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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GOREDC 2022/02/22 2020-2022 Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, and Economic Development 23`'d Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawai i February 22, 2022 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, ORDER: and Economic Development was called to order at 1:32 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Vice Chair (via videoconference from Hilo) Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) (came in later) Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. With that I'll close Public Testimony and go to the top of the agenda. Mr. Clerk. Comm. 29.8: HAWAII STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES' DECEMBER 9, 2021, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES From Council Member Heather Kimball, dated January 27, 2022. Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 29.8. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. KIMBALL: Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor of closing file? GOREDC-23 February 22,2022 Vote on Comm. 29.8: The motion to close file on Comm. 29.8 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Next item on the agenda, please. Comm. 597: REQUESTS A DISCUSSION REGARDING THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES' LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE HELD IN WASHINGTON D.C., FEBRUARY 11-16, 2022 From Council Member Heather Kimball, dated February 3, 2022. Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 597. Seconded by Mr. Richards. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Lee Loy, would you like to kick us off today? MS. LEE LOY: I would. First of all thank you, Ms. Kimball, for bringing this forward. It really is awesome timing because we all just got back. And I do also want to thank Nancy Cook Lauer, who kind of tee'd this conversation up for us. And all the wonderful things we did. I'm just going to speak to some of the things I learned at the conference. And my primary focus, of course, was public infrastructure, and money for roads, mass transit, bridges, culvert cleaning. It's just amazing, the amount of money that is available in the funding through ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) and the Build Back Better. And listening to all of the conversations with other colleagues across the United States, whether they were big or small counties, it didn't matter, we all had similar challenges. It was permitting, it was red-tape, it was community building for focused projects. But in addition to listening to those concerns, there were a lot of solutions offered up as to how to invite community in early, coming up with a robust kind of matrix of different infrastructure, how to plan for it, on top of stacking all the different funding that is available. And one thing I really have to acknowledge that NACo offers for all of our membership is just a plethora, a plethora of information and white sheets on percentages; where the funding is coming from. Page 2 GOREDC-23 February 22,2022 And I know, Ms. Kimball, we agreed to write different parts of our travel report. And Ms. Kimball also has this and I brought it actually today to share with the rest of my colleagues who didn't go. But what they offer is a complete matrix of all the different sources of funding, how to access them, the cost sharing, how the counties can access them, the different formulas, and even the amounts. We are talking about a $63.1 billion, with a"b," of monies that is available through the ARPA bill, and we need to go get ready. And if I could just lean in on my colleagues going forward. You know,there'll be a lot of opportunities for myself and other members to share what we learned. However, I think it also dovetails very nicely into our budget and how we can begin to maximize and leverage the dollars. You know, the biggest takeaway I had was supply chain issues. Every county is experiencing similar supply chain issues. Whether it's getting food from farmlands to markets, goods and services from one place to another, or just building products. Everybody's trying to solve for those supply chain issues, and I had to elevate that conversation with the secretaries of the various departments, because Hawaii sits in a very unique situation with shipping those supply things if we want to realize housing, if we want to realize some of the infrastructure. I'm looking forward to advancing a lot more information around that, and kind of pointing the Administration into the right directions as far as the different pots of money we can access, and really encourage my other colleagues to think well outside the box. If you see an infrastructure project, a bridge project, that doesn't mean we cannot access arts and culture funding, because we could actually add in batina or motifs that resonates with the community that provides a cultural element to those infrastructure projects. And so that was actually also very encouraging from the larger Presidential Administration, that they are open to however we can access this funding and bringing in different elements that fits our community. Thank you, Chair David, for you know,the permission and funding to get us all there. It really was a wonderful experience. So thank you, Ms. Kimball, I'll yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Who wants to go next? Council Member Kierkiewicz, Mr. Richards is pointing to you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: What a whirlwind of a trip. And I'm so glad that Hawaii County was very well represented. Our State was very well represented. And I want to speak to just the value of our membership in this organization and how much of a player Hawai`i is at the national level. To have met commissioners, Page 3 GOREDC-23 February 22,2022 supervisors, Council Members that recalled Ron Kouchi and his time on the Council, to see the superstar that former Council Member and former NACo President Riki Hokama had, and to be introduced by Riki in the number of arenas, to have our very own Tim Richards sitting on the Board of Directors of NACo having received one of ten presidential appointments. We have a lot of skin in the game and a lot to offer in terms of elevating our aloha values at a national level and being able to influence policy. I don't think any of us were expecting to not only hear but see and be in the same room as President Joe Biden. That was an incredible treat. And to just have so many high-level Secretaries from various departments and agencies present. And on top of that, be available to us for hours on end to kind of talk story about some of the issues we are facing. It was incredibly valuable. You know, because of the issues District 4 has experienced with the volcanic eruption and all of the Federal money we have received, it was very exciting for me to be able to talk face-to-face with folks from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), EDA (Economic Development Administration), EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), to just talk about some of the issues we have had with some of the awards we have received. And talk story of how we can make it an even easier, smoother, more efficient working relationship between County Government and Federal Government in, you know, execution of these awards. So we have really strong leadership from Hawaii. I think what really impressed me was the fact that, at the end of the day, the political labels, they don't matter. They don't matter at that level. I mean, it was Republicans, Democrats, and Independents all breaking bread together and recognizing all of the hard work that we do on the frontlines. And so, I'm just glad to see that we were there together working really hard to create strong counties so that we can have a strong nation. I loved seeing all of the women in positions of power at the Federal level. It was very exciting to me to just have these women leading various Federal agencies. And shout out to my colleagues Sue and Heather. We were at a Women of NACo leadership event where we were able to just talk about all the incredible things that are happening here in our County. Those women were in love with us at the end of the event. I had a number of the leadership come up to me with their staff and say, "You know what, you guys are doing incredible things on Hawaii Island and we want to start working with you folks to make a Women's Leadership Institute and Wellness Retreat happen in Hawai`i." And so that's another way in which we are able to share more aloha with various colleagues across the nation. Page 4 GOREDC-23 February 22,2022 I thought it was really smart of all of us to kind of coordinate which workshops we were going to be going to. That way we were able to access all of that information and come back with a plethora of ideas that we can be acting upon to improve, you know,the conditions in communities for our local residents and find ways in which we can create just more efficient Government. I really loved hearing Federal partners talk about breaking down silos and being more coordinated. And I know they said it, but to have folks from various departments and agencies in the same room and actually talk about how they were implementing, made me feel really good about how we are going to be able to take advantage of all of the Federal dollars out there and braid them and use those funds to really address a lot of the complex issues that we are facing. So, mahalo nui, Chair David for helping us get to D.C. And I thought it was an incredibly valuable experience. And I'll just share, with that conference, folks are kind of on the sidelines about whether or not it was going to happen with the onset of Omicron. But I thought it was really great demonstration of how we can start coming back together in the face of the pandemic. They had rapid tests available for folks that were there. Everyone was masked for the duration of the conference. And they even stressed that you needed to be masked in between your bites and your sips. And so it was done well. There were rapid tests; folks were vaccinated. And it just made me feel really good about how we might be able to carry on with HSAC (Hawai`i State Association of Counties) and other big conferences here in Hawaii County. So just appreciated the opportunity to represent our County at that Federal level and feel really good about the leadership that we're sharing on that national forefront. And I had a great time with our colleagues. So I was happy to venture there with all of you. Thank you, Heather, for putting this forward so we can share a little bit more about our trip. I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Council Member Richards, your turn. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you Chair. And also Heather, I do want to thank you for getting this forward because we can never talk story about this unless it's put forward. So your timing is impeccable. First of all, a big shout out to my colleagues, the four us, all of us in D.C. And for me, I think the way to sum it up is, it's building bridges. It's building bridges of relationships for going forward. As Ashley pointed out, Hawaii as a State is well-represented at the national level. And NACo is one of the most respected groups in Washington D.C., because we're all elected officials. Page 5 GOREDC-23 February 22,2022 And talking to our Federal representation, and they listen to us because we're the boots on the ground for what they're trying to get done. So those relationships are great. To sum up a couple of things that's already been touched on, I sit on the EELU, Environment, Energy and Land Use Committee; and I'm a Vice Chair on Water. And one of the things I got out of there is the amount of funding coming forth. Sue has already touched on $60-plus billion coming to the counties to help us out and get through all of this. There's $8 billion coming out to look at developing hydrogen as a source and as a potential economy. And our County is in good stead to compete for that. And I'm working with the Assistant Secretary of Energy for the Congress in Environmental Affairs to see if we might be able to qualify for that. It's very exciting because we have the portfolio of renewable energy within our County that can actually give us some thumbs up to go forward. So very excited about the energy component. Also, one of the things that I worked on was the Waters of the United States and comments on that. Some months ago I made comments through EPA concerning—and the big question is, where do we draw the line between the Federal and the local authorities as far as who has jurisdiction. And so I had submitted comments and a resolution came forth. I was asked to co-introduce, and we did. Basically what it does is, it's working towards getting that authority in the hands of the local authorities, but in partnership with the Feds. Finding that middle ground, that common ground so it makes sense. And it makes sense on our County level because if the Feds overreach too far we have to get permits to even clean a ditch, and that makes no sense. So we need to have the local authority but in concert with EPA. Now, I did volunteer with EPA to sit on a working group to have the conversation going forward. As you can imagine when it comes to water, there are conversations on all sides. The point is, we've got to find that middle ground going forward. And in the full board of directors, as it was stated, I sit on the board of directors, we did get this resolution passed 99 to one, because it's the right direction for the Counties' and it's that partnership. Sue pointed, out or I guess Ashley did, that we are in the room with President Biden, and his comments were, "You guys are the boots on the ground." His words. "And we need to work with you and understand that you guys know it better than we do." The Feds. "And we need to listen to you. We need to work with you." That's the intent and that's the direction. And from my standpoint, being able to work cohesively and collectively while building bridges for our County, for our Page 6 GOREDC-23 February 22,2022 State across the nation, only helps us go forward. And we don't have to invent things; we don't have to reinvent things. We can talk to other jurisdictions. We can talk to other areas and find out how they did things. And that's how a lot of what we learned is the talk story part. Talking to other people completely separate. Counties completely separate, particulars. The details are different, but the premises of what we're trying to get done: fix our bridges, take care of our roads,take care of the people. All those are common threads. And having the engagement that we can pick up the phone and call somebody in Massachusetts, in Florida, in Kansas, in Montana. And we have a common thread. Worked on another situation concerning coral legislation at the Federal level with some community members in Florida. Again, the commonality, Florida and Hawaii, we all have coral. Let's care of it and figure out how to get it done. So again, the exposure, the conversations, and the relationships to help all of us be efficient with what we're trying to get done. And realize that we're all working on the same direction; taking care of our communities, taking care of our people, taking care of all of us while we're taking care of the environment. All good. And so again, outstanding trip. And Heather, again, thank you so much for allowing us to be able to talk about it. With that Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Richards. Council Member David. MS. DAVID: Yes, very quickly. And Council Member Kierkiewicz and Lee Loy, I know you're saying thank you for my role in getting you folks up there. But you know, I think it was a joint effort between myself, County Clerk Henricks; and our Accountant, Darren Tagawa. You know, this going to NACo, I have to reflect. I went there on my very first term, and I really believe that once you've sat on the Council for a couple terms, it really makes it so meaningful. Because in comparison, when I set up my very first trip out of the State of Hawaii in my life, much less going to D.C., seeing snow all over for the first time, it was such a beautiful experience. But knowing as you go along the processes and our relationship with the national level and your experience, I would love each one of you to actually get the opportunity to go. So thank you, Clerk Henricks and Darren Tagawa, for allowing us to find a way that we could help with at least the travel. And thank you for representing us at NACo this year. So, mahalo, I yield Chair. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair David. Anyone else, comments or questions? Alright. Seeing none, I'll just wrap up. You know, my colleagues Page 7 GOREDC-23 February 22,2022 have pretty much covered a lot of it. I think it was really fantastic to see the influence that our small State has at this national level in this particular forum. I think of it as others laying decades of groundwork. And now, here we are in a position where Hawaii as a State and even Hawaii as County in particular are recognized as leaders and really having a lot to bring to the table. So I was really impressed by that. Council Member Kierkiewicz just mentioned our access to the Administration, which was phenomenal in all of the different departments. Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries—we heard from Pete Buttigieg, Administrator of the EPA, the Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, I mean the list goes on and on. And just to Council Member Kierkiewicz's point, I was really impressed to see the diversity on display of women and people of color in high-level positions in our Federal Government. For me that was particularly heartwarming. I focused on, you know, we did have several times where there were simultaneous tracks going on. So I kind of focused on some of the tech stuff, but flirted around here and there with some meetings with Sue, and some with Tim, and some with Ashley. I did want to call everyone's attention to thissorry, as I open my phone here, TestIT App. This is the official app for measuring broadband capacity. So, there's billions of dollars for broadband access. And you should download this and use it and go around and test the internet speed in given areas. And this is where they're going to figure out how to build out the broadband network. That was a key theme through a lot of the tech discussions. Council Member Lee Loy mentioned, you know, everybody's dealing with supply chain issues. The other thing that everybody's dealing with is workforce issues. And so this funding package, which is the bipartisan infrastructure law, bill is what they're calling it, there's so much money and it's going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do these improvements; to build these facilities for our communities. But workforce capacity is going to be critical. And not just at the place that we're designing and we're building, and we're doing all the work, but also the capacity to go after these grants, and to manage these grants. And so, I think when the various departments come to us in the very near future with their budgets, and if they're asking for grant managers, I think we'd seriously consider that investment as an important way to go after these billions of dollars that are on the table for us right now. And just for my colleagues and for the public, I did include that nice booklet that Sue has—is actually in an Excel sheet and it's attached to Communication 597.1. Page 8 GOREDC-23 February 22,2022 So you have that there as well as the link to the more detailed description of what each of those funding buckets cover. Yeah, with the new infrastructure package, there's 125 new programs available for counties and states to get funding. I left feeling very optimistic and hopeful. And as Council Member Kierkiewicz said, you know,that parties didn't make that much of a difference, even in Washington D.C, which was a surprise. I made a very good friend out of somebody who was from the other party and I didn't even notice until we'd been talking for two days. So it shows that we can figure out how to get along. And again, I think it was a great investment. I learned a lot. I'm still ruminating. I just got an email from somebody from FEMA today who's willing to help me work on finding money for shelters. It was a great way to gain access for these conversations. So with that, if there's no further discussion, I'll just go ahead to close file here. All of those in favor? Vote on Comm. 597: The motion to close file on Comm. 597 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Could I get a motion to adjourn? Page 9 GOREDC-23 February 22,2022 ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 1:57 p.m., Mr. Inaba moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kimball–9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: This meeting is adjourned. Approved: — )2/213/.3PV7 . Heather L. Ki ball, Chair (Date) Government Operations, Relations, and Economic Development Committee HK/dt Page 10