to the department, and also the applicants can reach out to the Council Members to explain your side of the story and how it will affect your project with these amendments. And so I think I would suggest if we can just postpone this to the next Council meeting. CHR. INABA: Noted. I'm going to head back to Hilo. Any further comment? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair? CHR. INABA: Yeah, we're on the motion to amend. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Two parts. One, this amendment doesn't ask for the extraordinary. It asks for the County Code requirements. I am open to discussing with the applicant what they'd like to see with an amendment going forward that meets our County Code requirements that requires the public safety guidelines that we have in place, that have been in place since we implemented the Subdivision Code in 1966, to ensure that we don't have more problems going into the future. I am happy to sit down with the applicant. I did preface this entire statement by saying that DPW (Department of Public Works) reached out to me initially two weeks ago, but I didn't hear back from Planning until last night. So I had limited time to proceed with an amendment to the bill and provide it to the applicant to provide full coverage on all my bases. So I would appreciate that time to sit down with the applicant and would be willing to postpone the amendment until the next, well, actually it has to be Marchsorry, the meeting not next but the one coming after, given my own schedule. Page 58 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Withdraw Motion Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder withdrew his motion to amend to Amend: Bill 18, Draft 2, with the contents of Comm. 77.9. CHR. INABA: It's been withdrawn, Communication 77.9. We're back to the main motion, which is to approve Bill 18 at second and final reading. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair? CHR. INABA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, you still have the floor. Motion to Postpone: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to postpone Bill 18, Draft 2, to March 19, 2025. Seconded by Mr. Onishi. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you very much, Chair. Thank you for the discussion today. I think it is absolutely necessary for us to all understand the ins and outs of our Code, especially subdivision streets, drainage, and other public safety guidelines we put in place, and also to really think not outside the box but down the line on what we create, who we are creating it for, and what infrastructure we leave in place for our future generations and be proper leaders in what we do. Thank you for the latitude. I appreciate it. CHR. INABA: Anyone else in Hilo? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair? CHR. INABA: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I will not be supporting a postponement. There's been robust conversation at commission, at committee, at first reading. We're on second reading. There was ample time for members of this body to be working with the various County departments and the applicants to address any concerns in advance of second reading. So I do not support the postponement. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder, for bringing this up. It does seem kind of interesting that it's getting brought up now. It wasn't brought up in either of the previous meetings, and then maybe that was because you were not there? I was looking back and trying to figure that out. But I guess I have a question for the applicants. Does another full month of delay here, is that going to cause some issues with your project? MR. MCCOMBER: Jeremy McComber, Chief of Operations, HICDC. It doesn't cause any earth-shattering delays with the project. But I do want to point out that Page 59 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 the donor who gave us this property who has also done lots of other great things for the community is watching how this body is choosing to make decisions and whether or not their donation is making an impact. So does it affect us immediately? No. How does the donor feel about it? I can't answer that. Thank you. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Thank you. I yield. CHR. INABA: Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHL I like your comment, what you just mentioned. But as a body, we need to look at the overall on what's best for the County of Hawaii. And so issues get brought up last minute, and so now it becomes harder for us to make proper decisions. And with better information, then it can help us out. But I understand what you're saying, but we've just got to look out for that whole area and for the island. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Council Member Vilegas and then Council Member Galimba. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you for pointing that out. Yeah, I hope the donor is watching. He's already taken a lot of heat, unfortunately, for things that weren't accurate with the purchase of, what was it, it's been like 400 acres or something in that area of the island? And thankfully has come out over time that is an intentionality in purchasing these hundreds of acres, which put a lot of people into a very kind of afraid and cautious frame of mind; but his true intention through the donation has come forth and utilizing your guys' skills and expertise in bringing forth a project like this. So I do hope that Mr. Benioff is watching and that he would have the wisdom and the insight to see that we are doing our job, and we are representing and reflecting and making sure that what's built here has the potential, and actually is required, to withstand the test of time and that his contribution is greatly appreciated. But, historically, we have laid down and accepted whatever's given and been kind of like "Don't do anything to make anybody upset, or they might not give us something." I am tired of that. I think that it is time and it behooves us, and that's what we're doing here, is our due diligence to make sure that we are grateful for the gifts we're given by those whose resources were garnered outside of this County, but that we recognize that the resources within this County are priceless and they are limited. We do not have an excess of land and water and resources. And we need to take care of what we have. So I just want to point that out, as a value system, that I think it's imperative that we return to self-empowerment. Grateful for the gift but also being accountable for the way that we manage these things. And ensure that future generations Page 60 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 don't suffer because we didn't take the time to really take a look at things and make sure the decisions we're making are to benefit seven generations from now. I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you. We're on postponement, so let's keep our comments specific to whether you support the postponement or you do not. Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. I'm very supportive of this project, so I'll be supporting it either now or later. I'm very glad that a month's time is not going to have a huge impact on you whatever way that goes. It's really important that this project go forward. I am grateful for the discussion that we've had, even though it's been lengthy. This is kind of how County Council learns. It's very slow, painful, and messy, and we have to do it in public. So I guess I am not going to support the postponement at this time, although I'm very glad that if we do postpone, that it's not going to have an earth-shattering impact on you. But I'm not going to be supporting the postponement. CHR. INABA: Thank you. A roll call on the postponement. Vote on Motion to The motion to postpone Bill 18, Draft 2, to March 19, Postpone: 2025, failed by the following roll call vote: Failed Ayes: Council Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, and Villegas —4. Noes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, and Chair Inaba—5. Absent: None. Excused: None. MR. HENRICKS: The motion fails. We're back to the main motion to pass Bill 18, Draft 2, on second and final reading. Call for the MS. KAGIWADA: I'd like to call for the question. Question: CHR. INABA: Mr. Clerk, a roll call vote. Page 61 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Vote on Bill 18: The motion to pass Bill 18, Draft 2, on second and final Draft 2 reading was carried by the following roll call vote: (Adopted) Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, and Chair Inaba—6. Noes: Council Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Onishi, and Villegas —3. Absent: None. Excused: None. Bill 19: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2025 Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants —Community Project Funding Old Hilo Hospital account($3,600,000); and appropriates the same to the Community Project Funding Old Hilo Hospital account, to be used to support the assessment, design, repairs, and renovation costs of the old Hilo Hospital, located at 34 Rainbow Drive in South Hilo. Reference: Comm. 87 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) First Reading: February 5, 2025 Vote on Bill 19: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 19 on second (Adopted) and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Bill 20: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2025 Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants —Rural Emergency Medical Demonstration Project account($1,000,000); and appropriates the same to the Rural Emergency Medical Demonstration Project account, to be used towards the Rural Emergency Medical Communications Demonstrations Project, which focuses on enhancing lifeline capabilities in rural communities. Reference: Comm. 88 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) First Reading: February 5, 2025 Page 62 Hawaii County Council-7 February 19,2025 Vote on Bill 20: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 20 on second (Adopted) and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kimball — 1. Excused: None. Bill 22: AMENDS CHAPTER 25, ARTICLE 5, OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO HOSPITALS, SANITARIUMS, OLD AGE, CONVALESCENT, NURSING AND REST HOMES Adds hospitals, sanitariums, old age, convalescent, nursing and rest homes as permitted uses in the Industrial-Commercial Mixed Zoning District. Reference: Comm. 93 Intr. by: Council Member Kierkiewicz (B/R) First Reading: February 5, 2025 Vote on Bill 22: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to pass Bill 22 on second and final (Adopted) reading. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kimball — 1. Excused: None. OTHER The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Other BUSINESS: Business. (There were none.) ANNOUNCE- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, MENTS: Announcements. (There were none.) Page 63 Hawai`i County Council-7 February 19,2025 ADJOURN- There being no further business, Chair Inaba adjourned the meeting at 12:28 p.m. MENT: Council Approval: MAY 2 fl 2025 C UNTY JHJdg Page 64