HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2020-12-23 2020-2022
Hawai‘i County Council
nd
2 Session
Hawai‘i County Building
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawai‘i
December 23, 2020
INVOCATION: Pastor Ron Brav of Calvary Chapel Hilo gave the morning’s invocation.
CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawai‘i County Council was called to order at
ORDER: 9 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair
Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Vice Chair (via videoconference from Kona)
Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member (via videoconference from Kona)
Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Member
Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member
Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member
Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member
Mr. Herbert M. “Tim” Richards, III, Member
Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference from Kona)
PLEDGE OF The Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of
ALLEGIANCE: Allegiance.
(At this time, Ms. Kimball 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 (There were none.)
EXPRESSIONS OF
CONDOLENCE:
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:
Rachel Solemsaas: Res. 14-20 (Comm. 4), in support.
Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Cory Harden: Bill 216, Draft 2 (Comm. 1119.4), comment; and
Bill 217, Draft 2 (Comm. 1130.35), in opposition.
(See Comms. 1119.7 and 47.15 (2020-2022)
Tawn Keeney: Bill 217, Draft 2 (Comm. 1130.35), in opposition.
(See Comm. 47.20 (2020-2022)
Chuck Flaherty: Bill 200, Draft 2 (Comm. 1077.9), comment;
Bill 201, Draft 2 (Comm. 1078.3), comment; and
Bill 217, Draft 2 (Comm. 1130.35), in opposition.
Pam Madden: Bill 217, Draft 2 (Comm. 1130.35), in opposition.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much. At this time, I’m closing statements from
the public. And, Mr. Clerk, can we just proceed to the “Approval of Minutes”
before we—? Okay, go ahead.
APPROVAL The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Approval
OF MINUTES: of Minutes.
Vote on Approval Ms. Lee Loy moved to approve the Minutes of
of Minutes: November 6, 2020. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried
(Approved) by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you.
Vote on Approval Ms. Lee Loy moved to approve the Minutes of
of Minutes: November 18, 2020. Seconded by Mr. Richards and
(Approved) carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Vote on Approval Ms. Lee Loy moved to approve the Minutes of
of Minutes: December 7, 2020 (2020-2022). Seconded by
(Approved) Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, there are several items I think were requested to be
taken out of order. I think the first one that should not take but a few minutes is
Resolution 776. Ms. Carreira, in case there are questions, has to leave at 9:30.
So, can we do Resolution 776-20?
Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the
of Business: following items were taken out of order:
Res. 776-20: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF TEN MINI BUSES
(2018-2020) FROM THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
Accepts 10 retired mini buses with an approximate total value of $50,000, to add to
the Mass Transit Agency’s transportation fleet.
Reference: Comm. 1149
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-158
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 776-20 and
Finance Committee Report No. 158. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Any discussion? Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, Chair, thanks. I missed this at Committee. We had
talked about not taking retired equipment previously because the problem is we
end up getting stuff that—I mean, I appreciate the offer, but getting old equipment
that we’re going to end up doing a lot of maintenance on and increasing our cost
because of maintenance and all that. So, I’d like to hear the story that these are
actually in good working order, and we’re not going to be getting a whole bunch
of shop angels that are going to be in the shop all the time. So, I don’t know who
I could hear that from.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
I’m leery of this because this is what got us into problems with Mass Transit
before. And we, in the last Council, had decided to step away from doing this.
So, I wanted to understand the reasoning.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Richards, I believe Ms. Carreira is online. Ms. Carreira, are
you there?
(Note: At this time, Mass Transit Administrator Brenda Carreira came
forward to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing.)
CHR. DAVID: Oh, there she is. Go ahead with your question. Or did you hear
Mr. Richards’ question? I think you need to unmute your mic, please.
MR. RICHARDS: There she is.
CHR. DAVID: Yeah.
MS. CARREIRA: I apologize.
CHR. DAVID: There you go.
MS. CARREIRA: Mr. Richards, I understand because even before I started there
was a real question as to whether the Council would want secondhand buses. But
here’s the deal. What’s happening is these are Gilligs. They’re like tanks. They
are being retired by O‘ahu—OTS (O‘ahu Transit Services, Inc.). The Gilligs,
those yellow and white big buses that we have on the road right now, those are
some of the old buses that OTS gave us before. They’re like 1994 and 1995.
Frankly, Mr. Richards, from most of the buses that we have, the Gilligs are the
strongest ones and actually have been operable. We have maybe three down, but
the Gilligs have been the ones that have lasted the longest. And that’s actually
one of the biggest reasons why I entertained getting more secondhand buses. Yes,
these are older buses too, but these buses were not used to go, like, all around the
city. They were used to go uphill Tantalus, very short kind of runs on purpose.
The second thing is for revenue, well, for expense-wise, every time we use a
Roberts bus, for big buses it’s $2,000 per bus. So, I want to decrease expenses.
These ten buses, once we receive them hopefully sometime in January, I already
have plans to put all of them into service so we can cut down a lot of expenses.
But I cannot say they’re not going to break down because buses do. But Gilligs
have proven to be very strong here. It’s actually the other buses that we’ve had
more problems with, like the double-deckers and others.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
I don’t bring this lightly in front of the Council because I know that it was
something that you all didn’t want to do, but I’ve got to cut expenses, sir. I owe it
to you the Council and to the public until we can get the new buses here, then they
can become spares. Thank you, sir.
MR. RICHARDS: Brenda, with that, what is the status of the five buses that we
approved for ordering with the Federal funding last, I guess it would have been
May, when we approved the budget? Have those been ordered? Are they in
production? Where are they now?
MS. CARREIRA: So, there’s four already, I’m sorry, waiting for advance for the
notice to proceed. I have four motor coaches right now in bid with Purchasing
with the possibility of next month adding ten more to those, and we’ll continue to
add more through the beginning of next year. So, I’m hoping—
MR. RICHARDS: So, when is the delivery?
MS. CARREIRA: The delivery date for the four paratransit, well, the smaller
vans, would be in eight months. And the big buses were actually between ten and
twelve months. I’m hoping everything will be here by December. But the other
buses will be here earlier. Yeah.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. And so, those five buses from the Federal funds, those
have been ordered. That is correct?
MS. CARREIRA: Yeah. Well, I don’t know if it’s the five buses, but we ordered
four more in the bidding process now. And I hope to add ten more next month in
the same process so that they can all be manufactured at the same time. I’m
waiting for FTA (Federal Transit Administration) or DOT (Department of
Transportation) to give me approval to go forward with the extra ten buses that we
were awarded in 2019. It’s taken a year for it to be approved by another
committee. Yes.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Well, I’m very leery of this because I don’t want to
spend a lot of time fixing things again that we’re trying to get away from. So, I
will take you have experience with this, Brenda. I would like a report. You
expect to put these in operations. So, I guess, Chair, I would like to see a report
maybe in six months to know how many service hours or how many down days
these buses have had. So, Brenda, if we could have that, say, in June or, no, right
before the budget. So, maybe in May. Chair, if that’s all right. Thank you. I
yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. And I believe—is that okay,
Ms. Carreira? We would like a report as requested by Mr. Richards.
MS. CARREIRA: Yes, Ms. Chairwoman.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mahalo. And mahalo for being here. Anyone else
on—?
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Brenda.
CHR. DAVID: No? Seeing none—in Kona? No? All right. Oh, I’m sorry,
Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Go ahead.
MR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Brenda, good morning.
MS. CARREIRA: Hi.
MR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: I have just a question regarding buses in
general. This morning on my way in to work, I passed a purple and blue bus that
was kind of a different shape than normal. Is that our hydrogen bus? What is that
driving around?
MS. CARREIRA: I don’t know. If it’s like a 30-foot—the electric bus is blue.
MR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, I think that was the one. It was kind
of blue and it had some purple colors on it too. Yeah?
MS. CARREIRA: I’m sorry. I’m not sure about purple. That’s the one if that’s
on the—we are running it Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays for the
Keaukaha a.m. Yes, sir. That would be the electric Proterra owned by Roberts.
Yes.
MR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: I like it. That’s all I had to say. Thank you.
MS. CARREIRA: You’re welcome, sir.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Anyone else? Seeing
none, then, all those in favor of approving Resolution 776-20, please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 776-20: The motion to adopt Res. 776-20 and Finance Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 158 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, I think we—can we go to Bill 200 and
Bill 201, both draft twos? I believe we have some people in our Kona office for
those two matters.
MR. INABA: We’re in our Conference Room, so they are out in the lobby and
not here within the room.
CHR. DAVID: Right.
MR. INABA: So, I’m not sure they’ll be able to answer questions or anything.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. If there are questions, then I guess we could bring them in
and you folks can— Kona, Mr. Inaba, I was just informed that they will be set up
in a different room in our Kona office. And so, if people have questions, they will
be available and you don’t have to move. Okay? Mahalo. Thank you, Mr. Clerk.
You can go ahead.
Bill 200: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 05-115 WHICH RECLASSIFIED LANDS FROM
(Draft 2) AGRICULTURAL – FIVE ACRES (A-5a) TO NEIGHBORHOOD
STST
(2018-2020) COMMERCIAL (CN-20) AT PUAPUA‘AIKI 1 AND PUAPUA‘ANUI 1,
NORTH KONA, HAWAI‘I, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY 7-5-017:001
(Applicant: Pua‘a Development, LLC) (Area: 14.973 Acres)
The Leeward Planning Commission forwards its unfavorable recommendation for
this amendment for this change of zone ordinance. The property is located west
(makai) of Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway and the Pualani Estates Subdivision, and
about 1,400 feet north of the Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway.
Reference: Comm. 1077.9
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz (B/R)
Postponed: October 21 and November 6, 2020
First Reading: November 18, 2020
; and
Comm. 1077.41: From Council Members Ashley L. Kierkiewicz and Rebecca Villegas, dated
November 25, 2020, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 200, Draft 2.
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to pass Bill 200, Draft 2, on
second and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Villegas.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I want to acknowledge and thank my
colleague Council Member Villegas for working very diligently with community
members, applicants and their representatives, and the Planning Department to get
us to this place. I think all of the work that has been done has really strengthened
this ordinance. I know that members of the Planning Department are on their way
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
if there are any other questions that need to be asked. And we have a few things
that we want to bring forward in the form of a new communication. So, I’ll turn it
over to Council Member Villegas. Thank you, Chair. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Ms. Villegas, go ahead.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for being here.
It’s exciting to have Mr. Chung here with us today so he can experience how odd
it is to be in this small room trying to push a button in the middle to get in on the
conversation. So, thanks for your patience. This is kind of an awkward setup for
us today.
I am grateful for the opportunity to work with the Planning Department and had
communications with a member of the Planning Commission and worked with the
developer, the current property owner, and the potential new property owner.
Also, had lots of communication with constituents and people that live in the area.
The new amendment that came forward this time, the developer has re-included
the five acres that were originally set as part of this agreement set aside for a
potential school or park. The five areas were to be given to the County. They’ve
also conceded and put in an extra traffic impact test that would include the
Puapua‘anui—I believe the road that goes through Pualani Estates.
So, as we’ve navigated this process for the last couple of months, what’s become
apparent is the goodwill and the commitment to move things forward.
Unfortunately, these concessions weren’t made prior with the Planning Director—
Michael Yee at the time—or with the Planning Commission. But as we’ve
navigated the process posthaste, we were able to get all of those concessions and
put them back into these two bills. So, with that, I yield and I’ll just be open to
any questions from my colleagues.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair.
Motion to Amend: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to amend Bill 200, Draft 2, with
the contents of Comm. 1077.41. Seconded by
Ms. Villegas.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Council Member Villegas already explained
the contents of this communication. It’s the hard work of engaging community to
make sure everybody’s on the same page and in agreement with how we’re
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
moving forward. So, thank you for that. And again, we have the applicants
available in Kona as well as members of the Planning Department here if my
colleagues have any questions. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else with any questions?
MS. LEE LOY: I do, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. Go ahead, Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. David. And because these amendments are
coming forward at Council, normally what I do is I do ask the applicant to
confirm that they have reviewed the amendments and concur because, oftentimes,
we see a lot of time extensions or adjustments to it. So, I just want to hear from
the applicant—oh, looks like Mr. Fuke is there—that you have read and support
the amendment.
(Note: At this time, Sidney Fuke, applicant’s representative, came
forward to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing.)
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Fuke, you need to unmute your computer. We can’t hear
you. There you go. Go ahead. We can hear you. Oh, wait. Can you hear us?
MS. LEE LOY: Good morning, Mr. Fuke.
MR. FUKE: Hi, good morning.
MS. LEE LOY: Hi, good morning. Because these amendments are coming
forward at the Council level, a lot of times the work is done at Committee. So, I
just want to hear from the applicant that you folks have read the conditions of
approval and can support the work being done by Ms. Villegas and
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MR. FUKE: Good morning, members of the Council. Yes, the owners as well as
the potential investor—Screen Capital—they have read and have followed the
amendment process all the way through, and they are supportive of the proposed
amendments.
MS. VILLEGAS: Sid, are you hearing, like, the replay of Sue speaking? Is that
what you’re hearing?
MR. FUKE: Yes. It’s kind of like a 30 seconds’ delay.
MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
CHR. DAVID: Kona, I think someone has their computer on and listening to the
meeting livestream in the vicinity that Mr. Fuke is in. Whatever office is next
door, maybe you folks could lower your—
MR. INABA: Mr. Fuke, is somebody in the room with you livestreaming this?
MR. FUKE: Okay. Are we better now?
CHR. DAVID: Yes.
MR. FUKE: Oh, okay. Yeah, I was initially doing the YouTube version, and
that’s the reason why we had that 30-second delay.
CHR. DAVID: Okay.
MR. FUKE: Yeah. Specifically in reference to the question raised, yes, both the
applicant as well as the potential investor—Spring Capital—they are fully in
concurrence with the amendments as proposed in your last communication. We
worked it out with the area council member—Council Member Villegas. And
with her cooperation, setting aside time to meet with her constituents, we
developed—and with the input of the Planning Department—developed a series
of proposed amendments that you see before you.
One final thing I’d like to note, Madam Chair and members of the Council, is that
yesterday we received an email from the Planning Department wanting further
amendments to one of the conditions. And that amendment, from the applicant’s
standpoint, is pretty superfluous and kind of inconsequential because it’s going to
be done.
Essentially, that proposed amendment called for wanting to have the landowner of
the parcel upon which the five-acre site was going to be donated to the County,
have the property recorded with the Bureau of Conveyances. I do have a letter
from the landowner, which is directed to Council Chair David, attesting to the fact
that the so-called encumbrance will be recorded and provided to the County
Planning Department within the year of the final approval of this ordinance. So,
that’s going to be done with or without having that condition be made part of the
bills that you’re considering today.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Fuke. Madam Chair, I’ll yield. But really thank
you for working with everybody, and I really do appreciate you making that clear
for the record here at the Council. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else? Kona? Any other
comments?
MR. CHUNG: Yeah. Maile?
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
CHR. DAVID: Yes, go ahead, Mr. Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Yeah, I have two comments. First, I guess it’s a negative note. I
find this kind of humorous, this whole thing, because the Department of Planning
actually had a negative recommendation. But after all the hard work that was put
in, we got back to a bill that was actually very similar to what was submitted to
the Planning Department. So, I mean, I don’t know if it’s funny or not, but I just
have to make that comment.
But more on a positive note, I hadn’t seen Ms. Villegas since around March. I
wanted to personally thank her or congratulate her and Ashley for really working
this thing through. I mean, that is the essence of working as a team and engaging
the community and coming up with something really good. I just had to make
that comment. Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung, for that. Anyone else?
MS. KIMBALL: Chair?
MR. INABA: Chair?
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead—oh, go ahead—Mr. Inaba, can I take Ms. Kimball
first?
MR. INABA: Oh, yes, of course.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Go ahead, Ms. Kimball.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. I also just want to acknowledge Council
Member Kierkiewicz and Rebecca—Council Member Villegas for showing an
example of how to work with community and stakeholders to progress something
forward. A job well done. At this time, similar to Sue’s questions, I’d like to ask
a representative of the Planning Department to share their perspective on the
amendments made to the bill on the floor today.
(Note: At this time, Planner Maija Jackson, Planning Department, came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
MS. JACKSON: Good morning. My name is Maija Jackson with the Planning
Department. We have looked at the amendments that were proposed and are
agreeable to those, and we also appreciate that Mr. Fuke and Pua‘a Development
are willing to record an encumbrance against Parcel 23 to fulfill the intent of
those conditions.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Thank you, Ms. Jackson. Mr. Inaba,
go ahead.
MR. INABA: Hi there. So again, mahalo to Council Member Villegas and
Council Member Kierkiewicz for all the work going into this. I was able to kind
of follow this along in the previous term, and I know that it came through with a
negative recommendation from both the Director at the time as well as the
Leeward Planning Commission.
And with all the work that’s been put in, and I know it’s kind of reverted back to
all the good that it seemed it was before, but I still would like to see if it’s
possible that it goes back to the Commission for review. This is kind of going to
be maybe my standard practice that I’d like to have things when there are so many
changes like this go back to the Commission. I don’t have a background in
planning, and I did bore through the pages of Draft 2, the communication, the
clean version, but I think it does do us good to have experts who are appointed for
this reason to review again the clean version.
So, I don’t know if that is a possibility, but that’s kind of—I’m in a kānalua-ish
position here, and that would help me, I think, to be able to support what this bill
would be after the communication, after these amendments.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else on this side or in Kona?
MS. VILLEGAS: Sure. Chair?
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: Mahalo for the opportunity to speak again. I totally respect
Mr. Inaba’s desire to get a positive recommendation from counsel. This was an
odd circumstance, and it’s been an amazing opportunity for me to learn the
process and what the norm is. Ideally, projects like this and bills like this get a
positive recommendation from the Director of Planning in the Planning
Department and then a positive recommendation from the Planning Commission.
And even if it’s a negative from one and a positive from the other, this
circumstance was really different in the fact that it came with both negatives, and
yet, all the reasons that it had negative recommendations have then been remedied
after.
And for myself, it was very important to me that I wasn’t personally, as the
representative of this district, creating a precedence that implied that I was going
to negate the Planning Director or the Planning Commission’s advice or input or
counsel. And yet through the process and taking what was amended in the
concessions that had been made and speaking at length with the Planning Director
and with the member of the Planning Commission about the concessions that had
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
been made, I was told essentially that had these bills originally contained these
concessions, they would not have had a negative recommendation. So, I just
needed to state that.
And I fully respect and understand Mr. Inaba’s concerns and goal to have things
follow exact protocol. Perhaps it’s because it’s 2020 and nothing seems to be
following in the way that it might normally. I’m willing to listen to what my
colleagues have to say, but I, myself, will be supporting the passing of these two
bills in second reading today to move things forward. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone? Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, thank you. I’d just like to acknowledge the mandate
of this Council is to legislate. We make the laws. And so, we’re taking the
recommendations of the Planning Director and Department and Commission into
consideration, but we have the final word. And I think that we have spent a lot of
significant time in due diligence, engaging partners very deeply,
comprehensively, to get to this place. And I think what Mr. Inaba brings up is
something for us to consider as we move forward with the new Administration in
how we make land use decisions in totality.
So, I’d like to move forward with this measure because a lot of hard work and
time has been spent in getting us to this place. And I do want to make sure that I
acknowledge the ladies in the legislative review branch because they have been
with us every step of the way, making sure that we were able to arrive at such an
excellent work product. Thank you. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Go ahead—Ms. Lee Loy, go
ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Yeah, I do. I want to acknowledge the hard work
and the stakeholders that were involved, and acknowledging what Mr. Inaba is
saying. But, Mr. Clerk, because we are amending here on second reading, this
will be actually held over for one more hearing. Is that accurate?
MR. HENRICKS: If the amendment is approved, it would be held over.
MS. LEE LOY: So, I’m comfortable with moving it forward because, actually,
the community will have another swing at it one more time because we are
amending on second reading. And we’ll see it at our next Council meeting. And
so, it would give the community another opportunity to put in public testimony,
whatever they see or don’t see. I do think it is ripe and ready to move forward.
Chair, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Mr. Richards, go ahead.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thank you, Chair. And with our freshman colleague
Mr. Inaba, yeah, I hear your concern, but the important thing is that Ms. Villegas
and Ms. Kierkiewicz have worked through and addressed the issues. And so, as
pointed out by Ms. Kierkiewicz, this is the body that legislates. And with the
issues worked out, we don’t need another approval. We have Planning on board.
We have the developers on board. And so, it’s time to move it forward.
And as Ms. Lee Loy points out, yes, there will be another—one more time for
public comment. However, I think it is very much so the time to move things
forward because we have to be sensitive. We don’t want to create more
obstruction in government. We need to keep the process moving forward. Thank
you, Chair. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else before—?
MS. VILLEGAS: Chair David?
CHR. DAVID: Yes, go ahead.
MS. VILLEGAS: This is Council Member Villegas. I would like to make a
motion to waive the rules. Is that the correct way to say it?
CHR. DAVID: No, we’re not quite there yet.
MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, my apologies.
CHR. DAVID: We have to vote on it first. Okay. Anyone else? Okay. Before I
take the vote, I do have one question. And mainly it’s—I’m sorry, Maija. Maybe
it’s something you can help us with. And correct me if I’m wrong. Procedurally,
there’s two departments that require matters to go before commissions, and that’s
the Planning Department and also Environmental Management. So, my question
is, procedurally, given the number of amendments that were made, is there a
requirement that would have to make this go back to Commission for review?
I’m not sure and that’s what I’m asking because there’s only two departments that
have commission oversight. Is there a procedure if the original bill was amended
substantially? Would that require the Commission to review it again?
MS. JACKSON: It’s a good question and it would be a question I would suggest
asking your Corporation Counsel because I don’t know that the Planning
Department can advise you on that.
CHR. DAVID: I was just wondering if there has been precedence before in
situations like this. And really, this has nothing to do with the hard work that has
been put into this because I believe the community appreciates the fact that
government is listening, and their concerns have been addressed. But
procedurally, I just want to make sure that between now and the time this goes to
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
our next agenda, maybe we can move this—we can vote on it today, and we can
check on Corp. (Corporation) Counsel. I just wanted to raise that question
because I was just curious. Okay.
MS. JACKSON: There have been times in the past where it has gone back to the
Planning Commission. I’ve seen that done for amendments to the Zoning Code
that changed substantially. I don’t recall seeing it for specific properties.
CHR. DAVID: I see.
MS. JACKSON: Specific projects.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. I’m not going to take time today, but I will definitely seek
out Corp. Counsel. Not today but we can move forward with this if everybody’s
okay with that. Okay. Then all those in favor of approving Bill 200, as
amended—Draft 2, as amended with Communication—
MR. HENRICKS: Madam Chair—
CHR. DAVID: I’m sorry.
MR. HENRICKS: The motion on the floor is to amend right now.
CHR. DAVID: Okay, I’m sorry. All right. All those in favor of the amendment,
please say “aye.”
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 200, Draft 2, with the contents of
Amend: Comm. 1077.41 was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
COUNCIL MEMBER: (Inaudible.)
CHR. DAVID: On the whole bill, as amended. Okay. Motion, please.
MR. HENRICKS: No. The matter, because it’s amended at second reading, is
held over to the next regular meeting of the Council at this point in time.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. So, we don’t even take any action. We just let it go to our
next meeting then.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MR. HENRICKS: That is a Council rule that it’s held over. It’s not a law.
CHR. DAVID: Okay.
MR. HENRICKS: So, I’m just saying that.
CHR. DAVID: All right. Perfect.
MR. HENRICKS: So, if somebody wanted to do something to suspend the rules,
this would be the time now.
CHR. DAVID: Yeah, they could do it now. Okay.
MR. HENRICKS: Correct.
MS. VILLEGAS: Pick me.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Villegas.
Motion to Suspend Ms. Villegas moved to suspend Council Rule 24 to waive
Council Rules: the holdover for the substantive amendment of Bill 200,
Draft 2. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. DAVID: Any discussion?
MR. HENRICKS: That matter is not debatable.
CHR. DAVID: That is not debatable. Thank you very much.
MR. HENRICKS: You’re welcome.
CHR. DAVID: All right. All those in favor, please say “aye.”
Vote on Motion to The motion to suspend Council Rule 24 to waive the
Suspend Council holdover for the substantive amendment of Bill 200,
Rules: Draft 2, was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
MR. HENRICKS: Now you may proceed with discussion and further actions.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
CHR. DAVID: Okay. Any further discussion, Council Members? No,
Ms. Villegas? Okay. All right. Then we can proceed with all those in favor—oh,
no, the motion.
MR. HENRICKS: There’s a motion on the floor right now—
CHR. DAVID: To amend.
MR. HENRICKS: To approve Bill 200, Draft 2 as amended, on second and final
reading.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. All those in favor?
Vote on Bill 200: The motion to pass Bill 200, Draft 2, as amended to
(Draft 3) Draft 3, on second and final reading was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: Council Member Inaba – 1.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: All right. Can we move, then, now to Bill 201?
Bill 201: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 05-113 WHICH RECLASSIFIED LANDS FROM
(Draft 2) AGRICULTURAL – FIVE ACRES (A-5a) TO MULTIPLE FAMILY
STST
(2018-2020) RESIDENTIAL (RM-2.5) AT PUAPUA‘AIKI 1 AND PUAPUA‘ANUI 1,
NORTH KONA, HAWAI‘I, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY 7-5-017:019
(Applicant: Suffolk Investment LLC) (Area: 14.87 Acres)
The Leeward Planning Commission forwards its unfavorable recommendation for
this amendment for this change of zone ordinance. The property is located west
(makai) of Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway and east (mauka) of Kuakini Highway and
the Kahakai Estates Subdivision, approximately 2,200 feet north of the
Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway.
Reference: Comm. 1078.3
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz (B/R)
Postponed: October 21 and November 6, 2020
First Reading: November 18, 2020
; and
Comm. 1078.4: From Council Members Ashley L. Kierkiewicz and Rebecca Villegas, dated
November 25, 2020, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 201, Draft 2.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to pass Bill 201, Draft 2, on
second and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Villegas.
CHR. DAVID: Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. This is the companion measure to
Bill 200.
Motion to Amend: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to amend Bill 201, Draft 2, with
the contents of Comm. 1078.4. Seconded by Ms. Villegas.
CHR. DAVID: Discussion?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Just in showing that there is alignment between the two
measures and that the concessions that had been made by the developer are
recorded here for the ordinance. Thank you, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else?
MS. VILLEGAS: I concur on this end.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. All right, then. All in favor of
amending Bill 201, Draft 2, with the contents of Communication 1078.4, please
say “aye.”
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 201, Draft 2, with the contents of
Amend: Comm. 1078.4 was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Is there a motion to suspend again?
Page 18
Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Vote on Motion to Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to suspend Council Rule 24 to
Suspend Council waive the holdover for the substantive amendment of
Rules: Bill 201, Draft 2. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried
(Approved) by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Vote on Bill 201: The motion to pass Bill 201, Draft 2, as amended to
(Draft 3) Draft 3, on second and final reading was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: Council Member Inaba – 1.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. And thank you, Mr. Fuke, and the developers or the
applicants that are in the other room.
MR. FUKE: Thank you very much.
MR. HENRICKS: Madam Chair?
CHR. DAVID: Yes?
MR. HENRICKS: May I please ask for a brief recess to reset the captioning?
CHR. DAVID: Oh, okay. Great. All right, we’re in a short recess.
Recess: At 10:03 a.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 10:11 a.m.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, can we please proceed with “Bills for Ordinances
(First Reading),” Bill 217, Draft 2?
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Bill 217: AMENDS CHAPTER 24, ARTICLE 10, DIVISION 4, SECTION 24-278 OF
(Draft 2) THE HAWAI‘I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED),
(2018-2020) RELATING TO PEDESTRIANS
Amends Section 24-278, Schedule 26 (Roads closed to pedestrian traffic),
Subsection (a), Hāmākua, by adding a portion of Waipiʻo Valley Road running
from the Waipiʻo Valley lookout to a point near its entry upon the valley floor.
Reference: Comm. 1130.35
Intr. by: Ms. Poindexter
Approve: PWMTC-29
(Note: Comm. 47, from Council Member Heather L. Kimball dated
December 22, 2020, transmitting data in regards to 2017-2020 access to Waipiʻo
Valley, was circulated.)
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to pass Bill 217, Draft 2, on first
reading and adopt Public Works and Mass Transit
Committee Report No. 29. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kimball.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you to everyone that
submitted testimony and came today to testify online, and also thank you to the
members of the working group for Waipiʻo Valley that had been working literally
for decades on trying to come up with solutions for access to the valley. One of
Val’s objectives to introducing this piece of legislation was to encourage broader
public discussion on the issue, and I think that has clearly been achieved.
When I’m looking at a piece of legislation to determine whether or not to move it
forward, there are four essential questions: Is it needed? Is it within our
jurisdiction and in accordance with County, State, and Federal laws? Is it
workable and enforceable? And is it free of harmful unintended consequences?
To the first question, absolutely. Something needs to be done with respect to
management of Waipiʻo Valley. There is consensus among the working group
members and most of the testifiers, even those in opposition to the bill, that the
level of traffic pre-COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) down to the valley is
unsustainable.
I’d like to refer everybody to Communication 47 that was distributed this
morning, which shows a breakdown of the traffic to the valley from 2017 until
th
November 30 of this year. And as you can see, there’s been a steady increase in
traffic from both pedestrians and rental car vehicles. We were on track pre-
COVID-19 to continue that trend this year. And while there have been no recent
fatalities, the road was not designed for this level of traffic, and there is potential
for a public safety issue.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
There is also consensus among the working group and the community that there is
a need for greater education about the valley, that respect needs to be shown to
protect the rights of the property owners and those who live and work down in the
valley, as well as the cultural heritage and unique and fragile environment of the
valley. It’s important for everyone to understand that most of the valley at the end
of the County road is privately owned and that families in the valley have had to
work with—had to deal with trespassers, vandalism, and damage to their personal
property and to their crops. In recent history, we have also had visitors go down
into the valley and go into areas where they ended up in harm’s way and needed
to be rescued.
So, the answer to the first question, “Is it necessary,” is a resounding “yes.” The
second question: Is it in our jurisdiction and is it in accordance with County,
State, and Federal laws? It is absolutely within our jurisdiction. In fact, the one
thing that we can do as a Council without involvement of any departments or
other agencies is prohibit pedestrian traffic.
However, there are valid concerns that have been raised with the amended version
of this bill about the legality, including the constitutional question of whether or
not we’re treating people equally under the law and with respect to the public
State Highways Act of 1892. It is our responsibility as a body to explore these
concerns and give the new Corporation Counsel appointed by the Mayor the
opportunity to evaluate them before proceeding forward.
The third question: Is it workable and enforceable? There are valid concerns
about the ability to enforce this bill. Rocky and Darren, the two rangers that serve
at the top of the valley work very hard and care deeply about the valley, but we’ve
put them in a position where they’re supposed to make a judgement call with little
or no guidance. They have no legal enforcement authority. And so, if there are
challenges for people going down in the valley and if they need to call the police
in, we are stretching thin the police presence in the area, which is already
underserved.
And finally, to the answer of are there unintended consequences, it is possible that
in limiting pedestrian traffic, we will increase vehicular traffic. And it’s also
possible that by limiting access, we will be sending people to areas of the island
that are less prepared to deal with that pressure.
It is my recommendation at this time that this body postpone decision-making on
this bill until some of these issues can be worked through. There’s also a
geotechnical study, which will be due sometime mid-January, that would have
relevant impact on how we proceed.
I understand that there will be frustration for those who have worked in the
working group for decades on coming up with solutions and who are excited to
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
see action finally being taken. But with the shutdown due to the pandemic, we
can expect the reduction in visitors and limits to large gatherings to continue this
pause and give us some time to do this right and deliberate fully.
In closing, I strongly want to affirm that I am committed to developing a
meaningful and workable solution concerning the management of this incredibly
special place, and I want to take the time to address it. This is the time to address
it. Several suggestions have been provided by the working group, and I thank you
for all the suggestions that have been contributed through testimony that we can
use to develop an overall strategy that I think can be a model to the management
of other sacred places also on our island and across the State.
I hope the other members of the Council will join me in this commitment and
share their expertise to help develop a long-term plan. Before I make the motion
to defer, I would like to hear from the other members of the Council on this
matter. Mahalo, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you so much for that, Ms. Kimball. Anyone else?
Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. And first of all, thank you, Ms. Kimball.
Well stated and well put. On your fourth point, it talked about unintended
consequences, and I want to address that in a second. First of all, I want to thank
Val Poindexter for bringing this to the table to have the discussion because we
can’t talk about it unless we’re actually talking about it. So, we are now talking
about it.
But as has been stated before on some other legislations I worked on, this one’s
not ready for prime time yet. And to the point to Ms. Kimball’s conversation
about unintended consequences, six valleys away we have Pololū Valley. And
my community, which is on the other side of the valleys, have raised the concern
about Pololū Valley and the impact on that valley. If we were to shut hiking into
Waipi‘o, people are going to go someplace else, and that’s going to be Pololū.
And why I say that and why my concern is there, we have been working on
getting the State with landowner there—Surety—to establish a parking lot, luas,
facilities to have a trailhead to start for that hiking. I was down there a couple—
maybe a month ago now—and there were over 40 cars parked in that area trying
to hike down into Pololū, and that’s before Waipi‘o is closed down.
My community is very concerned about that unintended consequence, and so I
think a bigger conversation needs to be had here. We need a big plan for Waipi‘o,
yes, but I think we need a big plan for the valleys and the access to those valleys.
It’s going to take State involvement. It’s going to take private landowner
involvement. Very concerned about the farmers in Waipi‘o and how we’re going
to address that.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
And so, I’m glad this is on the table. And, Heather, I am very glad that you are
committed to keep going. We’re not hitting the pause button indefinitely. What
we have to do is we have to stop because I’m very concerned about Pololū Valley.
We are over capacity.
Waipi‘o. There are bathrooms. There’s a pavilion. There’s an observation. We
have a small little parking lot for Pololū, and six cars is a full capacity. Expecting
to handle 40 is ridiculous. And if that’s going to go up—and this is before
anything happens with the tourism upticking. So, with that, I’m going to support
the postponement on this and we get the working groups going right away.
Kohala has to be a part of this conversation because it must be a comprehensive
plan when we look at the valleys in its entirety. So, with that, Chair, I’m going to
be supporting the postponement and I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Yes. Thank you. I, too, speaking for Ms. Kimball, will be
supporting the amendment to defer. As Mr. Richards mentioned, all too often
because of the Sunshine Law, we have to put something forward so that the
community can begin to chew on it. And boy did they chew on it.
I had a wonderful discussion with the group from Nā Ala Hele, and they provide
some incredible insight and solutions. And as Ms. Kimball mentioned, there have
been—and this is what was really encouraging—is that the testimony that we saw
provided avenues of solutions that could be taken out into the broader community.
Because what we do here, like Mr. Richards said, could be used as a model for
other places. And if done well and done right, it can be a tool for all of our
special places across this entire special island.
So, I will be supporting the deferral. And in addition to that, Ms. Kimball, there’s
also opportunities to request public hearings where you could actually use that as
a tool to gain more input and cohesiveness around whatever is kind of being
presented. It is a complex issue, and it will take a lot of conversations and just a
lot of people at the table. So, thank you very much. I will be supporting the
deferral.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else in Kona first? Let me go
to Kona.
MR. CHUNG: Yeah. Maile, it’s me—Aaron.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Aaron. Go ahead.
MR. CHUNG: This is an interesting issue that it’s brought out a lot of intelligent
discussions in my estimation. I wanted to make one comment about an individual
who’s in favor of this proposal. That’s Jim Cain. He’s down in the valley. Very
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
articulate, passionate person. He gave me a call yesterday. I never called him
back, though, because I figured I’m going to share my thoughts on the floor
anyway. But yeah, I think, though, the issues that he’s concerned about are not
specifically addressed by the proposal that’s before us.
And the reason why I voted in favor of this measure—the first at Committee and,
what is this, at second reading? Is it first reading today? Well, at the Committee
level, it was really in deference to an outgoing Council Member and the efforts
that she had put forth. But I will say this—and the hook for me was that it would
be the first step. It’s not perfect but it would be the first step.
But when I really sat down and thought about it, it really flew in the face of all of
my good sense. It wasn’t something that I could support. I was doing this for all
the wrong reasons—deferring to another Council Member. I shouldn’t have done
that. I’m letting everybody know, as drafted, I cannot support this. If that’s the
best that people can come up with after ten years of discussion, that’s not saying
much. There has to be better ways of doing this thing. I mean, just off the top of
my head, one of the speakers today talked about regulating the traffic with lights.
That’s like a very simple solution. I don’t see why we couldn’t have implemented
something like that a long time ago.
But I actually think that this proposal is illegal. It goes against the Constitution of
the State of Hawai‘i. So, I just had to state that, but I’m open to hearing other
ideas. But, as drafted, I cannot support this. I wanted to let everybody know that.
Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Anyone else in Kona?
MS. VILLEGAS: Chair?
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: I recognize a lot of the concerns that have been brought
forward and respect what Mr. Chung has just said about the potential illegality of
this legislation. I really want to—first off, though, Council Member Kimball,
thank you for outlining and being so articulate and specific about the boundaries
and the parameters and what you set as the standards for legislation. I really—
that was really impactful for me to listen to the way that you outlined that, and I
think it sets an excellent tone and a really fantastic benchmark and filter for
legislation.
I see this issue as being something beyond the laws that we’re talking about here.
This is a direct example and reflection of the challenges and the opportunities that
we face and are becoming more and more evident as we have to transition from a
tourism industry that we have marketed to the world and instead start working on
our protocols for managing our natural resources and working within the
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
parameters of the communities, the diverse reflections of the lands, especially in
Waipi‘o. There are so many different groups and organizations and private
entities and public entities.
So, I see this as an opportunity, and I want to really commend you. I will be also
in support of a deferral on this. But I think that as we continue to navigate a path
to a more balanced and healthy economy and ecosystem in Hawai‘i, that this is a
direct reflection of an opportunity for us to identify ways to manage the tourism to
our island, the impacts of the visitors, and not as we transition from just marketing
because there is a capacity on our resources.
So, I really thank you for taking the time and the diligence. And as much as we’d
all like to have an answer, this is a reflection of a big broad topic, but one that’s
very imperative to our island home. So, with that, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else? Mr. Inaba, go ahead.
MR. INABA: I also got a call from Mr. Cain yesterday. I had a good
conversation with him on the phone. I’ve had the opportunity to read through
every piece of testimony regarding this bill, and with ‘ohana down there who are
farmers, I stand for what this bill—what I believe the intention of this bill is.
However, I have a hard time with things that restrict based on native Hawaiian
practices, and I can say that as a native Hawaiian. It bothers me to go to places
and have to prove that you’re a Hawaiian practicing your rights. And you can
have people who are born and raised in Honoka‘a who are not Hawaiian, and this
bill would exclude them from being able to walk down—something they might
have done their whole lives.
So, as it stands, I think a big part of this is enforcement in the Code. As it exists,
it requires four-wheel drive vehicles to go down into the valley. We know that
there are tourists and people going down in non-four-wheel drive vehicles. So,
even though that’s already in the Code, enforcement is difficult. So, I think that’s
going to be a part of the discussion, and I will support postponement of this and I
won’t be able to support it as it currently stands. So, mahalo. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair, and I just want to recognize and
acknowledge Council Member Kimball for your really thoughtful handling,
graceful handling of this situation. You really inherited a very sensitive issue, and
it’s great to know that you’re going to be working in partnership with Council
Member Richards and community stakeholders to do the right thing and create a
really thoughtful, meaningful management plan for the area that addresses the
issues that residents of the valley have, but also ensuring that folks have public
access.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
I’m really glad that we’re hitting the pause button on this because oftentimes
government’s knee-jerk reaction to anything is to just regulate. We’ve
overregulated things. And one of the things I’ve wanted to know was Council
Member Poindexter alluded to there being decades of work being done in
partnership with community. I’m really curious to know what’s been tried.
What’s been tried? Where have we failed that got us to this point of having to
overregulate? So, I’m in full support of postponing this measure so that we get to
a place where we’re really engaging community and seeing this as an opportunity
to educate, to share more information with visitors and residents about culture,
about ‘āina, proper stewardship. So, thank you. I’ll be supporting you. Chair, I
yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Here in Hilo? No?
Then, Ms. Kimball, do you want to say something?
MS. KIMBALL: I just want to say mahalo to all of the other members of the
Council for all of your input on this, and I look forward to working with all of
you. And I know you all do share my commitment to see something happen
successfully here. If it’s appropriate at this time, I’d like to make the motion to
postpone this to the call of the Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Okay, before—
MR. RICHARDS: Second.
CHR. DAVID: Oh. Before you do that, can I just say something?
MS. KIMBALL: Yes. I recall my statement.
CHR. DAVID: I just wanted to thank you myself because I really believe and
agree with all of the Council Members on how complex and sensitive this matter
is, and regulation definitely does not solve all. But in your situation and given the
specialness of this place, time needs to be taken, and the weigh-in from the
community is definitely important on this one. And also other agencies, State
agencies and County departments, as well. So, I really applaud you in your
foresight to put the brakes on, on this one. I thank Ms. Poindexter. Her heart was
in the right place, and I applaud her for that. But look at the good that’s come out
of it because, right now, we’re all on the same page. So, with that, go ahead with
your motion to postpone.
MS. KIMBALL: And thank you for reminding me to acknowledge former
Council Member Poindexter. One of the things she hoped to achieve with this
was more public discussion and that has happened. So, from that regard, I count
this as a success.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Vote on Motion to Ms. Kimball moved to postpone Bill 217, Draft 2, to the
Postpone: call of the Chair. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much. Now, can we move on to Bill 216,
Draft 2?
Bill 216: AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT IN THE
(Draft 2) COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI, THAT AMENDS THE FOLLOWING PROVISIONS
(2018-2020) OF THE HAWAIʻI COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED):
1) CHAPTER 2, ARTICLE 40 (DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
MANAGEMENT);
2) CHAPTER 21, (SEWERS-RENAMED “WASTEWATER
MANAGEMENT”)
Reorganizes and restructures provisions of the Hawaiʻi County Code that apply to
the Department of Environmental Management, updates certain provisions to
remove the enforcement and penalties from Chapter 2 to Chapter 21, and renames
Chapter 21 to Wastewater Management.
Reference: Comm. 1119.4
Intr. by: Mr. Richards
Postponed: November 6, 2020
First Reading: November 18, 2020
Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to pass Bill 216, Draft 2, on second
and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, Chair. Most of you have been through the ride on this
one as we’ve been discussing the housekeeping. The fact that much of our
wastewater management details of how we’re handling our County were written
prior to the advent of Environmental Management, this was supposed to be a bill
and actually is a bill of housekeeping to kind of clean things up and make things
work better for our Environmental Management.
That being said, as we all know, we have a new Environmental Management
Director. And actually, Mr. Ramzi Mansour—did I say that correctly? Okay, I
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
nailed it. Right on. As well as Deputy Director Brenda Iokepa-Moses are here
and I met with them. Mr. Mansour has quite a background in wastewater
management and—actually, come up just for a moment. The idea was, when I
met with them, he raised a concern because there are some things in here that we
have a good piece of legislation, but we don’t have a great piece of legislation yet.
And there’s some things that we can work on and correct. And it’s been, I think,
we as a Council’s opinion that we want to put forth great legislation and do the
right thing. And rushing anything through, I think that was an example that
Ms. Kimball just pointed out. If we need to hit the pause button and fix things,
we can.
And so, Mr. Mansour, if you’d just make a few comments about this bill.
(Note: At this time, Environmental Management Director Ramzi Mansour
came forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. MANSOUR: Definitely. Good morning. Aloha, Madam Chair, Council
Members. I do thank you for giving the opportunity. As I was reading this—
MR. RICHARDS: A little closer to the mic.
MR. MANSOUR: As I was reading these proposed ordinances, there’s always
area for improvement. And I think probably this is the time to pause and give me
the opportunity to do that improvement so we could have a better—it’s a good
start. We can make it definitely better.
MR. RICHARDS: We met and we discussed this, and I think it’s the intention
again of this Council to put forth excellent legislation and when we can. There is
no rush on this. There’s no reason that we need to push something through. We
have a new Director that is bringing institutional knowledge from other
jurisdictions, and we can tap into that and actually do something great. So,
though I appreciate it, it is before us and we can pass it on the final reading, but
we can make it better. So, Chair, before I ask for a motion to postpone to the call
of the Chair, I’d like to hear any comments from my colleagues on this. We’re
trying to make something good great.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair, and, Mr. Richards, I do share the same
philosophy of good to great. But I do want to reflect on something our keynote
speaker spoke about—Mayor Billy Kenoi—who said, “When you aim for
perfection, you’ll land on excellence.” And so, I’m willing to hit the pause button
because we do want great pieces of legislation. Because if we do strive for that,
we’ll get something great. So, I’m going to be supporting the deferral at this time.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
CHR. DAVID: Mahalo, Ms. Lee Loy. Kona, anyone else? Anyone wants to say
anything?
MR. CHUNG: Madam Chairman, it’s me again—Aaron.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Yeah. I had a nice meeting with Director Mansour yesterday, and
actually while we were meeting, he had to take the call from Tim. So, they were
talking for about half an hour, and I had a nice conversation with Deputy
Director Brenda during that time. And he mentioned what the discussion was
about and his intention of trying to fix this bill. But my question is this, though.
And I’m okay with a deferral. Well, when you say making something good great,
I thought we were only dealing with a housekeeping measure that was trying to
move things around and get things to be consistent with current laws and
language, and we were going to stay away from substantive matters.
But if we’re going to start—and that’s why I’m kind of concerned. If we’re going
to start throwing substantive matters in there, then I’m going to just throw one
other thing out there, food for thought. And it’s that matter that was brought up
by Cory Harden relating to tying in the payment of sewer fees with the water
payment. I’ve been a staunch opponent of that concept since the time I first got
into Council and that was in 1996. It seems that they must have put that thing in
during my ten-year hiatus.
I don’t think it’s fair to have water, which is what we need to live, tied in to sewer
payments. As much as we want to be able to get sewer payments from our
customers, it shouldn’t be tied in to water. That’s my belief, anyway. But I only
throw that out there if we’re going to start doing substantive changes to a
housekeeping matter. And I really don’t know what’s intended here but I’ll make
that comment. And if you guys want to defer, I have no problem.
MR. RICHARDS: Chair, I can quickly answer.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Mr. Chung, I can briefly address that. The intention is to
postpone right now. And what I’ve discussed with Mr. Mansour about this is it
came down to some of the definitions of what is in there. And yes, it’s primarily
housekeeping; however, he’s literally fresh off the boat and here on the Big Island
and just beginning to dig into this. We discussed that if it becomes more
substantive, what I might do is actually withdraw, and we’ll file a whole new bill
and go through it that way. The idea is to do something good. There are
definitions that we need to clean up. But as you pointed out, we actually
discussed that very point this morning concerning the wastewater tied into water.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
So, we’re going to see where it goes from here. This is not going to be postponed
indefinitely. This is not going to be postponed and then come back with
something very similar. If it doesn’t work, we’ll bring it back. We will withdraw
and then we’ll put forth something new. Mr. Mansour, do you want to make any
comment on that?
MR. MANSOUR: I totally agree. Like I said, there’s so many issues that we
need to work on, and this is one of them. As I was reading the document,
definitely it’s a good start. I totally agree with you, Council Member Richards,
the approach that we’re going to take. That way at least will allow us to
communicate more with other Council Members and make a more comprehensive
document. Because the way it is now, I don’t see that it’s that comprehensive.
And I (inaudible) to move forward and come back later and do amendments and
changes. So, give us the opportunity to tackle it now, get it right at least. Get it in
the right direction. And working with all of you, hopefully we could come up
with a maybe not bulletproof document but a better, improved, and great
document.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. You have the floor.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Council Member Richards, I’ll be
supporting the postponement. I’m willing to give Director Mansour a chance and
lean on his experience and expertise and ensure that we’ve got a document that is
clear, that is enforceable, right, and really alleviates any unintended
consequences. So, I’ll be supporting it and look forward to working with you.
Thank you. I yield.
MR. MANSOUR: Thank you so much.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Ms. Kimball, go ahead.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. I also support postponement of this for
further consideration, especially with the appointment of the new Director.
Welcome. And one with particular expertise in this subject matter. Let’s do it
right and let’s be careful. I also want to echo Council Member Chung’s position
that I do think it is concerning to tie nonpayment of fees with water service. So, I
hope that as you look to the next draft of this, that will be something that is
carefully considered. Mahalo.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Anyone else? No? Kona?
Ms. Villegas, go ahead.
MS. VILLEGAS: No, go ahead.
CHR. DAVID: Oh, Mr. Inaba. Whoever.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MR. INABA: Okay. I want to say some of the testimony that was received was
in regards to nonpayment and shutting water off, especially as it relates to the
COVID (coronavirus disease) impact our community is facing right now. So, I
believe we have a moratorium, so no utilities will be shut off. But for the public
watching, if you are facing a hard time, please reach out to, whether it be HELCO
(Hawai‘i Electric Light Company, Inc.) or to the Water Department, to be in
communication because I know they’re willing to work. And they’ve said that in
their news statements. So, please don’t just not pay. Please work with them, and
hopefully, we can come to a solution, or you folks can come to a solution
together. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Ms. Villegas, go ahead.
MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah, I concur with the statements of Mr. Inaba and am very
grateful for those that testified today and for Mr. Chung’s statements, and look
forward to, as this piece of legislation continues to be worked on, that the parts of
it that currently reflect the potential shutting off of water, the people who would
most negatively impact that, that part gets re-edited. And I think this is great
timing, Mr. Mansour.
Super excited to work together, to learn from you, to collaborate, and to improve
on the Environmental Management structure and facilities and all different things
here on the Big Island that your years of expertise— I’ll be supporting the
deferment of this legislation and look forward to its continued improvement.
Mahalo.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else here in Hilo? No?
Mr. Mansour, very nice to meet you, and thank you for coming today. I have to
echo that I will support the motion to postpone because I think that’s the most
realistic thing to do at this point in time. I also want to make a note that I would
not support any disconnection of water connected to the payment for sewer fees.
That’s totally not right. And so, I’m not sure how they do it elsewhere, but
definitely, I just wanted to give you a heads-up on that. I support your working
closely and getting our section up to speed.
I do have one question for you. The housekeeping items that Council
Member Chung speaks of—because that’s the impression we got; this was just to
do the housecleaning. We’re not going to be in any difficult situation if we don’t
do the housekeeping issues where we moved that section into the appropriate
place in our Code? I mean, that’s something you think can wait and we don’t do
housecleaning—we do housekeeping and everything else all one time?
MR. MANSOUR: Yeah, definitely. This could wait as we look into it more, as I
discuss the issue with Council Member Richards.
CHR. DAVID: Okay.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MR. MANSOUR: It’s an idea now. We have so many opportunities, and there’s
so many issues around this—all wastewater. It’s coming from the Department of
Health. And in pertaining to the cesspool, it’s about how we’re going to get the
connection set up, how the connection fees are going to be applied. So, all of that
is going to have a factor of how we’re going to address these ordinances.
The way I see it, because now we move in from Kona and it’s “sewer” to
“wastewater.” Wastewater is a very comprehensive word, which encompasses the
collection, the treatment, the disposal, and also the addition of resources that
comes with the wastewater, which is the gas generation and the biosolids itself
and the potential of recycling the water. So, it depends how far we’re going to go
into these Codes. But definitely, it’s better to wait and get it right than do it
wrong and regret later.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. Perfect. Thank you very much. Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you.
Motion to Mr. Richards moved to postpone Bill 216, Draft 2, to the
Postpone: call of the Chair. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MR. RICHARDS: I just want to thank Mr. Mansour. Fresh out of the blocks and
already before Council. So, I really appreciate you coming and bringing this up.
So, thank you, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Any other discussion on the
postponement? No? All those in favor of postponing this to the call of the Chair,
right?
MR. RICHARDS: Correct.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Say “aye.”
Vote on Motion to The motion to postpone Bill 216, Draft 2, to the call of the
Postpone: Chair was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Mansour. Okay. Mr. Clerk, I think we can move
on to housing matters. Resolution 19-20, please.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Res. 19-20: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN
AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING
AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Allows for the receipt of $746,100 of Federally-derived funds to be used by the
Office of Housing and Community Development to pay for Mainstream Voucher
Subsidies and assist non-elderly persons with disabilities.
Reference: Comm. 12
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 19-20.
Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. This resolution was
waived to Council, and we have today appointee director Susan Kunz, as well
as—is it Desiree?—Desiree here for anyone’s questions. We’ve done many of
these in the past, but I thought it would be good to have the appointee director
here to answer any questions that anyone may have. And we have four
accompanying bills. So, Susan, if you want to come up to the koa table.
(Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Susan Kunz came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you for being here today. Maybe just
explain a little bit and then we’ll let the Council ask any questions they may have.
MS. KUNZ: Sure. Good morning. My name is Susan Kunz. I’m the Housing
Administrator for the Office of Housing and Community Development. As
stated, this bill will allow us to enter into an agreement with the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development. It is very similar to the regular Section 8
voucher program that we are running, but it is designated for a particular
population. So, it is non-elderly persons. So, these are people who are 62 years
or younger with disabilities.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Chair, I’m going to yield. If anyone
has questions, please feel free.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Ms. Kierkiewicz, go
ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair, and aloha, Administrator Kunz. It’s
great to see you.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MS. KUNZ: Thank you.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I notice that these are 75 new additional vouchers that are
going to be provided to our County, leveraging the CARES (Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Security) Act funding. Do you foresee us having this
additional 75 once this funding stream is exhausted?
MS. KUNZ: Yes. So, my understanding is that we receive these 75 vouchers.
They do not go anywhere. They do come with this pot of money. And it is a trick
to try and make sure that there’s enough funding to support the 75 vouchers but
we don’t lose them. We don’t—yeah.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That’s great to hear. And then, do you have a waiting list
of folks that are looking for housing support and would qualify for this program?
MS. KUNZ: Yes, we do.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Are you able to provide an estimate as to how many folks
are on that list?
MS. KUNZ: Let me—
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you. Just curious.
MS. KUNZ: Hundred and twenty-five waitlisted, and twenty-three still
searching.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. So, this would be a significant help to many
families in need of housing.
MS. KUNZ: Yes.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great. Thank you so much.
MS. KUNZ: You’re welcome.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I appreciate it. I’ll be supporting this measure. Chair, I
yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Kona? Anyone else
in Kona? No? All right. Seeing none, all those in favor of approving
Resolution 19-20, please say “aye.”
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Vote on Res. 19-20: The motion to adopt Res. 19-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair David – 7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Richards and Villegas – 2.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, can we proceed now to Bill 225, please?
Bill 225: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-45, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
(2018-2020) BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2021
Appropriates revenues in the American Job Center – One Stop Program Income
account ($150,000); and appropriates the same to the American Job Center – One
Stop account. Funds would be used to pay for expenditures related to the
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act American Job Center.
Reference: Comm. 1151
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-162
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 225 on first
reading and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 162.
Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, go ahead.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Fairly self-explanatory and we have the
director here. If you’d like to say anything about this as well?
(Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Susan Kunz came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MS. KUNZ: (Inaudible.)
CHR. DAVID: Can you press your mic again? Yeah.
MS. KUNZ: Thank you. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which
is the program that mandates the American Job Center and the way that we
provide services to the community, is going to be even more important as we’re
moving towards recovery activities. And I’m very much looking forward to that.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
The employment and training program and the structure that it mandates is really
there to support the training of unemployed individuals who are trying to get back
into the workforce.
But as I see it, I think there is going to be even more need for coordination with
our businesses and the development of business services as we’re working
towards recovery, and that we should probably consider—and I will be looking
into this—developing programs and support services for the business community.
And I’m thinking that they will be driving a lot of the types of training and
employment services that our unemployed individuals are going to be going after.
So, it will take some coordination, and we will definitely be looking forward to
developing programs like this utilizing the American Job Center. So, thank you
for your support.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: I completely agree with you. Business is
your backbone, yeah. So, support your backbone and you support the rest of the
body. But on top of that, we have a huge amount of unemployed people who are
still struggling. So, please provide whatever services you can, and you have my
support for that. Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Anyone else?
Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. And, Ms. Kunz, really, it’s a pleasure to have you
just so well versed in all of this, but what I do really appreciate is you’re already
identifying the partnership that has to happen with the business sector. And with
this particular money, it really is for that dislocated worker, veteran, just people
with disabilities. There’s a lot of opportunities here, but your ability to see
already the connection that has to happen between our business community and
then these funds will really help amplify that. So, thank you so much. Chair, I
yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, a quick question, more for the public than anything
else. This is not CARES money, correct? We do not have to expend it by the end
of the year.
MS. KUNZ: (Inaudible.)
CHR. DAVID: Your mic.
MS. KUNZ: I’ll get used to this.
MR. RICHARDS: We never did.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MS. KUNZ: So, this particular bill is going to allow me to take in funds from the
mandated partners to share in the cost of this infrastructure. So, that’s what this
particular money is for. And no. So, it’s not CARES Act monies.
MR. RICHARDS: As much for the public as anyone else. Thank you.
MS. KUNZ: Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? Mr. Kānealiʻi-
Kleinfelder, go ahead.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Explain infrastructure, as far as cost for
infrastructure for this.
MS. KUNZ: Yeah. So, it’s really the job center, the office that it’s being housed
in and the office space and the equipment that it takes for us to deliver the
services. So, when I say “infrastructure,” that’s what I mean.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Is that what this is for?
MS. KUNZ: Yes.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: So, how much money, I mean, goes to
public then? It’s just more for upgrading office.
MS. KUNZ: Yeah, so, the WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act)
program does not allocate monies for us to manage this American Job Center. It
just brings in money to provide training for adults, dislocated workers, and youth.
So, we have to find a way to support, other than County funding, the cost related
to running the American Job Center. So, we have negotiated an agreement with
all of the mandated partners to pay a fair share to come into this facility and offer
their services. And so, the $150,000 is that.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you.
MS. KUNZ: Okay.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Anyone else in Kona?
No? Okay.
MR. INABA: Yes, I—this is Holeka.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Holeka Inaba.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MR. INABA: I know this facility is going to be at Kīlauea Avenue. How will—
well, I’m not sure. What access will West Hawai‘i residents have to these
programs, or do we have a facility on this side so that they can access these
programs?
MS. KUNZ: When I was with the Office of Housing previously and during the
WIOA period, this kind of transitioned at about the same time that I was leaving.
We had a one-stop center, kind of what they call a satellite office, in Kona. I
don’t believe that, that office is there anymore. So, it is definitely something that
we need to look into. We need to be able to provide services to West Hawai‘i for
sure. Now, the training program is available in West Hawai‘i, but there is no
American Job Center physical location there. So, it’s something that we need to
work on for sure.
MR. INABA: Mahalo, Administrator Kunz.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Along those lines, Administrator Kunz,
we’re looking at having a presence for this program in West Hawai‘i. I think it
would be prudent to ensure that we have a presence in all four corners and regions
of the island. Puna, for instance, has a lot of barriers to access coming into town.
So, having some sort of presence there even if it’s mobile services. I know that a
lot of ‘ohana live in North Hawai‘i as well as Ka‘ū, and ensuring that they have
equitable access to these resources would be really helpful.
I mean, the statistics that were provided by former Administrator Hosaka, since
mid-March more than 3,500 people have called the Job Center looking for
resources and support. So, any way that we can be helping our residents upscale
and get the training they need in emerging sectors that are showing great promise
in our County, that would be helpful. And happy to work alongside you to make
that lift.
MS. KUNZ: Thank you.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else before we take a vote?
No? Thank you so much for that explanation and for all that you do. So, Council
Members, all those in favor of approving Bill 225, please say “aye.”
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Vote on Bill 225: The motion to pass Bill 225 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 162 was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball,
Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Villegas – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, can you just move forward with Bill 1,
please?
Bill 1: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-45, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2021
Appropriates revenues in the Federal – Mainstream Voucher Program –
COVID-19 account ($746,100); and appropriates the same to the Mainstream
Voucher Program – COVID-19 account. Funds would be used by the Office of
Housing and Community Development to pay for Mainstream Voucher Subsidies
and assist non-elderly persons with disabilities.
Reference: Comm. 12
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 1 on first
reading. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: We just discussed this. If anyone has
further questions, I yield the floor.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Anyone else want to comment? Seeing none, all
those in favor of approving Bill 1 at first reading, please say “aye.”
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Vote on Bill 1: The motion to pass Bill 1 on first reading was carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair David – 7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Richards and Villegas – 2.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much. Mr. Clerk, Bill 2, please.
Bill 2: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-45, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2021
Appropriates revenues in the Federal – Community Development Block Grant
(CDBG) COVID-19 account ($1,077,958); and appropriates the same to the
following CDBG-Coronavirus 3 accounts: The Food Basket Emergency Food
Program ($409,472), Na Kahua Hale O Ulu Wini – Community Center
Improvements ($558,805), and Project Vision Hawai‘i – Mobile Health and
Hygiene Services ($109,681). Funds would be used by the Office of Housing and
Community Development to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the COVID-19
pandemic. These CARES Act funds would be used to address the impacts of the
COVID-19 pandemic on persons of low and moderate income.
Reference: Comm. 13
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 2 on first
reading. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Again, we have director appointee
Susan Kunz here to answer any questions. I would just make a note that these are,
as we’ve discussed, CARES funding. So often CARES funding is set to expire,
for the most part, at the end of this year. But this grant between commencement
th
and completion is until June 30, 2025. So, just to keep that in mind as we move
forward. But, Susan, if you wanted to answer anyone’s questions, I yield the
floor.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Anyone else? Kona, any
questions? Seeing none—
MR. INABA: Sorry, I have a question.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
CHR. DAVID: Oh, thank you.
MR. INABA: This is Holeka.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Inaba.
MR. INABA: Just to clarify, when it comes before us like this, is this—have
these grants gone through their regular procurement process? Or how did this end
up before us today? Just so I can know.
(Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Susan Kunz came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MS. KUNZ: Yes. These grants, as we receive them, we conduct an RFP
(Request for Proposals), have public hearings, take in applications. We have a
team that vets all of the proposals, ranks and rates them. And it has gone through
this process, yes.
MR. INABA: Okay. Mahalo.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else in Kona? No? Here?
Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Administrator Kunz, maybe just for the record identifying
the recipients of the funding.
MS. KUNZ: The recipients of this funding is going to be the Food Basket
Emergency Food Program for $409,472; Na Kahua Hale O Ulu Wini
improvements to the community center and, I believe, a laundry area expansion
($558,805); Project Vision Hawai‘i for mobile health and hygiene services
($109,681).
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great, thank you. I mean, we have this information in
front of us, but for those folks that are livestreaming or watching this later, it’s
great for them to know how this Federal money is going to be supporting critical
programs in our community. It was announced earlier this week that there’s
going to be a huge infusion of cash—$1.7 billion—into Hawai‘i with the recent
passage of the Federal stimulus package. And so, are you hearing that there is
going to be additional CDBG-DR (Community Development Block Grant-
Disaster Recovery) for Coronavirus coming our way?
MS. KUNZ: We have not gotten any specific word, but I am in anticipation of
working with HUD (United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development) and receiving additional funds. So, yeah.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Excellent. Thank you for being so on it. We appreciate it.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MS. KUNZ: Thank you.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else here? No? All right.
All those in favor of approving Bill 2 at first reading, please say “aye.”
Vote on Bill 2: The motion to pass Bill 2 on first reading was carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Can we move to Bill 3? Thank you.
Bill 3: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-45, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2021
Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants – Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act (WIOA) account ($39,000); and appropriates the same to the
WIOA – Youth Program 2018-19 account. Funds would be used by the Office of
Housing and Community Development to provide training and to increase
employment, retention, earnings, skills, and literacy.
Reference: Comm. 14
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 3 on first
reading. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: This is for $39,000 for basically assisting
youth in providing services to train our youth in our community. If anyone has
questions for Ms. Kunz, feel free.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Any other question?
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Bill 3 at first reading, please say
“aye.”
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Vote on Bill 3: The motion to pass Bill 3 on first reading was carried by
(Adopted) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Please, Bill 4.
Bill 4: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-45, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2021
Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants – Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act (WIOA) account ($54,923); and appropriates the same to the
WIOA – Adult Program 2020-21 ($7,398) and WIOA – Youth Program 2020-21
($47,525) accounts. Funds would be used by the Office of Housing and
Community Development to provide training and to increase employment,
retention, earnings, skills, and literacy.
Reference: Comm. 15
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 4 on first
reading. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, discussion.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Fairly straightforward. This is a grant. I
appreciate the funds for our community. One question I had regarding this was
the grant period for the CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) licensing is
between—what’s this?—2018. I don’t know if that is something that can be
worked around or—I’m looking at the grant summary on the very back; a
supplement to the B-52. Does everyone see that document? I don’t know if this
is a holdup, but I was just checking on the dates.
(Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Susan Kunz came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MS. KUNZ: Are you just trying to confirm the dates for this grant period?
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Yes.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MS. KUNZ: Okay. So, it is for the period of 2020 and 2021. I believe we have
two years to spend these funds.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Chair, do you see the paper for the
CDL? Or is that a—?
CHR. DAVID: Oh, you know what? That’s something else. That’s not the right
document. (Inaudible.)
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Okay, I think we can take care of that
on our end. Thank you. I appreciate that.
MS. KUNZ: Okay.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Otherwise, I fully support this. I want us to
make sure that it’s for the right thing. Thank you, Mrs. Kunz. And if anyone has
further questions, feel free to ask.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Anyone else? In Kona?
No? All right. All those in favor of approving Bill 4 at first reading, please say
“aye.”
Vote on Bill 4: The motion to pass Bill 4 on first reading was carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: And I believe that takes care of all of yours, yeah, Ms. Kunz?
Thank you.
MS. KUNZ: Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: All right. Mr. Clerk, can we move to Resolution 26-21?
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Res. 26-21: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF PUNALU‘U
SWEET BREAD FROM AIO TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND
RECREATION, ELDERLY ACTIVITIES DIVISION
The donation of 4,000 loaves of Punalu‘u sweet bread, with an estimated value of
approximately $30,534, would be distributed to seniors throughout Hawai‘i
County.
Reference: Comm. 46
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 26-21.
Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, go ahead.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: This was breached into this meeting as well
as waived past Committee and, I think, appropriately. If anyone has further
questions, I believe we have Ms. Roann Okamura here to answer any questions
that one may have. I feel this is very straightforward, and I’m glad we’re getting
all of this sweetbread. But if anyone has further questions for you, thank you for
being here today.
(Note: At this time, Elderly Activities Operations Director
Roann Okamura, Department of Parks and Recreation, came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MS. OKAMURA: Thank you, Madam Chair and Hawai‘i Council members.
2020 has been a really tough year. And for us, it’s all a matter of keeping our
seniors fed, especially those with food insecurities. So, Derek Kurisu who is the
CEO (Chief Executive Officer) for aio Foundation has been very gracious to all of
our efforts on this island. He’s a Hawai‘i boy and he never forgets his roots. So,
we really need to thank him for that.
So, we will be distributing the loaves to the seniors who are registered in our
program and other seniors in the rural areas that have food insecurities in the
months of January and February because it’s going to take a while to distribute all
that bread. But thank you, everybody. It’s been a rough year, and I thank you
guys for hanging in there and all the support that we’ve received.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you, Roann. Thank you
for being here. Yes, it has been kind of a rough year. So, this is kind of a nice
way to—
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MS. OKAMURA: This island is awesome—a lot of collaboration and
partnerships. And we just do what we’ve got to do, yeah. So, it’s really
important.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you.
MS. OKAMURA: And we’re a good island. Very awesome.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: We are. I like to think that too.
MS. OKAMURA: Thank you.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Ms. Kierkiewicz, go
ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Roann, I just want to mahalo your
team. I mean, the logistics of getting 4,000 loaves of bread out to our kūpuna
who are often homebound, that’s going to take a lot of time and hard work and
commitment. So, thank you for making that happen. And a special mahalo to
Duane Kurisu—super humble but incredibly big heart. And I just really
appreciate him thinking about our kūpuna in this time of need.
MS. OKAMURA: So, just a little side note: His mother used to work for the
Department of Parks and Recreation for years. Very dedicated and loyal. So, one
thing about Duane, he never forgets his roots and how he started his life. So, a lot
of good people come out of this island and we’re lucky.
Another thing to remember is that our programs, we try to collaborate so that it’s
not all the funding coming from the County. And I think that’s really unique to
our island because we all tend to want to help each other. Very important.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you so much for sharing that.
MS. OKAMURA: You’re welcome.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? In Kona, anyone?
No? Okay. Well, Roann, thank you so much for all that you folks do for our
seniors. Not only now, but for years you’ve helped, and we appreciate you very
much.
MS. OKAMURA: Thank you, Maile. I appreciate you too. Mahalo.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
CHR. DAVID: Aloha.
MS. OKAMURA: Merry Christmas, everybody.
CHR. DAVID: Merry Christmas. All those in favor of approving
Resolution 26-21, please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 26-21: The motion to adopt Res. 26-21 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: We still have nine “ayes.” Okay. I see you, Mr. Chung.
MR. INABA: Mr. Chung is heading out.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. All right. Mr. Clerk, can we take one more out of order?
Resolution 18-20, please.
Res. 18-20: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF TRAINING AND
MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES FROM THE HAWAI‘I ISLAND K9
ASSOCIATION TO THE HAWAI‘I POLICE DEPARTMENT
Training and supplies, with an estimated value of approximately $2,000, would be
used by the Hawai‘i Police Department’s Canine Units.
Reference: Comm. 11
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 18-20.
Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: We have Major Aimee Wana here today.
Do you want to come up to the stand, and if you have anything to say about it? I
know it’s pretty self-explanatory. It’s a grant. I appreciate the money but thank
you for being here. And if you’re here, we might as well give you a second to
talk about it. So, go ahead. Please introduce yourself.
Page 47
Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
(Note: At this time, Acting Major Aimee Wana, Hawai‘i Police
Department, came forward to address the members of the Council.)
MS. WANA: Hi. Good morning. Acting Major Aimee Wana, Hawai‘i Police
Department. Basically, Ms. Passmore and the Hawai‘i Island K9 Association
would like to donate these trauma kits, which will enable our K9 officers to
render first aid to our K9s in the event something traumatic happens to them.
The nasal Narcan kits will assist. Again, if they enter an environment in which
they are exposed to any opioids, same like the Narcan will react for the humans, it
will be for the dogs also. Along with this, there will come some training and
training aids and other dog paraphernalia—I guess you could say that. I think it
will be a welcome addition for our K9 program.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Good. Thank you for being here. Thank
you for waiting too. I know you were outside for a little while. Glad we can do
this for our K9 friends in the Police force. And I yield for now if anyone has
further questions.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Anyone else? Kona?
No?
MS. VILLEGAS: Yes, please, Maile.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Go ahead, Ms. Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: Sure. Aloha, Aimee. So nice to see you again. I just want to
thank you for your hard work and your diligence, and just exciting to see Ulumau
Alumni. I haven’t seen you in a long time. So, just wanted to thank you for all
your hard work. Congratulations on being Acting Major, and I hope we’ll all be
able to be in the same room again someday soon in 2021. Until then, please be
well and thanks for all your hard work for our community.
MS. WANA: Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else here?
MR. RICHARDS: A quick question.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. How many dogs do we have in the
K9 corps?
MS. WANA: Right now, we have six dogs. We’re working on procuring a
seventh dog.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MR. RICHARDS: And is seven the normal operating number? Is that what—?
MS. WANA: That’s our current operating number. There are ideals and then
what we have. We have one dog that will be aging out soon. So, we’ll be looking
at getting another dog probably in another year to two years.
MR. RICHARDS: And where are they stationed?
MS. WANA: We have four dogs in Hilo and three dogs in Kona.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Thank you, Chair. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? Kona, no? All right.
All those in favor of approving Resolution 18-20, please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 18-20: The motion to adopt Res. 18-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. I believe now we may be able to go to the top.
Thank you for being here. We can go to the top of the—
MS. LEE LOY: (Inaudible.)
CHR. DAVID: Oh, I’m sorry.
MS. LEE LOY: Planning’s outside for Reso—
CHR. DAVID: Oh, okay. Oh, the 16? Which one?
MS. LEE LOY: Complete Streets.
MR. HENRICKS: 779?
MS. LEE LOY: Yup.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. Then let’s do that. Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy.
Page 49
Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Res. 779-20: ADOPTS THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI STREET DESIGN MANUAL TO
(2018-2020) GUIDE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPLETE STREETS AND
MULTIMODAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES FOR HAWAIʻI COUNTY ROADWAY
PROJECTS
Urges the Planning Director, Public Works Director, and Mass Transit Agency
Administrator to update policies, rules, and ordinances in accordance with the
County of Hawai‘i Street Design Manual to ensure consistency with Complete
Streets principles.
Reference: Comm. 1154
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy
Approve: PWMTC-28
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 779-20 and Public
Works and Mass Transit Committee Report No. 28.
Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. DAVID: Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. We have Natasha and Bethany here from the
Planning Department. But I did want to take a moment, Natasha, if you could just
come forward. I know this is the first step of kind of putting all those concepts
together. And then, we’re going to be marching through, hopefully, some
codification of some of this. And I just wanted you to share maybe just some
high-level benchmarks that we would be trying to strive for to get some of this
really ingrained into our Code.
(Note: At this time, Planner Natasha Soriano, Planning Department, came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
MS. SORIANO: Yes. So, looking forward into the next year, I’ll be working on
drafting Code changes to Chapters 23 and 25. I took, again, another look. We
have a whole section on traffic speed, and that’s just usually like a table. So,
there’s a lot of language in here that talks to speed, and that might be something
that we would look forward to.
But really, it’s looking at codifying standards, marrying in that a lot of things that
come in, in this—like our transportation hierarchy also speaks to some of our
emission goals: green transportation. So, there’s a lot of carryover. And so, it’s
kind of exciting that we have a whole new committee to be exploring that with
too. So, the benchmark would be to introduce some Code changes. My goal is by
June.
MS. LEE LOY: Thanks, Natasha. And then, I just wanted you to take a moment
because you and I were working on one thing in Keaukaha, but I also know
you’re doing something with Council Member Kierkiewicz with some funding—
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
that some of these tools could be demonstrated with some of the projects that we
have, kind of—or striving to meet in Quarter 1 and by Quarter 2 of 2021, both
Ms. Kierkiewicz and myself.
MS. SORIANO: Yes. We do have money from the Department of Health to
implement quick-build projects. And “quick build” really meaning on the ground
painting, anything we can do within the right-of-way that currently exists. We
have a lot of tools here in the manual that speak to that. And so, in the interim
between Code changes, we’re really going to have to work with DPW
(Department of Public Works) to make sure that we’re not overstepping what
their standards are, but really being collaborative and looking forward to how to
implement this. And then with Code changes, how we marry that with their
current standards.
MS. LEE LOY: And thank you for that because there are opportunities to grab
other funding from other sources, right?
MS. SORIANO: Yes.
MS. LEE LOY: Safe Routes to School. PATH (People’s Advocacy for Trails
Hawai‘i). Using them as community partners to help write for grants, whether it’s
biking to school or walkways to school. So, I’m really excited about what 2021
will bring with this tool in our tool belt and the ability, like you said, to marry a
bunch of things together while seeking other sources of funding.
MS. SORIANO: Right.
MS. LEE LOY: So, thank you. I’m urging my colleagues’ support. Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: And a quick follow up: We’re not going to forget about the
horses, right?
MS. SORIANO: We’re not.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay.
MS. SORIANO: Again, our rural standards have very wide shoulders. And the
purpose of that is to be multi-use: bike, people, horses.
MR. RICHARDS: I’m looking forward to seeing the stencil that puts the horse
on the ground. So, Chair, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Natasha, Bethany for being
here. I know you’ve set out some really ambitious goals for yourself to introduce
some Code amendments as it relates to Complete Streets. Is that something we’re
going to be doing in-house, or do you foresee the need to engage outside
consultants to help us get this work done?
MS. SORIANO: I think, initially, we can do it in-house. I’m not looking too far
as like a Code overhaul. Really, places where we can reference the manual and
other things like standards. Just language around standards—simple language. If
we needed to, I think we could. That’s certainly a possibility down the road if we
want to be a little bit more progressive. But I’m still trying to string along DPW
in a more collaborative way so that it’s not something that they really feel is
forced upon them. But I’m super hopeful with our new leadership that we’re
going to have more opportunity to collaborate. And maybe that might be
something that we could look to.
Again, this is the form in which we would have that discussion of whether this is
appropriate or what DPW thinks is appropriate. If it comes to a point where we
need to get a little bit more—roll up our sleeves and work a little harder, I’m not
afraid of that. And I welcome—if we need to have a consultant, that might be
something that we can entertain down the road.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. I was just curious because it’s going to be really
tight fiscally. And as much that we can do in-house, I’d like to. It’s great that
you feel, with the new leadership that’s been identified for Planning and Public
Works, that both the departments are going to be able to work better together,
more collaboratively. Oftentimes, they operate in their fiefdoms, and it’s great to
know that you think that you’re breaking down those silos, and you’re going to be
able to work together.
I’ll be supporting this and thank you for all of your hard work and for finding
ways to just implement this. Right? With a lot of the available resources and
funding streams that are out there, thanks for being hungry and going after them,
and then finding some quick wins for our community. I appreciate it.
MS. SORIANO: Thank you.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone—oh, Ms. Kimball, go
ahead.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you both for being here, and thank you for all the work
that has gone into this. There are some wonderful ideas here, and I look forward
to collaborating with you and particularly working on some pilot projects across
my district.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
I certainly want to jump on what Sue was saying that there are many opportunities
for collaborators here, and I don’t want us to discount the environmental and
climate change resilience community and funding there. So, I’m happy to work
with you folks to help bring in some funding for that for some pilot projects early
on to prove the principle. So, mahalo for all your efforts, and I’ll be supporting
this as well.
MS. SORIANO: Thank you. Mahalo.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Anyone else? Kona? No? All right,
then. Thank you very much for all that you’re doing and for being here today.
So, Council Members, all those in favor of approving Resolution 779-20, please
say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 779-20: The motion to adopt Res. 779-20 and Public Works and
(Adopted) Mass Transit Committee Report No. 28 was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, I believe we can go to the top of the agenda. Mahalo,
everybody, for coming.
Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business.
of Business:
COMMUNI-The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
CATIONS: Communications.
Comm. 7: DONATION OF “SPREAD ALOHA NOT COVID” TOTE BAGS
From Finance Director Deanna Sako, dated November 18, 2020, requesting the
Council’s approval to accept a donation from Mālama Iā Hawai‘i, LLC, valued at
approximately $2,900.
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to approve the donation
of “Spread Aloha Not COVID” tote bags. Seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
CHR. DAVID: Any discussion? I see Director Sako is here. Thank you. I think
this is pretty self-explanatory but if anyone has questions. Otherwise, I’m just
going to say thank you for the tote bags and to Mālama Iā Hawai‘i. Okay, all
those in favor—
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Maile—Chair, sorry.
CHR. DAVID: Oh, go ahead. I’m sorry.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Just to mention, we asked Bill Brilhante to
be here. He was here this morning to answer any questions, and Deanna is in the
room. Oh, he is here. I don’t know, Bill, if you wanted to say anything. Sorry.
Sorry, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: He’s been waiting. No, thank you for saying that.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: He’s been waiting patiently.
CHR. DAVID: I was wondering why he was here. Thank you, Bill.
(Note: At this time, Human Resources Director William Brilhante came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. BRILHANTE: It’s pretty self-explanatory. I really have nothing more to
say.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Just giving you the option because I
know you’re here.
MR. BRILHANTE: (Inaudible.)
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: I know we do. We put them out there just to
make sure you would come in.
CHR. DAVID: Mahalo.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Happy holidays, Bill. Excuse me, Chair.
I’m sorry.
CHR. DAVID: Oh, no. Are we good to do the vote, then? Okay. All those in
favor, please say “aye.”
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Vote on Comm. 7: The motion to approve the donation of “Spread Aloha Not
(Approved) COVID” tote bags was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, Communication 8, please.
Comm. 8: DONATION OF FOUR TEN-INCH PALLET RACK BEAMS
From Finance Director Deanna Sako, dated December 4, 2020, requesting the
Council’s approval to accept a donation from Pacific Wireless Communications
valued at approximately $400 to be used by the Civil Defense Agency.
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to approve the donation
of four ten-inch pallet rack beams. Seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Any discussion, Council Members? Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
go ahead.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: We reached out to Talmadge Magno today,
and he did say that there’s a COVID-19 operation happening today. So, he’s not
available but Deanna’s here if anyone has questions. Again, very self-
explanatory. And I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Any other discussion? Seeing none, all those in
favor please say “aye.”
Vote on Comm. 8: The motion to approve the donation of four ten-inch pallet
(Approved) rack beams was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: All right. Mr. Clerk, can we move on to Communication 16,
please?
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Comm. 16: REQUESTS THE FORMATION OF AN AD HOC COMMITTEE TO APPOINT
A NEW COUNTY AUDITOR
From Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, dated November 17, 2020,
requesting the formation of an ad hoc committee to review applications, conduct
interviews, and score applicants in order to identify a list of candidates who will
advance to a round of interviews and final decision by the County Council.
Waived: GOREDC
Motion to Close Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 16.
File: Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Ms. Kierkiewicz—okay, go ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you.
CHR. DAVID: And then I’ll follow up after.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Absolutely. Thank you, Chair, for the opportunity. A few
months ago, we received a letter from Bonnie Nims, former Legislative Auditor,
informing us of her retirement/resignation from the position, effective
st
October 31. And so, I wanted to move forward because it is a position that the
County Council has within its wheelhouse to appoint an individual to this
position.
And so, in consultation with our County Clerk, we wanted to identify some
pathways forward. And in our Rules, we have the ability to form an ad hoc
committee. So, members of this body that are interested in identifying—or just
working within this process. I don’t believe an ad hoc was ever formed before to
select a County Auditor, but it’s pretty clear in the communication how we would
move forward in this process. And I want to thank Clerk Henricks and his team
in advance for lending technical assistance and support through this process.
Thank you, Chair. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much. Mr. Clerk, could you just give us an
overview since this is the first time we’re doing it, as far as our Rules and our—
MR. HENRICKS: Council Member Kierkiewicz covered much of the ground. It
is the Charter that creates the Office of Auditor and also gives the privilege or
responsibility of the Council to appoint the Auditor. There are many ways that
you could go about that process. This would be one of them. And yes, we will,
assuming this committee is formed, our office administratively will assist the
ad hoc committee, at its discretion, to provide candidate search and whatnot and
then turn it over to the committee to do the hard work of creating a short list for
the Council. It will take—just to be clear as well, it will take the Council in an
open meeting through a vote to actually appoint a County Auditor down the road.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much for that explanation. So, given the fact
that, in accordance with our Rules, the Chair of the Council, in this case, myself,
will appoint and I would—oh, I’m sorry. Go ahead. Do you want a discussion?
MS. KIMBALL: I just had a question about the timing on this. When do we
have to make a hiring decision? Are there any requirements on that?
MR. HENRICKS: I can help with that if you’d like.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead.
MR. HENRICKS: Yeah, there is no deadline, so to speak, for lack of a better
word. The sooner the better probably, but with due diligence. Right? Yeah. And
then, just some of the broad, general guidelines for ad hoc committee; between
two and four members of the Council. Council Chair, because we’re in a Council
meeting, will establish who the membership is, assuming that this goes forward,
and also provides the parameters for the scope of the investigation that would then
create the boundaries by which this ad hoc committee can operate outside of open
meetings.
CHR. DAVID: Oh, go ahead. Thank you. Does that answer—okay, great. And
so, before we start discussing, maybe do you folks want to weigh in now, or do
you want me to make the Chair appointment first and then we can discuss?
MR. RICHARDS: That’s fine.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. So, I would like to nominate Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. LEE LOY: Second.
CHR. DAVID: Not nominate, but I appoint Ms. Kierkiewicz—
MS. LEE LOY: Motion to close the nomination.
MR. HENRICKS: No motion’s necessary. It is at your discretion to name the
membership and also designate leadership positions—at your complete discretion.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. So, in that case, I name Ms. Kierkiewicz. She brought this
forward. She has a very distinct idea of what needs to be done and the timeframe
that we need to do it in. I really thank you for taking that initiative,
Ms. Kierkiewicz. And so, instead of appointing, I would like to ask the
membership, if it’s okay with you, who would want to sit on this committee?
There’s four right here. Did anyone in Kona raise their hand? Because, I’ve got
four hands over here.
MS. VILLEGAS: I didn’t. Holeka’s willing to kōkua.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
CHR. DAVID: Okay. All right. In that case, then, we have Ms. Kierkiewicz. I
think, to be fair, I would like to see Mr. Richards. I have to make a decision.
Heather—Ms. Kimball. Ms. Kierkiewicz, Ms. Kimball, Mr. Inaba from Kona
side, and Ms. Lee Loy to do the nominations. The four ad hoc committee
members. Okay.
MR. HENRICKS: Let the record reflect that the Chair has established the
membership to be Council Members Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Inaba, and Lee Loy,
with Ms. Kierkiewicz serving as the Chair of this ad hoc committee. Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. And then, the last thing I want to do is to just explain
the scope for the members or for the community. And according to your
communication, the scope is to review the applications, conduct interviews, score
the applicants in order to identify a short list of candidates, and then advance
those candidates to a round of interviews. And then, the final decision will be
made by the full Council. Is that correct?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That is correct, Chair. And yes, I accept the kuleana of
being Chair of this ad hoc committee. Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much. And on that note, then, I think we need to
just call for a motion to either postpone to the call of the Chair, which would
allow you some leeway in doing your ad hoc committee work, as opposed to a
date certain. So, if that’s okay with you folks, then, I need a motion to postpone.
MR. HENRICKS: Just a quick rundown of—not to get too far ahead of where we
are, but once you postpone then it’ll cease discussion. But just for public
information and perhaps the new membership, this ad hoc committee process
requires a three-meeting process. This is the first of the three meetings. The
second meeting will probably be the presentation of the findings and
recommendations of the ad hoc committee. There will be no discussion at that
time. It’s a meeting to present it to the rest of the Council but also to the public.
And then, the third meeting would likely be taking action and then interviewing
the short list of candidates. And potentially at that third meeting, perhaps
selecting somebody if the Council’s ready at that time. Okay.
CHR. DAVID: Awesome. Thank you so much for that explanation. It’s very
clear. Ms. Kierkiewicz, please.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. And before I make the motion, I just
want to mahalo and recognize Maxinne Pacheco who is currently filling in, in that
position. We need somebody at the helm of the office ensuring that we’ve got
operations moving and for the administrative functions. So, thank you for taking
that on, Maxinne. The County Auditor position is very important. I mean, one of
their mandates is to create our Comprehensive Annual Financial Report—the
CAFR; beautiful document—and to conduct audits that really identify ways in
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
which we can strengthen our government operations and make necessary
improvements so that community is getting really efficient and effective service.
So, thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you for that.
Vote on Motion to Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to postpone Comm. 16 to the call
Postpone: of the Chair. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the
(Approved) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: All right. I guess we can go right down the agenda, Mr. Clerk.
ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of
RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions.
(Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.)
Res. 777-20: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN
(2018-2020) AGREEMENT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I
Funds in the amount of $15,000 would be provided to the University of Hawai‘i
for its Imiloa Outdoor Exhibits Enhancement and Learning Space project.
Reference: Comm. 1150
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-159
Vote on Res. 777-20: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 777-20 and Finance
(Adopted) Committee Report No. 159. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz
and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Chung and Inaba – 2.
Excused: None.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Res. 13-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED
FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE WEST HAWAI‘I
VETERANS CEMETERY DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION
ASSOCIATION, INC., FOR ITS GREENHOUSE ACTIVATION PROJECT AT
THE WEST HAWAI‘I VETERANS CEMETERY-PU‘U HO‘OMAHA O
NAPO‘E KOA HAWAI‘I KOMOHANA
Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account
(Council District 6); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 3
Intr. by: Ms. David
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 13-20. Seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. This is my contingency resolution, and
it’s such a wonderful project out there with the Veterans Cemetery. And I really
would ask for your support for this. It’s self-explanatory. They’re doing a really
good job out there. Glad to help them. Any discussion on the Kona side? No?
All right. All those in favor of approving Resolution 13-20, please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 13-20: The motion to adopt Res. 13-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
Res. 14-20: 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 RISE
FOUNDATION TO ASSIST HAWAI‘I COMMUNITY COLLEGE WITH ITS
MOBILE GREENHOUSE TRAINING PROGRAM
Transfers $11,500 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account
(Council District 4); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Agriculture – Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 4
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 14-20. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
CHR. DAVID: Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I am so excited. This is almost a third
of my contingency money that I have available for this fiscal year. But after
having a conversation with Hawai‘i Community College and a number of
leadership there in trying to identify ways in which we can increase the resiliency
of our food system with climate change and various disasters in mind, they had
informed me that they were working on a mobile agricultural learning lab
initiative and they needed a bit of money to buy the container. And so, that is
what this contingency money is going to be supporting.
And I love the fact that they are merging four different curriculums and learning
tracks into this concept. So, you’ve got the ag (agriculture) piece, right, where
you’re experimenting with vertical farming, hydroponics, aquaponics—all within
this container. But you’re also weaving in technology and finding ways we can
be more efficient with our growing. Business is going to be involved because
there are ways that we can create value-added products. Right? Export economy.
So, teaching folks entrepreneurial skillsets.
And then we’re growing food. We’ve got to eat it. So, weaving in the culinary
program and seeing how we can be leveraging our local produce and
incorporating into more of the things we’re eating every day. So, really excited to
be supporting this program. And once it is up and running, I’ll be sure that they
come before the Council and make a presentation because I think this is really
critical as we look to pivot, right, new economy and diversify our various sectors.
This prototype could really be on to something. And the fact that it is on wheels,
we can take this learning lab into various communities all around our island. So,
just looking for everyone’s support for this. Thank you. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? All right. All those
in favor of approving Resolution 14-20, please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 14-20: The motion to adopt Res. 14-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Res. 15-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED
FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO KUPA FRIENDS OF
HO‘OKENA BEACH PARK FOR ITS MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE
PROJECT
Transfers $4,000 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account
(Council District 6); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 6
Intr. by: Ms. David
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 15-20. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy, for that. This is another contingency
funding. Apparently due to COVID, there’s been a lot of need for extra services
like security down at the beach and maintenance. So, this is just to help out as
much as I can with the organizations that are taking care of our parks on the rural
districts. And I appreciate your support. Thank you. All those in favor, please
say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 15-20: The motion to adopt Res. 15-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
Res. 16-20: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR
AGREEMENT FOR NUTANIX HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE FOR THE
DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a three-year lease agreement with an
approximate annual cost of $108,000.
Reference: Comm. 9
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 16-20.
Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: This was waived to Council from
Committee, or through Committee, sorry. And we have—this is a fairly
substantial ask. I was hesitant about moving this through Committee, given what
it is. After discussing with IT (Information Technology), I may have some points.
I asked Erik and Scott to be here today. They’re going to be our contacts. But
basically, we have servers which are needing to be replaced. And given our draw
on the IT side of the County right now, given COVID and a lot of Zoom meetings
and different things happening, this is important but it’s also fairly costly. I don’t
see Erik or Scott here.
CHR. DAVID: He’s in the waiting room.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Okay, beautiful.
(Note: At this time, Geographic Information Systems Manager Erik Lash,
Department of Information Technology, came forward to address the
members of the Council, via videoconferencing.)
CHR. DAVID: There he is.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you for joining us, sir. Just state your
name for the record. And then if you could just kind of break this down for
everyone so they can understand what you’re asking for and the importance, and
we’ll go from there. When you’re ready. Erik, can you hear us right now? Oh, I
can hear you. I can hear sound. How about now? Do you want to go ahead and
explain the purpose of the resolution? Can you hear me? Try nod your head if
you can hear me. Erik?
Do you want to take a recess while he gets it set up? Can we take a brief recess
while we take care of some of our IT needs?
CHR. DAVID: Yes, we can.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: We’re in recess right now.
Recess: At 11:51 a.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 11:58 a.m.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, can—oh, can someone make a motion to table
Resolution 16—?
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Vote on Motion to Mr. Richards moved to table Res. 16-20. Seconded by
Table: Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: This matter has been tabled. Mr. Clerk, please move on to
Resolution 17-20.
Res. 17-20: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF AN ELECTRIC
WHEELCHAIR FROM MR. GREG MEYERS TO THE HAWAI‘I FIRE
DEPARTMENT
The wheelchair, with an estimated value of approximately $10,000, would be used
by the Hawai‘i Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services Bureau.
Reference: Comm. 10
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 17-20.
Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, go ahead.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: I believe we have Captain Michael Lam in
the Kona Council Chambers.
CHR. DAVID: No.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Or not.
MR. INABA: ‘A‘ole.
CHR. DAVID: Oh, wait.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Oh, I see somebody there.
CHR. DAVID: Okay.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Okay. So, we can let him into the meeting.
Page 64
Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
(Note: At this time, Emergency Medical Services Specialist Michael Lam,
Hawai‘i Fire Department, came forward to address the members of the
Council, via videoconferencing.)
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: And again, pretty self-explanatory. And
thank you for being here. Please introduce yourself.
MR. LAM: Hi. Good afternoon, County Council Members.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Could you speak up a little bit? We can’t
really hear you in Hilo.
MR. LAM: This is Mike Lam—
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: That’s better.
MR. LAM: With the Hawai‘i Fire Department, EMS (Emergency Medical
Services) Bureau, Fire Medical Specialist III. And I’m here to talk about the
donation of a wheelchair from a resident out in the Waikoloa district.
Just a brief history of our community paramedicine program. This was started
about four or five years ago. What we started with was we have a database of
high utilizers of the 911 system. So, along with Captain Vern Hara from the
East Hawai‘i battalion, he and I, we go to their houses. We’re the boots-on-the-
ground members who look for any opportunity—fall risks, any safety risks, as far
as the reason why they’re calling 911 so much. And we come up with an action
plan, whether it be to provide DMEs (durable medical equipment), such as
medical equipment, or get them in touch with their medical insurance or their
medical providers to ensure that they get the best care.
This has been a really popular program. We’re getting referrals from public and
private healthcare agencies. This program, however, is not funded by the
department. We rely on grants. We rely on donations. And this electric
wheelchair is one of those donations. Mr. Meyers has graciously offered to
donate it to the Hawai‘i Fire Department, and I believe there’s already a waitlist
for that chair. So, I wanted to present that to the Council and thank Mr. Meyers
for his donation.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Mahalo, Captain. I appreciate you being
here today, and happy holidays to you. Thank you for that brief explanation for
us. I will yield. And if any of the other Council Members have questions, I look
forward to it.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Anyone else has
comments, questions?
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MR. INABA: Chair?
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Inaba. Is that you?
MR. INABA: Yes, it is.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. Go ahead.
MR. INABA: I just wanted to say mahalo to Mr. Meyers of Waikoloa for this
generous donation, valued up to $10,000. Anything that goes to support our first
responders is really appreciated. A few of us have immediate family in the Fire
Department and the Police Department. So, this is greatly appreciated as we
know some of the struggles they sometimes face. So, mahalo again to you. I
yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else on this side? No? All right.
Thank you so much for the donation. All those in favor of approving
Resolution 17-20, please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 17-20: The motion to adopt Res. 17-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, I believe move on—
MR. HENRICKS: Bill 223?
CHR. DAVID: Yes.
BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Bills for
ORDINANCES Ordinances (First Reading).
(FIRST READING):
(Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.)
Page 66
Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Bill 223: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-44, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC
(2018-2020) IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2020 TO JUNE 30, 2021
Adds the Parks and Recreation Waiākea Uka Park – State project for $6.4 million
to the Capital Budget. Funds for this project shall be provided from State Grants
Receivable.
Reference: Comm. 1147
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-160
Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire
membership to amend, pursuant to
Section 10-6(e), Hawai‘i County Charter
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to pass Bill 223 on first reading and
adopt Finance Committee Report No. 160. Seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: I believe—
MS. LEE LOY: Chair, if I may?
CHR. DAVID: Yes, go ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Yes. So, again, thank you. We heard this in Committee, and
Representative Richard Onishi was very instrumental in providing this match for
our Waiākea-Uka Park. I’m going to continue to ask for my colleagues’ support.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much for that. Anyone else? Seeing none, all
those in favor of approving Bill 223 at first reading, please say “aye.”
Vote on Bill 223: The motion to pass Bill 223 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 160 was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
Page 67
Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Bill 224: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-44, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC
(2018-2020) IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2020 TO JUNE 30, 2021
Adds the Parks and Recreation Waiākea Uka Park project for $2.1 million to the
Capital Budget. Funds for this project shall be provided from General Obligation
Bonds, Capital Projects Fund – Fund Balance and/or Other Sources.
Reference: Comm. 1148
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-161
Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire
membership to amend, pursuant to
Section 10-6(e), Hawai‘i County Charter
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to pass Bill 224 on first reading and
adopt Finance Committee Report No. 161. Seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. And just for our new freshmen colleagues,
what this bill does is—and walking back a little bit—Representative Onishi was
very instrumental in providing some State matching funds. Early on, we had
some money for some planning and design, which would improve the safety
aspect of the park. There’s a lot of people who park along Ainaola Drive because
there’s no parking available. And working with our House Representative Onishi,
he provided a three-to-one match. So, we identified the need of $8.5 million.
Bill 223 provided 6.4 of that 8.5, and this was the County’s share, the 2.1. So
again, thank you to Representative Richard Onishi. And to the rest of my
colleagues, I ask for your support.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else? In Kona? No? Seeing
none, all those in favor of approving Bill 224 at first reading, please say “aye.”
Vote on Bill 224: The motion to pass Bill 224 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 161 was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
Page 68
Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
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): (Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.)
Bill 222: AMENDS THE PARKS AND RECREATION FACILITY SCHEDULE,
(2018-2020) CHAPTER 15, ARTICLE 8, SECTION 15-68.1 OF THE HAWAIʻI COUNTY
CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY NAMING THE PAVILION
AT KUKUIHAELE PARK THE “TAKASHI ‘TAKA’ DOMINGO PAVILION,”
IN HONOR OF TAKASHI DOMINGO
Reference: Comm. 1145
Intr. by: Ms. Poindexter
First Reading: November 18, 2020
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to pass Bill 222 on second and final
reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. DAVID: Any discussion, Council Members? Ms. Kimball.
MS. KIMBALL: I just wanted to mention that, on behalf of former Council
Member Poindexter, this is a long time in coming, and I think it’s an important
recognition of someone who contributed greatly to our community. So, mahalo
for the support of the other Council Members in moving this forward.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you for that. Anyone else? Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Just a quick statement. Yeah, thanks, Val, for doing this.
You’re probably watching. But I think we all can learn a lot of our own history if
we look at the names that are on different parks or pavilions and understand that
those are some people that did some great trailblazing for us. So, very
appropriate. It’s kind of like the Kalani Schutte park in Waimea. These are
people that did a lot of good things for us. So, it’s very appropriate. Chair, I
yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those
in favor of approving Bill 222 at second and final reading, please say “aye.”
Page 69
Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Vote on Bill 222: The motion to pass Bill 222 on second and final reading
(Adopted) was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
Bill 227: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-45, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
(2018-2020) BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2021
Appropriates revenues in the Federal – Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental
Funding (CESF)-Hawai‘i County Safe Protocol Logistics account ($163,092); and
appropriates the same to the CESF-Hawai‘i County Safe Protocol Logistics
account. Funds would be used to prepare for, prevent the spread of, and respond to
the coronavirus pandemic.
Reference: Comm. 1158
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
First Reading: November 18, 2020
Vote on Bill 227: Ms. Lee Loy moved to pass Bill 227 on second and final
(Adopted) reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
REPORTS: The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Reports.
(There were none.)
CHR. DAVID: I wonder. Should we try again? Okay, the referral.
REFERRALS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Referrals
EXECUTIVE for Executive Session.
SESSION:
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Comm. 5: ALEXANDREA M. NEWELL V. COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I, ET AL.
From Deputy Corporation Counsel D. Kaena Horowitz, dated November 12,
2020, requesting an attorney-client confidential discussion to consult with the
Council regarding the above-entitled matter, including a discussion regarding a
litigation filed by Scott Mattoch on behalf of his client, Alexandrea M. Newell.
Motion to Enter Ms. Lee Loy moved to enter into Executive Session in
into Executive order to hold attorney-client privilege discussion regarding
Session: Communication 5, as authorized by Section 92-5(a)(4) of
the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. DAVID: All those in favor?
MR. HENRICKS: It’s open for discussion.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. Any discussion, Council Members? Seeing none, all
those in favor of going into Executive Session, please say “aye.”
Vote on Motion to The motion to enter into Executive Session was carried by
Enter into the following voice vote:
Executive Session:
(Approved) Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: I’m going to take a recess right now.
MR. HENRICKS: You could just make a note that the Council’s going into
Executive Session.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. Council’s going to go into Executive Session.
Recess: At 12:10 p.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 12:58 p.m.
CHR. DAVID: All right. I’m calling this meeting out of recess, out of Executive
Session. Right now, I’m not sure if we can hear Mr.—
MR. HENRICKS: (Inaudible.)
CHR. DAVID: Oh. He’s not ready. Okay. Then, just go to Executive Session
then. Make the motion to—
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
Vote on Motion to Ms. Lee Loy moved to reject the recommendation of
Reject: Corporation Counsel regarding Comm. 5. Seconded by
(Approved) Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
MR. HENRICKS: Now you can ask for a motion to take Resolution 16 off the
table.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
Vote on Motion to Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to remove Res. 16-20
Remove from Table: from the table. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
(Note: At this time, Geographic Information Systems Manager Erik Lash,
Department of Information Technology, came forward to address the
members of the Council, via videoconferencing.)
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Mahalo, Chair. So, this is as everyone can
read, the Department IT needs to enter into a multi-year agreement for the
Nutanix hardware and software for their department. We have Erik on but we’re
having a hard time connecting and getting audio back and forth, unless you can
hear me somehow magically right now. Oh, he can hear me; I can see that. No?
Yeah? Hey, you’re there. Okay, congratulations. This is good.
Merry Christmas.
MR. LASH: Merry Christmas to you too.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: I’ll run through my notes and then you’ll
take it from there. Okay, Erik? And thank you for joining us today.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MR. LASH: Yes.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Okay. So, we have a three-year lease
agreement for the purchase of Nutanix. Deanna Sako reminded us this is kind of
a lease to own. At the end of these three years, we will own the equipment that
we are leasing. Slightly confusing but that’s the idea.
Unit cost, $288,937. Total cost of $324,884. Annual lease payment of $108,000
for three years, after which the County will own the equipment. Right now, we
have eight physical servers currently in operation for GIS (Geographic
Information System). Only three remain within their expected hardware service
life cycle. The next one goes to end of life in June 2021, and the remaining five
servers operating out of warranty and past the end of their service life.
MR. LASH: That’s correct.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Okay. So, that is what I have from my
notes. Again, this was waived out of Committee. This is a fairly costly ask. And
they’re also requesting a waiver of the five-day hold. So, whatever discussion
we’d like to have, have it and discuss with Erik any questions. And if you have
anything to add to that, Erik, please do so.
MR. LASH: Okay.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: I yield the floor. Anyone has any questions?
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Ms. Kimball, go ahead.
MS. KIMBALL: I just had a question. Are these the servers that will house the
online permitting system, the EnerGov? Sue’s nodding her head.
MR. LASH: Yes. These are those servers.
MS. KIMBALL: And what is the estimated time once we make this, if we
approve this, that we will receive those servers?
MR. LASH: We have to go through the procurement process once it’s approved.
And we’re hoping, at this point, by summer to have everything implemented and
online.
MS. KIMBALL: Is the implementation of EnerGov dependent on having these
servers?
MR. LASH: No, it’s not. The GIS servers for EnerGov are some of the ones that
are currently out of warranty, and they need to be placed. But they’re online and
operating right now.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MS. KIMBALL: All right. Thank you. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Aloha, Erik. Thank you. I’m sorry, I missed—Ms. Kimball
asked you the question when these would become available and integrated into
our system. Do you have an estimated date?
MR. LASH: The date is a little fluid because it’s based on vendor procurement.
And we’re hoping to have everything complete by the summer.
MS. LEE LOY: And so, that dovetails into that one server that’s end of life
June 2021. Is that correct?
MR. LASH: That is correct, yes.
MS. LEE LOY: Okay. And then I know that a lot of the GIS information, it
tends to need a very robust system. Those maps are large and contain just a lot of
information. And Ms. Kimball is subject matter expert when it comes to GIS
layers. And I just want to make sure that what we’re getting will be robust
enough for others to access it. We do have still many County employees who are
working from home, and I just want to make sure that what we’re trying to get
isn’t just to meet our current needs now but something that we can fall forward
into for the next five or seven years.
MR. LASH: Yes. This system is being built with that in mind. It’s really being
built for smart growth of the County and to ensure that we are adaptive to
changing County needs. What we’re doing, essentially, is we’re going to scale up
and out as far as GIS goes so that we can support the new varied uses and
changing uses of the GIS platform that the County has. So, for instance, just to
elaborate a little bit more in detail, like the—there’s a new shoreline study
initiative that is being undertaken, which will generate a massive amount of
imagery that can be served through this system. We’re looking at around
30 servers total once everything is implemented to meet the best practice
guidelines of the vendor.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Erik. And I know a number of departments share a
lot of these GIS layers. Can you elaborate how many different departments will
be kind of tapping into some of the information that will be shared amongst these
servers?
MR. LASH: Any department that has a GIS need, we want to make it available to
everyone as well as the public when we have public initiatives that can benefit
from having mapping capabilities.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MS. LEE LOY: Other work, too, that was proposed a few years back was some
of the LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) mapping that would lend itself to
some of our flood controls and need for preventative mitigative measures for our
floodways. Is that also going to be able to be housed through these servers?
MR. LASH: Yes, it is. We’re implementing what we call an imagery server with
this system. The imagery server will host that flood map data that’s being
generated from the flights around the island to map the coastlines and coastal
zones.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Erik. Chair, I’m going to be supporting this. I think
this is the tool that we need going into 2021. So, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Erik, a couple of questions and maybe I missed it. The
backup of our data right now, is that secure? Do we have that on these servers
that are out of warranty and hanging on?
MR. LASH: No, sir. The backup is secure. We have an offsite backup that
occurs for all of the data contained within our existing GIS system.
MR. RICHARDS: For all our data, correct?
MR. LASH: Yes, that’s correct.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. And then reading through here, this is lease to own. Is
this financed through the company, or is this financed through—I think Bank of
Hawai‘i is who we normally lease through.
MR. LASH: I believe it’s Bank of Hawai‘i, but I would have to check the finance
documentation. Just a second here. Dell Financial Services.
MR. RICHARDS: So, it’s through the manufacturer then.
MR. LASH: Yes, it is.
MR. RICHARDS: Do you have an interest rate on that?
MR. LASH: It’s .35866.
MR. RICHARDS: Point three, five. So, a third of a percent. Is that what I’m
hearing?
MR. LASH: That’s correct. It’s almost a direct cost, yeah.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. And then, I didn’t understand how this was written:
Unit cost - 288,000; Total cost - 324,000, with approximate annual lease
payments of 108,000 in months 7, 19, and 31. That doesn’t fit in my head as far
as trying to understand how you’re making these payments.
MR. LASH: The direct cost would be if we bought it outright today without
financing. The total cost is with the financing, and the payment costs are based
on that financing.
MR. RICHARDS: That still doesn’t rewrite—we’re going to have to do this. I
don’t understand this. So, I think Finance needs to explain, but she’s probably
busy right now. I don’t want to hold this up because I think we need to do it, but I
need a better explanation. Chair, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. Kimball—Heather, you went first
already, right?
MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, I already went.
CHR. DAVID: Oh, okay. I’ll call Ms. Kierkiewicz. Go ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. This is more of a comment. I’m not
expecting a response, Erik. You can if you want to. But this has been a lingering
problem that’s come before us a number of times. And I’m just so disappointed
that we didn’t take advantage of CARES money like other counties have to
update their IT infrastructure. We could have paid for the whole thing with
CARES funding. I mean, there’s a huge nexus there in our County being able to
deliver services and operate online. There was huge justification.
So, I’m deeply disappointed that we didn’t take advantage of those Federal funds.
Maybe with this next round of funding and with a new Director, we’ll be able to
take stock of everything that needs to be done and make those investments with
the Federal aid that’s coming. I’ll be supporting this with reservations.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Go ahead, Ms. Kimball.
MS. KIMBALL: Yes, thank you. I had a couple more technical questions that
came to mind. Are there plans for the County to move from Desktop ArcGIS to
the pro version, which would be cloud served? And are we obligated, as a
County, to provide servers on our own, or can we move some of this function
remotely? I’m just curious if the class analysis has been done between purchasing
and maintaining our own hardware, as opposed to outsourcing servicing
capability.
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MR. LASH: To answer the first question, we’re in process of moving ArcGIS
Pro right now. I’m assisting several departments in the transition to Web GIS,
specifically through the pro environment. Hoping to lift the remaining GIS users
into that environment as things move forward.
The second question related to the cost. There’s a substantial differential in the
cost of managed services. So, having somebody else manage the infrastructure
for us in the cloud, for instance, and doing it on our own. The last time we
scoped, it was mid-2018 and it was approximately a five-to-one increase in cost
over our own system at that time. It can certainly be looked at again. To add to
discussion, it also has certain security implications that need to be countywide as
an IT system and needs to be accounted for that way.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. I mean, I think for the situation we’re in right now,
with so many of these reaching end of life, that maybe we need to do the
hardware purchase at this time. But for future server capabilities, I think it would
behoove us to look at outsourced options. Those costs are coming down, and
there is a reliability issue and a security issue with having that outsourced, the
information stored in another location. Something for the rest of the Council
Members to consider. I will also support this with some reservations. Thanks.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Anyone else? Kona?
MR. INABA: Chair, this is Holeka.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Go ahead.
MR. INABA: Erik, how long have we had these current servers for? What is
their lifetime? I know some of them are expiring, but how long have we had
them?
MR. LASH: The general life cycle of server hardware is five-to-seven years.
Some of these servers have been online since 2011. So, the main servers that we
really are pushing for as far as support and robustness of those are—those came
end of life in 2020, and those definitely need to be replaced.
MR. INABA: Okay. So, we can assume that in five years, these ones that we’re
approving today would be also cycling out. Is that right?
MR. LASH: Yes. Nutanix is a component system. To be as least technical as I
can be, it’s basically a plug-and-play system where we can replace hardware on
the fly, as needed, so that it doesn’t have to be a complete overhaul of everything
at once—just the expiring parts.
MR. INABA: Which is what we’re doing now, right? It’s everything. Is that
right?
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Hawai‘i County Council-2 December 23, 2020
MR. LASH: Right. The entire box is being replaced with these physical servers.
That’s how they operate. Nutanix doesn’t operate that way.
MR. INABA: Well, I kind of support what Council Member Kimball mentioned,
figuring out what we might be able to hold through the cloud. And obviously,
this isn’t my background but it’s good that we can piecemeal it out in the future if
we need to. So, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else? Okay, Mr.—you’re done?
Okay. Okay, Council Members, all those in favor of approving Resolution, what
is this, 16-20, please say “aye.”
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, for the record, can I do kānalua, aye?
CHR. DAVID: Yes.
MR. HENRICKS: Would you like me to do a roll call?
CHR. DAVID: You know what? Let’s do a roll call.
MR. HENRICKS: Okay.
Vote on Res. 16-20: The motion to adopt Res. 16-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following roll call vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
(Note: Ms. Kierkiewicz and Mr. Richards voted “kānalua”
then “aye.”)
CHR. DAVID: Mahalo.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Chair, we need to—
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
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Hawai`i County Council-2 December 23,2020
Vote on Motion to Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to suspend Council
Suspend Council Rule 15 to waive the 5-day hold for reconsideration.
Rules: Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following
(Approved) voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David— 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung— 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.
CHR. DAVID: Before we do that motion, I would just like to wish all of you
folks a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays. And be safe with your families
and see you next year.
ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 1:16 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the
MENT: meeting. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David— 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung— 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Meeting adjourned.
adjourned.
Council Approval: FEB 0 3 2021
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