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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GOREDC 2021/10/05 2020-2022 Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, and Economic Development 15th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai i October 5, 2021 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, ORDER: and Economic Development was called to order at 9:30 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member (came in later) Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Absent& Excused: Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) CHR. KIMBALL: I will close public testimony and move on to order of business for the day. Mr. Clerk. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 29.4: HAWAII STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES' JUNE 17 AND JULY 22, 2021, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES AND JULY 22, 2021, GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES From Council Member Heather Kimball, dated September 16, 2021. Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 29.4. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz. GOREDC-15 October 5,2021 CHR. KIMBALL: Before we begin discussion on this item, I did want to take this opportunity to introduce Nahelani Webster who is the newly hired Executive Director for HSAC (Hawai`i State Association of Counties). The minutes mentioned that we were considering this. She was officially hired yesterday, and since this was on the agenda, I did want to give her a chance to say hello. So Nahe if you'd like to,just say hello to everybody and we'll open it up to discussion if you can stick around. I don't know if folks have questions for you. (Note: At this time, HSAC Executive Director Nahelani Webster Parsons came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. WEBSTER PARSONS: Aloha, my name is Nahe Webster Parsons, and I'm excited to be joining HSAC as Administrative Assistant support. My background is in Government Relations, mostly the State Legislature and some at the City in the past. And I've also worked as Executive Director for other associations. So I'm looking forward to coming on board and can't wait to work with you all. Thank you so much. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Nahe. And I can just say on behalf of the HSAC Executive Committee, we are so thrilled to have you on board. Folks, she has a wealth of experience and is really going to take HSAC to the next level, in my opinion. So with that, any questions or comments on the item before us? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Just a couple of things. First, I just wanted to welcome Nahe. I was on the HSAC Committee last year, and we were talking about it for so long. And I think by even prior committees about the need and the desire for an Executive Director. So, so glad that this has happened and fully appreciate Council Member Kimball's comments that she holds you in high regard. I really think that you are going to be able to take this organization to the next level. But also provide that institutional knowledge that transcends the various Council Members that come on board and serve in this capacity. So I hope you have a lot of fun and mahalo nui in advance for your service. Thank you. MS. WEBSTER PARSONS: Thank you so much. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I just had a question. I was curious about something in the minutes about a wastewater treatment facility, public-private working group, if you could just elaborate more on that? CHR. KIMBALL: Yeah, thank you. There'll be a resolution put forth shortly regarding this in terms of the HSAC package. But we have a working group formed to discuss opportunities for creative funding, novel funding for wastewater treatment. The process was initiated through a piece of legislation that was introduced, House Bill 1317. Page 2 GOREDC-15 October 5,2021 Senate Bill 997 last year that made it through hearings in each chamber but didn't go forward. It was something that was originated out of this County through the Legislative Liaison, Steve Bader. So the idea was to bring the groups that had interests in this particular legislation together prior to the next session and try to rework it so that we can get broader support. It may take a completely different tact to the legislation out there already. So that is the gist of it. I'm happy to go into more details today or when the resolution to put it on the HSAC legislative priority list comes forward next committee meeting. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. No, that's incredibly helpful. I was just curious because I think that legislation that you brought up last session was, how do I say this in a nice way? Poor timing. It's poorly crafted. But the folks that needed to be at the table were not engaged. They were totally blind-sighted. And so I just wanted to make sure that walking into this next session, which is going to be a tough one, right? It's election year, everybody's got all kinds of priorities that all the right people are engaged in advance. And so, it seems like this is a step in that direction. But again, I'm really curious about the focus. Who is going to be part of this working group? I know that Director Mansour, Deputy Director Iokepa-Moses. They bring a wealth of knowledge that, I don't think, has properly been displayed yet. Hopefully, we'll learn more at one of our next committee meetings where I'll call them forward. But if the whole idea is creative in financing and funding solutions, if they can't think of it, I'm just curious, you know, what more this working group can come up with. Anyway, look forward in seeing the resolution and more details. Thank you, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. And you know what, first of all I have to agree, having Nahe on board really provides that continuity. I think for my years on the Council, it's been hard to kind of—who's got the information, right? And it's usually the secretary minutes that we look at. So having her on board for all of us is just a great way forward. I had similar questions on the wastewater. We know that that continues to be an enormous challenge for us, especially here in Hawaii County. And so, what you shared about having that resolution come forward. Yeah, I'll definitely take a look at that and hear more around that. Page 3 GOREDC-15 October 5,2021 It was rather disappointing to know that that House Bill was justI'm trying to find a nice way to say it, but just thrown out there, and it really needed some work and some refinement. So as we move into the Legislative Session, I think this is the time for us to really start looking at what items we'll be championing. It's going to get real interesting as far as funding goes and what the State will be providing for us. And so, yeah, I really am looking forward on how we begin to crack that nut on such an extensive need for community. So thank you for brining that forward, Ms. Kimball. I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Anyone over in Kona? Alright. MS. VILLEGAS: I had a quick question. CHR. KIMBALL: I'm sorry. Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Sure, I didn't see it specifically in here,just a small note about the Amicus Brief that was presented on behalf of HSAC. And I wondered if that was something you could share a little bit about? CHR. KIMBALL: Yes, of course. So as you may or may not know, City and County of Honolulu and County of Maui are both currently engaged in legal proceedings regarding suing the large oil companies with regard to the impacts of climate change and how those costs are borne by the counties. And so, the Executive Committee on behalf of HSAC did submit an Amicus Brief in those proceedings. And you know, that is moving forward just as a point of recollection for folks, this body did almost unanimously, there was one person excused, support this at the Hawaii County level. However, we did not take that action. However, that opportunity does remain available to us. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you, I appreciate that. CHR. KIMBALL: Alright. Anyone else? Okay, I'll just make a few closing comments. First of all, Council Member Kierkiewicz, you hit the nail on the head with talking about Nahe being a point of continuity. We as elected officials come in and out of HSAC, and to have somebody that can carry on that institutional knowledge is going to be huge in terms of the productivity of HSAC as a whole. Just to revisit the wastewater working group real quickly. So the participants at this point are, Ramzi is one of our participants. We also have the heads of the Department of Environmental Management of all the other counties with the exception of Kauai, which is vacant at this point. We have Council Members Page 4 GOREDC-15 October 5,2021 from each of the four counties. We have David Smith from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). We have House Representative Nakamura from Kauai. House Representative Lowen. From our island we have Senator Acasio, Senator Inouye, and Steve Bader from the Mayor's Office. And let's see, we have folks representing HGEA (Hawai`i Government Employees Association) and UPW (United Public Workers). So very, very conscious of what you folks are saying about having all the players, key players at the table. And that's why I'm talking about a concept rather than an actual bill at this point, because we are still negotiating what that bill looks like. If it comes out looking like 1317, I don't know at this point. There clearly were flaws with that. And so, I think, you know, we've got to keep the floor open to all ideas from this working group. So I'm not committed to anything. However, we do know that this County needs about$2 billion to address our wastewater needs. A billion to do repair and maintenance of the existing infrastructure and another billion of new infrastructure to deal with all the cesspool conversions and new development. This is a huge deal and we do have an opinion from the AG (Attorney General) that if we want to consider public-private partnerships, we do need some legislation around that. Again, I don't know if that's the way ultimately this is going to go, but the negotiations I feel have a pretty comprehensive group. We are certainly willing to take suggestions of other folks that people think need to be at the table. Oh, yeah, Stuart Coleman from WAI (Wastewater Alternative Innovations) is also a participant. I think that's all. Alright, with that I will call for the vote, all of those in favor of closing file on Communication 29.4 please say "aye." Vote on Comm. 29.4: The motion to close file on Comm. 29.4 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Richards — 1. Excused: None. Page 5 GOREDC-15 October 5,2021 ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Order RESOLUTIONS: of Resolutions. (There were none.) BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 9:43 a.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Richards— 1. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: With that, this committee is adjourned. Thank you. Approved: (0 Mil, ( •. eather L. Ki • 'all, Chair (Date) Government Operations, Relations, and Economic Development Committee HK/dt Page 6