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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GOREDC 2021/03/02 2020-2022 Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, and Economic Development 4th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai i March 2, 2021 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, ORDER: and Economic Development was called to order at 2:00 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Vice Chair (came in later) Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 34.3: REQUESTS AN UPDATE FROM THE MAYOR'S OFFICE REGARDING THE ADMINISTRATION'S UPCOMING PLANS AND PENDING PROJECTS From Council Member Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, dated February 11, 2021. (Note: Comm. 34.4, from Research and Development Director Douglass S. Adams dated March 1, 2021, transmitting the Administration's Activity Update, was circulated.) CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you Clerk. May I have a motion to close file on Comm. 34.3? GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to close file on Comm. 34.3. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. KIMBALL: I believe we have Douglass Adams from R & D (Research and Development)to present to us today. Can you come up? Thank you so much Mr. Adams. Take it away. (Note: At this time, Research and Development Director Doug Adams came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. ADAMS: Good afternoon, Chair and Members of the Committee, Doug Adams, Director of Department of Research and Development for the County. I appreciate the opportunity to give you an update on behalf of the Mayor's Office related to the Department of Research and Development. Each of you received, I'm going to call it a menu of items, but let me just give you a brief overview, if I could. As you are aware, we have the Sustainability Summit that will be convening this Thursday and Friday. The Department has been very involved supporting the Mayor's Office in the preparation for that event. We're looking forward to it as a launching pad for follow-up on work that will be taking place in the variety of sectors associated with sustainability. Part of the work that has been done included listening sessions that my department was involved in conducting over the last month-and-a-half or so. We went to communities all around the island, in all of the districts. Some of you were able to participate or attend some of those listening sessions. They were two-hour sessions at the communities. And the idea was thatI brought my big ears and listened to the community members; answered some of the questions having to do with broad questions about sustainability and then some focus on what really mattered in those individual and diverse communities. We were very fortunate that we had folks that attended each of these areas. Some not as many, but some a pretty good number. We kept the numbers down where we could. We also made sure that they were in person, which also kept the numbers down as a result of the pandemic. We did not choose who would come. That was done by the members of the community themselves. So we felt pretty good about hearing from folks that were interested in sustainability and had their own perspectives to be provided. The information that was gained in addition to the high level pieces of that were also associated and provided. The transcripts were taken by members of our AmeriCorps volunteers. Four of the members are part of our department and support many of our specialists and they did a terrific job. And I should probably put their names into the record, if I could. Kendra Obermaier, Emily Herzog, Page 2 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 Madison Tumicki, and Ioana Tcholakova. And so I'm going to make sure that that's spelt correctly later. The idea is, they were there part of the AmeriCorps program responsibility is that they, in fact, have a community engagement piece that's part of their program, and of course, they haven't necessarily been able to do that. And so they were very excited to be participants in the process. And I made sure as part of the conduct of the listening sessions that in fact they had a chance to either make comments or ask questions, you know, with members of the community. Their collection of the perspectives from the members of the community will prove very, very useful as we move forward past the summit. We're collecting all that data, over 200 pages of perspectives from the variety, and we'll go through all of that. There has actually been some high level and visual analysis done already associated with that. And so, we're looking forward to seeing what the individual community said. And that was key point of this, and I should probably mention that as a part of this. What you're going to hear on Thursday and Friday is going to be island-wide or maybe even beyond that when it comes to the perspectives from the panelists. What we heard in the listening sessions in the individual communities was specific to the communities and that was the purpose. And members of some of the communities wanted us to make sure that we did not lose the diversity that's associated with the geographic differences. And I thought that that was a very good point. And the key is that as we look towards solutions, we recognize that solutions will look different depending on where you are on the island. And we want to make sure that we don't lose sight of that. And the work that's going to need to be done to try not to be a one size fits all in terms of whatever resolution of issues we go towards. So that's part of the work that we've been doing in the department in preparation for the Sustainability Summit. Another issue I should mention is revenues, the acquisition of revenues if you will, through grant procedures. We have been working within the department. We have some significant capacity for grant writing and the obtaining of information relating to grants,particularly at the Federal level. And those kinds of grants that are available for the kinds of things that we can do here. So we've done some work to find out what the capacity looks like for grant writers within the County. And then we're taking that information and we're looking at what is the next stage for us to be able to help the County at the department level develop their own capacity, if you will, to run their grants. So that process is something that we'll have conversations about over the next couple of months with the leadership of the Mayor's Office. But our department will Page 3 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 help with—because we've done and are responsible for a number of grants it'll be an opportunity for us to see how we can help, whether it's in initiating whether it's in finding them and probably less of an oversight role, but at least there may be some training help that can be provided as well. So we're going to see where we fit in in that process, but it's pretty clear to us that the departments themselves need to develop the capability to run their own grants because they're the ones that understand what the grants will be about. So there's some work to be done, but we have made some progress on that. I think that the other thing that I would say before taking any questions regarding the items that I've listed in the Activity Update would be that I am very grateful to be provided the opportunity to work with the men and women in the department. They are exceptionably well qualified for the work that they do. It is a broad scope that we have responsibility for as I've talked about before from this dais, and they make my job, if not easy, at least fun. And so the idea of being able to work with them on matters of import to this Council and to our island, I'm very, very grateful to have the opportunity to work with them. And with that, I would be happy to talk through the items that I've listed here or if there's any that members would like to identify and I could come and talk to them. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you so much, Director Adams. Any questions from here in Hilo? Council Member Richards? MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. And thanks, Director, for being here. Touch on the energy portion specifically Mass Transit. We have three available fuel cell busses coming to us. It's my understanding we are actually generating hydrogen in NELHA (Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority) right now. And I have a request in, so Brenda(Carreira) is going to be coming before us at the next committee meeting to give a report and update on those. Any comments to offer on that? This has been a very long time coming forward and frustrating on a bunch of different levels, but any further comments that you might want to add concerning that? Because from a direction standpoint, we agree from an energy standpoint, this is a good direction to go. But getting these things up and running, call it a demonstration of concept if you want, but I think the time is right. We're set to go with these things. You want to add anything to that, Doug? MR. ADAMS: I would agree with you, Council Member, that the time is right, and I think that we are at the stage where we're seeing progress being made. Riley Saito, our Energy Coordinator and his team are working with Administrator Carreira and her team, both in the fuel cell piece, but especially beyond that into the EV(electronic vehicles)piece, and replacement of the fleet and their charging aspects, the entire infrastructure, and that work is underway. And so we're going to see this initial pilot with these three and the ability to make sure that they work Page 4 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 with the fuel cell technology and the provision of hydrogen fuel for them. And that'll be great and we'll learn some lessons associated with that. I'm really looking forward to the next year in the Mass Transit side of things. There are a number of issues that had to be resolved, but when it comes to doing providing Mass Transit with a renewable energy source and in a way that will be climate friendly, I'm really looking forward to that, and that day is not far off. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, and I have to agree with you as far as that goes. This island, we have such a portfolio of renewable energy, and we have to take this step and actually get after it and get it done. And so that's why I'm looking forward to that. And this is one of the things that we've been talking about it. Matt, we've had this conversation concerning those deals. So I'm glad, but we're going to have to push hard to get this done. MR. ADAMS: Correct. MR. RICHARDS: Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Richards. Council Member Kierkiewicz? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Sorry, I just got some really good news and I wanted to share that with everyone. It has to do with what is on this Activities Update. HB (House Bill) 1176, which is something that spring-boarded off the resolution that this Council adopted relating to the Job Corps resolution. It just passed out of Finance Committee, which is huge because getting a hearing is one thing but to actually pass unanimously is quite a big deal. So thank you, Director Adams because I was going through the list of folks that did submit testimony, and you have been there with me every step of the way advocating for this, so thank you. I was able to testify before the committee and let them know that we are actively pursuing this concept as a County and would welcome opportunities to collaborate with the State. So I just wanted to share that with you. You did mention or list Legislative issues here on your Activities Report, so can you elaborate on that a bit more? MR. ADAMS: We've been paying attention to several. Obviously, one and congratulations, your leadership there's a long way to go on this as you're well aware of but to see that in a session that has not necessarily provided us with many of the things that we were hoping to see,to see that come out and maybe go into the other House would be very, very helpful. Page 5 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 So we're looking at some things, black cinder is an issue that we've been paying attention to from an agricultural perspective, and so that's something we've been supporting. The Pa`auilo slaughter house is another issue. We have taken the position here in the Administration that we believe that the players in that much like both committees that had the opportunity to see it and deferred the bills that came to them, we agree that there's opportunity for conversation and dialogue right now and we would like to encourage that dialogue in that regard. We're a firm believer that the cattle industry has a place on this island and that there is a need for additional infrastructure to support that. And that we should be able to, as we have done particularly over the last decade, work together as an industry. And the County, as it can, will do what it can to help encourage those kinds of conversations to allow an alignment of mission in that industry. So, we're not buying a slaughter house anytime soon. I wouldn't say that, but we do think that there is a need for another one particularly on the west side. And how we can get there in addition to making sure that the one we do have here on the east side is providing the services that it needs to for the entire industry in a way that's going to benefit the entire industry. We already know that there's demand for the quality grass-fed beef that we have here. The idea is to make sure that the entire system is set up to support both producers and consumers. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Director, what other bills are you tracking that are of importance to the Administration? MR. ADAMS: Well, I'm not responsible. I should just say, council member, I'm not responsible for all the bills that the Mayor's Office is tracking, right? So we have been paying attention to some of the energy and sustainable bills as well. Most of those have not necessarily moved forward and part of the concern that I would have had on a couple of them, as much as I want to say, that we support anything that is green. There is also, however, the nature of making sure that we can pay for it. And so there is a balance that there's a responsibility for the Administration and in my role in the department to kind of look at. So where we have the opportunity to do to support renewables, we're doing that where we have the opportunity to make sure the bills don't necessarily go too far and put us into difficulty. Particularly things that might turn out to be regressive tax like. I pay attention to those things. We're in a pandemic. We have folks that are not working; folks that don't necessarily make a huge amount of money. I pay attention to those things that look regressive to me, because at the end of the day those things are going to end up on the backs of consumers who won't necessarily be able to afford them. There needs to be better ways for us to try and get through and fix things without necessarily having it at the end of day lump on the backs of the folks that can't afford it. Page 6 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah, I really appreciate you saying that. We need to use this opportunity to address systemic inequities not to compound them. So thank you. Just two more questions. An update on the Climate Action Plan? MR. ADAMS: Sure, thanks for asking. We are moving towards community engagement. A community engagement process. It's a very exciting one, frankly. Typically, the process is you write the plan and then you go out and you have a couple public hearings, and then you close the hearings; having said that you've heard from the public and then you move forward and it ends up on some shelf somewhere. This particular plan is really an implementation. And the idea that the team that has been putting this together has, and we continue to work it is the idea of bringing in some initial sector working groups and having them take a stab or a swing at the idea of how will this be implemented. The overall objective in the Climate Action Plan isn't for some big goal that County, and State, and Federal Government are going to do, right? It's how do we as individuals, and individual families, and individual organizations, and businesses do the kinds of things that are going to be supportive of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. And so making sure that we are looking at the policies that there aren't ones that are counter to other ones, and as a result, don't get us in toward the direction that we want to go in as an island and as people of the island. That's going to be important. And then beyond that we'll then bring in the folks that know how to do policy; that know how to deal with finances. So, yes, lawyers and accountants, right,to talk about, how do you turn these ideas of implementation into actual policies and legislation kind of activities. And then during that process we're going to bring in members of the community. Focus groups to say, this is what we're thinking about doing. How does this seem to you and let's talk through where it looks like this may be a great idea but what are some of the issues with unintentional consequences in these other areas? So we want to make sure that we roll through all of those because when we have completed that processing, we're trying to implement the policies that are going to be necessary to help folks develop the habits. Part of that is going to be infrastructure;part of that's going to be processes. We want to make sure that we have worked through as much as we can without necessarily it taking forever to get there. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, I appreciate that update. My Legislative Aide, Jake Sykes he wrote the first draft of the Action Plan. So what you are sharing is most welcome news. Thank you for your leadership in this area. Page 7 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 Last question I have is, thank you for inviting me to the sustainability listening session in Pahoa. I really enjoyed that time just being there with you and with community, hearing from them what sustainability means for them. I'm hoping that we as a Council can get some kind of recap report from you. And maybe if you could think about ways in organizing the information around, you know, potential program or collaboration opportunities are also ways in which we can advance legislation. I think that would be extremely useful for all of us. So just putting it out there. Thank you Director, appreciate you. Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Thank you, Director Adams for being here. I wanted to hover around, and usually Mr. Richards takes care of this, but you had it under Agriculture, which was the Soil and Water Districts. And the kind of high level what we're looking at conservation district, is it a tool? Share with us that agricultural piece. MR. ADAMS: So as you know,the Soil and Water Districts, six around the island. And we provide a bit of a flow-through for State funding for this. I am concerned that we won't see the kind of funding from the State to support these entities. We've already seen that they have been decimated in terms of the numbers that can help the farmers and ranchers. The folks that are there are working as hard as they can to help, you know,the residents, the farmers and ranchers that are in those districts as best they can, but they're limited just by the nature of how many there are that are there. I see it in my initial view of it, because that's what it is, as an opportunity wasted to some degree. There's a potential for capacity here, yet we don't have the funding available at the moment to support true conservation districts or true districts in this case, the soil and water districts that is, to really help where help is needed. And so when we're taking a look at the food security system, if we're not paying attention to the soil and water districts and the work that they can do to actually help in that, then we're missing the trick I think. So this will continue to be something that I'm paying attention to with my team. They're much better read into it than I am, and the previous director was better read into it than I am, but I have an understanding of organizations and systems I think and understanding where there is opportunity to support the people within the system. This is one of those ways. And so, it's work that we have to do with the State in particular to make sure that we can use the potential that are in these organizations. Page 8 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you for that. And it's that grant writing piece. And I'm just reflecting on my work at the Water Board, and that's soil conservation and the monies that are available through that. And so, yeah, I'd like to stay in touch with you for that, specifically as it relates to Hawaiian Homes and blending some of the overarching agencies through the State with Department of Hawaiian Homelands and their ability to reserve water and/or seek water sources. And when I first got on the Council back in 2016, we had a conversation with Kailapa. It's a homestead community out in Kawaihae, Mr. Richards' district, and they were just working really hard to get funding. And they did get some initial funding with the state through their grant in aid committee. But of course, we know that's on the chopping block this year, but they had some really unique gravity feed to generate energy. But also even if that water source wasn't the best water source, they were looking at it for irrigation purposes, so they could blend it. It's not potable. So nonpotable but blendable for agricultural use. So we could still look at the sustainability and the kind of soil conservation piece, but still kind of use what's available to still provide for community, especially in Kailapa with the agricultural piece. And so, yeah, if you could just stay close to me on that? And then the granting through other agencies, specifically Department of Hawaiian Homelands. And then, you know, using them as tools with OHA (Office of Hawaiian Affairs) and other Native Hawaiian Trusts that would be available to kind of blend all these ideas together. I think we're all after the same thing. And I see exactly where we're at, you know, we just need to break the inertia, right, we talked about that during our Mass Transit meeting, is everything is kind of just right there. We just got to figure out how to break through the inertia. And you know, whatever my office can do to help you kind of find some of those critical pinch points and then push through, you know, I'm very willing to help. But you know, I'm very excited to have you there as the Director over at R and D. This is very exciting for me. MR. ADAMS: Thank you, Council Member. If I may just follow briefly. And you didn't say this, but I'm just going to make the comment. Obviously, motion for motion sake isn't what you're talking about. And where there is a real desire at least through the listening sessions and the perspectives that folks brought in for action. If I heard it once I heard it, you know, whatever the number of times is. But at the same time, we want to make sure that the action that's taken turns out not to be counterproductive as best we can. Look, there's no way we're going to be perfect. The idea is not that we have to be perfect, but it is that we don't necessarily think that the first thing that comes to our mind is necessarily the way Page 9 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 forward. So, as long as we have some principle views on the way forward,then action, I think, is going to be one of the ways that we can move. And part of this is proof of concept, right? And there's no reason why we can't try things and see if they work. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you so much, I really appreciate this update. Chair, I yield at this time. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you Council Member. Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Thank you for being here today, Doug. I was looking over some of this. Other Council Members touched on it already. I did have one question regarding ag. Last year we had a discussion with BIISC (Big Island Invasive Species Committee) and the Queensland Longhorn Beetle came up. It not only eats citrus and cacao, but it also eats natives like `ulu and kukui nut. It's not on your list and neither is little fire ants. Not that you're not aware of it, but I'm just putting those both on your radar as being—well we know how irritating little fire ants are. I prefer the other acronym LFA. That's what I use at home. But the Queensland Longhorn Beetle, that one is very interesting to me and it's causing some damage. Specifically in Puna. So if you could please put that on your radar for the ag section? There's been a lot of talk. A lot of the farmers are worried about it. Not so much on the dry side, but on the wetter side of the island, the east side, that's where they like to proliferate. MR. ADAMS: Absolutely. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Other than that, yeah, I mean we touched on hydrogen and we have hydrogen busses coming. Thank you for touching on that, Mr. Richards. And you've got a very solid list going here. I appreciate you being here today and thank you for your time as well. As well as when you first started, we touched on a lot of these as well. So good to see you moving and propelling us forward in your own way. MR. ADAMS: The thing that I didn't actual put on here which I should have is the Agricultural Advisory Committee out of the Mayor's Office. We are close to, if you will, restanding that up and making sure that it includes elements from around the island. The idea is to make sure that there's representation from the variety of sectors. Page 10 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 So we'll be briefing the Mayor here within the month about the commission and pending his approval getting ready to stand that up with folks from around the island. And of course, there'll be rotations that be part of that. But those kinds of issues, I mean, invasive species is a huge deal and we certainly pay attention to them. And so I appreciate you bringing that up because it's just—when we talk about the defense of the island, that's a defense of the island issue. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Alright, and it stands to effect the whole industry, and not just one particular, like coffee borer beetles, but also I mean, this touches every single tree that we find important here. That effects a lot of different industries, especially `ulu, which is really growing as an industry right now. And if these beetles affect that then we're in trouble. Also the energy-wise, sorry I had a thought earlier. Oh, the Sustainability Action Committee, has that been discussed or are we going to open that committee up? As was said by the former director too much bureaucracy for a forward movement or how do you feel about that? MR. ADAMS: We're having the Sustainability Summit. Part of the follow on to the summit will be a discussion of how do we move forward? Whether the committee will be an ample piece of that and how it will be actually a part of that will be part of our conversations as an Administration and as a department. I think that there's much to like about the idea of the Sustainability Action Committee. I think it's an opportunity to look at the intersection of many of these sectors that oftentimes we look at in stove pipes. And so I would like to make sure that we take what is good about that. If we need to modify it some degree then we will certainly come back to this committee and to the Council with those suggestions. But the idea of the committee itself I think is well placed. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I think so, too. It was done before my time. I came across it, and it was mentioned to me by Riley Saito of all people. And then I realized that it was there and it never been filled with positions. And I know we've talked about it many times and I don't want to beat a dead horse. MR. ADAMS: No, I agree with that. In a former life, as the Chair of the Charter Commission. You know, sustainability and the idea of some type of either department or larger role for the department that I now lead was considered by the commission. And it was expressed to us that there already is a committee that does much of the stuff that, you know,the Charter Commission was considering. So I now find myself as we often do on the other side of the table. And the idea is how do we make something that's there for the purposes of making sure that sustainability and sustainable practices are the habit of this County as a government and of the island's people, okay, so let's figure that out. Page 11 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, I mean yeah, the Sustainability Conference coming up, great. I just laughed all last year because we have a committee designed for that. It touches on climate change and everything and yet never been filled, and we use the key words all the time and we love to use them; resiliency, sustainability. Yet the committee with the namesake for those things has never been filled in our County, and I just have to laugh and it's very ironic. So given our first discussion outside on our very sustainable walk, I'd just like to see some forward movement with that committee. And more so you have some community members who really want to provide their input and guide those discussions and help us see what we need to do better. So maybe following all this but just to put it back out there. Thank you. MR. ADAMS: Thank you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah. I yield Chair, thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. I will take it over to Kona now. Apologies, I cannot see you folks so you'll just have to speak up to be recognized. MR. INABA: Chair, this is Holeka. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Inaba, go ahead. MR. INABA: Aloha, Director Adams. I just have a question about the Sustainability listening sessions that we held. How many total meetings were held across the Island? MR. ADAMS: We had in the neighborhood of 17 or 18 total listening sessions around the Island between January and February. MR. INABA: And do you have a ballpark estimate on the total number of participants across those meetings? MR. ADAMS: Yeah, I would say that probably ballpark, 200 to 300 in terms of the total numbers. MR. INABA: Okay, thank you. And the only other question I have thanks for putting together this menu, as you term it. We have under the Agriculture section coquis. What's being done here? I know we all give contingency funds and we've had some discussions regarding the coqui sprayers in your department that have been with the County, I believe for 14 or 15 years now. Some of which are in need of repairs. So can you give us an update on where these sprayers are and are they all in working condition? How is the public able to access? Just give us an overall kind of update on this coqui situation. Page 12 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MR. ADAMS: Thanks, Council Member. As you are aware,the sprayers are not necessarily in great condition. As a matter of fact, we have no funding in the department to maintain them, even though they are ostensibly ours. They were provided to us, I believe, as a donation. And there was no funding necessarily that came with them. Our Agricultural Specialist maintains the names of the individuals that are holding them around the island with a number of them in Department of Public Works, I believe, Automotive Section, which is where I think they get repaired when they do get repaired. And so, some are being used appropriately. Some, there are maintenance requirements. Our specialist goes around once a year just to make sure that we know where they are. And so he'll make his way around the island annually to check on them. As you know, there are times when even that's not been good enough. And so we are taking a look within the department to figure out, is this something that we need to do. Is there some other action that we need to take? And there are options that are being prepared for me that I'll need also because of the import of wanting to do the right thing when it comes to the eradication of these pests. Figuring out what that right thing looks like in terms of the equipment. So we're in the part right now which is we're figuring out what we can do,talking with the people that would be part of the variety of options, and working on coming up with solutions. And of course, given your particular interest in this, we'll keep you informed on where we are on that. MR. INABA: Thank you. I know this is in the overall scheme of things, kind of like a manini issue, but we do want to make sure no matter what that our County resources are being used properly, that they're not falling into disrepair. And that when our community is supposed to have access to some of these resources, that they have access. But most importantly know that these resources are even available. So I look forward to the updates and whether that means the (inaudible) sprayers stay with you folks or they get moved to DPW (Department of Public Works) where there might be a budget to take care of them and that the public can use them. I think it's important and it's, like I said, something small but just an indicator of what we're doing in the overall scheme of things. MR. ADAMS: I completely concur, particularly as an invasive species that we were just talking about. MR. INABA: Mahalo. That's all I have. Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Anyone else in Kona? Page 13 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MR. INABA: No. CHR. KIMBALL: Okay, thank you. I'll return here. Council Member Richards? MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. And just as a follow-up springboarding a bit off your comments Director concerning the slaughterhouse, and also Council Woman Lee Loy's comments on the Soil and Water Conservation, NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service), and Matt's comments concerning the `Ulu Cooperative. I think it's really important that our County looks at agriculture comprehensively from the soil to the water, to the crop, to the processing. And I realize that's a big bite, but you're putting together the Ag Advisory Commission which I think will really be helpful in doing that. There is Federal money out there that can help us go forward, but you know that. The idea is to identify that to the best advantage of our County. And some of the problems that I've seen with agriculture over the years is that we stutter step. We focus on one little aspect of it, but we don't look at the full marketing life, meaning from planting it, whatever it may be. It maybe livestock to the actual final marketing. So I commend you for getting the Ag Advisory Commission back because I think they can really help get that articulated. Specifically to the slaughterhouse. The bill came before the House and Senate and both were deferred. I was very disappointed in seeing that, but it was also loud and clear from the House and Senate, that there better be conversations going on. So I was very happy to hear that. And I think we collectively as a County need to be sure that we're facilitating those conversations going forward. Our Island, the cattle industry here, we have to export or double the consumption of beef by each person here on this island because we are a net exporter, and it's important and imperative for us, especially as we good for the food self reliance, food security, however you want to characterize it, that's all part of the fabric. Anyway, I commend you going forward, but I just wanted to touch on that. Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you Council Member Richards. Any other final comments or questions for Director Adams? No. Thank you again for being here today. I did have a couple of questions. Starting with the organization. I see you have new positions identified; or actually, I should ask, are these renaming of existing positions or are these new positions? And I'm curious what responsibilities you envision for this quality of life position? Page 14 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MR. ADAMS: Thank you, Chair. The supervisory position is taking a position that exists and just doing what's necessary through the HR (Human Resources) side of things to make sure we have a supervisor over in West Hawaii. The Quality of Life position is taking one of the Economic Development Specialist positions that we do have, and identifying that as specifically as a Quality of Life position. And so the reason for doing that is to ensure that we are capable with our personnel in the department of handling all of the aspects that are part of the responsibility of the department. To this point, we often can be considered a market-based department. The things that we look at you would say are economically focused. But there are other elements that make this place, this island, a place that we want to live, work and play, raise our children, see our grandchildren raised here, and those are the quality of life aspects. And although we may not have direct responsibility, that's not the right phrase. We may not have direct financial and jurisdictional authority when it comes to things like education. Whether it's K(kindergarten) through 12. Even the childcare piece or the college and university side of things. Or it's healthcare. Whether it's through our hospitals and other types of federally-funded qualified, you know, our FQHC's (Federally Qualified Health Centers), or even other social services that are handled by the State. The fact is that as a County government we still have a responsibility to make sure that those things are being handled properly for the residents. The residents look to us to manage that and to help them in these areas. And so that position is intended not to say that we have all the funding all in the world to do all those things, but there needs to be somebody that's in the department that's supposed to be looking forward to make sure that those things are considered when we're taking a look at all the other things that are a part of looking forward for the County. It gives us a more holistic view, as my Deputy would like to say. And so that position isit takes one of the vacant positions that we have. It funds it from another position that we would unfund and creates the opportunity for us bring in somebody that will help us. Much in the way that we have an Economic Development Specialist whose focus is on sustainability. That's an intergrading function if you will. It's across all of the other areas, the sectors, as I like to call them. We see the Quality of Life position doing much the same thing. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. We've talked before about how metrics can often decide decision making, so I'm wondering is that part of the consideration for this position is to develop some Quality of Life metrics that we can use to evaluate decision making? Page 15 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MR. ADAMS: Absolutely, it certainly is. We know that there are data available that can help us in that regard. We do have to make sure that we're looking at the right data. But having someone that can enter into this; make sure that we're not forgetting it oftentimes. And it's not a matter of not keeping it on mind, but it is a matter of, when you get to the data sometimes those things become harder to pull, particularly if they're not in your area. And so people are pretty busy. We want to make sure that as an entity, as a department, we have a whole view as we help the County move forward to be a 21" Century-level governing body for the County. CHR. KIMBALL: I want to roll back to the Climate Action Plan as well as the two other plans you've identified here: The Food System Action Plan and the Emergency Food Plan. Could you take those each independently and give us a bit more of a succinct timeline if you have that available? MR. ADAMS: So, I don't have a timeline intentionally. It was suggested that I should probably have one. Part of that is not because I don't respect the folks who are giving me that advice, but because I believe that timelines need to be condition-based. And when we're trying to figure out in the Climate Action Plan, for example, we're trying a new process. We're trying a process that brings folks together in different sectors but to some degree have some expertise, and we're going to try and see if we can't bring them together to work out some of the inner sections in their sectors as well as the idea of how do we try to mitigate unintended consequences. And then we're also going to try and then bring the folks in to help us with the policy in financial aspects as well as in the County. Well frankly, I don't want to rush that. I want to make sure that we're trying to do that. Do we understand urgency? Certainly, we do. I would say that there's a working timeline within the department that, you know, would be within this calendar year. But it is not necessarily. The milestones that are developed will be based on the products that will be created, formulated by these entities, by these working groups as those things are developed. And of course, they'll have timelines because we don't want to do this forever. But how those work out and our need to see if there's more time necessary for those, we'll see. So, we do know that we want to move through this process in an expeditious manner on the Climate Action Plan, but I also understand that condition-based is preferable to giving them an arbitrary time to say this is when we're going to get it done and then not be done. I was almost going to talk about the General Plan, but I won't. Page 16 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 As far as the Food System Action Plan, there is a Food System Survey that is in the final stages of being completed. That will inform a lot of the work that is underway in the action plan itself. Again, I'm not sure that we have a timeline, although I believe that we are in process of figuring out what one looks like. There's been a lot of work in the development of that and also frankly, the Emergency Food Plan. The Emergency Food Plan, of course, is a Civil Defense plan. And we have just received funding to implement that. That timeline for that is—I'll come back to you with that exactly, but it is in the year that we're supposed to try and knock that out. The funding kind of drives that piece of that. We're fortunate to the extent that a pandemic can be fortunate. I do need to be careful of my phrasing here it's a good crisis in the sense that we have done an incredible job in feeding many, many of our folks on this Island. How we've done that will help with the development of this Emergency Food Plan, and so we're looking forward to seeing that done as well. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. I just want to expand some of the points that you're making and expand some of the points that Council Member Richards made, which is the need to think about things in a systematic way, not only agriculture in its own, but agriculture as part of a system that also includes energy and transportation. And in many ways I view your department as the connective tissue on a lot of these things because you do have your finger in each of these pies. But it's just at the surface, right? And so, with regard to timelines and the plans. I think all of us, and I am speaking some assumption on behalf of my colleagues here. We value those plans and we value the time that goes into creating them and the research and expertise that's put forth towards those, and we use them for decision making and moving things forward. So what I encourage you to do is as the main systems thinker is to utilize us and utilize our networks as a way to increase the overview of this entire ecosystem that we're dealing with. One of the things that we were talking about earlier was the fact as a scientist, I love data, right, but at some point we've run the risk of becoming mired in trying to come up with the best solution. And one of the things that I heard in the listening session that I was at, and I know you heard it loud and clear too, is there is some frustration with too much time spent planning. So I'm not going to hold you to setting strict deadlines for these various stages of the planning, but we do need to get moving from planning to action. Page 17 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 And I do appreciate doing it in a systems approach, using the systems thinking strategy to make sure we aren't creating unintended consequences. We are considering equity. I love the inclusion of the Quality of Life position and looking at that as a way to measure decision making just beyond the dollar or things like that. So that's just a comment I hope you'll take back to the rest of your wonderful team. And definitely I appreciate your Deputy's insights into the quality of life picture and sort of the holistic nature of the system that we're dealing with and the need to approach it in that way. I just wanted to touch on one more specific item, which is the Business Development; the Workforce Training and Green Jobs. As you know, this body passed a resolution unanimously to support a jobs program. Any early thoughts on things that we might take as next steps? MR. ADAMS: Allow us to do our jobs. CHR. KIMBALL: Okay. MR. ADAMS: So without being too facetious there, we have some work to do. I mean I think that the Housing Administrator would say the same thing, as a primary holder of the Workforce Development Board, especially. But I had the opportunity to talk with the Chancellor (Rachel) Solemsaas and also the State Librarian, Ms. (Stacey) Aldridge today, and we were talking about digital literacy. And that feeds directly into retraining to some degree, right? And so the connections are pretty vast and our ability to bring in—in the conversation we talked about, you know, who do we need to bring in? Who needs to have—who can we connect with to make sure that they are one, receiving the training that will help them become digitally literate, but at the same time are there other entities that can help us with identifying those folks who are actually doing the training. And so, yes, businesses are our potential, right? Particularly folks that actually have training programs already whether it's professional development or otherwise. The idea of being able to coordinate with our small business development centers both on the west side and on the east side for the purposes of looking at retraining opportunities. The American Job Centers that Administrator(Susan) Kunz runs through the program as well, and that she is looking to try and make sure are available around the island somehow. Those are all aspects that are associated with the idea of Job Corps and helping our folks not just come back to the jobs that they have now, but Page 18 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 give them the tools to be able to move into the potential for other jobs that may help them or even more importantly help their families see that there's potential out there, and it's on this island too. So we have work to do, and as I think mentioned to most of you, part of that work I think is going to involve some proof of concepts, some of those kinds of initiatives. And when there is a heart stopped that we see that perhaps legislation, that our ordinances place on us, or maybe even some of our regulations that are tied to the ordinances. Well then, yeah, then we'll definitely come back because we may need flexibility to be able to run some of these things. To try stuff out to see if it will work. CHR. KIMBALL: Okay, well, I think we all look forward to partnering with you as need be. That concludes my questions for you. I just wanted to ask, I do think it will be valuable for this committee to have a recap of the Sustainability listening sessions to put it on our agenda. Would that be a reasonable timeframe to look at the first committee session in April? MR. ADAMS: Yes, it would be. CHR. KIMBALL: Alright, great. Thanks we'll go ahead and do that. And then I just wanted to give you an opportunity one more time, if anybody's watching, to let people know about the Sustainability Summit and how they can participate and watch. MR. ADAMS: Absolutely, thank you very much for that opportunity, and thanks to all of you for your questions today. If I didn't say broadband and the importance of broadband today, let me say it. The Sustainability Summit is going to be held Thursday and Friday. Community members, residents, anybody around the world can register at the Hawaii County homepage where you'll just look for the thing that says Sustainability Summit; and it says "Register," you click on that. The registration for Day One and then you have to separately register for Day Two. It takes approximately 15 seconds to do both of those. So it's not terribly difficult. And then even if you don't register, you'll have the opportunity toI encourage you to register, but you'll have the opportunity to view it on Na Leo, Channel 54 both days, as well as Facebook live. What the registration will give you the opportunity to do is have control over what you look at. You can look at the variety of breakout sessions. We'll have breakout sessions that will be run concurrently, two or three at a time depending on the timeline. Seven each day interspersed with keynotes. Three on the first day and four on the second day. And so, we're going to be covering a whole plethora. I was looking for the opportunity, to use that word, of sectors and areas Page 19 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 that will be covered in the breakout sessions. Four to eight panelists, depending on the session that will be able to talk. Then if you are registered, you will then have the ability and you're in the Zoom webinar. You'll have the ability to ask questions that will then be brought up by the moderators. None of the questions will be lost. We'll make sure that we've collected all those questions and to the extent that there needs to be some specific ones that are addressed, we will. As community members would probably imagine, many of the questions might be along the same lines. We'll want to make sure that we bring those forward for sure into the work that will be in the post-summit time period, with the taskforce that we anticipate setting up to handle a lot of these areas. So again, go to the County's homepage and register for the—it starts at 8:00 o'clock both days; ends around 3:30 or 4:00 o'clock on Thursday and about 3:30 on Friday. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Director Adams. Do you happen to know which Facebook pages the live broadcast on Facebook will be? MR. ADAMS: The one question that I am going to able to fail to answer. But I'm sorry we'll make sure that we get that information to you. My expectation is thatI'm sorry? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: It's on the Mayor's page. MR. ADAMS: On the Mayor's page, it would have been my guess, but I didn't know that specifically. CHR. KIMBALL: Okay, great. Thank you so much. Alright, may I have we're ready to go ahead and take the vote on the motion on the floor, which is to close file on Comm. 34.3, all of those in favor say "aye." Vote on Comm. 34.3: The motion to close file on Comm. 34.3 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kimball–9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Moving on now to the next communication. Page 20 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 Comm. 121: REQUESTS A PRESENTATION AND DEMONSTRATION FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS REGARDING ENERGOV From Council Member Heather L. Kimball, dated February 8, 2021. (Note: Comm. 121.1, from Public Works Director Steven Ikaika Rodenhurst dated March 1, 2021, requesting to display YouTube Videos, was circulated.) Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 121. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz. CHR. KIMBALL: We have Director of Public Works Ikaika Rodenhurst here. Come on in. So Director Rodenhurst, do you have an introduction that you'd like to start with prior to going into the video files that you've provided for us? (Note: At this time, Public Works Director Ikaika Rodenhurst and Planning Director Zendo Kern came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. RODENHURST: Ikaika Rodenhurst, Director of Public Works. Good afternoon. Just a brief introduction, this is a current update of the EnerGov system. It's a real brief overview of what to expect, kind of our timeline of what we've got coming forward, and answer any general questions that the Council may have. So if there's no other questions at this time, I can start this series of three videos. CHR. KIMBALL: Let's go ahead and start with the videos and then we can move to questions after. MR. RODENHURST: Okay. So three videos are the welcoming; how to search for a permit, and how to apply for a video. So after that we'll get into some of the discussion. (Note: At this time, Public Works Director Ikaika Rodenhurst proceeded to display YouTube videos regarding EnerGov. For viewing of subject presentation, please see the DVD or archived online video of the meeting on file in the Clerk's Office. The link is made a part of the record. See Comm. 121.1.) CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Director Rodenhurst for those videos. Are there any other comments or introductory statements you'd like to make before I move towards questions? Page 21 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MR. RODENHURST: Yes, and so that's like I said concludes our video portion. We're currently anticipating a July 26h go-live date for the EnerGov system. That's based off our estimates with EnerGov testing and updates. Public testing, data migration, training for all users involved. That's going to include folks from the Planning Department as well as all our users within DPW (Department of Public Works) and those that review plans. Followed by some fine-tuning, a final data migration from our current system to the new EnerGov system. At which time, there will be a week of no permits being accepted at that time while we change systems. And then the go live. Our current goals are that we support our staff with enough time and resources to achieve these goals. Communicate our timelines like this to the public and communicate when we're involved in the public testing, what's exactly going on, how we're going to affect service. Like I said with the data migration where we won't be able to accept new permits. And also we're pursuing a dedicated IT (Information Technology)position that works with our department, DPW, as well as with another position. I believe Director Kern is pursuing a position within Planning and working with IT as to have someone that's dedicated to trouble shooting our system when we go live. At this time, that's our current update. Any more specific questions, I'm here to help answer as best I can. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Director Rodenhurst. Director Kern, did you want to say anything else by way of introduction before we move to questions? MR. KERN: Yes, thank you Madam Chair and Members of the committee. Good afternoon, good to see you again. Yes, I'm very much on board with everything as Ikaika is saying in timeframe. Our process is a little bit different. We have a lot more processes and applications to go through. So we're prepared to be ready to go live with Ikaika, with DPW. A decision point that I'm trying to figure out right now is whether Planning goes live, backend only, or we go live front and then backend. I'm hoping to come to that decision point within the next day or two. And I think there's positives and negative, pros and cons, to both of those. We can get into that a little bit more if you'd like to via questioning. Right now we have about 43 different application processes that we have had built out. I believe Energov was geared a bit more towards building permits in general as a process, but they worked for the last so many years, working these out for planning permits. So this ranges from, you know, a rezoning application all the way down to a complaint to commissions, even to a zoning variance. And basically everything in between. Everything that would come through the department. Page 22 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 We had a very detailed meeting this morning. So I've been really trying to work on bandwidth time that's going to be required to get this finished. The actual buildout of the custom fields I'd say is about 90 percent complete, and we're still working on some detailed reporting that we would like. What we need to do that's kind of our critical path right now I'm moving forward will be the end-to-end testing and process narratives. So it's kind of the user manual. So as we're testing end-to-end, we're creating these user manuals. That alone I have estimated that I need at least 400 person hours to achieve that within the next two months. And that's the challenges—you know, that takes away bandwidth from other places. So I'm having to sort that out and deal with the other demands as well. But we're up for the task, and we're working on that, and we're figuring that out. You know, a lot of great support. And I think what we're doing now is Ikaika and I are working together from a DPW standpoint where we're trying to walk through to make sure that we don't have any blind spots as we go through that process, to kind of run through it. We looked and we found something minor the other week, made that adjustment. So you know, as optimistic as we can be around a process like this. I know you've heard this before but we're doing our very best to get up to speed in a very short period of time with these deadlines, and I feel like we're doing a darn good job. And I'm still honestly pulling back, digesting, figuring out where's the gaps; where's the blind spots but it seems to be coming together. We have a number of decision points that we need to make, you know, such as where are we going to be storing all of our data on, EnerGov? Or are we going to be storing our data in Laserfiche that we currently do now? One's more of a cloud-based server, and one's more of an in-house server. So we're gathering data on that. We have not decision points, but wet ink, you know. Whether we can get away with not having wet ink, and there's some unclearness around that. You know, so it's a lot of the smaller stuff that we're really just pushing on. And at the last meeting that we had we basically, you know, Ikaika and I both agreed like we need to set a date and we need to go. And whatever we've got to do from there to get to that point we're going to do it. And that's what we've got to do burn the ships at the shore, you know, so to speak. And so that's what we've been doing and happy to answer any questions and elaborate further. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Director Kern. Okay, I'll start over in Kona with questions for either Director Rodenhurst or Director Kern. Anybody over there with questions? Page 23 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MS. VILLEGAS: Yes, please? CHR. KIMBALL: I believe that was Council Member Villegas? MS. VILLEGAS: It is. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, go ahead. MS. VILLEGAS: Aloha, thank you for being here, gentlemen. I'm excited to hear that you're courageously moving forward with EnerGov. It's something that I had the opportunity to work with our Kona-K6hala Chamber of Commerce Permitting. Taskforce has been integrally involved in this process and then also doing kind of trial and error testing. And I just wanted to confirm that you have been able to be in contact with them and connect with the different members of this team in order to getI know that they have potentially hundreds of hours already dedicated and working through the system. Have you guys been able to connect with them? MR. KERN: Yeah, we're connected to Tom Leonard. MS. VILLEGAS: Fantastic. MR. KERN: He's been very helpful. MS. VILLEGAS: He's been very helpful? Okay, fantastic. Thank you for that. The other thing that I just wanted to point out here, and the videos were helpful in visualizing, showing a visual representation of how to put in the permit applications. But I think historically the perpetual challenge has remained that the issue is the turnaround time and getting something back from the department. So my hope is that as you guys continue to navigate this process and streamline things, that will remain a focal point. I know that the public will appreciate a more digital process, but there still has to be humans on the backend of this, making sure that the answers come in a timely manner, and that people are feeling and experiencing that improved customer service and explanations, and a smoother process between departments. So thank you for continuing to take that on as a major priority through this process, and we will look forward to—Mr. Rodenhurst, did you say June 26Ih? MR. RODENHURST: July 261h is our current go-live date. MS. VILLEGAS: July 26h, my apologies. Okay, great. Thank you so much, really appreciate it. Aloha. CHR. KIMBALL: Anyone else in Kona with questions or comments? Page 24 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair. No. CHR. KIMBALL: Okay, thank you. Anybody over here? Council Member Kierkiewicz, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thanks you guys for being here. You know, I just want to point out under the prior Administration, leadership was clearing lacking with EnerGov. And we saw efforts falling short continuously, and a lot of people were doing a lot of different things in the back. So it's great to see that we're moving in the right direction. But what I'm hearing, correct me if I'm wrong, things are going to get worse before they're going to get better. MR. KERN: Thank you. I just actually wrote down what I wanted to make sure and be prepared, and we can elaborate on that a bit more if you'd like. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, perfect. I really would like for you to do that, and I think it's so important that weI just have to stress, over-communicating to your County `ohana, but also to the community at large that there's going to be a lot of growing pains. And this particular system is not going to be the be-all, end-all, fix-it-all. So I'd love for you to be able to elaborate a bit more on what it's really going to take for each of your departments to meet this July 261h deadline, because that is not very far off. You talk about having the time and resources that you need, but where am I going to be catching cracks in the rest of your department? What is going to suffer in order to meet that deadline? MR. RODENHURST: Yes, and one of the things we want to make clear is these pushbacks on the dates from previous timelines isn't because we want this to be the shiniest tool in the shed, this is because we want to make sure it's functional. We're not waiting for it to be perfect, we're waiting for it to be functional. On top of that, you know, we are balancing our workloads. You know,time spent dedicated on this does take time away from review for our plan reviewers. It does take time away from intake from our clerks; it takes time away from what we do to do our jobs. But in the end we're going to make up with that with a more efficient process. Tools are only as good as you use them and this is a great tool, but if our staff doesn't know how to use it, it's not going to be effective, and we're going to make sure we put that time and we put that investment into this tool, so that from now on we will have. And it will take some time from now until July whether there will be some drops in service and we will communicate that as best as we possibly can to each channel, whether it be through partners with KKCC (Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce); whether it be through, you know, updates through the Mayor's Page 25 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 Office or our incoming information specialist at DPW, we will make sure that people are aware of what's exactly happening and how their services had been impacted. Because we can't get away from that. There will be impacts of service. They will have a little bit of a lag in our already lagging system, but we'll make sure we communicate just what to expect from that as it comes along and try to get ahead of it as much as possible. We'll put all our hours into this, and any overtime that we can spare we're going to be putting it in to make sure this happens and taking care of our public and our people. Any further details, I'm more than happy to take questions. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That's great, Director Kern? MR. KERN: Thank you. Yeah, we're similar, so for next two months I'm going to either have one or two people from each of the divisions working on this, and then testing, and process narrative. So I believe up until June, we're probably not going to see too much of a massive slowdown. Permits may be a little bit slower; a little slower to respond. We're dealing with a lot of kind of transition stuff right now anyways. My big, big concern comes when we actually go to full adoption, because everybody in the department has to go in and use EnerGov. And in the past when systems were launched, there wasn't necessarily a hundred percent adoption or it wasn't mandatory, and it is what it was. But in this case, we're going into EnerGov, it's got to be basically a hundred percent mandatory adoption. So talking with, you know, staff, some folks that are more maybe tech savvy, it's going to maybe be a month curve. Some folks that are less, it might be a three-month curve. So once we go from, let's say, June forward to the July 271h date, I'm anticipatingI'm still modeling this out, so I'm anticipating probably a 30 percent reduction in flow and productivity. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Across your department? MR. KERN: Yeah, across the department. And I feel that that will probably follow past July 271h into when we go live because then we're interfacing with public. We're training, we're still going through the training process. There's still a curve. So I'd venture to say that we're probably a month, maybe even two months after that. That curve will depend on whether we go live front and backend or just on the backend. But regardless, there's still going to be a massive reduction because our people will be again, taking on a new system and learning it and fully getting into it. So I'm figuring out how I'm going to deal with this. And I think as Director Rodenhurst said, a lot of it, we're going to message this right. Oftentimes we start something new and it's not communicated effectively. Page 26 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 And in this case, we know what we're coming up against. We can anticipate it. And I think if we're communicating it effectively, asking for forgiveness where we can get it, asking for understanding, and with the intention that we are really doing our very best to make this better on the other end, as you said it might get a lot more painful before it gets better, but I believe if we're together on that as a County, as a whole, it'll help a lot. There's still going to be folks who aren't happy about it, but it is what it is. I don't have much of a choice here how to do that, so what I'm trying to do is figure out how I'm going to balance, you know,the permit demand; the workload that's already on staff and this anticipated reduction of time. And do I have that fully figured out yet? No. But I will. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I appreciate that. The videos we saw, are these like first drafts? Sorry, I asked because I have like ten years of experience in PR (Public Relations) and video production, so I come with that sort of eye. And I have so much notes if this is just in the draft phase. MR. RODENHURST: So this is our initial training videos. We have six of the twelve completed to this standard. We're definitely going to be fine-tuning as we go along to make sure they're applicable and they meet the requirements to effectively communicate with the public. I'm happy to take notes on that and provide them to the people responsible for the training videos. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I think it's just so important to have somebody with absolutely no technical expertise in that arena looking at these. From a very simplistic, do I understand what's being presented and can I navigate sort of standpoint. So I would love to be able to kind of just connect with you on it. One thing that I wrote down immediately, was there was no URL mentioned. I don't know if this is going to replace the papaaukahi.hawaiicounty.gov or whatever? But that stuff needs to be right at the front of things. I don't know where I'm going. People don't even know what the County's website is, right? There's I think way too many assumptions in how these videos are presented. And I'm not trying to be overly critical. I want this to be very successful. So please know that I'm coming from that space of just wanting to make sure that this is perfect, because we're going to catch cracks from the community on this. So the best we can position ourselves to message it right and have materials that are simple, informational, make sense. I want to help where I can. Page 27 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MR. RODENHURST: And I wholeheartedly agree, and this is really just a status update. So these definitely aren't the final BL (Blended) videos, all the polish put on top. I know I said that the system is not going to be fully polished, but what we can get fully polished we will so it's applicable and it's understandable to the community because that's really in the end who we're serving, making sure that we can understand what they're asking and show them how to access our systems and get the services they require. One of the things that we're talking about as far as efficiency, we're talking about job inefficiency when this system goes online. Once we get up and running with this with our proficiency with our staff, we'll be able to process plans a lot faster since it'll be in parallel rather than series where different agencies are able to review this and not have to wait for one another. That's something that definitely going to be an improvement on how we handle things. And yeah,just like I said, we're just going to be transparent and let everyone know where we are in this process as we move along. So we're here in March and we have a few short months before July, and we're working hard at it and providing all the support we can to our staff. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah, and you know, it's not lost on me that you are inheriting so much of this. So, really appreciate you both working together. It's great to see the departments working together. There's so much synergy, and that's, you know, that're really makes me hopeful. Thank you for the level of attention that you are paying towards these initiatives. I know it's a lot on top of everything else that you're navigating. MR. KERN: If I could add real quick to the bandwidth conversation? I think it's really important that we're messaging to the public, right, for sure. But I think a big message is how we support our team, how we support our staff. And oftentimes, there's directive and initiatives that come down, they get dumped on our team, dumped on our staff. You know, short term vacation rental was one of those situations that we're still dealing with, and it was like, wow, we could have vetted it out a little bit more. And we're learning from those things, right? So,this is going to be a massive burden on our team and staff. And maybe burden's the wrong word, but a big load. And so, I'm trying to make sure that they're aware that we care. That we're understanding, we're trying to set them up for success. And not just, "This is a directive, this is what we got to do, deal with it, go." Because that buy-in and that care I feel is like really critically important. Without that we're going to have more resistance. So as much messaging to the public as we need to do, I feel that everybody understanding what the team is taking on is also just as critical to make it a cohesive process. Page 28 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 You know, as I said at the beginning and during confirmations, it's a people thing for me. You know what I mean. Our people are doing well. It helps with the public treating them well and we merge together. So really want to be cognizant of the human element within this while we're going to digital. Without the human element, this does not do anything good. So just really, really trying to you'll probably hear me say this many more times over the next couple months. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah, you know, your department's worked really hard. You know, Director Kern, I'm just worried about planning especially because you've got General Plan that's way overdue. You know, taking another look at CDP's (Community Development Plans). We've got lava recovery, vacation rentals, the list goes on. So, your folks really do care, and I just want you to know that the Council Members, we care too. And we want to do anything we can to be able to support your staff and your department. So, thank you for being here. Chair, I yield. MR. KERN: Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. I'm glad Ms. Kierkiewicz went first because my hands and feet got sweaty. When I saw that video and what wasI was really concerned. But I'm going to walk back to a lot of what we talked about early on and some things that Mr. Kern—you mentioned about the great synergies that you're forming between Public Works and Planning. Breaking down those silos. And that's absolutely what Ms. Kierkiewicz touched upon. We didn't have that before, let alone this communication between the Council wanting to support both the Planning Department and Public Works, but also Public Works and Planning supporting each other back and forth. So this is actually a breath of fresh air. But I do really want to talk about what's going to get left back, and you touched on that from a planning perspective. Ikaika, do you have those kinds of percentages about what's going to get stalled or delayed within the Building Division, Administration, and some of the other work that you and I both know we have to do with the adoption of our new Codes and Code compliancy, and then refining our Energy Code and some of that stuff? MR. RODENHURST: Yes, and I'm definitely going to have to split priorities with adopting the Code as well as getting this Energov system online. Luckily for us at this time, a lot of the heavy lifting as far as the procedural narratives for DPW for the building permit system have been done. So a lot of this is fine tuning for that side. Not to say, that there's little work to be done, it's just not as heavy as I would say is Planning Department's lift. And one of the good things about that is we have some best practices for digitizing some of our procedural Page 29 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 narratives that we're more than willing to share with Planning to help them avoid those pitfalls. As far as numbers and what kind of reduction in services, I don't have an estimate at this time. That is something we are pursuing so we can communicate what we're looking at, but I don't have a number at this time. I will get back to you on that. MS. LEE LOY: Could you please? We're moving up on our budget cycle and this is actually the time for us to help you folks help us help the community. And so my next question really is going to lean into some of that bandwidth that Mr. Kern talked about. And my concern is really having the hardware, the software, the printers; the scan-ability,just that big server need that I know a lot of these .dwg (drawing) files have; these .pdf(portable document format) files have. Even on the backend Mr. Kern, when we start scanning in change of zone applications, which you know can run, you know, upwards of 150 pages and then EIS's (Environmental Impact Statements) which can be, you know, five five-inch thick documents getting scanned in. And so I want hear from you folks, what do we have now as far as capacity and then what are we looking at as far as capacity need as it relates to just hardware, software, and server capabilities. MR. RODENHURST: Yes, definitely and IT (Information Technology) is a very important part of this. In fact,just before this meeting we had a small conference meeting between me, Director Kern, and Scott (Uehara) over at IT. And we're committed again, as I mentioned we're trying to get IT that's appropriate and dedicated to our departments, because a lot of heavy lifting involved in this. But also addressing our processes. How do we scan things in? You know, how do we address these electronic signatures? All those intake, out-take procedures. And how we're going to man those. That's all being addressed through these procedural narratives. MS. LEE LOY: Just a follow-up on that. Whatever price tag those things are. I mean, because I know these things are not cheap. In the private sector, you know, they have a lot of funds and they shove it into this digital world and we are way behind. So just ball-parking it. And even it's man hours to scan this stuff in; and then how we close the gap on that kind of scanning capabilities, right? Do we pull somebody off of light duty in DPW to run plans through a scanner? You know, I'm so sorry, these are the things that kind of keep me up at night. But Mr. Kern, I know you had a follow-up. Page 30 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MR. KERN: Yeah, sure, I appreciate the offer for support. So yeah, we need about $100,000 in hardware, Sue. No, it could be. We've been doing decent at getting scanners. We've invested in quite a few scanners. We need more scanners, large format scanners. Software, I think we're doing alright. This is kind of more the software component. I think the bigger question is going to be how we're doing our storage with the software? And that's going to be a decision point, whether we're doing it with EnerGov or we're doing Laserfiche. The big, big issue that I see that we haven't conquered yet is digitizing everything. So right now, especially from a planning perspective, you know, we have projects that go back to 70's, 80's, 90's, and not all those are digitized. And some of them, you know, the file is that thick (hand indications). So as an application is going through, in the ideal world you would be all digital right? I can pop open Laserfiche, let me pull the file, let me do a quick search and your efficiency is great. The reality of it is, is that was TMK(Tax Map Key) "X" and where, I'm going back to the storage room, pull out the box, pull out the files, spread it over my desk, figure this out. And maybe at that time scan it in. So we're trying to figure out how we can actually have the person power to scan in all of these documents and do all the metatags and all the information that's required so they're searchable. And we have at the minimum two storage rooms that probably equate to about half the size of this room back there, full of files. Rezones, SMAS (Special Management Area), Special Permits, etcetera. And so to really go digital, it's merging those together. That's not a requirement to go live. But it's certainly something that we're going to need to address. And we also need to address it with staffing and a number of folks. And it would actually open up office space within the inner office as well. So it'll have some multiple benefits. And for my questioning about scanning is, well sometimes we've gotten some interns, we had some staff do it. And they do it for a while and they get burnt out and they bail. Because it's kind of this ongoing and it's not a lot of fun, but I thought in a way, if we could get some folks that were interested in learning and kind of put them on a Easter egg hunt, if you will. Like, here's a rezoning for this project. I want you to go through it and as you're scanning it you're kind of learning. I mean, there's probably only a few people like that, like me. But I'm optimistic that we might find somebody or something like that. So that's kind of the biggie for me. As Ikaika said, Scott has been very, very, you know, helpful from IT. Yeah, I'd say a decent hardware budget, and you know, maybe even contract higher budget for the scanning. But I wouldn't put that into a critical path until we could actually get a separate resource for that. Page 31 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MS. LEE LOY: Right, and that's on the backend which you talked about frontend and backend. And so I'm going to go back to Mr. Rodenhurst, because the frontend is your inspection piece. And your people going out to inspect and live inspections. So I'm assuming, right, if we're going completely digital you would take a laptop and/or an ipad out there where they could in the field, right, inspect. Do we have that kind of hardware for our inspectors and is that being intergraded into EnerGov? MR. RODENHURST: That's not, at this current time, the priority for EnerGov to get up and running, but that is part of our priorities to get that available so we can go for digital and have that connectivity straight from the field into the system. So I don't have an update on that at this time, but can definitely get you an update on where we are with that and where we're going. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, and we can follow-up, you know, separately on this also. And this will be an ongoing conversation because we still have more code updates to do. And this is going to be my final question and we can take more of this conversation offline, but you know, I think—my understanding is that EnerGov is supposed to get us to a GIS (Geographic Information System)platform, but we still have other stuff that we have to migrate over from Magnet, from Papa`aukahi (permitting software systems). You know, and I know Ms. Kimball is just phenomenal at this techy part of it. Where are we on integrating all of that? Is that going to be able to kind of be housed in this new one place, or are we going to have gaps again? MR. RODENHURST: We currently don't have an integration with the GIS system at the time of this, but we have had the discussions of how this is going to integrate and what we can do. It's definitely not part of it at this time to go live with EnerGov, but it's something we're talking about, and something we're going to incorporate. MS. LEE LOY: And the other stuff that we already have on Papa`aukahi and Magnet. That's going to be MR. RODENHURST: So that's part of that data migration that we're talking about is getting off that system, I think. As Zendo put it, burning the ships at the shore. Taking that leap of faith in jumping over to this new system so we can actively use because it's going to be how we do our reviews at the Building Division. So we're committed to this and then we're going to see what we can incorporate so we do become efficient. Now to jump off of one system to go to the next I think is—some of the things we discussed working with Planning on their various planning applications and this system, is not having to consistently stop;jump off go to another system, then jump off and go to another system, and jump off and Page 32 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 go back and forth, it kills our time; it kills our efficiency. And we need to be more efficient with our time, our resources, and use the tools we have in front of us. And how they incorporate with each other, not just individual silos, but like we said, breaking down barriers and working together. MR. KERN: And to further expand on that. We have a couple data migrations that we were able to do that doesn't affect the entire system. So Planning spent quite a significant amount of overtime getting all the short term vacation rental files scanned. Tens of thousands of dollars scanned, cleaned, scrubbed with the metatags and all that information. So we're doing that, that's kind of a non-issue as far as operations go. It's just something that we're doing. The big one, though is going to be this data conversion which is technically, from what I understand, supposed to take everything and merge it over. So when we asked the question, "What does that take?" We were told anywhere between three days and ten days. So Ikaika and I are using seven days. But that really means, and I think we need to understand what that means. That means we are not putting anything into the system. Like we're going to go digital, so everything is going to go digital, but during that time, we can't do it. And so, what do we do? Scan documents? You know, this is that million-dollar question. It's not normal for the County to say, we're not doing this. We're doing that, and I think that's something that we need to understand, how that's going to look and come up with some very good plan as far as what we're going to be doing during that time. And again, how we're going to be messaging that. And pray it's the three-day mark and not the ten-day mark. And you know, I'm a guy who likes a certain sense of surety. What is it? I want to know. Is it ten days or is it three days? And we weren't really able to get it. So we really don't know what that is. So I'm going to assume it's going to be longer. And hope it's shorter, right? It's all we really can do at this point in time. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, under-promise, over-deliver I think it's that. Well I, you know, I know there's a lot of work ahead. And so whatever we can do to help. I have to agree with Mr. Kierkiewicz. I'm glad those videos are a jumping off point. There's a lot there, and you know,just exploring it from the first-time user and one-time-only user, which is, you know,the average homeowner. And then the design professionals who will be running, you know, 15-20 permits a month. You know, they'll acclimate real quick, right? When we make a system that's user friendly for the one-time user, the consistent user, it's just a thousand times easier. And so that's my only suggestion, when you guys are putting these videos together, I'm going to say it out loud again, it's a draft so anybody watching these meetings going to look for this, it's just not available. It's just a jumping off point. Page 33 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 But, yeah, and maybe even highlight some of our own County workers in those videos. I mean pride in ownership right? I'm going to yield at this time, but I know we'll have more conversations. I thank both of you for really demonstrating the ability to work together and just tackle a hard project. Chair, I yield at this time. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. I'm going to recess us for just a little over five minutes, it's five to four, for a quick coffee refresh and bathroom break, so I'll see everybody back in a little MR. CHUNG: Madam Chairman? CHR. KIMBALL: Yes. MR. CHUNG: You know, I'm going to have to leave. Is it possible for me to just ask a few questions? CHR. KIMBALL: Sure. I'm happy to MR. CHUNG: I'm going to be real fast. CHR. KIMBALL: Go ahead. MR. CHUNG: Thank you very much. Directors,thank you for, you know, fielding all of these questions, but jog my memory and maybe—you know, I had to leave the room for about two minutes, so this might have been asked and answered, but if it was I apologize. Jog my memory, when was this program supposed to be up and running? MR. RODENHURST: The last deadline that we inherited was—it was supposed to be up and running at the end of this month, March. MR. CHUNG: So we're absolutely not too bad then? Because that's not my recollection. MR. KERN: Council Member Chung, I am not sure, but I think it was probably prior to that. I think that was probably our first deadline for us coming on board and what we thought was possible. MR. CHUNG: Right. I'm not talking about your deadline, I'm talking about when were we told that this was going to be operational? MR. KERN: I don't know, is the answer. Page 34 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MR. CHUNG: We are at least a year behind, right? MR. KERN: Come again? MR. CHUNG: We're at least a year behind, correct? MR. KERN: That sounds accurate, yes. MR. CHUNG: Probably more than a year, if I had to take a guess. So you know, pardon me for being a bit skeptical about whether you guys can come up and meet that July deadline. And it's really no criticism to either of you, because as you stated and other speakers stated, you guys inherited this. We all know that, and it's encouraging that the both of you are working, you know, it appears as a team. And I like that. But are you sure this is going to become operational in July? Well, we heard all kinds of stuff over the years. It's very frustrating. And I don't want you guys to have to now, you know, be put in a position where you guys promise something and didn't come through, like we heard. And this is like the fourth presentation we've had on EnerGov, if I'm not mistaken. So how confident are you that you guys are going to meet that July deadline? MR. KERN: Okay, I'll put it to you this way, our last meeting there's the thing called a go/no-go date, right? So we're going to work on it and we're going to hit a go/no-go date,just, whatever, May. And we could then pivot again and say, no go, we're not ready yet. Let's push it again until August, September, etcetera. And we could do that again, and that's kind of what's been happening. Ikaika and I both, basically at this point. There is no more go/no go. We go, we burn the ships at the shore; we figure it out, we make it work, period. MR CHUNG: Okay, good I like that. I mean at least you guys being straight up with everybody, right, so I appreciate that. I'm not quite sure, how much are we paying for all of this? And have we've been paying for this during the period that it has not been operational? MR. RODENHURST: Yes, we have been paying for it. The total cost is approximately $2.5 million. What we've been paying to date is about $1.8 million. That includes services for coding, configuration, training, troubleshooting of the system; really implementing this EnerGov system through Tyler Technologies. After that we also have maintenance of the system and then we have to negotiate how we're going to be moving forward after our initial contract with Tyler Technologies, and how we continue to maintain and store data as we discussed previously with Zendo. Page 35 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 We're looking at how much we're going to have to pay out for data storage and where we're going to store that data. Again, like we already mentioned, this has been inherited but our commitment to get this thing up and running—like Zendo said, we've gone through all these deadlines, these dates. We took a look at exactly what we have going on, tried to identify what is within our control, try to limit our uncontrollable variables. So at this time, we're very confident that this July date is achievable. And if for some reason that's out of our purview, that happens, that adjusts this timeline, we'll communicate it as soon and as affectively as possible. But we're pretty confident this is going to be happening. MR. CHUNG: Okay. And I really appreciate that, and I don't want anything that I said to either of you to be construed as being a criticism of either of you. Because, you know, as we all recognized you guys inherited this thing, but I just don't wantI mean it's been a very frustrating process all the way around. So Madam Chairman, I do appreciate the accommodation. I yield. Thank you very much. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member. Okay, we will go ahead and recess now until 4:00 o'clock. Thank you. Recess: At 3:50 p.m., the Chair called for a recess. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 4:00 p.m. CHR. KIMBALL: Okay, I'm going to call this meeting back to order and return over there to Kona. Chair David, you had some questions? MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair Kimball. Yes I do. I just have one question. And first of all, I'd like to actually say mahalo to Directors Kern and Rodenhurst for their explanation and also the input from the Council Members before me. So along the lines of what Mr. Chung was saying, the anticipated implementation for this, and I know you folks have your work cut out for you. What will happen to the applications that are pending? Are those being included in this system so that when you do roll this out people that have pending applications, etcetera, on permits, would they be able to access this? Or are you handling existing applications in a different manner? That's my question. How will that the pending applications be integrated in this system? MR. RODENHURST: Yes, they will be. The pending applications will be transferred over. During that final migration phase, that week, the seven to ten days prior to going live, that is going to be a kind of a no-man zone there where we're not going to be able to take any in at that time. Anything before that data Page 36 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 migration date, we will—pending, existing, active will be transferred over to the new system and then there will be this dead space between that data migration, the go-live, where everything is checked and verified that it has been transferred to the new system. At that point, we'll be able to pick up everything and be able to take new applications at that time. Was that clear? MS. DAVID: Yes. And thanks for clarifying that. And that's what Director Kern was referring to as this period of time where you folks will not be able to accept any applications during this period, right? MR. RODENHURST: Correct. During that seven to ten days prior to going live, yes. MS. DAVID: Okay, okay perfect. Thanks for clarifying that, and you folks have your work cut out for you. And I'm really happy that, like everyone's saying, that you folks are working together because this is something that really requires collaboration and cooperation. So thank you, Directors. I yield. MR. KERN: And just to add, Chair David, the Planning Department will probably not merge over all into digital. We may upload some of ours as a decision point just because we're not in any digital format right now like Magnet. If it was related to building permits, yeah, we're on board which is related to a planning permit, you know, application itself will probably have to finish those out. We'll be able to upload into, I believe EnerGov, but it's not going to all of a sudden magically turn into Energov, it'll probably be depending on where they were at in their application process. If we're just about done with it, we'll probably just finish it out. That way if it's at the early stages, we'll probably ask the applicant to set up a user account interface, and then kind of merge those together. So certainly something that's still in the works for the Planning Department, as we have a unique situation within our department. MS. DAVID: Thank you for that explanation, Director. Alright, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member. Okay, back here, Matt, go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. I appreciate you guys being here today, thank you. Very informative. Yes, we've had a long deadline. I think when I walked into the office 2018, 2019 we were told we'd be switching to EnerGov within a year. Or then months, it didn't happen in 2020, 2021. Here we are, so hopefully you can burn your boats at the shore and we can go from there. Page 37 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 I don't know if this is the correct time to bring this up, but at one point David Yamamoto brought up the use of a van that was outfitted with road kind of sensing sensors and devices that would help us prioritize how we look at fixing our roads. I don't know if it's a part of EnerGov, and I may be totally off on this, but it was to help prioritize how we fix our road system. MR. RODENHURST: I believe that's the Mandli System, and it is a separate data collection tool and software, and through our Engineering Division. It is a separate subject off of EnerGov, but one I'm willing to discuss with you at a separate time. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yes, separate time. Sorry, I was just thinking of it, because you touched on GIS, EnerGov, and how they all kind of overlap, and this is part of the GIS thing but separate. So I'll touch base with you on that separately, and yeah, thank you for your time. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Everybody uses it so I'll just echo it one more time. I really like the burn the ships on the shore because if we never pull the trigger, we never do it. There's always a reason. You know, Ikaika what you said about, "We're not trying to make it perfect, we just want to make it start." And if you never start, you'll never have anything to fix. Just get started. And I recognize that the productivity of the departments is probably going to start to drop as you go into it. But the idea is when it bounces back, it goes much higher than it was when you started. The question is, what's that timeline, stretching out? And I think what Ms. Kierkiewicz pointed out was communicate, communicate, communicate; keep that message going out. I remember the first time I touched a computer, I thought, you know let's go back to the calculator. Okay, slide-ruler. You guys don't even know what that is. Not that far back. All kidding aside though and the point being made is when we embrace new technology it's always tough and there's a steep learning curve. I really appreciate the fact that you're breaking down the silos and trying to figure out how you can each help each other by going forward. And it's going to be a paradigm shift. You know, you use all the trendy terms, but go forward in doing so. Director Kern, you pointed out, what do we do for a week when theoretically we're not doing anything? And maybe that's the time to scan. Last thing about Ms. Kierkiewicz's House Bill where we have training coming forth and maybe funding to hire people to get this done. Ms. Lee Loy made a comment about Page 38 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 budget and budgetary concerns. It's a tight year, but sometimes in budgets it's not so much how we spread the money around and equally and poorly fund everything. Sometimes we have to not fund something and fully fund something else. And those are the decisions that we as a Council are going to have to make, but we can't make that unless we have good information to make that good decision. So I will implore you to give us that information, and be realistic with us. Don't try and soft-coat it. If we're going to have to invest in this to get it done. You know, I think Councilman Chung pointed out, we've been hearing about this, hearing about this, hearing about this. So let's actually see it now and push really hard on that. You know, I agree Zendo concerning if you're going to be sidelined for a week, once in a while we get a chance to hit the pause button, and you can do something really good if you can plan for it, and if we have the resources to get it done. Does that mean we need a whole bunch of new scanners? Maybe. Maybe that's the time to get that done. Be prepared to do it. So I would implore you to do that. I can't emphasize the breakdown silos and collaborate, collaborate, collaborate. It was something that we start talking about shortly after I was in office about the silos for some reason government likes to work in and wants to communicate. So again with that, keep communicating to us. Get us some budget numbers so we can focus on, so we can hopefully find that funding so we can get this thing. And I'm looking forward to that July 26h. I recognize it's going to be rocky, but that's okay. You know, damn the torpedoes. Let's get this thing done. So with that, Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Richards. MR. KERN: Quick comment on the silos conversation. We're working really hard to break them down. I just want to get the message out there that is somebody experiences something or sees something that's contrary to that, we want to know. We need to know. It helps. We don't know everything. We're not always on the frontlines seeing everything. We're doing a lot of, you know, work in various areas. So it's really an open kind of process, like please call, send us email; smoke signal works as well. Whatever it takes. But that's something that's really important to us because it helps us identify, you know, where there might still be some gaps. Thanks. CHR. KIMBALL: Alright, any other comments or questions? Kona side? Thank you again, both of you for being here today. I think the message is loud and clear from the Council to you guys. Help us help you. We have been engaged to EnerGov for a long time. We're pretty excited to set the date for the wedding. Let's make it actually happen. Page 39 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 I wanted to ask a few specific questions. First about the contract with Tyler. I see we have roughly $.7 million left in that contract. Do we run out those funds or is there a time when that contract expires with them? MR. KERN: I am not up to speed on the contract. That would be more of a question for Deanna Sako in my mind, but Ikaika might know something. MR. RODENHURST: Yeah, and I'm also currently getting up to speed with full contract. I know we had an extension on that as of, I believe was late 2019. But, yeah, I am following up on that as well. CHR. KIMBALL: Okay. And your decision about whether or not to just go back in or both frontend and backend. In this particular case, I recognize that it may appear to be less work to only do backend, but I want to get a sense from you. Is it really going to be beneficial not to do frontend and backend from the process analysis that you've done so far? MR. KERN: I'm beginning to feel not. When I first stepped in the concept was we're just going to go live backend. We're going to get our people up to speed then we'll launch on the frontend in six months to a year later. But the more I think about it, I'm really starting to lean towards going live frontend and backend because it is what it is. It's going to be what it's going to be. I'm concerned if we're only live on the backend and the public doesn't see what's going on, on the other side. They're going to be like, "You guys are slower, you're not as efficient,"but the process is the same on the front side of the desk. And I feel like if we're going to go through this together, we do it and we take cracks now, so to speak, and we get through it all the way around. Now that I've gotten more data points and understand how many, you know, person hours it's going to take to get through this and kind of model it out, I feel like it's possible. And I'm really trying to kind of now look at the reasons why not to. But I'm really starting to feel like that would be kind of the most advantageous. It also puts the public into engaging with us more and them figuring out the process as we're figuring out the process, kind of all in it together. So I'm not going to make a firm commitment on that right now, but that's really where I'm leaning to. CHR. KIMBALL: Yeah, I'm not fully versed in everything yet, but my sense is that it's going to be better to do both if can,just because the extra work person hours that are going to be required to try to deal with both actually may end up being more. Page 40 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MR. KERN: Correct, and another side of it too, is that we're basically asking for some patience and latitude from our community as we go through this. And I'd rather ask for it at one time. And we're in it together, and this is going to be, it is what it is. And I'd rather not have to ask for it again in six months or a year later, and then it's also kind of like, "Oh it's only the Planning Department that's asking for it." So I don't think it would really hold well for what we're trying to accomplish as far as really, you know, having our community thrive and succeed. So these are all these decisions points I'm really trying to come to really quickly. CHR. KIMBALL: Okay, great. I'm not sure which one of you—it was mentioned that 90 percent of the customized fields is completed and there's more work still yet on the reporting. Same kind of question with the front and backend stuff is what do you think is going to be the most effective strategy here going up towards 100 percent completion and then worrying about the reporting later, or do you need the reporting to go live? Do you fully need the reporting completed to go live? MR. RODENHURST: At this time, not 100 percent sure if the reporting is necessary to be a hundred percent up and running to go live. This is something that I can go back and ask our team. But like I said at the beginning, as long as it's functional. So if our reporting is functional I think it's going to be necessary to go live. If it meets every single need of our criteria? I wouldn't let that hold us up if it doesn't meet every single need. As long as it's functional. So I think that's really my approach to that, but I'll definitely follow-up with our team to see if there's any concern if the reporting is going to hold up. MR. KERN: And for Planning, I don't think the reporting is going to hold us up from going live. I think we can go live. It's just going to be a challenge. So right now, all the intake comes through, it gets put into Eden and it gets a correspondence number. That package will then be routed to our Deputy Director and then to me. So we are reviewing all correspondences that comes through the department, right, and a lot of times you're just kind of trying to keep pace on what's happening, what's coming through. So right now there's no feature just for that. So that's a report that I feel will be very important for us to have. My data and metrics reporting that I really like. That's something that needs to be built out. Again, I'm not going to let that hold us up. I would take what reporting we need as the highest priority and work on getting that done as fast as possible. CHR. KIMBALL: Great. The two dedicated IT folks that will be imbedded within your departments, are those long-term positions? Page 41 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MR. KERN: That's the goal. CHR. KIMBALL: Great. MR. KERN: And reasonably speaking moving forward, I can imagine in ten years, we would have three of them in our departments. Because I feel like as we are moving forward we're going to be more, you know, tech heavy, tech central, and IT is going to be really critical to that. So I'd say this is just the beginning of a shift and to having more of that imbedded within the departments. MR. RODENHURST: And we've had this discussion with other members of the cabinet as far as, what are our vision is moving forward? How for department specific technologies, how we can best cater to that and how we can best handle those moving forward. I think it's important that we have department specific IT's where these applications are needed, and whether they're used in our daily processes. So that's something that I'm pushing for. CHR. KIMBALL: Great. And I have also let my thoughts be known to the Administration about the necessity of having imbedded folks with IT expertise within the departments, and just want to bring that up to my colleagues as we're looking at funding positions, that I think it's going to be critical over the long term for the maintenance of these types of systems, which do represent a maturing for our County, and one that I think is going to be essential for us to progress in a meaningful way. Go ahead, Director Kern. MR. KERN: I agree, and it's also kind of train the trainer kind of philosophy too, so there'll be a trainer, so as new folks come in they can be training them. They're also our help desk for, you know,the customers coming in. So, yeah, it's essential. CHR. KIMBALL: What is the need, do you think in this transition period for some temporary hires to—kind of falling in line with what Council Member Richards was saying—is there a need or value in looking at some opportunities there? MR. RODENHURST: I don't have any specifics at this time. Something we're definitely considering. Because factoring, you know, how much they got to be brought up to speed with our processes versus what kind of improvement they're going to give to our services in this transition of technology. It hasn't been determined at least in DPW as far as what additional contract hires we would need for this. MR. KERN: Similar, we've been looking at more the resources that we have and it's kind of tricky if we're going to pull someone off of Land Use Permits and Page 42 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 bring, like a contract hire to handle that. If they're experienced that could be a thing, but it's usually hard to find that. So if we could find folks that could really just integrate, that would be a possibility. But maybe looking at it as again from a scanning data type of standpoint. That is a given. We'll take help and funding on that every day of the week. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Yeah, kind of along those same lines, I'm wondering if we're going to have this period where we need to scan a lot of stuff, that maybe we look at borrowing them. Just like we would maybe have some temporary employees. Maybe we can temporarily utilize scanners from other folks just to get us through rather than making that long-term investment. I know this probably isn't right totally up your alley, but can you say anything about security and this is more of an IT question, I realize that, but I'm sure you've discussed it to some extent. MR. RODENHURST: So we know there is some concerns for security and privacy, especially privacy of information. To my understanding, any sensitive information will be protected. As far as the external line protection, that's something that we're continually looking into and making sure that we can insure that to the public because they're trusting us with their information, and we need to value their trust and return it in kind. MR. KERN: Nothing to add. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Director Kern. On the digitization, that's a lot of time needed to take those old records and digitize them. Do you have a sense of, you know, how often those historical records are actually needed? I mean, would it be potentially better to do that in an as-needed basis, rather than just say we digitize everything? MR. KERN: Well that's been kind of the practice of the department, when there's a bandwidth, something gets pulled out. And so like if file was requested back in my previous life, I'd request a file, you know, and the clerk would scan it and send it to us and that would become scanned in. So it's possible to do that. I'm just not sure exactly how it's going work out. It's probably, you know, a year down the road before we get into that groove. So it's probably going to honestly be a combination of both. But there are certain files, especially with rezones and SMA's is where reviewing things that are very critical to have at our fingertips. Others, really not; but those ones, yes. So we you know, obviously we'd prioritize. That's been what's happening, but we haven't had any major scanning action in that regard for a while. We've been doing a lot just for the STVR's which is all being, you know, current and new data. Page 43 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 CHR. KIMBALL: Okay. You know both of you mentioned that within your departments you're going to have a little bit of reduction in productivity during the implementation of this. I'm just kind of curious in the global scale because of COVID and the economic downturn, how much is your rate of permits coming through, down already anyway? Do you have any sense of that? MR. KERN: Yeah, it's not. So typically we deal with around five SMA assessments on a monthly basis. We're now dealing with nine or ten. Kona (West Hawaii ), you know, building permits are coming in at a steady pace;plan approvals coming in at a steady pace; commercial coming in at a steady pace. I would actually say it's busier now. The Big Island's gotten more popular, and so what we're seeing is folks are spending time over here now that would otherwise maybe been here for a month they're here for six months. Oh wow, I like the Big Island, I'm going to do something. And so, I'd actually say it's busier than ever. CHR. KIMBALL: Same with DPW? MR. RODENHURST: I'd agree with that for DPW. It's very busy. CHR. KIMBALL: Okay. Alright, that's all I have for today. I do appreciate both of you coming here. Again, I encourage you to communicate openly with us about your needs, because I think all of us want to see this happen. And, you know, recognizing that there will be a downturn in productivity, there's always I'm going to mix my marriage metaphor with a sawing metaphor, with your boat metaphor. But, you know, it's the concept of you sawing down the tree, cutting down tree. If you don't take time to sharpen that saw, you're going to be inefficient. And you know, here we're actually walking away going to the store and picking up a chainsaw. Yeah, replacing it entirely. And, you know, one of the messages that I think we need to communicate, all of us, is not that just an improvement in efficiency within your departments, which is one of the hopeful outcomes, but it's also a huge increase in transparency. It's an increase in accountability, both of which are things that the public really wants to see. And it also provides us with really useful metrics for better decision making. And so that's why I'm so strongly behind getting this going and supporting you in any way that I can. So, I'm going to ask that maybe in a month we actually get a live demonstration. I don't want to take away from time needed to actually implement the system, but I do want to make sure that we are totally lined up with you guys and being informed about what's happening. So maybe a month and a month-and-a-half, if you can provide that,that would be fantastic. Alright, with that can I go ahead and take the vote on the motion on the floor? Page 44 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 MR. KERN: Can I make a quick comment? Sorry. CHR. KIMBALL: Oh, go ahead. MR. KERN: I just want to say, thank you all for, you know, the willingness to support and throw this out there and the understanding around it. And you know, the questions and offering of help with resources and encouragement. I think that's a big deal. I think with everybody supporting us and with this type of dialogue and demeanor is really helpful in moving forward. This could have been very different, you know. It could have been why aren't we there yet kind of conversation, versus, we understand what you're doing and we appreciate it. And I just want to say that's not falling on deaf ears, that's very much appreciated by both of us I'm sure. MR. RODENHURST: Yeah, I'd like to reiterate that. Mahalo to everybody. I really appreciate it, and I know this is a long time coming, and we're really hopeful and really dedicated to make sure that this is the moment where we get to move forward, burn our boats and get going. So yeah, you know, I just look forward to delivering in this and working with our staff who's been hard at work for so long. And so many good hard working people at the County that's got us this far. And we're just trying to get over the finish line right now. So really appreciate your trust and faith in us. And I really appreciate the Planning Department's willingness to work with us at DPW. And you know, it's a really, really good outlook for this. So, mahalo. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you both again. I can't make any promises it won't become why, why, why at some point, but I'm optimistic. I feel very positive about the presentation and your responses today. And of course, you'll have the support of most of us here to get things done. So with that I will go ahead and take the vote on closing file on Comm. 121, all of those in favor? Vote on Comm. 121: The motion to close file on Comm. 121 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung— 1. Excused: None. Page 45 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 CHR. KIMBALL: Alright Clerk, and then we will go on to the next item. Go ahead and read that in. Thank you. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Order RESOLUTIONS: of Resolutions. Res. 49-21: APPROVES THE HAWAII STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES' EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE SLATE OF OFFICERS Ratifies the slate of officers approved by the Hawaii State Association of Counties Executive Committee on January 29, 2021, as follows: Kauai County Council Members Mason K. Chock, President(Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr., Alternate); Maui County Council Members Kelly Takaya King, Vice President(Tamara Paltin, Alternate); Hawaii County Council Members Heather L. Kimball, Secretary (Rebecca Villegas, Alternate); and Honolulu City Council Members Tommy Waters, Treasurer (Andria Tupola, Alternate). Reference: Comm. 122 Intr. by: Ms. Kimball Vote on Res. 49-21: Mr. Richards moved to recommend adoption of (Approved) Res. 49-21. Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung— 1. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Alright, the motion passes. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) CHR. KIMBALL: With that, mahalo everyone for your time. Page 46 GOREDC-4 March 2,2021 ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 4:28 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kimball— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung— 1. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you all and have a wonderful evening. Approved: ,�� f y(25/10 �t s. Heather L. i ball, Chair (Date) Government Operations, Relations, and Economic Development Committee HK/dt Page 47