Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GOREDC 2021/04/20 2020-2022 Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, and Economic Development 7th Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawai i April 20, 2021 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, ORDER: and Economic Development was called to order at 2:13 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (came in later) Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member (came in later) Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) CHR. KIMBALL: We're going to take items out of order, so if you would please read in Comm. 209, Mr. Clerk. Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the of Business: following item was taken out of order: COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 209: REQUESTS A DISCUSSION WITH DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES REGARDING THE STATUS OF THE POHOIKI BOAT RAMP RESTORATION From Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, dated March 31, 2021. CHR. KIMBALL: Can I have a motion to close file on Comm. 209? GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 209. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Kierkiewicz, please go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you Chair for the opportunity. And I wanted to mahalo Council Chair David for providing me some latitude to host this meeting and invite our friends from the State to provide us an update on where we are with restoration of the Pohoiki boat ramp. A lot of time has passed and we've gotten a lot of mixed signals, different information; a lot of machinations happening on the State level. And so just wanted to hold space in the most equitable way to get out solid, accurate information so that we as a County and community know what we need to do to continue to advocate for our Puna lawai`a. I believe joining via Zoom, we have the Deputy Director of DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources), Robert Masuda; also, Finn McCall, head of Engineering Branch for DOBOR (Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation), and Jon Katihira with Limtiaco Consulting Group who has been engaged by DLNR to advance various aspects of restoration work. I'm also told that we have Ali (Alexandra) Slous, Recovery Officer with HIEMA (Department of Defense, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency), out of the Governor's Office. Gentlemen, great to see you. I just set the context for the conversation. Hopefully, you can provide us an update on where we are with restoration. I'm aware that a couple months ago, BLNR (Board of Land and Natural Resources) held an informational meeting around this topic but since then, you know, I'm just hearing that we are going to be pursuing other avenues. So we do welcome a fresh update from you folks. (Note: At this time, DLNR Deputy Director Robert "Bob" Masuda, DOBOR Head Engineer Finn McCall, and Limtiaco Consulting Group Jon Katihira came forward to address the members of the Committee.) CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Councilwoman, would you like to just hear from all of our guests in order? Or did you have a particular recommendation? Okay, go ahead, if you wouldn't mind introducing yourself for the record and stating your position, Bob? Thank you. MR. MASUDA: Sure. Bob Masuda, First Deputy, Deputy Chair, Department of Land and Natural Resources, State of Hawaii. Along with my Chief Engineer. Finn, you want to introduce yourself? And our consultant, Jon Katihira. Finn? Page 2 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 MR. MCCALL: Hi, good afternoon everyone. Yes, my name is Finn McCall. I'm the Engineering Branch Head for the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation. We manage the boat ramp at Pohoiki. Thanks. MR. MASUDA: Jon? MR. KATIHIRA: Aloha everyone, my name is Jon Katihira with the Limtiaco Consulting Group. We're the consultant for this project. Our work basically includes public outreach, planning, and design services through construction. Thank you. MR. MASUDA: Okay. So, Councilwoman Kierkiewicz, what we'd like to do is to get right down into it. We have a PowerPoint presentation. Either Jon or Finn, who's going to make the presentation? Finn? Okay, so I'm going to put myself in—I'll get out and let Finn take over the presentation. MR. MCCALL: Alright. Thanks everyone. I'm going to share my screen here. Hopefully it works. (Note: At this time, Mr. Masuda, Mr. McCall, and Mr. Katihira provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of subject presentation, see the DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is made a part of the record, see Comm. 209.1.) MR MCCALL: And that's it basically I have for my brief presentation here. And I didn't want to take up too much time with the history and everything. And so I just wanted to open it up to any questions or comments from the Council. MR. MASUDA: Finn? MR MCCALL: Yes. MR. MASUDA: Maybe before we open it up for questions, if it's okay with Councilwoman Kierkiewicz, I'd like to just give a brief background just for anyone who may not have been involved in the process from the time of impact to now. At first, the first couple years took some time where we had the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation do an impact study with Sea Engineering to look at alternate places to restore access to the ocean. Page 3 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 This study looked at the entire coastline as well as nearby sites, and after a lot of discussion, a lot of community participation, a lot of consultation with both our Councilwoman Kierkiewicz, Representative Ilagan and Senator San Buenaventura, the representatives and legislators from the area. We determined that if we were to try to put in a brand new harbor or access, it would take an inordinate amount of time. Something like eight years, was it Jon and Finn, to do a study and then find a site, and then do a whole new boat ramp or access. So we determined that the best solution, given that we didn't have money, we had a limited amount of money. And the infrastructure on the land side, at least Pele spared us that area. So there is access from the highway into the Pohoiki existing ramp, and the parking lot is still there and all of that. That would be the fastest way to get access to the ocean. So the lawai`a and the community folks, and the leadership in the community all agreed that we should try and focus on getting access in the most expeditious way rather than look around and try to build a whole new access or boat harbor, because that would be like eight, ten years plus; multiple millions of dollars that we didn't have. And that's why we came down to this particular plan for using the existing ramp and recreating, restoring actually; not creating a whole new access, but restoring the old access out. And the reason why we now have to do—we're hoping to not have do the EA (Environmental Assessment) or EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) going with the Corps of Engineers on a national exception thing. But if we went through with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), but FEMA would require the EA. But FEMA would also make available up to 75 percent of the funds, which would give us along with the State funds more than enough money to complete the whole project and restore access. So that's kind of the sum total of the entire project of why we're focusing on using the existing access and doing it as expeditiously as possible. Jon or Finn, you want to add to that background? Otherwise, we can go into you guys can handle the questions. MR. MCCALL: Thank you. I think you summarized it pretty good, Bob. You know, another reason, or a little bit of history on it is that after the eruption stopped there continued to be material building up in the bay, and you know, where the channel was. And because of this continued accumulation, that's what put us and sent us in the direction of trying to find alternate boat ramp sites. Because it appeared that, you know, kind of no end in sight for how much material was coming into the bay. Page 4 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 But as time progressed, we observed that the material was not accumulating anymore, and in fact, it's been eroding for some time now. And that's a good indicator that, you know, that the boat ramp wouldn't be subject to constant infilling if we were to dredge it and reopen it. And that's another reason why we turned our focus back to Pohoiki. Jon is there anything you wanted to add? MR. KATIHIRA: Nothing significant other than, we're still very early on in the engineering phase of work. So there's still so many variables that need to be nailed down. So I don't want to make any false claims moving forward. But our intent through the outreach program is to keep the community as well as this group here notified. So that they know what's happening. MR. MASUDA: Jon, I think it'd be safe to say that the three of us along with our other government officials have been very actively, from the very beginning, in consultation and communication, and coordination with both Corps of Engineers and FEMA. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you all for your comments and your presentation. And mahalo to the chicken who had a lot to say. MR. MASUDA: Chickens in Waimea. They don't know what time it is. CHR. KIMBALL: I just thought it was fascinating. I just want to show for the record that we have Council Member Richards and Council Member David back in the room. Council Member Kierkiewicz, you still have the floor. If you'd like to begin with questions? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thanks you guys for your time and for the update. You know, in just a couple of weeks we're going to be coming up on the third anniversary of the eruption. I wish it didn't take us this long to come back to—on the conclusion that, you know, community has elevated all along, which is restore the boat ramp. But that's neither here nor there. The County and community are going to be working in close partnership with you to bring this project to life. Just a few follow-up questions based on your presentation. You know, if it's anticipated that dredging and channel enhancement is going to take about$9-$10 million, does the State have the 25 percent to match? I know though that you have the $1.5 (million) to support engineering and construction? But just was wondering if there are other funds available to ensure that we have matching funds? Page 5 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 MR. MCCALL: Yeah, this is Finn McCall with DOBOR. So the cost estimate is likely to change based on what our final design is going to be. What we've estimated so far for just dredging and stabilizing the slopes and the mouth of the entrance channel is $3.5 million. And so to put it simply, the State has $1.5 million that we have available for construction. And if FEMA can provide up to 75 percent,that gives us a total of$6 million to work with. And so what our goal is, is to come up with a scope of work that fits within that budget that gives us the best outcome in terms of getting the channel cleared and protecting the channel from filling back in. So right now we don't have any additional funds above the $1.5 million, and that is another reason why it is very critical that we get the 75 percent from FEMA so that we could potentially have $6 million to work with. But that's our funding situation as it stands right now. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thanks Finn. Is Limtiaco Consulting Group's contract, its scope of work, broad enough to, you know, continue to work on development of the EA? MR. KATIHIRA: We have a purchase order contract with them right now. And the purpose of that was to focus on getting draft plans for just the dredging project and Army Corps permits. But because of this requirement to do an EA, we still need to finalize the design for the scope of work that is developed, we need to execute another contract with them to cover this EA and the final design. But we believe that the half-million that we have is adequate to cover that. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So Finn, are you folks working right now to develop that contract? The only reason why I ask is because, you know, we had anticipated the State entering into an agreement with Limtiaco Group back in September and it took about six months longer than we had anticipated. I just want to make sure that we are able to proceed in a very smooth and consistent and timely manner, given the sense that there hasn't been too much happening on this front over the last few years. MR. MCCALL: Right, so like I said, we have this purchase order in place, and that's covering them in terms of contract work for the work that's ongoing right now. We still need to hash out the total scope of work for the EA and the final design. And so, yeah, but we will work to get that executed as quickly as possible. We don't want it to take as long as it did for getting PO (purchase order) and everything like that. But part of the delays are also because it's been difficult to get FEMA and HIEMA to basically let us know everything we had to do. It took several weeks just to have FEMA tell us, "Yes, you definitely need to do an EA." And that Page 6 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 threw a whole, another wrench in the situation. And so we need to include this EA in their overall scope of work for this contract. And yes, we will get that expedited as soon as we get the proposal on scope of work figured out with Limtiaco Consulting Group. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, couple more questions. This one's for Jon. Jon, you know, the work that you were doing to develop the nationwide permit application, is any of that applicable to the EA? And you know, follow-up question to that one is, like where are we in the process? You know, when can the community expect to see some sort of deliverable, the EA in hand for public review and comment? MR. KATIHIRA: Okay, so the work that was done for the application, the nationwide permit application with the Army Corps of Engineers, it's not total throwaway. A lot of the work that was performed could translate to the EA. It will also be needed for a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers for this, I guess let's call it the new project with the broader scope. Part of the approach to using the nationwide permit was, if this was going to be a simple dredging project, then it falls under an existing permit, and the permit coverage would be approved quicker, and we can get approved to start construction quicker. But because the scope is changing, based onI guess we didn't get into the details, but the scope is changing because there's a little bit more need for a permanent solution versus a temporary solution. And a permanent solution requires more engineering, more construction. And because of those adds, we may not fall under the nationwide permit anymore. So that needs to be clarified. This information that I'm speaking of is brand new. It's just days old, so we haven't had enough time to have a follow-up meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers to see how they're going to interpret this new scope. Also, in terms of the EA itself, because of the outreach that we've done, I feel the great relationship that we have with the community, I think the EA is going to go fairly quickly. That's my hope anyway. The EA itself, I would say, once started, six to eight months. But there's something that has to happen before that. We need to have good, strong alternatives for this restoration project at Pohoiki. I don't feel at this point we have strong alternatives considered, and we definitely don't have a strong recommendation, at least agreed upon by our engineering team. So that effort needs to happen before we can actually start the EA itself. So that's going to take at least a few months. Maybe three or four months to do that level of engineering planning, let's call it. And also, in terms of outreach, you know, we always like to provide realistic expectations. So I'm going to try and clarify something that's been said throughout today's discussion. Page 7 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 When Finn talks about finalizing the design, we're actually more in the stage of developing the design than we are finalizing. Yeah, so we're not close to being pau yet. We're still in the developing stages. So I just wanted to make it clear to set the expectations correct, that we're still in the very early stages of this project. We're definitely not in buttoning-up final stages of this project in terms of design. I hope that answers your question. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah, that's helpful. Thanks, it's a lot to digest, this new information. So three to four months for the engineer planning; six to eight or nine months for the EA. And so we can anticipate having equipment down Pohoiki end of next year, best case scenario? MR. KATIHIRA: That would be our hope. And you know, the schedule that I just threw out there, I know when our project team hears about this, they're going to be like, "What is Jon saying?" It's mainly because we know the urgency so we're going to do everything we can to push this schedule. If this were like a normal project with no sense of urgency, the schedule would be a lot longer, but I'm trying to accelerate it as much as I can, because I know the residents of this area. The community has waited so long for ocean access. So we're making this a high priority and we're asking that of our team. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah, peddle to the metal you guys. We really have to accelerate this and get it into fifth gear. The community has waited long enough. Uncle Bob, Finn,just final question, is there anything that can be offered up to the lawai`a right now? Many of them are having to, you know, shell out additional funds to drive to Hilo and launch their boats to their old fishing grounds in Puna. Are there any stipends that can be made available to support them at this time given the extra costs that they're having to incur? MR. MCCALL: I can't comment on that. I think that's maybe a little above my paygrade in terms of, yeah, allowing any kind of stipends or anything like that. I think that's something that management would have to decide if that's even something that we can do. MR. MASUDA: There was some small amount when the first CARES Act thing came across, but we were limited in what that could be used for from Division of Aquatic Resources. And that was mostly for the commercial longline deep ocean stuff. And so we weren't able to use it for our lawai`a, for local commercial or recreational fishing. What we're hoping is that as the next Federal stimulus funds come in, maybe we may be able to look at that. But our Division of Aquatic Resources people have been requested to consider all avenues of support that we might be able to do. Page 8 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 Even as small as helping to subsidize the extra distance cause, you know, in transportation, all that. We understand the subsistence and the economic impact for commercial lawai`a; and believe me, we have been trying our damnedest to get this started two years ago. And that's why we pushed so hard to work with the Corps and then now with FEMA, so that we can get this done and not have to wait eight to ten years for another whole, you know, process to go on. So, I can't promise you anything other than the fact that the three of us have been working on this as our top priority. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thanks, Uncle Bob, I appreciate that. I'm going to follow-up with you to see what sort of special funds we might be able to tap to assist our lawai`a. I'm glad that Jon has joined and rounded off the team. He's definitely, I think, helped to continue to lead this project and has a great relationship with the community. Those are all the questions I have so far. Thank you for taking the time to connect with us. MR. MASUDA: If I might, I would like to give an extra thank you publicly, and to let the Council know that Jon and Limtiaco Consulting have gone over and above. Jon even put in hours and hours of volunteer work without even a contract just to help us move this forward. And so has Finn. Finn is also working on getting North Kawaihae small boat harbor work going. We're also trying to get Honokahau Harbor going. And I've been working on getting Meadow Gold Dairy reestablished, along with Banyan Drive Hotel. So East Hawaii and the Island of Hawaii certainly has had our respect and our priority. Thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Uncle Bob, I appreciate it. And I also do want to mahalo Auntie Ku`ulei Cooper and Auntie Mililani Trask for their continued involvement in this. Chair, I really appreciate the latitude on this one. Recovery of the boat ramp is really cornerstone to Puna's recovery, and it certainly does help with our subsistence, lifestyle, and into driving local economy, and helping us meet our food sustainability goal. So thank you, Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Thank you for joining us today, gentlemen. Yeah, we've been working very closely with the lawai`a community, as well as Auntie Ku`ulei Cooper, and a few different groups truly moved this project along. I appreciate your efforts so far. I would say there's an urgency. It's the only place to put a boat out between Hilo and Ka`u. And there's definitely a public safety component there that needs to be recognized and should help move this along very efficiently. Page 9 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 My question is one that I slowly developed and then really dug into and I looked over the Legislative Auditor's report. I'd like to give a special recognition to Les Kondo from the Hawaii State Legislative Auditor's Office. But he raised some points regarding some of our funds. And I wanted to ask you, what kind of fund is used for small harbor maintenance? MR. MCCALL: I think I can answer that. It really depends on the scope of the project. So for small harbor maintenance, things like replacing deck boards on docks, fixing leaking waterlines, picking up trash. You know, small repair maintenance work like that is usually funded through our Boating Special Funds. Anything that is a larger scope of work, something that, you know, going to be a high dollar item on—especially something for work that's going to be, not just a simple kind of repair and maintenance type of work, something that's of a more permanent scale, we need to get CIP (Capital Improvement Project) funds from the legislature for that kind of thing, because we don't have enough Boating Special Funds to do those types of large projects because we have to spread those funds across all of our facilities in the whole State of Hawaii. So I hope that answers your question. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: It does. Are those funds—is there a certain amount set aside for each small harbor per year? MR. MCALL: I don't know the answer to that. I do know that there's one Boating Special Fund and it's distributed to all of the facilities, but I don't know the specific amount that's allocated to each facility. MR. MASUDA: There is a ceiling on the Boating Special Fund. So no matter how much is collected, once we hit the ceiling, we cannot do anything about that. And we have to go to the Legislature to get legislation to raise the ceiling anytime there's let's say a catastrophic thing that we need to fix or whatever. But generally otherwise, it's treated like a regular CIP request at the Legislature. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So a small maintenance on the harbor comes out of the Boating Special Fund, is that correct? MR. MASUDA: Special fund, yeah. And the Boating Special Fund is made up of what we collect in fees for mooring slips and all of that. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So when the fishermen pay their dues for, you know, fish caught and different things. That goes into the Boating Special Fund? MR. MASUDA: Commercial fishing license and fees go into Aquatic Resource or Boating Special Fund? Do you know? Page 10 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 MR. MCCALL: The fees that we collect directly for like, yeah, commercial operations from their gross receipts goes into our Boating Special Fund, yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So the Boating Special Fund MR. MASUDA: Fishing license is not the fishing catch license I think is administered, if I'm not mistaken, by Aquatic Resources. And Boating administers like commercial ocean recreation, not fishing. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And then do the funds in the Boating Special Fund, do they lapse back into the General Fund for the State, or do they stay within that Boating Special Fund? MR. MASUDA: There are times when funds from Special Funds have been scooped up like this pass session and put back into the General Fund for extraordinary reasons. But generally speaking, we don't have enough in the Boating Special Funds to take care of all the problems we have at all of the small boat harbors. And when you look at someplace like Pohoiki, you know, the money we may spend there out of the Boating Special Funds is extraordinary because we don't have any slips at Pohoiki from where we can collect money. There's no rent collected at Pohoiki. You know, not like Honokohau, or Wailoa, or Kawaihae. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I think I share with my coworker from Puna that we're almost three years in now. We got to move ahead of this project. And yeah, our fishermen can't fish right now unless they go to Hilo or they go to Ka`u. So it's really putting us at a disadvantage. I know you guys are working, but I'd just light a fire under those guys'okoles above you and just get them moving. MR. MASUDA: I'm number two in the department, and I'm giving this a lot more time than almost any other harbor. Maybe Honokohau gets a lot of my time. But believe me, we're giving it—it's not time, it's other bureaucratic humbug when we got to go through layers of government and agencies. But we're going through them, step by step. We don't want to screw this up. We want the access. Believe me, if we could just bring one dredge over there and just dredge the damn thing out, I would have done it. But we've got to follow the law. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Understood. Okay, thank you. Thank you for your guys' time today, appreciate it. MR. MASUDA: Who are you? Page 11 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: You probably know my Auntie, Diane Kaneali`i. MR. MASUDA: You look like the Lone Ranger, so I couldn't tell. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: We all look like that. I represent District 5 which we tie down to Kalapana. I don't have the boat ramp in my district, but a lot of folks in my district use the ramp. MR. MASUDA: Okay, so you're down to Puna? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, Puna mauka. MR. MASUDA: Awesome. Well, thank you. I'm glad you're pushing. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Mahalo. Okay, I yield Chair. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Council Member Richards? MR. RICHARDS: Thank you Chair. Aloha Bob, how are you? MR. MASUDA: Hey, Doctor Richards, my doctor. He takes care of horses, cows, and me. MR. RICHARDS: That's why he's still going strong, right Bob? MR. MASUDA: Absolutely brah. Good to see you. MR. RICHARDS: Good to see you. MR. MASUDA: I thank all of you on the Council. We really appreciate you guys' support and encouragement on all the projects we're doing in Hilo. Thank you. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you. And thanks, Bob, for your efforts. Listening to the conversation, as we're talking story. Going forward thinking about this project, if we can find funding through the American Jobs Plan, is there a way that we could work this in? You know, you talked about going back to the Legislature, but the Legislature is going to be adjourned. Is there a way to possibly use some funding there to help this out? Page 12 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 MR. MASUDA: Any kind of funding you guys can help us get directly. I would recommend getting funding that can benefit the fishermen directly. That's who needs the help. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, so if we can figure out something that way, we can get this thing done and then we'll figure out how to catch up the paperwork bumbai, is that it? MR. MASUDA: I think the best way to do this is to try and get some Federal funds, so all of you writing together to four of our delegates. You know, we have good people in our delegation, all four of them. And all four get a lot of aloha for the Big Island. So, you know, hearing from you folks on special kind of legislation that can help, especially in the Puna area. Because boats, subsistence, and commercial, you know, fishing is getting killed right now. I keep telling everybody on Oahu, if you think about Oahu, the distance between Hilo and Ka`u or Kona, or I mean South Point is sort of like, around all of Oahu, I think, or almost. Yeah Finn? MR. MCCALL: Yep. MR. MASUDA: If you think of Oahu as not having a single boat access to the Ocean. That's the problem the Puna lawai`a have. And you know, we've got to be very sensitive to that. So I'm trying to find—any way you can get money to help these guys, you know, economically is going to be critical. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, I appreciate that Bob. So I think that also sets the course of the direction where we can try to help out and get this done. So appreciate that. Thank you Chair, I yield. Take care, Bob. MR. MASUDA: Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Richards. Any other questions? Go ahead, Ms. Lee Loy MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. Aloha, Uncle Bob. It's Sue Lee Loy, but actually had a question for Jon or Finn. In the EA process, you mentioned the alternatives and trying to navigate that process. How many alternatives at minimum do we need? And then, is there any processes that we can run concurrently to maybe try and move this process along quicker? MR. MASUDA: I'm going to let Jon answer that. But I can tell you, any other way to access the ocean between Hilo, Kumukahi, all the way down to South Point is going to cost mega-million dollars and another ten years. So I don't know why they're making us do this alternative thing. Because everybody knows Page 13 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 there is no alternative. If there was one we would have been digging there already. Jon, all yours. MR. KATIHIRA: Yeah, so I'll just add,the alternatives that Bob is talking about is basically, different locations, different sites. And of course, those are different alternatives. But what we decided as of last week's discussion with FEMA and HIEMA is, they're not going to provide funding for a brand new site. It has to be at Pohoiki, and the whole intent is to restore it back to pre-disaster conditions. So basically, what we are looking at now is what types of alternatives can we come up with to restore Pohoiki boat ramp. And I think in that light, we only have like one or two possible options, but not enough engineering has been done to determine what is the best option. So that's the major engineering work that we have in front of us. Once we have those alternatives identified and a recommendation made, then we can proceed with the EA, the Environmental Assessment. And then, you know, the Environmental Assessment like the name suggests looks at the different environmental impacts associated with these alternatives and/or the recommendation itself. But trust me, I know the urgency. I told Auntie Ku`ulei earlier, I'm super impatient by nature. So even for me, you know, I've been involved since July of last year. And it's killing me that we haven't really progressed too much. So I'm antsy as anybody else in this area and I want to get going. And once we do have a clear path, we're going to be going simultaneously running in parallel with all the different things that we need to do. Whether it's the Environmental Assessment, permits themselves, design. Anything that we can do in parallel, we will. MR. MCCALL: And I'd just like to add,too, in terms of your question on how many alternatives, I believe typically you have to look at at least three different alternatives. We've got the one alternative that we're currently looking at, which was this kind of scope of work that I showed in my presentation where it involves just dredging and placing those marine mattresses to protect the slope. That's kind of the minimum size of the scope. Another alternative which was proposing a report that was done by Sea Engineering back in June of 2019. And that was to essentially build out two enormous breakwater structures that go out into the ocean. That being the most permanent and most robust type of alternative. And the cost estimate for that project was $38 million. You know, and so, if we're looking at, well we only have $1.5 million from the State, and if FEMA provides 75 percent, that would give us up to $6 million to work with. So that's kind of where we're going to be focusing our efforts in terms of developing those alternatives. Something that's going to fit within that budget. Page 14 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 And you know, we'll also evaluate that very robust project of building the huge breakwaters and everything like that. That may be one of the alternatives, but what we actually end up doing and what our preferred alternative is probably going to be something of much smaller scale. MR. MASUDA: Finn,just say Hilo Harbor is one alternative; Ka`u is the other one. That's two of them, no make sense already. Go for Pohoiki. MS. LEE LOY: But,thank you, gentlemen. You guys got the dream squad. You know, Jon's on board. And you know, with Uncle Bob in that number two seat. But you also got a lot of political strength with Ms. Kierkiewicz, you know, Greggor Ilagan, and then over at our Senate with Joy. So,thank you so much, and gentlemen, you know, whatever help you folks need, please—you know, Tim seems to know that there's lots of money over with the Recovery Act. So, thank you, Chair. I yield. MR. MASUDA: And thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. And you should know that, you know, Jon and Finn also, but I hear from Ku`ulei. I cannot call her Auntie because I'm way older than her. But Ku`ulei writes me more than twice a week. And Mililani calls me. We talk story at least twice a week. So, you know, we are conscious of what is needed. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Alright, Matt, go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I just had one follow-up question, gentlemen. I mean, we're talking about funding, and we're talking about the Boating Special Fund. That State Legislative Auditor's report for 2014-2018, understandably that's two years ago, a little bit, maybe three years ago. But at that time, there was about $11 million of an ending balance in there and about $3 million in encumbrances, which leaves a fairly good portion of money in there to be used for what is described in this fund as planning, developing, operating, administering, and maintenance of small boat harbors, launch ramps, and other facilities. Are those funds available for our use going forward, if needed? MR. MCCALL: I don't know, I don't have access to that kind of financial information, so I don't know how much is in our Boating Special Funds. But as Bob mentioned before, we have a spending limit every year. So even if we had $8 million, the legislature only authorizes us to spend, I think, a little over a million or something like that a year. And also, keep in mind that that Boating Special Fund is designated to be used for all our facilities in the State. And I understand Pohoiki is a huge priority and if I could take money out of the Page 15 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 Boating Special Fund and put it straight into Pohoiki, I could, but we have obligations to our other facilities also. And just, you know, we have over $28 million worth of deferred maintenance for all of our facilities. MR. MASUDA: The simple answer though, Finn onto this question, is the Boating Special Fund is not intended for Capital Improvement Projects like dredging a whole new access. MR. MCCALL: Correct. MR. MASUDA: And that's why we're going to FEMA and using the already allocated funds and trying to stay within that, because that's guaranteed money that can cover dredging. We cannot use the Boating Special Fund, that's for fixing ramps, roads, you know, all that;piers. That's not for digging the access. That would be a whole new harbor CIP. MR. KATIHIRA: Correct. You know, we can't use our Boating Special Funds for large CIP-type projects. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I think I thought about it as an option because we did discuss at one point using this as maintenance or referring to what we're doing as maintenance of the channel way for the harbor. MR. MASUDA: It's restoration. Maintaining means the channel's already there and we're just keeping it clean. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: It's a very similar definition. I'm being creative. That's my job. MR. MASUDA: Believe me, trust me. We talk to our lawyers constantly. We cannot jump over one slip-up without talking to them. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. Thank you for the clarification. MR. MASUDA: And you know, the State Auditor's report is not like the Bible. So really just, that's it. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you Bob, appreciate it. Okay, aloha. MR. MASUDA: Aloha. We all got to work as a team. And you can count on us. Page 16 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Yes, any other questions? Alright seeing no further questions from the Committee, I just want to mahalo you, Deputy Director Masuda, Mr. McCall, and Mr. Katihira, for being here to answer questions today. And certainly, Deputy Director, it is always nice to know that we have somebody from Hawaii Island rooting for us and supporting us; and working on our behalf over there in Honolulu. So, mahalo for all that you do. With that, I will take MR. MASUDA: Doctor Kimball, I'm always cheering for you because I love a scientist over there, too. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Bob. Alright, going ahead, we'll take the vote on the motion on the floor, which is to close Comm. 209. All those in favor? Vote on Comm. 209: The motion to close file on Comm. 209 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: Alright, moving on to our next item on the agenda, back to Comm. 29.1. Mr. Clerk. Return to Order The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. of Business: Comm. 29.1: HAWAII STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES' JANUARY 25 AND FEBRUARY 25, 2021, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES From Council Member Heather Kimball, dated March 17, 2021. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Can I have a motion to close file on Comm. 29.1? Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 29.1. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. CHR. KIMBALL: Any questions or comments from the group? Alright, we'll go ahead and take the vote. All of those in favor of closing Comm. 29.1? Page 17 GOREDC-7 April 20,2021 Vote on Comm. 29.1: The motion to close file on Comm. 29.1 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. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Order RESOLUTIONS: of Resolutions. (There were none.) BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) CHR. KIMBALL: Alright, can I have a motion to adjourn. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 3:08 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by 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: We are adjourned. Thank you. Approved: VIIA+,, S/i�(2oz/ eather L. Kimb 1, Chair (Date) Government Operations, Relations, and Economic Development Committee HK/dt Page 18