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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2021-10-20 2020-2022 Hawaii County Council 251h Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii October 20, 2021 INVOCATION: Senior Pastor Bill Dierking of Kona Coast Baptist Church 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, Kailua-Kona, 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 (came in later) Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member(via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (came in later) PLEDGE OF The Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of ALLEGIANCE: Allegiance. (At this time, Mr. Henricks 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: Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Joe Carvalho: Res. 224-21 (Comm. 423), in support. (representing Kohala National (See Comm. 423.1) Guard Alumni) Emily Emmons: Res. 235-21 (Comm. 434), in support. (representing Ho`ola Veteran Services) Mahana Keakealani: Bill 73 (Comm. 409), comment. (representing Hui Aloha Pu`ukapu) Sandra Demoruelle: Res. 238-21 (Comm. 438); and Res. 239-21 (Comm. 439), comment. (See Comm. 439.5) Jerry Warren: Res. 238-21 (Comm. 438); and Res. 239-21 (Comm. 439), comment. Betty Oberman: Res. 238-21 (Comm. 438), comment. CHR. DAVID: Before I close public testimony, I would like to there was a request made to ask testifier Mahana Keakealani, would you please stay on Zoom or online for potential questions regarding Bill 73? So, I just wanted to make sure that she knows. And, Relley, can you organize that so she can stay on the queue? Thank you. MS. KEAKEALANL Thank you. CHR. DAVID: And at this point, I am closing public testimony. Mr. Clerk, I'd like to take—can we start with Resolution, on the agenda, 211-21 first? That's the OHCD (Office of Housing and Community Development). APPROVAL The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Approval OF MINUTES: of Minutes. (There were none.) COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. (There were none.) ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions. Page 2 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Res. 211-21: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENT FOR HOUSING PRO SOFTWARE SUBSCRIPTION, SERVICE, AND MAINTENANCE FOR THE OFFICE OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement with an estimated annual cost of$47,045.16 beginning December 1, 2021, with an annual 3.5 percent increase. Reference: Comm. 406 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Approve: FC-81 Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 211-21 and Finance Committee Report No. 81. Seconded by Mr. Richards. (Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Susan Kunz came forward to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing.) CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Administrator Kunz, for being here. Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder is not in the room yet, so can you go ahead and give us a breakdown of the resolution? MS. KUNZ: Good morning. My name is Susan Kunz. I'm the Housing Administrator for the Office of Housing and Community Development. This resolution is authorizing the multi-year lease agreement for our Housing Pro software, which is part of the management information system that we use to manage our Existing Housing Section 8 programs. The reason why we opted to do a five-year lease is because the percentage increase was going to be a lot cheaper at 3.5, as opposed to 12 percent if we just did an annual increase. So, I'm hoping we get support to do this. CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much. I'm going to open it up for questions, Council Members. No questions? All right. Then all those in favor of approving Resolution 211-21, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 211-21: The motion to adopt Res. 211-21 and Finance Committee (Adopted) Report No. 81 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: None. Page 3 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 CHR. DAVID: Ms. Kunz, before you leave, there was a question. Your background picture, where is that? MS. KUNZ: This picture is of a camp up in Wainaku. I can't remember the year that it was, but it's one of the sugar camps. CHR. DAVID: I see. Beautiful. Actually, it was Vice Chair Chung that asked me to ask you because we couldn't read the writing at the bottom corner. But now that you said, "Wainaku,"yeah I can see Wainaku now. MS. KUNZ: It's one of those old plantation camps, and I thought it was appropriate because it was houses. CHR. DAVID: That's beautiful. Thank you very much. And then I will take you requested that we take Resolution 243 and Bill 77 out of order because they all relate to your MS. KUNZ: Okay, great. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Okay. So, Mr. Clerk, can you move to Resolution 243-21, 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: Res. 243-21: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF TWENTY LAPTOPS TO THE OFFICE OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT The donation from Vibrant Hawaii, with a total approximate value of$11,185, would be used for distance-learning by children who reside at Na Kahua Hale o Ulu Wini. Reference: Comm. 444 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder Waived: FC Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 243-21. Seconded by Mr. Richards. (Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Susan Kunz came forward to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing.) CHR. DAVID: Ms. Kunz, go ahead. MS. KUNZ: Okay, thank you. Thank you very much. So, this particular resolution is authorizing the acceptance of a donation of 20 laptops to the Office Page 4 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 of Housing, and this is actually more specifically for the laptops are for use at the Financial Assessment Center that is located at Ulu Wini in Kona. They were donated by Vibrant Hawaii and Hawaii Rise, who were the recipients of CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security)Act funding from the County. And so, these laptops are continued to be used for distance learning by the youth there who are receiving services. CHR. DAVID: Thank you so much for that explanation. Council Members, any discussion? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair? CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I just want to disclose that I'm a voluntary board member for Vibrant Hawaii and do lead the resilience hub stream, and was involved in helping to facilitate purchase of these laptops so that keiki and community had access to digital devices during the pandemic. But I just wanted to make sure that that was clear for the record. CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much for that disclosure. Anyone else? Well, I just wanted to say mahalo nui loa to Vibrant Hawaii for that donation for our keiki. So, given that, all those in favor of approving Resolution 243-21, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 243-21: The motion to adopt Res. 243-21 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Can we move now to Bill 77? Page 5 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Bill 77: 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 —Emergency Rent Assistance Program COVID-19 (ERA1 PT) account($6,110,000); and appropriates the same to the Emergency Rent Assistance Program COVID-19 (ERA1 PT) ($5,499,000) and Administration ($611,000) accounts. Funds would be used to assist families who are at risk of becoming homeless or experiencing housing instability due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reference: Comm. 445 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Waived: FC Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to pass Bill 77 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards. (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.) CHR. DAVID: Ms. Kunz, go ahead on your explanation. MS. KUNZ: Thank you, Chair. I believe Sharon Hirota is on this call, and I'm going to allow her to answer any questions and provide a brief overview. Thank you, Sharon. MS. HIROTA: Hi. Let's see. Can you guysI want to make sure you can hear me. CHR. DAVID: Yes we can, Sharon. Thank you. MS. HIROTA: Thank you. So, requesting approval of Bill 77. This is funding coming through our subaward from the State; Federal monies for the Emergency Rent Assistance Program. The Finance Budget office has asked that we create a separate account to track the funding for reporting purposes back to the State. So, we're requesting the submittal of this bill. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Sharon. I'm sorry. Council Members, do you have any questions for Ms. Hirota? MR. RICHARDS: Chair? CHR. DAVID: Oh okay, Mr. Richards, go ahead. Page 6 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MR. RICHARDS: I just want to compliment Housing. I mean, you guys are really cranking it right now. So, thanks. Let's keep it running. Thanks, Chair. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair? CHR. DAVID: Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I know it came up yesterday during Finance when we got copies of various transfers between accounts, so just wondering, Sharon, Susan. We just wanted a pulse track on how distribution of these funds are happening in community. Are we on track to meet goals? Do you feel worried that we might have to give money back to the State or Feds? Like Sharon, never! MS. HIROTA: Never! You can read my mind: Never! So, one of the milestones in reporting purposes back to the U.S. (United States) Treasury was for the period ending September 30'h where it required at least 65 percent of our funding to be expended or committed to families. We did meet that milestone. And as ofsorry, I've got to look at my calendar. I just got the report yesterday. So as of October 16'', we have distributed a little over $7 million to our community. So, we are on track to meet our obligations. Direct funding from the Federal government, from the Emergency Rent Program set, is at 12.8 million, but our goal is to exhaust that hopefully before the end of the calendar year, and then move on to using the State award the $6.1 million—in getting this much-needed rent assistance out to the community members. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Sharon, thank you. MS. HIROTA: You're welcome. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Can you remind us again when the money sunsets the Federal money and the State money? MS. HIROTA: Sorry, Ashley. Can you repeat your question? Sorry. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: When do the monies, if at all, do they sunset? Is there a deadline to spend Federal or State? We're curious. MS. HIROTA: So, for the Emergency Rent Assistance Program, what we call "ERA I,"this is the first tranche of monies that sunsets on September 30'', 2022. So, we will spend all of it before that deadline. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Page 7 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MS. HIROTA: And then, the second round of emergency rent assistance has a sunset of 2025a very longer period of time that we get to spend down. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. And then would it be possible, if this is not too much work, we would love maybe a quarterly transmittal to the Council to see how things are going as it maybe relates to our districts, if possible. That way we might be able to be supportive and get information out to community. Just wondering if that's possible. Don't want to overwhelm you guys with this request. MS. HIROTA: Ms. Kunz is nodding her head "yes." So, yes. MS. KUNZ: Yes, that is possible. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. We really appreciate the information. Mahalo nui, Sharon, for your leadership in this. We appreciate it. Chair, I yield. MS. KUNZ: Councilwoman Kierkiewicz, if I can ask, so when would be the first report that you would expect? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: How about we start with December, end of year. MS. KUNZ: Okay, very good. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Let the record reflect that Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder has joined us in the Kona chambers. All right. Ms. Kunz, Resolution 244, that's related to what we just—to Bill 77. It's the 6.11 million Emergency Rent Assistance. Do you want to take that also out of order? MS. KUNZ: Hold on just a minute. Bill 244? CHR. DAVID: Resolution 244. MS. KUNZ: Oh, okay. Hang on. Yes, that is related. CHR. DAVID: Okay. MS. KUNZ: Sharon, do you see that? CHR. DAVID: So, Mr. Clerk MS. HIROTA: Sorry, yes, it is related. Page 8 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 CHR. DAVID: Thank you. MS. HIROTA: (Inaudible)the bill. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Mr. Clerk, can we move to Resolution 244-21, please? Thank you. MR. HENRICKS: I need to call the vote for Bill 77. CHR. DAVID: Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you. All those in favor of approving Bill 77 at first reading, please say "aye." Vote on Bill 77: The motion to pass Bill 77 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. Res. 244-21: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF HAWAII, DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET AND FINANCE Allows for the receipt of$6.11 million in Federally-derived funds, to be used to assist families who are at risk of becoming homeless or experiencing housing instability due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reference: Comm. 445 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Waived: FC Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 244-21. Seconded by Mr. Richards. (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.) CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: We have the Director here this morning. Director, if you could tell us a little bit about this. I know it corresponds with the bill that we just discussed but if you can give us a little background, if necessary. Page 9 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MS. KUNZ: Sure, no problem. So, it does correspond with the bill that we just passed, but this particular resolution authorizes the Mayor to enter into the agreement with the State for us to receive these monies. Sharon, if there's any additional information you think MS. HIROTA: No. MS. KUNZ: Okay. MS. HIROTA: Thank you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you both. I do have one question. This has been nagging me, and I don't know if it's been asked already. But I understand these funds are for folks who are renting who need assistance, but that has never crossed over to the business end. I understand we have a lot of funds that need to be expended, so can these be pushed into, I mean, I wouldn't say a lease or a mortgage. I mean, I don't know how you want to define that, but for the business community who may still be struggling due to COVID (coronavirus disease)-related concerns, whether they closed their business because of COVID or they've had to because of cases within their doors, can this be applied to the business end to help our business community? MS. KUNZ: Sharon, go ahead. MS. HIROTA: Thank you for the question, Council Member. This is specifically for renters. This does not apply to business owners. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. MS. HIROTA: Sorry. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I'm just hoping one day when I ask that question you're going to tell me "yes." I'm just watching our business community. And we had the report from the Kailua Village Business Improvement District, and I'm looking through Hilo and there's still a lot of businesses that are struggling to stay open. So,just putting it out there. I figure if I ask enough times, maybe one day you'll tell me "yes." Okay, thank you. Thank you for the answer. I yield, Chair. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much. Oh, go ahead, Ms. Villegas. Go ahead. MS. VILLEGAS: Aloha, Ms. Hirota. Thank you for being here. I just had a quick point of curiosity. How does Kukui Ola fall into this funding and any alignment there? I've got a lot of people asking about the current pause. I think it has to do more with permitting than financial issues, but could you clarify? Page 10 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MS. HIROTA: I'll hand it over to Director. MS. KUNZ: Sorry, we're passing this back and forth between us. Luckily, both of us are here. Kukui Ola is a totally separate project, and these programs do not—the funding programs do not touch this particular MS. VILLEGAS: Gotcha. No worries. Okay, thank you. I appreciate that. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else? Seeing none, all right, all those in favor of approving Resolution 244-21,please say "aye." Vote on Res. 244-21: The motion to adopt Res. 244-21 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, ladies, for being here today. MS. KUNZ: Mahalo. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Can we please, Mr. Clerk, take Bill 73 out of order? Bill 73: 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 –Fire Management Assistance Grant–Mana Road Fire account($1,000,000); and appropriates the same to the Fire Management Assistance Grant–Mana Road Fire account. Funds would be used for costs associated with the Mana Road fire that occurred in August 2021. Reference: Comm. 409 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) First Reading: October 6, 2021 Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 73 on second and final reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards. (Note: At this time, Mahana Keakealani of Hui Aloha Pu`ukapu came forward to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing.) Page 11 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: This is much-needed for our County regarding the Mana Road fires and what we've been through in the past six months. We had a good discussion about this at Council. It's been discussed repeatedly since then, and the Chief was good enough to come down and explain this funding as well. So, I look forward to everyone's continued support. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Council Members? Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thank you, Chair. Mahana Keakealani, who's still online with us thank you, Mahana, for being here. Maybe you can expand just a little bit on this for us. And we're boots on the ground, both Councilwoman Lee Loy and L We saw the level of effort and the level of kokua you guys were receiving for the community as a whole. Just maybe expand a little bit on the explanation of that fire because it's hard to articulate in words without seeing it visually. But expand that a little bit, and talk about the water pump and fixing the road and all that. MS. KEAKEALANL Aloha. Mahalo for having me participate in this discussion. I would be happy to expand on that a little and answer any questions. For us, the fire actually started on July 30d' and we watched it. It started on Parker Ranch land up in Makahalau, but it was a morning that was very foggy. So, normally up in this area, because we are a high risk for fire, the community is always on watch. But because it was pa`a closed in a fog, by the time any of us could see it, it had probably been an hour or so. And so, it was spreading. If I can describe Pu`ukapu, we literally ended up sitting in the middle of the fire except for the north side. But we were surrounded by fire by Sunday, August 3rd, on the east, almost northeast side, south, southwest, and west sides. And I cannot describe it; it's just not even believable but this fire moved. She moved in ways that I've never seen. When you say she jumped the road, in this case boots on the ground fighting fire, she was jumping under the roadways as well. Because if you're familiar with out here, kikuyu grass is very prevalent, and the root system is very deep. And so, we could be fighting fire in one area and literally not see an ember go across, but see a flame start from beneath—and then there was still jumping over. But on top of that, she was moving very rapidly with the winds that we had. We had high winds throughout the fire, taking her southWaikoloa/Waiki`i. What was very abnormal is she started to burn back against the wind. And so by Saturday, instead of just heading south-southwest—and I'm pointing because my wind was there—she wrapped back around on the Mana Road side and started east of us coming north. And by that point, all of County Fire was already at what Page 12 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 we considered ahead of her, going towards Waikoloa/Waiki`i. There was really no support back here except for community members, and that's when on Saturday we lost the two homes. Where the fire had already passed that direction, it had come back in areas that didn't burn and then continued back north, which was down towards our home. And then by Sunday, she had moved even further north on the east side of us against the wind, and that's when all hands were really on deck. I believe that day alone we had, like, 99 people up here with their own trucks, little tankers, their own homemade pump systems because again—and I was in direct contact with whatever fire chief or battalion chiefs were on-site here starting from Friday, sometimes pleading for help at some of the house sites, sometimes just trying to coordinate because there was no help available here; they were elsewhere. So, we were staging as volunteers. And so that started Friday, lasted Saturday, Sunday; we were nonstop Monday. And then, as Councilman Richards (inaudible)just ask. There was a main area. It's like a line where that fire came right to, and my property is two properties from that. But from that line, the fire did not head north. It had not burned north or northeast and almost northwest. So, now we're looking down at Lalamilo, we're looking down at Waimea Town, we're looking at the Waimea Airport where the hot spots that were flaring up for the next 22 days, all lied on that line. And what would happen was like imu. It was just amazing. We could dump thousands of gallons of water and, within a day or two, that same imu would come to the surface and, with the high winds, flame. And again, our concern was not just the homes on this side directly in line but that if it caught and went down to ungrazed areas, it would go right down to an area that we know has burned before, which is above the airport to the back side of Waimea Town, kind of behind the Police Station, and probably all the way to the Waimea wastewater plant because all of those areas hadn't burned. So, the community holding it down for 22 days to just keep that, and then with the help of Councilman Richards and Councilwoman Lee Loy, for them coming out and seeing it with us, they were able to help us purchase our own pumps and hoses that we were able to mount on our own trailers. We had private companies like Rivera Construction and Oye Inc. that left water tankers with us so that we could actually go out on a daily basis and get to these flare-ups. I believe, at that point, for some of those days we had maybe one fire truck like the F-150 that would roam. But again, the wind here is so fast that by the time they could get to the fire road or whatnot, we had it out, it took off again. It's just unstoppable, like what we saw during the 30d', the I", the 2nd 3rd So anyway, please let me know if you'd like me to expand any further on that. Page 13 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Mahana. I think that really paints a visual for people on the Council. And having seen what you guys are going through, the point where they were babysitting the fire for three weeks and you think it's out, you think it's out; and then underneath these big piles of kikuyu grass, a mat, is a real fine palapalai ash that can smolder for, literally, weeks. And those are the things that Mahana was talking about flaring up. Getting in thereagain, some of the roads are pretty busted up—we were able to get County equipment in there with a Memorandum of Understanding to fix the road so that Hawaiian Homes could then get their water truck in there to help them put it out. The point of all of this is we had help on many levels: at the Federal level, both military as well as the Federal firefighters; we had our State firefighters; we had our County firefighters; as Mahana pointed out, the volunteer corps in Pu`ukapu area, a hundred people strong. And they were there day in and day out, 24 hours a day, babysitting this. The point of all this conversation is that the cost to this groupMahana, I've got to give you credit for organizing these people. She was information central out there and sending people where they needed to go to fight. She mentioned the pumps. We had a situation out there where we had water tanks with water in them with a two-inch line hooked up to them. It was all gravity flow. So to fill the tank, it would take an hour or whatever. So, through the Sayre Foundation, Councilwoman Lee Loy and I were able to help facilitate them getting a pump so they could fill it in minutes and then get the next tanker there. So, there were a lot of efforts. But again, the point of this is the fact that a lot of people volunteered with a lot of equipment, and we need to help offset those costs to help take care of this community. And that's why we're having this conversation. In looking at the funding here, we're seeking a way. And we're going to work with Finance to be sure that we can help take care of all the people, all the volunteers. And I have to tell you they were so modest with their ask on the cost and reimbursements of this. So, this is what we need to do to help take care of our community. Councilwoman Lee Loy, do you have anything you wanted to add to that conversation? CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Go ahead, Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I want to thank Mahana for really describing the situation for that Native Hawaiian community. I fight hard for our Native Hawaiians, and it's because they stood ready to fight the fire when our Fire had to shift down to Waimea to protect more lives and property. And I think it is an incredibly modest ask that we reimburse that community first with a portion of this FMAG (Fire Management Assistance Grant) grant. They saved Page 14 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 our County a lot of money because their volunteer hours are less than what we pay our own firefighters. And as Mahana said, 10 percent or 11 percent to make that community whole would be huge for them. Council Member Richards and I have worked with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, OHA (Office of Hawaiian Affairs), and other philanthropical partners. And as this conversation started at our last meeting, that's why I asked Director Sako how flexible is this money because, as Mahana mentioned, they started in July, and this FMAG grant only covers August 1, 2, and 3. And so, they have the better part of 17 to 21 more days of volunteer time that needs to be covered. And my ask of this body is to help this community; help us help Council Member Richards help make the community whole. Because when I went with Mahana, she had gone probably ten days with very little sleep because the flare- ups happened in the middle of night; and they were right there, two properties away from that fire taking more homes. And so, please, I'm going to ask my colleagues to support this, but if you could help us lean in on the Department of Finance to help make this community whole, I know it would go a very long way. Thank you, Mahana, for being here. Thank you, Chair, for the time. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else, Council? Oh, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I just wanted to add my uncle, Uncle Maha Kaneali`i, is actually on the Kohala Volunteer Fire Department, and he was fighting this fire every day as well. And so, the community has been through a lot, and there was a lot of expense, and there was a lot of personal investment in this because this is ultimately your community and you were there. So, mahalo for everything you've done. I am texting Deanna Sako, our Finance Director, to see if there is a possibility of moving that 10 percent. I think it's well-deserved. I think it's more built around how we can adjust those funds and if that's possible. So, thank you for being here today and testifying. It's good to have the community weigh in. MS. KEAKEALANL Thank you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, mahalo. Chair, I yield. MS. KEAKEALANL Mahalo. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Mr. Richards—oh wait, hang on. Can I go to Mr. Inaba first and then—Mr. Inaba, go ahead. MR. INABA: Thank you, Chair. Is Director Sako in Hilo chambers? Page 15 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: She's not here. MR. INABA: Anyone from Finance? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: No one from Finance. MR. INABA: Oh, thank you. That's it for now then. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to mahalo Mahana for her leadership through the disaster. I mean, it's an all-consuming situation. I remember 2018, organizing community for eruption response, and just takes over. And I think this situation also underscores the need for us to have some kind of process where community and County are working together so at the end of the day when the State and Federal reimbursement money comes in, there's a pathway for community to report; and we're not stopped at the I Ph hour figuring out how we're going to make your community whole. So, you have my absolute support. I will be working, without violating Sunshine Law, my own pathway to connect with the Department of Finance to let them know that we absolutely have to honor all of your volunteer efforts and ensure that you guys are getting the support and resources you need to be whole again. So, mahalo nui, Mahana, for your leadership and thank you, Council Members Richards and Lee Loy, for everything you have done to support the community for this particular disaster. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Ms. Villegas, go ahead. MS. VILLEGAS: Wow! How exciting! I'm just really thrilled to hear about this opportunity to transition these funds to the people that were the feet on the ground that worked so hard. Mahalo, Mahana, for your leadership, for your perceptivity in recognizing what was going on. Just in seeing your face, I see a lineage of strong, capable women who are doing what needs to be done to serve your community. This was a really scary time. My son-in-law's grandfather, his homestead's up there and he refused to leave as well. He had his sheep and his donkey, and he was not going to leave his resources. And I have incredible respect for the determination that that takes, and also for how akamai your watching and knowing the wind and the land and the way that everything interacts with one another. And then as heat and fire takes hold, how that transitions things; and the species on the ground and how they react and move. Yeah,just an incredible testament to your resilience and also regeneration, which is something that I do hope can be incorporated in the funding as it comes through Page 16 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 and the provisions for your community. Driving across the island quite a bit recently, the dust storms and the transition of dirt and how that impacts your lives and your livelihood. We have these long-lasting repercussions from a fire like this. So, I hope that those things can also be taken into account as financial resources are allocated, not only to make you guys whole in the best way possible for all the work done to mitigate the fire but also how we go forward in securing our soils. I mean, that's priceless soil that's now being blown around. And we want to find ways to secure that back to the earth and bring it back to its highest, best use as many people living in that area are reliant on regenerative agricultural practices. So, I just hope that that can be incorporated. And I'm sure that we'll be continuing to rely on you for your wisdom and insights in what operates best there and what can be replanted that would be best for that community and mitigate fire hazards, as well as then bring back some soil health and regeneration in that capacity. So, thank you again for your leadership and your diligence. And I'm just so excited to hear this opportunity to transition these funds and have portions of it go back to serve and make whole the community who literally put their lives on the line in areas that don't have the infrastructure to otherwise mitigate such fire hazards. So, mahalo. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Mr. Richards. Oh, go ahead and then I'll go to Ms. Lee Loy—whoever wants to go first. MS. LEE LOY: I'll go. Thanks. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: And I just want to point out, and Mahana mentioned it, Council Member Richards and I partnered with $800 each from our contingency money to get them the pump and hose that they needed and moved that in really quickly. And as Mahana mentioned, it shifted. That shifted community, knowing that they had the tools that they needed to be resilient. Like Ms. Kierkiewicz mentioned, it's amazing how we can leverage our social capital. And I've heard two Council Members talk about having connections to Waimea Nui and Pu`ukapu and having a love for that `aina. And, Mahana, I would suggest maybe you reach out to them and ask them to help with some of the contingency money, while some of these other funds that we are lining up which will take a little time to come, and help kind of bridge the gap for your community. And I cannot forget at this point, too, Waimea Nui is not only Pu`ukapu but Waimea Homestead Association and Mike Hudson. They also did a lot of work for community there. And our Congressman Kai Kahele immediately stood up a Page 17 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 conference with this community to start looking at Federal funds, which again takes time. And so, anything we can do to help them bridge the gap till some of these bigger monies come would be welcome. Is that an accurate statement, Mahana? MS. KEAKEALANL Yes, that is an accurate statement. It would bring a lot of relief in a sense that—again, everybody that came up to do this,just for the record, did not come for money. They came for love. I think at this point, as everyone hit on, it was such a traumatic event being in an area with very limited infrastructure. But also when you're up here yes, we were in the heat of it—we had many perspectives. And one was looking down at our `ohana makai and knowing that as fast as it reached us from mauka, from Parker Ranch side to us, it could get to the rest of our `ohana that fast. And so,just that trauma in itself and not having resources does bring a lot of PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder). And I would say that I speak with my community members where usually we meet. And just PTSD alone has a lot, a lot, of impact on people's lives, and we are a solid community. And like I said, not just here: Kohala, Kawaihae, Uncle Maha them that all came. The bottom line is any type of normality that can start to come back for us helps. It helps address PTSD. It helps address—and I'm not playing that community card in any way. It's a fact, right, and we are moving forward. We are trying to do that. But there was also a lot of trauma that came from (inaudible) Councilman Richards described and Councilwoman Lee Loy. Being in the middle of the community and dealing with the State, County, State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, communication isn't always easy because the community, we had no rules except that we need to save our land, our people. It was that bridge that helped us communicate between large entities. And right now, an act such as this to be able to fund and reimburse those that volunteered helps to take that level of communication, that level of trust, that level of cohesiveness a lot further than it's been in a long time, and a lot quicker than we saw even throughout the fire because it took a lot to get that cohesiveness to start. And that came from courage, communication, clarity by all parts. But the biggest thing was willingness and love to do it. And so, I'm just going to stop there because there are many things that that would help. But, yes, that is an accurate statement. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mahana. Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Do you yield? Okay. Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah,just a finish up with the communication. As Mahana said, at one point when the winds kicked up, the fire was spreading so fast, a D9, blade up, wide open, going as fast as it could, the fire was traveling faster. It got that spooky. Page 18 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 And in the Pu`ukapu area, it's kind of interesting as we were going through all this. The communication that Mahana is referring to, we had ongoing texts and communications coming through my office. So, we really had the whole Waimea and Waikoloa community watching so when a hot spot would flare up, it would be communicated to every one—mi litary, our fire departments—so people could jump on it real quick. So, it was a real community effort. And to Mahana's point, the people that came kokua were there for love. They did it because they wanted to help their neighbor, and they weren't worried about the financial return. They had the finances. We need to help make them whole, break even, cover their expenses. Their time is they weren't expecting that. That's not why they showed up. They showed up to help take care of their neighbors. And so, we as a group need to recognize that. And also, this is a community that has expressed an interest in a volunteer fire department. I think that's a real good thing to put on the table and start organizing now because if we get on these range fires quick, you keep them small so we don't phase this. This is almost 50,000 acres. And the total financial impact to the community, both in lost production and all that, as near as I can put the numbers together, it's over 25 million, easy. And the environmental impacts, Ms. Villegas referenced that. These are all things we're looking at on trying to figure out. So, we can talk all day about this. Mahana, thank you so much for being here and giving the true perspective from being there. When I first talked to her through this, her voice was so hoarse from the dust and the smoke she could barely talk. I'm glad you've improved, Mahana. Thank you for being here and asking the Council. Let's recognize this so we can take care of the community, help the community take care of themselves. With that, Chair, I yield. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Sorry, Chair. I just wanted to mention I drove over Saddle this morning. And as I drove over, there's expansive areas of green new growth and then the old growth. And a lot of times we discuss after the fact what we could have done better. But in my drive this morning, I was thinking should we be looking at doing controlled burns and getting ahead of the fires instead of letting and responding to the fires when they happen. Should we look at controlled burns as a way of basically getting in front of problem? We talk about looking at the bodies coming down the river and then going to the source of where the bodies are going into the river. This would be one of those areas, I think, that the Fire Department possibly could look at, as well as our community, is a controlled burn versus waiting for the fires to happen and responding, and getting ahead of the problem. Page 19 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 So, I just wanted to throw that out there. I know we've talked about this for quite a long time already. So, I appreciate the latitude, Chair. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. Recognizing the support that we have on the dais today, I'm wondering if this body would be so inclined to maybe defer this so we can continue the conversation with Finance Director Sako and postpone this matter to November 3rd, which would give Director Sako an opportunity to look at how flexible these funds are. And then put Mahana, along with the list of community members and expenses that she has, together with our Director to see what would be eligible and what would not be. Looking for some direction from my fellow colleagues. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Mr. Inaba, go ahead. MR. INABA: Thank you. I know Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder said that Director Sako wasn't in chambers and that she was busy till 10 (o'clock), but I do want to maybe get a pulse on if this is possible because I think it would be wonderful to be able to contribute funds to the community volunteers. But if it might be possible to even table the matter until she can get to chambers today so we can get some kind of indication of if this is a possibility. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. MR. INABA: And at that time, I, of course, will be supportive of a postponement, like Ms. Lee Loy said, to work out all of the nitty-gritties of it all. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba, for that suggestion. Ms. Lee Loy first; and then before you make any motion, I would just like to say something before we decide on what route we're going to take. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. Yeah, I actually do see the wisdom in tabling this matter to the end of the agenda or some time we can pick up later, but I do know Mahana has a hard stop. She's going to be teaching a class. And so, I just want to give her some assurances that we will be continuing this conversation even after she has to go. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else before I speak? Okay. Aloha, Mahana. And I just want to say thank you so much for everything that you've done for our natives' community. And what was very outstanding as far as your description is that our people already have major challenges in our land issues, in Hawaiian Homes, infrastructure like Ms. Lee Loy has said. And those struggles have been ongoing in Waimea, in every area of this island that we have our people on homesteads or DHHL (Department of Hawaiian Home Lands) leases. Page 20 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Infrastructure, water the basics that everybody is blessed with—our people need to fight for. And so, that's what I got from your testimony. And I really thank you because despite all that, like it has been discussed, no, the culture and the people do it for aloha. And we need to learn more from that kind of behavior, and you folks need to be made whole. And so, I really thank you for expressing yourself and the experience that you have. Because, I think anyone here would have done the same if we were threatened as that community was and the entire Waimea community. So, thank you for bringing awareness of this really critical and ongoing issue for our people. And I hope we do something now to improve that situation and make you folks whole and prepared for the next generation. So, thank you so much and we will table this. And I'm not sure if you can join us, but we'll certainly have a nice discussion about this, okay. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair David? I just wanted to let you know that Director Sako is here in chambers. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mahalo, Mahana. Director Sako, I'm going to ask Mr. Inaba to restate his question. Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Okay. Good morning, Director Sako. (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing from Hilo.) MS. SAKO: Good morning. MR. INABA: We are discussing Bill 73. Right now, as it currently reads, we are accepting the Federal FMAG grant, and it's being allocated specifically to the Mana Road fire. We had testimony this morning requesting that 11 percent, or 110,000, of that be earmarked for the community volunteers and the efforts and resources they put in to fight the fire. We have Ms. Keakealani still online with us, and she was able to give a description of the efforts they contributed to. So, thank you for being and coming down to chambers. I guess we're really trying to get an understanding if this request would be a possibility because this body, it seems, is supportive of a request like this. But we need to know what mechanisms or options we have to make this a reality. MS. SAKO: So, the FMAG grant, like other FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) grants, come with various restrictions, and they're open to State and local governments. We're not opposed to trying to get their costs reimbursed. We would need the Fire Department to acknowledge the work that they did and somehow be able to value it. Page 21 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 I know you gave me an amount of$110,000; I'm not sure what all that included. But if that's, like, actual out-of-pocket costs, like they have receipts or invoices or something to prove that, that would really help. If it's volunteer time or members' time, community time, then we would need a way to value that. And FEMA does obviously have a lot of requirements that we would need to meet. So, we're not opposed to helping it, but as a reminder, FMAG and FEMA are reimbursements based on actual out-of-pocket costs. So, we can't necessarily take this money and grant it to someone else, but we can definitely help them try to get it reimbursed. But since it's only open to State and local governments, I do need the Fire Department to acknowledge the work they did and to help us value it. MR. INABA: Great. Thank you so much. MS. SAKO: So, I am happy to work with the community. I'm sorry, I didn't see who was online. MR. INABA: Ms. Keakealani was online or is online. But to thank you and I think we discussed the postponement of this bill so that—especially Mr. Richards and Ms. Lee Loy were there—can work on getting some of those valuations of those either funds or time spent fighting the fire. MS. SAKO: One more reminder: It's only a 75 percent grant. So, we would only be able to get reimbursed up to 75 percent of their costs. MR. INABA: Okay. Thank you very much. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thank you. And thanks, Deanna, for being there to articulate this. And I've worked with Mahana; we have a lot of numbers to work off of. And so, from a nuts-and-bolts perspective of getting this legislation going forward, if we were to defer it for two weeks to get an amendment put in place, we can get a lot of numbers there. And what I'm thinking, from what your description is, we would say reimbursement up to 100 or $110,000, recognizing it's a 75 percent. And we have had some of the private donations—and you and I have discussed that—that we can use to maybe flesh out the other portion of that. So, if that's the case, is that fine? Are we in any timeline jeopardy to must have this completed by a certain date? Or if we were to defer for two weeks, we'd be okay? MS. SAKO: So, we have 30 days to get our costs in. So, I will check with Fire and HI-EMA (Hawai`i Emergency Management Agency) to see what we can do. So, I definitely need the list of those costs, like, as soon as possible. So, if those Page 22 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 could be emailed if you have them. If you could forward to me, we'll be happy to try to see what we can do. I cannot promise. I mean, FEMA and HI-EMA have rules, but we will definitely do our best. If that doesn't work, then we would have to look at other opportunities. MR. RICHARDS: So, in your mind MS. SAKO: That would not be related to this. MR. RICHARDS: What was that now? I missed that. MS. SAKO: That would not be related to this. Like you said, like the private donations, that is a separate bill or something like that. Then we would have to look at other options. I'm not sure what we can do, but we can look into it. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you. So, deferring for amendment as it stands, that would be fine. Is that correct? MS. SAKO: So, I'm trying to say that I can't promise that this money's going to come. I mean, we've spent the dollars already. We've already had to pay all the bills. This is their appropriation to move those expenditures to. We will definitely work to try to get to the community, but I don't think we can take some of this money and guaranty that it's going to go to the community because this is specifically for the FEMA grant. So, if FEMA is not willing to reimburse us for their cost, then we would have to look at other options. And I'm sorry I missed a lot of it because I was tied up in another meeting, but so MR. RICHARDS: That's all right. MS. SAKO: You guys may have talked about this already, but I'm just trying to share with you what I can tell you about FEMA and at the FMAG program. MR. RICHARDS: As far as the deferment then, I'm wondering if there's a reason to defer at this point. MS. SAKO: I don't think there's a reason to defer. If we are able to get reimbursed for their cost and our estimate of a million is too low, we'll come back in to increase the appropriation if it has to flow through the County if it cannot go directly to the community. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, well, I don't want to slow money coming to the County right now. So, I think if that's the case, Deanna, we'll get on the phone real quick and get this thing worked out because MS. SAKO: Yeah, and we can forward the cost along today. As long as there is enough information, then we can forward it along today. Or I can express Page 23 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MR. RICHARDS: Okay, so rather than deferring this bill, we're going to go for a pinky promise that we're going to get to work in getting this stuff done. MS. SAKO: Yes. MR. RICHARDS: Correct. MS. SAKO: Definitely work on it. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, so thank you, Chair. I'll yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? Ms. Kierkiewicz? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: No, Chair. I'm ready for the vote. CHR. DAVID: You're good? All right, thank you. Seeing none, no other comments, all those in favor of approving Bill 73 at second and final reading, please say "aye." Vote on Bill 73: The motion to pass Bill 73 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. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mahana, for being here. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Mahana. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, I have one more request for an "out of order," and that is Resolution 236, please. Res. 236-21: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF TWO CONCRETE ABSTRACT ART PRINTS TO THE COUNTY OF HAWAII The donation from Davit Mirzoyan, with a total value of$2,500, would be displayed in the offices of the Mayor and Council District 4. Reference: Comm. 435 Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz Waived: FC Page 24 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 ; and Comm. 435.1: From Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, dated October 7, 2021, transmitting pictures of the artwork. Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 236-21. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. (Note: At this time, Davit Mirzoyan, artist, came forward to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing.) CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I'm really pleased to introduce a globally-renowned professional artist Davit Mirzoyan. One of his agents reached out to me when they were here in Puna attending some kind of workshop. And they felt really compelled to make a couple of art donations to my office and to the Mayor's office. This artist is going to be relocating and doing all of his artistic and creative contributions out of the Puna community. So, really excited to be able to introduce him to all of you. And I will show you—it's also in your packet—but this is one of the abstract pieces that he is donating to the County. Davit, if you're on, I would love for you to share a little bit more about the abstract artwork that you have donated. MR. MIRZOYAN: Sure, Ashley. Aloha to everybody and good morning. My name is Davit. I'm an artist. I have my son next to me. He's assisting me in introducing me and taking care of all of the technical issues. As was said, we were in Hawaii recently, and I felt compelled to donate two of my recent series of works to the County of Hawaii and will be happy to relocate and continue my artistic endeavors there in Hawaii. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer. If not, I will try to introduce myself a little and we'll go from there. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thanks, Davit, and thank you, Tig, for making the introductions. It was really a pleasure to speak with you about where we can take the creative arts industry here on Hawaii Island. It really does have the possibility of being a true green economic driver for us. This is the piece that is going to be donated to the Mayor's office. I have Pomai here to accept it on behalf of Mayor Roth. And there is a darker version of this piece that is just beaming of raw lava energy that's going to be in my office. MR. MIRZOYAN: Exactly. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: And then this more colorful one just kind of shows the proliferation of life mauka to makai. So, Davit, did you want to add anything to that? Page 25 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MR. MIRZOYAN: Not too much. As you said, the first version, the title of it is "The Beginning." And when I met with you, I talked about then this other one. When I heard that the life proliferated from a volcano, I was compelled to address it. And then, the second one you are showing right now is about proliferation of life in the ocean. And so, both of these are very have a central role in human evolution and are very strongly connected with Hawaii. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Mahalo nui, Davit. Pomai? (Note: At this time, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika`i Bartolome came forward to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing from Hilo.) MS. BARTOLOME: Yes, on behalf of the Mayor's office, I just wanted to say thank you so much. MR. MIRZOYAN: Thank you. It's my pleasure. MS. BARTOLOME: We look forward to finding a beautiful spot for this beautiful artwork. So, thank you so much. I need to ask, your accent? MR. MIRZOYAN: Well, I'm Armenian. MS. BARTOLOME: Okay. MR. MIRZOYAN: I was born in Armenia. I got my artistic education there, and then I continued it in Europe and then got my master's degree from Brigham Young University in Utah. MS. BARTOLOME: Okay. Well, I don't know how to say, "thank you" in Armenian, but in German, I do know how to say, "thank you." So, danke sch6n. Thank you so much. MR. MIRZOYAN: Danke sch6n. Thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Mahalo nui, Davit and Tig, again for your patience and joining us today. Thank you, Chair, for taking this out of order. Really grateful for their contribution of these beautiful artworks to our County and really look forward to working with Davit and Tig when they relocate, and their contributions to Puna and Hawaii Island. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 236-21,please say "aye." Page 26 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Vote on Res. 236-21: The motion to adopt Res. 236-21 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Chung— 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, I'm sorry to be jumping all over the place. I think we have just two more requests for"out of orders"because we have people standing by. And the first one is Resolution 239-21. Res. 239-21: SUPPORTS ADDITION OF AN ITEM TITLED "DEVELOP AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO SECURE FUNDING FROM THE STATE OF HAWAII TO ADDRESS THE COUNTIES' WASTEWATER NEEDS" FOR INCLUSION IN THE 2022 HAWAII STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE Reference: Comm. 439 Intr. by: Ms. Kimball Waived: GOREDC ; and Comm. 439.1: From Council Member Heather L. Kimball, dated October 11, 2021, transmitting State of Hawaii Senate Bill 997, Senate Draft 1. ; and Comm. 439.2: From Council Member Heather L. Kimball, dated October 12, 2021, transmitting a proposed amendment to Res. 239-21. Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 239-21. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. (Note: At this time, Environmental Management Director Ramzi Mansour came forward to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing.) CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. Before we begin discussion on this, I'd like to make a motion to amend Resolution 239-21 with the contents of Communication 439.2. Page 27 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Motion to Amend: Ms. Kimball moved to amend Res. 239-21 with the contents of Comm. 439.2. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. MS. KIMBALL: Yes, this amendment just fixes a very minor clerical error that actually impacts the meaning of the legislation both in the title of the bill and in the `BE IT RESOLVED" clause. The word"from" should be stricken and replaced with the word "with." We are not trying to get money from the State for this. We are working with the State to try to get money. So, that's the purpose of the amendment. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Anyone else has any discussion on this? Seeing none, all those MR. CHUNG: (Inaudible.) CHR. DAVID: This is on the amendment. Yeah. All right, anyone else? No? All those in favor of amending Resolution 239-21 with the contents of Communication 439.2—is that right, .2? MS. KIMBALL: Yes, correct. CHR. DAVID: Yes. All those in favor,please say "aye." Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Res. 239-21 with the contents of Amend: Comm. 439.2 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. Go ahead, Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Madam Chair, and again thank you for your flexibility in taking this out of order. This resolution as well as 240 and 238 are all relating to the HSAC (Hawai`i State Association of Counties) legislative package. And before I go into the nitty-gritty, I wanted to just explain a little bit about timing. We need to have the HSAC package approved by the HSAC Executive Committee by early December. The HSAC package needs to come back to this body in full form to be approved. I wanted to make sure we gave time for both the Committee hearing and the Council hearing. Page 28 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 CHR. DAVID: I'm sorry. I was just notified in order to continue discussion on your resolution, we need to suspend the Rules. Vote on Motion to Ms. Lee Loy moved to suspend Council Rule 24 to waive Suspend Council the holdover for the substantive amendment of Rules: Res. 239-21. Seconded by Mr. Richards 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: Go ahead, Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. So, back to the timing issue. I wanted to make sure that we had both the Committee meeting and the Council meeting to discuss the full package, which is why this, which is our submission to the package, needs to be completed today, and I requested that it be waived out of Committee. That is true for all three of these resolutions. The HSAC bylaws actually do not require this step. It requires that it be approved by the executive committee, the package be brought back here. However, it has been past practice and it is the preference of the current president that any concepts be vetted at each council level before it's elevated to the HSAC Executive Committee. So, that is why these are being brought before us now. I know there was some concern about public input. There's still plenty of opportunity to provide public input on this, especially since they will be going to State bills and not bills that are going to sit before this County. So, for this first one, this is just a request to make the wastewater issue a legislative priority for the HSAC package. There is not a bill yet. And we talked about this a little bit at one of our other meetings because we continue to undergo negotiations. And I did include Senate Bill 997, which was the submission regarding wastewater that was put forth by the Administration last session. That was the starting place. I think that this is probably going to end up being completely rewritten and going in a different direction based on our negotiations. One of the comments I wanted to make about what Ramzi was talking about yesterday is we're not trying to get around the Konno decision; we're trying to work with it. And so, we have been in conversations with the labor unions to try to find something that accomplishes the goals that DEM (Department of Page 29 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Environmental Management) has, that we as a Council have, what the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has, and what the labor unions have with regard to the wastewater issue. So, happy to answer any further questions about those deliberations and where the conversation is. But the objective, at this point, is just to make this one of the priorities for HSAC. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Any discussion? Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Yeah. First of all, we've been listening to Ms. Demoruelle and Mr. Warren on a regular basis. And I know that's in your district, Maile, and we've been giving deference in that regard. But the more I listen to them, it's not without reason that they're coming forth, yeah. And I think one of their apprehensions is that something like this would be used to fund that or those projects in the area. So, one thing you guys might want to do is, for consideration, you just say that it's related to those upgrades that we've been hearing so often about relating to the state of disrepair of our current facilities. I think that's really front and center of what we're really concerned about. But for me, I think I have to vote against this, as much as I like the concept, because reference was made to this Senate bill. And I know Ms. Kimball said that it's not inextricably tied into this bill and there are other ways, and it's not her intent to try to circumvent the Konno decision, but because this is so open-ended, it lends itself to the possibility that something like the Senate Bill 997, which really had a pushback from the UPW (United Public Workers), I'm going to have a hard time agreeing with this unless there's more specificity. I know time is of the essence on this. But I note that Ms. Kimball states in one of the recitals that she's been meeting with public and private stakeholders to find new ways, but I don't see anything in here. So, there's nothing specific. I really do apologize but that's the reason. It caused so much apprehension, not on the part of Mr. Warren and Ms. Demoruelle, but a lot of our public employees. And I think all of us know about it. I have a hard time supporting any kind of privatization of the wastewater. I'm not against privatization, but for the wastewater system, that becomes problematic for me. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Anyone else? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, if I could get clarity. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Page 30 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I think we had a discussion about the HSAC package in Gourd C a couple of meetings ago, and I'm just curious because I think the initial conversations were around a bill to start some kind of task force and we would kind of get a little bit more clarity and laser focus on what exactly they would be investigating. So,just wondering, Heather, how that kind of comes into play here because I have some reservations about this being really open- ended and not really having a defined scope. MS. KIMBALL: Chair, if I may? CHR. DAVID: Go ahead with your response. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. Council Member Kierkiewicz, you are correct. We had a conversation on a communication regarding the HSAC package. At that time, there was no intention to form a task force as part of the legislation, that I was also communicating at that time that we had a working group that had begun discussing the issue. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, so we're still back to where we are with still kind of talking about this issue. Okay. Yeah, I'm looking for a little bit more specificity on what you hope the deliverable to be, what this innovative approach might look like. I mean, we have a lot of tools in our toolbox that I think have kind of yet to be leveraged. Thank you, I yield. MS. KIMBALL: Agreed. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Ms. Villegas, go ahead. MS. VILLEGAS: I just want to, for starters, thank Councilwoman Kimball for initiating this process. Last year we missed this opportunity, and you have taken great leadership strides in keeping our County up-to-date in everything that's happening with the HSAC organization and the other counties. And this specific issue is very relevant, especially in Maui where they are facing—it's been to the Supreme Court, the injection wells, and how things are happening with the wastewater. I will be supporting this today. I believe that this is a part of the conversation. This is the part of putting forward concepts and ideas for positive solutions, and ensuring that we participate in that capacity in this arena. And so, having been in some of those HSAC meetings and the conversations and the high-level questions and the vision and the intentionality of this, as well as the cohesive opportunities and movements for our counties to stand together in what we are requesting from the State as a legislative body, I think that it behooves us to support this. And so, I will be supporting this today, and thank you for bringing this forward. And I Page 31 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 look forward to—and I'm hopeful that we can get this moving because it didn't happen last year, and you have been making really great strides in working with HSAC as our representative for our County this year. So, thank you. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else? Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder, go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I've been through this, Ms. Kimball, where you put forward a good idea and then there's criticism of the specificity or the overall intent. Ultimately, you're just looking for some help from the State to work with the County to find some good solutions and be creative. I support that. So, thank you for putting this forward. It's simple in that ask, and sometimes simpleness is beauty, yeah. There's beauty in simplicity. So, thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Anyone else? Mr. Chung, go ahead. Oh, Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Thanks, Chair. I'm listening to comments and, again, I always come back to looking at what's our endgame. We've got to take care of wastewater. Listening to Director yesterday, we have a $160-million need to fix right now,plus probably another 30 to 40, so a round number of 200 million to take care of what we need to take care of so we don't have to worry about the stuff we actually have built before we go forward. And I listen very carefully to what Mr. Chung says, and I do have those concerns. However, I still think we need to seek funding, and I'm not sure how that's going to work. That's kind of throwing a broader net, and I think I can support that. I'm still a little concerned with the Konno decision, and maybe there's something that Corp. (Corporation) Counsel can answer that. But generally speaking, I think the direction is right. Anyway, I want to hear a few more comments. Actually, Judge Strance, could you answer a quick question? I hope it's a quick question. (Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Strance came forward to address the members of the Council.) MS. STRANCE: Good morning. Elizabeth Strance, Corporation Counsel. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you. Just a quick question as it pertains to this resolution and the Konno decision as far as privatization. Is that any of a consideration here with this law passed? And I don't want a long dissertation; just is this a concern coming forward? MS. STRANCE: The resolution itself isn't a concern. A concern rises with the attachment of Senate Bill 997. And so, that's where I think it gets a little messy. Page 32 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 It's if the intention of the resolution is to support Senate Bill 997 or something similar to it, there's specific mention of the Konno decision where there's some specific intentions. (Inaudible)because you don't want a long dissertation. MR. RICHARDS: So, sounds like it's a bigger conversation for a later date, not for this group. Like I said, I'm what I'm trying to do is figure how to fix our wastewater system. And I appreciate that, Judge. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Now, Mr. Chung, go ahead. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, and just for Mr. Richards' information, this resolution, in and of itself, does not impact the Konno decision, okay, because it doesn't reference this Senate bill or anything like that. It doesn't—and I guess because it's not specific, it doesn't impact. I would concede that. And I'm not trying to win the day here; I'm just stating why I'm going to be voting against this. If it passes, it passes. Who can be against developing an innovative approach to secure funding from the State of Hawaii, right? Very clear. In concept, I'm okay with that. The reason why I'm voting against it, I will reiterate, has to do with the existence of Senate Bill 997. Now, as we all know or should know, that was advanced by Hawaii County, okay. That was drafted by Hawaii County; it was advanced by Hawaii County. And it was framed based on the same bill that allowed for privatization of the Maui Hospital—exactly. And that's why there's some mistakes in this thing, the Senate bill. I don't want my vote in favor of this resolution to be used by the Administration to now say, "Look, our Hawaii County Council approves our innovative way of trying to get funding." That's all. You guys vote however you want. I'm just saying why I'm not [sic] voting against it and that's all. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you. And thank you, Judge Strance. Actually, that really does help me. And first of all, Ms. Kimball, thank you but I know we're at Council because it got waived, and this is the clunky way sometimes to deal with the Legislature. And that was my heartburn, was the previous Senate bill that actually contained a lot of errors. It really wasn't a very clean piece of legislation. And I do know as time goes on, it's these pieces of legislation that people will hold up and say, in a very short timeframe, although it's not intended that way, they'll come out and say, "Well, you supported privatization." I think if we kept it with those innovative strategies and just kind of threw it all out there and explored them all, I think that would be wise. It really is this Senate bill that was going through last session that, from what I can see, was literally copied and pasted from the Maui Hospital privatization and changed along the way to try and fit this situation. So with that, I'm going to be voting with Page 33 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 reservation because I like that idea of innovative solutions because we've got to fix our wastewater. We really do. It's how it'll play out down the road that has me concerned. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else before I go back to Mr. Inaba? Go ahead. MR. INABA: Thank you. I just want to say that I'll be in support of this resolution. And I think any attempt at this point to partner with the State to advance and to get us moving and progressing in any way with regards to the grim picture we were painted yesterday is something good. So, thank you for bringing this forward. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else before I go back to Ms. Kimball? Go ahead, Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. This is me really worked up and frustrated. The reason why is because I chose to include, as a communication, this bill so that you guys were fully aware and we could have the conversation. What I am trying to do with this process is damage control from the Administration. And I'm very cautious to ever throw anybody under the bus, but for the Administration putting forward a terrible bill, that did piss off the unions; that scared them away from the table. The reason that this is open-ended is because I don't want to prescribe the solution. I want to give them the room to come back to the table so we can fix this really bad problem. A billion dollars to bring our wastewater infrastructure back up. Another billion dollars to build what we need. Are we going to put that on the taxpayers? Are we going to put that on the sewer? If we did, it would apprise them $400 a month. That's how we would be able to pay for it. The only way to do this is the creative solutions. The only way to do this—it doesn't have to be a public-private partnership. The more we talk about it, the more I realize that's probably not the way to go. But the reason that this is vague, the reason it is open-ended is because I need to create the space for the labor unions to come in and have that conversation with me because of the damage control that I need to do because of this terrible bill. So, I included it so we could talk about it. But please do not stall this resolution because of that bill, because its intent is to get us out of it. Okay, I did get a little worked up. We have Ramzi on the line. Before we go on, I do want to ask him to give his input. He has been participating in these conversations. I will also add that we are the worst off of all of the counties for sure. However, this impacts all of the neighbor-island counties. And the other counties have been part of these conversations. The problem that Ramzi was talking about yesterday about being able to find staff and people to fill these Page 34 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 positions is prevalent across all of the other counties. So, also please think about it. It's not just us but all of the counties in the State and the wastewater problem that exists for everyone, not just Hawaii County. Thank you, Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Did you want Ramzi to ? MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, if Ramzi wants to chime in. He was on the line. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Director. MR. MANSOUR: Aloha, Chairwoman, Committee Member, and thank you, Council Member Heather Kimball. It's reallyI want to thank her so much for taking the lead on this, and I agree with her a hundred percent, her statement. When the new Administration took office, I remember working on this Senate bill as I was flying to meet with the Mayor because we only had a small window of opportunity to submit something. We knew it was not going to go through but at least that would start the conversation—and it did. And I thank Council Member Heather Kimball for taking that lead this year because that will give us more time to talk to the union. I agree with her. Maybe "privatization" is the wrong word to use, though we need to be able to team up with everybody involved to allow flexibility, to allow funding opportunities. We lack a certified operator all over the State. So, this type of bill will open the door for more opportunities to our own constituents, to our own employees. So, I strongly urge you to support this resolution. And our department backs it a hundred percent. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Director. Anyone else before I make my comment? Okay. Ms. Kimball, your light is on. You want to—okay. Thank you. And thank you, Ms. Kimball, for that detailed explanation of this resolution. And I was just going to make—my only comment was I looked at Communication 439.1, and it was specifically saying you're submitting Bill 997, Senate Draft 1, in order to facilitate discussion on this. So, I think given that, I will be supporting this resolution as well. And if everyone is done, I'm going to take a vote. All those in favor of approving Resolution 239-21, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 239-21: The motion to adopt Res. 239-21, as amended to Draft 2, Draft 2 was carried by the following voice vote: (Adopted) Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David–6. Noes: Council Member Chung– 1. Absent: Council Members Kierkiewicz and Lee Loy –2. Excused: None. Page 35 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Vote on Motion to Ms. Kimball moved to suspend Council Rule 15 to waive Suspend Council the 5-day hold for reconsideration. Seconded by Mr. Inaba Rules: and carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David–7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Kierkiewicz and Lee Loy –2. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Can we move now to Resolution 240-21? Res. 240-21: APPROVES A STATE BILL RELATING TO REGISTRATION OF VEHICLES FOR INCLUSION IN THE 2022 HAWAII STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE The proposed State legislation will remove the $10 limit on highway beautification fees used to support the disposal of abandoned and/or derelict vehicles. Reference: Comm. 440 Intr. by: Ms. Kimball Waived: GOREDC Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 240-21. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. DAVID: Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Madam Chair. This resolution supports the bill that is drafted. It was actually drafted by the lobbyist for HSAC. It just basically removes the wording that puts the $10 limit on the highway beautification fees. You'll notice that the justification refers a lotto Kauai. This is one of three bills that our lobbyist drafted. And what we did is each county took one basically to pass through committee and send to the HSAC Executive Committee. But Director Mansour is here again to speak to this as well. Just wanting to put this forward. As you know, the bylaws of HSAC—anything having to do with home rule or our own revenue stream is considered something irrelevant to HSAC, and this has to do with this. The discussion is for a later day whether or not we bump that beyond ten, but it is the justification in our mind is that it is the counties that have the best ability to decide what they need that fund to be to deal with abandoned vehicles on highways. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Any discussion, Council Members? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 240-21, please say "aye." Page 36 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Vote on Res. 240-21: The motion to adopt Res. 240-21 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. Vote on Motion to Ms. Kimball moved to suspend Council Rule 15 to waive Suspend Council the 5-day hold for reconsideration. Seconded by Rules: Mr. Richards and 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: Okay. Does anyone prefer a short break? Or shall we just move on? Move on? Thank you. Mr. Clerk, I think we can go to the top of the agenda right now. Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business. of Business: Res. 224-21: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO NORTH KOHALA COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER FOR EXPENSES RELATING TO THE RENOVATION OF THE KAPA`AU VETERANS WALL OF HONOR IN NORTH KOHALA Transfers $3,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 9); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 423 Intr. by: Mr. Richards Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to adopt Res. 224-21. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. Page 37 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you. We heard Joe Carvalho talk story on this a little bit. And Kohala community is long, well-steeped in military service. And there's that's more than a bulletin board but old technology, old pictures, etcetera. And it's really seen the Kohala winds, and rain has taken its toll on that. And so, very appropriate that this is coming at the same time that Mr. Inaba's initiative with the wreaths and recognizing our military services. The idea is that we have this new technology where we put pictures and verbiage on metal. So, it's very weather-resistant. It honors the community. Community is quite, like I said, quite supportive and has a very strong military presence there. So, I just ask for my Council Members' support on this. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 224-21,please say "aye." Vote on Res. 224-21: The motion to adopt Res. 224-21 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: None. Res. 225-21: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PURCHASE WREATHS FOR THE WEST HAWAII VETERANS CEMETERY-PU'U HO`OMAHA O NA POB KOA O HAWAII KOMOHANA FOR THE NATIONAL WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA DAY Transfers $1,250 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 9); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 424 Intr. by: Mr. Richards Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to adopt Res. 225-21. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Very supportive of this because, again, it recognizes our military and for the families of service and all those. One of my constituents, Page 38 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 long-time friend of mine, they're a Gold Star family and they were asked to participate in the event. But I'm going to defer the conversation about this to Mr. Inaba because he championed this. So, I ask for my colleagues' support. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Inaba, go ahead. MR. INABA: Thank you. And thank you, Mr. Richards, for joining me in contributing funds to this event. Right when this term began, I was able to attend the wreath-laying ceremony. And they bring in hundreds of wreaths, enough wreaths to place one at every grave and in front of every plot at the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery. So, it takes a significant amount of funds to make this happen, and it really is a beautiful event to see; the cemetery lawn laid out with these wreaths in honor of those who served their country. So, glad that we could both contribute. Mahalo. CHR. DAVID: Thanks, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else before I go back to Mr. Richards? Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you. And thank you, Councilman Inaba, for letting me participate in that. I also noted Civil Air Patrol was participating, and a long time ago, I was actually one of the Civil Air Patrol cadets when we had stone airplanes, right. CHR. DAVID: Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. And I want to thank Mr. Richards and Mr. Inaba. But more importantly, Mr. Inaba is really emerging as a champion for veterans' issues. And it was a privilege and an honor to do the work with the Veterans Advisory Committee. And it will be a privilege and an honor to continue this support for so many people who have had many sacrifices. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 225-21, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 225-21: The motion to adopt Res. 225-21 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: None. Page 39 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Res. 226-21: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PURCHASE WREATHS FOR THE WEST HAWAII VETERANS CEMETERY-PU`U HO`OMAHA O NA POB KOA O HAWAII KOMOHANA FOR THE NATIONAL WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA DAY Transfers $1,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 8); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 425 Intr. by: Mr. Inaba Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to adopt Res. 226-21. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. MR. INABA: Mahalo. Just wanted to continue support as it was just explained for the former resolution. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 226-21, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 226-21: The motion to adopt Res. 226-21 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: None. Res. 227-21: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE HAWAII COUNTY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL FOR THE PURCHASE OF CITRIC ACID TO CONTROL COQUI FROGS IN COUNCIL DISTRICT 8 Transfers $4,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 8); and credits to the Department of Research and Development, Agriculture Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 426 Intr. by: Mr. Inaba Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to adopt Res. 227-21. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. Page 40 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. As you can see, the constituents of District 8 are very passionate about our citric acid, therefore, the request put forth by some of my colleagues here. And we do always get calls in District 8 regarding the coqui frogs. So, mahalo for your support on this resolution. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 227-21, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 227-21: The motion to adopt Res. 227-21 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: None. Res. 228-21: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE HAWAII COUNTY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL FOR THE PURCHASE OF CITRIC ACID TO CONTROL THE COQUI FROG INFESTATION IN COUNCIL DISTRICT 6 Transfers $3,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 6); and credits to the Department of Research and Development, Agriculture Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 427 Intr. by: Ms. David Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 228-21. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. This is my contingency and for the same citric acid that really benefits our community. I really think that between Districts 6, 7, and 8, the coquis reside very happily and in numbers. So, I would love to have your support for this ongoing contribution. All rightoh, Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: They're in District 9 too. Page 41 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 CHR. DAVID: I know. They're everywhere. We just don't have enough citric acid to go around. So, all right, all those in favor of approving Resolution 228-21, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 228-21: The motion to adopt Res. 228-21 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. Res. 229-21: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE HAWAII COUNTY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL FOR THE PURCHASE OF CITRIC ACID TO CONTROL THE COQUI FROG INFESTATION IN COUNCIL DISTRICT 1 Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 1); and credits to the Department of Research and Development, Agriculture Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 428 Intr. by: Ms. Kimball Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 229-21. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: I'll see your coqui frogs in Districts 8 and 6 and 9 and raise you the coqui frogs in District 1. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. All those in favor of approving Resolution 229-21, please say "aye." Page 42 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Vote on Res. 229-21: The motion to adopt Res. 229-21 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. Res. 230-21: 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 THE LIGHT UP THE NIGHT AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COMMUNITY AWARENESS CAMPAIGN Transfers $1,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 1); and credits to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 429 Intr. by: Ms. Kimball Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 230-21. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. And thank you, Council Member Richards and your staff, for first of all bringing this program to our attention and helping my staff put together our CRF (Contingency Relief Fund)proposal. This is a topic that's near and dear to my heart. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I know, from speaking with our community policing officers in my district, domestic violence is the leading cause for calls. And something I don't talk about very much because it's painful and it's also something that I feel ashamed about now is I'm a survivor myself. So, I'm always in support of these kinds of contributions. So, thank you, Chair. I look forward to everyone's support. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 230-21, please say "aye." Page 43 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Vote on Res. 230-21: The motion to adopt Res. 230-21 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: I'm sorry, could you hang on one second? Is Deanna still in our Hilo office, Hilo chambers? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, she's here. CHR. DAVID: I need to apologize to Director Sako. I just went crazy. I went to the top of the agenda. She requested two things and she was waiting for it. Can we go to 245-21? 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: Res. 245-21: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE HAWAII EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY Allows for the receipt of$3.25 million in Federally-derived funds, to be used to execute emergency response and protective measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reference: Comm. 446 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Waived: FC Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 245-21. Seconded by Mr. Richards. (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing from Hilo.) CHR. DAVID: Go ahead. And I believe Director Sako has been patiently waiting, and I had a senior moment just a few minutes ago. Page 44 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Ms. Sako. I just want to make a quick comment. This resolution, as well as Bill No. 78, were waived to Council to expedite funding. If you could, and mahalo for being here and for being patient, but if you could give us some background on this. MS. SAKO: We're just trying to take advantage of all the FEMA programs to pay for our COVID response. So, this one is specifically for testing. So, many of the test sites that the community is able to take advantage of, this grant will be paying for those. And so, we've been working with HI-EMA and FEMA to get that all set up, and it should cover all testing through December 31", 2021; unless, of course, the program is extended, then we'll ask for an extension. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Amazing. Then do you have a number right now, off the top of your head, of where we stand for what it costs to do our testing, our facility we've stood up? MS. SAKO: We started the program recently in August, I believe, August or September, and it is several hundred thousand—and I don't have the exact number. But we just added on a lot more sites starting October 1st. KTA (KTA Super Stores) was doing some of the testing through the State's program. And due to various reasons, they're not doing that any longer. So, we added additional testing. So, we think our total cost will be roughly about 3 million come the end of the year. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And then just as a quick note, the case numbers dropped pretty substantially, which is a great shift away from where we stood. MS. SAKO: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So, that's due to us testing and doing a lot of community output. So, mahalo for applying for these funds, for getting these grants into the County. It is much needed. Thank you, Ms. Sako. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. And I'm so sorry, Ms. Sako, again. MS. SAKO: No problem. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Anyone else? All those in favor of approving Resolution 245-21, please say "aye." Page 45 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Vote on Res. 245-21: The motion to adopt Res. 245-21 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: I just need to jump to Bill 78, which is the companion to this. Bill 78: 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 —Federal Emergency Management Agency — COVID-19 account($3,250,000); and appropriates the same to the Federal Emergency Management Agency —COVID-19 account. Funds would be used to execute emergency response and protective measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reference: Comm. 446 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Waived: FC Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 78 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Just to say again these were waived to Council to expedite funding. Mahalo to the Administration for pushing through these grant funding possibilities to our County, and I look forward to everyone's support. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Bill 78 at first reading, please say "aye." Page 46 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Vote on Bill 78: The motion to pass Bill 78 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, Director Sako. You can go home. Thank you. All right, back to the top of our agenda. Resolution 231. Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business. of Business: Res. 231-21: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO MA`ONA COMMUNITY GARDEN TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATED TO ITS CARDBOARD SHREDDING EVENTS IN THE KONA COMMUNITY Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services –Contingency Relief account (Council District 7); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 430 Intr. by: Ms. Villegas Motion to Approve: Ms. Villegas moved to adopt Res. 231-21. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Just extremely grateful for the Ma`ona Community Garden and the work of Chantal Chung and Evan Lam. They have a small but mighty cardboard shredding machine that they have been using, and they do shredding community gathering—small gatherings. But people can bring their cardboard down and shred it, which is an incredible use for any compost or gardening facility. It also removes that carbon from the ecosystem and puts it back into the soil. And these funds will help. They are kind of taking this project on the road. And this weekend, there will be a carbon [sic] shredding and composting activity at La`i`opua 2020. And so, I Page 47 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 think it's very exciting that what they've been doing specifically at Ma`ona Community Garden is now being expanded to other areas and other community organizations. And I'm very excited to hear that as more people learn about this cardboard shredder, they are getting excited about the potential of getting one of their own and utilizing it in their own businesses and organizations. So, we are creating positive change. And so, mahalo again to Chantal and Evan and to La`i`opua 2020 for hosting this weekend; there will be an event at their facility on Saturday. So, thank you again and I just ask for my colleagues' support. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 231-21, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 231-21: The motion to adopt Res. 231-21 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. Res. 232-21: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE EAST HAWAII CULTURAL COUNCIL FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES RELATING TO THE INSTALLATION OF FENCING Transfers $1,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 431 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 232-21. Seconded by Mr. Richards. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: I'm just asking for my colleagues' support. CHR. DAVID: Mahalo. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor please say Ic aye. Page 48 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Vote on Res. 232-21: The motion to adopt Res. 232-21 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. Res. 233-21: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE EAST HAWAII CULTURAL COUNCIL FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES ASSOCIATED WITH THE INSTALLATION OF FENCING Transfers $1,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 4); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 432 Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 233-21. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Just looking for everyone's support. Thank you, Chair. CHR. DAVID: Mahalo. All those in favor of approving Resolution 233-21, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 233-21: The motion to adopt Res. 233-21 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. Page 49 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Res. 234-21: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE EAST HAWAII CULTURAL COUNCIL FOR ITS NEW MENTORSHIP PROGRAM, "ART FORWARD" Transfers $500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 4); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 433 Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 234-21. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Just really excited to be able to provide some seed money for this program. It's a new concept for East Hawaii Cultural Center where they are going to empower students that have artistic ideas. They're going to get mentorship from local artists, and they just have support and resources to take those ideas and make them a tangible reality. So, happy to support them and really look forward to seeing what comes out of it. Thank you, Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 234-21,please say "aye." Vote on Res. 234-21: The motion to adopt Res. 234-21 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Page 50 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Res. 235-21: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HO`OLA VETERAN SERVICES FOR ITS HAWAII FARM-TO-CAR PROGRAM Transfers $5,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 4); and credits to the Department of Research and Development, Business Development account. Reference: Comm. 434 Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 235-21. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. This is one of my more sizable funding donations to Ho`ola. I think we're all really familiar with Emily Emmons and what she does to support the agricultural community for veterans. And I'm so pleased that they were able to keep the Farm-to-Car program alive in East Hawaii. She shared with me that some initial promises for this type of money was made, but I think either fell through or were coming in at a much smaller amount. So, was happy to kind of kick this in because there are a number of Puna farmers that are engaged in this program. And really excited about everything they're doing to support local agriculture. When she took over the Farm-to-Car program, there was no money to help transition. So, that was cutting into the bottom line of farmers and Ho`ola Veteran Services. So,just want to make sure that they have what they need to continue running the program and to do it in a really tech-savvy way. Looking for everyone's support. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 235-21,please say "aye." Vote on Res. 235-21: The motion to adopt Res. 235-21 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. Page 51 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Res. 238-21: SUPPORTS ADDITION OF AN ITEM TITLED "AMENDING THE SUNSHINE LAW, PART I OF CHAPTER 92, HAWAII REVISED STATUTES, TO ENHANCE THE CAPACITY OF COUNTY COUNCILS TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE PUBLIC POLICY WHILE ASSURING TRANSPARENCY AND CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT" FOR INCLUSION IN THE 2022 HAWAII STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE Reference: Comm. 438 Intr. by: Ms. Kimball Waived: GOREDC Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 238-21. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. Again, HSAC legislative priority resolution again requesting the subject area to be sent forth to the HSAC Executive Committee to be considered as a priority. This is another one where negotiations are ongoing between the County Council representatives on the HSAC committee and Office of Information Practices, League of Women Voters, Common Cause, and this one will be Law Center. Just FYI(for your information) so folks are somewhat aware of what's on the table right now. There's a request to have 24-hour access to Word materials prior to meetings so that the public can testify with all of the information. There is a request to include adjudicatory hearings as one of the—concerning land use, as one of the types of boards that usually that Sunshine Law would apply to. There's some discussion around greater clarity now that we have access to so many webinars and virtual platforms. What does textingspeaking to each other in the chat count as? What can we do there? What sort of things like that. We had a long discussion with the OIP (Office of Information Practices) about meetings out-of-state, which are not currently covered for the councils under the Sunshine Law. They described what we were allowed to do, and it's not at all clear in the code of what we're allowed to do. So, a lot of it—none of it has to do with reducing transparency. It's really just clarifying the guardrails. As Council Member Tammy Waters from City and County of Honolulu put it, when the guardrails are unclear, it has a chilling effect on our ability to work together and collaborate. And so, continue to have discussions about this with the interested parties, and just asking to move this forward to HSAC for consideration by the executive committee. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Anyone else? Mr. Chung, go ahead. Page 52 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MR. CHUNG: Can I ask Ms. Kimball what I couldn't quite hear. The adjudicatory hearings aspect, what was that all about? MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, that's a proposal coming from, I believe it's the League of Women Voters. They want to—and again, these are all being negotiated; so nothing definitive—require open deliberations of adjudicatory MR. CHUNG: Try a little louder. To require what? MS. KIMBALL: Require open deliberations of adjudicatory function on the Land Use Commission, including but not limited toI'm sorry, that's a repeat. So, general public has a right to notice at the meeting,testify on board adjudicatory hearings, meeting minutes, including appropriate summary be provided, quorum needed for board deliberations. (Inaudible)not required at this time. MR. CHUNG: Anyway, I can safely say that over the last 20-25 years, there has been no person on this Council, past or present, who has been more outspoken in his advocacy of having an amendment to the Sunshine Law than me. Okay. And I'm not saying that to tout myself because I've been nailed every time because of this, right. I mean, I've been the target of a lot of criticism. But I've always felt that we should be allowed to discuss things a little bit more so that when we do come to the Council, there's a little bit more focus on things and not just throwing things out all over the place, right. It's like just throwing up a bunch of things whenever we're here. And that is the nature of the beast. I understand that. And we are the closest governmental body to the public. So, the public deserves that. But there are ways of streamlining this, and I'm certainly in favor of that. I've never been against reducing transparency. It's just to make things better. I would have to believe that all of us have said during the course of our campaigns that we want to work with people, we want to work with the other Council Members. But it's very difficult to do that when everything has to be out here in the open. Yeah. I'm not in any way suggesting that we be able to caucus like the Legislature. But they have a lot of people there, so that is something that is probably a necessary evil for them. Yeah, I'm going to be supporting this but I still say,just like the last resolution relating to the innovative ways of getting funding for wastewater projects, this lacks specificity. And so, it's really difficult for me to tell what I'm voting "yes" on. Because, some of the things that were brought up by Ms. Kimball as being examples of how this could be amended actually seems like it's becoming more open, which is okay. I'll give you some examples, though, or some suggestions of what you could advocate. And I've talked to the Legislature about this in the past: allowing the Page 53 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Council to prepare and submit what I call—you could call it something else "minute resolutions"; circulated by one member, signed by everyone else so that we can fast-track our responses or input to the Legislature. Because, a lot of times we hear about a hearing at the Legislature, but we cannot give a formal position statement to them because it takes, like, about two to three or even a month for us to get a resolution passed. So, if we get a minute resolution circulated, signed, sent, and then ratified later on so that the public knows what we acted on. So, that doesn't fly in the face of transparency. If we could streamline the agendizing of matters. I know we have emergency provisions within our County Code and County Charter but that's not good enough. We've got to be able to move faster because a lot of times we're reacting, and our ability to adequately address pressing situations, particularly COVID that was a big example of that. We've called emergency meetings but we really couldn't move as fast as we could or should have. If we're able to streamline that—and I can't give any specific suggestions on that one but if there's any way we can allow the councils throughout the State of Hawaii to just react quicker to these types of situations, that would make us all the more effective. And we should be able to gather for social gatherings without having to submit things, or even informational gatherings without having to submit these ridiculous letters to the Council every time. I mean, it's good; no harm I guess. But everybody's just too afraid of their own shadows, and that's what we've got to get away from. We've got to be able to interact. We've got to be able to talk stories about things—and that creates better decision-making, in my opinion—and things could be divulged. I mean, there has to be a balance here. There absolutely has to be a balance. But we've got to get away from the idea of—there's a common notion by some members of the public, League of Women Voters for one. And I told them straight when we had a meeting with them; I said I'm for more, I mean, changing of the Sunshine Law—and of course much to their chagrin. But I just had to be straight with them, right. It's my feeling. And there has to be something that allows the Council to really work together. So, I'm in support of this in concept. I just wish there were more particulars here. But yeah, do whatever you can, yeah. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Anyone else? Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thank you. Thanks, Aaron. And I will confirm that you have been the most critical, but you've also been the most intent on transparency in all of our meetings. Even in Executive Session you have pushed: "Okay, now we can get out of Executive Session." So, I completely support also your perspective on all of this going forward. Page 54 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 I was going to ask Ms. Kimball, one of the things that was relayed to me by the Legislature as we were going through this had to pertain to our Zoom meetings and all that. I'm assuming this would support the retooling of that because under the emergency declaration, we were allowed to do it, but we're trying to make that better. So, I'm assuming that's part of this conversation. Is that correct? MS. KIMBALL: It is. It is actually already part of the law as of the last session. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. All right. MS. KIMBALL: I believe it takes effect at the beginning of the year. MR. RICHARDS: Well, that—yeah, right at the end, yeah. So, okay. Yeah, like was said, anything to streamline. And the thing that Councilman Chung brought up: the ability for this body to respond in a timely manner to any legislative thing before us. We're really not serving our County and our constituency if we can't weigh in in a timely manner to support or go against whatever's being proposed because that's our job to do that. If we can't respond quickly, that's problematic for us. So, Mr. Chung brings up some very valid points. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else before I go back to Ms. Kimball? Seeing none, Ms. Kimball, go ahead. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, thank you, Chair. And thank you, Council Member Chung, for your input and thoughts. And I would actually invite you to participate in these negotiations with me if you'd like. It's just me right now from Hawaii County. So, we would not be violating Sunshine Law if you were to join me. And thank you for bringing up the issue of being able to respond quickly, particularly to things that happen at the Legislature. That this was for me and for HSAC one of the reasons why we wanted to pursue this because we want to be able to react more quickly as a body to things that are happening very quickly within a very short timeframe. So, appreciate this feedback. And as soon as I have more clarity, we may have something ready by the time we vote on the package in late November, December. I'm hoping so. But again, leaving the container open enough so that everybody feels comfortable coming to the table and that their ideas will be heard. Thank you, everyone. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Anyone else? Seeing none, I just need to make one little comment, and I want to thank Mr. Chung for that statement regarding the fact that sometimes we are required to just react very quickly. And my note is—and that has a two-way street—sometimes we need to react very quickly to support something, and sometimes we need to act very quickly to oppose something. And so, I really thank you for that, Mr. Chung. And based on that, all those in favor of approving Resolution 238-21, please say "aye." Page 55 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Vote on Res. 238-21: The motion to adopt Res. 238-21 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. Vote on Motion to Ms. Kimball moved to suspend Council Rule 15 to waive Suspend Council the 5-day hold for reconsideration. Seconded by Mr. Inaba Rules: and 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: Thank you. Res. 242-21: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENT FOR KNOWINK ELECTRONIC POLL BOOK SOFTWARE FOR THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, ELECTIONS DIVISION Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year agreement with a total approximate cost of$26,468. Reference: Comm. 442 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Waived: FC Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 242-21. Seconded by Mr. Richards. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: This was waived to Council to expedite the request. The waiver was from our own County Clerk Mr. Jon Henricks. Mr. Henricks, is Mr. Brown available in Hilo to speak on this? Page 56 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MR. HENRICKS: Yes, he is and Ms. Nakamoto might be there as well. I'm not sure. (Note: At this time, Deputy County Clerk Aaron Brown came forward to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing from Hilo.) MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Mr. Brown, if you could? MR. BROWN: Yeah, good morning, Madam Chair, Council Members. Thank you for your time. It's just me this morning, but I know our Elections office is busy with a bunch of stuff right now, especially with the Redistricting Commission in full swing right now. Just wanted to start by thanking our Office of Elections. We're working with the State Office of Elections and the other counties. Also, the Department of Finance for being real supportive in a lot of our initiatives to implement new things to help make our operations in Elections more secure and more efficient. This reso. (resolution) is requesting that we negotiate and enter into a five-year multi—it's a multi-year agreement with a company called KNOWiNK, and they help support an electronic poll book. And basically, these poll books, which are implemented by all the counties across Hawaii, they'll integrate with the statewide total vote system. It allows for more security, and it kind of makes everything more efficient; where any registered voter in the State, they can register in these electronic poll books and it will automatically link now to the statewide total vote system. So,just keeping things consistent with all the other counties. Trying to keep things more secure and more efficient as we get ready for the next election. So, thank you for your time and the opportunity to explain a little bit about KNOWiNK. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Brown. So, there will be a yearly cost of about$2,000 and an initial cost of about 16,500? MR. BROWN: Yes, that's correct. So, we initially invest in the hardware and software for this program, and then every year we pay about$2,000 in software fees and licensing fees to use the program. Also, did want to add that the State Office of Elections has already entered into an agreement with them for what they call a"gateway,"which is a system that allows all the counties to utilize these electronic poll books and then connect with that total vote statewide system. So again, thank you to the State Office of Elections for supporting the counties on that initiative. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Brown. Thank you for the breakdown of this resolution. Chair, I yield. Page 57 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Any other questions, discussion? Thank you, Deputy Brown, for that explanation. And all those in favor of approving Resolution 242-21, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 242-21: The motion to adopt Res. 242-21 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. Res. 246-21: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE HAWAII COUNTY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL TO PURCHASE CITRIC ACID TO HELP CONTROL COQUI FROGS IN COUNCIL DISTRICT 2 Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 2); and credits to the Department of Research and Development, Agriculture Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 450 Intr. by: Mr. Chung Motion to Approve: Mr. Chung moved to adopt Res. 246-21. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: I've been doing this every year, yeah, since I got back, giving, and just as many of you have today and therefore. So, I'm just going to make this one last statement about this. This whole citric acid thing, we have no delusions about getting rid of coqui frogs, right. You know what this thing really is? It's a community-building measure. These groups of people within various communities get together, and they go out at night and they shoot stuff. And it's just really good for them to get together, talk stories, and it really reaches out. It reaches out to a great deal of people. So, that's what I think the value of this is, aside from them getting rid of the noise in their neighborhoods. That's all I wanted to say. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 246-21, please say "aye." Page 58 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Vote on Res. 246-21: The motion to adopt Res. 246-21 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.) Bill 76: 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 Office of Management Private Contributions account ($100,000); and appropriates the same to the Office of Management Miscellaneous Private Contributions account to allow the County to efficiently accept and expend private contributions. Reference: Comm. 443 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Waived: FC Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 76 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: That's an interesting bill; I have to say that. It was waived to Council to expedite the request. It's for a private contribution fund in the amount of$100,000, then it also appropriates $100,000 for this account. So, I'd like to open it up to the Council. I think it would be good to have someone from the Administration explain this a little bit. I have Deanna Ms. Kierkiewicz, is Deanna in Hilo chambers right now? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chambers is empty. MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: What was that? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: No one's here in chambers. Page 59 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Chair, I'd like to postpone this bill until we get someone from the Administration. CHR. DAVID: I'm going to MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Oh, yeah. I yield for now for further discussion. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Chung, go ahead. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, I think what Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder was going to suggest would be prudent. I think we want somebody from the Mayor's office if not the Mayor himself. Not Deanna. Not anybody else. But either the No. 1 or No. 2 because this is kind of strange stuff, right. First of all, we want to know why this thing was waived, okay. So, you can tell them what my questions are: Who this thing is from and then why it went through the Mayor's office instead of the General Fund; what's it going to be used for by the Mayor's office, and if there's a resolution accompanying this thing, yeah, accepting the money from wherever it is. There's a lot of things we don't know, I mean, yeah, there's just too many questions on this. And we could actually use this money for the Mana Road fire situation, right. I mean, but if the Mayor needs it and he can demonstrate why he needs it, that's good too, but it has to come from either the Mayor or the Managing Director, yeah. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. I have many questions around this particular bill, specifically the who, what, where, when, why. I would either look at a motion to table this matter to the end of the agenda so we can get No. 1 or No. 2 to come and share with the Council or, moreover,postpone this matter to our next meeting. That is my wishes and for our community to understand where these funds are coming from. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else before I call Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder? Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Motion to table. MR. INABA: Oh, sorry. CHR. DAVID: Sorry. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Oh, I'm sorry. Page 60 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 CHR. DAVID: Go ahead—can I take Mr. Inaba first? Thank you, Mr. Inaba, go ahead. MR. INABA: Chair David, maybe we'll just get an answer as to why it was waived. Do you have an answer to that? CHR. DAVID: That would come from the Administration. MR. INABA: Okay, got it. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, go ahead. Vote on Motion to Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to table Bill 76 to the end Table: of the agenda. 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: This matter is tabled to the end of our agenda. Bill 79: 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 –Volunteer Fire Assistance account ($107,637); and appropriates the same to the Volunteer Fire Assistance–Federal account, for a total appropriation of$197,637. Funds would be used to provide training and equipment to the Hawaii Fire Department. Reference: Comm. 447 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Waived: FC Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 79 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Page 61 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. This was waived to Council as well. The request is for training purposes and for our volunteer fire assistance programs. Mr. Todd—it would be nice to hear from Mr. Todd on this as well. Ms. Kierkiewicz, is Mr. Todd in—Chief Todd in the Hilo chambers? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chief Todd is not here but Director Sako has walked in, related to the other measure that we just tabled. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I'd like to hear from the Chief on this just due to the waiver. (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing from Hilo.) MS. SAKO: Can I fill you in on Bill 79 a little bit? Is that what's on the table right now? I mean, is that what you guys are discussing? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yes, Bill 79. Yeah, if you can, Ms. Sako. Thank you. MS. SAKO: I know a little bit. Chief did come to talk to me before we submitted this measure, and we're very fortunate that the Federal government did call him. I forget which department it comes through. It's a grant we normally get every year. However, this year they had extra funding, and we were one of the ones that had a plan to spend it, so they offered it to us first. And so, this is additional funding we're getting over and above what we normally receive for this grant program. He did have a list of things that I can ask him to submit to you guys before second reading that it would be used for. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That would be useful this week and I understand, but being that it's a grant and this fundingI mean, right now it's a lifesaver, I think, and can very much help our volunteer wildfire units with the things that we may have needed during the Mana Road fire. So, this would be great. MS. SAKO: Yeah, I think it was for equipment and that type of thing. He did give me the list; I just don't remember all of them, but we'll submit it before second reading. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That would be wonderful. Okay, Ms. Chair, I yield. Thank you, Ms. Sako. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you, Chair. I'm going to be supporting this measure. I think it's very innovative and that Chief Todd actually saw money Page 62 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 being left on the table and has a plan that could quickly move in and grab the rest of these funds if other departments or other volunteer programs across the State or our nation is not using it. So, I'm going to be supporting this and just compliment Chief Todd for having the awareness of this type of funding opportunities. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Yeah, definitely support. If I recall the numbers right, I think we have 21 stations and 18 volunteer stations. As Chief Todd has pointed out, this is the—our volunteer firefighters are a very integral portion of our overall fighting. And I think the number's accurate. When they talk about outfitting a firefighter, we're looking upwards of$10,000 per firefighter to prepare them for going forward. So, in discussions with the Chief, he is talking about enhancing the overall participation of those volunteer firefighters. So, definitely we're going to support this and thanks, Fire, for being ready to spend the money. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? In Hilo, Ms. Kierkiewicz, I don't see your light so all right. All those in favor of approving Bill 79 at first reading, please say "aye." Vote on Bill 79: The motion to pass Bill 79 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. 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 73 was taken up previously, out of order.) Page 63 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Bill 66: AMENDS CHAPTER 15, ARTICLE 7, SECTION 15-63, OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO THE VETERANS ADVISORY COMMITTEE Replaces "chairman" and "vice chairman"with"chairperson" and "vice chairperson" and requires the chairperson to have served in the United States Uniformed Services. Reference: Comm. 386 Intr. by: Mr. Inaba and Ms. Lee Loy First Reading: October 6, 2021 Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to pass Bill 66 on second and final reading. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Go ahead, either one of you. Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. We heard this two weeks ago, and we've been hearing things about the Veterans Advisory Committee for a couple months now with the two bills, I think. So, we just ask for your continued support in cleaning up and assisting, making sure that we have enough representation on this committee. So, mahalo for your support. CHR. DAVID: Mahalo, Mr. Inaba. Ms. Lee Loy, you need to say ? You're done, okay. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Bill 66 at second and final reading,please say "aye." Vote on Bill 66: The motion to pass Bill 66 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. Page 64 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Bill 71: 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 —Rural Placemaking Innovation Challenge account($225,000); and appropriates the same to the Rural Placemaking Innovation Challenge account. Funds would be used to provide technical assistance and capacity building for community collaboration in implementing the Kilauea Recovery and Resilience Plan. Reference: Comm. 407 Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz First Reading: October 6, 2021 Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to pass Bill 71 on second and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Just looking for everyone's continued support. This was a Federal grant that our office and the recovery team co-authored. Waiting for the White House to announce any day now of our County being selected for these funds, and really excited to be implementing this work already and supporting community in their effort to increase resilience in Puna. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Bill 71 at second and final reading, please say "aye." Vote on Bill 71: The motion to pass Bill 71 on second and final reading was (Adopted) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Chung— 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: I just got a notation that Managing Director Lord is in our chambers in Hilo. Ms. Kierkiewicz, is that true? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes, Chair. Managing Director Lord is here as well as Kate Logan. CHR. DAVID: Okay, all right. Then Page 65 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MS. LEE LOY: Chair? CHR. DAVID: Yes, go ahead, Ms. Lee Loy. Vote on Motion to Ms. Lee Loy moved to remove Bill 76 from the table. Remove from Table: Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following (Approved) 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. (Note: At this time, Managing Director Lee Lord and Executive Assistant to the Mayor Katherine Logan came forward to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing from Hilo.) CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Thank you for being here today, Managing Director Lord. There were some questions revolving around Bill 76, which created a $100,000 account for the Administration. If you were not watching, the questions were mainly what is this for, where is it from, where is it going, what are the contributions going towards. I think these are very valid questions. I do appreciate you being here today to fill us in on this account. Well, actually, where it came from and what the idea was here. MR. LORD: Okay. So, there had been several discussions about this for a TEDx event that's going to occur. Deanna Sako, Finance Director, is here to explain why we're creating the account, and I also have Executive Assistant Kate Logan, who can explain and list where some of the funds have come from and where we're expecting the funds to come from. So, I'll ask Ms. Sako to come up at this time. (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing from Hilo.) MS. SAKO: Good morning. So, this is for, as Lee said, for the TEDx and there's also going to be another Sustainability Summit, most likely. So MR. CHUNG: Deanna? MS. SAKO: Yes? Page 66 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MR. CHUNG: Can you take off your mask? MS. SAKO: Sure. MR. CHUNG: Sorry, yeah. MS. SAKO: No, got it. So, for the TEDx and the next Sustainability Summit, Kate has been actively fundraising and looking for donations to fund those. So, last year we kind of intended to put in a donation account in the Mayor's office, like we have in other departments. So, if they do get donations for these types of things, they can go ahead and spend it and we don't have to come to Council each time. But we forgot to do that. So, this is the first time we've had a Mayor's office that's been this active in going out and trying to find funds to fund these types of programs. So, we're very appreciative of them getting that. But these are specifically for TEDx and the next Sustainability Summit, and we'll probably try to put a hundred thousand- dollar-donation matching revenue and expenditure account in their budget, which is one of those that they can only spend if they actually get the donations. So, Kate is only right now getting the donations in. So, the resolution, or we're seeing if it qualifies under the previous resolution, the more generic one. They'll either be submitted on our quarterly report or a separate resolution. And she can tell you more, like where they're coming from, if that's what you guys need to know. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I'm going to yield to the Council. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Mr. Chung, go ahead. MR. CHUNG: Right. So, Lee oroh, somebody going to ? CHR. DAVID: Kate Logan. MR. LORD: State your name. MS. LOGAN: Hi, Council. It's Kate Logan with the Mayor's office. CHR. DAVID: Oh, you want to go ahead? MR. CHUNG: (Inaudible.) CHR. DAVID: Ms. Logan, do you want to say something first and then Council Members will come up with questions if they have? Page 67 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MS. LOGAN: Sure. Thank you for this opportunity. As Managing Director Lee Lord and Deanna had both articulated, Mayor's office has various initiatives that have come up. And we had been blessed with so many donors for this particular TEDx event. We've raised 62,000 so far, and this just seems like a way to expedite these donations and pay the vendors on time. Thank you. MR. CHUNG: Madam Chairman, this is what I would suggest. We don't know what the amounts of these donations are, and it looks like all of these people have donated and earmarked it for certain events. And that's okay, too, but I think the better way to do this is to get the resolution and thenI mean, it could be done in the same Council meeting. But at least if we got the resolution, we could see who gave and then give our approval, and then take appropriate action on the ordinance later. I don't know. I mean, that would seem like the sensible thing to do. That's how we've been doing it all of these years. I don't see any way around it, quite frankly. MS. SAKO: So,just as a reminder to the Council, we did come forward with a donation resolution that was more generic in nature, that we agreed to submit quarterly reports. So, the Council approved that for anything that's not going to be capitalized. Maybe we didn't intend or realize at the time that some of these large cash contributions would be covered by that. But after talking to Corporation Counsel, I think since they are items that are not capitalized, that they would be covered. So, our intention was to include them on the quarterly report. But if there's a different way the Council wants to handle it, then you can let us know. MR. CHUNG: Well, Deanna, when are these events scheduled for? MS. LOGAN: The first event is November 13''; it's a Saturday. And then the next summit would be in March. MR. CHUNG: Of next year, right? So, there's no rush on that one, right? So, what about the event that's happening on November 13? How much do you guys need to spend on that? MS. LOGAN: So, we've raised 62,000 to date. We do have various invoices that are pending. So, we have filming costs, we have marketing costs, and we have other vendors to pay. And then we have other costs to incur, which we haven't even received those invoices yet. So, I can provide you with a list of all the donors to date; there's 24. MR. CHUNG: Okay. I'll really leave it up to the Council and see how they want to go forward because what you explained gives me a little bit more comfort. But, Deanna, if you recall the reason—well, what the resolution that you guys prepared was framed after was the thing that Maile and I had brought forward to assist the Sayre Foundation. And the reason for that,just as background Page 68 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 information for everyone here, the Sayre Foundation had been told—correct me if I'm wrong here, Maile that the Council was holding up the processing of their donations, which was not correct. And I know it didn't come from Deanna or anybody like that. I don't know where it came from, but it came from somebody who was giving incorrect information to the Sayre Foundation. And we knew already what the Sayre Foundation does and what they've been doing for many years. So, we had no problem giving that kind of authorization to fast-track the donations. But this one is a little bit different because we don't know who these people are. We don't know what amounts they're giving. And actually, if it was provided today, maybe we would be able to act quickly on this. Because what if, like, 50,000 came from one place? We don't know what's the motivation behind these things. We don't know what the connections are. There's just so many questions that could come up. We talk about transparency because we were talking about it just recently. That's something that the public would like to know too, making sure that there's no quid pro quo going on or anything like that. And not to suggest that that's happening, but when you don't have the information, that's what people might start to think. And that's all. But if everyone's comfortable with moving ahead based on the representations of the Administration today, that's fine. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. MS. SAKO: Chair, Ms. Logan's going to go back upstairs and get the list while we talk. CHR. DAVID: Okay, I'm going to go to Ms. Lee Loy right now, then. Thank you, Director. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you, Chair. And thank you for that segue because that's exactly where I went, Mr. Chung, is this quid pro quo. And my bigger challenge is in we know that these things happen. And, Deanna, maybe you can help me with this because Kate mentioned some filming, and we have a lot of vendors who want to do this type of work. And is there a contract or procurement process that's utilized so that there is that checks and balances that there is no quid pro quo going on through this money? Can you help me with that? Before you answer, Managing Director Lee Lord, thank you. Thanks for coming. And I know you have that coat hanging in your office, so thank you for showing up ready to have this conversation and dressed for this body. Go ahead, Deanna. MS. SAKO: Mayor's office is no different than any other department, and they have to follow procurement like everyone else, yes. So, all of their events are subject to procurement, like everybody else. MS. LEE LOY: That minimum threshold for that work, what is that number? Page 69 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MS. SAKO: Anything over a thousand dollars. But even under a thousand, we still ask departments to solicit quotes. MS. LEE LOY: Great. Thank you. I yield at this time. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Go aheadoh, can I take ? MR. CHUNG: Oh, yeah. CHR. DAVID: Ms. Villegas, go ahead. MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah, thank you for the comments from my colleagues on the Council here. Super grateful for all the work that Ms. Logan has been doing and these kinds of really cutting-edge opportunities for our County to be incorporated into platforms like TED Talks. But I do have some reservations and agree that there is a need for complete transparency in these things as we continue to navigate a political climate muddied by unfortunate circumstances in different— its ifferentits national, state, or local government. I know that everybody wants to make every effort possible to make sure that none of these efforts get tarnished by the potential appearance of impropriety or quid pro quo or special interest groups or, for lack of a better term,just greenwashing in general. And so, I think that it would be helpful for us to have a broader understanding of who the organizations are. I don't—coming from the events world myself and dealing with sponsors and whatnot, very familiar with that in the private sector. But in the public sector and from the Mayor's office standpoint and how that affects budgets and the overall perception from the community about who's paying what and what that affords them as a stage to be considered in complete alignment with our County in general. We were going through some of these things as we were trying to plan the HSAC conference, which has needed to be postponed. So,just in those interests, I think it behooves the Mayor's office to have complete and full disclosure in this, to eliminate any potential for future confusion, mistrust allegations, whatnot. As wonderful as these opportunities are and the things that you're putting together, Ms. Logan, are fantastic. I think it's a good idea also that we, as Council, have as much information as possible so we can provide feedback and the insights and the cautions that would end up being helpful for you. Yeah. So, thank you for that. Thank you for the wise comments from my colleagues and insights. And we'll look forward to hearing more about this. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Mr. Chung, go ahead. Page 70 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MR. CHUNG: Yeah. Don't get me wrong, guys. I think, based on what you guys said, it gives me a little bit more comfort in saying yes, even today a little bit more. But I think you guys understand why we're asking these questions. Because if you guys were in our place, you guys would ask the same questions, too, right? Because when the submission came in, there was no talk about who had given it, whether it was a one-piece donation of a $100,000, because that's what it's asking for here. Right? We didn't know. There were a lot of question marks. So, hopefully you guys can help us out. And I also understand. Don't think it's lost on me that you guys need a receptacle for people to donate to the Administration to be able to put on these things. So, we understand that, but just in these types of cases we need a bit more information. And it's really for the public too. Okay, so, thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Did the departments want to respond? MS. SAKO: Yes, Ms. Logan is back if you guys need additional information on the list of donors. CHR. DAVID: Okay. Then why don't I go to Mr.you want to? MR. RICHARDS: Sure. I mean CHR. DAVID: Okay. We'll allow—can we just hear the—if you've got the list with you, I think that's what we're waiting for. MS. LOGAN: Thank you, Council. And I apologize; while I ran upstairs, I missed some of the comments. So, I'd like to just start by saying thank you for having this conversation. When we came into office, there was no budget for sustainable initiatives. And so, this actually provides us an opportunity to move forward with, not only events, but just building partnerships in collaboration. And again, with this list that I'm going to read off,there's been overwhelming support from people around the community. So, we know that these are very important topics to everyone. So, similar to HSAC, we've created different tiers, and all these sponsors are listed on our sponsorship page. Would you like me to go down the entire list? Yes? Okay. So, in the CHR. DAVID: Thank you. MS. LOGAN: I'm sorry? CHR. DAVID: No thank you. Go ahead. Page 71 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MS. LOGAN: Okay. For diamond sponsors, we have Hawaiian Electric. We have Jason Trautworth. We have MR. CHUNG: How much? MS. LOGAN: These are all at 5,000. Diamond is 5,000. Winton Nicholson with Nicholson Development. Simon and Jessica Mulchaney, AES Solar. At platinum, which is 2,500, we have HPM (HPM Building Supply), Kamehameha Schools, HPA (Hawai`i Preparatory Academy), BYD (Build Your Dreams), Phil Tinguely of Tinguely Construction, AT&T, KTA, SCP (Soul Community Planet) Hotels. At gold: Manini Holdings, T&T Electric, Elemental Excelerator, Kohala Ranch. Silver: SSFM Interjects and William Moore Family. This is it. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Logan. I'm going to go to Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you, Kate, and thank you so much for all the work you do to put these events together. I'm going to say that I'm really uncomfortable sending this forward today. Some of the names read just now make me a little concerned. And moving forward, I think we should have a communication attached or even, as Mr. Chung said, an accompanying resolution for this type of request. And I don't think it's right for this body to have names read out like that, not have something in writing in the record for our public to be able to access should they want to see who are funding these events or any other events that will be supported by this fund that's being created here. So, I'm not going to be supporting this. And I'd ask that maybe we either postpone it and we can get this information provided in a communication to this body. That's what I'm suggesting. Perhaps a postponement. If not, I won't be supporting this today. And, Kate, I don't know how this has come to be and the manner it is before us, but for the Mayor's office, things like this MS. SAKO: So, Mr. Inaba, let me apologize. When Kate was talking about getting donations and the timing of the event, we knew that an appropriation ordinance takes two readings. So, I did ask her to get that information in to us. And then, knowing that a resolution would take only one, that we could catch up later. So, only now do we have the list of who's donating the money, and that is public knowledge because I believe the sponsors are located on the TED Talks website. MR. INABA: If they're available on the TED Talks website, then they need to be accompanying what's being reviewed by this body. So, in the future, whoever is going to bring this forward, whether it's Department of Finance or the Mayor's office needs to include that information. If not, this body is not doing their job by approving these kinds of bills before us. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Ms. Villegas Page 72 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair? CHR. DAVID: Go ahead. Oh, I'm sorry. You haven't spoken yet, Ms. Kierkiewicz, did you? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: No. CHR. DAVID: Okay, I'm going to go to Ms. Kierkiewicz first, then I'll go to you, Ms. Villegas. Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Thank you, all, for being here. I had a question. I'm on the TED Talks website. There is a section for sponsors. You list the tiers that you've said, but there's also partners and those partners also happen to be speakers. So, appearance of pay-to-play and so I just would like some clarification of what the difference is between a partner and all the folks that are listed as diamonds, silver, and platinum. MS. LOGAN: So, the brand TED has very specific rules. And so, speakers cannot be sponsors. However, we wanted to acknowledge the entities such as Hawaii Green Growth and Terraformation. We could change the way that it's laid out. So, the partners are entities and organizations associated with the speakers. And then, the sponsors are those who fiscally donated money. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you for that clarity. I highly suggest you make those changes online because right now it appears that there's some pay-to-play going on here; you pay to speak. MS. LOGAN: Not at all because MS. KIERKIEWICZ: It's not clear because it's on the sponsor section. MS. LOGAN: Thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So,just want to let you know that that's what's the appearance, currently. And then, I just had some questions about this particular account. So, I can understand the constraints, right; we're strapped for cash to be able to do things. So, setting up this account makes sense. But how it's being spent, not really clear. So, would it be appropriate to set up something specifically for TEDx and sustainability initiatives? Because it seems to me that, beyond these talk-stories that are convened and are very inspiring, it sounds like you would also, Administration, like to be able to secure some kind of funding to implement all these wonderful ideas that are being brought forward. Is that the intention here? MS. SAKO: Yeah, she's been fundraising for that. So,just like the Sustainability Summit last year, I believe there's going to be another one related to that, as well Page 73 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 as these TEDx talks. So, we followed the model that other departments have, and I guess I didn't have the forethought to realize the Council would have more concerns over something in the Mayor's office. So, we set it up just like how we would any other department, knowing that when the donations come in they're for a specific purpose, and that would be the purpose they'd have to be spent for. But we're happy to amend to do something different. So, the end goal is the same, to accomplish the initiatives and objectives. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I think that would be really helpful. A bit more clarity would ease some of the nerves and anxiety we're seeing around this because it seems like if not, it could just be a blank check because there is no specificity around the account. So,just suggest that. Thank you. And then I had a question for Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, our Finance Chair. You made a statement earlier about the Admin (Administration) waiving this to Council, but I'm just curious. Isn't that our job as Council Members to sign off those waivers as committee chairs? Just looking for clarification in that statement. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yes, Ms. Kierkiewicz, it is our responsibility. You are the Planning Chair, and you know full well how this works. This was a request by the Administration to waive to Council. I waived it to Council. We're having a discussion today. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, you just made a statement that it was the Admin who waived it. So, I just wanted to get clarification as to our role because we are Legislative Branch cross-checking—we're that check and balance for the Admin. And I think when stuff comes before Planning, making sure all of our ducks are in a row. But there's certainly a lot more that's moving through this Committee. Thanks for that clarification. You guys, thanks for being here. We're fully on board with all the work that you're doing to advance sustainability, but I think just a bit more detail would be really helpful. I think you know this Council by now; we sweat all the small details. We need to know where the money is going because there's just a lot of mistrust in government these days. So, thank you for bearing with us. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Ms. Villegas, go ahead. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you for the poignant questions. And thank you, Ms. Logan, for being here and enduring all of them. I just have a quick question for Corp. Counsel because kind of going back to what was bouncing around in my head on this issue. And thank you, Mr. Inaba, for your questions, and I concur Page 74 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 with the statements that you made. Is this something normal? In my mind, normally other groups—not that I don't want our County government involved in events like this, but it seems, in some cases, it's cleaner when the organizations or nonprofits themselves that work directly in these fields put on these events, and then the County of Hawaii itself is a sponsor. Having this done in-house and then soliciting contributions from businesses and organizations who work in these fields, it feels a little backwards to me and it feels a little self-promoting, for lack of a better term. I love the initiatives but I see there being really big—excuse me, point of privilege; was I missing something over there? Okay, thank you. I just, once again, question the wisdom here because having worked with a lot of nonprofits focused on environment and activism, there are often questions when politicians running for office get contributions from different groups or companies. And I just see us opening up a gray area here. I appreciate the terminology that you utilize, Ms. Kierkiewicz pay-to-play—which is often one of the challenges we face. In our roles in government is the perception that whoever is funding our campaigns is then essentially paying to play in future. And so, I want to make sure that the Mayor's office and the County in general avoid, even if it's not illegal, ill-advised based on perception in how that comes across. We have a lot of County contracts and bills that come through our hands, that it's already tricky enough with. And so, I'm not sure who the question is for, but I don't know of another municipality's office—mayor's office or administration—putting on an event like this and taking in private sponsorship money from organizations that the county already works very closely with or funds or relies on for contracts. So, I'm wondering about that, I guess, to feel a little better so that we avoid any potential accusations in future. (Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Strance came forward to address the members of the Council.) MS. STRANCE: Thank you. Elizabeth Strance, Corporation Counsel. Your question is, "What is normal," and I don't mean to be unhelpful, that really isn't a legal question. And I'm not really the person to ask about what's normal in government operations; I have not been here that long. MS. VILLEGAS: My apologies, Judge Strancetotally, my apologies. By no means did I mean to dump that on you. And perhaps that's aDeanna, you have been a pillar of the County government for decades now in managing our finance. Is this something that you have seen before? Is this a norm? Page 75 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MS. SAKO: I think,previously, sponsors actually paid bills directly. And I think this Administration is probably more transparent than previous administrations in the fact that they're actually collecting and putting it on the website and saying who's sponsoring it. So, I think everyone's being very upfront about what's happening. I mean, the alternative is to increase the Mayor's office budget in the future so that we can fund these events ourselves. MS. VILLEGAS: Gotcha. Thank you for that insight. I appreciate that. And perhaps, Ms. Logan, you could help me understand as well if other municipalities through your extensive, I'm sure, and rapid education on the TED Talks platform, but how this exists and operates, and for other municipalities. Or if it has. MS. LOGAN: Thank you. I can say yesterday I had a long conversation with Danielle Bask from the State, who was actually wanting to put one on herself and received several calls as to why the State wasn't initiating this type of event. To your point about the County holding these events, versus a nonprofit. Coming from the nonprofit world, I can say that a lot of nonprofits are extremely strapped and don't have the wherewithal to put on an event like this. When Mayor took office, we really spoke a lot about uplifting sustainability. And on the heels of COP26 (26h Conference of the Parties), it seemed like a really amazing opportunity. And again, we had a quick outpouring; it was less than two weeks that these funds were raised from these individuals. And so, who takes the lead versus who doesn't, I don't know the answer to that question just as Judge Strance. But I do know that if we all don't act, then we're being remiss. And so, perhaps I'm not doing this right and I'm learning as I go, and I'd love to do it correctly, but this opportunity did come up very quickly. And so, I want to be as transparent as possible. Again, the State wanted to put on an event, and so I talked to Danielle about how she could be a part of this particular event and how we could plan further events. One, perhaps, would be a youth TEDx event. And so, do other municipalities engage in these? Yes, they do. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. I really appreciate your shared information and experience on that. And I also have a great appreciation for the learning curve that this must entail. So, thank you for your hard work, dedication, and bringing this forward, and for your willingness to deal with all these questions. MS. LOGAN: If I may, too, this particular event, these are happening all around the world. There's hundreds of them. There's a TEDx promo where we're the only U.S. entity that is shown and we're shown twice; myself and then our public information officer closes it in Hawaiian. The other countries include Yemen all around the world—Japan. And so, this is really an opportunity to highlight our innovators and what our island is doing. Page 76 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 And so, this was an attempt to build on the summit and those who spoke about being a lighthouse for sustainability. And our theme is "Local insights grow global solutions." And so again, it's a way for our Council, our Administration to have a voice and to uplift those who are working really hard in this field. And so again, I apologize if I was remiss in not doing it correctly. But I'd prefer to be incorrect because I feel like this is the right thing to do and the platform to be able to really be that lighthouse. Thank you. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Ms. Logan. I appreciate that and that takes courage and tenacity and figuring out as you go along. So, thank you for your graciousness and your humility and your willingness to figure it out. So, appreciate that. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Ms. Kimball and then Mr. Richards. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. I'm just going to say that I share the same concerns as my colleagues primarily for the precedence that this sets in the current form. I certainly don't question you, Ms. Logan or Managing Director Lee Lord, what the intentions are behind this. They're definitely well intentions. But what I see here with the lack of specificity about where the funding is going, it's akin to us not having these CRF resolutions that say where we're spending our CRF funds. It's different than other departments because it is led by an elected official. And so, I think that you do need a specificity. I appreciate that out of your concern for transparency and goodness that you did put the sponsors on the website, that you didn't do that out of obligation. It was voluntary. I think in this sort of scenario where an elected official sits at the top decision-making position, it just protects them to have the level of transparency we have similarly for our CRF funds. So, I can't support this with the language that is there now. I do think we need to have a very clear explanation of where the money's going to be spent. And it's not because there's any distrust of you folks or the Administration, it's really just the precedent it sets to proceed on something like this without that requirement. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. I appreciate, Deanna, your intent to get the bucket—to get these funds and to manage them out of that bucket. And so I can fully support that. I also appreciate the fact that what we're trying to do on this Council is repeatedly seek other sources of income. And I'm listening very carefully about any perception of impropriety. With that being said, with the coming forward, you're talking about doing something new, Page 77 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 something different, getting a program going. The TEDx platform is well-known globally. And so, I think that's a masterful move to get that done. So, I support all of that. And I understand trying to get this in a very timely manner because November 13'h is right here, and I know we've got bills to pay on this. We do need the paperwork. But again as was articulated, the sponsors, nothing's being hidden about that. It's right out there. So, I can support going but the paperwork does have to be there. Again, it's not so much that there's a mistrust. It's more of just so it's on the table. And again we're Council. We are all involved in the community. We all make income streams out of the community in different fashions. And so, that's why we have to be, you know, disclosures and squeaky clean on all this stuff as we come forward. And so, that's why we need the paperwork to catch up. I don't want us to lose this opportunity as we go forward. And so are weI know you're going to have bills come in. I think you said we've collected 62,000 into this fund, and I assume, Deanna, you said a hundred thousand because you thought that would handle the cashflow coming through this. Is that an accurate statement? MS. SAKO: Yes. I believe she's still receiving or the County's still receiving additional donations. So, we thought a hundred thousand would cover it. We're happy to amend the account title to TEDx sponsorships or donations or something like that. If someone would be willing to introduce that amendment, I can have staff prepare it. MR. RICHARDS: For today you mean? Is that even possible? MS. SAKO: I don't know. If Lisa has it up on her computer and she's listening right now, she could be down here shortly. MR. RICHARDS: Well, like I said, I don't want to be obstructive to the whole process, but there is concern for transparency on this. And so, I do definitely hear on that. MS. SAKO: So, one of the things was we didn't have the list of names when we submitted the bill 12 days ahead of time and that whole process. MR. RICHARDS: Right. MS. SAKO: So, now we do. But I also knew it took two readings from appropriation, one for a resolution. So, we're happy to amend the title and prepare a resolution to accept the donations prior to the next Council meeting if the Chair might let us breach. Page 78 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MR. RICHARDS: Chair, how do you want to proceed on this one? And I think the Council has some reservations here. Chair, how would you like to proceed? CHR. DAVID: Yes, so, Deanna, you're suggesting that this Council, this body, moves the bill forward to second reading. And at that point in time, you folks would present the resolution? MS. SAKO: No, we would get you the resolution with whatever she has as of today for the next meeting. But I believe the deadline was last week Friday and didn't have all the information, yeah. MR. RICHARDS: It's a timing issue. CHR. DAVID: And so, if we postpone this until the next Council meeting where you could have both MS. SAKO: Then we'll just pay our bills later. The vendors will wait to get paid. CHR. DAVID: Well, I need toso, Council Members, either we move forward on this or, like Deanna said, if we don't then the vendors will have to wait to get paid. MS. SAKO: And staff did let me know they are working on the amendment and will bring it down shortly. CHR. DAVID: Okay, Council Membersoh, Ms. Lee Loy. I'm sorry, Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah. So, thanks, Chair. Given that latitude, in the spirit of support I would be willing to support this going forward, with the intent of not passing second reading unless all that paperwork was caught up and in order. So with that, Chair, I'll keep this conversation going and I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. I'm going to take a whole other approach in all of this, and I am going to ask to be recused from this vote. Because I don't have any information as to who the donors are, I don't know if I have any conflicts of interest. I see speakers who I am related to. And so, I just would like to, Chair, not be a part of any of this because I think what Kate is trying to do is incredibly helpful to our community and charting a pathway forward for us. But because it came to us like this, I really don't want to muddy the waters any more than it is. Chair, if I might, please, be recused from this vote. MS. SAKO: Madam Chair Page 79 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. MS. SAKO: Madam Chair? CHR. DAVID: Yes, Director Sako. MS. SAKO: Would you be so gracious as to allow us to breach the next agenda for the meeting in two weeks? We would request to withdraw this bill, and we will prepare something new along with the resolution. CHR. DAVID: Okay. Council Members, does that sound okay? A reasonable solution? Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: If I could just ask a few more questions. Deanna and Lee and Kate, I'm not against this thing. I'm actually okay, based on what you guys said, because it's kind of funny; I was thinking about all of this and it seemed like, hey, this thing really has become transparent all of a sudden, right. So, we got a lot of information. But, Deanna, you've been around a long time. Just to give us some context now, how often or in the past have we had these types of events, you know, sponsored by—and first of all, is this sponsored by the County of Hawaii or the Mayor's office or both? MS. SAKO: I'm sorry. I'm not—are we putting money towards it also? MS. LOGAN: (Inaudible.) MS. SAKO: No, the County is not paying for it. We're just coordinating it. There have been other events the County has coordinated in the past, but the funding hasn't flowed through the County. So, this is an opportunity that we're just trying to coordinate and gather all the information. MR. CHUNG: So, this is not put on by the County of Hawaii. MS. SAKO: We're not paying for it. MR. CHUNG: Our name is not on then. MS. LOGAN: The County of Hawaii the Mayor's office is the license holder for this event. So, to put on a TEDx event, you need to apply for a license. So, in as much as we are the license holder, we are the sponsor. But again, Mayor's office has never had any budget for any type of sustainable initiatives. And so, the County is not— MR. otMR. CHUNG: Has the Mayor's office been named as part of this thing? Page 80 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 MS. LOGAN: The Mayor's office and County seal is on every piece of promotional material for this. MR. CHUNG: That's kind of dangerous, I've got to say. If it's just the County of Hawaii, that's fine. But when it becomes the Mayor's office MS. LOGAN: It is the County of Hawaii seal. But when you apply for the application for TEDx, you have to be specific about a department. MR. CHUNG: No, but what I'm saying is MS. LOGAN: So, the license holder MR. CHUNG: Yeah, but all I'm saying is if it makes reference to the Mayor's office, it's pretty tricky because it's almost akin to a campaign contribution. I'm just letting you guys know that, okay. MS. LOGAN: I don't believe the language states that anywhere, but I'll go back and review the language. MR. CHUNG: Okay. No—and I don't know because I haven't seen any of the literature. I really don't know. I'm trying to find a way to support this thing and move it forward. So again, getting back to what—wait, let me back up a little bit more too. Because when I heard the names of the people who were giving and the amounts they were giving, at first it was represented that it's a community effort. And I was thinking, "Wow, that's fantastic! Sixty-something thousand dollars coming from the community. This is unbelievable!" And then I heard who's givingI mean, they're part of the community, I understand, but it's not really like Mary Ahuna, you know, that kind of stuff, giving $50 here. A little bit different, right? It has a different feel to it. Not saying that any of these people have ulterior motives. But they've been asked every time and theyactually, I'm kind of maybe defending them, too, because who can say "no"when the Mayor's office or even the Council asks people for donations? We're kind of stuck, too, right? But anyway, so, Deanna, in the past I know we've had Corp. Counsel conferences, right. How was the money—how did you guys get money for that? MS. SAKO: Usually from outside agencies. So, there would be, like, a separate association that puts on the conference, not the County. MR. CHUNG: Oh, okay then. Okay. Yeah, I'm okay with moving this forward, but we've got to think of a better way, yeah, in my opinion. We can talk about this a little bit more. But I thank you guys for trying to do something really good. Thank you. Page 81 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Ms. Kimball, go ahead. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah,just to make clear my intentions, I'd rather not move this forward and wait until Finance and the Mayor's office bring us a resolution and bill. Thank you, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. And, Director Sako, thank you for having your office lead the charge on a new version on this. And yeah, Mr. Clerk, maybe if you can remind us who made the motion so we can honor Director Sako's request—of course, after Chair David shares her piece. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. So, Deanna, I just need to clarify. Your suggestion was to withdraw. MS. SAKO: It was either to amend and have something at the next reading, but after seeing everyone's heartburn over this, I am totally fine with withdrawing and starting fresh. CHR. DAVID: And submitting both. MS. SAKO: As long as you allow us to breach,please. CHR. DAVID: Okay. On the record, it's a request that we have to move this forward as quickly as possible if they're coming back with the proper documentation that we're requesting, and the breach will be approved for that purpose. MS. SAKO: Thank you. CHR. DAVID: So, we need a motion to withdraw, someone. Upon the request of Director, we need to withdraw. Withdraw Bill 76: MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair, motion to withdraw Bill 76. MR. RICHARDS: Second. MR. HENRICKS: Madam Chair? CHR. DAVID: Yes. MR. HENRICKS: Our Council Rules provide that the maker of a motion may withdraw that motion at any time before action is taken. But there's no motion to withdraw required or Page 82 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 CHR. DAVID: I see. MR. HENRICKS: We don't recognize such a motion. CHR. DAVID: So, we get— MR. etMR. HENRICKS: So, our standard operational procedure at this point, because nothing of consequence has really happened, is that the Council's past precedence is allow the maker of the motion and introducer of the bill to withdraw their motion and essentially dispose of the matter off the agenda without further action, with the intention that the matter would not be brought forward again in the future. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. MR. CHUNG: Maybe if I could ask Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder for just a little latitude so I can just double check with Deanna guys what they feel comfortable with because we're talking about an event that's going to happen in November, the first or second week in November. So, what—is that okay, Deanna? MS. SAKO: Yes. The event is still going to be November 13''. If this isif it's withdrawn, then we'll bring something back next meeting, which is, I believe, the second or third of November. And then it would need a second reading, which would be a little bit after the 1 P but we'll find a way. MR. CHUNG: So, that's okay with you. MS. SAKO: Yeah, we'll find a way. MR. CHUNG: Okay, all right. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Director Lord? MR. LORD: Yes, thank you, Chair. I just wanted to respond, also, to Councilman Chair's question about how things used to happen in the past. One of the ways that we saw things being done in the past was donors would pay vendors directly, and that would kind of keep us kind of out of the loop. But we really do want to be as transparent as possible, so that's why we've been pushing this route much more. And everything that Kate's been doing, we've been trying to do it by the rules and follow all the directives. And our intention was to be as transparent as possible. And I just want to say I appreciate you all for your diligence and for asking all these questions because we agree it needs to be as transparent as possible. And we're happy to answer all the questions. So, thank you so much. Page 83 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Director. MR. HENRICKS: Just procedurally, to try to make things as efficient as possible with, of course, weighing in on the benefits of this measure, the bill that will be brought forward in place of this bill, I would ask Ms. Sako if it's so radically different that it wouldn't just be essentially an amendment, I think in that case then the simpler process is to amend the bill rather than to introduce an entirely new bill. If it's going to be radically different—and we can talk about what that means then, yes, we would need to probably start from scratch. CHR. DAVID: Okay, so in that case, we should not withdraw this and—we're talking time MR. HENRICKS: I would say the only reason to withdraw it is that, again, the bill is going to be so different that it wouldn't bean amendment would be outside the bounds of the rules of the Charter and our Council Rules. So, I think to describe the amendment, if I'm not mistaken, Ms. Sako described just adding descriptors to the bill the account name that would then be more specific. That's been done in the past through amendment. So, I think that the withdrawal would actually be inefficient, both in timing and just making more paper. TED Talk doesn't like that. CHR. DAVID: Okay. So, Mr. Clerk MS. SAKO: Thank you. I am checking with staff if the amendment's done. CHR. DAVID: Okay. You know what, can we table this then? We have a couple more items on this agenda. MR. HENRICKS: So, the amendment being done of course would require other processes in our office. I'm not suggesting what the Council should or shouldn't do. I don't really have any concerns about the timing; I'm not involved with this. But if there are amendments being made, the question would be, "Do they have to be made today," and that's up to the Council to decide whether or not it's comfortable moving forward without the amended language in place before this goes to second reading or this is postponed today. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Thank you for that. Council Members Ms. Kimball. Page 84 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 Vote on Motion to Ms. Kimball moved to postpone Bill 76 to November 3, Postpone: 2021. Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the following (Approved) voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: Council Member Lee Loy — 1. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, everybody. All right, I think we can move on to the last couple items on our agenda. Mr. Clerk. Bill 72: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 21-39, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2021, TO JUNE 30, 2022 Adds the following Environmental Management Wastewater Treatment Facilities, Generators projects to the Capital Budget: Federal Emergency Management Agency ($1,377,000) and County ($459,000). Funds for this project shall be provided from General Obligation Bonds, Capital Projects Fund—Fund Balance and/or Other Sources ($459,000) and Federal Grants Receivable ($1,377,000), to be used to purchase wastewater treatment facility generators. Reference: Comm. 408 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) First Reading: October 6, 2021 Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire membership to amend,pursuant to Section 10-6(e), Hawai`i County Charter Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 72 on second and final reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Deanna, are you in the chambers, still? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: She's not here. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair, I yield for further questions from the Council. Page 85 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Any other questions from Council Members? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Bill 72 at second and final reading,please say "aye." Vote on Bill 72: The motion to pass Bill 72 on second and final reading was (Adopted) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Absent: None. Excused: None. Bill 74: 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 —Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response account($487,728); and appropriates the same to the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response account. Funds would be used to fund six Fire Captain and three Fire Fighter positions for three years. Reference: Comm. 412 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) First Reading: October 6, 2021 Vote on Bill 74: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 74 on second (Adopted) and final reading. 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. REPORTS: The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Reports. (There were none.) REFERRALS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Referrals EXECUTIVE for Executive Session. SESSION: (There were none.) Page 86 Hawaii County Council-25 October 20,2021 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. CHR. DAVID: I believe that brings us to the end of the agenda. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair? CHR. DAVID: Thank youoh, go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Sorry, before we entertain a motion to adjourn, I just wanted to acknowledge the passing of, I think, someone that we all held very dear to our hearts, Bobbye St. Ambrogio, who was on a number of commissions, worked very closely with Prosecutor's office, Police, heading up the charge for Neighborhood Watch. And so,just asking my colleagues for a quick moment of silence to reflect on all of her heart and aloha for our Hawaii Island community. She will be very missed. CHR. DAVID: Mahalo for that. We'll take a moment of silence right now. Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz, for that. All right, may I please have a motion to adjourn? ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 12:43 p.m., Mr. Inaba moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. 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. Page 87 Hawai`i County Council-25 October 20,2021 CHR. DAVID: Mahalo, everyone. We are adjourned. Council Approval: NOV 1 8 2021 1111116...11 CO JH/dg Page 88