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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PWMTC 2022/01/04 2020-2022 Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit th 17 Session Hawaiʻi County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaiʻi January 4, 2022 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit ORDER: was called to order at 9:30 a.m. in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Chair Mr. Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder, Vice Chair (came in later) Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather Kimball, Member Mr. Herbert M. “Tim” Richards III, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference, came in later) Absent & Excused: Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Floyd Eaglin: Comm. 569, comment. Patrick Kahawaiola‘a: Comm. 569 and (representing Keaukaha Bill 105 (Comm. 568), comment. Community Association) CHR. LEE LOY: With that, I’ll be closing public testimony. And, Mr. Clerk, if we could start at the top of the agenda. PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 102: AMENDS CHAPTER 24, ARTICLE 10, DIVISION 5, SECTION 24-279, SCHEDULE 27, OF THE HAWAI‘I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO PARKING ON PAVEMENT PROHIBITED AT ALL TIMES AND AMENDS CHAPTER 24, ARTICLE 10, DIVISION 5, SECTION 24-280, SCHEDULE 28, OF THE HAWAI‘I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO NO PARKING AT ANY TIME Amends Section 24-279, Schedule 27 (Parking on Pavement prohibited at all times), and amends Section 24-280 (No Parking at Any Time), by adding new provisions for portions of Kalapana-Kapoho Beach Road, Subsection (g), Puna. Reference: Comm. 551 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder moved to recommend passage of Bill 102 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz. CHR. LEE LOY: Before we head into discussion, I also want to note for the record Mr. Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder has joined us, and I believe Ms. Villegas has also joined us via Zoom. Rebecca? MS. VILLEGAS: Yes, I’m here. CHR. LEE LOY: Alrighty. Happy New Year. With that, I also have from the Department of Public Works and Mass Transit our Deputy Steve Pause, if you could please come forward and help us with this communication and bill. (Note: At this time, Deputy Public Works Director Steve Pause came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. PAUSE: Good morning. Steve Pause, Deputy Director of DPW (Department of Public Works). I will confess to just getting up to speed on this particular item. I did have a conversation with Aaron Takaba from Traffic, and he indicates that—I believe Matt and he originally had some conversations going back to COVID (Coronavirus Disease), but upon review of the Traffic folks, they went out and they did their due diligence, and identified areas where there site-line problems with people parking on the side of the road, and traffic, so this is what came as a result of it. Yeah, that’s where we are. CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Mr. Pause. I’ll go ahead and open it up for questions by my colleagues. Mr. Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder. Page 2 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 MR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Not too many questions. I think I just—I think I may be the one with the most knowledge on this, so I’ll just go open up discussion for everybody and give some background. This bill came about, per many, many discussions with the community from Kalapana, and it was following the—if anyone remembers, there was a woman who was runover at Kehena by someone who had stolen a vehicle. And during COVID, there was a lot going on, but the Police, DLNR (Department of Land Natural Resources)—our County Police and DLNR actually were really present at Kehena because there was a lot of people gathering there. There were a lot of concern about community spread at that point. And so there is a lot of different pieces that play into this, but what it really boils down to is on this section of road, this is Highway 137 or Kalapana-Kapoho Road, there is so many people on the weekends there that the road almost becomes impassable. And the residents—and I’m going to name some names today because these are people who really helped me put this together. It was Leah Gouker, Aunty Ku‘ulei Cooper, Iopa Maunakea, and Les Enriquez-Rosehill; they helped me kind of propel this idea and push it into DPW’s court, so that we could move the projects forward. Aaron Takaba was crucial. Engineering Division visited the site. They visited on a Sunday, which is probably one of the most busy days at Kehena. And it’s beautiful area. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t want to limit people’s ability to go to the beach. It’s one of the few beaches that was existing at that point. During the eruption, there was just—there was a lot going on. But after Engineering’s visit, they realized that when people were parking on both sides of the road, the road became impassable, and if there was a need for an emergency vehicle to pass from there down to Pohoiki Beach, and that is the only road in right now, it would be almost impossible. And so at that point, we realized we had to do something on our end to help the police have an enforceable signage, and then apply those signs to the road. I get it, it’s a lot of signs. If you look over the document (see Bill 102), there are a lot of signs. I was—it was almost, you know, against my better judgement, to say, “Yes, that’s appropriate.” But it’s what’s needed to help the police enforce so that we can keep the roads clear for emergency vehicles, but also to keep people safe. And then, just again, I mean there was a woman who was runover at the entrance to Kehena by a man trying to steal her vehicle, and it’s just—it’s been kind of a hotspot for a lot of activity, both good and bad. But this just helps protect the community, protect our emergency vehicle access as well as keep the area a little bit more under control and allow for enforceability by our Police Department. Page 3 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 So, that’s the background. This is about a year and a half in the making. I started this in my first term, and this is my second term, so here we are. By I really do appreciate DPW helping get this done. The community is very much appreciative of this. The folks who live in and around the area, who have driveways near this, are going to be very appreciative. There will be some people who are not going to like this, understandable; but again, it just comes down to public safety for our community. So, thank you. I hope that answers questions, if there were any. Again, longtime in the making. And understandable, this is way before you were here, so I’m not going to drill you too much because I think you’re probably catching up, like you said. And if there are any questions, I will do my best to answer them from the Council. With that, Chair, I yield. Thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder. Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Acting Director, for being here. You know, I think after the 2018 eruption, there was just a massive need to support more recreational activities in the community; and because of the COVID lockdown, we were suppressed, not able to get out, enjoy the waters like we normally do. And so, you know, my colleague from Puna is absolutely right, the area would get intensely chaotic once things were back open to the point where it actually is kind of teetering on a bit dangerous because of all that massive action and gathering, and just people not really knowing where to park. Just the energy of the times and people coming together was just high and intense. So this is a good move, smart move in the right direction. Just curious what kind of engagement was done by the department to the neighbors in this particular area, if any type of meetings or personal outreach was done, conducted by Mr. Takaba or other folks in the department. To just get them on board or at least make them aware of what is happening in their neighborhood. MR. PAUSE: So I’m not personally aware of what engagement was done. Something I could check into. Councilman, in your community, you may be more aware of outreach that was performed, but I’m not personally aware. It’s something I can look into, because clearly, communication is real important when we make changes like— MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah. I mean, I don’t know how aware Mr. Kāneali‘i- Kleinfelder was, that this was coming forward at this particular time. I know that he was very vocal about ensuring that something was addressed in the area. I just want to make sure because this point was highlighted by a number of our testifiers that at the communication, is happening to representatives of the district, community leaders, people that had brought the issue forward in the first place. Just so that there’s some closure, and folks know that you’re on it and things are happening. Nobody likes to be caught by surprise. You know, this is something Page 4 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 that the community was asking for, and you’re delivering. You want to make sure that is being communicated. MR. PAUSE: Thank you for that. I completely agree. I’ll make sure that we follow up on that. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great. MR. PAUSE: Thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Director. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. And thank you, Deputy Director, for being here. I actually had sort of a tangential question. As you know, the County recently took over the Honoka‘a, Waipi‘o Road in their arrangement with the State. I’m curious, is there automatically any similar analysis that happens when we’ve taken over a road that would maybe identify similar areas on that portion of our holdings, or does that have to be requested? MR. PAUSE: I would answer that by saying that there’s nothing automatic that I’m aware that would lead us to do those sort of analyses; but clearly, if there are issues that are brought to our attention, we can have people look at that. I think we’ve talked about that in the past, in your area. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, my office will follow up and. And thank you, Mr. Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder, for sort of breaking ground on this and providing some guidelines for other areas. Appreciate it. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Oh, Ms. Kierkiewicz, I see your light on. Oh, okay. Mr. Inaba, go ahead. MR. INABA: Thank you. All right, for clarification purposes, this bill says that we’re going to be banning or we’re going to be—parking on pavement prohibited at all times. So just for a point of reference, if someone goes down there and they see those no parking signs on the side of the road, most times it would make sense that parking on the side of the road is not allowed, also. What are we are we actually trying to do here? No parking on the side of the road or no parking only on the pavement? MR. PAUSE: I believe the intent would be no parking at all, whether it’s on the pavement or on the side of the road. That’s my understanding of why you would post signs. Page 5 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 MR. INABA: Okay, that makes sense to me, but that’s not what I’m reading here. Corporation Counsel, can you please weigh in here, so we know what we’re voting on? (Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Strance came forward to address the members of the Committee. MS. STRANCE: Good morning. Elizabeth Strance, Corporation Counsel. Councilman Inaba, if I can—I’m not familiar enough or that this bill could comment. If you would like input, I can get a deputy who worked on this to call in. MR. INABA: Okay, yes please, because I think we do very much need to be clear. If we are banning it on the shoulder as well, that’s—there are sections I see on Google maps, where there is adequate parking on the shoulders off of the paved highway. I can agree with no parking on the pavement, but if we’re trying to ban all of the parking on the side of the road as well, seems problematic. So without that information, it doesn’t seem that we can make an educated vote on this matter. So yeah, if we can get somebody down or get an answer for that, that would be appreciated. And just for additional clarification purposes, the first map that’s provided here, as part of this bill, can we just get a walk-through? So there’s four amendments to the Code, is the first one—I just want to be able to match up, so that we have a visual of what’s being done here because it’s a little confusing. Deputy Director, if you could walk us through that, please? MR. PAUSE: So, I don’t have a copy of that map. I apologize. MR. INABA: So for example, the first amendment to the Code is Kalapana- Kapoho Beach Road on the makai side, from Oliana Drive to Kehena Beach parking lot. Looking at the map that’s provided, I don’t see where the entire makai side is. Well, it’s in blue. Yeah, I’m just a bit confused. MR. PAUSE: So the way I would look at this is the red lines, that show where the parking is prohibited, the basis for that is going to be to protect people coming in and out of the driveways as well as any of the flow of the traffic in the road. Is that enough detail? MR. INABA: So like I said, the makai side, from Oliana Drive to Kehena Beach Park, where is that indicated in this map that it’s going to be no parking anymore? Or is this a current map of what we have down there right now? MR. PAUSE: I apologize, I don’t have the information for you. Sorry about that. Page 6 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 MR. INABA: Okay, no worries. Chair, I’m going to yield at this time. And I’m going to hope that we can get further answers, I can’t vote on this without enough information. Thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. And I’m hopeful, Ms. Strance, that someone from your department will be able to come in the meantime. Mr. Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder MR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, if I could, Chair? Mr. Inaba, so what you’re looking at is basically what the Engineering Division came back with after their visit. And again, they visited on a Saturday, when it was busy. Sorry, on a Saturday or Sunday, when they were busy. And the signage that you’re seeing, as far as no parking anytime, no parking on pavement, is to prohibit people from parking on the pavement, so that’s what happening now. I don’t know. Are you familiar with the area, Mr. Inaba? Have you been there? MR. INABA: No, I’m just looking at Google map. MR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, okay. So maybe a site visit would be good for you. You can take a look at the area. And I would suggest visiting on a weekend, when it’s absolutely crazy. But what happens is people park on the road. And the road—137 (Highway) in this area is already narrow. It’s not actually two lanes. It’s one of our creative County roads. That’s about a lane and a half. So when people park on the shoulder and the pavement, what happens is, on both sides of the road you’re having that parking occurring, the middle becomes the passable area for other vehicles, and that’s when you have the problem starting to happen. So you’re seeing a combination of no parking anytime and no parking on pavement. No parking anytime is going to be where you have a hill, where you have an area where there is not a passable—not enough width on the roadway for people to park on the sides of the road, or there is a line of site issue, or you have a driveway. And there’s no parking on the pavement, that’s happening when you’re seeing an area—whether it’s just not possible for a vehicle. And they shouldn’t be parking on the side of the road, where there is not enough room on the shoulder to pull your vehicle completely off. And so this report—I mean, I think, Corporation Counsel, maybe you can weigh in on this, but I think the reality is, is that this is the Engineering Division, from our Traffic’s Department, visiting the site and saying, “This miss makes sense.” This is what’s needed to help the police enforce the law, which is you can’t park on the roadway itself, you have to park completely off, on the shoulder. If there’s not enough existing shoulder, then you can’t park there period. And you’re seeing a “No Parking Anytime,” where you just can’t park in that area because it’s a safety issue. Page 7 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 So I would hope that helps. If not, maybe you go to get a frame of reference, which would be to go and visit the area on a weekend and actually view it for yourself so you can better understand it. Because looking on the map, it’s difficult. Even me, when this came up, I had to go kind double-check as far as where this lined up, where the roadways were, why the signage. And again, this is a lot of signs. I’m not going to lie, it’s a lot of signs. It reminds me of Mauna Kea and Saddle Road, when all the signs went up. It’s a lot of signs. But what’s needed is, the police need it for stability and we have to keep our roadways open for emergency vehicles. So, that’s really the kind of the backbone of this. I don’t know, maybe if you can get Aaron Takaba on line to help with some questions? CHR. LEE LOY: Mr. Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder, if you don’t mind yielding, we have Dalilah Schlueter, who is the Corporation Counsel assigned to Public Works, kind of a subject-matter expert. Not only the development of this bill, but also the signage and what the signage intent means legally, that allows the vehicle for the Police Department to accomplish what community is asking for. So, Ms. Schlueter? (Note: At this time, Deputy Corporation Counsel Director Dalilah Schlueter came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Chair, I yield. Thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Ms. Schlueter, I’m not sure if you’ve been monitoring? Okay, great. Thank you. So if you could please, Mr. Inaba had a number of questions, but walk us through the intentionality of the signage, but also what the legal teeth, I think, is how these signs are being placed along this road. MS. SCHLUETER: Good morning, Council Members. Just to note, I have just recently reached out to both Aaron Takaba and Rizalino (Mangaoang), at Traffic, who were involved in the creation of this bill. They’re the ones that provided me with exhibits in the specifications in—the specs in order to draft this bill. I’ve got to say that Council Member Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder’s explanation of what the intent really was a very good assessment of what this bill is intending to do. And the difference is between the no parking at all—excuse me, no parking anytime as well as the no parking on pavement, it’s really an assessment by the professionals of the department of where—say where it is completely unsafe to park versus where there may be a shoulder to park on. It’s absolutely accurate that the assessment be that there’s no parking on the pavement, which is the paved roadway on these areas, because of the safety factors that have been pretty well assessed and discussed in this meeting today. Page 8 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 If there’s additional, more specific questions regarding where they determine these site plan things, we would be happy to bring in the engineers, especially Traffic, for the next meeting on this bill. But they did take into very careful consideration the safety and the ability of emergency vehicles to traverse this area, especially when it’s busy. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Schlueter. Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you, and mahalo, Mr. Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder. The second explanation was little more helpful, as I work my way through this. Thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none. First of all, I want to acknowledge Mr. Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder. I want to be more mindful of allowing Council Members who have concerns in their district, who are trying to advance these types of things, you know, a heads-up, so that they can actually provide a little bit more context around the information. So, I will be more mindful of those things. But I think what’s really emerging in all of this is a huge communication gap. We’ve heard it in testimony; we hear it through the Council Members who are really struggling with some of this information. And if there was an opportunity for the department to reach out and kind of highlight what the intentions are so that some of the questions can be answered, not only here, but everyone is prepared. It’s just not a good feeling when questions are coming at you, and you just trying to walk through it. So with that, we have a motion on the floor to forward Bill 102 to the Council with a positive recommendation. All those in favor, please say “aye.” Vote on Bill 102: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 102 on (Approved) first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung – 1. Excused: None. CHR. LEE LOY: Mr. Pause, thanks for being here. Moving on to Bill 105. Page 9 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 Bill 105: AMENDS CHAPTER 18, ARTICLE 4, SECTION 18-90 OF THE HAWAIʻI COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO FARES FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION Establishes a temporary suspension of fares for all mass transit fixed routes and paratransit services until December 31, 2023. The fare suspension will not apply to County-contracted shared-ride services, curb-to-curb van services operated by the Department of Parks and Recreation, or non-fixed bus services provided in partnership with non-profit organizations. Reference: Comm. 568 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder moved to recommend passage of Bill 105 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. (Note: At this time, Mass Transit Administrator John Andoh came forward to address the members of the Committee. CHR. LEE LOY: And with us we have Director from Mass Transit, John Andoh, to bring us up to speed on this particular bill. Mr. Andoh, congratulations and Happy New Year. MR. ANDOH: Top of the morning Chair and members of the Council. John Andoh, Mass Transit Administrator for the Mass Transit Agency, and I’m pleased to be before you today. As you are aware, since the pandemic has started the Mass Transit Agency has suffered significant ridership decreases. In addition prior to the pandemic, with challenges with our operations, our ridership has declined from a high of 1.2 million to just about 300,000, ending last fiscal year. We’ve been working hard in getting grants to support the Transit operations, and we’ve been fortunate to get three recovery grants to support our operations. And I’m presenting to you today the ability to utilize the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021, or CRRSA, to support allowing the system to go fare free, ending December 31, 2023. The purpose of the fare suspension is one, since we’ve started to implement the elements of the Multimodal Transit and Transportation Master Plan, we are starting to see people coming back to the transit system, and this will be an opportunity to rebuild ridership and help the transit system become that economic-driver that the system needs to be. The goal is to create opportunity for those that are seeking employment, wanting to go back to school to pursue a degree, to access medical appointments, to go Page 10 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 shopping, and any other quality of life opportunities that may present our ridership. The goal is to also give the Mass Transit Agency an opportunity to reset itself when it comes to gas collection, set up an electronic fare collection system, set up processes and procedures; so that should fares resume again in the future, we have an electronic system that can properly report and give accurate ridership information, accurately track our cash collections, and be able to demonstrate fiscal accountability to the County rather than send—and the County as a whole. It is my desire to come back before Council some time this year to also request an additional extension, utilizing the American Rescue Plan Act funding that HDOT (Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation) intends to allocate to us later on this fiscal year. Happy to answer any questions, if there are any. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Andoh. Any from my colleagues? Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. As always, I never thought I’d say it, but I get really excited when you’re talking about buses. This is just really good. And you know, Mr. Andoh, you mentioned the economic aspect of it, and an economic-driver for our County, and that’s really the case. Question on the ridership, and maybe this is too early to know, but I saw the Hele-On buses turning into the resort areas in my district, District 9, as opposed to picking up on the highway. I thought that was a great move, because I don’t think that has been going on consistently throughout everything. But do you have any statistics? Is your ridership for the employees in the area? And comment on that, it’s a good safe move because you’re getting people off the highway and the bus off the highway, so kudos to you on that. But do you have—is the ridership going up? Are you paying attention to the shift time, so we’re picking the people up at the right time so it’s convenient? MR. ANDOH: In relation to the ridership statistics, we’re still gathering the ridership statistics from our September changes, and I’m hoping that I should have some data in the first quarter of this year, so that I can present to the Transportation Commission. I’ll be happy to share with this Council. I could tell you that it appears with the expansion of the overall transit system, that we’re starting to see more people return back to the bus, especially as we have more connectivity from the east to the west, particularly with the Blue Line going across the Daniel K. Inouye Highway. Our Transit Program Specialist that’s responsible—our Transit Program Manager, excuse me, responsible for Hele-On, she has been working with resorts to ensure Page 11 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 that our routes 70, 75, 80, and 90, as well as 2, are all coordinated properly with the resort. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. The reason I’m laughing is, as your quoting route numbers like a priest quotes the bible, so I’m just—I fully appreciate the fact— and you must dream bus routes. MR. ANDOH: I’ve got to. If you only know. MR. RICHARDS: To the point I would ask that you would look at having express routes, if you’re not doing that already. Just help the east side get to the west side in a timely fashion. I figure that’s probably on the dockets. MR. ANDOH: If I just may add? The Route 2 Blue Line is our current express. That goes via Daniel K. Inouye Highway. It stops at Hilton, Marriott, Four Seasons; and it runs four trips a day, seven days a week. MR. RICHARDS: Oh, excellent. MR. ANDOH: We’re starting to see some ridership shift from the 80, which goes along the Hāmākua Coast to the Route 2 as a result of that, which was the ultimate goal of the Master Plan. MR. RICHARDS: Oh, like I said, this is music to my ears. And just again for the public, Mass Transit is very commonly heavily subsidized by the community and by government. So the fact that we are going to be suspending—I fully support this—suspending the fares is not a huge budget impact to the County as a whole. So I just want the public to understand, this is definitely a step in the right direction for us to get the economy running. So, Chair, thank you. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Mr. Richards. I’m going to go to Ms. Kimball. But I also want to check, Ms. Villegas, if you have any questions for our Administrator? You know what, I’m going to go to Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. And thank you, Administrator Andoh. Officially Administrator now. I wanted to acknowledge that and say welcome. I’m very glad to see you appointed as our official Administrator, and what a way to kick things off. I had a question, actually along the lines of Council Member Richards, with respect to the fairly significant drop in ridership. Was that generally countywide? Or did you see specific areas, such as the resort area that were particularly impacted more so than others? MR. ANDOH: It was system wide. Page 12 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 MS. KIMBALL: It was systemwide. MR. ANDOH: And primarily it’s the pandemic attributed to some of it, but also just our past unreliability of the operations. MS. KIMBALL: Understood. MR. ANDOH: This Master Plan is hopefully going to restore credibility. MS. KIMBALL: Right. You know, what a way to kick things off in your official position as administrator with this piece of legislation. I agree with Council Member Richards that funding Mass Transit—subsidizing it is the surest way to provide economic benefits to the community as a whole, and so happy to support this piece of legislation. And if we are able to extend this further with additional federal funds, I’m happy to do that as well in the future. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Mr. Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder. MR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Mr. Andoh, congratulations, sir. MR. ANDOH: Thank you, sir. MR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: You’ve been a pleasure so far, and I don’t think you’re going to let us down. I think this is amazing. You said you’re going to do this, and you did, and I really do appreciate it. If I remember correctly, and you may have stated this already, but the intention of this is to increase ridership. What is our subsidizing rate right now? I mean, I’ve seen other counties at 16 percent. You know, where—sorry, 84 percent basically subsidized by the County and 16 percent by actual ridership fares, and other sources of income for the department. But what is our subsidizing rate? What is our rate that we have? MR. ANDOH: When you combine General Excise Tax funds plus federal funds, we’re about 99 percent subsidized. MR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Wow. MR. ANDOH: And then the one percent is coming from fares, which is about the $560,000. MR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Page 13 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 MR. ANDOH: So basically, the intent is to use Grant Funds to replace those fares that passengers were previously paying, just because we’re not generating anything, and it’s actually costing us more to collect fares than to actually receive them. MR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: That is not the best news, but I think the direction you’ve accomplished by this bill, if it does pass, it is going to be—at least get those numbers down a little bit, yeah, so it’s not it’s not 99 percent subsidized. MR. ANDOH: The nice thing was, how the federal funding formula works. As you build your ridership and increase your passenger miles, more federal funds could come to the State; and since we get about 40 percent of those federal funds allocated to the State, that means more federal funds could come to our County, which means that we could use that to subsidize our operations from the federal side, which would reduce the dependency on the GET (General Excise Tax) or any other future County funds that are needed to support us. MR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Very well. Nice job. You’re thinking down the line, I like that. I really appreciate that because you’re not looking at just now, and what could be better. This is better and you’re increasing ridership, but you’re looking at federal dollars, and State dollars coming back to the County and helping us get funding where we need it, and improving our ability to service our community all in one shot. So, thank you very much. Chair, I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Ms. David. MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair. Aloha and congratulations, Administrator Andoh. I think we were all wishing for this day, and it arrived. So, Happy New Year. And I really appreciate your information that was shared with us today regarding this bill. Especially exciting to me is the express routes that you talked about, connecting the east to the west side. So those express buses will go right into town on the west side? MR. ANDOH: They end—yes, they actually end at Kona Commons. MS. DAVID: Kona Commons, oh, okay. MR. ANDOH: Then it goes to Kona International Airport, and then Four Seasons, and then Hilton, Marriott, and then it goes to Waikōloa Village, and then works its way over to Daniel K. Inouye Highway, and then down Waiānuenue Avenue to the Mo‘oheau Bus Terminal. MS. DAVID: Awesome. Did that very well. MR. ANDOH: It’s been a lot of practice, really. Page 14 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 MS. DAVID: I have hard time doing that one, too. I have to think about it before I say it. MR. ANDOH: I thank my staff and Managing Director, as well as the Council, helping me. MS. DAVID: Awesome. Okay, I think that’s a great thing because there’s a lot of—I’m hoping that you will generate a lot more ridership, especially for people that need to work on the westside, and then come from the east side, which now, you know, you can see all the cars parked on Saddle Road at the bottom—at the base of Saddle Road. So, I’m very excited. And I share my colleagues’ opinion about you and your energy, and what you’ve done for this department thus far in such a short period of time. So thank you so much, and I will support your legislation for this. Thank you very much. Aloha. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. David. Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. Good morning, John. Just I want to make sure, I’m reading the B-52 here and it’s—initially it’s saying, “Staff is recommending suspension of fares ending December 31, 2024.” So was that what was initially recommended? Because I know the bill was saying till 2023. MS. SAKO: Yes, it was initially till 2024, however I’ve been advised that we should wait until we get the American Rescue Plan funds for HDOT. I’ll be before Council to ask Council to accept those funds, which will be about $1.8 million, and then it’s my intent at that same request to ask for an extension of the fare suspension till December 31, 2024. MR. INABA: Okay. So right now, we’re talking $560,000 to cover through the end of 2023, is that right? MR. ANDOH: It will be—so out of the $4.5 (million), we would in essence allocate $560,000 for fiscal year 2023 and about $250,000 for fiscal year 2022, and then another $560,000 in fiscal 2024, when I come back again. So in essence, just so you kind of understand the math formula, the intent is for every rider that would go in the system, we would utilize the grant fund to cover the cost of that rider. MR. INABA: Okay. And the total right now we’re talking about is, again, how much? Page 15 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 MR. ANDOH: So the grant received was $4.5 million, and the fares that would be covered initially will be the $560,000. $560,000 next fiscal year, and about $250,000 for this fiscal year because already halfway in the fiscal year. MR. INABA: Got it. Okay, thank you so much. Chair, I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Congratulations. Happy New Year. It’s really welcome news for our County, and I think the agency, that you are permanently installed as our Administrator. We’ve all been very impressed with what you’ve brought forward so far, and your follow-through on everything that you’ve kind of said is a priority. You have lots of priorities. I think like a page of 11. Like 11 pages, 176 point-plan of how we are going to change Mass Transit System for the better. Wow, just amazing. Thank you. You know, I am overwhelmed. This is such a radical step forward to increasing transportation equity for our residents, so thank you. I don’t know if you missed saying this, but is your long-term vision to sort of implement a fareless transit system, for the long term? MR. ANDOH: Ideally that would be the goal because I see transportation as a social justice issue. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Kind of like going to the library. MR. ANDOH: Like trying—exactly, going to the library and other public services that are free. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MR. ANDOH: I feel that transit, if it’s developed correctly and utilized with its full intent, it just creates opportunity and drives the economy. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Absolutely. Often times transportation is that barrier to accessing critical services, educational, economic opportunities, so thank you for making that happen. MR. ANDOH: And I just wanted to also answer you that should this ultimately pass, we’re now saving like a low-income resident close to $700 a year, that they can now use towards buying groceries or other quality of life needs that they need to survive. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That’s incredible. So with this, you’re really enhancing quality of life because they have that much more money in their pocket to be able to expend on rent, or other needs, or things that have for their ʻohana. Page 16 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 MR. ANDOH: Exactly. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great. And then I wasn’t sure if you covered on the mechanics of how this would work. Do you have to get a card? Or if there’s bus pulling up at the bus stop, you can just stop in, and that’s how it is? MR. ANDOH: Basically the goal is that you just hop on and ride. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MR. ANDOH: It is our intent— MS. KIERKIEWICZ: And then how would you track ridership in that way? MR. ANDOH: Our drivers will still track the ridership—the boardings by category. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MR. ANDOH: So that we can report on an annual basis to the Council as well quarterly to our Transportation Commission on how it’s doing. It is also the intent for us to make some ordinance changes to Chapter 18 as it relates to Rules of the Road, to ensure that people are following the rules when they’re riding our buses; and then to also have a transitional period for people who have purchased passes and tickets, to allow them to utilize those before we implement this so that we don’t have a large stock of unused tickets floating around. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. And if they happen to have extra when this ordinance is finally passed and takes effect, would you be in a position to be reimbursing them for those tickets purchased? MR. ANDOH: Our goal is to see if we can try to reduce that to zero. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MR. ANDOH: Because we already have a 15-day period before it takes into place. But upon positive feedback, we’ll start to reduce the sales of passes with the intent that this will go into play, so that by the time it does get implemented, hopefully our inventory is close to zero. And the reason why I say this, if fares are to return again, we would like to have a brand new system in place, where we’re using smartcards, using our app, and having more electronic-based passes so that we can better track the ridership, versus the manual paper-ticket we’ve been using for years. Page 17 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Got it. And so all of that, those electronic pieces, do you see implementation agency-wide within the next year, two years? I mean, how quickly do you think you can stand something like that up? MR. ANDOH: So our goal is to start setting up the framework now, and we’re going to be—we already have the app in place. And we’re going to be going out to bid for an electronic fare collection system; and even if we don’t collect fares, we could still use that system to track ridership, just have it all in place by the time this suspension does end, which I’m hoping it will be 2024. So if fares were to resume in 2025, everything is in place. The tickets are in place, the smartcards in place. Or even in discussions with the other transit agencies, to see if we could expand what is called the HOLO card, which is used by City and County of Honolulu, to where we would accept that card. So in essence, you could have a statewide transit pass and be able to put money on it, and be able to use it on not only us but the Kauaʻi bus, The Bus, and Maui Bus. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Really forward-thinking. Just always blowing our mind on where you’re taking our transportation system. Thank you so much, Administrator Andoh. Mahalo nui for the constant communication to our offices and the community. We just really appreciate that wealth of information getting to our constituents so that they know you’re working hard for them, and that they’ve got a reliable mass transit system that they can really count on, so thank you. Chair, I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, Director, just real quick. Talking about the app, we’re also talking about the real-time tracking of the buses, so people would be able to see where the buses relative to where they are. Is that part of the app that you’re putting in? MR. ANDOH: Yes. So the app right now we have is called Move It, and right now it’s static, so it’s based on scheduled information. We are working with Syncromatics and GreenRoad, so we can utilize we is called an API (Application Programming Interface), so that people will be able to start seeing the buses moving in real-time. So as we promote the Move It app community-wide, people will soon be able to not only plan their trip, see how many docks are on our HI-Bike System, but then they’ll also be able to see real-time where the buses are. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Page 18 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 MR. ANDOH: Our goal is to have that hopefully launched by June, and we’re working behind the scenes on getting that done. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. I agree with Ms. Kierkiewicz, the forward-thinking. And I think I’d like to have a conversation with you, let’s start talking about high-speed rail. MR. ANDOH: Oh, boy. Island want a HART (Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation)? MR. RICHARDS: No, no, no, we don’t want to do that. Anyway, I’d like to get your opinions on that. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Richards. You know, I have to agree with my colleagues, first and foremost, congratulations. We are all very excited with having you really lead this department. And I really want to highlight something Ms. Kierkiewicz said, is your ability to communicate with all of us, and share that information so we can begin to disperse that further out into our community. But also the timeliness of that information and the accuracy of that information, it’s always very, very helpful for us. I wanted to lean in a little bit more on some thing Ms. Kierkiewicz mentioned, which was the outstanding tickets—or outstanding fares. Help me with this a little bit, Mr. Andoh, because we sell fares but we also have curb-to-curb and our paratransit piece, that also buys these taxi shared-ride coupons and some of the other things that are not covered. So how are we going to manage that piece? Because this—so grateful for all the money. But there are many others who rely on the system to get like a ride to a fixed route, and then get on the fixed route. And so I know we’re offsetting them on the fixed-route, but I’m really concerned about our disabled community, our kupunas, and those who are using are ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible rides. MR. ANDOH: So under the ADA, if the fixed route system is free, the paratransit system would have to be free, so the paratransit system will become free as a result. It is our intent to start promoting these specialized demand response services more; we did hear it from a testifier in the Keaukaha Community. And we are working on some marketing material to help get the words out on our Paratransit Program, our Shared Ride Program, as well the Coordinated Services for the Elderly Senior Bus Program, so that they’re familiar with all of the transportation avenues. And we’ll also broaden that information island-wide. So as it relates to paratransit community, similar to what we would do with the fixed-route tickets, if there’s any outstanding paratransit tickets, we will start to Page 19 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 transition—discontinue sales of those, so we can start transitioning folks who are being prepared for that free transportation. As it relates the Shared-Ride Taxi Program, that’s not going to be part of the fare suspension, so that will exist. I do want to come before the Council later on this quarter to request changes to Chapter 18 as it relates to the Shared Ride, so that we can get away from a ticket-based system and more it goes towards a subsidy-based system; and by doing that, that will allow the opportunity for Lyft and Uber to also participate, which will then expand Shared-Ride to not only the Hilo urbanized area but now island-wide because Lyft and Uber is available island-wide. And it will also entice taxi cab companies, like in Waimea and in Kailua-Kona, and the Pāhoa area, to also want to join again, because now they’re not losing revenue by joining in the current program, as it’s structured today. CHR. LEE LOY: Perfect. Also, as you begin to broaden that communication about the Shared Ride programs and how they’ll be subsidized, and the offerings, there’s going to be a need for our kupuna to learn how to use the app, and so I was just wondering if you could help build some of that stuff in, because we all know the Move It app, we travel all over. And so I just know some of our seniors may have a little challenge with getting on the app and utilizing the app for securing those rides. MR. ANDOH: I’m glad you mentioned that. We are actually recruiting for a contract Mobility Coordinator. This position was requested in the 2011 Coordinated Transportation and Human Services Plan that HDOT put together, and the purpose of that position is to solely train people how to use public transit. They will be targeting the senior community, low-income community, and persons with disabilities. We would like to build a relationship with the Office of Housing and Community Development as well as many senior housing communities and the disability workshops on island, so we could start engaging that community on how to utilize the public transit system more. And hopefully, that’s another way to increase our ridership. CHR. LEE LOY: Perfect. Well, I am incredibly pleased with the progress this department has made under your leadership. When I stepped on to the Council, we were subsidizing rides, anywhere between $15 to $26 per trip. So just one way, which was just really digging into our budget. So, I really appreciate all the hard work that you’re doing, securing a lot of these grants and looking forward at new opportunities to bring a lot of equity in transportation to our communities. With that, Council Members, I have a motion on the floor to forward Bill 105 to the Council with a positive recommendation. All those in favor, please say “aye.” Page 20 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 Vote on Bill 105: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 105 on (Approved) first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung – 1. Excused: None. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you everyone. Thank you, Mr. Andoh. MR. ANDOH: Mahalo, Chair. CHR. LEE LOY: Congratulations again. Happy New Year. MR. ANDOH: Mahalo, Chair. CHR. LEE LOY: All right, Mr. Clerk? REFERRALS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, EXECUTIVE Referrals for Executive Session. SESSION: Comm. 569: REQUESTS A STATUS UPDATE FROM MAYOR MITCH ROTH REGARDING THE LONG PENDING KALANIANAOLE AVENUE PROJECT From Council Member Susan L. K. Lee Loy, dated December 16, 2021. Motion to Close File: Mr. Richards moved to close file on Comm. 569. Seconded by Mr. Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder. (Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Strance and Deputy Public Works Director Steve Pause came forward to address the members of the Committee.) CHR. LEE LOY: I think Ms. Strance or Mr. Pause. MS. STRANCE: Good morning, Council. Elizabeth Strance, Corporation Counsel. The agenda item envisions a possibility of moving to Executive Session. My request of the Council is to allow Mr. Pause to talk about where the project is going rather than where it’s been in any specific questions about Goodfellow’s contract. As some of you know with the conclusion of a contractor, a number of discussions that need to happen and those are in process. I would prefer that the Page 21 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 Council not go into Executive Session today because there’s not a product to discuss with you. And it would be my recommendation that the matter be passed for a few weeks, to allow that process to take more shape, and then to either come back and ideally be able to have a further presentation that would be public, But if not, we would be able to advise you then about what would need to be discussed in an Executive Session, but trying to be mindful of the public interest in the project and also to protect the process that is ongoing. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Strance, for that, and really, I do appreciate. You know, this was all very fluid, so I wasn’t really sure where we would go. So I just wanted to give the Council an opportunity, which is why in my request, you know, I wanted this update. But as Judge Strance mentioned, if there were areas that would cause the future decision-making process of where this all goes, I just wanted to allow us that flexibility. But Mr. Pause, if you don’t mind, please provide us an update on where we are, what’s being shared, and where we’re going with this project because there’s a lot of island-wide interest. It’s a road in Hilo, but it is taking inexcusably too long. So Mr. Pause, if you could, please? MR. PAUSE: Yes. Steve Pause, Deputy Director of DPW. So I’ll start with an update, where we are today, and I’ll just go back a few weeks. Everyone is aware that we came to an impasse with our contractor that was out there, and we decided collectively to move on, and that’s what we’ve done. And in the interest of safety of the construction site, the roadway, et cetera, we utilized our ability to do an emergency procurement to get another contractor to transition the responsibility of the day-to-day—maintenance of the striping, maintenance of the roadway, patching potholes. We have requirements for stormwater management. All of those sorts of things. So that process was concluded late last week. th And sometime around the 30 of December, we engaged a contractor to do the transition work with the current contractor. That contractor is Glover. We’re finishing up paperwork; but however, they are legally on the job, and they started that process of taking over the work. I would call this our transition contractor. The plan is to—we’ve contracted them for up to four months to do this work, and again it’s all in the interest of safety and maintaining the construction site. At the same time, we are preparing a bid package for the remaining work that needs to be done out there, which includes paving, it includes some drainage work, and it includes some repairs to—or final connections to new waterlines. That set of plans and specification is being prepared by our Engineering Division. I am told that should be ready to go out for the formal bid by the end of next th week, so two weeks, the 14 of January. Based on that, given the normal cycle for procurement, I would expect that we would have bids back in February, late February, and be in a position to award a Page 22 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 bid to do the completion of the work—the final contractor to be able to complete the work, in early March; and by beginning of April, at the latest, have our contractor on board to complete the reconstruction for the project. After that, typically the very first delivery that you would expect from your contractor would be a schedule, and that schedule would then dictate what their plans are to complete this project in the most timely fashion. There’s been a number of comments about communication, and I think we’ve— I’ve had some conversations with folks. We need to continue to do a better job of communicating. We do participate in community meetings. We have a Facebook page, where we put updates out. Every week the DPW puts out updates through the Mayor’s office on road closures, and construction projects, and progress. So we’ll continue to do that and look for opportunities to get even better at communicating. Another comment that was made earlier as well, about project management, there hasn’t been one single project manager on this job, from the beginning there that has been several, and I think it goes back to about 2016. And we do need to get better at project management. We have a path. I believe we have a path, a clear path forward to complete this project in as timely of a fashion as possible. And also, bearing in mind that we need to spend the County’s money in a very responsible manner. So that is the intent moving forward, is to finish this project, get it done, continue to communicate with the community and with the public, and just get better at what we have to do to finish the work. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Pause. I’m going to go to Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Director, for being here; and thank you, Judge Strance, for kind of setting tone for conversation. I think at some point we as a Council, and I’m hoping it’s in the next two weeks, are able to get a sense of what’s happened with this project to get us to this point, and the reason is because we are the Legislative body, and one of our single most important things that we do is we appropriate funding to make departments work. And so if we don’t have confidence in appropriating those dollars, that’s a big problem. So if we have to convene an Executive Session, where we are able to hear from you, just the challenges that we’ve had to overcome, I just think it’s really critical because we need to make good decisions grounded in good information. I just felt I really needed to share that with you. Thank you. Director Pause, just some clarifying questions. So the four-month transition vendor, Glover, can you explain to me, sorry if I missed this detail, what exactly their work entails? What do you mean by maintenance of the road? What exactly are we talking about here? What I’m trying to get at is, are they going to do a Page 23 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 quick-pave, so we’ve got two lanes in and out of the community? We’ve got a fire station there. We’ve got the port. We have a number of recreational assets in East Hawaiʻi that folks from all over the island often frequent. And so just wondering what the quick fixes are that is the responsibility of Glover. MR. PAUSE: Well the quick-fix has really comes down to just maintenance and maintaining safety. So there’s safe passage of vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles, but it’s really—right now, what Glover’s role is, is to make the roadway safe while we’re continuing to go out to bid and get a contractor onboard who can come in and finish the work. So, they’re maintaining the safety: the signs, the barriers, any potholes that come up, striping that needs to be redone. Their role is really one of just maintenance right now. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So if I’m hearing you correctly— MR. PAUSE: And it’s up to four months. It’s really a transition until the new contractor comes on board to complete the work. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. So really, it’s maintaining status quo? MR. PAUSE: That’s correct. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. No thought around having Neil Azevedo and his crew do a quick-pave so that we’ve got two roads in and out—two lanes in and out? MR. PAUSE: Thought, yes. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MR. PAUSE: We made that decision not to pursue that. However, we are working with the State to see if we can come up with an alternative to pave the road, in its current state, pave that road to carry us over until we get the final completion done. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. You know, I was monitoring the Zoom room, so I saw some names. I think I saw Kevin Waltjen, also wondering if DOT (Department of Transportation) is on the line. They’re critical partners in us as a County being able to move forward. Because if I understand correctly, the State wants to take over this particular road, but they won’t do so until we’ve completed our kuleana, which is to get a functioning road back in shape, so they’ve got something good to take care of. CHR. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you for highlighting that. Yes, Harry Takiue from Department of Transportation along with Rob Lee is available and monitoring. I have Greer McKeen, who actually is DOT Harbors, who is Page 24 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 monitoring this conversation. Along with Water Department, I have Keith Okamoto, Kawika Uyehara; and Debra Ota and Collins (Hashiro) from Gas Company; and then Kevin (Waltjen) and Jen Zelko-Schlueter, from HELCO (Hawaiʻi Electric Light Company), you know, just kind of monitoring. You know, those are all the other stakeholders on this project. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, are we in a position to kind of welcome them or invite them to share a little bit about their involvement in the project and how we are moving forward? CHR. LEE LOY: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Judge Strance, step in if you feel that we are venturing into territory that we shouldn’t be. But they’re on the call, and I just would like to know their involvement. Not in anything that’s happened prior, but what are we doing to solve for issues now in moving this thing forward? Is that an okay conversation to have with them? MS. STRANCE: Without knowing what people are going to say, I’ll counsel Steve on responses. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Let us open Pandora’s box. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. MR. PAUSE: I’d just like to make a point that every one of those parties that you just mentioned, we have been in communication. I have personally been in close communication with all of them. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MR. PAUSE: So if you open the floor and ask them for comments, hopefully it should match up with whatever I can tell you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I’m sure it will. Thank you, Director. All right, Chair, maybe lets go down the list. If you want to do those introductions of organizations, I think it would be helpful, for just a couple-minute update on their involvement and what their plans are to work with the County to resolve this long-standing issue for our community. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you for that, Ms. Kierkiewicz. I know everybody is clicking in. But if we could go ahead and start with—I’m trusting it’s still Harry, if not Rob Lee, on the call. Page 25 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 (Note: At this time, Robert Lee, Engineer for the State Department of Transportation, came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. LEE: Hi, Councilmen, Council Woman. Yes, we are just an observer for this meeting. We’re working closely with Stephen Pause from Department of Public Works. If any comment, will be coming through Steve, but we’re assisting as much as we can from the DOT portion. That’s all the comment I have. Thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Rob. Thanks for being here. I want to go over to Water, Keith Okamoto and Kawika Uehara, and/or Kurt Inaba. (Note: At this time, Water Supply Manager Keith Okamoto came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. OKAMOTO: Hi, good morning. Can you hear me? CHR. LEE LOY: Yes, Keith. Good morning. Happy New Year. Thank you for being here. MR. OKAMOTO: Yeah, Happy New Year. Keith Okamoto, Manager, Chief Engineer, Department of Water Supply. Regarding our scope at the project, actually most of the waterline work associated with the project is complete. We do have about a handful or so of connections to switch the new line services, from the old line to the new line. So that will require continued coordination with Public Works, because that will require water shutoffs and possible advertising of those shutoffs. A lot of industrial and businesses are down there, so we don’t want to disrupt their businesses during normal working hours. So that will involve some coordination, but I’m sure that’s doable. And besides that, I guess we’re available for questions if there are any. Thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Keith. I’m going to over to Gas. I’m trusting Debra Ota and Collins (Hashiro) are on the line. (Note: At this time, Hawaiʻi Gas General Manager Debra Ota came forward to address the members of the Committee.) CHR. LEE LOY: Aloha, Deb. Happy New Year. MS. OTA: Happy New Year. Aloha, everyone. Thank you, Chair and the rest of the Council, for having us here. Hawaiʻi Gas interest in this project is two-fold, of course, because our main baseyard as you know is located in Keaukaha. We are definitely users of that roadway, seven days a week, so it’s very important to have use of that—full use of that roadway back. Page 26 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 And then second interest in the project is our main utility pipeline, of course, runs from our baseyard, along that roadway towards Downtown Hilo. So, yes we do have a propane pipeline within that roadway. So, we are eager to hear how the project will be completed. We have been in touch with Steve Pause, like he said. And so we are available too, for coordination and collaboration going forward. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you so much, Deb. HELCO, Jen Zelko and/or Kevin Waltjen. Aloha. (Note: At this time, Director of Government and Community Relations Jennifer Zelko-Schlueter and Hawaiʻi Island Director Kevin Waltjen, both from Hawaiʻi Electric Light Company, came forward to address the members of the Committee.) CHR. LEE LOY: Aloha. Happy New Year. MS. ZELKO-SCHLUETER: Good morning. Happy New Year. Yes, Kevin Waltjen and I are on for Hawaiʻi Electric. As similar to what Deb just mentioned from Hawaiʻi Gas, we do have a pipeline that’s just under. Kalanianaole Avenue. It is fairly regulated. And so obviously, our interest is making sure that we are within that regulation, that the work that’s being done— that we can help collaborate with the County. We have been in contact with DPW, and of course with Council Member Sue Lee Loy, as well. We really appreciate that you are holding this meeting today, and we’re here to answer any questions. Thanks. CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Jen. And finally, I have Greer McKeen, who is the Deputy Harbor’s Master from State, affectionately known as Baba. I’m hoping Baba can log in. (Note: At this time, Greer McKeen, Assistant Hawaiʻi Manager for the State Department of Transportation - Harbors Division, came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. MCKEEN: Sorry, Chairman. I’m another call. Can revisit? CHR. LEE LOY: Sure, Baba. Go ahead, and we’ll monitor, or you can monitor it. Thank you. Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I appreciate that, and it certainly does match up, Director Pause, you are in coordination. But it seems to me we’re at this point where everybody is just waiting for Public Works to kind of pull the trigger on resuming, you know, final construction; finding that final vendor to complete the work, which you say you’re pushing out the RFP (Request for Proposals) February, and hopefully awarding March. Everything seems teed up on your end, ready to go? Page 27 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 MR. PAUSE: Yes. Again, the bid package will go out within the next two weeks, and that schedule is a very good schedule. And our work-package, our plans and specifications, are all inclusive to include input from and in coordination with the folks that you have on the line. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, all right. Well, we will be monitoring this closely. I know that Council Member Lee Loy will. She’s been a strong advocate for getting information out to community on this particular topic. And just getting some movement by Public Works, the community really deserves this. The stakeholders that are online, I think, have been really patient and collaborative. So whatever support you’re needing, Director, do let us know. MR. PAUSE: Will do. And my personal goal will be to come back here in six months and have you like me as much as you like John Andoh. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That can be arranged. It’s all up to you. We have so much faith in you, and your personal involvement and leadership in the project. One question I had, you mentioned—sorry, final question, just getting my notes here. project management, you said multiple change of hands over the years. Who is managing the project now, or are there co-leads? MR. PAUSE: So this falls on our Engineering Division Manager, Keone Thompson, however I will be intimately involved to see this through until the very end. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Director, I would appreciate your personal leadership in all aspects of this project. MR. PAUSE: Duly noted. And yeah, you have my word, I will see this through. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Excellent. Thank you. Chair, I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. I’m going to go to Mr. Kāneali‘i- Kleinfelder, and then Mr. Inaba. Mr. Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder MR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: I don’t have too many questions today. I have one question, but not regarding the project. Where is the Director today? MR. PAUSE: The Director has been on holiday or off-island since around the ththth 18 or 15 of December. He will be back in his office on Monday, the 10. MR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Yeah, I think it would be good to have him at the next meeting, if there’s a follow-up anything to this. I’d like to hear his comments on this. Page 28 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 MR. PAUSE: I agree. I’ll make sure I relay that to him. MR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you, Steve. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder. Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. You know, in our testimony earlier today, we heard from Floyd (Eaglin) and Mr. Kahawaiola‘a that someone is going to—somebody needs to be responsible and someone needs to take the jerk. But we’re going to look forward. So are we clear that person that’s leading the project is you? Or who are we looking to for follow-through and responsibility of this project moving forward? MR. PAUSE: As I stated earlier, I will take that on. You have my word that we will see this thing through and we’ll get it complete, and we will do a good job, and we will communicate as we continue our journey here for the next couple of months. MR. INABA: Got it. Okay. And then in going through the process moving forward, you shared that we’re going to have the bid ready by, hopefully, th January 14; and then you shared that the first thing that the awardee should provide is a schedule of how the work will be completed and what timeline it would be completed. Is that correct? MR. PAUSE: That’s correct. Typically after you issue a Notice to Proceed to contractor, while you’re finishing up the paperwork, and the contracts, and the bonding, and everything else, you give them the Notice to Proceed. And typically within 30 days, and I’m not quite sure what our specifications require, that contractor will give you a number of documents, one of which is the schedule, which will lay out the exact order of work. It will elaborate a little bit under their means and methods. But typically within 30 days, we should see a detailed schedule of what it will take to complete the work. MR. INABA: Okay, so when we review the bids, and before—will we award a bid without knowing what timeline is? MR. PAUSE: Not exactly. I mean, you will know what the timeline will be. You will ask, and they will provide that information. But I guess what I was trying to say is like the details of how they’re going to perform their work. You know, are they going to do the makai lane first or the mauka lane first? You know, there’s a series of work-task involving drainage. Will they be doing insulation, the drywalls, concurrently while they’re paving in another area? So that level of detail would be provided shortly after you’ve given them the release to start their work. Page 29 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 MR. INABA: Okay. So by the time we sign a contract, we’re going to be having an end-date in mind? MR. PAUSE: Yes, that will be the plan. MR. INABA: Okay, that’s really good to know because we cannot be having, you know, somebody save us money but it’s going to take another two years. MR. PAUSE: It will not. It will not take another two years. MR. INABA: Okay. And I won’t specifics as to when you think it will be done right now. Okay, well— MR. PAUSE: Judge Strance reminds me that unless there’s any issues associated with procurement, and protests, and things, which—I apologize, I’m an optimist by nature. MR. INABA: As our we, so good luck. And we look forward to getting this project done, because as Council Lee Loy has pointed out, some of our Highways folks in Kona are very much following this and emailing us. I think the whole Council, but especially some of us on the west side. So, hopeful in getting this done. Thank you, Deputy Director. CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Mr. Inaba. Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Thanks, Deputy, for being here. When did this project start, more for the public than anything else? Do you have that date in front of you? MR. PAUSE: Yes, the initial Notice to Proceed was provided to Goodfellow in October of 2017. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. And the projected end-date of that was? MR. PAUSE: Initially it was the end of 2019, and then it got extended by one year because they issued a change order to install a new waterline. The final intended completion date would have been December of 2020. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you. And knowing what you know now, I’m not as inquisitive as Mr. Inaba. Based upon your, and I realize this is an estimate, when do you think we may get this thing wrapped up? And because I’m asking— Mr. Kahawaiola‘a is—he’s very well-spoken. And this is a recurrent problem, when do you think are we going to be pau? When is this going to be finished? MR. PAUSE: So there’s obviously a lot of factors. Page 30 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 MR. RICHARDS: Correct. MR. PAUSE: And I could be put in all sorts of like weasel words to go with this. MR. RICHARDS: But I understand that. MR. PAUSE: I would anticipate that we ought to be able to get this done in this calendar year. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. And I’m not going to push any harder than that. But what we’re trying to do is, you know, as has been stated, there’s a tremendous amount of coordination and communication, both with the stakeholders that Chair Lee Loy has invited to the table, conversation-wise, but also expectation of the community. They’re tired. You know, I’ve driven that road a couple of times for other reasons, and that’s a—we’ve got to get that thing finished. So, I’m not going to push it any further right now. But the point is this has been dragging on and on, and we’ve got to get this wrapped up. So, Chair—and I will hold you to your word about having the oversight. Because too many managers, we need a manager that will stick to the gun. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. Kimball, go ahead. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. And I just have two very quick questions for Judge Strance. The first, generally looking at this, it seems like a really good opportunity to evaluate some lessons learned and do a diagnosis of what went wrong, so we make some better choices next time around. I just want to affirm that once you guys have completed these negotiations of exiting the previous contract, we will be able to continue this communication and have that more in-depth conversation? MS. STRANCE: I would expect so. I just don’t have a firm handle on timing, and whether that would be a completely public hearing or whether it would need to take place in Executive Session. MS. KIMBALL: So would you recommend that we hold this communication or start a new one? MS. STRANCE: I’ll leave that up to your rules person. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. MS. STRANCE: Like in terms of if you’re going to keep this one open, I would ask that it be to the call of the Chair, and that we’ll continue to work with Council Member Lee Loy on timing. Page 31 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 MS. KIMBALL: Okay. My second question, and I’m not sure if you can answer it, given that we’ve come to an impasse with the previous contractor, Goodfellows and there’s this new RFP going out, are they precluded from bidding on the new RFP, or are they able to put in a bid just like anyone else? MS. STRANCE: I don’t know the answer to that. I’ll have to get back to you. MS. KIMBALL: Okay, thank you. That’s all, Chair. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Ms. David. Yes, thank you, Chair. I just have a question. Listening to all the input from the involved parties and where we stand at this point in time, Ms. Strance, is there a reason why we cannot go into Executive Session today in order to get some general answers to the process? MS. STRANCE: I don’t feel that we’re prepared to have that kind of conversation with the Council. When and if we have that, I would like to be able to have a very candid discussion with a level of detail and with a level of confidence, that I don’t have right now. You know, this has happened very quickly, and it’s a little fluid. So what I want to avoid is having some session with you folks, whether in public or in Executive Session—it is really mid-conversation on the part of the department; and because there are a number of conversations that are and need to take place, I think it’s premature. MS. DAVID: Okay. And I think, just from past experiences in convening an Executive Session, is to address us generally in what you’re talking about right now. Whether it’s—what are the things that are pending that we can discuss in Executive Session and not in open session, because I understand the liability issues or the liability questions that might be floating out there, right? And so I’m just looking at the Executive Session part of it as giving us Council Members, decision-makers, some idea as we leave this room what are we anticipating. I mean, what’s the hang-up? And I know that we can’t discuss that out in open, and I’m just wondering why we can’t really go into some simple Executive Session and talk to—oh shucks, she’s not on—Dalilah. I mean, that’s just my question. Because in the past, when we did have some very sensitive issues that came before us, yeah, we went into Executive Session, and sometimes it took like 10 minutes just to say we don’t have enough information, or this is where the County stands at this point. I mean, I appreciate the fact that, you know, everybody is saying let’s just wait for a couple weeks. But that’s my only question, is the Executive Session part. That would give us some idea of what we need to look forward to. And I don’t think Page 32 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 that all the questions should be answers—or answers to the questions should be available in Executive Session, but at least we can talk freely about it. That’s just my input. And on that, I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. David. First of all, I really want to thank each and every one of my colleagues for really leaning in on this one. I really appreciate it. That the community acknowledge—it’s my way of letting the community know that they’re being heard. That each and every one of you, from your respective districts, are asking the questions they want to ask, too. So, thank you so much. And then I really want to thank Judge Strance for setting the tone of this meeting on what could be discussed; and then Mr. Pause, for literally sitting in the hot seat on this one, but giving us very firm direction on when this is headed; and Dalilah, for just monitoring the entire time. I do have a couple of questions. And I will ask them, Judge Strance, if it’s okay, and just let us know if this is something we can reserve for another conversation in the future. However, I began to do a lot of research on this project, and just a year ago to date, we had to reappropriate the $10 million that was allocated to this project because it took longer than the appropriation limit. So when we appropriate funds, it takes three years for us to expend. But because this project has taken so long, we had to reappropriate the money, which acknowledged to me that we have three years to complete this project with that new appropriation, and we’re already one year in. Where are we again? And maybe, Mr. Pause, that gives us 24 months to get this done. Is that something we can accomplish based on the appropriation timeline? MS. STRANCE: If this is a question for me, I would have to get back to you, and we would have to have more conversations with the department and have a pretty broad-ranging, candid conversation. CHR. LEE LOY: Mr. Pause? MR. PAUSE: I think I answered this question for Councilman Richards. I stand by that. There’s obviously a lot of variables. And you know a lot about projects, and there are things that can go right, and there are things that can go not so right. But just based on what I see in front of us, just from a work-standpoint, the answer would be yes, we ought to be able to finish this without having do another reappropriation. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Pause. The other thing we did a year ago to date was a cost sharing with the utilities. And I’m curious to know, because the Council passed that bill, which was Bill 7, where the County agreed with the utility, to do cost sharing because of some of the changes and edits in the contract. Page 33 PWMTC-17 January 4, 2022 And now that that contractor who was on the job is not, I’m curious as to what happens to that cost-sharing appropriation that this Council passed. It’s Bill 7. MR. PAUSE: So is that the one that specifically relates to the cost sharing agreement with HELCO? CHR. LEE LOY: That’s correct. MR. PAUSE: Okay. I’m going to ask Dalilah to kind of back me up on this. But we are continuing discussions with HELCO on this matter, and maybe Dalilah could provide a better update on that. (Note: At this time Deputy Corporation Counsel Dalilah Schlueter came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. SCHLUETER: Good morning, Council Members. Really at this time, we’ve been asked to look at the agreement and what cost sharing has been discussed in the past, and we are actively looking at, you know, the files and the records of the prior discussions. So right now we don’t have an informed discussion on that, but it’s something that we’re definitely looking into right now. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Dalilah. You know, again I just want to thank my colleagues for helping me on this one. I did hear Judge Strance about allowing this communication to be postponed to either the call of the Chair or some future date. I just want to hear from my colleagues how you want to handle this. And it is my intention to kind of keep this communication viable and trigger-ready that we could place on the agenda, so that we can get, as Ms. Kierkiewicz said, “Good information to help us make good decisions.” Any thoughts around what to do with this communication? Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. Yeah, I think it is a good idea for us to keep it, perhaps postpone to the call of the Chair. And being that it is of high interest to the community and most of us here on the Council, we can reconvene when necessary, whether it be in an open dialogue like this or if we need to go into Executive Session. Hopefully all parties can be prepared then, for whatever conversation needs to be had. Thank you, Chair. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, I agree with Councilman Inaba. To the call of the Chair, I think it would very appropriate. That way we keep and have our finger on the pulse, so we can bring it back. As Mr. Inaba pointed out, this is a big concern for the community. So, that’s what I would vote for. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. Kierkiewicz. Page 34