HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2021-09-08 2020-2022 Hawaii County Council
22nd Session
Hawaii County Building
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawaii
September 8, 2021
INVOCATION: Pastor Eric Anderson of Church of the Holy Cross gave the morning's invocation.
CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawaii County Council was called to order at
ORDER: 9:00 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair
Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Vice Chair
Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member
Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member
Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member
Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member
Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member
Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member(via videoconference from Waimea)
Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference from Kona)
PLEDGE OF The Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of
ALLEGIANCE: Allegiance.
(At this time, Ms. Lee Loy led the Council in the Pledge of
Allegiance.)
PETITIONS, The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Petitions,
MEMORIALS, Memorials, Certificates of Merit, and Expressions of Condolence.
CERTIFICATES
OF MERIT, AND (There were none.)
EXPRESSIONS OF
CONDOLENCE:
STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items.
PUBLIC ON
AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by
the Chair:
Michael Doolittle: Bill 60 (Comm. 346), in support.
Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
Shirley David: Res. 179-21 (Comm. 348); and
(representing St. Michael's Bill 61 (Comm. 357), in support.
Pastoral Council and Community
Alliance Partners West Hawaii
Faith-Based Hui)
Toni Symons: Res. 179-21 (Comm. 348), in support.
(representing Ulu Wini and
Community Alliance Partners)
Kaikea Blakemore: Res. 179-21 (Comm. 348); and
(representing Neighborhood Place Bill 61 (Comm. 357), in support.
of Puna)
Kristen Alice: Res. 179-21 (Comm. 348); and
(representing HOPE Bill 61 (Comm. 357), in support.
Servies Hawaii)
Mills Sigrah: Res. 179-21 (Comm. 348), in support.
Paul Normann: Res. 179-21 (Comm. 348), in support.
(representing Neighborhood Place
of Puna and Community
Alliance Partners)
Patrick Hurney: Res. 179-21 (Comm. 348); and
(representing Habitat for Bill 61 (Comm. 357), in support.
Humanity —Hawai`i Island and
Community Alliance Partners)
Helynna Alee: Res. 179-21 (Comm. 348), in support.
APPROVAL The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Approval
OF MINUTES: of Minutes.
Vote on Approval Ms. Lee Loy moved to approve the Minutes of July 7,
of Minutes: 2021. Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the
(Approved) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
Vote on Approval Ms. Lee Loy moved to approve the Minutes of July 21,
of Minutes: 2021. Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the
(Approved) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you.
COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
CATIONS: Communications.
Comm. 53.7: REPORT OF ATTENDANCE OF COUNCIL MEMBERS INABA, LEE LOY,
AND VILLEGAS AT THE KONA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN
ACTION COMMITTEE MEETING HELD VIA VIDEOCONFERENCING ON
AUGUST 12, 2021, PURSUANT TO HAWAII REVISED STATUTES
SECTION 92-2.5(e)
From Council Member Holeka Goro Inaba, dated August 13, 2021.
Motion to Close Mr. Inaba moved to close file on Comm. 53.7. Seconded
File: by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Inaba, go ahead.
MR. INABA: Yeah, it was a joint meeting of all of the CDP (Community
Development Plan) action committees, Kona being one of them. Throughout the
meeting, there were, at one point, three of us on the meeting. So,just in full
disclosure that we were there.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you for that. Any other discussion? Seeing none, all those
in favor of filing Communication 53.7,please say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
Vote on The motion to close file on Comm. 53.7 was carried by the
Comm. 53.7: following voice vote:
Filed
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of
RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions.
Res. 179-21: AUTHORIZES THE EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN CODE REQUIREMENTS,
PURSUANT TO SECTION 201H-38 OF THE HAWAII REVISED STATUTES,
FOR THE HONUA`ULA AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT IN
KAILUA-KONA, HAWAII, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEYS: 7-4-004:014
AND 092
Honua`ula LLC requests a change of zoning from Agricultural 1-acre to Multiple
Family Residential 2,000-square feet and seeks exemption from Hawaii County
Code Sections 5-7-1 and 5-7-3 to waive County permit fees to develop 111
affordable rental units for persons whose income is under sixty percent of the Area
Median Income.
Reference: Comm. 348
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz (B/R)
Approve: PC-28
(Note: Comm. 348.20, from Housing Administrator Susan Kunz dated
September 7, 2021, transmitting material relating to traffic issues, was circulated.)
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 179-21 and Planning
Committee Report No. 28. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I believe we have representatives from
the Office of Housing as well as the Planning Department here. We also have the
applicant and members of his team available via Zoom. But I did want to ask
Administrator Kunz if she could walk us through the communication that was
filed and submitted to the Council. It's in our pinkie folder;
Communication 348.20. And there was a lot of discussion in Committee related
to traffic in the area outside of this project.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
And so, I just want to make sure that we are seeing and recognizing the fact that
traffic is an issue and that there is work being done by the Department of Public
Works to mitigate existing traffic, which is a separate issue from any other traffic
mitigation measures that are being prescribed for this proposed project. So,
Administrator Kunz, do you want to walk us through that? And I'm trying to see
if I can get Director Rodenhurst here in chambers if he isn't already on Zoom.
(Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Susan Kunz came forward to
address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing.)
MS. KUNZ: Okay, great. Good morning, everybody. My name is Susan Kunz.
I'm the Housing Administrator for the Office of Housing and Community
Development. I want to thank all of you for this consideration. This particular
project Honua`ula Affordable Housing Project—is located in West Hawaii.
It's all affordable; 60 percent AMI (Area Median Income), 112 units. So, at the
last Committee meeting, we did talk through a lot of the traffic issues that
challenges this area. And I guess some of the concern is that,potentially, the
project could bring to impact further, right, the traffic.
So, I've been working very closely with the developer and with
Director Rodenhurst. What you see before you is a letter from the Director,
Traffic Division of Department of Public Works, outlining the mitigating
measures that they will work with the developer on and, in addition, what Public
Works will also be continuing to work on to address these issues in the area. Did
you want me to go through each item that's listed in the letter?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah, Administrator, I think you should do that. I don't
see Director Rodenhurst here, but I also want to call up Mr. Mireles if possible
because I just want to make sure and confirm that he is in agreement with
everything that has been prescribed by Public Works. It seems that the entity is
going, I think, above and beyond to contribute to the situation. So, I just want to
make sure that that is stated for the record, and that he is aware of what is being
prescribed and confident that he is able to meet these measures.
MS. KUNZ: I have seen that as well. And I must make that statement that they
have gone over and beyond to partner with us and to work with the County to
make sure that all of these issues get taken care of. But the letter that's before you
that was sent in by Public Works outlines mitigating measures which include cost-
sharing on the implementation of a left-turn restriction at the Palani Road and
Uluaoa Street intersection, cost-sharing on the design and construction of the
traffic signal at the Palani Road and Uluaoa Street intersection, as deemed
necessary by Public Works. So, these are items that they need to complete studies
on before they move forward.
Cost-sharing on the design and construction of an alternate route. For example,
Kealaka`a Street extension is deemed necessary by Public Works. And these are
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
items the next few items are going to be items that the developer has agreed to
do themselves. Design and construction of the following: A crosswalk crossing
Kealaka`a and Manawalea intersection; solar rectangular rapid-flashing beacons
at the crosswalk; curb extension bulb-outs at a minimum of 30 feet on each side
of the crosswalk; and to ensure adequate line-of-sight at Manawalea intersection,
a no-parking restriction at the development driveway—and to address any other
traffic impacts that may be caused by the project.
That is what has been outlined in the letter from Public Works. If
Director Rodenhurst is available, maybe I can ask that he chime in if he has any
comments regarding the letter.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Administrator. He's walking forward.
MS. KUNZ: Okay, great.
(Note: At this time, Public Works Director Steven Rodenhurst came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Good morning, Director.
MR. RODENHURST: Good morning. Ikaika Rodenhurst, Director of Public
Works. Yeah, so, Aaron Takaba and our Traffic Engineering staff reviewed the
traffic study. We've outlined some mitigations here. We took into account some
of the comments that were provided afterwards regarding the school right up the
road. There is data that was provided on that as far as anticipated traffic
generation from that. Current level of service still meets our County standards for
the roads in the immediate vicinity.
For the improvements that we're looking at that we have outlined here as far as
implementation of left-turn restriction, design and construction of a traffic signal,
design and construction of an alternate route, some of these are a lot further down
the line, especially alternative route.
We're grateful that Carlo and his team have been willing to participate in that. I
think that goes above and beyond what's typically expected of a project such as
this for affordable housing for a 201H project. The left-turn restriction, we're
looking at possible ways of doing that. There might be some cost-effective
methods to do that and depending on what's most appropriate for that
intersection. We'll be working with Carlo on that.
As far as the traffic signal, that requires a little bit more intensive study. A traffic
signal warrant—that requires all the existing data. And for that, I think what this
traffic study has pointed out to us is that we have a problem currently with that
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
that we need to address as DPW (Department of Public Works). Now, it looks
like it's not going to be severely impacted by this project based off of this traffic
study, but it's something we are addressing independently.
And I wouldn't expect Carlo and their affordable housing project at this time to
address that, but they are willing to share with us in the cost of that. So, that's
something that we are working on with DPW as far as scheduling and seeing what
we can do to address that as soon as possible. And that's independent of this.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you. I was going through some of the
testimony, and one of the written testimony talked about our particular school not
being in session when this last TIAR (Traffic Impact Analysis Report) was
completed. And so, the department's position on requiring or requesting the
developer to do another one now that that school is in session, for the record could
you just share with us what your determination is on that?
MR. RODENHURST: So, they actually went forward and revised that study to
incorporate anticipated traffic based off of the traffic, sorry, the ITE(Institute of
Transportation Engineers) Trip Generation Manual to get, kind of, anticipated off
of that school.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So, a more accurate picture based on previous studies that
had been done in the area or just formulas?
MR. RODENHURST: It's formulated based off of the anticipated trips from that
school. So, it's not accurate as of it is the existing data, but it is used as what our
standards are for anticipating those trips from a school that size, of that
enrollment, and using that to modify it. And what we saw was the immediate
vicinity didn't change to the County standards—still within County standards for
those intersections. And so our current improvements, as we have requested in
here, as well as our potential future ones, it hasn't changed that.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. Thank you for the clarification and
explaining that. And then, Carlo, if I could just ask you to come forward and
share with the Council. Just want to make sure that you're on board with
everything that has been identified here in the memo.
(Note: At this time, Chief Operating Officer Carlo Mireles, Honua`ula
LLC, applicant, came forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. MIRELES: Good morning, Chair. Good morning, Council Members. A
quick answer is yes. We've always felt—
MS.
eltMS. KIERKIEWICZ: So sorry. Could you just introduce yourself for the record?
Thank you.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MR. MIRELES: Okay, sorry.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thanks.
MR. MIRELES: My name is Carlo Mireles. I'm the Chief Operating Officer of
Honua`ula. Present with us is our lawyer Ron Kim and my partner, Bruce Beard,
joining us from Seattle. He's supposed to be here on Zoom, but I don't see him
just yet.
Going back to the traffic and the issues of mitigation are things that we addressed
from Day 1 even before our community meeting, knowing that this was
something that was a sensitive subject; me living in the area knowing the
congestion in the particular area. And we've always felt strongly that our project
would be in a position to be able to instigate the conversations needed to address
the congestion in the area; and felt that with those conversations, that we'd be in a
position with our project to be able to find solutions sooner than later if our
project wasn't even built.
So, the mitigating suggestions that were listed there are all acceptable to us; easily
doable within the funding parameters that we have already. And we look forward
to being part of the solution.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you. Administrator Kunz, I just got a
technical question. The items that are outlined by Public Works in this
communication, the agreement that you have with the developer, there's language
in there to sort of have a catchall for what's being described. Just want to make
sure that whatever is agreed upon is honored and that there is that contractual
obligation that sort of covers our butt here.
MS. KUNZ: Yes. We do have a development agreement that has already been
executed. But we are working to tighten up the language of it to reflect the
cooperation between the property of the company and Public Works. So, we will
add language that says something to the effect that they will complete
improvements to the infrastructure needed for traffic mitigation due to the
project—something like that. But we will be completing that, adopting it; will be
recorded very shortly.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Thank you for clarifying that. I'm going to
continue to lend my support for this particular project. I was incredibly moved by
the testimony that was submitted by individuals, members of the public that have
shared very openly that they're struggling with housing, or providing housing for
individuals that are coming to relocate here because this is the last real mecca of
affordable housing in the State. And so I'm moved by that.
And if we are really serious about tackling this affordable housing crisis as we say
we are, I think by adopting this resolution we are going to be moving one step in
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
the right direction. And I just have to honor and recognize and acknowledge good
individuals like you, Carlo you and your team. I think the intention is good and
it is there. I welcome more collaboration between your group and the County to
increase affordable housing inventory around Hawaii Island. Thank you, Chair,
for the latitude.
MR. MIRELES: Thank you.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I appreciate it. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Mr. Inaba, go ahead.
MR. INABA: Thank you. I just want to clarify real quick. Thank you,
Mr. Rodenhurst, for the letter and, Administrator Kunz, for putting that into the
agreement. It's mentioned that the level of service isn't changed, but I just want
to make sure. According to this engineering summary, the first point says there
are no changes in the level of service of any of the intersections. And the last
bullet says adding the estimated school traffic changes the LOS (level of service)
at two conditions. So, I just want to make sure we have the right story going on
here.
MR. RODENHURST: Yes. So just to clarify, there's no level of service change
into intersections immediate to this development and to the area next to the
school. Now as far as these two intersections that go to Palani Road, which is at
Kealaka'a at the bottom as well as Uluaoa, those ones we've already addressed
as—well, the Uluaoa one we addressed as having an issue that we're going to be
addressing for traffic. As far as the level of service right now, I believe it's below
what our current County standard is. So that one,we needed to get going on a
traffic signal warrant study to identify the best possible scenario for that.
As far as the bottom one, as it says over here, it did drop it from a level of service
of a"C"to a"D,"which is within our County standards. But that doesn't mean
we're ignoring it as being we're not doing anything about it. We're looking at
what that means. Does that mean we have to change traffic signal timing? It's a
system. It requires a lot of different parts into it, as well as this change at Uluaoa.
So at this point in time, we don't have to make any major changes to that, even
with this traffic generation. Does that answer the question?
MR. INABA: It does. And thank you again, Carlo and your team, for getting this
done. We did have those neighbors share about Makua Lani School not being in
session when this last one was completed. But I provided them the data from the
school, and they were able to incorporate it. So, mahalo to them.
And I think moving forward, I would ask that our departments make sure that
these kinds of things are ironed out before it comes to this body. I don't think it's
right for a developer to have to deal with these questions when they should have
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
been done prior to coming to us. It's been a concern from the very beginning
when they first had their community meeting, and here we are on the last day of it
still trying to explain things. So, I think it would just be beneficial to streamline
good projects like this by getting things done in a timely manner so when it comes
to us, we're free flowing. So that's it. Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Thank you for the
information this morning and for doing well as far as public outreach—it's
important—and for doing some of the concerns that came from the community. I
wanted to follow up on Nos. 1, 2, and 3 on the communication that was given to
us today. As far as the cost-sharing, what is your estimate on some of these costs
as far as left-turn restriction, construction and design of a traffic signal at Palani
and Uluaoa, and then as well as the Kealaka`a Street extension?
MR. RODENHURST: So as discussed earlier, we don't have estimates really
available. For No. 1, we're still going through what's the most appropriate
measure, what's the most cost-effective measure, what we can do there. There's a
couple of different strategies we have for that. And once we finalize that, we'll be
able to get an estimate and we'll be in coordination with Carlo and know what we
have on there.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay.
MR. RODENHURST: As far as No. 2, traffic signal, we needed to get the traffic
and the warrant study going, and that's going to—that study as well as what that
results in, we'll get that. But right now, we don't have an estimate on that at this
time.
And then finally, the extension. We don't have any current plans that are
something that we have on the books for this year. As far as when that
extension's going to happen, we're going to have to go work with Planning and
see when that's going to be in the works. Because right now, we don't have an
estimate for that either. So all those are pending estimates. We don't have a
determination on that. The first one will probably have the quickest turnaround
on an estimate.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And then when did we know that this is a
requirement of the project?
MR. RODENHURST: This was based off of the most recent study. So, this was
made as of yesterday.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Then I strongly echo Mr. Inaba's comment
because this really doesno, it's just concerning that we waited this long. And
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
then what I'm worried about is it says, "cost-sharing." So, the developer as well
as the County are going to be sharing these costs, yet we have no idea what they
are and we have a 45-day ticker on this. And so,we're going to approve this
project with costs unknown for both County and developer from what I'm
understanding right now. Is that correct?
MR. RODENHURST: Correct. And I want to make the point that these three
items are identified as items that aren't impacted directly from their project.
They're willing to share in that because they recognize that this is the area this is,
and they're willing to work with us on that. So that's why they're left at the cost-
sharing, but we're going through those estimates right now. They're not
immediate impacts at this point in time.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's awesome, honestly, that they're
willing to help us. Because some of these, while the development may impact the
travel and the amount of cars on the road and the need for some of these, I
wouldn't say that they're in the exact same area as the development itself. So that
they're willing to help with that is wonderful. But for the County's side, there's a
cost to the taxpayer for this, and I'm just wondering what it is. I support the
development; we need the housing. But this is worrisome that we don't know
what the costs are. Many, many times brought before us, different things have
come up. And there's always at least an estimate of what the costs are. In this
case, we have no idea.
MR. RODENHURST: And as discussed, these are problems that we identified
through this traffic study as far as the Palani and Uluaoa Road. And so, we're
working to address that. And as was put in the traffic study, this project does not
decrease that level of service for that road. It's already below the standard and we
need to address that. So, through my lens, this traffic intersection is DPW's
responsibility, and we're getting towards addressing that and providing an
estimate.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Okay, thank you, Mr. Rodenhurst.
Thank you, sir.
CHR. DAVID: Are you ?
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Anyone else?
MS. VILLEGAS: Chair David?
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Villegas. I was just going to say to you and
Mr. Richards that when you need to say something,just holler. Thank you.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MS. VILLEGAS: I will. No worries. Thank you so much.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah. Director Rodenhurst, I just thank you for
acknowledging the already existing issues with the roadways connecting there to
Palani Road. I find it a little bit ironic and unfortunate, although I am otherwise
grateful, that the investigation and the considerations being given to this
development and this housing project, and its potential effects on this
neighborhood and the roadways.
I'm grateful that it's brought to light the already under-standard—below-standard
roadways there and the need for them to get some much-needed TLC (tender
loving care) and work through DPW. And I am hopeful that there will be a
continued sense of urgency and consideration for the multitude of roads and
roadways that we have here on the west side, and the need for mitigation to be
applied and improvements to be applied to these roadways.
It's often the case in life that until something similar comes up or something that
highlights an area that does things are otherwise overlooked. So I am grateful
that, in this case, we are recognizing the needs for improvements there. I also
really appreciate my colleague Mr. Kaneali`i-KI einfelder's perspective that it is
really important that we see some numbers and gather a better idea of what that's
going to cost.
However, in the interest of this area and the traffic that does go through there with
the school and withI am grateful for the improved connector roads that do exist
in this area and around the schools and the neighborhoods there. Far improved
from when I grew up on Palani Road. But it is a major artery and thoroughfare
through the west side. And so, I am grateful for your recognition,
acknowledgement, and continued dedication to improving the standards of these
roadways.
I also want to give my mahalo to this housing development, the management team
there, and, Carlo, for your willingness to pay the impact fees up front. I firmly
believe, from what I have seen historically, projects that are willing to pay up-
front impact fees and improve the overall infrastructure of an area that they are
going to be entering in the long run, end up with a more positive relationship with
the community positive impact all around. And I am hopeful that that will be
the case, and this will be a model for any and all future housing development
plans that there be collaborative efforts to mitigate and improve our infrastructure,
which is poorly lacking—severely lacking.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
And so, I just guess there's a bit of thankfulness and encouragement to continue
taking a better look at our roadways as we continue to experience expansion in
our population and density. And we have a dire need for more urban
infrastructure if we are going to continue on that path. And with that, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else? Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. Thank you for your willingness to partner. I
actually wanted to take a minute to talk to Director Kern—if you could come
forward. And just maybe as some of the strategies Director Rodenhurst and for
the developer on how this collaboration could work.
(Note: At this time, Planning Director Zendo Kern came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MS. LEE LOY: Director Kern, I know that the County, through various change
of zone projects, we have a fair share fund. Has that been explored to help
expedite some of these improvements that could actually get stood up quicker?
And how much money is there, do you know?
MR. KERN: Good morning, Madam Chair, members of the County Council.
Councilwoman Lee Loy, I'm not sure exactly how far it's been explored. We did
get notice that it could be a potential there. So, we looked into it and we have
about$55,000 in funds that are available for that area. I thought there might be
more, but it gets used up pretty quickly out there as there's a lot of need. So, I
think that could be a good option to work with, and our department would be
happy to work with DPW and the applicant to make it happen.
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, and I'm also thinking about a project that we're doing in
Hilo around the school, which is a quick-build project, with funds from DOT
(Department of Transportation). And so, I'm just sharing this for Council
Member Inaba and Council Member Villegas that I think what
Director Rodenhurst mentioned is those numbers will be developed. But I think
there are other areas of funding which the County has that could leverage that and
actually expedite some of the improvements that are being requested by this letter.
So, Director Rodenhurst, Director Kern, if we could look at those as strategies,
also, so that the community can actually feel some of the relief that is actually
already existing with that traffic.
MR. KERN: Yeah,just to add to that, I think the quick-build program is a good
option to explore some of these areas. We're working right now on some other
projects, looking at how we can mitigate traffic issues, traffic concerns, by not
using massive amounts of money for improvements, but strategic well-placed
improvements. So, it's kind of exciting. I think that's another really good idea.
Happy to work with anybody.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, and I also know that this body, last term, adopted a
Complete Streets—kind of a crayon box—which also has not only improvements,
but visual prompts on the roadway that actually would allow motorists and
pedestrians kind of the safety that they need with the bulb-outs or just striping on
the road, which actually slows traffic down. And because the school is nearby,
we could leverage that.
MR. KERN: Yeah, I was actually quite surprised at the amount of benefits you
can get just by doing some of those things. So I think it's, again, a really good
tool to use in the right areas.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. I'm going to yield but, really, thank you for
bringing this project forward. I'm really excited to see that amount of housing
kind of flushed into a community where we need housing so badly. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Mr. Richards, I saw your hand up?
MR. RICHARDS: Yes.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you, Chair. First of all, Carlo, thank you. This is
what we need to do to move forward. And so, thanks for putting this effort. And
when you hear testimony from Patrick Hurney of Habitat for Humanity and
Paul Normann from Neighborhood Place supporting the need for the affordable
housing. Chair, I had a question for Administrator Kunz. Is she still on the line?
CHR. DAVID: I believe she is.
MR. RICHARDS: I can see Susan. Question: Do we have a number? What is
our AMI right now? Because, I know this is going to be running at 60 percent of
AMI. What is our current County AMI? And for the community, it's "Adjusted
Median Income."
MS. KUNZ: I'm sorry, is that question for me?
MR. RICHARDS: It was, Susan, sorry.
MS. KUNZ: Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not sure I understand your question.
MR. RICHARDS: What is the current AMI that we are targeting that's the
60 percent of? And this is more for the community out there. Do you have that
number off the top of your head? I know it's changed a little bit.
MS. KUNZ: So, you want to know what the income level is for a person at
60 percent AMI?
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MR. RICHARDS: Yes.
MS. KUNZ: Okay. So, let me put it this way: For a family of four at 60 percent
AMI, they are earning at about$65,000.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you. All right, I appreciate that, Susan.
MS. KUNZ: You're welcome.
MR. RICHARDS: Getting back to this, Normann Paul had pointed out we have
a need in our County for approximately 13, 14,000 affordable units by 2025.
Rough math on that one, we're looking at 3,000 units needed per year if we are
going to attain that. And so, Carlo, thank you for stepping up and trying to get
this thing done. Thanks, everybody, for trying to move this forward. I'm hoping
that what we are doing with this is showing that we can put people together and
move it forward because we need this housing desperately. The population
continues to grow.
And I get the traffic and the need for traffic mitigation, and we will be working
towards that, but I like the innovative way of trying to approach that and get that
done. Ignoring the need for housing because we're just concerned about traffic is
not the way to move our County forward. We have to go and we have to go very
aggressively on supporting these projects. So, wholeheartedly support this.
Thanks for bringing this forward. Again, when we have champions about housing
going forward, we need to do this and we, as a Council, have to embrace this and
celebrate that we're moving forward. I will definitely be supporting this. Thanks,
Chair, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. I had a follow-up question
regarding traffic counts, and this has come up before. And maybe you can help
me, Mr. Mireles. How do you estimate how many vehicle trips you have for your
development? Is there a standard that you use?
MR. MIRELES: There is a standard. We have a licensed engineer that's the
professional that can calculate that, but a physical count was done. And as much
as I appreciate the comments about the efficiencies and the communications with
the different departments, and on the subject of traffic, when we did it originally
before our August 17'h community meeting, the school, the DOE(Department of
Education) at the time had decided to shut down schools. And anybody that
knows the dynamics of ordering a traffic study, it's not something that you order
today and get the next day kind of deal.
So, it takes weeks of preparation to be able to staff the amount of people needed
for the different intersections that would be potentially impacting the project.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
And so, because that was sort of questioned and there are different calculations
that are national standards for traffic studies that can calculate the amount of
traffic to a particular project, we did do another study. And then that's the one
that was done on August 13'', when school was back in session, to identify and to,
basically, eliminate the COVID (coronavirus disease) factor and assumptions that
you would have on that.
And obviously, COVID rocked our world and there were a lot of different things
that we didn't know how that affected traffic. With kids at home and parents
maybe not working or having different schedules, that original study was
obviously updated. We did another one to estimate the amount of students at
Makua Lani High School, which is a hundred and, I think, ninety-two students,
and that was revised into the traffic study. So, there's the physical counts along
with the different calculations that go into multiple years that can determine the
level of service. And for our County, "A," "B," "C," and "D" are acceptable, and
anything above that needs to be looked at more closely.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And then how many vehicles is the
development itself getting? Are vehicle trips per—we had a subdivision come
before us for planning. And I'm just trying to wrap my head around what is that
number that's used to estimate the number of vehicles that the proposed
development is going to have on the surrounding roadways.
MR. MIRELES: I don't know that specific one. Maybe Director Rodenhurst
might have a better answer for that in terms of what that assumption is. We do
know that we made every effort in our project to go beyond the 1.25 minimum
requirement for parking and are now at a two-car-per-unit number. And so there
are calculations, assumptions based upon those particular dynamics.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you for that because I
think we had talked about having one car per household. And I think nowadays,
most families have, let's say, a minimum of two cars per household because both
mom and dad are trying to work at the same time. So, I'm just trying to gauge a
little bit because you have experience in the field. So, I was just trying to gauge
from your perspective what amount of vehicles per unit you're looking at. So,
you're estimating about two vehicles per unit or at least providing parking for
that.
MR. MIRELES: That's correct. And those that are familiar with the civil
engineering and the architectural design of a project of this size and then being
able to fulfill the different County requirements that are tied to the size of parking,
the different types of parking, the types of landscaping that are tied to parking as
well are all part of an equation that really tested the team. And I'm very proud of
our team for being able to be successful in figuring out how we could have two
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
cars per unit. And it's not something that you just easily say by just putting it on
a piece of paper and doing the math. There's all kinds of different factors that are
tied to that.
And with the mitigation factors and things that we're looking to do to limit the
parking on the streets and the bulb-outs and the crosswalks to provide more safety
in the particular area are things that our development team is very proud of.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Beautiful. Okay, thank you for that answer.
I'm just digging a little bit just because you're in front of us and you have the
answers.
MR. MIRELES: Of course. No, thisI'm very proud of everybody that's been
part of this communication, the supporters that are out there in our community
supporting us. I deeply appreciate our community, those that are expressing their
concerns because we have the ability to continue the conversation to address those
concerns and hopefully find solutions. Through the start of our application and
our development, we went through an administration change and had to look
through the different I guess the dust settling through that particular change.
But I have to say that the communications with Susan Kunz and her department,
the different directors that are here present showing their support, and Planning
and DPW, having conversations with Traffic, with Aaron, it's a feeling of
collaboration. In the past, it could be we're on the development side, County's on
this side and there's sort of a divide. I'm very proud to say that the
communication and effort in collaboration to work together to be able to provide
affordable housing has been an amazing journey. And I want to deeply appreciate
Susan Kunz for that as well.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you, sir. I yield, Chair.
Thank you very much.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Mr. Inaba, go ahead.
MR. INABA: Thank you. Real quick, I just want to circle back to some of the
comments that my colleagues made. I don't think, and maybe we need to make
this clear, there is noI don't think anyone here would want to prevent an
affordable housing project like this from moving forward strictly based on traffic.
However, traffic needs to be addressed. So, that's the concern that was being
expressed.
And I also want to say that I don't—and I don't think anybody on this body cares
about exactly how things get done because that's for the department to do. And
that's for the department to articulate and get done. So, our concern is that the job
gets done. And it seems as though it will be getting done now after having had to
push a little bit on this issue. So, I just want to make that clear. Thank you.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else? Mr. Chung, go ahead.
MR. CHUNG: This, now, getting off the topic—and first of all, yeah, I would
tend to agree with Mr. Inaba that traffic does play a part in all of these things. I
think we all agree with that. But I'm not going to talk about that anymore.
Mr. Mireles, maybe if you could give us a picture, or give me a picture of exactly
how things are going to pencil out for you folks. Maybe give us a glimpse into
how people like you develop affordable housing projects. You don't have to give
the specific numbers.
Obviously, nobody goes into a project or a development project with the idea of
losing money, right. I mean, there has to be some profit motive in all of this. The
last time I asked you a question regarding whether there were tax credits
available, I think. I'm sure this is something that's going to play a big part in
getting investors, right, into your development. But can you just, maybe just in a
nutshell, explain how this thing works?
MR. MIRELES: Sure.
MR. CHUNG: If you don't mind. Because I will say this, I'm not a real big fan
of 201H, okay. But for this one, what they're actually asking for is only an
exemption from permitting fees, right. How much permitting fees are we talking
about?
MR. MIRELES: I think our team estimated about 200,000, 250,000.
MR. CHUNG: Okay, 200,000 built into all of this. So now, walk us through this
real briefly so that we have a real good picture of how this thing works.
MR. MIRELES: Certainly. It's a great question and I think that when we look at
development as a whole, these sort of questions do pop up internally in
discussions with the teams on how to sort of maximize certain parcels. And
typically when you are in a development project, and probably what you've seen
is that people are trying to maximize their investment, right.
And so, there's money at risk for even proposing a particular project. You put in
hundreds of thousands of dollars through different items such as traffic studies or
civil engineering tied to water calculations, sewer sanitaria) reports, architectural
design at different levels. There are these costs that are involved. And if you're
a
MR. CHUNG: I think we all understand the cost involved, but just how do these
tax credits come into play in attracting investors?
MR. MIRELES: Sure. So, that all kind of falls in play because if the goal is to
maximize profits, then you're doing market-rate development. The low-income
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
housing tax credits that are available through the Federal government allow
institutions to be able to have a tax savings by investing in low-income housing
tax credits to offset any tax burdens.
And what that allows us to do through our tax indicators is be able to put together
a capital stack and formation that allows to satisfy the senior debt, whether that be
a USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) 538 or a HUD (United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development)221. And so, the underwriting
is critical and necessary to have access to the low-income housing tax credits to
satisfy that capital stack.
And when you look at a 60 percent AMI and the incomes that are in the low 30s
to the low 80s, depending on the family size of an individual, and then you look at
the maximum allowable amount that you could have for rent on a one-, two-,
three-, and four-bedroom, that would not survive in a typical market-rate loan.
And so, the tax credits is a tool that needs to be utilized and it's mission centric.
So, you have a mission-centric perspective from the government of addressing
affordable housing. You have a mission-centric perspective from the different
types of loans that are guaranteed by the Feds by private lenders to be able to lend
money to development companies such as ours. And for us, we're very proud to
say that we're mission centric into providing affordable housing into our
community.
MR. CHUNG: Would it be safe to say that a project like this would not be able to
go without the tax credit?
MR. MIRELES: Certainly, because the AMIs are too low. The rents are too low.
It would not pencil out.
MR. CHUNG: Okay. Without getting into specifics, because we are after all not
the Land Use Commission or anything like that, but—so, is it also safe to say that
the profit margins that an outfit like you would realize are not great but they're
kind of offset by the benefits of the tax credits to the investors?
MR. MIRELES: Yeah. We do not benefit from the sale of the tax credits to the
actual tax investors. We benefit from that portion of that investment being part of
our capital stack to fit together, the full thing. But there
MR. CHUNG: That's how we get money in, though, right?
MR. MIRELES: That's how we get money in, but that also allows certain
profitabilities for the general contractor, the property management team, the
development team. Certainly less than what a market-rate development company
would make.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
And to the point I was trying to make earlier with the money that is put at risk to
propose a project, there is no discounts for an affordable housing development
company when it comes to traffic studies. No discounts for your civil work. No
discounts. And so, if our mission was not affordable housing and our mission was
to maximize profits, we would take that money at risk and do market-rate
development.
So, the low-income housing tax credits is a key piece to the capital formation. It
does allow profitability to be able to be sustainable to hire staff locally. And you
also think about the 600-plus jobs that are created by the construction of a project
like this. It has a huge impact to everything.
MR. CHUNG: Okay. I just wanted to understand this a little bit better. And then
you have a good team. I see Ron Kim, former Deputy Corporation Counsel,
right? I mean, he's being true to his wherever he came from because he was here
protecting the County. So, he's still doing that. Good. All right, thank you very
much for that insight. I appreciate it.
MR. MIRELES: Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Oh, Ms. Kimball, go ahead.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. Council Member Chung kind of got me
thinking on this philosophy side of things, and since you're here, I'm going to
take this opportunity to ask questions as well. It was mentioned in the testimony
about how many affordable units we ultimately need, and let me just state for the
record I think there's reason to question that number and maybe consider some
other approaches.
But in terms of just increasing inventory as a developer that is working in this
area, 250,000 to build a reasonable unit is probably close to a number—it could
be 250 to 500 to provide that unit. How could we, as a County, do more to attract
affordable housing development? And this is, again,just a philosophical question
and since you're here.
MR. MIRELES: It's a great question. I think it goes into infrastructure. It goes
into the Planning Department and appropriate zonings for particular parcels. It
goes into utilities and sewer connections and water connections. And if you look
at what we're trying to accomplish with the 201H,which is really centered around
the zoning, and you look at the particular area, especially with the urban
expansion that borders our property, that is a known area for residential.
And so, the process of going through the rezoning, if that was already
accomplished or there were particular areas that had zoning, water, sewerI
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
mean, to identify land that's appropriate for a particular development is really
difficult. I mean, you start off with water. You start off with the sewer capacities.
You deal with the zoning.
I think, going back to the conversations that were tied to roadways, our
development team has been involved in conversations where there is different
types of financing structures that don't necessarily tap into the County and the
taxpayers' pockets to be able to do particular roadways. Community
Development Fund is one off the top of my head. There's TIFs (Tax Increment
Financing) that are available, which project future property tax revenue and being
able to spread that out over different periods of time. Those are very complex
structures, ones that obviously I'm not the expert on. But there are ways to
engage conversations with the County and development teams to be able to
maximize the ability to put infrastructure in without tapping into the taxpayers'
pockets.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you for that response, and I appreciate that we all need to
get a little bit more creative and innovative about how we make this possible. I
also appreciate that you're mission centric, and this is not all just about the bottom
line. It's also contributing to a community that you are a part of. So, thank you
for your time and thanks for your response.
MR. MIRELES: Thank you.
MS. KIMBALL: I yield, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. And I think, Administrator Kunz, did
you have your hand up?
MS. KUNZ: Yes.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead.
MS. KUNZ: Thank you very much. I really want to thank everyone for all of this
really valuable conversation. I think educating the community and promoting
affordable housing is the key to all of this, so I'm really thankful for this
conversation.
And I also really wanted to thank my fellow directors—Director Rodenhurst and
Director Kern. Their response time on trying to help me address these issues,
especially with traffic and the parking issues, was commendable. We've done, as
you know, three revisions to that traffic study. And Carlo was running around
like crazy trying to make sure that data was as updated as possible. But also,
every time a revision came in, Director Rodenhurst grabbed the new data and had
his team assess it. I've never seen such collaborative work—and quick! So, I'm
really thankful for that.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
I'm hoping to make sure that we take a look at the exemptions that are being
presented in this 201H-38 today. And two of them are a change of zoning, and
the other one is a request for waiver from permitting fees. I wanted to make sure
that we're addressing any concerns or questions you have about that because the
approval of this 201H and these exemptions are really critical to this project.
Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kunz. Mr. Chung, go ahead.
MR. CHUNG: Sorry.
CHR. DAVID: No worries.
MR. CHUNG: And that's why I did make a comment that I thought traffic was
something that was kind of critical to all of this. And despite what I may have
said about 201H, I'm not a big fan of it, but I'm not—at the same time, I do
recognize that it has its value. And in this particular situation, too, it is an
affirmative statement by the County that we want to partner or at least buy in to
this project in whatever way that we can, you know, waiving fees. Or it would be
akin to maybe a tax credit on our side, too, but we don't have that available, right?
So, that being said, I'm going to be supporting this project. And thank you for all
your good work, everybody.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Seeing none, Mr. Richards, then, last
chance. Ms. Villegas, were you done? Okay, awesome. All right, then, it's my
turn. I'll be really quick. I really want to thank my colleagues because the
questions and the discussion that we have basically really clarified the goodness
of you as a developer, and pretty much a precedent-setting method on how I think
we should be proceeding when we address affordable housing, which needs to be
addressed immediately. And so, I thank you for being a very outstanding
example. And, Mr. Mireles, I really want to thank you and your team. So given
that, Council Members, all those in favor of approving Resolution 179-21, please
say "aye."
Vote on Res. 179-21: The motion to adopt Res. 179-21 and Planning Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 28 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David–9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
MR. MIRELES: Thank you.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much for being here. Thank you, directors.
MR. MIRELES: Council Members, we deeply appreciate. Thank you very
much.
CHR. DAVID: And, Ms. Kunz, can I ask you a favor? I know you requested to
take Resolution 193 and then Bill 61 because it does come after this, but could I
please take a bill that I have an HPD (Hawai`i Police Department) specialist in
Kona waiting so she can get back to work?
MS. KUNZ: Yes, no problem. Thank you for the
CHR. DAVID: Okay, awesome, and then I'll jump back to yours, okay?
MS. KUNZ: Okay, thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, can we please take Bill 64, please?
Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the
of Business: following items were taken out of order:
Bill 64: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 21-38, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2022
Increases revenues in the Federal Grants —Improve Forensic Services account
($23,000); and appropriates the same to the Improve Forensic Services account,
for a total appropriation of$78,000. Funds would be used to provide training
and equipment for digital evidence extraction and analysis for the Hawaii Police
Department's Criminal Investigations Division.
Reference: Comm. 370
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 64 on first
reading. Seconded by Mr. Inaba.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Mahalo, Chair. This is a small grant but I
think a wonderful grant for our County to improve our forensic services. And we
do have one of our members of the Police Department in Kona, correct?
CHR. DAVID: Yes.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I believe it is Mary Midkiff, if I said that
correctly. And if you could just tell us a little bit about the grant, what it will do
for the department.
(Note: At this time, Police Evidence Specialist Mary Midkiff came
forward to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing
from Kona.)
MS. MIDKIFF: Hello. Thank you. My name is Mary Midkiff. I'm an Evidence
Specialist with the Hawaii Police Department. And the purpose of this digital
evidence training and equipment grant will be to provide equipment and software
programs to keep pace with the department's recovery of electronic devices, and
be able to extract and capture analyzed data from these devices for various
criminal investigations that often without it take a very long time to get the
information. Oftentimes, the devices need to be sent to an outside agency. It can
be very time consuming and expensive. So if we get our own equipment and our
own software, we could do this much more rapidly.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Very good, thank you. This would be like
computers, cellphones, that kind of thing?
MS. MIDKIFF: Correct. It would be mainly cellphones, laptops, ipads.
Everyone has a cellphone as we know these days, and there's just a huge amount
of data that is on that cellphone. And this grant from the Paul Coverdell Forensic
(Science) Improvement Grant will help us analyze the data that we recover as
evidence mainly from cellphones, but also from laptops and ipads. Yeah.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Very neat. And then how did you guys get
the grant?
MS. MIDKIFF: So, we applied for it with the State Attorney General's office,
and it's a competitive grant that they offer every year. So, our agency was
awarded 78,000 for this particular project for a year period. And the purpose of
the project is, of course, to strengthen the digital evidence forensic capabilities
with the Hawaii Police Department and provide training for using that software
to analyze the electronic devices that we see almost on a daily basis.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Good job. Thank you for doing that and for
being proactive in getting much-needed equipment and funding to our County.
And I yield, Chair. Thank you very much.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Anyone else? Kona,
Waimea?
MS. VILLEGAS: Yes,please, Chair David.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Go ahead, Ms. Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Aloha, Ms. Midkiff. Thanks for being here and
for your patience this morning. This is really exciting. This provides us with an
opportunity to kind of enter the 21"Century when it comes to evidence collection
and the ability to really home in on all the bits of information that would be and
could be and have been available to other police departments. So, thank you so
much.
I know, unfortunately, as a fact from people who've recently had cars stolen night
after night or houses caught on fire or, unfortunately, different crimes that it's
been a struggle to gather the necessary evidence. And I see this as being a
pathway in order to support the hard work done by our Police Department. And I
understand some of their frustration. They have to abide within the laws when
trying to present evidence and information. And this gives them just an incredibly
valuable tool.
It's unfortunate that people make poor choices and commit crimes. And I
suppose it's fortunate that oftentimes they're not as savvy about it, and cellphones
become this priceless component and wealth of insight into the goings on and the
ability to connect the different players and what actually happens. So, thank you
for your foresight and for the recognition of the existence of software and
programs like this.
I am very hopeful that as we continue to navigate our way in the first 25 years of
2000s, that we will continue to be able to identify technologies like this that are
already in existence in other municipalities and supporting the work of their
departments there and that we can, with the leadership and skills of someone like
you, be able to incorporate them and support those that do the hard work of
protecting and serving our community and our people and providing our
Prosecutor's office with the information necessary for them to be able to do their
job. It's one thing to know something, but it's another thing to have the evidence
to then be able to take it and do good work and perpetuate change and require
change in behaviors as well. So, thank you again for bringing this opportunity
forward and to whoever got the grants, and then for allocating it to such good
work. I just thank you so much. I yield.
MS. MIDKIFF: Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else here in Hilo? Or
Waimea? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Bill 64, please say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
Vote on Bill 64: The motion to pass Bill 64 on first reading was carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David–9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Ms. Kunz, I have to—I lied. I have to ask for a favor and take
our public safety personnel here who's been very patient. Could I please take that
up first? Thank you very much. Mr. Clerk, I think can we move to
Resolution 181 first and then we have another one?
Res. 181-21: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF USED
EQUIPMENT FOR USE BY THE HAWAII FIRE DEPARTMENT
The donation,provided by the Honolulu Fire Department, is valued at$51,189.
Reference: Comm. 350
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R)
Approve: FC-64
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 181-21 and
Finance Committee Report No. 64. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. We did have discussion
regarding this resolution at Committee and it was very favorable. I just wanted to
mahalo again our neighbors in Honolulu for the donation, and then you're here
today. If you could introduce yourself, tell us a little bit if you want to. This is a
great donation for our Fire Department. Push the button and then introduce
yourself to everybody.
(Note: At this time, Battalion Chief Patrick Springer, Hawaii Fire
Department, came forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. SPRINGER: Absolutely. Thanks for having me this morning. My name is
Battalion Chief Patrick Springer with the Fire Department, working for the
Training Bureau as my current assignment. From myself, I'd just like to express
the gratitude, first and foremost, to the Honolulu Fire Department for donating
this equipment to us.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
A lot of this equipment is past its useful service life to them for emergency
operations. But for us, we see value and benefit in utilizing this equipment
primarily for training purposes or for vehicles that are not necessarily primary
response vehicles, such as utility vehicles, medic units, and things like that which
are primary response but we can put forceable entry tools on those apparatuses.
So, there's quite a bit of value in this.
We hope to use the chainsaws to train our recruits in truck operations vertical
ventilation so they can remove flammable gases from structures, things like that.
We also have a number of nozzles and fire appliances that would be very useful
for us in training. We can also make small modifications to make it more
manageable for our personnel to use these nozzles at a lower pressure so it would
be easier for our personnel to handle the lines itself.
In addition to that, we also have some ventilation fans that we received. While
they're not suitable for emergency operations due to not being intrinsically safe,
we're going to find value in them setting up rehab areas for our recruits to keep
them cool, prevent heat emergencies, ventilating our classroom areas so that we
can continue to train during COVID and provide good airflow, things like that.
Happy to answer any other questions you folks have about the equipment.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Battalion Chief Springer.
Appreciate you being here. I have one question.
MR. SPRINGER: Yes, sir?
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: What is a Halligan?
MR. SPRINGER: A Halligan tool is a forceable entry tool that we use to gain
entry into structures that may be on fire, a life that is in danger. So, we use that
paired with an axe to get a door open, basically.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: It's got a funny name, that's why I had to
ask.
MR. SPRINGER: Yeah.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, well, I appreciate you being here
today.
MR. SPRINGER: No problem.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you for taking the time and for that
brief kind of description of what this donation is and what it does for our
department. Is there any use for our volunteer fire departments when it comes to
this equipment? Or is this
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MR. SPRINGER: Definitely.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Training only?
MR. SPRINGER: Just based off of the number of nozzles and appliances that we
have, it would benefit them quite a bit. Some of these nozzles have already been
in discussion with the volunteer captain, trying to make sure that we make some
of this equipment available to them.
Upon acceptance by the County through this resolution, we can start evaluating
the equipment to make sure that it's working and that it's serviceable because
they're in different states of their lifecycles. So, some things may be ready and
good to go to be issued, and some things may need minor repairs. But the cost-
savings to our County will be pretty substantial, as opposed to buying brand new
equipment.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Agreed. Thank you. Okay, I yield, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Ms. Kierkiewicz, go
ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. No questions for BC (Battalion Chief)
Springer, but I just wanted to extend my gratitude. I had the pleasure of getting to
know Pat when my partner worked with him at Central Fire Station, and I've just
always appreciated your leadership and resourcefulness and creativity. And I'm
so glad that you are leading the training bureau. And clearly, you've got plans
already for how this equipment is going to be used. So, mahalo nui for helping to
facilitate this donation and put together a really great experience for our recruits
and other training modules throughout the department. So, thank you. I'll be
supporting this. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Waimea? Kona?
Seeing none, thank you. Battalion Chief Springer, I just want to say thank you for
your patience this morning and for sitting there and waiting your turn. So, given
that, all in favor of approving Resolution 181-21, please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 181-21: The motion to adopt Res. 181-21 and Finance Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 64 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
CHR. DAVID: And I believe, Battalion Chief, you're here for 192 as well
resolution.
MR. SPRINGER: I'm sorry, can you explain what that is?
CHR. DAVID: The donation of the wireless air
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: We going read it in.
CHR. DAVID: Yes, he's going to read it in right now.
Res. 192-21: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF WIRELESS AIR
GAIN AND CRADLEPOINT EQUIPMENT TO THE HAWAII FIRE
DEPARTMENT
The donation,provided by SSFM International, is valued at approximately
$17,664.
Reference: Comm. 371
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 192-21.
Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: This matter was waived to Council. This is
a donation from SSFM International for our Fire Department. And I really do
appreciate them as a partner for our County. Battalion Chief, I think we have
someone online who's going to speak to this.
MR. SPRINGER: Perfect.
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: So you're not on the spot.
CHR. DAVID: Sorry to put you on the spot.
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: I was seeing that look like, "I have no idea."
CHR. DAVID: Okay, great.
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, we reached out to the Fire
Department this morning.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. All right.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And if there's any questions from the
Council, maybe I'll yield for now for questions from the Council.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. Any other questions from the Council Members on this
great donation? If not, I think we can just move on to a vote. All right, all those
in favor of approving Resolution 192-21,please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 192-21: The motion to adopt Res. 192-21 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David–9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Battalion Chief.
MR. SPRINGER: Thank you very much for your time.
CHR. DAVID: And I believe now we can move to Ms. Kunz's request of
taking—let me see—Resolution 193-21.
Res. 193-21: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR
AGREEMENT WITH THE CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT
FUND
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a two-year agreement to receive $202,000 in
grant funds to be used by the Office of Housing and Community Development to
reduce poverty and increase long-term financial stability.
Reference: Comm. 372
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R)
Waived: FC
(Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Susan Kunz and Housing and
Community Development Specialist Sharon Hirota came forward to
address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing.)
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 193-21.
Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Resolution 193 was waived to Council to
expedite funding. I think it's a great opportunity for our County. I did have a
couple of questions, but I think before that, if Ms. Kunz could go ahead and just
give us a quick breakdown of what this is in front of us. And I also see we have
Ms. Sharon Hirota online as well.
MS. KUNZ: Yes, thank you. Thank you so much and thank you for allowing us
to pull this out of order. I want to thank you very much for the consideration of
this resolution. This is going to enable the Office of Housing and Community
Development to get this financial empowerment center up and running as we have
planned for the early part of October.
I do want to introduce Sharon Hirota. She is the lead on this project, and I'm
going to allow her to walk you through the details of what we're doing here.
Thank you.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Director.
MS. HIROTA: Aloha, Chair and Council Members. Sharon Hirota, Office of
Housing and Community Development. Resolution 193-21. So, the County
applied for a grant with the Cities for Financial Empowerment out of New York
and was granted a planning grant about a year ago. And we've been working with
our community organizations, financial institutions in developing the financial
empowerment centers—and I say "centers"—for Hawaii County.
So in July of this year, we went on contract with Hawaiian Community Assets
and Hawaii First Federal Credit Union. And unique to all of this, and while there
are multiple cities throughout the United States that have implemented these
programs over the last ten years, we are the first in the State of Hawaii to do this.
And it's a one-stop shop for people seeking financial guidance and support for
their households.
So, the grant provides a two-year commitment up to $202,000 in grant funding to
support the program. And we're very appreciative of their partnership. We're
also unique in the fact that when the CFE (Cities for Financial Empowerment)
funds, they normally fund and ask the city to (inaudible) the fund center, and
we're doing two at the get-go. But because of the size of our island and the
needs, we were able to develop a partnership between these two organizations that
will allow for service throughout the islands. So, appreciate your support of this
resolution so that we can move forward to secure the funds through our contract.
Thank you.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. Hirota. And then, let's just
ask the big question: Who went out and got the funding? And who approached
whom?
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MS. HIROTA: When we were in the midst of responding to the Kilauea
eruptions, Cities for Financial Empowerment put out a grant application, and the
County applied and was granted. And then we moved on to, now,
implementation.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Wonderful. Thank you. Well done. I have
a couple more questions for you. I was looking over the background information
on this. It looks like there's a County match. Could you talk about that a little
bit?
MS. HIROTA: Sure. So, part of the grant application is that the County needs to
partner with different organizations or support the program. So, it's designed to
be a government-supported program. So, we have two sources. So, the first one
is Hawaii Community Foundation. They're giving us a hundred thousand for our
first year and then we'll be evaluating our outcomes and hopefully fund us for
future years.
The other source is through the County. And we are using the housing—under
the housing stability options under the Emergency Rent Assistance Program as
our additional match funds.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And it looks like the total match for
'21-'22 is 150,000, and matching funds of 200,000 in '22-'23.
MS. HIROTA: From the CFE Fund, it's a total of 202,000
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay.
MS. HIROTA: From the Cities for Financial Empowerment over a two-year
period. Hawaii Community Foundation has given us a hundred thousand for the
first year, and the County is giving us 211,000 for the first year.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Wow. Okay. Amazing. And then the two
centers, sorry, Kona and Hilo?
MS. HIROTA: So, Hawaiian Community Assets has their main office in
Keaukaha, and they are partnering with an organization in Kona to host them in
Kona. Hawaii First Federal Credit Union has a resource center in Hilo at the
Hilo Shopping Center. And they also have a credit union in Waimea. So in
partnership, they will cover the entire island.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Wow, amazing. And then, we had
Resolution 190 in front of us yesterday, which discussed the financial literacy for
our keiki. Is there any way to tie these two things together?
MS. HIROTA: Most definitely, yes.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Wow, okay. Can we talk maybe later about
that offline then?
MS. HIROTA: Yes.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Beautiful. Thank you, Ms. Hirota. I very
much appreciate this opportunity for our County, and I look forward to seeing
what it does to better our community standing as far as financial empowerment.
Thank you.
MS. HIROTA: Most definitely. I think one thing unique about this is that we'll
be collecting a lot of data, and we'll be able to share with you outcomes.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Awesome. This is huge. Thank you.
Mahalo, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Ms. Kierkiewicz, go
ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I just think Sharon's being way too
humble here. We have to recognize and mahalo Sharon Hirota's effort. She was
the one that found the opportunity, wrote the application, pulled the partners
together, and has built this program from scratch. I do remember her talking
about this being a possibility and then our County was awarded during the
eruption. And I thought this was such a great opportunity to really even help the
residents of Puna that are still trying to put their lives back together after the
eruption which occurred over a few years ago.
So, mahalo nui, Sharon, for your deep commitment and all of your incredible
energy to make this happen. Do share any materials you have with the Council so
we can push it out to community. I do appreciate there being island-wide
coverage with the partners that you mentioned, but also given with where we are
with COVID, wondering if any of these services are going to be provided
virtually and if there's any way to take some of these programs on wheels and hit
the more rural communities of Puna and Ka`u.
MS. HIROTA: Definitely. So, individuals will have options to either attend in
person or virtual. They're pure choice. And yes, we are that's the plan, right, is
to connect with our community organizations and agencies to be in the
community providing services. These type of services in the community. So,
yes.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That's awesome, Sharon. And I know that we have an
upcoming community activation Revitalize Puna slated for October, and I'm
really excited that you're going to be kicking things off with our Puna residents in
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
that space. And so,just really excited about this particular program and how it's
going to be helping so many of our `ohana here. Great job. Thank you. Chair, I
yield.
MS. HIROTA: Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Waimea? Kona?
No? Okay. Oh, go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Sharon, is thereI think you might have
just said this, actually, but is there a number that people are going to be able to
call? Is it going to be Hawaii Community Assets and partners if they just have
generic kind of questions on how they can take advantage of these services?
MS. HIROTA: So, there will be. There will be multiple. So, one, working with
Administrator Kunz, we are looking at upgrading our website. And so, we will be
able to have a landing page for just general information. And then off of our
webpage will be links to either Hawaii First or Hawaii Community Assets. And
they will have—and then through their links, they'll be able to submit inquiries
online or call or email. We're looking at all options.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Awesome. Okay, perfect. Thank you,
Madam Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Seeing no other Council
Members, Ms. Hirota, I have to echo Ms. Kierkiewicz. I cannot see or imagine
anyone else better suited or qualified for this program, and I'm just really excited
that you are going to be taking this on, and have actually done so much already.
So, I just wanted to say thank you from this body for all your hard work, and we
look forward to working with you.
MS. HIROTA: Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: And on that, all those in favor of approving Resolution 193-21,
please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 193-21: The motion to adopt Res. 193-21 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David–9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
CHR. DAVID: I believe the next one we can take out of order is Bill 61.
Bill 61: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 21-38, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2022
Appropriates revenues in the Federal —Hawai`i Island Homeowner Assistance
Program account($9,500,000); and appropriates the same to the Hawaii Island
Homeowner Assistance Program. Funds would be used to implement a
homeowner assistance fund program for households impacted by the COVID-19
pandemic.
Reference: Comm. 357
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R)
First Reading: August 18, 2021
(Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Susan Kunz and Housing and
Community Development Specialist Sharon Hirota came forward to
address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing.)
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 61 on second
and final reading. Seconded by Mr. Inaba.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: We do have Administrator Kunz on, and
Sharon Hirota is still here as well. This program is homeowner assistance, which
is much-needed right now. And the funding is amazing. Administrator or
Ms. Hirota, if you wanted to offer any words. We've talked about this before but
if there's anything else you want to add.
MS. KUNZ: So, this particular program is a mortgage assistance program. It is
being funded by the Federal government through the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act, and the monies are coming through the State through HHFDC
(Hawai`i Housing Finance and Development Corporation). Again, I'm going to
turn this over to Sharon. She is the lead on this project. Thank you so much,
Sharon, for your work on this. Go ahead.
MS. HIROTA: Aloha, Council Chair and Council Members. So, yesterday, we
shared at the Hawaii County Housing Agency very briefly about this program.
So, the ordinance calls for our estimated $9.5 million in funding through the sub-
award agreement from the State. So, an RFP (Request for Proposals) was posted
yesterday seeking a contractor to administer this program on behalf of the County.
The initial contract will be for $3.2 million for financial assistance and about
$375,000 for program administration. And you will see the difference. There's a
difference. And the reason why is that the State recently submitted their full
application to the U.S. (United States) Department of Treasury for final approval.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
So, the State received a partial of their allocation and then selected Hawaii
County as well as Kauai County to pilot a program on behalf of the State. And
then once they receive their full allocation, then we will receive the additional
funds for the program, which would take us to the 9.5. So, Kauai as well as our
island should be launching in—our goal is to launch sometime in early October.
This will provide the much-needed assistance to on-island homeowners who have
been impacted by the pandemic and is in need of assistance. It also includes
allowance for payment of real property tax, which is a good thing if they've fallen
behind, as well as association dues and other mortgage-related expenses. So
including utilities. So, we're excited that we have this opportunity to be one of
the pilot programs for the State. Thank you.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. Hirota.
Administrator Kunz, did you want to add anything?
MS. KUNZ: No, I think that covers it. Thank you.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I just wanted to go over some of
those points again. So, this is mortgage assistance for homeowners andI mean,
as well can be applied to property taxes, utilities, homeowner association fees.
That's a very broad give. I mean, before, this has been very specific as to past-
due rent. So, mortgage assistance, it's another huge opportunity for our County.
Is there anyI meanactually, I'm just going to leave it right there. That's a
very broad spectrum of funding for our community to use, especially given what's
happening in our community right now with unemployment and the ups and
downs in businesses. So, that's amazing. Wow. Thank you again. I appreciate
that. Chair, I yield for any Council Members.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Ms. Kierkiewicz, go
ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Mahalo nui, Sharon, for the details. I
was just curious if there is any income threshold here, or do you just have to
demonstrate impact, directly or indirectly, from the pandemic?
MS. HIROTA: Yes. You would just need to show documentation that you're in
arrears and then the correlation directly or indirectly to the (inaudible).
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. And so if there are mortgage payments the `ohana
has missed, are these things that the program can help cover? Like retroactively?
MS. HIROTA: Yes. So, all the way back to January of 2020.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. That's very generous.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MS. HIROTA: And if they're in—or if they entered into forbearance agreements
and those are expiring, we'll take a look at those too.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. That's really helpful. I mean, again, I just want to
recognize the leadership that you demonstrated when we received CARES
(Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security)funding and standing up that
incredible infrastructure around the island for the ERAP (Emergency Rental
Assistance Program)program. We have the infrastructure there. I can see why
the State has looked at us as being one of the counties to pilot this particular
program. It's because we have consistently demonstrated success in getting this
money out to those in need.
So again, when the information comes available as to who folks can call and what
that document checklist looks like, you can count on us certainly to help promote
this opportunity, which we know is really needed. I think the data that was shared
with us by Jeff yesterday during Housing Agency shows that people are calling,
but they didn't qualify for ERAP because they couldn't. It was for mortgages.
So, appreciate this additional support for community. Thank you, Chair. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Ms. Kimball, go ahead.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. And thank you, Ms. Hirota, for putting this
together for the County. I wanted to just follow up on Ms. Kierkiewicz's
question. Is there a limit to how much folks can receive under this program?
MS. HIROTA: Thirty thousand dollars is the cap per household.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you for that. Yes, please share with us any information.
I know that I got a lot of calls from constituents with the ERAP program being
available saying, "Can I get something similar for my mortgage?" And I'm really
glad to see us implementing something like this. Are we going to pair it with a
mediation-type program similar to the ERAP, or is there not really a need for that
because we're dealing directly with lending agencies?
MS. HIROTA: The RFP calls for partnership with organizations that provide
financial counseling, that provide specific HUD counseling, working with Legal
Aid of Hawaii to provide legal services. It also includes our mediation team, as
needed. So, it's a true collaboration partnership with various agencies to provide
support to the contractor, as well as to ensure that the family receives all of the
services that they need to get caught up and to address any of their barriers.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. It's wonderful to see all these partnerships coming
together. Thank you. I yield, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, ma'am. Just a quick question:
What is the timeline to spend down the funds? Before, we've had caps like one
year, six months, but what is the timeline on this program?
MS. HIROTA: Currently, it's end of 2023. But we estimate it will be gone in a
very short period of time.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, I agree with you, especially with a
$30,000 cap. I think Ashley asked before, but is there an income cap that's for
this? Is it centered on a specific population, or is it just wide open?
MS. HIROTA: It's 150 percent of the AMI posted for 2021. So, it's quite high.
So, it will ensure that we can help our working families who have either returned
to work or who have returned to work part-time.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. But with an emphasis on "must have
fallen behind directly or indirectly to COVID,"yes?
MS. HIROTA: Correct. That is our focus. We want to make sure that those
households get caught up and are housing secured.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, mahalo. Thank you. I yield, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Anyone else?
MS. VILLEGAS: Chair David?
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: Sure. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Hirota, for being here and
for all of your just amazing work so consistently identifying opportunities and
resources that are available through different funding sources, as well as
collaborating with the different agencies involved to ensure that these resources
become available to the people that need it most here on this island. I just have a
couple of questions. How is this different from the funding allotted to the
Ku`ikahi mediation program? Or does it?
MS. HIROTA: Could you repeat your question again, I'm sorry?
MS. VILLEGAS: How does this differ from the funding allotted to the Ku`ikahi
mediation program?
MS. HIROTA: Okay. So, the funding that was awarded to the Ku`ikahi
Mediation Center came directly out of Act 57. That is specifically for renters of
80 percent AMI and below and are facing eviction. Sorry, I've got to talk with
my hands.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MS. VILLEGAS: That's perfect. I love it.
MS. HIROTA: That's very specific. So, if the medication center becomes a
partner under the homeownership assistance fund, they need to ensure that
they're, quote, unquote, "charging their time to the appropriate fund." But they
cannot do work under one contract and charge to another, vice versa. So, it will
be totally separate.
MS. VILLEGAS: Gotcha. So, one is rental related; one is mortgage, essentially
homeownership.
MS. HIROTA: Correct, yes.
MS. VILLEGAS: Okay.
MS. HIROTA: And Act 57 is very specific as to what the funds can pay for.
MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, great. Now, is this considered a loan modification, and
will the homeowner need to repay any of it?
MS. HIROTA: It's grant money.
MS. VILLEGAS: Perfect.
MS. HIROTA: No modification. We want people to get caught up, connected to
resources (inaudible) forward.
MS. VILLEGAS: Just asking so that it can be said once again so people can hear
it once again. And then is this a one-time offer? Like, is this like a one-time—
people just come for their one-time allotment and that's their granting them, then
pau?
MS. HIROTA: Correct. And so, what we also need to do is, as Council
Member Kierkiewicz mentioned, we did our math, right, the rent and mortgage
back in August of 2020, and helped families get caught up with their mortgage
then. Right? So, we have all that data. We have a database. And so to ensure
non-duplication of benefits, we will go back to the database.
So, if somebody says, "I'm behind," of course they have to show us that they are,
but we will also verify that they have not received similar-type funding for the
period that they're applying for. And we can help them for a period outside of
that. But it is one time. So, you come in, you ask for assistance; we will help you
get caught up. And that is the whole intent of wrapping around legal and financial
education and whatever other counseling they need so that it's the intent is for it
to not be a band-aid approach, but to be a holistic approach to the needs of the
family.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MS. VILLEGAS: Right. Thank you for clarifying and qualifying those answers
with such great details. And it takes an immense amount of time, attention to
detail, and just a commitment to creating the processes. And it's evident that you
are following. And while you're creating, then you continue to follow those
processes, which allow for such ideally seamless collaboration, connection, and
ability to serve our people in the best ways possible. So, thank you again for all
of your service and diligence in these capacities. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else? Seeing none, thank you,
Ms. Hirota. Again, thank you so much for everything that you do, and also
Administrator Kunz. So, given that, all those in favor of approving Bill 61 at
second and final reading,please say "aye."
Vote on Bill 61: The motion to pass Bill 61 on second and final reading was
(Adopted) carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy,
Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kimball — 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Okay.
MS. HIROTA: Thank you very much.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you.
MS. KUNZ: Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Could we move to Bill 65, please? I see Finance Director here,
and she has a deadline for this one.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
Bill 65: AUTHORIZES THE FORMATION OF A COMMUNITY FACILITIES
DISTRICT, DESIGNATED AS HAWAII COUNTY COMMUNITY FACILITIES
DISTRICT NO. 1-2021 (KALOKO HEIGHTS PROJECT), INCLUDING THE
TERM AND BOUNDARIES OF THE DISTRICT, THE IMPROVEMENTS AND
INCIDENTAL EXPENSES TO BE FUNDED THEREBY AND THE MAXIMUM
PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF BONDS TO BE ISSUED FOR SUCH
IMPROVEMENTS AND INCIDENTAL EXPENSES; AUTHORIZES THE LEVY
OF A SPECIAL TAX ON PROPERTIES WITHIN SUCH DISTRICT AND THE
RATE AND METHOD OF APPORTIONMENT FOR THE SPECIAL TAX; AND
MAKES CERTAIN FINDINGS AND DETERMINATIONS REGARDING THE
DISTRICT, AND AUTHORIZES CERTAIN FURTHER ACTIONS WITH
RESPECT THERETO
Authorizes the formation of a Community Facilities District for the purpose of
constructing an extension to the public sewer line to serve the Kaloko Heights
Subdivision project.
Reference: Comm. 377
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 65 on first
reading. Seconded by Mr. Inaba.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Thank you very much, Chair. We did have
a brief discussion on this previously. Director Sako is here as well if any Council
Members have further questions. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Any questions from Council Members on this?
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Bill 65 at first reading, please say
Ic aye.
Vote on Bill 65: The motion to pass Bill 65 on first reading was carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much. Thanks, Deanna. We can move to the top
of the agenda. Resolution 180.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business.
of Business:
Res. 180-21: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF TWO
HISTORICAL SIGNS TO THE COUNTY OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF
PARKS AND RECREATION
The donation from Malama Wai`aha, valued at approximately $10,000 would be
located at Wai`aha Beach Park to commemorate the birthplace of the bodyboard.
Reference: Comm. 349
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R)
Approve: FC-63
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 180-21 and
Finance Committee Report No. 63. Seconded by
Ms. Villegas.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead.
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Chair, we did have a discussion of this at
Committee. I look forward to everyone's support. This is an honorary and
historical donation, and I really appreciate Malama Wai`aha for this. Just as
recognition of the history in the area and of Mr. Morey as well. I yield. Thank
you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Anyone else?
MS. VILLEGAS: Yes,please, Chair David.
CHR. DAVID: Ms. Villegas, go ahead.
MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah, I just would love to take the opportunity to read what
will be featured on this sign for those that won't have the opportunity to see it
perhaps until they get to Wai`aha. And there's just some really fantastic
information on here that I feel highlights the significance of these signs.
One side says, "The oldest known paipo board. Although the origins of surfing in
Hawaii remain shrouded in the mist of time, many historians believe that he`e
nalu, or wave sliding, arrived in Hawaii with the first Polynesian seafarers
between 1000 and 1100 A.D. (Anno Domini). It is also believed that the earliest
surfboards were papa li`ili`i, torso-sized wooden planks with rounded edges and
no fins, now commonly called `paipo boards.' Master carvers shaped these
boards from the trunks of koa, wiliwili, or ulu trees after performing rituals, such
as giving thanks to the tree and blessing its new life.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
"Now, in 1905 on the South Kona Coast, it's believed that the oldest known paipo
board was discovered. It's 34.5 inches long, made of ulu wood reportedly dating
from the early to mid-1600s, discovered in the burial cave of High
Chiefess Kaneamona in Ho`okena on the South Kona Coast. An account of the
discovery titled, `Sled of a Chiefess' appeared in the December 6, 1905, edition of
several Honolulu newspapers.
"It is said that the oldest kama`aina of Ho`okena have heard from their parents
and grandparents that sometime in the reign of King Keawenui-a-`Umi, about 250
or 300 years ago, a high chiefess named Kaneamona was living at Ho`okena. Her
principal amusement was he`e h6lua coasting on a sled—and he`e nalu
surfing. It is believed that the sled and board belonged to the high chiefess.
"The earliest first-person accounts of surfing in Hawaii come from the journals
and logs of the crew of the HMS Resolution, which dropped anchor in
Kealakekua Bay in January 1779 under the command of Captain James Cook.
The crew's writings describe in detail the skill and athleticism of the men,
women, and children wave-riding on wooden planks paipo boards—in the prone
position. The paipo board is still popular today and is a recent ancestor of the
modern boogie board."
And I wanted to highlight this because this is the other side of the signage that
will be there, with the other side providing honor and giving some wonderful
insights into the modern-day invention of the modern-day bodyboard, and that
having happened by Mr. Morey at Wai`aha.
I also want to give a shout-out to designer Abel Aquino for putting this together.
But I think, through this signage, we are paying incredible tribute to the history
and our host culture and the traditions of wave-riding, and how incredible to have
one of the oldest paipo boards believed to have been discovered here on this
island, and then recognizing our modern-day bodyboard. I, myself, have a special
affinity growing up as a bodyboarder and am incredibly grateful for Mr. Morey
and all of his contributions to surfing culture and perpetuating the tradition. And
with that, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in
favor of approving Resolution 180-21, please say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
Vote on Res. 180-21: The motion to adopt Res. 180-21 and Finance Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 63 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy,
Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1.
Excused: None.
Res. 182-21: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
FOR ONE MULTIFUNCTION COPY MACHINE FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF
FINANCE
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a three-year lease agreement with an
approximate monthly cost of$260, and would be used by the department's
Purchasing, Property Management and Risk Management divisions in Hilo.
Reference: Comm. 351
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R)
Approve: FC-65
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 182-21 and
Finance Committee Report No. 65. Seconded by
Ms. Kimball.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: There was a brief discussion at Committee.
I don't feel there'll be too many questions about this. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of
approving Resolution 182-21, please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 182-21: The motion to adopt Res. 182-21 and Finance Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 65 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy,
Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
Res. 183-21: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF TWELVE AIR-
GAIN ANTENNA AND CRADLE POINT UNITS, AND ASSOCIATED
HARDWARE TO THE HAWAII POLICE DEPARTMENT
The donation from SSFM International, valued at$34,068.56 would be mounted
on the department's blue and white fleet vehicles to extend the range of cell phones
and Mobile Data Terminals in areas of poor reception.
Reference: Comm. 352
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R)
Approve: FC-66
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 183-21 and
Finance Committee Report No. 66. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Again, brief discussion at Committee. I
look forward to everyone's support.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Seeing no other discussion, everyone in favor of
approving Resolution 183-21, please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 183-21: The motion to adopt Res. 183-21 and Finance Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 66 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy,
Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1.
Excused: None.
Res. 184-21: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A MONETARY DONATION OF
$2,094.40 TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
The donation from Big Island Candies would be used to support the department's
Elderly Activities division's Nutrition Home Delivered Meals program.
Reference: Comm. 353
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R)
Approve: FC-67
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 184-21 and
Finance Committee Report No. 67. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Discussed at Committee and I just wanted to
mahalo, again, Big Island Candies for donating to help provide meals for our
kupuna. Just a nice opportunity to work together with our community partners.
Mahalo.
CHR. DAVID: Mahalo. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of
approving Resolution 184-21, please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 184-21: The motion to adopt Res. 184-21 and Finance Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 67 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy,
Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1.
Excused: None.
Res. 185-21: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF LABOR AND
MATERIALS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
The donation from Kona Aquatics is valued at approximately $10,000 and would
be used at the Kona Community Aquatic Center.
Reference: Comm. 354
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R)
Approve: FC-68
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 185-21 and
Finance Committee Report No. 68. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: There was discussion at Committee, as well,
for this resolution. I wanted to mahalo our Kona Aquatics for donating the time
and materials to our Parks and Rec. (Recreation). We severely need all the help
we can get for our Parks and Rec. around the island. So,just a big mahalo to
everybody involved.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Anyone else?
MS. VILLEGAS: Yes,please, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Villegas.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MS. VILLEGAS: I also want to express my deep gratitude to Kona Aquatics,
which has been a phenomenal partner for our Kona pool. A lot of parents, a lot of
community members, a lot of business owners, a lot of construction companies
recognizing the need for collaborative working together to fill in the literal gaps at
our local pool, and make sure that that facility is as accessible to those that need
and rely on it.
Also,just hope that this continues to be a model, and that other organizations that
I'm so grateful for who are recognizing some of the gaps in our parks here and the
need for resources to supplement Parks and Recreation's budgets will be able to
recognize and follow this model, and perpetuate this pattern of us being able to
work together, community and County, to finance and assure that our parks have
the necessary resources to serve our community in the highest way possible. With
that, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in
favor of approving Resolution 185-21, please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 185-21: The motion to adopt Res. 185-21 and Finance Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 68 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy,
Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1.
Excused: None.
Res. 186-21: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
FOR ONE MULTIFUNCTION COPY MACHINE FOR THE OFFICE OF THE
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement with an
approximate monthly cost of$250.
Reference: Comm. 355
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R)
Approve: FC-69
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
Vote on Res. 186-21: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 186-21 and
(Adopted) Finance Committee Report No. 69. Seconded by
Ms. Kimball and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Res. 187-21: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
FOR ONE MULTIFUNCTION COPY MACHINE FOR THE OFFICE OF THE
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement with an
approximate monthly cost of$183.
Reference: Comm. 356
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R)
Approve: FC-70
Vote on Res. 187-21: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 187-21 and
(Adopted) Finance Committee Report No. 70. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Okay.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
Res. 189-21: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
(Draft 2) AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR
AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF HAWAII EMPLOYEES'
RETIREMENT SYSTEM
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a six-year agreement, to allow the County to
obtain information from the Employees' Retirement System actuary.
Reference: Comm. 358.2
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R)
Approve: FC-71
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 189-21,
Draft 2, and Finance Committee Report No. 71. Seconded
by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: There was good discussion with this
resolution at Committee. If there's further questions, I don't see the Director but I
know she was here earlier. I yield for now, thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Any other questions? Seeing none, all those in favor
of approving Resolution 189-21, Draft 2,please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 189-21: The motion to adopt Res. 189-21, Draft 2, and Finance
Draft 2 Committee Report No. 71 was carried by the following
(Adopted) voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Page 49
Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
Res. 194-21: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED
FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO FRIENDS OF THE FUTURE
FOR ITS EMERGENCY "GRAB AND GO" COMMUNITY FEEDING
PROGRAM
Transfers $2,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 9); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Business Development account.
Reference: Comm. 373
Intr. by: Mr. Richards
Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to adopt Res. 194-21. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thanks, Chair. And real quick, this is a continuation of
a program here in Waimea. Grab and Go is a community-feeding program put
together by Donni Sheather. And this is something we've supported in the past,
will continue to support. She is an advocate of this. And real quickly on that,
October 29h, Imiola Church, 4:30-5:30, serving those who need here in Waimea.
So, I just wanted to get that out. But I ask for my colleagues' support. This is a
continuation as we go through this COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019). And
Donni has just been a steadfast supporter of keeping this program running. So, I
ask for your support.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Great program. Anyone else? Seeing
none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 194-21, please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 194-21: The motion to adopt Res. 194-21 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Bills for
ORDINANCES Ordinances (First Reading).
(FIRST READING):
(Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.)
Page 50
Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
Bill 57: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 13-98, WHICH RECLASSIFIED LANDS FROM
(Draft 3) AGRICULTURAL—3 ACRES (A-3a) TO SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL—
10,000 SQUARE FEET (RS-10) AT WAIAKEA, SOUTH HILO, HAWAII,
COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 2-4-003:PORTION 021
(Applicant: Kristilee and Henry Correa Jr. Trust) (Area: 6.003 acres)
The Windward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for
approval, which would delete Condition C (Time to Secure Final Subdivision
Approval) in its entirety and amend Condition K(Fair Share Contribution). The
property is located along the north side of Kawailani Street, adjacent to and east of
the Life Care Complex.
Reference: Comm. 331.5
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz (B/R)
Approve: PC-29
and
Comm. 331.7: From Council Member Aaron S. Y. Chung, dated August 31, 2021, transmitting a
proposed amendment to Bill 57, Draft 3.
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to pass Bill 57, Draft 3, on first
reading and adopt Planning Committee Report No. 29.
Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: No discussion on this matter but do want to just call out
that Council Member Chung does have an amendment to this particular measure,
and we have representatives from Planning and Public Works here to provide
opinions and expertise. So, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. I don't think there's any other discussion on the first
one too. So, Mr. Chung, go ahead.
Motion to Amend: Mr. Chung moved to amend Bill 57, Draft 3, with the
contents of Comm. 331.7. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Yeah, this just either codifies or documents what we had
discussed the last time, basically that there be no lot accesses or subdivision
access to or from Kawailani. In other words, Kawailani will not be breached by
virtue of this development. And that's all.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Anyone else? Anyone else has questions for our
directors that are here?
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair, if I could?
CHR. DAVID: Oh, go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I just wanted to say mahalo to Mr. Chung
for putting forward the communication and amending the bill to really put it in
writing what's going to be required and what's not okay. So, thank you. I
appreciate that.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Anyone else?
Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Yeah, I'll be supporting this. Just
curious if there's been coordination, understanding by the applicant of this
particular amendment.
MR. CHUNG: If I'm not mistaken, I think the last time we spoke, either
Director Rodenhurst and/or the applicant acknowledged that that was not—they
had no intention of doing that. But that's my recollection, that all of the lot
accesses would be coming from inside, except for those that were on that private
road, yeah. That's it. I mean, I didn't talk to the applicant. Everything we talked
about was discussed at the last meeting.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Right. Sentiments are always expressed and then when
people see it in writing, that tends to kind of get people to kind of walk it back.
So, I'll be supporting this but I just want to make sure that they are aware of the
changes in condition to the ordinance so that they can plan things appropriately.
And, directors, feel free to come forward and chime in if you'd like to say
anything on this.
(Note: At this time, Planning Director Zendo Kern and Public Works
Director Steven Rodenhurst came forward to address the members of the
Council. Henry Correa Jr., applicant, did likewise via videoconferencing.)
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I think Mr. Correa is on.
MR. CORREA: Good morning, Chair and Council Members. We have no issue
with that. But I would actually point out that we also have two easements along
the Kawailani boundary of that property, one of which is for a ten-foot road
widening easement, and the other is for a no-access planting easement. So, we
wouldn't be able to take access up Kawailani if we wanted to.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Thank you for clarifying. Director?
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
MR. KERN: Zendo Kern, Planning Director. I just want to say this is consistent.
There is no issues from the Planning Department on our side. And I believe I
think Ikaika and I spoke as well, and it seems that there's no issues.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you. Thank you, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Mr. Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Yeah, if I could ask the Clerk, assuming that this passes
Ms. Lee Loy had brought this up to me earlier, is there anything that needs to be
waived in terms of our Rules?
MR. HENRICKS: No, we're at first reading. So, we're okay.
MR. CHUNG: All right, thank you.
MR. RODENHURST: Hi, yes. Ikaika Rodenhurst, Director of Public Works.
Yeah, we had the conversation in Committee about the access to Kawailani, and
we have no issue with this amendment here. I know we had that discussion, and
in my discussion with Zendo and the Planning Department and with the applicant,
that there's no intention for this. So, no issue.
MR. CHUNG: Right, because this merely memorializes what was discussed the
last time.
MR. RODENHURST: Correct.
MR. CHUNG: Yeah, thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in
favor of amending Bill 57, Draft 3, with the contents of Communication 331.7,
please say "aye."
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 57, Draft 3, with the contents of
Amend: Comm. 331.7 was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
CHR. DAVID: Back to the main motion. Any discussion? No? All right, all
those in favor of approving Bill 57, as amended with Communication 331.7,
please say "aye."
Vote on Bill 57: The motion to pass Bill 57, Draft 3, as amended to Draft 4,
Draft 4 on first reading and adopt Planning Committee Report
(Approved) No. 29 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: And that was Bill 57, Draft 3. Thank you.
Bill 60: AMENDS CHAPTER 15, ARTICLE 7, SECTION 15-62, OF THE HAWAII
COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO THE
MEMBERSHIP AND TENURE OF THE VETERANS ADVISORY
COMMITTEE
Removes six existing veteran organizations that provide representatives to serve on
the Veterans Advisory Committee and increases at-large membership from one
member to seven members.
Reference: Comm. 346
Intr. by: Mr. Inaba and Ms. Lee Loy
Approve: PRPSC-18
(Note: Comm. 346.1, from Council Member Susan L. K. Lee Loy dated
September 2, 2021, transmitting an amendment to Bill 60, was circulated.)
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to pass Bill 60 on first reading and
adopt Parks and Recreation and Public Safety Committee
Report No. 18. Seconded by Mr. Inaba.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. I'd like to direct the rest of my colleagues to
the pinkie, and I'd like to make a motion to amend Bill 60 with the contents of
Communication 346.1.
Motion to Amend: Ms. Lee Loy moved to amend Bill 60 with the contents of
Comm. 346.1. Seconded by Mr. Inaba.
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
CHR. DAVID: Discussion? Go ahead, Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Yes, if I could explain.
CHR. DAVID: Sure.
MS. LEE LOY: When the veterans committee came to us, it started with a place
of we had the aging membership. And so the first step, when we discussed it, was
to expand that to allow them to have seven at-large members so that they could
pick and choose from the different organizations. And at that time, I had asked
them if they wanted to ensure that at least 51 percent of the membership were
veterans. And at that time, they had a discussion. They said, "No, no, let's just
move it forward." But after our Committee meeting, they actually saw the
wisdom in wanting to ensure that the Veterans Advisory Committee maintained
the membership with veterans.
And so, what this amendment does is ensure that not only of the seven members
are at-large positions, but that they would still have to come from a United States
uniformed service. I'm going to yield at this time because there was a little bit of
an email exchange between myself and Council Member Inaba.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Go ahead, Mr. Inaba.
MR. INABA: Yeah, thank you. I just—it may seem confusing, and just to make
sure that it is clear, the Committee did have two special meetings regarding this
topic. And I don't know if Council Member Lee Loy was at the second. I was at
the first, which resulted in Bill 60,just the original. And they were all good at the
end of that meeting. It was afterwards that they had wanted to add what's here in
this communication. So just to keep it clear, it's being requested by the
committee, and it was after they were originally okay with it. So,just wanting to
make sure that they are completely good with it, and there might be something
else coming down the pipeline from the committee as well. So,just wanted to put
that on our radar. Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else? Discussion? Ms. Lee Loy,
go ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, and if I could just follow up to that. This actually gives
them the opportunity to now have all the membership that they need to do the
good work for our veterans. And so, this actually really gives them a nice wide
pathway to pick from membership while still doing the good work. So, I urge my
colleagues' support.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Thank you very much, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else?
Waimea? Kona? Seeing none, all those in favor of the motion to amend Bill 60
with the contents of Communication 346.1,please say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 60 with the contents of
Amend: Comm. 346.1 was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Back to the main motion. Bill 60, as amended. Any discussion,
people? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Bill 60, as amended with the
contents of Communication 346.1,please say "aye."
Vote on Bill 60: The motion to pass Bill 60, as amended to Draft 2, on first
Draft 2 reading and adopt Parks and Recreation and Public Safety
(Approved) Committee Report No. 18 was carried by the following
voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of
THE DAY the Day (Second or Final Reading).
(SECOND OR
FINAL READING): (Note: Bill 61 was taken up previously, out of order.)
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Hawaii County Council-22 September 8,2021
Bill 58: AMENDS SECTION 25-8-33 (CITY OF HILO ZONE MAP), ARTICLE 8,
CHAPTER 25 (ZONING) OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983
(2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT
CLASSIFICATION FROM SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL—
10,000 SQUARE FEET (RS-10) TO GENERAL COMMERCIAL—
7,500 SQUARE FEET (CG-7.5) AT WAIAKEA, SOUTH HILO, HAWAII,
COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 2-2-024:022
(Applicants: John Wagner and Charlene Iboshi) (Area: 19,295 square feet)
The Windward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for
this change of zone, which would allow the applicants to formalize the existing
commercial use of the property as general office space and allow for future land
uses permitted in the General Commercial District. The property is located at
1290 Kino`ole Street, southwest corner of Kino`ole and Lono Street intersection.
Reference: Comm. 332
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz (B/R)
First Reading: August 18, 2021
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to pass Bill 58 on second and final
reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Any discussion, Ms. Kierkiewicz?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: This is a very straightforward request. We've discussed it
in Committee. It's just labeling the use that has been done at the site for all these
years. And so,just looking for everyone's continued support. Thank you, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of
approving Bill 58 at second and final reading, please say "aye."
Vote on Bill 58: The motion to pass Bill 58 on second and final reading was
(Adopted) carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
REPORTS: The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Reports.
(There were none.)
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Ha\N ai'i County Council-22 September 8. 2021
REFERRALS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Referrals
EXECUTIVE for Executive Session.
SESSION:
(There were none.)
OTHER The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Other
BUSINESS: Business.
(There were none.)
ANNOUNCE- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
MENTS: Announcements.
(There were none.)
ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 11:26 a.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the
MENT: meeting. Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung. Inaba.
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Kierkiewicz.
Kimball, Lee Loy. Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David — 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Council Members.
Council Approval: OCT 0 6 2021
COUN _
JH/dg
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