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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PRPSC 2021/01/19 2020-2022Committee on Parks and Recreation and Public Safety Committee 2nd Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai i January 19, 2021 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Parks and Recreation and Public ORDER: Safety was called to order at 9:01 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member (came in later) Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference from Kona) STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS COMMUNI- CATIONS: The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. The Chair called Tiffany Hunt, who registered to comment regarding Communication 65 and 66. CHR. INABA: Mahalo, Ms. Hunt. Are there any other testifiers, Mr. Clerk? MR. BROWN: That concludes testimony, Chair. CHR. INABA: Mahalo. Alright, so with that I'm closing public testimony. We're going to take one item out of order, and that's Communication 65. Could you read that one first, Mr. Clerk? The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Communications. PRPSC-2 January 19, 2021 Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from Council Members, of Business: the following item was taken out of order. Comm. 65: NOMINATION OF RILEY SMITH TO THE LIQUOR COMMISSION From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated December 22, 2020, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: February 6, 2021 (Section 13-4(k), Hawaii County Charter) Vote on Comm. 65: Ms. David moved to recommend confirmation (Approved) of the appointment of Mr. Riley Smith to the Liquor Commission. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kierkiewicz — 1. Excused: None. Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika`i Bartolome came forward and provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. Relinquish Chair: At this time, the Chair relinquished the chair to Vice Chair Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mahalo, Chr. Inaba. Mr. Clerk, pursuant to Rule 56 please let the record reflect that I have taken Chair of the meeting. Thank you Clerk, could you please read in Communication 54? Return to Order The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. of Business: Comm. 54: REQUESTS A PRESENTATION FROM PARKS AND RECREATION REGARDING THE STATUS AND TIMELINE FOR THE KEALAKEHE REGIONAL PARK PROJECT From Council Member Holeka Goro Inaba, dated December 16, 2020. Motion to Close File: Ms. Kimball moved to close file on Comm. 54. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. Page 2 PRPSC-2 January 19, 2021 ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Inaba, go ahead, please. And you also have Maurice Messina, as well as Michelle Hiraishi in the Hilo chambers today for your information. MR. INABA: Mahalo, Chair. I put this forward, we know that here on the westside we have primarily one major Parks and Rec. facility, our complex and that's at the Makaeo Old Airport location. And we know that we've had plans for the Kealakehe Regional Park, which will be at the bottom of Kealakehe Parkway. So I've asked Director Messina and his staff, to come today to give us a quick presentation on the overall plans for the location, and a timeline that we can look forward to and hopefully follow-up with in the future based on what we hear today. So mahalo, Director Messina, for taking the time to be here and to explain and share with us what's going on here. I yield at this time Mr. Chair. ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Maurice, go ahead. (Note: At this time, Parks and Recreation Director Maurice Messina came forward to address the members of Committee.) MR. MESSINA: Good morning, Maurice Messina Director of Parks and Recreation. Before we start I would like to introduce you all to Michelle Hiraishi, the Deputy Director of Parks and Rec. Today is her first day, so I brought her in for you guys. So for Kealakehe Regional Park, I'm going to give you guys like an overall birds view high level timeline of what we're looking at, at the park. There are a lot of issues that I am well not issues but there are a lot of moving parts with the park that I'm just getting my head around. Just like with everything else, it's been a lot for this last month so give you guys what I can. So the first part of the project that we looked to have complete by the end of February is the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) for fencing. We have an obligation with the Fish and Wildlife Services to fence off the critical habitat area there. So as soon as we can get that MOU complete, we plan out to start the bidding in mid-March for that one. And construction on the fencing will be about April through May, about that timeframe there. Next is the master plan update. WHPAC, the West Hawaii Parks and Athletic Corporation, have been working on this park and the plans and everything for a lot of years. And we had a meeting with them last week at the Mayor's Office in West Hawaii, and they're very adamant about getting this plan moving along. When it comes to funding they want to assist, in trying to come up with some funds to at least start phasing the park in any way that we can. So we wanted—we're going to be doing a virtual meeting with WHPAC, looking around mid-February in February with those guys to show them this is where we are with Page 3 PRPSC-2 January 19, 2021 an updated master plan, put some designs on paper, and start getting their input. Once we get their input we're going to go back with PBR who is our consultant right now. And take all their input and make some additions and revisions to the master plan. So we've already had an initial consultation with WHPAC about the EA (Environmental Assessment), and so right now we're looking at mid-February to the distribution of consultation letters for the EA. Once we send that along, then we're going to be moving along with the rest of the docs. We want to do a community meeting for comments, as soon as WHPAC does all their comments so the community can also give input. And then after that we're going do our draft EA, county review, we're going to submit it to the Office of Environmental Quality Control. Plan on doing that on May 181h, we've already got a hard date for that to send that along. And then we're going to do the 30 -day comment period. We're considering right now online community meetings for that comment period. And during that 30 -day period we want to do some supplement website designs kind of story boards for the community, so that they can see everything that the park is going to be. And if we can, we would like to incorporate like some video testimony from the WHPAC Organization into that. And then lastly, we want to review an incorporate our public comments, county review, final EA to OEQC (Office of Environmental Quality Control) on around October I", and the legal challenge period will end on that November 8�h. And that is the overall broad timeline for then, at least getting us through the EA. ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Maurice. Do any of the Council Members have any questions for the Director while he's here? MR. INABA: Yeah. Chair, this is Holeka. ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Inaba, go ahead. MR. INABA: Mr. Messina this WHPAC Committee, how did this come together and who's part of that committee? MR. MESSINA: So this is, the committee is different people from West Hawaii. Some of the people have been working in the county, some of them have been directors of different departments in the county. It's a committee of basically fair-minded citizens, who been working on getting this expansion or getting a new park in West Hawai` i for a lot of years. I think the first time I meet with these guys was about three or four years ago, and they had already been about five years deep into this plan. I can get you exact names of the committee. Page 4 PRPSC-2 January 19, 2021 MR. INABA: Thank you. Yeah, I would like to get in touch with them, so that I can kind of keep following up. Thank you for the timeline that you provided for getting through EA part of the project. Do we have any idea at what pointI'm assuming this project is going to be done in stages is that right? MR. MESSINA: Yes, phases. MR. INABA: Okay, so I don't know how many phases there are, but for phase one realistically at this conclusion of this EA process, how long do we think it will be from, you know, the beginning to the end of phase one. What are we looking at in phase one, because I just got a lot of emails from constituents about our parks facilities, maybe just lack of on this side. So I would like to, you know, kind of follow, keep this train going and follow up on behalf of the community. MR. MESSINA: Right. As we're working through the initial documents and the models of what the park will look like, that's going to be part of the discussion. What should be the first phase? Should the first phase be, you know, the low -hanging fruit, which maybe just fencing off an area for a dog park, should it be an area for general use fields? A lot of things are dependent on that, and a lot of it is community input and WHPAC input on how we should phase that in. And of course our cost and funding hurdles, those are also going to be a big part of how we move from phase to phase as we secure the funding. MR. INABA: Okay, mahalo. I believe that's all I have at this time, Chair. I yield. ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else have comments, concerns or questions? Anyone in Kona? MS. DAVID: Yes, Chair? ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yes, Ms. David, go ahead—or Chair David. MS. DAVID: Yeah, thank you very much. And I just really wanted to thank Director Messina and his staff for actually bringing us up to speedoh, and Council Member Inaba. Because that was sort of a topic that was at one point very high on our radar in Kona, and then it kind of like fizzled. So thank you for bringing that up, and all that you do, Director, in trying to keep equity for the benefit of our people on this island. Thank you. ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. David, appreciate it. Okay, I have no lights on in Hilo, and I see no further questions in Kona. So with that we have a motion on the floor all in favor of closing file. Vote on Comm. 54: The motion to close file on Comm. 54 was carried by the Page 5 PRPSC-2 (Approved) Relinquish Chair January 19, 2021 following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kimball, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Acting Chair, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Just for my information, Mr. Inaba, do you want to go ahead and take over chair of the meeting or do you want me to finish the meeting out for you? MR. INABA: I'll reassume the chair. ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. At this time, Acting Chair Kaneali` i-Kleinfelder relinquished the chair to Chair Inaba. CHR. INABA: Mahalo. Mr. Clerk, Communication 64 please. Comm. 64: NOMINATION OF DOUG ESPEJO TO THE LIQUOR COMMISSION From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated December 22, 2020, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: February 6, 2021 (Section 13-4(k), Hawaii County Charter) Page 6 PRPSC-2 January 19, 2021 Vote on Comm. 64: Ms. Villegas moved to recommend confirmation (Approved) of the appointment of Mr. Doug Espejo to the Liquor Commission. Seconded by Ms. David and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika`i Bartolome came forward and provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. Chair Inaba informed Mr. Espejo that he does not need to appear before the full Council for final confirmation. Comm. 66: NOMINATION OF SIDNEY FUKE TO THE LIQUOR CONTROL ADJUDICATION BOARD From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated December 22, 2020, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: February 6, 2021 (Section 13-4(k), Hawaii County Charter) Vote on Comm. 66: Mr. Richards moved to recommend confirmation (Approved) of the appointment of Mr. Sydney Fuke to the Liquor Control Adjudication Board. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika`i Bartolome came forward and provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. Chair Inaba informed Mr. Fuke that he does not need to appear before the full Council for final confirmation. Page 7 PRPSC-2 January 19, 2021 Comm. 67: NOMINATION OF HOWARD KELLY TO THE LIQUOR CONTROL ADJUDICATION BOARD From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated December 22, 2020, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: February 6, 2021 (Section 13-4(k), Hawaii County Charter) Vote on Comm. 67: Mr. Richards moved to recommend confirmation (Approved) of the appointment of Mr. Howard Kelly to the Liquor Control Adjudication Board. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika`i Bartolome came forward and provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. Chair Inaba informed Mr. Kelly that he does not need to appear before the full Council for final confirmation. Comm. 68: NOMINATION OF GEORGE R. ROBINSON TO THE POLICE COMMISSION From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated December 22, 2020, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: February 6, 2021 (Section 13-4(k), Hawaii County Charter) Recess: At 10:07 a.m., the Chair called for a recess. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 10:18: a.m. Page 8 PRPSC-2 January 19, 2021 Vote on Comm. 68: Ms. David moved to recommend confirmation (Approved) of the appointment of Mr. George R. Robinson to the Police Commission. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika`i Bartolome came forward and provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. Chair Inaba informed Mr. Robinson that he does not need to appear before the full Council for final confirmation. Comm. 72: REAPPOINTMENT OF JON BERTSCH TO THE POLICE COMMISSION From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth dated December 29, 2020, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: February 12, 2021 (Section 13-4(k), Hawaii County Charter) Vote on Comm. 72: Mr. Richards moved to recommend confirmation (Approved) of the reappointment of Mr. Jon Bertsch to the Police Commission. Seconded by Ms. Kimball and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 9 PRPSC-2 January 19, 2021 Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika`i Bartolome came forward and provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the reappointment. Chair Inaba informed Mr. Bertsch that he does not need to appear before the full Council for final confirmation. Comm. 73: REAPPOINTMENT OF MARIA SHON MAGSALIN TO THE FIRE COMMISSION From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth dated December 29, 2020, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: February 12, 2021 (Section 13-4(k), Hawaii County Charter) Vote on Comm. 73: Ms. Kimball moved to recommend confirmation (Approved) of the reappointment of Ms. Maria Shon Magsalin to the Fire Commission. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika`i Bartolome came forward and provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the reappointment. Chair Inaba informed Ms. Magsalin that she does not need to appear before the full Council for final confirmation. Comm. 74: NOMINATION OF GENE NAKASHIMA TO THE FIRE COMMISSION From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated December 30, 2020, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: February 12, 2021 (Section 13-4(k), Hawaii County Charter) Page 10 PRPSC-2 January 19, 2021 Vote on Comm. 74: Ms. David moved to recommend confirmation of (Approved) Mr. Gene Nakashima to the Fire Commission. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika`i Bartolome came forward and provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. Chair Inaba informed Mr. Nakashima that he does not need to appear before the full Council for final confirmation. Comm. 75: NOMINATION OF JOHN HIDUCHICK-NAKAYAMA TO THE VETERAN'S ADVISORY COMMITTEE From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated December 29, 2020, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Vote on Comm. 75: Ms. Villegas moved to recommend confirmation of (Approved) Mr. John Hiduchick-Nakayama to the Veterans Advisory Committee. Seconded by Ms. David and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika`i Bartolome came forward and provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. Chair Inaba informed Mr. Hiduchick-Nakayama that he does not need to appear before the full Council for final confirmation. Page 11 PRPSC-2 January 19, 2021 Comm. 82: REAPPOINTMENT OF GEORGE SHERIDAN TO THE VETERAN'S ADVISORY COMMITTEE Recess: Reconvene: Vote on Comm. 82 (Approved) From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated January 6, 2021, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. CHR. INABA: Is Mr. Sheridan in the web -ex? MR. BROWN: Excuse me, Chair, we're going to try and get him on the line for you all. Do you mind taking a quick recess, sorry for the delay. At 10:59 a.m. the Chair called for a recess. The meeting reconvened at 11:18 a.m. CHR. INABA: We weren't able to get Mr. Sheridan on today, so hopefully he can join us in two weeks during the Council hearing. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to recommend confirmation of the reappointment of Mr. George Sheridan to the Veterans Advisory Committee. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika`i Bartolome came forward and provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the reappointment. Chair Inaba informed Mr. Sheridan he will need to appear before the full Council for final confirmation. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. I know Pomaika`i has been working really hard with the Mayor's Office to get these vacancies filled, and we definitely need to hear how the public can get more involved. So mahalo again, for that question. Ms. Bartolome. MS. BARTOLOME: Yeah, absolutely. So we do have our county website, hawaiicounty.gov. And I encourage each and every one of our community members, if you are viewing this right now and maybe you don't want to serve I can guarantee you that maybe your cousin, your aunty, your uncle, your grandma, your grandpa, a friend, would probably be interested in just getting information of Page 12 PRPSC-2 January 19, 2021 what it entails to be able to serve your community. So yes, it is volunteerism, but you know what you learn life skills, you learn about the different functions oar functionalities of the different advisory committees, the different commissions, and also the different county boards. So the process is, you log on to our hawaiicounty.gov website and look for our Boards and Commission link. Click on that and there is an application on there that you can fill out. And that application comes directly to me. The vetting process, we do our background checks of course. And what works, is contacting the different secretaries, and the different point of contacts. And you County Council Members, your input is very vital, and I am very open and willing to listen to anything you have to offer that would help the vetting process be smoother, and then of course be able to put the best of the best on our commissions, committees, and advisory, and our boards. So again, you can log on to hawaiicounty.gov, go to boards and commissions and apply there. MR. INABA: Mahalo, Pomaika`i. This brings us to the end of our agenda, and I hope that we can have a lot more nominees to fill these vacancies. So mahalo, for the work that you're doing. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. (There were none.) BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) CHR. INABA: Can I get a motion to adjourn? ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 11:23 a.m., Ms. David moved to MENT: adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 13 PRPSC-2 CHR. INABA: Meeting is adjourned at 11:23 a.m. Mahalo. Approved: Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair Parks and Recreation and Public Safety Committee HI/rk -��7 / 16711z( (Date) January 19, 2021 Page 14