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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN RAWEEMC 2022/09/06 2020-2022 Committee on Regenerative Agriculture, Water, Energy, And Environmental Management 22nd Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii September 6, 2022 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Regenerative Agriculture, Water, ORDER: Energy and Environmental Management was called to order at 9:30 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Mr. Herbert M. "Tim"Richards, III, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Herbert M. "Tim"Richards, III, Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Mr. Matt Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Absent& Excused: Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Vice Chair 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 in support of Bill 200 (Comm. 938), and came forward when called by the Chair: Jon Olson, representing Pdhoa Main Street. Timothy Rowan, representing Black Sand Beach Community. Heather Garvey, Leila Kealoha. Judy Houle, representing Puna Neighborhood Watch. Patty Pinto, representing Fern Acres Community Association. Stephanie Bath. RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 t CHR RICHARDS: Clerk,please. i BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 200: AMENDS CHAPTER 20, OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO VEHICLE DISPOSAL Relocates existing provisions for the removal of abandoned or derelict vehicles into a new article of the Hawaii County Code and establishes a Vehicle Disposal Assistance Program that would allow a property owner or registered vehicle owner to apply for the removal of an abandoned or derelict vehicle. Reference Comm. 938 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to recommend passage of Bill 200 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. CHR. RICHARDS: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you very much, Chair Richards. Before we begin I would like to just mahalo our testifiers for coming in today and being in support of the bill, as well as folks from the department who are here E from HPD (Hawai`i Police Department) and DEM (Department of Environmental { Management). And I want to proceed in doing an amendment that brought forward within the last week or so,just to get everything on the table so we have a full discussion. So if I could Mr. Richards, I'd like to make a motion to amend Bill 200 with the Communication Number 938.1. 'i Motion to Amend: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to amend Bill 200 with the contents of Comm. 938.1. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. CHR. RICHARDS: Open for discussion, on the amendment. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Richards, if I could? CHR. RICHARDS: Yeah, please. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. So this was brought forward in kind of response to some of the work that was done at the State level from our representatives. And we needed to clarify moving abandoned vehicles and what that distance would be, in line with different counties and but also with HRS (Hawai`i Revised Statutes). And so we do have members of the Police Page 2 RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 1 Department here, as well as DEM for questioning. If the Council has questions, but to me very straight forward amendment to Bill 200. I yield. CHR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Any other comments, questions, concerns? 3 3 MR. CHUNG: Yeah. CHR. RICHARDS: Go ahead, Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: I mean it's not real straight forward to me, if you could just explain a little bit more, you know, what these two amendments do in the context of what was originally proposed. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Chung. I'm going to have, if I could, HPD if you can come up and just provide some of the background on I why these amendments were brought forward. As far as the distance the vehicles were moved. Mr. Derr or Mr. Keltner. Thank you for the question, Mr. Chung. 3 Please introduce yourselves. (Note: At this time, Hawaii Police Department Lieutenant William Derr and Program Manager Traffic Services Torey Keltner came forward to address the members of the Committee.) LT. DERR: Lieutenant Derr with Community policing here in Hilo. MR. KELTNER: And I'm Torey Keltner with Program Manager Traffic Services at the Hawaii Police Department. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Awesome, thank you for being here. Mr. Chung raised the question of the amendments that we've brought forward kind of aligning with HRS, but if you could provide explanation so the Council can understand your side of this. 3 MR. CHUNG: But before they start was there a recent change to the Hawaii State Laws regarding—I mean if that could be provided to me then that would help me kind of digest this as well, okay. So maybe if you could talk about the change, because I don't have that in front of me. MS. KIMBALL: Chair, if I may, I can read the language of the HRS. CHR. RICHARDS: Hang on a second. MR. CHUNG: In the meantime if I can get a copy of it, so I can kind of, thank you. Go ahead. Page 3 RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 MR. KELTNER: Okay. Chair Chung, and Council Member Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder, thank you for your time in this. To break it down simply, you know, for us the big piece that has changed is that there's actually a greater distance in which a vehicle that's been abandon has to move. Previously a very short distance it was moved at all then, it will establish it a new case had to rendered and an investigation had to occur. And then all the parties that were involved had to go through the process again, to include the complainant. You know, the Police Officer went out and checked it, then the vehicles went out to check DEM representatives went out to check it. The tow companies going back out, if they needed to do that. 3 3 I So with this distance that is in there, it will make it so that less of those second, third, forth. I had one case that I followed through, that it was nine times that officers had responded. Because a vehicle have been moved or, you know, they were dealing with it multiple, multiple times. So this has been adopted in Kauai I believe, and so the overall goal is to make more efficient for us to be able to move the vehicles. So that there's an established system, that people have to follow to do that now. j Some of the things that are still in place are if the registered owner of a vehicle shows up while the vehicles being towed, they still can get the vehicle. But that shows their accountability for that, you know, at the moment it's being towed, to take care of it; and we don't get many of those. This will make it so that we are able to dispose of them more readily. And more efficiently and not waste a lot of department, County,people's time and efforts to get these things done. MR. CHUNG: Okay. Yeah, and I want to find a way of supporting this, but I've got to understand what the hell I'm voting on, right? So this is what the State Statute says, and of course I'm not dealing with the day to day operations like you guys are or DEM. So this is what it says, "For purposes of this subsection a vehicle is abandoned if it is defined to be abandoned by an ordinance of the County" okay, that's what we're doing right, "provided that the ordinance shall provide a minimum distance and timeframe in which a vehicle must be moved after the initial inspection in order to not be classified as being abandoned. If the vehicle has not moved the minimum distance within the specified timeframe as required by the county ordinance after the initial inspection, the agency designated to carry out the functions and requirements of this section shall provide notice that the vehicle must be moved the minimum distance." 'I Now, you know, only because the State comes up with a law, and we got to follow the law of course. Doesn't mean it makes sense. I stili don't know what the heck this means, and I guarantee to you people in the public don't know what this means either. I'm not blaming you guys or anything like that. Practically speaking what the heck does this mean? MR. KELTNER: Chair Chung, I can answer that. Page 4 RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 MR. CHUNG: Yeah, okay. MR. KELTNER: There's a 24-hour period that a vehicle is parked. An officer goes back and does a second check, to make sure that vehicle has moved. And if it hasn't then they actually mark it, and that's where you see that pink stickers that we've adopt and put on them. So at that point, there's another process that goes where the staff from DEM sends out their people to go and check and make sure it's there. Because we were running into times where the cars are getting moved slightly, and it's not exactly in the right location. A tow truck comes out, and then they send the bill to the County and we don't do that. MR. CHUNG: Okay. MR. KELTNER: This makes it the 24-hour period, and a distance of one mile. So we will observe the 24-hours that we still go through, and it has to be moved no less than one mile from the location. MR. CHUNG: Okay, there you go. Because like for people who work on this kind of stuff on a day to day basis, that might seem like one plus one to you. But to try to understand this from a perspective that, you know, not on a daily basis kind of thing it's very difficult to wrap around. So is there any kind of coordination that has to be done between the Police Department, and DEM? I mean it looks like there's two separate things that are going on. Can there be coordination? I know it's kind of getting off the topic, but I'm just—kind of peaked my curiosity now. MR. KELTNER: I have to kind of brag about where we're at right now, quite honestly. DEM,particularly Julie, and Police Department we work very well together with them, and we communicate daily. We send out every morning at 6:00 o'clock in the morning, what are called crystal reports to them. It's a list of all the vehicles that were approved by a supervisor, from the previous day that come through. And at 6:00 o'clock in the morning they get that list, and they communicate with us if they have any questions of a report that didn't come through then my office we send those reports back through. I mean this morning alone we had three that we sent over, the reports to them. So yeah, there is coordination, and the coordination I think is excellent at this point. MR. CHUNG: And the process can move swiftly. MR. KELTNER: Yes. MR. CHUNG: Okay,thank you. CHR. RICHARDS: Pau, Mr, Chung? MR. CHUNG: Yeah. Page 5 a RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 CHR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you. Any other comments? Oh, Chair, sorry Chair. I MS. DAVID: Mahalo, Chair Richards. And thank you for that explanation. And 3 I really think this is part of one of the main issues, I believe especially in our rural districts of Ocean View, Ka`u, and for that matter South Kona. Is because people were using—they would leave their vehicles, if they get a notice they would just move it a foot or two. And you guys got to start this whole process all over again. I And I'm so glad the State changed the rule, because it just made one process so I over burdensome and that increases the cost for everyone. Now you can just tow I that vehicle. Because getting it a mile away if they've abandoned it at someone else's property, that's a chore. So I think that would solve a lot of problems. And I really thank Brenda Iokepa-Moses from DEM, and you folks for doing, and really concentrating on how to resolve this. And thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder for bringing it before us so we have clarity. And now we know that >° there's a solution coming down the road, and I thank you folks for all of that. And I think the rural communities are going to thank you,too. Alright, I yield. CHR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Ms. Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Iles. I just want to echo that sentiment of Chair David. Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Even in the—although I'd hate to admit it, it's urban. Kona tends to be one of the more urban cores here on the Big Island. And we have similar issues with people playing the games of an abandoned vehicle. We have one of that happening at a surf spot and commercial vehicles, and just challenges when people come and move the vehicle. What was it 24 inches was the prior movement requirement in order for it to no longer be considered an abandoned vehicle? So an overall island-wide issue that,thank you for your creativity. And if I'm understanding correctly from what Mr. Chung brought forth, the State HRS gives us the ability to create the distance for which a vehicle needs to be moved in order to no longer be considered an abandoned vehicle. So I felt really heartened and grateful that number has been increased from 24 inches to a mile, because I think at least in more urban core or urban centers it provides for more authentic reflection of what's being abandoned, or what's being utilized as a loophole for long term parking in spaces that are meant to be public parking spaces. So thank you for that, and I'll look forward to supporting this as it moves through the process. So thank you for your creativity, and for the connection working between all of these departments. Because it's a reflection of communication and relationship and establishing process that can operate smoothly. So glad that the Council can support that with legislative policy. I yield. Page 6 i RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 CHR. RICHARDS: Thank you. Mr. Chung. 4h, hang on Mr. Chung, if I could go with Ms. Kimball because she hasn't spoken yet. Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. I realize all of our testifiers were from upper and lower Puna, but this is also a I Idmakua issue District 1 so certainly appreciate you bringing this forward for discussion. I actually wanted to touch base on that one mile distance, and asked how that was arrived at? I realize the 24 inches was way too small. But I'm just reflecting on a scenario. There's a vehicle that was parked on the side of the road was a work vehicle, the guy was taking some time off work. He didn't move it for a little while. Got notice that it was abandoned, and then he went and parked it in his driveway. He still would have been in that one mile 3 radius, he didn't realize it was bothering anybody basically is what happened. So I'm just concerned that one mile might actually be a little too much, and I'd like you to just express where you arrived at that distance. LT. KELTNER: Well I can explain some things that were considered. There are many times in the process that the registered owner is attempted to be contacted. So it's not as if the police go out put a tag on it, and 24-hours later it gets towed. They go out and put a tag, but they mark or identify that it's there. And then they attempt to contact the registered owner of the vehicle, which would require the owner to make sure the registration and everything is up to date so they can be contacted. ° And then itgoes through that process, and then DEM again makes another attempt to contact them once they have custody of the vehicle, or if there's a question in the process there's times where we may help get in touch with those people. So the distance I think came because we tried to pair it with the Kauai and be consistent with some of the other things that are statewide. And the vehicles if they're moved off the roadway on to a private property, like your instance there the driveway, that wouldn't have been towed. So if they follow the rules, follow what we have in place there's not a problem. And if one slips, there are times that they will be notified. LT. DERR: And just to put it in perspective, from the Suisan Bridge to the Singing Bridge is exactly one mile. And that really for Hilo covered a good enough distance, where somebody needed to put in the effort to remove the vehicle or just get it towed. And in some meetings we had in Kona, has said the same thing that would alleviate that one mile distance kind of was like the sweet spot. It wasn't too big, but it wasn't too small to help address these issues. MS. KIMBALL: Alright, thank you for that, I appreciate the input on that. So Kauai is at one mile as well? MR. KELTNER: I believe that was the case, yes. Page 7 i RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 I MS. KIMBALL: Alright. Yeah I'm happy to support this amendment. Thank you. Thank you, Chair, I yield. CHR. RICHARDS: Thank you. Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Yeah. Thank you. And I'll support the amendment, but I want to get educated a little bit more on this. And it's perhaps because I'm not situated in a rural area like my colleagues here, I don't know the practical effects of this thing. What would prompt a person to try to move something 24 inches,just avoid being towed? I mean what—explain that to me. MR. KELTNER: I have to agree with you, I don't know why they do that. I mean they move them such short distances at time,because they know that the system had been that they're not going to get towed. LT. DERR: I can address that a little bit. MR. CHUNG: I'm kind of curious. LT. DERR: Because this is what we see at Bay Front quite often, is they'll have that abandoned vehicle but they'll live out of it. MR. CHUNG: Oh, okay, there we go. LT. DERR: And so that's their home, or could be their storage facility and so the car would be marked because it's a health hazard, it's an abandoned vehicle, they'll drag it a foot over and they'll have either their home or storage container. You know, and they just progressively go down the beach, and then come back. But that's typically one of the reasons where people are resistant or want to move it just that one foot, is because they're using for some kind of alternate purpose even if the vehicle isn't operable. MR. CHUNG: Thank you for that. Are these vehicles generally operational? Are we taking somebody's house now, I mean I hate to say it. LT. DERR: Yeah, I totally understand that concern. I would say it's normally I would say probably 75 percent are completely un-operational, no value as far as being able to drive or anything like that. I would say the lion's share. MR. CHUNG: Okay. Yeah, because I know for a fact though in Puna there are a lot of enclaves of these derelict vehicles, that people are living in for sure. I know one in Paradise Park, at least one lot. Okay, thank you. I'll support this amendment. CHR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Ms. Lee Loy. Page 8 RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. Completely support,just want to make sure we're following the right process. And I just know that this impacts Environmental Management, and we have sections within our code. And so I just wanted to call up Deputy Corporation Counsel Malia to give us the proper pathway. I understand we can possibly move this forward to Council, but we also need to concurrently send it down or send it over, I would rather say, to Environmental Management. If you don't mind providing us that pathway. (Note: At this time, Deputy Corporation Counsel Malia Kekai came forward to address members of the Committee.) MS. KEKAJ: Sure, hello everyone, Malia Kekai. Deputy Corporation Counsel for Department of Environmental Management. That's correct Hawaii County Code Section 2-207(c) and beyond, basically require once a bill is submitted and amended that it go into comment before final action is taken. So you guys can continue your deliberation today and you could send it to Council. But before there's final action you must receive comment from the Environmental Management Commission(EMC) and the Director. They have 45 days. So if they don't provide it to you within 45 days, you guys are free to move on. And just for your reference the next EMC meeting will be on the 281h of this month. MS. LEE LOY: Thank,you, thank you so much. Like I said, you know, I support. I just want to make sure that we are kind of hitting all the rungs on the ladder to ensure that this policy is kind of advanced, and with the appropriate tests. So Chair, I think it's up to us how we want to advance this. I yield. CHR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Any other comments or questions? Hang on Malia, weigh in real quick. To Ms. Lee Loy's point this was some legislation this Council passed allowing to have concurrent deliberation as opposed to consecutive deliberation. We have plenty of time to get this agendized for the meeting this month, is that correct? MS. KEKAI: Yes. CHR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you. Alright any other comments specifically on the amendment before we go forward? Seeing none, I will call for the vote. All signify by saying"aye." Page 9 J 3 RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 Vote on Motion The motion to amend Bill 200 with the contents of to Amend: Comm. 938.1 was carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Richards— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Inaba— 1. Excused: None. i CHR. RICHARDS: Now we are back to the main motion, which is Bill 200 as amended. Any comments or questions? Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you very much, Chair. Thank you for the discussion Council Members and for everyone's input. Thank you for being here, because it helps broaden and kind of clarify what we're talking about and put some real kind of meat on to the barbeque today. I appreciate those j comments and good comments, because I had to work through this too. And I do have to give DEM and HPD mahalo, for putting together 938.1 because this really I was your addition after our bill. And I appreciate you guys doing your homework and wanting to make a change for our community that is positive, so thank you. For Bill 200 as amended, I mean the real heart of the matter is, working through LRB (Legislative Research Branch) we did some homework on it. We basically just put things where they needed be and relabeled, and with the help of Leslie 5 Chow, we came out with a really nice product. This idea really began after discussion last year at Council, almost in budget hearings. Julie and I really worked hand in hand to find something that fit what DEM is looking for with the abandoned vehicle process that helps build an efficient process with HPD and DEM, which as we heard today it's fairly complicated and also very time consuming. And not just for the folks sitting in front of us, but for our officers who have to go and visit the vehicles and mark it and check them. So I'm listening to this and realizing there's a cost to all of this. On the back end for the community there's an eye sore, there's an aesthetic problem, and then also an environmental hazard. So Julie contacted me and says, we got to find a way through this. And what you have in front of you is basically the result of almost six months of going back and forth with the department, with LRB, and then back to Julie and then back to LRB, and then back to Malia. And just going back and forth, trying to find something that works with good wording that fits the intention of what we wanted to do. And so with the amendment in mind, I mean just real basically,the bill in front of us provides a way for the community to use funding to have a vehicle removed from private property. We already have a process for vehicles to be disposed of freely, but you still have to get the vehicle from the property to the County Page 10 I i RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 disposal site. That's a very prohibitive cost, I've seen numbers anywhere from 3 $600 to $1,000 just for the tow. We're not discussing anyone else's time,just the cost of that vehicle being moved from a property to the County's disposal site. In the range of let's say $1,000. So what do you see, I think we all notice you see vehicles being pushed onto public roadways. Where their then taken care of, or private roadways because HRS allows for that. So people will move their vehicles onto a roadway, to have them removed for free. Wherein begins the process. It's not efficient, it's good for the community, it's built by State law, but it's just not efficient for the County. So this bill actually will allow us to get in front of the problem. That's where I find that love for the efficiency of this, is we're going to be able to through an application have the community ask us to remove a vehicle from their property. We're dealing with an environmental issue; we're dealing with, you know, that kind of broken window syndrome in our communities; and we really begin to make a difference in our community by bringing this forward. So that's kind of the overall for me, that's where I sit with this. Again,this is a lot time put into this, it looks very simple but there was a lot of back and forth. And I really do want to mahalo Julie, Brenda, Malia, and Torey, and Leslie Chow from LRB for helping me get this to this point today. There's a lot of work in the background. I look forward to everyone's discussion. We do have everyone here from HPD and DEM to answer questions if there are any. I really want to just touch on the decision so much a Puna issue, all though it's a big issue in Puna. But as I go around the island, I see these vehicles in everyone's yard. This is not just random people trying to steal car parts, there's senior citizens that have vehicles in their yard that they can't afford to dispose of. There's people who just had a car for parts in their front yard, and now just sitting there going to crap. And then there's the folks who just push them into the road, and have the County take care of it. The backend of this for our community associations for HPD for DEM is just incredible, this will allow us to make a very large difference for our community. With that, I yield. Chair. Thank you. CHR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Any other comments? Okay, seeing none—oh, Heather, go ahead. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder again for putting this forward. And appreciate all of the work that went into it, and the collaboration with everybody putting it together. Just had a couple of questions, the definition of the property owner. Did you folks kind of ruminate about whether or not this program would be available to—for example, residential property owners, commercial property owners? And I'm thinking of particularly large property owner in my district who certainly would have the wherewithal of their own to remove vehicles but chose not to. I'm not sure I want to provide this program and have them use it up, when they would actually have their own ability Page 11 I R-AWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 to do it. Just as an example. But would you consider amending it to be homeowners, was there any discussion or thought around that? I'll go through all my questions first, and then I'll yield. The other I think I actually may have read it in the article in the paper, you made a comment I think about potentially limiting the number of times that an individual could use this per year. I think that actually makes sense, we want to spread the love around on that. And then for DEM, do you have a rough estimate, given the revenue stream that you have the other expenses that you already have, for example the disposal fees, that we do cover through our programs, how much would be available per year to support this program at this point? Ms. Iokepa, if you could respond to that. I (Note at this time Deputy Environmental Management Director Brenda Iokepa-Moses came forward to address the members of the Committee.) 3 MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Thanks, Heather. Before we start, I just wanted to thank Matt, and of course don't want to miss an opportunity to say kudos to our 3 employee Julie. She's an all-star in our department, and we appreciate all that she's done. I'm coming from a rural community, although it might seem like we're throwing a lot of money out there quickly, it's going to save us money in the long run. We don't have to chase these vehicles, we get them in, we're consistent with the message. I would love to reach out to the Black Sands Community Association that testified today with a binder. That's exactly what we need. We need help from the s communities like we did from Ocean View. We had a great successful event. We had Heidi from the Homeowners Association out there. She did hat exact same thing. She went out there, and she inventoried for us. Here's where all the vehicles are,this is the location. We only have three staff, we potentially have four here shortly. One of them will be located on Kona side, which makes sense right? So they don't have to drive, half a day to get to the site. But if we had the community buy in helping us do some of that leg work, we can get this. DHHL (Department of Hawaiian Home Lands) did a great project with us, that's what we're going to do. We have millions of dollars in this account, let's spend it on getting our island clean. You know, it doesn't do us any good to sit in there. So when I first came into this department this program was just like this is a great program for our department, it's because it had money in it. It's like, well spend it; it would be better if it was spent. Because there's a problem in rural communities and all the testifiers got it. If you have derelict vehicle and you're living in a rural community, do you have money to spend $500 to do the right thing even though you want to, no. So get ahead of the program. And we also had to educate. When we went out to Ocean View a lot of people didn't know they could bring two vehicles a year for free to Page 12 R-AWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 get disposed of at one tax map key location. And so it will be a combination of that. Working with the community to get these vehicles identified, and also educating them that okay, you don't have to wait for an event to happen. If you're coming in you have a tow truck maybe they can work together, because it's very cost efficient if you have more than one vehicle on a tow truck. Work with your neighbors, and throughout the year get them in there for free, and get them of your property. We're also working with the Planning Department, because as you know some people like those vehicles on their property but their neighbors don't. I got a couple of my neighborhood that have multiple vehicles, and that's a planning violation. You can't have more than two, I think, more than two abandon vehicles on your property for whatever the reason. So it's a multi-department collaboration, and we've been working on it for a while. Luckily Julie, we didn't have to get involved with her. We love those kinds of employees. She knows the program, so why mess with an expert. So we were there fully supporting her to take the initiative to work with Matt, and get this resolved. But we're going to save money in the long run, and we're going to get the island cleaned up much faster. So this is a win. i We can, next time we come in front of you, we'll have the exact amounts and how that's going to play out. Our Administration we've increased by twofold on the amount of vehicles that are coming in, and that's the initiative of Julie and her team. And imagine they only have three of them, so they're doing an amazing job. But we can do so much better, if we have communities like the Black Sand Association with that binder. That's amazing, that's a lot of work that he's done. And we can take advantage of that, work with communities is going to be—we're so excited about this program and we're excited about this bill. Thank you. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you Deputy, and thank you so much to your team for all the work that they've done. Both just in their positions, but helping with this piece of legislation. I agree with you, let's spend this money. I think all of us have looked at that line item in the budget and go, "Hey why is it kind of sitting there, why aren't we using it?" I am grateful to see you moving forward on something like this, I just kind of like to know what level of impact we would have with the revenue stream that we typically have. And that gives us an opportunity consider other mechanisms to fund the program in perpetuity. That's all I have at this time, with those couple of questions. So with that I yield, Chair. CHR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, thank you. And Brenda you know, you did say you'll come back with those numbers. But generally speaking, I mean just off the top of your head what are we looking at? How much is this thing going to cost? Page 13 RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 v MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: It's not going to cost taxpayers any money, its' a fund that set up by when you go register your vehicle you put that seven dollars or$12 dollars— MR. CHUNG: Right, so how much is it? This is establishing that fund, because the fund it seems to indicate that it's already there. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Yeah. The money, yeah. MR. CHUNG: Yes. And this is just establishing the vehicle disposal assistance program, right. So how much money we got in that program right now? I mean in that fund? I MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Julie, do you have that exact amount? We'll get you that exact amount, there's millions of dollars in there. MR. CHUNG: More or less. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Several million dollars in that fund. MR. CHUNG: Okay. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: And we haven't increased that registration amount for years, and we can't justify increasing it when we have a balance sitting in there not being used. MR. CHUNG: Right, I understand. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: So can you imagine if we have, being proactive getting in front of it, having the people contact us and not having to utilize officers going back and forth, DEM who's going back and forth. It's going to save some money, MR. CHUNG: Right, yeah. You don't have to defend the program, I'm just asking yeah, if you know more or less how much it is. How much you think are we going to have spend a year? I know it's based on availability of funds. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: That question is a loaded one. MR. CHUNG: It's not loaded. What do you anticipate? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: I mean you want me to anticipate how many people will take advantage of this program, I can't tell you that. MR. CHUNG: More or less. I mean you must have some idea what the breadth of this problem is, you are after all DEM right? Page 14 RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Of course, everybody knows how much of an issue it is on the island. MR. CHUNG: Right. Do you think we're going to exhaust it every year? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: No. Like I said, we only have three or four staff members. So we can only do as much as we can in a year, but we're going to I probably increase I would imagine by twofold. But again, we can only do as much as we can do with the collaboration. And you know, it's not just about picking a vehicle too, you have to dispose of the vehicles, registration, and license plate and do all proper procedures and that protocol, too. MR. CHUNG: Right, of course. So there are some built in constraints then I already, I mean staffing, correct? I mean that's basically what you said, right? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: We have another position being added, several positions being added. But not any more than what it's been to the staff all these years, because they've been having to travel to Kona nine times. Taking one vehicle, right. That's wasted energy. 3 3 MR CHUNG: Right, okay. And you know this part about the private property, this was something that was added by the Kucharski Administration, right? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: You can't tow off a private property, but now we can. We're trying to get it to tow off private property, because what they do is just— MR. CHUNG: Didn't we add this with Bill Kucharski, and Joe Kamelamela, and those guys, yeah. Speaking on this bill, you know, I've always taken the position that I want to try and help or assist Council Members who are seeking help for their communities. You know,just like Matt and Ashley are doing, and of course Heather and Maile, they have this problem. It looks like even Hilo Bay Front. And there's no real but's here, because I will be supporting this. I'm just wondering though, Malia maybe you can come up here. What's the extent that we can intrude upon private property? And these are public funds, and this kind of touches upon something that was brought up by Ms. Kimball as well. You know, what if somebody has the wherewithal to, basically it seems like this has the potential of getting stuff off of private properties, you know, and it really is a private property owner responsibility. I know there are environmental issues involved, but that can be extended to a lot of different contexts as well. And I've also listen very carefully to what Mr. Jon Olson said, and I understand, you know, if you live in a junkyard then you start to get the mentality of a junkyard and we don't want that. I think all of us have seen all of these derelict vehicles, you know, scattered about in Puna and other places. And that's not good, so we want to try and help. Page 15 i i i RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 But what is the extent that we can now go onto private property, spend what would basically be public funds, and remove things from private property. I can see it if there's like a close nexus to the highway, rights of way, okay, that's one thing. What's your opinion on that? Oh, and one more thing bear in mind when this thing did come up with Joe Kamelamela and Kucharski, I asked those same questions, but it wasn't as extensive as this one is anticipating. And I still voted in favor of it, you know, anything that could help the situation. But now does this mean if somebody wants to have their car removed at the back of their private property, the County's going to go in there, because on the basis of environmental concerns, now go ahead. MS. KEKAI: Sure, thank you. Well first we're not going to be entering any private property without consent from the owner, they'll have to request that we come on to their property. This also gives the department the discretion to say whether it's safe or not to enter that property to get that car. So like you said, basically if there's a car at the back of a lot, you know, is it safe to get back there? The department could ask them at least pull it to your property line, it'd be easier for us to— But again, yeah, there's going to be a thousand different situations, and I will leave it to the department to decide whether it's appropriate for them to use it. You know, it's not just environmental, it's a health/safety problem. So that's why you know, when we look at these funds, and it is a public purpose, there's oil leaking from these vehicles going into the ground. You know, could it get to our ground water. You know, it's possible, and it's just one of those things that we do have the funds to address. So it is appropriate. MR. CLUNG: Okay, well I disagree. I'm still going to vote in favor of this, okay. But I think you cannot just have a blanket statement saying that it's okay, you know, to use these funds on private properties as contemplated. It's very concerning. But you know, we have our Corp. Counsel stepping up, and saying its okay, so I'll take a leap of faith here. I will support it, because I would like to see a lot of these cars removed. And even if it means going into private property, a reasonable distance in,that's fine. But I don't want us doing the trash work for private properties, and them shirking their responsibility that's kind of ridiculous actually, yeah. But there are problem areas that need to be addressed. Is there a provision in here, I may have seen it maybe I didn't, maybe I'm imagining I don't know, it's such a short bill, I should be able to look real quickly, but for rule promulgation by the department? MS. KEKAI: Yes, the department will be creating, in fact they already have a vehicle disposal in place. So they'll just be amending those rules, to reflect what is being put into this bill. Page 16 RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 MR. CHUNG: Okay. Because this is something that was provided, sorry give me some— CHR. RICHARDS: Little bit latitude, yeah. We have another question. MR. CHUNG: This was already in the section that was repealed but was put back in as a new article. It say, "All decisions to tow shall be subject to the discretion of the director." That can be problematic for the department,just letting you guys know. Because some people are going to accuse you guys of playing favoritism or whatever it is, so it's better if you guys can kind of tweak this thing and really fine tune it and explain under what circumstances, you know, things will be towed and what won't, and kind of get you guys off the hook. That's just my opinion. Okay, but you know, I'll support it. Thank you. CHR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. And mahalo nui, Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder for putting this forward. It's an issue that we feel very close to home in Puna, so I think some of the work that's being done here in collaboration with the departments helps to mitigate some of the challenges. I really want to extend a deep mahalo to Torey Keltner, and to Julie. When I first came on board at the Council, you guys were just kind of formulizing this program. And so you've really come a long way, and I'm just really proud of the work that you are doing interdepartment to really serve our community. I'm going to be supporting this, but I'd really like to see an accounting of this program. We have two programs right? Where somebody can call and say there is an abandoned vehicle on a public roadway. I want to know how many calls are coming in, how quickly we're moving the vehicles, what that cost is. From the time the call comes in, to even the cost of disposing the vehicle. We really need to know. You're saying there's millions of dollars in the fund that's great. But we still need to feel comfortable knowing what the return on investment and the public impact is. And then other thing with this vehicle disposal assistance program, it's been in existence and my understanding is this code amendment would help to formalize this existing program. Is that correct? I'm seeing nods of yes, but I just want to make sure. I'm on your website, its right here. MS. KEKAI: Yes, it's codifying the existing program, and adding a little bit to it. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. So on the website it says a maximum of two junk vehicles per registered owner per calendar year, maybe disposed of at no charge. I'm assuming that's also contained in the department rules. MS. KEKAI: Yes. Page 17 i RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 I MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Any thought of formalizing it within the code? What other adjustments can we expect from the department, in terms of potential amendments to this bill on that particular program? I MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: I mean, I would think at this point we're going to see how this roles out, right? We're going to see how many people will take advantage of this program and— MS. KIERKIEWICZ: But the program exists, so can we get an accounting of the impact to date? i MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Oh, yeah. We have that, we'll get that for you. I MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. And then projected future impact based on the funding that is there. I MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. Thank you, Chair. CHR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Okay, we're coming to the end of our allotted time right now. I'll be very mindful of the next committees coming up. Are there any other comments? Okay, seeing none, we're going to call for the vote. All signify by saying— MR. BROWN: Sorry Chair, before we vote on the main motion we're going to need a motion to refer should you guys want to do it. Refer to the Environmental Management Commission for their feedback. CHR. RICHARDS: I was going to do that after we actually had something to send, but does it matter? MR. BROWN: No, we have to make the motion now before we vote on the main motion. CHR. RICHARDS: Okay, alright. So I'll entertain a motion to refer this Bill 200 to Environmental Management Commission for their review. i Page 18 RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 Motion to Refer: Mr. Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to refer Bili 200, as amended, to the Environmental Management Director and the Environmental Management Commission pursuant to Section 2-207{c}, Hawai`i County Code. Seconded by Ms. David. 3 3 MS. LEE LOY: On the motion to refer, Chair. I CHR. RICHARDS: Yes, go ahead. 3 MS. LEE LOY: If I could ask Deputy Corporation Counsel, as you guys send it over to Environmental Management I heard a lot of conversation about private property owner or owners. I just want to make sure Department of Hawaiian I Home Lands, {DHHL} which is a State-owned lessee, right. I just want to make � sure that this is available, because we did have a testifier out in Maku`u talking about problems that they're having with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and their lessees. It's a State owned property leased to our beneficiaries. So if you guys could vet some of that, and what my other colleagues talked about as far as cost and accounting. I think that would be incredibly helpful as you bring all that information back to our body, and then we can make a final decision. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Yeah, I understand, Sue. And I think the DHHL one they wanted to do it in mass, and that's why it made a difference. Because they could have individuals call in, and they would go out there and get it for free. But they wanted to do the big pick-up, right. They didn't want to wait for our employees a year down the line, where we have 60 callers. They wanted to do the mass pick-up, and that's kind of where it went differently. And they wanted to do it proactively. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah. If you guys could evaluate that at your commission, because one of my colleagues was talking about maybe tweaking what private property owner meant, right. I just want make sure that the pathway is still available for our lessees. Thank you, Chair. I yield. a CHR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Any other comments specifically on the referral? Seeing none, call for vote. All signify by saying "aye." a I I Page 19 RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 Vote on Motion The vote on the motion to refer Bill 200, as amended, to the to Refer: Environmental Management Director and Environmental (Approved) Management Commission pursuant to Section 2-207(c), Hawaii County Code was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Richards—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Inaba— 1. Excused: None. CHR. RICHARDS: So now back to the main motion, Bill 200, as amended, send with a positive recommendation to Council. All signify by saying"aye." Vote on Bill 200: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 200, as amended to Draft 2) Draft 2, on first reading was carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Richards— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Inaba— 1. Excused: None. CHR. RICHARDS: That brings us to the end of our agenda. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 10:33 a.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. David and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Richards— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Inaba— 1. Excused: None. Page 20 1 a RAWEEMC-22 September 6,2022 I CHR. RICHARDS: We stand adjourned. i Approved: I G i I MAHerbert�M�. "Tim" ichards, III, Chair (Date) Regenerative Agriculture, Water, Energy and Environmental Management Committee HR/rk Page 21