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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2020/08/18 2018-2020 Committee on Finance 38th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii August 18, 2020 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at ORDER: 11:00 a.m. in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member(came in later) Ms. Karen Eoff, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (videoconference from Kona) Absent& Excused: Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, I think we'll move on to agenda items at this point. I would like to take something out of order because we have Director Kucharski here, who has a meeting to attend in 15 minutes, so could you go to Resolution 705-20? Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, of Business: the following item was taken out of order: Res. 705-20: AUTHORIZES THE SUBMITTAL OF A THIRD FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE APPLICATION TO THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION FOR THE PLANNING, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE EXPANSION OF THE KEALAKEHEAA RECYCLED WATER TREATMENT AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, AND AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION TO ACCEPT FUNDS FOR THE EXPANSION These additional funds will be used to continue the design phase for the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant R-1 Upgrade project. Reference: Comm. 1029 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) FC-38 August 18,2020 Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to recommend adoption of Res. 705-20. Seconded by Ms. Eoff. (Note: At this time, Environmental Management Director Bill Kucharski came forward to address the member of the Committee.) CHR. DAVID: Director Kucharski,please, can you give us a rundown of this resolution? MR. KUCHARSKI: Yes. Bill Kucharski, Director of DEM (Department of Environmental Management). This resolution is continuing the Bureau of Reclamation as monies that they provide across the country on water reclamation, water reuse projects. The R-1 System was one of the original projects that was put on the approval list back inI believe it was 2005, and two years ago was the first time that we entered into request for those funds. We were granted the first year, I think the $780,000 to do the feasibility study and to help with the design. This last year, we received a $1.3 million grant, and we're in the process of putting together the third grant request from Bureau of Reclamation. Bureau of Reclamation will provide up to 25 percent of the full cost of the system. So we have a lot—we're looking forward to more grants. But this resolution just allows the County and the Mayor to come and accept those funds. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Director. Council Members, questions? I'll go to Hilo first. Any questions in Hilo? Seeing none, Kona? Ms. Eoff, go ahead. MS. EOFF: Thank you, Director, and thank you for sticking with this project. I know it's been very expensive, taking a long time, and I'm sure you've heard from many in our community who wish that things were happening quicker. But I really appreciate the fact that you're going after the grant money to help us be able to afford to continue with this project. And I'm really optimistic that we'll come to the point where we actually are producing the R-1 water and distributing it as we have intended to do. So are you still—you know, like we're getting closer? MR. KUCHARSKI: Well, every day we're getting closer. Maybe not very quickly, but we're taking the steps. We do have the design of the system fairly well done. We are being held up somewhat by, or had been, by some of the cultural resource issues with SHPD (State Historic Preservation Division), but we're moving forward on that. Our EIS (Environmental Impact Statement), which was supposed to have been finalized about 18 months ago, but we are still in the process of getting the clearance to get that. That is the biggest hold-up now. It's not in hearings, it's not design, it's not particularly money, but it is the fact that we cannot get the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) completed, and so as we move forward on that. Page 2 FC-38 August 18,2020 SHPD have been working with us very closely. We have a monster task, and they are more poorly staffed in SHPD then we are in Wastewater. And that is a high bar to clear; where it's making its low bar I'm not too sure. But we are working on this. And we are looking forward to the possibility of going in on the public-private partnership to help with the funding, help with the construction, and how that's all going to play out. It's very new to the State. There's only been one project that's been approved on that. And so we're looking and working on these things. We're not going nearly as fast as we'd like to, but we're doing what we can. MS. EOFF: And thank you. And sometimes it's just good to know we're still heading in the right direction and exploring all these options. So, thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Eoff. Anyone else? Ms. Villegas, go ahead. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Mr. Kucharski, for being here today. It's nice to see you in real life. MR. KUCHARSKI: That's absolutely correct. MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah. So we are headed in those directions to creating a partnership. Can you explain just a little bit about what some of delays have been related to an EIS? Because I know that, you know, we have decades of concerned citizens on the west side of the Big Island with the whole net on wastewater, you know, after some form of treatment has then been dumped into, and there are so many contentious circumstances around that as we see the contamination of our ocean waters. And so there are number of groups and organizations really, really, really kind of on pins and needles and consistently hoping, and pushing for, and adamant about a transition in the way that we manage our wastewater, and the potential for having a public-private partnership and following suit to some of the great models that have been established and created in other municipalities. And so I guess I'm wondering, what's holding up the EIS? MR. KUCHARSKI: Essentially, what's holding it up is as I understand it, we need to have—since they're federal monies, we need both state and federal, what we call "cross butter." In addition to that money, $680,000 from the state and $106,000 from the federal side, and in order to do that, archaeological inventory surveys and other approvals must be received from SHPD. And SHPD has a stack of things, and in no way can this be a criticism,just a matter of more work from people and it takes more time to get to these projects. And once we get that, we're starting to move forward in getting additional approvals. And once that happens, we will be finalizing the EIS, and then we'll be able to move forward on some of these other things. But absence of the EIS, there's much we can do. We can't do anything on the planning. So if we finish the design—we already have—we have 100 percent design on the system. Page 3 FC-38 August 18,2020 MS. VILLEGAS: And that's how it was presented I believe last year, in Building G, about what the system looked like and where it was headed towards? MR. KUCHARSKI: Yes. And that's set up. We have to consider also money. Do we come in and spend a little bit more money? We're only—so that we don't have to spend more money later, that means it's always easier to build than it is to add on to retrofit. And so some of those questions are in there. One of the good things that we're doing is moving on the input to that system, and a big restraint on that is to mitigate—which it is coming from. MS. VILLEGAS: Leaky pipes? MR. KUCHARSKI: Inflow and the sewers I&I(Infiltration and Inflow), and we're working on that. We have new vehicles, going over the vehicle map, to replace. We're starting on the Lanihau system. And we still have chloride levels that indicate we have a significant amount at inflow. And this is a system that was put in, in the `60s, gas line piping. We just need to be tearing up the roads and putting in the replacement piping systems that will not allow us to MS. VILLEGAS: Will those replacement piping systems incorporate some of the new technologies that are now available, are related to wastewater treatment, and airtight and watertight—? MR. KUCHARSKI: They will be. We're going from steel to reinforced plastic pipes and not going to be susceptible to erosion. One of the things that we have looked at but have not been able to really manage is doing some improved systems, instead of a pressure system and vacuum system, and running and getting those replaced. That would take going from start to finish a system, on our whole collection system that's within 200 feet of the ocean. It would be a massive project. While I would love to do it, I would rather do something that's 90 percent okay now than 100 percent later. We want to come in and fix this problem and improve the I&I. We have users that would love to use the water in ag park up the road, about six miles from Kealakehe. That's going to be an expensive pipeline, but we ne4ed to reduce the salinity before that's going to be used above usable. So there's not a single problem. There are multiple problems that we're working on. MS. VILLEGAS: Do you see then ? MR. KUCHARSKI: I don't want this to sound like excuses. These are things that we have to deal with. MS. VILLEGAS: So do you see as we look you know, you mentioned ten years from now; and ten years from now, there's a great potential that much of Page 4 FC-38 August 18,2020 Alii Drive and much of our shoreline that currently holds many of these sewer lines could be inundated and under water in some capacity. So are you kind of saying that you're you know, that moving that infrastructure, I guess I'm just wondering where that fits in. And then my second question iswe have a number of big developments online here on the west side. Some of them are affordable housing projects. Some of them are combination of both, that have confirmed that they are connecting to sewer, and that they are putting in all those lines. And I just want to make sure going forward that the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment facility has the capacity for this added wastewater as we move forward? MR. KUCHARSKI: Yes. We're looking at—there is a significant amount of flow that's coming in. And we are looking at—we've got, I think, an additional two million gallons a day coming from Kaloko Heights and also from the Industrial Park, that is coming in. And the good news is that Kealakehe has about three million gallons a day, additional capacity. And what we have looked at is, since there really isn't room to expand, if we find out that we need to increase the ability of that facility to treat water, whether we have a combined system or we have aerobic ponds, then take that partially treated water into another mechanical treatment system that would significantly increase the capacity without requiring more property. I would be really hesitant to pull the ponds out because of the—actually I shouldn't say this but because we have endangered birds that use if for a pond (inaudible). That is a real benefit to the ecology and the environment for the west side. And these endangered birds are something that we should be looking at trying to maintain while we're looking at the coupling the aerobic pond with potentially a mechanical system (inaudible). MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. I'm bringing to something very recent. The spill in Kailua Bay and the identification that it's a lateral type, that was coming from the hotel, I believe, that was leaking? MR. KUCHARSKI: Well, we never actually found the primary cause of that. When we went to the Department of Health, we were told that this is a periodic activity that the algae blooms happen without a known cause. And it's not something—it's not a one-all. It's something that happens annually, at different times during the year. And we did check the piping systems. We were not able to find a release. However, we were able when we went—we did have a break in the pipe, and then we looked, and we found that. But this was after the algae bloom occurred. And so this is the part of the repairs that we're making, and that we will continue to make. Right now there's a lot of work that we would like to do down there, and we're doing more crises management than forward planning, and simply because of the Page 5 FC-38 August 18,2020 characteristics and the ability of the department to respond to some of these issues. Yeah, we have found that one area, coming out of our road pump stations One Road Pump Station before we noted the response. And we repaired that. We replaced that pipe with about 50 feet of sewer line. A new sewer line was put in on that repair. And I'm sure there are other areas that we just can't find. We don't know, and the only way we're going to do that is to replace the whole system. MS. VILLEGAS: Which would reduce the amount of saltwater intake that's going then to our current facility. The wastewater treatment facility, correct? MR. KUCHARSKI: That's correct. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. But when you said earlier about doing 90 percent now versus MR. KUCHARSKI: Meaning right now, when we find an area that needs to be repaired, we repair as much of it as we can. My feeling is that probably the entire sewage system, main collection system, could be replaced. MS. VILLEGAS: Or should be replaced if we had the resources to do it. MR. KUCHARSKI: And we don't have the people, we don't have the money. All of these things need to be done. This is again an area where we try to prioritize. Quite frankly, we spent as much time just— MS. ustMS. VILLEGAS: Patching it up. MR. KUCHARSKI: Yes. Not getting worse than—for the environment. MS. VILLEGAS: So I have a question for you. Because I was made aware that Honolulu, routinely does smoke testing to discover illegal connections and broken laterals, and I wondered if that is something that you guys could utilize. MR. KUCHARSKI: We used that for instance in Papa`ikou. Where we are trying to get folks connected.we've done smoke test to identify where or who was not connected. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. MR. KUCHARSKI: But that is something that we don't routinely do within our system. At least not that I'm aware of. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. Well, I look forward to talking with you more about the opportunities to mitigate future leaks and to mitigate the salt water intrusion into our systems. And I really look forward to the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Facility becoming that facility that it is planned for and to closing that gaping hole in the mountain that so much gets dumped into. Page 6 FC-38 August 18,2020 MR. KUCHARSKI: And we're looking forward to not having any discharge from coming, so (inaudible). MS. VILLEGAS: Excellent. Exactly, it's a resource. And there is no way, so how do we use that resource, I think, makes us most responsible for our consumption. So thank you so much, Bill. Appreciate you being here, Mr. Kucharski. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. And any other questions, Council Members? Seeing none, I want to thank you, Director, for being here, and I'm sorry that you're late for your meeting at 11:15. So given that, you may leave. Thank you. Council Members, all those in favor of approving Resolution 705-20, please say "aye." Vote on Comm. 705-20: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 705-20 (Approved) was carried by the following voice vote:0 Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Poindexter— 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, can you please go to the top of the agenda right now? Return to Order The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. of Business: MS. LEE LOY: Chair? Oh, I'm sorry. CHR. DAVID: No, I'm sorry. Go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: We have Deanna here, and soDeanna, did you want to move something up? Oh, okay. Thank you, Chair, proceed. CHR. DAVID: Okay, thank you very much. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, Communication 10.43. Comm. 10.43: REPORT OF CHANGE ORDERS AUTHORIZED: JULY 1 — 15, 2020 From Finance Director Deanna Sako, dated July 20, 2020, transmitting the above report pursuant to Hawaii County Code Section 2-12.3. Page 7 FC-38 August 18,2020 Vote on Comm. 10.43: Ms. Eoff moved to close file on Comm. 10.43. Seconded Filed by Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Poindexter— 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, Communication 1020. Comm. 1020: TABULAR SUMMARY OF BONDED INDEBTEDNESS AS OF JUNE 30, 2020 From Finance Director Deanna S. Sako, dated July 23, 2020, transmitting the above report pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 47C. Motion to Close File: Mr. Richards moved to close file on Comm. 1020. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. CHR. DAVID: Any discussion? MR. RICHARDS: Chair? CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, Deanna? (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. SAKO: Good morning. MR. RICHARDS: Good morning, Deanna. I think other Council MembersI had one that jumped out of me, at the end, Schedule E. At the end of it, concerning Ouli Ekahi Housing Project in Waimea. Can you talk about that? MS. SAKO: That's the original debt from the project. So it continues to be paid down with funds from that fund. So that's one of our two enterprise funds, and so they collect the rent and whatnot from the housing project and use it to pay back the debt service. MR. RICHARDS: So the $119,000 is the outstanding, is that correct? MS. SAKO: Yes, that is what we have remaining to be paid. MR. RICHARDS: And what is that amortized over? How many years are we talking about? Do you know? Page 8 FC-38 August 18,2020 MS. SAKO: A lot. And a couple of the housing projects, I can't remember if it was this one or the other one, we've deferred and done different things and restructured over the years. So this one is, you know,just the remaining debt that's left there. MR. RICHARDS: And we're not in any concern for default on that? MS. SAKO: No. This is one is the HHFDC, or Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, so we've worked out a plan with them already. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Chair, I'm going to yield at this point. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I have some questions. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Deanna, so I'm taking a look at total debt outstanding unpaid, close to $450 million. When you last came to Council last year, it was at$477 million. So just wondering what's been cleaned off of the books. How did we get rid of that$28 million? MS. SAKO: We make annual principal of payments on each of the bonds. So when you look at the bottom part, or even Schedule A, you'll see that there's a column called "General Obligation Bonds Maturing for Fiscal Year 2020-21," that's the plan of what we will be paying off in the coming year. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Got it. Thank you for that clarification. I don't see the $40 million from the State related to lava recovery on here. MS. SAKO: We haven't MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Does that mean that none of that has been spent? And I ask that because MS. SAKO: We haven't drawn down yet. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. So what have we been using to pay FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and Federal Highways for our percentage of match for road restoration? MS. SAKO: For large projects for FEMA haven't been finally approved yet our plan, so we're in the process of that. So we did just ask the State to give us the money or basically encumber it so that it will be available when we start on those proj ects. Page 9 FC-38 August 18,2020 MS. SAKO: So (Highway) 132, where did we come up with our percentage, the match? MS. SAKO: For the Federal Highways project? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Mm-hmm. MS. SAKO: That ends up having no County match. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MS. SAKO: It was 100 percent. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: 100 percent? MS. SAKO: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. And so I'm a little concerned. The $40 million from the State needing to encumber it, are you saying that it's potential that we might lose it because of COVID? MS. SAKO: No. We're just asking them. Because when we go out to the contractors, we're going to have to certify funds, so we need to have a piece of paper from the State saying it will be there when we are ready to pay. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Couple of more questions I have. One is really basic. Our rating right now is double A (AA)? MS. SAKO: Double-A plus (AA+). MS. KIERKIEWICZ: AA+, okay. And it was Double-A minus (AA-) last year? MS. SAKO: They vary. Each of the rating agencies have kind of their own scale that they follow, and so we were upgraded recently from AA to AA+. And theyI guess because of COVID too, most of them have come by to do some kind of surveillance and look to make sure we're doing okay. A lot of the State has been put on negative watch because of our reliance on tourism. Our negative outlook, I guess, you call it. But we'll be selling bonds less, Fall, and so we'll be going out for bond ratings again. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Can you just provide me a quick overview around how we get our rating? What are some things that they look at? Page 10 FC-38 August 18,2020 MS. SAKO: They look at the economy. They look at our financial situation. They definitely look at fund balance. They look to make sure, you know, we haven't missed any payments. A variety of factors. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: And then the rate at which people pay their real property taxes, is that considered as well in our rating? MS. SAKO: The rate they pay it and also what our real property tax values are on the island. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That's a consideration. MS. SAKO: Mm-hmm. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So payments for Hawaii County's RPT (real property tax) happen in a couple of days, right? August and in February? MS. SAKO: Yes. So they're all due on August 20'', so it will take us a few days to post it, and then after that, we'll have a better idea of where we're at. Because, you know, we did expect that hotels and some others would have difficulty paying in the current year. And we budgeted accordingly for that. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: And is there anything within our Code that allows folks to do phased payments for their RPT? MS. SAKO: We have been working with several taxpayers to allow them to do that this year because of the pandemic. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. Thanks for explaining that. Earlier this year, I think it was March, we had approved $103 million bond for roads. How does that factor into all of this here? MS. SAKO: So it won't show up on this statement of funded debt until we actually issue the bonds. And so we typically issue bond anticipation notes first. You'll see the $30 million, that's in our detail over here. And so we issue those, those are short-term, low-interest notes that will carry us through. And then after we spent the money, we go ahead and take out with a General Obligation Bond. That minimizes our arbitrage and other IRS (Internal Revenue Service) issues that we try to not run into. But we will be issuing bonds in October. Some of it will be for that$103 million. So we're working with each of the departments, especially Public Works, to see how far along they are and what their projected timelines are. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you. And last question I have is, you know, it's COVID related. I remember a comment you had made in the past about the potential for our County needing to borrow money in order to, you know,just Page 11 FC-38 August 18,2020 continue on with our budget. I know you don't consult a crystal ball; that you've facts and you can really project out. But if we're not seeing what we're expecting in real property tax payments, I mean, what's the likelihood that we have to borrow? MS. SAKO: I'm going to wait till later this week to make that. Early part of the tax collection period, we were actually ahead of schedule. So not everything's been posted yet, so it's a little hard for me to tell. So we'll wait and then determine what the need is if we need to. A lot of people are still making their payments. That's the larger—you know, the hotels and some of those that we were expecting to come in with payment plans, and most of those we've agreed to give them through November or December to make their first-half payment. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. And you'll keep us posted along the way with what's happening? MS. SAKO: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great. Okay. Thank you, Deanna. I appreciate it. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. And any other questions? MS. LEE LOY: Yes, Chair. CHR. DAVID: Oh, go ahead, Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Deanna, under Schedule C, you have the Department of Water Supply. Are we just showing it? Because Department of Water Supply has their own. MS. SAKO: So MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, go ahead. MS. SAKO: So if we go back to the first page, which is the Statement of Funded Debt, you'll see where we list our total debt, the $449 million, but then we're allowed to exclude from that. And one of the ones you'll see excluded is Category C, which is Water Supply, because they pay us back all of it. And in our budget, you'll see the revenue item coming in,which is the reimbursement for debt. So they have the option where they could issue revenue bonds, but the GO (General Obligation)bonds are so much cheaper; that we issue GO bonds on their behalf so that—to save all the customers money. Page 12 FC-38 August 18,2020 MS. LEE LOY: Yes. Because Water has an opportunity to secure their own bonds with State Revolving Funds and other stuff, but it's actually better to partner with us on the GO bond because it's just— MS. ustMS. SAKO: They do a lot of State Revolving Fund, and they try to do it that way because you can't beat the interest rate at a half-percent. But these are some of their older ones for other projects they've done. So they haven't come recently to ask, you know, to participate. We will check with them since we're going to be going out in the next few months to see if they do need any additional funds. But right now we're okay. MS. LEE LOY: And if you don't know, I understand. Because I know they also have opportunities with 428 monies, like infrastructure improvement. Is that a way to offset some of the monies that they have here in the Schedule C or is this completely different from that? MS. SAKO: Are you talking about the FEMA 428? Because the FEMA 428 has to be used in the area where the damage was. So that's a little bit different and more of a grant, so it won't show up here. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else? Seeing none MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair, I have a question. CHR. DAVID: Oh, go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. CHR. DAVID: You're welcome. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Good morning, Deanna. MS. SAKO: Good morning. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: What are we seeing? I'm sure Lisa is tracking other counties, rather municipalities, but what are we seeing as far as property taxes and people's ability to make those payments? MS. SAKO: Well, as I just said, collections are strong in the first part of the period, and it's going to take us a few weeks to get all of them posted. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's here or that's elsewhere? MS. SAKO: So each County kind of did it differently. City and County sent out the three or four coupons, so they already gave all of their taxpayers that Page 13 FC-38 August 18,2020 opportunity to make their entire payment over four periods. It's kind of hard to compare. It's kind of apples and oranges right now. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, because we talked about that with Lisa before, and that's the basis of our budget. MS. SAKO: Yeah. I'm sorry, you know, real property taxes wasn't on today's agenda, so I didn't ask her about the other counties. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, that was a because that's where our funding comes from. MS. SAKO: Yeah, I'm just saying that wasn't on the agenda, so I haven't asked her recently. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: How are we looking as far as staying current with our debt coming up? MS. SAKO: We have made all of our payments and will continue to make them on a timely basis. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And COVID will affect us? MS. SAKO: It will impact us if our real property taxes don't come in as proj ected. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. MS. SAKO: But per the Charter, we cannot adjust that service. So that's something. That's kind of like our highest priority, so those payments will always be made, and we would have to cut something else. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Anyone else in Hilo? Seeing none. There's no questions here in Kona? No? Director Sako, thank you very much for your explanation on that. All in favor of filing Communication 1020, please say "aye." Page 14 FC-38 August 18,2020 Vote on Comm. 1020: The motion to close file on Comm. 1020 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair David—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Poindexter and Villegas —2. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Can we proceed now with Resolution 704-20? ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 704-20: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Funds in the amount of$48,336 would be used to continue the cooperative flood-monitoring program, which consists of the planning and designing of flood management systems such as bridges, culverts, and levees. Reference: Comm. 1028 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to recommend adoption of. Res. 704-20. Seconded by Ms. Eoff. CHR. DAVID: Council Members, questions? Anyone? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I have a question. CHR. DAVID: Okay, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. And this is a question for Director Sako. I don't see anyone from Public Works here, so I will ask her. CHR. DAVID: Okay. (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Deanna, I just want to confirm that this is an annual arrangement with USGS (United States Geologic Survey). I don't recall getting this last year. Page 15 FC-38 August 18,2020 MS. SAKO: Lots of times they're annual, sometimes they're bi-annual. So I am not positive which phase we're in sometimes in certain areas. But most of the time it is annual, and sometimes they could be piggy-backing off of previous agreements. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. Because the last one I saw was Reso. 681-18 for about the same amount, couple years ago. MS. SAKO: Yeah, it's like every couple, two years, yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. And then this information is provided to us in some kind of report or does it just help with data mapping for USGS? I'm just wondering. We make this investment, and at the end of the day what do we do with the information that is gleaned from this type of survey? MS. SAKO: So this particular one, I'm not a hundred percent sure. But most of them go into the flood maps, which we work with FEMA, and that determines who needs flood insurance and all of that. So I believe this ends up in the FEMA and other mapping that is provided. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Right, which is important for us, because oftentimes when we meet as Planning Committee, projects reference the FEMA flooding map. MS. SAKO: Right. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So this is really important. Okay, I guess I just want for the record. And I'm sure DPW is tuning in, but hopefully they can communicate to the Council on what exactly they're doing with this information. MS. SAKO: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: You know, I see in the background or in the transmittal that you provided to us, it's supposed to inform bridges, culverts, and levees, but I'd just like to know what else beyond that. MS. SAKO: Yeah. And the long-term systematic data of annual peak streamflow in selected streams. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: You want to interpret that for me? MS. SAKO: Oh, no. I'll let David do that. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, got it. Okay, thanks, Deanna. I appreciate it. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Page 16 FC-38 August 18,2020 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair, I have a comment. CHR. DAVID: Alright. Then go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz, because we you know, I wrote a resolution earlier this year to use the United States Army Corps of Engineers to help us do a Flood Plain Management Study for Puna, and that was free. I mean, as far as I can tell from the wording, this is at least very similar to the same exact thing. And given that we have a 2006, 14-year old draft Puna flood study that's never been implemented, I would wonder why we're continuing to pay $50,000 a year for a flood monitoring program. Not that I'm against it, but there's a definite question of why we're actually continuing to pay this. MS. SAKO: Some of these stem back to previous flooding events, where we're mandated to continue to monitor it. Especially if we got FEMA funds in the past, then more so we have to monitor the flood situation and pay flood insurance on top of it. But Army Corps of Engineers typically is not free. That might be a special program. But most of time we have to pay our match on those, as well. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFE,LDER: Yeah, so the Floodplain Management Study that we are working on getting the agreement finalized because I got lost in COVID is free. And that's why I took advantage of it because there is no cost to us. So if we choose to move forward like we're doing in Waiakea, then there's a cost I believe that comes down the line. But for the initial study, to understand what's happening and get a grasp on it and know what we have to do to fix it, that is free. But this looks very similar. I wish DPW was here to explain what this is and how this—is he coming? Oh, that's good. That's good they're listening and they're watching. Okay. Well, I'll yield for now, and maybe we can have that discussion later. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MS. LEE LOY: Chair? CHR. DAVID: Okay, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Chair, DPW is coming over to answer the questions of Council Member Kierkiewicz, so if we want to maybe put on a pin in this for a little bit, until they make their way over? CHR. DAVID: Sure. Why don't we table this then? Do we need a motion? MR. BROWN: Yes, we need a motion. Page 17 FC-38 August 18,2020 Vote on Motion: Ms. Lee Loy moved to table Res. 704-20 to the end of the to Table: agenda. Seconded by Mr. Richards. (Approved) Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Poindexter— 1. Excused: None. (Note: Res. 705-20 in this category was taken up previously, out of order.) CHR. DAVID: Okay, Mr. Clerk, can we move on to Resolution 706 while we wait for Public Works Directors? Res. 706-20: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENT WITH THE OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR, STATE OF HAWAII The Department of Finance wishes to enter into a three-year agreement with the Office of the Auditor to conduct an audit of the schedule changes in fiduciary net position by employer and related notes to the schedule of the Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund, and examination report on census data for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2020, 2021, and 2022 in order to meet reporting requirements under Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 75, "Accounting and Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefits Other than Pensions." Reference: Comm. 1030 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Eoff moved to recommend adoption of Res. 706-20. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. CHR. DAVID: Ms. Sako, you're still there. Could you give us a little just a brief rundown of this agreement with the Auditor's office? Thank you. MS. SAKO: So there are a couple of different GASBs (Governmental Accounting Standards Boards). This one happens to be 75, where we're required to report in our Annual Financial Statements or our CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report). And so the requirement is that, first of all, we have to get actuarial information, so we partner with EUTF (Employer Union Health Benefits Trust Fund) and their actuary to get the data. And then in addition, it has to be independently audited, so instead of each county's auditor is looking at it, we go into a joint agreement with the Legislative Auditor's office. They add it to the statewide contract, and we just pay them our portion, which is about, I want to Page 18 FC-38 August 18,2020 say $1,500 or $2,000, in that range, a year. And then we get all done, and we can be in compliance and get our CAFR and a clean opinion. So this is just to enter into that agreement, yet again. And this time we're going to do a multi-year, for three years, so that we don't have to keep remembering to come back and ask permission to do it. So yeah, it's for the current fiscal that just ended, the one we're in and next year's, as well. CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much for that explanation. Council Members, questions for Director? Any? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I just have one question. Sorry. CHR. DAVID: Okay, go ahead. Kierkiewicz, right? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah, thanks. Deanna, I don't see any dollar amount attached to this. So just ensuring there's no requirement for us to pay at the end of the audit. I mean, how does all that work? Is it like a work-trade that's happening here with the State? MS. SAKO: So, you know, we do pay. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: We do pay? MS. SAKO: But it's only like about$1,500 or $2,000. It's not a very large amount. And they prorate it based on all the employers areas. There are actually multiple employers. It's not just the four counties; it's also the independent Department of Water Supply. It's for like Honolulu, us, and Kauai. So there are multiple systems that they spread it out over. But it ends up being about$2,000 or a little less. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: And then, is this an annual audit? MS. SAKO: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Because I noticed census was mentioned. And so they're doing something extra because of census audit coming in? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: It's actuarial census. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Got it, okay. MS. SAKO: So we send payroll data every pay period actually. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Page 19 FC-38 August 18,2020 MS. SAKO: And that as part of the audit, they have to audit the census data to make sure it's reported correctly. This one not as much because it's based on health benefit cost. But when we do the ERS (Employee Retirement System) one, which I can't remember if we already did that one or if it's coming up later. That one is based on everybody's salaries and wages, so the census data is actually not more critical but the pay information is more critical. This one, they're looking more at employees, years of service, and age. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Got it. MS. SAKO: How close they are to retirement. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. And so once the State has completed the audit, does the Council get a copy of the document or it's included in the CAFR? MS. SAKO: It's included in the CAFR. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Alright,just wanted to make sure. Thank you. I yield. Thanks, Chair. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else in Hilo on this reso? None in Kona? Alright, all those in favor of approving Resolution 706-20, please say "aye." Vote on Comm. 706-20: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 706-20 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David–8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Poindexter– 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Is Director Yamamoto in the room, Hilo? I can't see. MR. BROWN: Public Works is not quite here yet, Chair. CHR. DAVID: Huh? Okay. Well, shall we take a little recess then? Okay, we're in recess until—can someone notify us when he does come in to Hilo? MR. BROWN: Sounds good. I'll let you know as soon as he gets here, Chair. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. We're in recess. Recess: At 11:45 a.m., the Chair called for a recess. Page 20 FC-38 August 18,2020 Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 11:48 a.m. CHR. DAVID: Okay, I'm taking this meeting out of recess. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, go ahead. MR. BROWN: Oh, sorry, Madam Chair, can we have a motion to take it off the table, please? CHR. DAVID: Oh, exactly. We need a motion to Motion to Remove Ms. Lee Loy moved to remove Res. 704-20 from the from Table: table. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. CHR. DAVID: And we need to vote on this, right, Mr. Clerk? MR. BROWN: Yes. CHR. DAVID: All those in favor of removing Resolution 704-20 from the table, please say "aye." Vote on Motion to The motion to remove Res. 704-20 from the table was Remove from Table: carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Poindexter— 1. Excused: None. MR. BROWN: Thank you. (Note: At this time, Public Works Director David Yamamoto came forward to address the members of the Committee.) CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Good morning, David. Thanks for coming today. Can you either break this down for us? So we're paying about$50,000, and it looks like for a year, for a Cooperative Flood Monitoring program on the Island of Hawaii. MR. YAMAMOTO: From what I understand, we've been participating in this Cooperative Agreement with USGS and other agencies since 2006, and what they do is they they're taking the systematic long-term streamflow data and doing aggression analysis to predict stormflows and stuff like that, to be able to better predict the stormflow in these streams. Page 21 FC-38 August 18,2020 So there are 24 sites that USGS monitors around the island, and of that they're asking us to cost-share in eight of them, so the other 16 sites are shared by other agencies to gather that data. I think DOT (Department of Transportation) is involved. I'm not quite sure exactly who else might be involved in the remainder. It might just be DOT. You know, this kind of helps us with proofing our peak-flow discharges as well as the floodplain mapping and stuff like that, with this data that we get, out of this study that they've been doing over the long term. I guess they're monitoring the changes in weather, as well. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And this started in 2006? MR. YAMAMOTO: We started participating, from what I understand, since 2006 we've been participating in this study. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Is that—that's the same year we finalized the Puna draft flood study? Is that correct? MR. YAMAMOTO: I'm not sure. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. MR. YAMAMOTO: So they have 24 sites, from all around the island. A lot of them in North Kohala, Hamakua down through Ka`u. They have only one gage in Kona right now that they're monitoring. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: What about in Puna? Anything in Puna? MR. YAMAMOTO: This map got caught off, in Puna area. But it appears as though they have some inoh, I cannot see. It's cut off, the Puna area. But it goes down Pahala all the way down to Na`alehu. Looks like Wood Valley and stuff like that. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So the benefits of this program for the County are ? MR. YAMAMOTO: Oh, well, they you know, Civil Defense uses the data to predict streamflow during the flood. Based on anticipated rainfall, they would be able to identify which streams them would have problem you know, experience probable problems with being that—you know, based on the rainfall data and predictions at that time. That and just, you know, overall, being able to design the infrastructure that we need to design for, knowing what would be the 100-year peak discharge that we typically designed for. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Well,with that in mind, I would say please figure out which ones are in Puna, because in the last few years I have seen Puna get flooded again and again, even crossing off Highway 130. We were discussing that earlier. Page 22 FC-38 August 18,2020 And then I took the time to initiate a floodplain management study with the Army Corps of Engineers. I did not know that we already did something very similar and had been tracking that, and yet I haven't seen a lot of results of that for my district, in particular. So I'd like to know what is going on in Puna and where we stand and what's available to us already, without having to enter into—well, I'm going to proceed with the Army Corps of Engineers, but I want to know what else we have at our disposal. This is a huge issue in our district. MR. YAMAMOTO: Okay. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Anyone else in Hilo? Ms. Lee Loy? MS. LEE LOY: No, Chair. I'm good. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Okay. I thought you raise your hand. Sorry. So no one else in Hilo and no one in Kona. Director Yamamoto, thank you for being here today. And given that, all those in favor of approving Resolution 704-20, please say aye. Vote on Res. 704-20: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 704-20 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David–8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Poindexter– 1. Excused: None. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) CHR. DAVID: Please, may I have a motion to adjourn? Page 23