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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GOREDC 2021/12/08 2020-2022 Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, and Economic Development 19th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai i December 8, 2021 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, ORDER: and Economic Development was called to order at 10:33 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member (came in later) Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member (came in later) Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member (came in later) Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (came in later) STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) CHR. KIMBALL: Mr. Clerk, I would like to go ahead and take Communication 509 out of order,please. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the of Business: following item was taken out of order: GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 Comm. 509: REAPPOINTMENT OF GABRIELLA CABANAS TO THE MERIT APPEALS BOARD From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated November 16, 2021, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: January 1, 2022 (Section 13-4(k), Hawaii County Charter) Vote on Comm. 509: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) reappointment of Gabriella Cabanas to the Merit Appeals Board. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, and Richards —3. Excused: None. Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika`i Bartolome came forward and provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. Return to Order The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. of Business: Comm. 453: REQUESTS AN UPDATE FROM THE ADMINISTRATION REGARDING ITS PRIORITIES FOR THE 2022 SESSION OF THE HAWAII STATE LEGISLATURE From Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, dated October 11, 2021. Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 453. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Kierkiewicz. Page 2 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. You know, when I first came on the Council, one of the big things that our body was tasked with doing was, staying in touch with the Legislature and securing funding to support Puna's recovery. And in that space we were able to, you know, build a relationship with then Mayor at that time, Harry Kim; his Legislative Liaison to the Legislature, Andy Levin. And we would have frequent meetings during the legislative session to just understand progress that was being made on not just Puna recovery, but the different priorities that the County had and they were advocating for. And so, sort of in that same vein, now that we have a new Administration, wanted to just invite Mr. Steven Bader who does represent our County in the square building on Oahu to just share with us what this Administration is prioritizing in terms of legislation this upcoming session, which kicks off in about a couple of months. Just trying to understand what your priorities are so that we as Council Members are aware. We don't want to be caught off guard. We certainly want to be supportive and helpful. And so any information that you're able to share, Steve, would be great. And if maybe we could do a pulse check in this way every month. Just a short update to the Council. I know that we would appreciate it as well as our community. Things happen so quickly during session, and to have those frequent touch points, I think would be really valuable. Thank you for being here. (Note: At this time, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Steven Bader came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. BADER: Good morning. My name is Steve Bader, Executive Assistant out of the Mayor's Office, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison. There's a lot of stuff in motion right now. As you know I know that HSAC (Hawai`i State Association of Counties), you're going to be approving that package. And the Speaker of the House and the Senate President have a deadline of December 30'h for folks to get their bills in. And so there's a lot in flux right now. So I'll give you the best overview of where we're at right now and kind of walk through to what we're looking at what we're paying attention to. And certainly, if it needs to be monthly or whenever we can schedule it, because the Leg moves fast sometimes and it's good for us to share information and to kind of stay on top of that process. We have kind of a primary focus. This was a focus last session, too. And that is to try to see for the second year if we can get our wastewater bill through. Last year, the House version of it had a singular hearing and then was deferred. The Senate version, which we were able to kind of amend and tweak along the way, got right up to the third hearing and then wasn't heard. But progress was made on that and we're kind of using that as the template. Page 3 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 And if you're not familiar with what we're attempting to do, I know you've all heard from DEM (Department of Environmental Management) and Ramzi (Mansour) about what the challenges are in upgrading our systems, and just even on the R&M (repair and maintenance) and M (maintenance) side. It's a significant cost. And what we're looking at is ways that we may be able to create some public-private partnership. Potentially privatize some pieces of the system if that works out. Then we currently have private systems around our large County. And you're creating some financing options for us. And that's what that bill really is about. I'll be working with Council Woman Kimball later this week, and we're going to see if we can craft out some language in the bill that's going to make it a little stronger, so we'll have a better chance of seeing if we can move this through. It's a heavy lift. This is the second year we're trying. And those of you who are familiar with how the legislative process works, you know, sometimes folks are working on bills for three, four, five years before they get it there. In our case, it's a little bit more urgent because our needs are more urgent. And quite honestly I do believe when our DEM Director says that this is potentially a health and safety issue and we're on the verge of a crisis, after having gone through the facility, and Council Woman Kimball and I just were there a few weeks ago, I think that assessment is true and it's urgent. So we kind of have a singular focus that way. As far as other initiatives and legislation we're paying attention to, abandoned vehicles, unauthorized junk yards, has our full attention. And in the last year, I've been working with all of our departments to try to see if we can make some headway because we get complaints, and I'm sure all of you get complaints from our communities about abandoned vehicles. And because we have the space on the Island, you know,there's just pockets everywhere where we'd find very large junk yards and chop shops going on. So we are paying attention to all of the bills dealing with that. I've had some conversations with our Representative Ilagan, who is reintroducing a package of bills to deal with the abandoned vehicle part of it, less the junkyard, but more the abandoned vehicle part of it. And their approach is to look at the policy side of things versus penalties and fees. What HSAC is promoting is sort of the other end of it, which is you know, if you can lift the $10 cap and look at ways of paying for disposal and penalties for chop shops. But Rep. Ilagan's bills are really more on the policy side. And I see them working together. Although sort of in parallel, or not necessarily that you're coordinating that effort. But all of that are things that we're paying attention to. Page 4 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 There's a lot of time that gets spent on the County end by the Planning Department; Police; Corp. Counsel; Finance, on the vehicle registration side; and DEM (Department of Environmental Management); on these issues. And quite frankly, there is a lot of frustration, not just with the community but internally within our departments about what to do about it. So we've put a focus on it and we had some success with a junkyard operating in the middle of a N5'51ehu neighborhood recently. And we're working on a larger one in Waimea, a 125-150 car junkyard in Waimea. And there seems to be some motivation on our part, and some traction going on. And so all of this legislation would be helpful. So we definitely are tuned into that, and that would support what HSAC is recommending. Other areas that we're paying attention to, and again, this is another HSAC initiative, is that exempting lifeguards from liability. And that's something we were supportive of last session and continue to be. I'm not sure if this is going to go forward or not, but on the ag side, we have small farmers and ornamental growers who have asked the County, and Representative Todd if they're willing to support a bill that would provide some extensions on State lease land for small growers and farmers. And so, I've yet to hear if that's going to be formalized or not, but that's something that we'd be interested in supporting. Every year there is legislation dealing with protecting our brand for Kona Coffee and the coffee labeling. And that is something that we're going to be supportive of and paying close attention to. Some of you have had contact with Senator Acasio. She has a waste-to-wealth initiative that she's been working on. Last year there was a request for $40 million CIP (Capital Improvement Projects) focused on downtown Hilo. But looking at it as a model of a zero waste commercial center. There's money for property acquisition and development. She's trying to position this so it's consistent with President Biden's Build Back Better initiative. So we've been in communication with Senator Acasio, and she's been out in the community working this through, and we're supportive of that. On the Admin side, the legislation we're going to be monitoring and paying close attention to is, of course, anything where they're taking away resources from us which happens every session. Home-rule issues which happens every session, we're playing defense a little bit on that, but paying attention to that. Anything related to Federal funding with the infrastructure bill. Money that's in the new budget that got passed, and of course, whatever leftover COVID monies are out there. And then whether or not there's going to be any fixes to the TAT (Transient Accommodation Tax) bill that was passed, because there's been a lot Page 5 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 of talk about pieces of it that's going to be addressed. I know HSAC also has that in their package. And you know, there's been talk amongst different legislators and even in the Hotel Lodging community about whether there could be further fixes for that. So we're definitely paying attention to that. On the departmental level, departments are looking and we've asked all of them to forward legislation of interest or things we need to pay attention to. But the departmental level, they're looking at housing, homeless, budget issues, sustainability, energy, land-use planning issues. The Police are very active in their monitoring during the session, because there's always enforcement issues that come up: fines, different ways of dealing with that. And of course, bills dealing with agriculture. So this year, different than last year because we kind of had a late start last year. Is that, we have folks identified in all of the departments, almost all of them, where they are tracking legislation. Because at the beginning of session, you have hundreds and hundreds of bills. And you're chasing bills around that look very similar to other bills, and you kind of have to wait for it to get through at least their first hearings. And as things whittle down a little bit before you can really focus on it. But these folks are going to be doing some tracking. So I've had discussions with DEM and Housing, R and D (Research and Development), Finance, Planning, with the folks that will be tracking. That's going to be very helpful to us. With the case of the Water Department and with HPD (Hawai`i Police Department). Chief Ferreira and Keith Okamoto do a lot of tracking directly themselves. Very helpful in getting information to us. So I feel like this year we have a really good kind of a team approach to how we're dealing with the Legislature. And I think it's going to be necessary this year. There's a lot going on in the political landscape. Every year it is, but this year, in particular, I think there's things going on. We're coming out of COVID. The economic forecast looks a little better. It's a supplemental budget year. So any need that wasn't met, they're going to try to fix it, you know, this year; any gaps that were in there. Of course, there's Federal money available through the infrastructure bill. It is an election year. You know, we have I think every House seat is open for election. And then we have some shifting around in leadership potentially because there are folks that are running for different offices. And the other big thing that happened just last month is the Supreme Court ruling on gut and replacement. You know, against gut and replacement legislation which I think is good for everybody that we're not surprised at the end of session without getting a fair hearing, you know, forward going. Page 6 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 So what I think that does is, it makes us having to pay a little bit more attention during the session to what's going on. You know,whatever kinds of agreements or deals that are being made, it's going to have to be made up front. I think that's good, but it's going to require kind of a more active approach. So having a team there sharing information. I told the folks in the departments that we'll probably get together at least monthly so you know, we can track what's going on. And you know, my experience having worked in the big house over there, you cannot have a singular point of information. You just go to have lots of information, with a lot of different perspectives, because sometimes it'll take that approach to figure out what's going on. You know, what is the back story to some of these actions? And to have an understanding of, if a particular legislator was working on something for two, three, four years; why that's important now, when it may not seem as important as something else that just came up. So all of that stuff, we're cognizant of and we're tracking. And my extension to all of you on behalf of the Administration is that anything you see, anything you want us to pay attention to,please let us know. Anything of major impact in your districts, please let us know. Some of you, during the last year were able to reach out to us and we were able to advocate for certain bills and make sure certain programs got funded. And we're in the same space this year, you know, maybe a little bit better positioned than we were last year. So with that, I'll leave it open for questions. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Mahalo nui, Steve, for that comprehensive update. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said, oftentimes it takes a number of years, a number of different forms of a bill, for that idea to finally get adopted. It's a lot of hard work behind the scenes to kind of tee that up. You're close to a lot of folks at the Leg. Just really curious, I mean again, you mentioned a really comprehensive list of issues that we need to be tackling, but in my observation of the Legislature, they typically have themes and priorities that they want to get done every session. And so I'm just wondering, what have you been hearing? What have some of your contacts been signaling to you are some of the, you know, top three things that the Legislature wants to get done? Page 7 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 MR. BADER: Well, like I said in a supplemental budget year, I think the idea is like, last year they were coming at it having very little resources. And so that's why we had legislation in place that we're dealing with eliminating special funds, and recapturing monies because there was concern about how much money the State had to work with. This year, with the economic forecast being a little better, and with an infusion of Federal dollars, this is the year where they're going to try to fix whatever that gap was. So that's what I've been hearing, is that it's not that we can just run out and start grabbing dollars, but there is going to be a lot of movement in that direction and we should pay attention to that. So that's definitely one of them. The other thing is coming out of COVID. You know, how we're transitioning out of that. And that's sort of all encompassing, but it has changed how the Legislature operated the last two years. And this year it's going to look a little bit more like previous years. Although it's kind of a hybrid model, you know, so to speak. So there's some question about how that's going to play out. And I think there's a lot of optimism, is what I'm hearing. And in several of my conversations with the legislators there, there is some uncertainty on whether there'll be leadership changes. Probably more on the House side than the Senate, but I think that that would have an effect. So as far as themes, it's more that more resources are available. Whatever we can do to help the economy get to where it needs to get. And because there's more resources available, that you know, the money bills become more important for us. And we'll know a lot more once HCOM (Hawai`i Council of Mayors) decides what they're going to be sponsoring and there's a meeting end of this week. We'll be discussing that with the Mayors and their Legislative Liaison is going to share information. So I look forward to coming back here, you know, in a month or so and we can talk through what's on the table at that time. And then probably by the time we get to mid-session, those bills that look alike, that start falling off, you know, we'll have a smaller list to kind of focus on. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I think we'll be really curious as to what the mayoral package will look like. You know,the wastewater bill is going to be a very heavy lift. MR. BADER: That's right. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I was really curious around who your champions are in the House and Senate. You mentioned for abandoned vehicles that Representative Ilagan was taking something on. Very appropriate because it's an Page 8 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 issue that's very prevalent in Puna, but just really curious who is going to be the champion, because that matters. MR. BADER: Yeah. Last year, Nicole Lowen sponsored the House version, and Senator Inouye sponsored the Senate version. Senator Inouye indicated she's interested in being a sponsor again. I think with Rep. Lowen, it kind of depends on the kind of work that Council Woman Kimball and I get to do to see where she's at with that. But she's generally supportive of it, I believe. And there's other reps who have expressed an interest. The discussion at the Mayors' level and at HSAC level on the problem facing all of the counties with infrastructure upgrade, I think will encourage more of our legislators to hop on. Last year, there was some apprehension I think, because it was a bill that sort of came out of nowhere for a lot of them, you know. And we were a new Administration, so you know, we were putting something out there that everybody thought was going to be difficult, you know, challenging. And the fact that we got it right up to its third hearing, I think is good. And we were able to tweak it to the point where I think we had support on the floor, if the thing ever made it down there, but it did get stopped. So I guess the answer to that question is that we're kind of talking to our local delegation, but also, making sure we have sponsors from other counties. Because we want it to be a stronger push this year, you know. And I think there might be an opportunity this year. I think the Governor is interested in what we're doing that way. And we have a good relationship with the Governor. And this is the last year, so there's an opportunity there if we can get it through. If not, you know, we'll just continue to work at it because things are urgent for us with our infrastructure and our wastewater. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Steve,just a couple more questions. So are you going to be handling all of the bill tracking on the Admin side? MR. BADER: Yeah, I mean like I said, we're doing a little bit more of a team approach. I'm having the departments—and we're meeting regularly, but that has been my task. We have Jean Miskovich in our office assisting with the tracking. And the departments have been very good, you know, last year. But this year, even more so. I think we're kind of in sync about how we're going to do this and share information. Yeah, it would be impossible for me to track 600 bills, right, from the get-go. You know, it'll be impossible. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I do want to elevate the incredible work of our Legislative Research Branch. They do provide us with daily real-time sort of notifications of bills. I'm sure they have some tips and tricks for you, if you're interested. Page 9 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 MR. BADER: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: A couple things I don't think I heard you say was priorities from the Administration as it relates to affordable housing; sustainability because the number of summits and TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) talks have been convened. As well as broadband connectivity. We saw what the pandemic forced government and community to do. And that was to do away with everything in person and convene in these digital spaces. The regions of Puna and Ka`u are without that solid connectivity. So just really curious around the priorities of this Administration, if you folks are working in concert with folks like Ed Sniffen, who's leading the State's broadband initiative? Just want to make sure that we're coordinated, because it's that once in a generation point where we're getting butt-loads of money we can practically swim in for years. There's just a lot of money, and I want to make sure we're moving fast and we're moving coordinated. MR. BADER: We're, you know, when I went down that laundry list of stuff, I kind of left out the broadband infrastructure. But housing, homeless, you know, sustainability and energy, these are all priorities. And these are all priorities at the department level that they're tracking closely for us. Broadband in particular, I think we were active last year and making sure that the Leg knew how important for us. We submitted testimony. We had a lot of discussions with DBEDT's (Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism) technology person who was kind of leading that broadband hui. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Burt Lum, yeah. MR. BADER: Burt Lum. We had conversations with him. We're in sync. R and D was also involved in that. That remains a very vital part of what we're supporting. And you're right, there's resources available. And I think we're positioned for those resources. So we definitely don't want to lose that opportunity. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you again for your time, your presence, and your leadership on behalf of our County to the Legislature. It's really appreciated. And I wanted to personally mahalo you. When our office worked with Representative Quinlan to introduce HB (House Bill) 1176 and get $5 million for Green Jobs Corps Program, I would thumb through the testimony, and you were one of those consistent voices. So thank you for making that happen. The program has launched. And so, it's great that we were able to build up a Green workforce for our island. So thank you again for your advocacy there. Page 10 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 MR. BADER: Yeah, and that's a great program too. That's an example of what we can be doing together. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes, absolutely. Thank you, Steve. Thank you, Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Let the record reflect that we have Council Member Richards, Council Member Chung, and Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder are in the room now. Any additional questions for Mr. Bader from the Council? Council Member Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Yes, real quick. When we're talking about our State Legislature and we're talking about funding, seeking bills, we as a County also need to look directly to the Feds because the direct funding is a big deal. And I know this Administration is very supportive of direct funding. So just a comment, that I think it should be in this executive office as well to try to work on and track that. And I think we're all going to be working on that, but that direct funding is very beneficial for the County as a whole as opposed to going through the State. So we'll work with the Administration to get this thing and make sure that goes forward. Thanks, I yield. MR. BADER: Yeah, some of those Federal funds are meant to go directly to the County too, so we want to make sure that we're on top of that. And thankfully, Deanna's really good about making sure that we don't miss the beat on the money side. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and then Mr. Chung. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Good morning Steve, how you? MR. BADER: Good morning. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, in light of the storm we just had, is there anything, you know, climate change, weather-related, anything you guys are aggressively tracking to help infrastructure? I'm thinking about Puna, and you know, we always have a lot of flooding. We have a huge amount of subdivisions with no infrastructure. But, any way you guys are looking for funding to help address the effects that climate change are going to have on our community as a whole, or specifically the areas that are flood prone? I mean, anything you're doing legislatively on that end? MR. BADER: Yeah, not specifically from the County, but you know, I haven't seen the Governor's package yet. And the Governor usually has in the Page 11 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 package—will have climate change bills in there because that's a big thing for this Administration. So we'll definitely work with them and support those bills. And I know there are other legislators in other counties putting things forward. But we haven't seen that list yet. That'll be a little clearer in a couple weeks. But definitely those are important to us and we're subject to mother nature that way, and we want to make sure that, you know, any kind of resources available to us, to address that, we're going to be on top of that. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Traffic along our highways in Puna has grown exponentially. Our density is increasing. Are you guys pushing the State? You know, I'm working with them as well. But are you pushing on the State to get more funding in the areas that have seen a population growth like we've seen across our entire County? MR. BADER: Any way we can get resources in to improve our overall infrastructure, you know, that is a priority for us. I guess by identifying sort of a primary piece of legislation which is the wastewater thing. It's just that just going to take our focus. But as far as overall infrastructure, whether it be our roads, broadband, our utility systems, these are things that are important to the Administration. At the same time, we don't want to forget some of the smaller initiatives like what I mentioned earlier, like the small farmers and the ornamental growers that are looking for some ways to extend their leases on small properties; or the labeling, you know, protecting our brand. At the Leg it's seen as a small thing, but it's not a small thing for us, you know. So, I'll put it this way, all the big stuff—we're on the big stuff. But we want to pay attention to the small pieces. I think they're very important and they don't get the attention that they need. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, and I liked that you mentioned Ms. Acasio. I think that she's doing tremendous work and keeping herself very, very busy. And I like that she's approaching that Waste to Wealth idea, which is going to be big going forward. With limited resources, supply chain destruction, she's kind of taking an interest in it. It's a conversation that's been happening for a long time. MR. BADER: And she's been very active with us, too. You know, engaging the Mayor, and I've had a number of private meetings with her. And we've gone out to the community together, you know, to talk. So definitely, it's an idea that we think is going to be really beneficial to not just Hilo but to the island. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I agree. I think a lot of our Big Island Legislators at the State level are doing amazing work. So thank you, Chair, I yield for now. Thank you, Steve. Page 12 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you very much, Councilman Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Council Member Chung. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, Steve, of course, one of the big issues for us is the wastewater treatment facility, right? And you know, I don't think we can expect to get large sums of money from the State, you know, in that regard. But, you know, hopefully from the Federal Government. But one thing that we could do, and you know, I did recently take a tour with Senator Acasio as well, and we had a debriefing afterwards. And Ramzi (Mansour), our DEM Director, said that one of the problems that we face is that the inflow into the facility only is about half of what it's capable of taking. And so we're not generating enough funds, right, too,to pay for whatever we have to pay for. So we need to bill out the system. And at that time, I said, you know, one of the problems you guys are going to be facing is this, and it's a philosophical issue. The reason why people push back on the, you know, having sewer lines or having to pay the sewer fees, is that when—okay, the whole purpose of"sewering" is to protect our water, right? I mean, the groundwater, and shoreline. So the responsibility or the burden of having to pay for that is falling on the people whose homes are next to sewer lines. So on top of them having to, you know, dish out sometimes, tens of thousands of dollars to connect the laterals to the mains, they've also got to pay these monthly or whatever every other month, you know, fees, right? And they're the ones keeping the waters, or you know, are preventing pollution, basically. What we've got to do is spread it around. And that would become more palatable to people. And I think you could still allow people to pay their sewer fees, but at least at a substantially lower cost. So what I suggested they did, and I think Senator Acasio mentioned later that, you know, it's something that she might be interested in. The counties are only given so much taxing powers, right? And that's only given to us by the State, either by Constitution or by State statute. What we should be trying to look at, and this is not going to cost any money from the State, allowing the counties to impose a clean water surcharge across the island. And that's it. You know, enabling legislation allows us to impose something like that upon all of the taxpayers of this island. Then we can spread that burden around and then we can start expanding our systems. So just kind of think about it, it's not going to cost any money on the part of the State. So I think it's actually an easy sale, if it's not there already. But if it is there, then we're not utilizing it. But I don't think it is there. So just something to think about. Page 13 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 MR. BADER: That's a good point, and I'll talk to her about that. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, it kind of works all, you know, together with this whole wastewater issue. MR. BADER: Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Chung. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. Thank you for being here. You know, maybe after the Mayors get together, I really am trying to hear some of the emerging themes. Because we all know when we get to the Legislature, it's a lot easier, especially for our outer island communities to kind of speak with a unified voice. So I would look forward for you coming back, you know, maybe just right after the Legislature opens or soon thereafter. And maybe can, as Ms. Kierkiewicz said, see some of the themes that are emerging. Because I think you are on point as far as them closing the gap with the supplemental budget. But as Ms. Kierkiewicz mentioned, there's definitely a lot of resources coming from the Federal Government through our ARPA funds. But one thing that I would like to push upon the Administration, is we also need to be ready. And we have to position ourselves and demonstrate to these resource partners, whether it's the State or Federal, that we are ready to put those resources into action. And so, while we go through this legislative cycle, I also want to see the Administration get ready. One thing we learned at the NACo (National Association of Counties) Conference this year, is in addition to a lot of monies that's coming from ARPA, some of it is getting passes directly into the counties. And I'm looking at Mr. Richards, because he can correct me, tens of millions of dollars. And unlike the CARES money that had to be spent within a year, these have longer horizons. So it's way more advantageous to look at short and long-term revitalizations of our hard infrastructure and map that out. Which is why I keep pushing that we need to not only have shovel-ready projects, but be on time and on budget. But it has to be systematic, which is what Mr. Chung is talking about. That maybe the County should look at developing that connection for homeowners, so that they will connect. So that that system is more robust. You know, I think those are some of the strategies I'm hoping to hear as we go not only into this next legislative cycle, but our budget cycle which is soon after that. Page 14 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 So yeah, Mr. Bader, if you don't mind, I'm going to have staff put in a communication. And Ms. Kimball, if we could invite him back sometime in our January meeting or maybe the early February meeting when we actually do have a pulse check and before crossover? And when we're watching those bills thin down. So that we can, as Mr. Chung says, resource utilization. Focus, focus, focus, because some monies are just going to come to us. And others we have to be very strategic with. So I'll look forward to that, Mr. Bader. MR. BADER: Yeah, I look forward to that,too. To getting some clarity, and I think to be a little bit easier than last year, because last year was challenging with everybody Zooming to these meetings. And certainly they'll be more of a physical presence this year, which is as you know, is very helpful to help figure things out and get better information. So yeah, I think probably early February, because the session starts mid-month and we'll get through those first set or hearings, and I think that it'll be a little bit clearer. And I know that our Administration is committed to being nimble. You know, that's one of the things that Mayor has said from day one, is that we want to move to County to the point where we're nimble, rather than always being reactive to things. And it's, you know, it'll take a lot of parts of the County to make sure that we're in sync to do that. But we don't want to miss out on any opportunities. So I agree 100 percent with what you're saying. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, I don't want to leave any money on the table either. And one thing I will definitely connect with our Finance Director is, at our NACo Conference, the monies that are being passed right into the counties really have very minimal reporting requirements, unlike the CARES package. And so, some of those hurdles that were put up, and accounting for it and worrying about clawback later on, aren't there in this ARPA package. And so, I think if we know how these funds that can come directly into us and map that out over the three years and then supplement with other funds through this day, I think that would be a very synergetic way. As Ms. Kierkiewicz said, I mean we are at a pivotal time right now to reimagine so many services and how government works. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Anyone else? Council Member Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah,just a quick follow-up on that. What Ms. Lee Loy is talking about. We looked at the wastewater and something Mr. Chung was touching on. We know we have about a$200 million liability in our wastewater system right now that we need to fix, to put it to where it needs to be. Page 15 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 And right as we're going through the pandemic, I was looking at trying to figure out how to fund some of that. With the funding coming down, she's talking about ARPA, the Build Back Better still hasn't come out yet. And we're waiting on that imminently. But using some of the funds, and if we can bond this stuff. And again, we've had this conversation with the Finance Director, but maybe we can reduce our bonding by using some of that money and then bond the rest. And I'm not the one to spend money, I am not that guy. But when it comes to some of this infrastructure as Mr. Chung pointed out, I was looking at if we distribute the cost of the infrastructure building over the County, because high quality nearshore waters is a benefit to the entire County, not just to the people living on the coast. So if we distribute that over,the cost to our County, as Aaron was pointing out, I think there's some validity in that and it's very modest. Sounds something like a quarter percent on real property or something, which would allow us to bond. I'm just throwing that out so that we can talk story about it going forward because I think the time is now. If we're going to do something, we got to go big. Big Island, big ideas, right? We got to go big. So let's do that. And I'm just throwing that out for conversation. Look forward to working with you. Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Richards. Council Member David. MS. DAVID: Thank you Chair, and really quick. Mr. Bader,thank you for that presentation and information provided. And I just wanted to touch upon what Councilman Chung referenced about the possibility of the clean water surcharge. And when we think about clean water, we think about our oceans, the runoff. But I like that idea, only because, and this is just a suggestion also. The clean water surcharge will also apply to the flooding issues. It's not only our oceans, it's water in general because what happens up in the mountains is definitely impacting our oceans and our drinking waters. So this clean water surcharge, I'm really excited about that. And then, this infrastructure, I think it's a perfect fit. And so if we get money from the Feds for this kind of stuff we could do a lot for this County. And then just wanted to throw that out to you, because it makes sense. And I'm looking forward to your next presentation. Because at that time I hope we can get some numbers on how much we are getting directly that we don't have to go and beg for. So, then we have a better idea. Okay? Thank you so much. Alright. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair David. Anyone else? Page 16 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Mr. Bader,thanks again for hearing us out and for the willingness to collaborate. Our next committee meeting is January 4h. So, want to make sure you pencil that onto your agenda. I think by then, the Mayors would have put together their priority package, and you are in a better position to share with us kind of what the key priorities are going to be this legislative session. So we'll be inviting you back then. MR. BADER: Sure. Well, I expect to be here a lot. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, sounds good. MR. BADER: During the session, so we'll do a check in then. They'll be fine, and then probably the next one could be, you know, probably sometime in February after the first set of hearings. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Absolutely, our office will coordinate those dates with you based on our meeting schedule. Thank you, Chair. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Hang on a second. I'm looking at Ms. Kierkiewicz's communication. And I'm thinking what if we just postpone this communication to the fourth, and that will keep Mr. Bader just always give him a hard date. I mean I'm just throwing that out to our Council Members,just some thoughts. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you for the suggestion, Council Member Lee Loy. I think that makes sense. Why don't I just make a few comments and then I'll let you make that motion. So thank you, Mr. Bader, for being here and just want to share with my colleagues, you know, we've had a couple of different conversations around legislation at this point. And I really enjoy working with you, and I think we're going to see some good things ahead. Particularly around wastewater and then response to your question, Council Member Kierkiewicz, the other folks that we have involved in this, Mr. Bader mentioned Nicole Lowen, Nadine Nakamura from Kauai, and Mark Nakashima are also interested in supporting this. And I'm certain that we will get more on board. As I mentioned before, we've had this working group with all of the counties and DEM's and labor unions discussing movement forward. I'll say that I spent a little time working with Director Mansour and Mr. Bader, and I kind of just really sussing out what the needs are. And we have a couple of different challenges. We have that infrastructure need, you know, that's pretty Page 17 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 clear. There's also the need to find the qualified staffing. That's been difficult. And then also resources for responding to immediate issues. So we just had another wastewater leak in Pepe`ekeo last Friday. And so we need to have materials and staff readily available to respond to those emergent situations. So there's a couple of different tacts that we can take. And I want to loop Judge Strance into this. We've also discussed interpretation of the Konno decision and how it might apply or not apply to wastewater. So I'm optimistic that we will move something forward. We have the support of the other counties, of course. And this is, as so many folks have mentioned, a critical time to do it. The money is coming in. The money is going to be there. And we want to make sure we get on that. I've had a discussion with a couple of different providers, that are, you know, willing to build the infrastructure for us and lease it back to us. I mean, there are lots of different options. And you know, if we take that scenario, I think Mr. Chung has hit it on the head, people are not going to be excited about paying for something they've never had to pay for in the past. But I do think we have a couple of different options for introducing a percentage on the property tax or a fee that'sI like this naming, this clean water. I think that's what it's all about. You know, when I took office, I definitely had a list of things that I wanted to address. Wastewater wasn't on that list. I did not expect this to become my highest priority, but after conversing with Director Mansour and kind of looking at the overall impact, it's become number one issue for me. So glad to see the Administration's focus on that as well. The other thing I wanted to mention with the climate change question that you had, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. There was a presentation by Nicole Lowen and (David) Tarnas last week. It's the Climate Action Planning Forum. It is available on YouTube if you'd like to review that. They talked about several policy initiatives that they will be putting forth in their committees this coming session, so encourage that. Did want to ask, and I'm glad Council Member Richards is back in. One of the things that we've kind of talked about. And I don't know if you've talked about this more with—you and I have talked about it. But we've had several issues recently with dog attacks. And you know, we're going to need some help from the State in terms of working on the rules around vicious animals. Is that anything that's on the Administration's radar? MR. BADER: Well, I mean Council Member Richards and I are on that Animal Control working group with Judge Strance. So it's not so much that's in our legislative, you know, lens right now. It's more on the ground figuring how we're going deal with that. But certainly that's going end up being a piece of it. Page 18 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 CHR. KIMBALL: Okay, and if you have anything, Council Member Richards, I'll defer to you for moment if you have anything to contribute to that. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, there's some identification issues coming forth that are HRS (Hawai`i Revised Statutes), but that's not a primary focus coming out of the State, that's something we're working on with the County. And actually we are getting pretty close to having something, I think very solid. So we're imminent on getting this in. Then we've had some very productive meetings these last couple weeks. So I think we're very, very close. And part of that is the vicious dog, and we've discussed that. How do we deal with it going forward, but yeah, not a State issue; County. But we're close on the animal control. CHR. KIMBALL: Great. Thank you, Council Member Richards for that update. I know that we have a lot of anxious people around that topic. So,the other thing that I wanted to just talk about is that the other infrastructure funding for some of it will be coming directly to the County, which is fantastic. And I know that the departments are already putting together their wish list. I know for my district, the big one is the $120 million needed to fix those four bridges, starting here at the singing bridge. So hoping that that will be part of the funding that is distributed out through the State. And then also looking at hardened shelters as part of this climate change picture. We have a shortage of places that can be used in the event of an emergency. We have places that can be used as an after event shelter, but hardened structures, and I know that there's money from the Federal package that's specifically designated for resilience and preparedness. I'm hoping that, you know, probably our Parks Director will be active in seeking funding for those types of facilities. I don't have any additional questions for you. Looking forward to our drafting session on Friday. Yeah, hopefully we'll get through it. With that, we will go to Council Member Lee Loy for the motion for postponement. Motion to Postpone: Ms. Lee Loy moved to postpone Comm. 453 to January 4, 2022. Seconded by Mr. Richards. CHR. KIMBALL: All those in favor? MS. LEE LOY: On the motion, Chair? CHR. KIMBALL: Yes. Page 19 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, you know, I definitely want to move this forward, but after this I think it might be stale come January, because there might be more. We can definitely rewrite some of this for future communications as we go into the future months. But I think this is a good placeholder for now to have Mr. Bader come back. CHR. KIMBALL: Yeah, thank you. I think this is an appropriate suggestion and yeah, I think we'll probably need to revise it as things go forward. In the same vein, I will also put forth a communication to have HSAC come and present to us what their package is doing and what that's looking like so we have those at the same time back to back. And just the comment was made about the tracking. We have the new Executive Director for HSAC who will be publicly posting what we're tracking on the website, so that'll be another resource in addition to the emails that we get from our LRB. But yes, thank you for that comment. Any other discussion on the motion to postpone? Okay, hearing none, we'll go for the vote, all those in favor? Vote on Motion The motion to postpone Comm. 453 to January 4, to Postpone: 2022 was carried by the following voice vote. (Approved) Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung— 1. Excused: None. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Order RESOLUTIONS: of Resolutions. (There were none.) BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) CHR. KIMBALL: May I have a motion to adjourn? Page 20 GOREDC-19 December 8,2021 ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 11:34 a.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kimball— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung— 1. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: We are adjourned. Thank you again, Mr. Bader for being here. Approved: eath-r L. Kim 11, Chair (Date) overnment Operations, Relations, and Economic Development Committee HK/dt Page 21