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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PWMTC 2022/09/06 2020-2022 Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit 25th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii September 6, 2022 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit ORDER: was called to order at 2:18 p.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) Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member(came in later) Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather Kimball, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (came in later) Absent& Excused: Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, 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 provide comment, and came forward when called by the Chair: Carolyn Pellett: Comm. 930, comment; Comm. 964, comment; and Bill 203 (Comm. 946), comment Chris Yuen: Comm. 964, comment. (See Comm. 964.2.) CHR. LEE LOY: And for members here in chambers and for my colleagues, we're going to be taking things a little bit out of order today. If it's okay with my colleagues, we're going to start with Communication 964, then on to Resolution 503-22, and then Bill 203. And then we're going to place this meeting in recess, and bring Mr. John Andoh back tomorrow at 1:00 (p.m.) PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 to give us a presentation on Communication 930. So with that, Mr. Clerk, Communication 964. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, of Business: the following item was taken out of order: Comm. 964: APPOINTMENT OF STEPHEN PAUSE AS PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated August 17, 2022, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: October 15, 2022 (Section 13-8, Hawaii County Charter) Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to recommend confirmation of Mr. Stephen Pause as Public Works Director. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. (Note: At this time, Managing Director Lee Lord and Nominee Stephen Pause came forward to address the members of the Committee.) CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Lord, for being here; Mr. Pause, here. I want to check in Kona, also. Scott is Mayor Roth still there or has he had to leave? (Note: Public testifier Carolyn Pellett came forward via videoconference from Kona chambers, and indicated that Mayor Roth was not present in chambers.) CHR. LEE LOY: I can read lips. I think Carolyn Pellett has shared that Mayor has left the Kona room. Thank you, Carolyn. With that, Mr. Lord, if you don't mind introducing our nominee for the Director of Public Works. Thank you, Carolyn. With that, Mr. Lord, if you don't mind introducing our nominee for the Director of Public Works. MR. LORD: Lee Lord, Managing Director. It's a pleasure to be here. It's a pleasure to see you all. It's my pleasure, and I'm reading for Mr. Mayor Roth. (Note: At this time, Mr. Lord read the contents of Comm. 964.) MR. LORD: Thank you for allowing me to present Steve Pause. Page 2 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Lord. Mr. Pause, please introduce yourself to my colleagues. MR. PAUSE: Hi, I'm Steve Pause, Acting Director, hopefully future Director, Department of Public Works (DPW). I think Lee gave a good overview of my background. I don't know how much more personal information you want, other than the fact that I was born in Massachusetts and lived in a lot of different places around the country. Lee mentioned my role here on the island. I've been on the island for two years. And I do have experience working in a couple of different areas. I would consider this the fourth quarter of the football game, so the first quarter was spent being an engineer working for consulting firms. The second was working in a position as a Project Manager for an oil company. The third is a capital projects person for a mining company (Cleveland Cliffs); and here I am low and behold, the fourth quarter, save the best for last, as working in public services. So, I'm excited to take on the responsibilities of the position. I think the three months that I've spent plus the over a year prior to that has been educational. I've got to work with all of you. I've got to work with some very high-quality people within the department. I've got to field more complaints than I could possibly ever imagine. But nonetheless, you know, a good day is when there's fewer than the day before, and I think we're making progress. So at the end of the day, I'm excited to take on this leadership role. I look forward to continuing to help the island community, and I look forward to working with each and every one of you at least up until the day that some of you aren't here. But anyway, I thank you for the opportunity. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Pause. And for the record, Ms. Villegas, Mr. Chung, and Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder have joined us. With that, I'll go ahead and open it up to my colleagues. Any comments, questions, for Mr. Pause? Ms. Villegas, go ahead. MS. VILLEGAS: Aloha, Mr. Pause. Thank you for being here. In my time here on the Council that's coincided with your term of service not only as Acting Deputy Director but before that, I have had great interactions with you. You have consistently brought just great validation fulfillment to a lot of the projects and the frustrations with a couple of different things in my district, and having somebody with your level of skill and expertise, history, and project management, as well as the ability to a spade a spade. You know, being born and raised here, it's something especially in our roles, I think, as Council people as a significant, sometimes an "edge" for a lack of a better term. What I've seen in your role is it's been nice to have somebody that doesn't know everything about prior relationships, and who can look at something Page 3 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 objectively and recognize when things are not aligned and following. The quote that I appreciate that you have said is, "We've just got to do better," and I appreciate your commitment to doing that. I will admit the irony to have me praising somebody who worked for BP (British Petroleum Company) Oil, a mining company. But I also recognize this capacity for you to take everything that you contributed in that structure, and to benefit the public in areas of public service, by raising not only our expectations but by supporting the people that work in County government, our civil servants who have been here for decades, and providing them with opportunities to be exposed to new ways of thinking, to new protocols for making decisions, and for the courage to call a spade a spade. And I just have to personally and professionally thank you for that because I have seen it really heartened people who work in departments and divisions under DPW, by having that exemplified in a leader. So thank you for that, for that servant leadership and supportive role that you're taking, this really fun position that just have so many opportunities for improvement. So, thank you. Welcome. MR. PAUSE: Thank you for that. MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else? Ms. David. MS. DAVID: Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Aloha, Mr. Pause; and Managing Director, thank you for being here. Not much to say. Thank you for sharing your background with me. I'm going to be one of the ones that you have a limited time working with. And so I just wanted you to know that I do have a few things that I'd like to go over with you in your spare time, and hopefully we can get something done before times up. So, looking forward to working with you. And I support your nomination. Mahalo. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. David. Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Aloha, Mr. Pause, great to see you. Seriously, what possessed you to put your name in the running for this position? And the second part to the question is, you know,what are some of the priorities that you have for the department under your leadership should you be confirmed? MR. PAUSE: I could potentially say that my wife made me do it. I've got a lot of support as well, but thank you. So I've stated some of my priorities. I'd like to think of things very, very simply. So the three priorities would be, I don't want to say we need to fix the building permitting process, but we need to make it better. We all acknowledge that there's room for improvement there. So I think that that's a high priority. We've made some significant changes in our leadership in the Building Department, and I think that those changes will, with time, really Page 4 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 make an improvement. I think we have a lot of ideas. I've heard from you folks. I've been here before. We've talked about this. But again,just improving the building permitting process. That's a high priority. I think secondly, and you've heard me state this before, "We need to attract talent. We need to retain talent. We need to put people in seats." That's a challenge. I've had conversations with HR (Human Resources) about, you know, what do we do? And then when we get the people, we need to keep them and we need to train them up. I'm going to UH (University of Hawaii) I think in two weeks to an engineering school for recruitment, and I'm bringing a couple of engineers with me. But we need to do more outreach. We need to get internships. We need to do things to attract good talent, and people that want to come here and work here. And then I think lastly, and I've stated this as well, "We need to continue to improve in our lines of communication with the public, with stakeholders. You'll see a lot of movement in that regard. I mean, I've been in front of you folks. We've talked about Waianuenue. We are scheduling another meeting with the public here shortly; the same thing with the Waik6loa Village. All of our projects, we need to get out in front and spend time and communicate. I did have a really good mentor who once told me, "Do what you say, say what you do," and I think DPW, good, better, and different. We need to get out in front and tell people what we're doing, seek input, seek their opinions, make adjustments, and then develop a way that we can better deliver our projects. So from a priority standpoint, those are the things that come to mind. I've had a host of other goals. I guess one of the big ones, and this may be novel to folks, is generally speaking as a department I sense that we're reactive, and we need to stop being reactive and be more proactive. How do we do that? Well, you get out ahead of things. You've heard me talk a little bit about asset management. I come from a corporate background where you have lifeline assets, and you spend money to develop these assets, and if they break, you don't make any money. You're out of business. Well, we need to gather the same attitude towards what we do. You know, we as a County have lots of assets. We have roads. We have bridges. The Traffic folks have traffic lights and computers running the lights, and our buildings have air conditioning systems, and roofs, and things like that. So being able to get out ahead of that, and we're starting with the Traffic folks now with the same program that DEM (Department of Environmental Management) is using, it's called NextGen. Getting out there, identifying your assets, identifying initially what the conditions are, and then developing a program where you can proactively do preventative maintenance so that you're running it to failure. I think that's another big part of what we can really be looking at doing here, as we move forward. I could go on, but I think I'll stop there. Page 5 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I really appreciate hearing those sentiments that were raised. I agree with you 100 percent on that. You know, I would be remiss if I didn't bring up what one of the testifiers had brought up today, former Planning Director Chris Yuen. If you could just provide your side? Chris is someone that I think we all respect tremendously. And so just want to hear from you, what is the internal process after we receive reports from consultants? To kind of fact-check, do our own diligence. But beyond that, Chris is a respected professional, and so I'm a little bit concerned that he was dismissed by you and your office, and there wasn't a willingness to kind of meet and talk story with some of the things that he was elevating. MR. PAUSE: So shortly after all of this occurred, the County was given provided with a lawsuit. And there were a lot of conversations that I just couldn't have with him, one-on-one, because of the litigation. The other thing, and I tried to explain this to him and to others, is that the depth of the original preliminary geotechnical evaluation did not focus strictly on rock fall. And Chris and others made a big effort to dismiss the risk assessment, the calculations for rock fall, which was one small component of the overall conclusions of the report. The report concluded that conditions similar to previous upslopes failures existed. Conditions similar to downslope failures existed. The surface of the road. The potential for failure drainage issues. All of that information was documented in the report. And again, unfortunately a few folks latched on to the rock fall risk calculations, and that was just one small component. At the end of the day, I don't think there should be much of a discussion that the road needs to be fixed. It needs to be there's a lot that needs to be done. It is unsafe. You know, when we reported this back in March, at the public hearing, public meeting I should say, we said that four to six months we would do additional studies and come up with a plan. We've done that. We are planning to do a public meeting, October 5h, with Council Member Kimball, and it's going to be face-to-face, and we'll lay out plans and schedules. We've gone through efforts with Finance to make sure we get funding in place to do the work. So nobody likes to hear it's going to take time, but it's going to take a little bit of time. But we're working at the pace that we said we would work. If we can expedite things, if we can work faster, by all means, we will. The bottom line is that there was more to the report than just some risk calculations. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you. I just wanted to make sure I provided you an opportunity to respond. Lastly, roads recovery for Puna. Thank you for showing up to all of our community activations on Zoom, in person. I think the community, you know, trusts and appreciates your leadership. But I want to make it clear, for the record, Page 6 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 that we've set timelines and I really expect the department to hold the line on it, and make sure that we're restoring roads based on the timelines that had been shared with community because we are behind schedule. And so I just want to make sure that you are deploying all resources necessary, because we do have federal funding to pay for outside help if we need it; that we're leveraging that resource to make sure we get the job done on time. MR. PAUSE: I don't want to hurt the feelings of any other Council Members, but you're the last person in the world that I want to disappoint right now. So yes, we have timelines, and you've heard me speak to the community, I would very much like to beat those timelines. We're doing work now. You know, I'll report on it when we get together again. Next month, right? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: October 11, MR. PAUSE: But you know, we've got a consultant on board that's actually out there doing work, in parallel with the EA (Environmental Assessment) work that's ongoing. So, we are taking the schedule very seriously. And I actually met with them this week, without engineering folks, and challenged them to say, "Okay, here's the schedule, how do we beat this?" So yes, we are doing everything we can. We're paddling as fast as we can. I think we're making progress. But I am well aware of your desire to not let anything slide further. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Mr. Pause. I'll be supporting your nomination. I've enjoyed working with you. You know, this is a real tall order to fill, but I think you're the man to fill this position and provide the leadership when we really need it the most. So thank you for stepping up to the plate. Good luck. Thank you, Chair. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Mr. Chung, then Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, and then Mr. Richards. So Mr. Chung, go ahead. MR. CHUNG: Good afternoon, Lee, Steve. Congratulations on the nomination. I'm glad that Ms. Kierkiewicz gave you an opportunity to address some of the concerns that had come up during the course of the public testimony,particularly from former Planning Director Chris Yuen, and I believe you fielded them well. You know, I've got my personal feelings, you know, about that whole Waipi`o Valley issue, but I'm not going to go into detail. I don't want to make things tougher for the Administration right now since you guys are really working trying to hammer out a settlement. And of course, you know, that's in Ms. Kimball's district, and I know she's working very hard in that regard, as well, so I'll just leave it at that. Yeah, I just wanted to say, Steve, during the time that you've been here, particularly during the time that you've been Acting Director, I've been impressed Page 7 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 by your unsolicited efforts at trying to keep me informed on different projects that impact my district, and outside as well. That's kind of new to me, you know, and I really do appreciate that. So, I don't know how things are going to go. I have a good feeling about your ability to move this department forward. Of course I'm going to be supporting you today. But only time will tell, of course. But just keep that positive "can do" attitude, and I think that's half the battle. I look forward to working with you albeit for maybe about three more months. But congratulations,just keep up the good work. MR. PAUSE: Thank you, Councilman. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Mr. Kaneali`i. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Mr. Lee Lord, for presenting Mr. Pause. Well, I'm very glad to have you here in front of us today. Since you've come on, you've been an absolute pleasure to work with. You've been responsive. You come with more than a wealth of experience. And I'm looking over this, things about you I didn't know; things about you I did know. But from what I'm hearing from everybody is, project management, ability to work well with others, engineer. You're crossing all the boxes that we need for someone who is running a department of almost 500 people, and that's no easy task. And with the multitude of departments and different things going on that you need to be handling while keeping your head above water and interfacing with us and the public, I think you're the right man for the job. So, I'll be supporting your nomination for today. I appreciate you stepping up. You know, it's been interesting over the past couple of years. I think this is a really good move. And I think maybe just by chance or good grace, whatever it is, you're just tailored for this position, and you are here at the right time. So mahalo to the Administration for bringing you forward. And I hope you work well with your team. You know, you never know what's going to happen. But so far I've heard nothing but good things about you, and from my end, you've been very responsive. My one ask of you is to wrap your head around connectivity. It's on our Capital Improvement Project list. It's got a history. There's really good intention behind that, and there's been studies and reports, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, all that stuff. It's there, and I'd like to work with you on that. It really addresses island-wide issues. I mean, a lot of it happens to be in our district as well, for Puna. So, that's my big ask of you. I look forward to working with you. MR. PAUSE: Thank you, Councilman. I appreciate your support. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yep. Page 8 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Thanks, Chair; and thank you, Administration, for bringing Mr. Pause—have a conversation. Steve, we've worked on a bunch of stuff since you've been in, and the big thing we've been working on is resurfacing Waik6loa Road. Timelines on that, relating to that, you said by end of third quarter, we would have it inked, by end of fourth quarter, we would have groundbreaking. Are we still on those timelines? MR. PAUSE: We're waiting for a formal obligation from the State, so that's the third quarter, and in the fourth quarter we'll go out to bid. So the groundbreaking will probably be in the first quarter of next year, for the Waik6loa Road rehab. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. And the other thing that we've been working on is the roundabout, the Paniolo Avenue intersection with Waik6loa Road. Where are we with all that? MR. PAUSE: The roundabout is at the EA (Environmental Assessment) stage, right? MR. RICHARDS: Okay. MR. PAUSE: We started the EA. And they're working on the design. And then if you recall, we recently put out,posted and solicited comments on the interim safety improvements for the intersection. We received no less than 289 comments, mostly all of them saying, "Why are you doing a roundabout?" But we did receive some really good comments. And actually, probably in the next day or two, we'll be reporting an update on those interim safety improvements, because we listened to the public. There were actually some really good ideas and concerns raised about the pedestrians crossing that intersection. And I won't bore you with the details, but we're going to eliminate the mauka side crosswalk to make everybody cross the other way and put beacons. So you'll see that when it comes out. So the big project is under design and EA; and then the safety improvements I would anticipate being able to do before the year is done on that interim. MR. RICHARDS: And then timeline for—we've talked about doing another community talk-story. And then timeline to actually breaking ground on that, what's your—and I realize it's an estimate-guesstimate at this point. MR. PAUSE: For the roundabout, Tim? MR. RICHARDS: Yeah. Not the traffic safety, but the actual construction stuff. Page 9 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 MR. PAUSE: Yeah. MR. RICHARDS: And I won't hold you to it. MR. PAUSE: Oh, yeah. Almost two years. MR. RICHARDS: Almost, yeah. So that's, typically it's been my experience, 18 months to two years. MR. PAUSE: You'll be on to better things. MR. RICHARDS: I think it's the real key that we have that community outreach and the talk story. And I get it, this is a veryI don't want to say volatile, but there's a lot of input that people want to give in on this, so I think we have to have that and listen. And I really appreciate what you've done on that one. MR. PAUSE: Again, I think we needed to do—we always need to do better, but we need to get better at communicating. And the amount of information that we can get out there and get people's input, and make them feel—and listen to them, and make them feel like their thoughts matter, is really important. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah. MR. PAUSE: We do have a meeting scheduled. I don't know when; I could turn around and look at Sherise (Kana`e-Kane). But it might be late October or early November for the Waik6loa roundabout. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. All right. MR. PAUSE: But we had the avenue with the Traffic folks to be able every month. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, the Traffic Safety, with James Peters, which is great, and keep that communication going. Final thing. One of the areas that I was not wild about the County taking was a stretch of highway between Hawi Town out to Pololu Valley, and that was State and the County took with a swap. That area is subject to a lot of closure. Have you set up plans to address that, because it's notorious for landslides? It's small but big enough to shut down the road, and there's a concern for that if that happens. The State responded very quickly with hiring people. Are we set up to deal with closure on that point? MR. PAUSE: I would say I have not had a specific conversation with Highways to develop that. I mean, they're—we talked earlier about proactive and reactive, right? Highways is like the best bunch of reactive guys I think I've ever worked Page 10 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 with. You know, they have the tools. They have the manpower. They have the equipment to jump on those sorts of things. But I don't think I've had a direct conversation with setting up a contingency plan for that, and if that's something worth doing and engaging yourself or other members of the community, we can certainly do that. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, I would offer that, and just having it in place because it's going to happen. It happens regularly, and if we get into our regular patterns, I'm sure we're going to have an issue with that. And not that it's major, other than the fact we have a landslide, it will shut down the road until we get it back open, and of course that concerns connectivity for health and safety reasons. All right, again you've got a lot of things on your plate. I look forward to working with you and making sure that we keep these things advancing forward. So, yes I will be supporting your nomination. Thank you, Chair CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. Kimball, go ahead. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair; and thank you, future Director Pause, for being here today. I will not repeat all the sentiments of my colleagues. I did want to just address three things, really, that I think to make you appropriate for this position. One is that intellectual honesty. As my colleague mentioned, being able to call a spade a spade, I think in all of the challenging topics that we've had to deal with together since you've been in the County, including my appeal. I've always felt that you were very straightforward and just gave me the facts and were not trying to sugarcoat anything. And I think as a decision-maker that's very, very helpful to just have the information as it's intended. The second thing is, you know, applicable again to Waipi`o. In the conversations that you and I have had about that and other issues, and just off the record, personal conversations, one of the things that I can say about Acting Director Pause, is that there's an intention behind his actions that comes from a place of wanting to protect people. You're a Civil Engineer, and one of the foundational beliefs of a Civil Engineer is protecting human health and safety. And so when I look at some of the decisions that have been made, I know that it comes from a place where you just want to make sure the public is protected, and I respect and appreciate that. Finally, I will say at the NACo (National Association of Counties) I ran into Lee, and it was before the time that your name was officially announced, I told Managing Director Lord, you know, the only thing I'm afraid about with Acting Director Pause's nomination for director is that as an engineer he's going to get so pissed off with politics and leave. As we've talked a little bit more, Steve and I, I have come to learn how much experience and training you've had with respect to leadership and mentoring, and Page 11 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 building teams. And I see that you have many members of your team here, behind you. I'm presuming they're here in support. They're nodding their heads yes, okay. And so as I learned more about that, I became more comfortable that we are not going to scare him away. I have one question for you, Director Pause. It's your fourth quarter, are you ready for a couple of Hail Marys' because you're going to need them I think? MR. PAUSE: I didn't contemplate needing a Hail Mary, but I did make a statement a long time ago to the current Mayor that said you know, I went back to a basketball reference, right? It's not the five guys on the court at the beginning of the game, it's who's on the court at the end of the game; and here we are in fourth quarter, so I switched from football to basketball. But there's a lot to be done, and yeah, let's get to work. MS. KIMBALL: Well, I hope you lead the canoe in the right direction. I mean, if we're going to throw sports in there, we might just go for the whole cornucopia. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Having heard from all my colleagues, thank you, Mr. Pause, for being here. You know, you and I have had a couple of conversations in light of this moving forward. So I actually want to start with someplace Ms. Kimball touched upon, which is you have members of your executive team and staff behind you; if you don't mind introducing them and their new role or roles that they have? MR. PAUSE: Certainly, and by the way, they came on their own volition. I did not order them. I did not bribe them. So to the far left is Haku (Kelii), Business Manager. And then Sherise (Kana`e-Kane) is Public Information. I think everybody knows Sherise. And then Keone Thompson is the head of Engineering. Juliann Sonomura is our Building Chief. Aaron Takaba is our Traffic Chief, and Kelly Wilson is the Deputy Chief for Building; and Daniel Lee is the Plans Examiner Manager, and a Structural Engineer on the side. And then the other gentleman is Sinclair (Salis-Ferguson), He supports us from Corp. Counsel. CHR. LEE LOY: Great. Thanks, Mr. Pause. You know, I'm just going to ask a couple questions and you know them already, so shouldn't be too hard for you to answer. But I'll start with—we heard a lot of your strengths today, but I always ask the question, "What's your weakness?" MR. PAUSE: I think the biggest weakness speaks to coming from private industry to working in a public sector. The communication stuff is good, the budgeting stuff is good, but you come out when you're used to CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) and such telling you to hurry the heck up, and you have this innate bias reaction. Things don't quite move as quickly in the government sector Page 12 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 as they do in private industry. So you might know where you need to get to, but that path is often a bit more challenging. So I guess having said that, you know, "patience" is probably the word that I would use for weakness. But again, I have a really, really good team, and relying on them to help me be patient. It's been very beneficial so far. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Pause. You know, you outlined some of your top—or highlighted your top three goals for your term here at the department. One conversation we had was, you know, sometimes we've got to put our money where out mouth is, and how our current budget reflects those goals. And I ask that question because I really want to manage expectations from the department's perspective along with the community's perspective, and oftentimes we establish a budget with particular goals in mind, and then as we get through the years, all of a sudden the goals shift but the funding hasn't. And so you've outlined your top three, or some of your goals for this, your leadership. I want to understand, does the budget reflect that, and can we anticipate edits that would align with those goals? MR. PAUSE: I think it's still early in the game for me to answer that question with any exactitude. But I would suggest that—what I see as one of the biggest challenges is we talk. We come here every year. We talk about road maintenance, right,paving? I have not dug deep enough into the budget to realize whether there's an alignment there or not, with Highways, with Fuel Tax, et cetera. So that would be an area that I would—and I actually just had a conversation with Haku about that this morning. That would be an area where I would want to make sure that our goals for doing paving match up with the money. And I guess, off of the top of my head, you know,we break up the fuel tax by the district. You know, what if we had one district in particular, with more need than another? You know, how do we address those sorts of concerns? So the paving one is one that I think I'll be spending some time on here initially. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you for that answer. I also appreciate your kind of elevating the asset management piece. That's something Council Member Kierkiewicz and I have been working on for a while, and how we develop our CIP budget, and if there's going to be a need or resources kind of guided it in that area along with you know, I've been a huge advocate for Building Division and getting them the right training, and if enough funding is there. I think my final question is, and I can't not ask it because Uncle Pat Kahawaiolaa has just walked into the room, which is Kalanianaole. You gave us MR. PAUSE: Did you tell him I'm still the man? Page 13 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 CHR. LEE LOY: We have been promised that that road will be done by December of the year 2022, are we still on track? MR. PAUSE: Yes. I'm keenly aware of that commitment, and the answer is Ic yes. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Pause. I don't have any more questions, but I saw Mr. Richards's light go on. So just one more because we have a couple more things. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah,just real quick. Thank you, Chair. We're talking about the asset management. I would be remiss if I didn't mention bridges in our County roads. I have a bunch, Ms. David has a bunch, and Ms. Kimball has choke. And so our County bridges, look at those assets because we're going to need to find funding. That's all, Chair. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Richards. With that, we have a motion to close file on Communication 964, and forward Mr. Pause's name to Council with a favorable recommendation. All those in favor, please say "aye." Vote on Comm. 964: The motion to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) appointment of Mr. Stephen Pause as Public Works Director was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy —8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Inaba— 1. Excused: None. CHR. LEE LOY: Mr. Pause, thank you for being here. Your final confirmation will be in two weeks. MR. PAUSE: Thank you so much. Appreciate it. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, moving on to Resolution 503-22. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Page 14 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 Res. 503-22: ACCEPTS THE DEDICATION OF ROADWAY LOT 9-L-6-A, AREA 808 SQUARE FEET, BEING IDENTIFIED AS TAX MAP KEY: 2-4-025:134, SITUATED AT KUKUAU 1sT, DISTRICT OF SOUTH HILO ISLAND AND COUNTY OF HAWAII, STATE OF HAWAII, FROM GIAMPAOLO BOSCHETTI The landholder seeks to dedicate the roadways and all improvements for public roadway purposes. Reference: Comm. 931 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to recommend adoption of Res. 503-22. Seconded by Ms. David. CHR. LEE LOY: If you don't mind identifying yourself for the record? I think this is just function and form when we do road dedications. Go ahead. (Note: At this time, Deputy Corporation Counsel Sinclair Salas-Ferguson came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. SALAS-FERGUSON: Yeah, thank you. My name is Sinclair Salas-Ferguson, Deputy Corporation Counsel. I advise DPW (Department of Public Works. My understanding, yeah, this is just a standard part of a subdivision, they're dedicating a small portion of their property as a road lot, and you can see that on Exhibit B. It's about 808 square feet, 10 feet wide, for any future road widening. CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Sinclair for being here. MR. SALAS-FERGUSON: You're welcome. No problem. CHR. LEE LOY: For my colleagues, any question? Seeing none. All those in favor of forwarding Resolution 503-22 to the Council with a favorable recommendation, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 503-22: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 503-22 (Approved) was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy —7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung and Inaba—2. Excused: None. CHR. LEE LOY: All right, Mr. Clerk, Bills for Ordinances, please. Page 15 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 203: AMENDS CHAPTER 24, ARTICLE 10, DIVISION 8, SECTION 24-293, SCHEDULE 41, OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED) RELATING TO THE USE OF CERTAIN STREETS BY CERTAIN VEHICLES RESTRICTED Repeals Subsection (f)(2), which prohibits vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of five or more tons from using Kaiminani Drive in North Kona. Reference: Comm. 946 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to recommend passage of Bill 203 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. David. CHR. LEE LOY: Corporation Counsel,please? (Note: At this time, Deputy Corporation Counsel Sinclair Salas-Ferguson came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. SALAS-FERGUSON: Hi, it's me again, Sinclair Salas-Ferguson, Deputy Corporation Counsel. Yeah, so this one, DPW wants to strike that language in their restricting vehicles from accessing this road that weighs five tons or more. They inspected it, and the road can handle anything over five tons. So, they're going to want that language stricken so that larger vehicles can use the road. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Mr. Pause, anything more to add? I see you coming forward. (Note: At this time Acting Public Works Director Steve Pause and Mass Transit Administrator John Andoh came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. PAUSE: Here comes my friend John Andoh. One of the drivers for this was to allow Mass Transit vehicles. And again, the road was inspected and there isn't an issue at all with the weight. So it was just kind of good to clean things up and post it properly. CHR. LEE LOY: Great. Thank you. Oh, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. The weight may not be an issue, but is there any issue with heavy, large vehicles going down that steep road with nowhere to pull off in case something happens? Was that maybe part of the reason why they were told not to be on road? Page 16 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 MR. PAUSE: I don't recall the details of when that was set. It had something to do with the development that was made. But the reality of it is that vehicles are using that road, and we were asked to render an opinion as to whether or not the road was safe, at least from a weight standpoint, and it is. So that's the basis for removing the sign. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Might be worth looking into just what happens if a large vehicle lost brakes on that road. MR. PAUSE: I guess that would probably be the same question for Waik6loa and Hina Lani, as well. But I don't disagree with you. But, yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. I yield, Chair. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Ms. Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Yes, in lieu of Mr. Inaba not being here, I somehow hear him in my ear asking about the repaving for sections of Hina Lani, because some of them are in dire need of some resurfacing. So will that be aligned with this transition? MR. PAUSE: I'm sorry, of what transition do you speak? MS. VILLEGAS: Oh, of changing—well, you've already said that vehicles of these weight factors are already utilizing this road,but just wondering if MR. PAUSE: Yes, so I can give you an update on all of that mauka to makai roads. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. MR. PAUSE: So we'll start with Waik6loa Road. That one, we're waiting for obligation; and as I mentioned to Council Member Richards earlier, as soon that comes in, we ought to be able to start by the beginning of next year. With Hina Lani, we made the decision, and we went forward—I worked with our engineering folks, and we also talked to Finance. And we're going to repair somewhere around a mile's worth of pavement that's really bad, and then also at the same time go in and repair some potholes and some patches where there are protrusions. And we're going to do that in lieu of trying to get STIP (Statewide Transportation Improvement Program) funding to do it all the way, from the top to the bottom. In our view of things, it should those repairs especially, and I know you know where the bad areas are up on top and then a little bit mid-section, those will add Page 17 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 at least a good 10 years of life to that entire road. So that's the plan, and that's something we can execute pretty quickly. We've got I believe we have it out to bid, and as soon as we get bids back, we would be able to get working on it. MS. VILLEGAS: Fantastic. Thanks for confirmation on that. And we'll look forward to that being a bus route, as well. It is one of the main arteries, from the upper road to the lower highway. So, thank you for that. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thanks. Steve,just the restrictions on bicycles, mopeds, and motor scooters, that is prohibited on that road. MR. SALAS-FERGUSON: Council Member Richards, that is that's not part of this ordinance. That was just there because it's being renumbered. The sections, just that section right there, used to be three, "(3)Bicycles, mopeds, and motor scooters shall not be permitted to use the hereinafter designated streets." And there's actually nothing listed in the Code right now. It's blank. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. MR. SALAS-FERGUSON: It's only here because that it used to be a three, it's now going to be number two in that Code. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, so it's in there but there's actually nothing listed as "prohibits." MR. SALAS-FERGUSON: Correct. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, all right. Just seemed unusual. Thanks, I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? Seeing none. Members, all in favor of forwarding Bill 203 to the Council with a favorable recommendation, please say "aye." Vote on Bill 203: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 203 on (Approved) first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy —7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung and Inaba—2. Excused: None. Page 18 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 CHR. LEE LOY: For my colleagues, I'm going to be placing this meeting in recess, and we will reconvene the Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit tomorrow, September 7, at 1:00 p.m. This meeting is in recess. Recess: At 3:18 p.m., the Chair called for a recess until 1:00 p.m., on September 7, 2022, at the same location. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened on September 7, 2022, at 1:06 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, with Mr. Inaba, Ms. Kierkiewicz, and Ms. Villegas absent. CHR. LEE LOY: Aloha and welcome. Good afternoon, let me pull the Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit out of recess. The time now is 1:06 (p.m.). Here in our Hilo Chambers, I have Council Member Kimball, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Council Chair David, Council Member Chung, Council Member Richards, and I am Sue Lee Loy, Chair of this committee. Mr. Clerk, I think we have one last item on our agenda. Return to Order The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. of Business: Comm. 930: REQUESTS AN UPDATE FROM MASS TRANSIT AGENCY ADMINISTRATOR JOHN ANDOH REGARDING THE STATUS OF GRANTS, PROJECTS, THE MASTER PLAN, THE PAHOA TRANSIT HUB PROJECT, BUS FLEET REPLACEMENT, AND TRANSIT SYSTEM PERFORMANCE AND FARE-FREE ANALYSIS From Council Member Susan L. K. Lee Loy, dated July 20, 2022. (Note: Comm. 930.1, from Mass Transit Administrator John Andoh dated September 2, 2022, transmitting a PowerPoint presentation, was circulated.) Motion to Close File: Mr. Richards moved to close file on Comm. 930. Seconded by Ms. David. CHR. LEE LOY: And if we could please call up our Mass Transit Administrator John Andoh to walk us through the status of our Mass Transit Agency. (Note: At this time, Mass Transit Administrator John Andoh came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. ANDOH: Good afternoon, Council Chair and fellow Council Members. John Andoh, Mass Transit Administrator for the Mass Transit Agency. Today I'm here to give you an update on the status of the Mass Transit Agency since our last presentation that I believe we held back in June. And I'll be starting with the PowerPoint called "The Bus is Getting Better in Hawai`i." Page 19 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 (Note: At this time, Mr. Ando provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the subject presentation, please see the DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office, or the video archives online from the County's homepage at www.hawaiicounty.gov. A hard copy of the presentation is made a part of the record, see Comm. 930.1.) MR. ANDOH: That concludes my portion of the presentation. Would you like me to answer any questions or would you like to go into the Master Plan presentation? CHR. LEE LOY: I'm going to look at my colleagues if they have any questions on this part of the presentation. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. I liked your pun, that was good. "Leading the charge." That was a good one, thank you. You didn't even laugh when you said it. I was looking over ridership figures. Is that part of what we just talked about? MR. ANDOH: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. Ridership figures, looks like you've increased from 20-something thousand to 60,000 within the 2021-2022 range. Is that said about right? I guess we doubled? I'm not sure if that's post-COVID (Coronavirus Disease) numbers or if that's Free-Fare numbers, but I'd like to see the increase in ridership. MR. ANDOH: So in your packet, you'll see a spreadsheet with our ridership by route and by service, and I showed it from January 2021 to June 2022. On the bus side, we carried 467,970 passenger trips, whereas in the previous year we were about 294,000 passenger trips on the bus side. So the bus system has definitely grown, and I think a lot of it is attributed to the expansion of the routes. But if you particularly pay close attention to the month of March and beyond, on all the routes and the system, you'll see that there was a significant increase, and that's attributed to the free fares and people making more trips on the transit system. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, that's what I was wondering. Thank you. And then the HIBIKE(Hawai`i Bike)program, those are electric? MR. ANDOH: Right now, they're manual. We are working with Secure Bikeshare and PATH (People for Active Transportation Hawaii) to see how we can start incorporating some electric bikes into both the Hilo and Kailua-Kona sides, and they would be mixed in with the manual bikes. Page 20 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I was on a vacation in Europe years back, and there were electric bikes. My kids wanted to do it, and I was like, "Hey, yeah, yeah,"but we ended up doing it and it was actually really, really neat because we were able to go around this entire park area and around the town, and do everything on bikes, and you're outdoors you know, albeit we have a lot of rain here. Still though, you were able to move fairly quickly, and distances, without using a car; and that is the goal of this, is to get people into mass transit or alternative transportation, so I really like that. So, thank you for that. So, electric we're moving into? MR. ANDOH: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: In Hilo and Kona only? MR. ANDOH: Yes. That's presently where we have the HIBIKE system. As we construct more transit hubs, we envision any HIBIKE at those transit hubs as well, such as in Waimea and Pahoa. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And then as far as the e-charge up program, is that incorporating solar, or is it just going to be a lower rate from HELCO (Hawai`i Electric Light Company)? MR. ANDOH: For now, it's a lower rate from HELLO. We would like to design the Kailua-Kona baseyard with provisions for solar, for the battery-electric charging system, and then as we expand the Hilo baseyard, and start including solar panels as well, so we can have MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Was it open to the RFP (Request for Proposal). MR. ANDOH: For the Hilo or the Kailua-Kona? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: For the Kona facility. Or is that in process? MR. ANDOH: That will be studied as part of the planning process. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. MR. ANDOH: Which we're getting ready to start. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And then "Track My Bus,"the existing buses, is it—are we going to outfit our existing buses or only new purchases that we're going to be making? Page 21 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 MR. ANDOH: Only new purchases, and that's from a cost-efficiency standpoint. Our contractor, however, has provided a system called GreenRoad, and we are working with GreenRoad on how we can translate what is called an API (Application Programming Interface) so that the public can consume that data and be able to at least see and get a perspective on where the buses are. It's not as advanced as the My Hele-On Bus tracking system, but at least it'll give a perspective that the public can see, like particularly where buses are on the island, and then they can attribute it to those to particular routes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, that's really important. I think if you want people to ride the bus more if they know the bus is going to be there shortly or where it is, they'll wait; if not, it becomes an unknown, and I'm standing here with my groceries, and I don't know when the bus is coming. MR. ANDOH: I agree, yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Okay, so new buses only. And then just outfitting the old buses is too expensive? MR. ANDOH: Too cost-prohibitive,just from the standpoint of being able to put it on one and then turn around and take it off of our older fleet than to put it on a newer fleet. One of our struggles that we're being faced with our older buses is that, as you know, they've come from other locations and some of them have close to a million miles or greater, so they're starting to basically fail, which is why we had to request some additional buses to buy us time till the new fleet comes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Okay, thank you, Chair. I yield. Thank you, John. MR. ANDOH: No problem. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Mr. Richards, your light is on. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair, couple of questions. The app, if I recall this correctly, John, you're going to have your own Hele-On app, but we're moving into that. Is that what I understood? I'm just a little unclear. MR. ANDOH: Yeah, so the myheleonbus.org is the start of us having our own Hele-On Bus app. For now, until we get that, we have the relationship with Transit and Move It, where you can basically do all those features; plan your bus trip, schedule Uber rides, unlock HIBIKES, and pay fares if we are charging fares. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, if we're going to embrace that, is there a reason to then put in our own app? Or would it just be more user-friendly? Page 22 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 MR. ANDOH: It would be more user-friendly for those that just want the Hele- On specific app. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. MR. ANDOH: As we purchase new buses and we purchase the GMV Syncromatics system; as part of that, it included an app. MR. RICHARDS: All right. And touching on something that Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder said, as we are getting our new buses, we accepted more old buses. I'm a little hesitant maybe because like you said, they're starting to fail. With our supply-chain issues before us, do you think the timelines are okay? That we're going to be getting some of this new equipment in a timely fashion so we are not dealing with failure? MR. ANDOH: Yeah, so the latest IFB, that's Information for Bids, that is out on the street, we've increased it from 365 days to 545 days because that's what we're hearing from the bus manufacturers as the soonest that they can deliver buses. So we've recently updated our Fleet Replacement Plan, which is included in your packet, to take into consideration that some of the buses that we were hoping to get in 2023 are not likely to come in until 2024, and in some cases 2025. So as we phase in the new buses that we're getting in 2023, we're going to rotate the new versus the old so that we can spread the miles and still be able to, hopefully by 2025, have a completely replaced fleet. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. I think my angst is, is the old stuff going to last long enough until the new stuff gets here, or are we going to be faced with this always facing issues, thereby impacting the confidence that people have in the system? And I know you're working hard. You know, ridership is up. Congratulations on that. But that's my concern. MR. ANDOH: And it's a very valid concern. We are working with our contractor as well as with our maintenance team on developing processes so that we can, one, tackle the supply-chain issue by buying parts in advance. That's where that Fleet Maintenance Program will come into play, so we can better track doing preventative maintenance, inspections, and ordering parts. Also, with the standardization of the fleet and getting rid of buses that aren't consistent with the rest of the fleet, such as we've surplused the double-decker buses, some of the oldest buses that were donated with, for a lack of a better word, newer of buses from Oahu. It's helping by now, being able to order similar parts. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Page 23 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 MR. ANDOH: And then as buses fail, we can use parts from those older buses to rebuild the other buses that are still in service. And if we keep those work processes in play, that should buy us some time as we transition into the new fleet. MR. RICHARDS: Are you confident that we'll be able to have enough time to get this done so things would keep flowing? MR. ANDOH: I'm hopeful. I can tell you that I'm grateful that the Council did approve adding a maintenance manager, adding four additional mechanics to the operation, as well as reclassifying a position so that we can have like a storekeeper, so that would now build the capacity within the Maintenance Department, to instead of being reactive to maintenance as we've been historically, we're now going to start becoming more proactive and preventing maintenance from occurring. MR. RICHARDS: And then you did say the paint job, packaging, or whatever you MR. ANDOH: Wrapping. MR. RICHARDS: That's the term, wrapping. Are we going to start to see that shortly? MR. ANDOH: That's correct. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, yeah. Just again, to build loyalty I guess to MR. ANDOH: Loyalty, continuity. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, continuity. Okay, all right. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. I yield. MR. ANDOH: No problem, CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Mr. Richards. Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair; and thank you, Administrator Andoh, for being here today. A couple of just quick, real specific questions. With the bus shelter project, what kind of timeline are we looking at for that to be initiated? Particularly interested in like how much assistance we're getting from HDOT (Hawai`i Department of Transportation)to put in those facilities along the highway. Are there permitting issues with that? Or, you know, what can we expect in terms of those developments? Page 24 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 MR. ANDOH: Well, we've engaged SSFM to help us with the bus stop accessibility project, and as part of that, they'll also provide support with our bus shelter program, and that will allow us to work with County Public Works as well as HDOT and whatever necessary permitting, so that we cannot have challenges as we move towards the bus shelter implementation project. They will be paying an RFP, Request for Proposals, so that we can engage a contractor to actually do these improvements and install the bus shelters. And then we will soon be releasing an Invitation For Bids to actually buy the bus shelters so that by the time the RFP and the contract have been awarded for the construction piece, we'll also have the shelter piece ready to go, and then they both can be implemented. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. MR. ANDOH: We are relocating some shelters that are no longer on routes to some of the high visible areas that do need shelters, especially the locations where we've recently lost shelters due to accidents. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, I've noticed that Pepe`eke6 was at the top of the list, and I just sent you an email about that. That's why I was really happy to read that, and I like, "Oh, yay." I'm going to be able to tell my constituents, and they will be very pleased. MR. ANDOH: Yes. Pepe`eke6, Waimea, Kurtistown, and some in Hilo are our high priorities. MS. KIMBALL: Great, great. Any thoughts, and maybe we can wait until SSFM comes up and gives their update, with respect to the types of shelters, are you looking anything beyond just providing the shelter, but maybe having solar panels on them for lighting, or for phone charging, or any of those things. Is that being considered as part of proposal? MR. ANDOH: Yes, actually the IFB that we have drafted, there would be shelters for solar panels, map cases, bench seats, bike racks, trash cans, and pole- mounted trash cans. So basically, it will be a true amenity package so that people can feel comfortable. MS. KIMBALL: That's excellent. I think, you know, that's another little thing that I think will increase the attractiveness of using the bus. You know, talking about bringing in these varieties of types of buses, or hybrid, hydrogen—hydrogen and electric, I know you talked about this a little bit on the webinar we were on together, but can you just talk a little bit about your plans as far as workforce training, and the maintenance for those different types of vehicles? Page 25 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 MR. ANDOH: Yes. And for every time we purchase a bus, we have in our RFP or IFBs, a training package. That the manufacturer would come on-site and train our mechanics to be able to be proficient and be able to maintain those buses. And then we're also in discussion with the community college and with the staff from the Hawaii, I think, Natural Energy Institute to where we can implement a global workforce training program. So we can start training citizens to be able to do maintenance on battery-electric buses and hydrogen buses. So it creates a pool of people as we need to hire mechanics, or contractors need to hire mechanics that they can pull from. MS. KIMBALL: Okay, great. And that's all been resolved with respect to the Labor Unions and the position descriptions to be able to increase the skillsets? MR. ANDOH: Yes. MS. KIMBALL: Yes. MR. ANDOH: The Auto Mechanic I's and II's are in the process of being reclassified as Transit Vehicle Mechanics I's and II's, and as part of that reclassification, it's clear in those class specs that they will be able to maintain all sorts of transit vehicles, whether it's diesel, electric hybrid, hydrogen, or electric buses. MS. KIMBALL: Great. Wonderful. The last question I just had was about the reopening of Kolekole and the Ninole Bridge, the weight limit lifting. Have you reverted back to the routes preclosure or are you going to maintain some of the ? MR. ANDOH: We're actually working through that process now, on how we can restore our previous Route 1 service, and make some changes to Route 60. We also want to be mindful of our available bus count,just due to our fleet condition at the present time. So yeah, we're working through that. So hopefully in the fall, we'll have a revised service plan for that MS. KIMBALL: Okay. MR. ANDOH: Because I understand there's some needs on the weekends, particularly along the coast that are not being fulfilled because of the reduction of the buses that we couldn't run due to our size. MS. KIMBALL: Yes, right. Right, okay. Well,just if you would keep me posted on those developments. I'd appreciate it, so I can share that with my community. MR. ANDOH: We will. Page 26 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Ms. Kimball. Anyone else? Ms. David. MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair Lee Loy. Aloha, Mr. Andoh. MR. ANDOH: Aloha. MS. DAVID: Thanks for that presentation. I just had a curious question; how do you folks determine where you folks install bus shelters? Is there a method? Does it go population, or like ridership, or ? MR. ANDOH: Generally by ridership. The contracted employees track ridership by bus stops, so we look at just the number of like average daily ridership at a particular location, and then that's how we determine where we want to place bus shelters. MS. DAVID: I see. And in areas that are not located near a business area or town, you folks don't have any plans for shelters like the rural open areas? MR. ANDOH: I know we've targeted 41 locations that we are treating as like our first priority, and I think this is kind of a list that has been ongoing for a few years. After we get those 41, that is on the slide, then we're going to start looking at other locations. MS. DAVID: Okay. MR. ANDOH: And part of the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) assessment that SSFM is doing, they're also going to give us a site map for every bus stop that has been identified in the system, and give us a perspective if there's enough encroachment so that we can place these shelters. MS. DAVID: A shelter. MR. ANDOH: So that we can build a Phase 2 list and then start adding shelters in those other areas. MS. DAVID: Okay. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you for that. I yield, Chair. Thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Ms. David. Mr. Chung, any questions for Mr. Andoh? Okay. I had a couple more, and I think both my colleagues have touched on this, which was the fleet replacement plan, supply chain issues. But you also mentioned you're going to be doing the maintenance inventory, like a needs Page 27 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 assessment around all the assets. What program are you using because we're hearing a lot of departments within the County kind of looking at that same tool? MR. ANDOH: The County has a system called MaintStar that's been used in the Automotive Division of Public Works and Fire, so we're piggybacking off of that for now, and upgrading the system since it hasn't been upgraded in a few years, so we can get those additional modules to do like workforce planning, miles tracking, parts inventory, and basic assets management, at least for the agency's fleet. CHR. LEE LOY: Yes, okay. MR. ANDOH: And I understand through Council Member Kierkiewicz and your efforts that we are looking at that long-term asset management system that all agencies, departments, and offices can utilize at the County. CHR. LEE LOY: Okay. So MaintStar, because we hear DPW is doing NextGen (Next Generation) for the asset management and tracking, but DPW has an Automotive Division, and then you guys will also have like a similar, right, Maintenance Division. Is there any way to kind of collaborate on some of that, or you're going to stand alone and DPW is going to stand alone? MR. ANDOH: Well, the MaintStar system that DPW's Automotive Division is using today, it's really more maintenance-focused versus like asset management. But ultimately, the NexGen if that's rolled out countywide for managing our assets. That would definitely be a program we would utilize. But we still need some type of fleet maintenance program to like track, like how to do preventative maintenance inspections, and defects on the fleet. That's where the MaintStar comes into play. CHR. LEE LOY: Okay. And then on your slide 24, you rolled out a replacement plan, but I know that runs into our GE(General Excise) and the sunset of our GE, and so what's the plan if we don't get it, or is that going to be covered by our friends? MR. ANDOH: That will be covered by our friends, yes. CHR. LEE LOY: At SSFM, okay. I'll save that question. I don't have any more questions. But yeah, if we want to start into the next part of your presentation? MR. ANDOH: Okay. And I'd like to introduce Cheryl Soon and Joann Herkes from SSFM International, where they'll give a presentation about the Transit and Multi-Modal Transportation Master Plan and Pahoa Transit Update. (Note: At this time, SSFM International Transportation Practice Leader Cheryl Soon came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 28 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 MS. SOON: We did distribute a PowerPoint, but I'm going to kind of modify it a little bit as I go on if you don't mind, Chair, because John did such a thorough job. But just as an overview, the Transit and Multi-Modal Transportation Master Plan was completed in 2018, and it has been effectively used as a guiding document for yourselves, for grant applications, and for John coming onboard and implementing so much of it. And so the first chapter of the 2022 supplement reviews that, and I'm not going to spend a lot of time on that with you because I think you all basically know that, and John has just got gone through the progress update on all of that. But there are three sections of the Master Plan that are needed almost right away. The first one is the Fleet Replacement Program, and so we were able to integrate the buses that are already being purchased, and we build that schedule going forward. The second thing has to do with staffing. The recommended positions from the Master Plan, you funded in this year's budget, and mahalo for that. And then the third chapter that was updated is the Financial Plan, that not only takes up four to an additional five years but also updates to what was passed. And I say that because the Master Plan is still relevant,but the 2022 well, John is very electronic, but I'm very hardcopy; I'm old school. It gives you the data- driven material so that you don't have to go flipping through finding his various slideshows, and his various presentations. It takes into one place and brings it together. There will come a time, in a couple more years, where you're going to want a new Master Plan, hallelujah. But for now, these are your data-driven documents to be used So with that, I'm going to skip over my first couple of slides which gives you the context. And this is what the cover looks like, what's included in it. I've just given you a summary of that, and I won't spend your time on that. But what I want to move forward to is to just make a few comments on Section 2, the Transit Fleet Inventory, Replacement, and Expansion. (See Comm. 930.1, Section 2.) We did something additional here that we've not done in the past, and you'll find that additional material actually in the appendix. We did a peer comparison to 24 other properties, to say, okay, how do we match up to what's happening in the industry? Our service area, we're the largest in terms of a service area. We're the largest in terms of how long our bus routes are, and that has implications. But the peer is more or less a population-based peer comparison, so that's all in these reports. You'll find the inventory replacement and you'll also find the discussion of what John just went through, of how you're moving into zero emissions. But where it starts making a big difference is really where you're at right now. And if I can drive home one point that you leave with it today it is this: John has successfully moved you into your program for getting new buses so that you no Page 29 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 longer have an average age of 18. You're going to get down to six, less breakdown, et cetera. But when you get to your staffing plan, you have approved him for another crew, another shift for maintenance, and for a maintenance manager. (See Comm. 930.1, Section 3, Staffing & Organization Chart.) Those have to be filled now. Because if you're going to get 13 new buses now, and if you're going to get 36 in the next two years, understanding supplies change, et cetera, we've got to bring the onboard. They are not going to be easy to find, that's the problem. Everybody else in creation needs them. If you saw last night's Channel 2 news, Honolulu has half of its ambulance fleet in the shop because they can't hire mechanics. Everybody is having this problem. So John with you—he's at the point where he needs help from other agencies to succeed and take you to where you're headed. I sort of couldn't sleep last night. My idea is that if you can engage with the union and create a training program that finds more young people on this island willing to go into vehicle maintenance as a career,you might even go so far as to pay them while they're in their program as an incentive. I can tell you that when I went to Harvard that's where I met my husband. My husband had been sent to Harvard by the State of Hawaii in a program where they were trying to train minorities in planning. They paid his way 100 percent. You will get a jump if you were to find a way to create a program that maybe gave them some minimum salary even. The condition is—when Ray came back to Hawaii, he was required to work for the State of Hawaii for two years. Here we are 45 years later. We're still here, you know, hopefully making some positive contribution. These kinds of investments in people will give you a clearer path to finding them ahead of all the other people, even in Hawaii who are looking to hire these people and who are having program failures for lack of maintenance. Like I said, if you take away one thing, please take that away. And between your Human Resources, between your union, and between John who is a very advanced thinker, I think you can find the way. But you have to do it now. You have to do it now because—John, help me. I don't know, does it take two years to get them into some kind of an apprentice level? I'm not even sure how long it takes. But you have no time left because these things are going to start coming online. And the maintenance people are the ones you probably know this, so bear with me, but when the new buses arrive, somebody has to check them out to see if what they claim was being shipped to you is really working. That's the maintenance staff. It's the same maintenance staff that's working on the broken- down buses, and trying to implement, you know, adding ADL (Alexander Dennis Limited) systems and everything else to the fleet. So there are a lot being demanded of these people. And—how do I say this diplomatically? If you go the Page 30 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 normal route of waiting for the recruitment process, to HR (Human Resources), tuta, tuta, tuta, tuta, you're two years out. You don't have that kind of time. So, you know I'm giving you the problem, and I'm giving you one thought as to how to get there. The sense of urgency. My voice is genuine. You can get there, but it's going to have to be different than the normal way of doing things to find that person who is going to be the maintenance manager, and to find the four extra positions. So you've done your part in creating the positions, maybe you can help ask the questions to the right people. To say, "What have you done lately to help John get the mechanics that we need?" Sorry for my soapbox, but really, that's my takeaway from doing this work. So we updated the Fleet Inventory Program, and we gave you a number of recommendations for the Preventive Maintenance Program. (See Comm. 930.1, Section 2: The Transit Fleet Inventory, Replacement, and Expansion.) We have several pages devoted to the Preventive Maintenance Program, which I think you intuitively understand, that you don't want to take every fleet just because it's broken down. You want to take care of them because you know you know, you're looking at the fluids every month, you're looking whether or not the lifts are working, on, and on, and on it goes. But that is all a mechanized system that John is going to be developing very shortly. And we have a number of suggestions in there, how to make a preventive maintenance program, which comes by the way, from the FTA guidance on this subject. So it's not like we invented the wheel, we just extracted the guidance, the FTA, you know, gives to properties of our size. So that's really what I want to leave with you today, is there's a relationship between where you were from the 2018 plan we said we want to get. John's getting you where we are to date, which is huge, and this is the next step of maintenance, of staffing, and of capital for it. Just one last little factoid which is not too cool. But the average number of buses, if you divide by the number of buses you have by the number of maintenance workers you have, that peer comparison showed that's about four. We're 6.2. We're the lowest on the list of peer comparisons. Okay, so we know that. We get that, and we're moving towards solving that, and I think John will get you there. So fast forwarding to the Financial Plan. (See Comm. 930.1, Section 4: Operating & Capital Financial Plans). You know,we do two financial plans, and then we combine them. So we do the Capital Financial Plan and the Operating Financial Plan, and then we combine them. The good news is the GET (General Excise Tax). You all know that. It is not only able—it will get you; but if it expires, I'm not going to say when because I'm optimistic, in the other direction, but if were to expire, as currently is on the books, then you will have jammed all your capital needs into that time period, so hallelujah. You're a little less Page 31 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 vulnerable because of the program that you have set out and John is implementing. So the capital budget is averaging about$9 million per year, and it is heavy early- loaded, an average about$60 million a year; by the end of the time period, by 2029 it's going to drop substantially to about$2.5 million a year. That's because of all this heavy loading you're doing. And that by the way, that capital plan includes a new maintenance facility in Kailua-Kona, which is going to take a little time to get to, but you'll get to that. Your Operating Budget is averaging about$17 million a year. It's again heavy- loaded in the front years, and it actually drops in the lower years. Why is that? That's because you don't need Roberts as much anymore. That you're able to do more. You don't need their buses, excuse me, you're having your own buses. They're still going to operate it, but you have your buses and so it's actually cheaper. That's why the cost benefit now, as was said, cheaper to buy the buses than to keep leasing them from Roberts. So as you're moving towards the end of that period, your combined cost is going to be less. Hopefully, the GET is extended, but you will stillif it is not, you have a dilemma on your hands. This plan, I hope on the update, you can use as ammunition to continue lobbying, as I know you have been to the Legislature, about why it's important. The debate is always over rail in Honolulu, and are they going to extend it for rail, and you sort of becoming the add-on; well if we extend it for them, we should extend that for them. So you're not immune to that argument going on a round-two level. However, I would use this, and especially the presentation John just went, to show how effective that money has been put to use, because that's really where current and future Legislators come from, how did you use the money that you got? And you have a pretty darn good story to tell. So hopefully, you know, you'll have advocates who can help deliver the message about extending it. If you don't, and the plan unfortunately does give a scenario for if it doesn't, we are getting additional federal funds; and how long that lasts, one never knows. But right now, it looks to be the permanent scale, that you'll have an increased amount of federal funds. But you will have a deficit that you will either have to make those decisions, you know, around 2029 or 2030, "Do we have to now cut back on what we had, or to what extent is our General Fund going to be, to be able to make up for it?" There's no way in the world, wherever you end up with fares, that the fares are going to do it. So I wish I could have had a miracle and offered you all, "Don't worry. Here's what you do if GET," it's just not the case. That really completes what I wanted to say to you on this. I do have a presentation on Pahoa. Austen Drake, who you know was our Office Manager here, was going to give that presentation, but he Page 32 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 had a conflict and wasn't able to be here. Would you like to break now, or should I go into Pahoa? CHR. LEE LOY: Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, thanks. John or Cheryl, either of you can talk. I mean, you know, we're looking at the improvements in the system, right? Have you guys done any kind of impact studies or studies as to how these new routes are affecting poor people? Any ideas? Or is it just you have to assume that it is just by the sheer fact that we're having more routes, you know, getting people poor people to appointments, doctors, doctor's appointments, school, other services? You guys got any ? MS. SOON: We don't have that in the Master Plan, I'm sorry to say. But I don't know. John, if you have thoughts as to where you wanted to do that kind of work? MR. ANDOH: I believe not, and we have not gone to that degree of analyzing. We do know that the expansion of the system has resolved some of the environmental justice concerns that were occurring in the Puna district, as it relates to like the transit deficit that was happening there. Now they have seven days a week service and is a transit rich community. And when you look at the ridership data, Route 40 which primarily serves the Puna District, is one of our higher performing routes in the system as a result of the increases that we've made there. I believe this is something that definitely does need to study. And as we add the additional staff to the agency, that's when they would like us to do, is demographic surveys of our ridership to understand what value the system provides to the ridership, what type of clientele is using the system, and then how can we better improve based off of that survey that we did. MR. CHUNG: If you had to take a guess? MR. ANDOH: If I had to take a guess, is it meeting needs? I would say "yes." MR. CHUNG: Yeah, because I would agree. I think it is. And remember way back when, Cheryl, when there was opposition to the GET increase; and thank you very much, Sue for your dogged pursuit of that. People said it was regressive and it was going to hurt the poor people. That was nuts. This thing was intended to help poor people, right? We really should have enacted that thing earlier. You guys all know it, right? It's inexcusable for us to have delayed on that thing, but we're here now. So, thank you for all your good work. MR. ANDOH: I did want to add, particularly in your district, the senior community has been particularly pleased with that 104 route, in Mohouli area. Page 33 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 MR. CHUNG: Right. MR. ANDOH: And now that service run six days a week, from 7:00 (a.m.)to 6:00 (p.m.) at night, we're even getting many requests, can we extend the route directly to Prince Kuhio, and to Walmart, and to Safeway, so they can have one bus route to do their shopping. So those are some of the things that we're looking at. But it just tells you that people are now starting to re-embrace Hele-On again and see its value. MR. CHUNG: But do we have a bus shelter there? MR. ANDOH: We are now going on the property. We worked that out. MR. CHUNG: I know about that, yeah. MR. ANDOH: But that is on the list, to actually build a bus shelter. MR. CHUNG: On Mohouli? MR. ANDOH: On Mohouli, yes. MR. CHUNG: Yeah. I mean, if you need to fast-track it, let us know too, yeah. Because that, for sure, especially seeing—is you don't want to be hanging around in the sun, right? MR. ANDOH: That's right, yes. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, okay. Thank you. MS. SOON: Thank you, Aaron. I always find your perspective fascinating. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair, and actually thanks for the update. Because when we were just freshmen in office when the plan came forth and we approved it, and it seemed like a good plan. And it's actually great to actually have the embracement of the plan, and now we're seeing it in action. And to Mr. Chung's point—and to answer some of your questions, Aaron, I know in my district what people are doing with Hele-On now is very different, and they are requesting things, and so you're about the communities, and John's been very receptive. We had some ideas about going into communities. So I think that's part of our job, is if we know a community that needs to be touched on, we know about it, but we've got to let him know about it too, and then figure out if we can make things works. So, that actually worked well. Page 34 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 And you've talked about the shelter. John, I've had that conversation. We had one that we're coming into the winter. And I'm reminded by the people at Waimea Elementary, that they work there. They come up from Honoka`a, and they said, "We need someplace to hide from the rain," so we're working on it. But I think that we are touching on the communities that could greatly benefit; and I think that just by instilling that confidence, that it's going to be there on time every day, the schedules, I think we are doing what we should be doing with it. So I appreciate the update. And you have stuck to the budget. You know, a little bit scary when we first took office. I know it was $10 million in a year, and now it's $20 million a year, but John's finding the funding for that going forward. So, I think we're on a great trajectory if we just keep working on it. MS. SOON: Totally agree. Thanks for your support, along with the years, even when it was grim. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, when the drivers were probably younger than the buses that were driving, I feel a little concerned. But anyway MS. SOON: I hope they were older than 18, but yes. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. David. MS. DAVID: Yes,just really quick. Mr. Richards just reminded me of something, especially inI don't know how many emails I've sent you when constituents have contacted me, questions on the routes and how come we don't have this route in Na`alehu, and you have always immediately answered not only me, but you've answered them directly, and the answers that you provided them had really satisfied their—whether it was an answer they were expecting like we're going to have one, they appreciated your outreach and your communicating with them directly. And I don't recall anything like that on the years that I've sat on the Council, because we'd have to or I would have had to explain the situation to them. But every time I've reached out to you—and I thank you for that because the community appreciates that. They know you. You have a face, and you're reachable. MR. ANDOH: Thank you. Page 35 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 MS. DAVID: So I think that's really great considering, you know, what we've all been through in the past. So, know that we really appreciate your work and your dedication. So that's all I have. Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Ms. David. Ms. Kimball, you're good? Back to Mr. Richards. One quick MR. RICHARDS: Yes,just one quick question. This updated projects out to 2032, plus/minus. The passenger trips projection and equipment needs, also take into account projected population growth over time? Because I don't want us to get in a great direction and then fall short because we're not anticipating something. MS. SOON: Yes and no. The population growth projections to 2032, in the Transit scheme it's a relatively short period of time, so it's not going to grow so much that we anticipate new routes. More important is serving the underserved areas, and so the focus is more on that area than on growth areas. MR. RICHARDS: All right, that will help us think what we can do for the future. MS. SOON: Is there an area you have in mind that you think may have major growth? MR. RICHARDS: No, I just I want to be sure, is we're planning for the future; we're planning for some anticipated growth because we don't want to outgrow what we're planning on. So that was the question. MS. SOON: Well, we're not experiencing the problem of the buses passing people down because they don't have enough seats or places, so we're not at that point. MR. ANDOH: No, I was just going to say that I think as we get into a master plan, like a brand new master plan, I think at that point we should be looking at growing the system. I think the purpose, as I gather from this master plan, was trying to rebuild and sustain and maintain, and once we have the baseline, then we would know the future of the GET, if that is to continue, that could help set the precedence for growing to keep pace with the population. Also, we'll be in the 2030 census; and if we don't get any urban areas by this census, I would envision by 2030 we would, which would bring in a whole new other influx of funding from the urban side. That could help pay for that expansion of the transit system. CHR. LEE LOY: Great. Thanks, Mr. Richards. Yeah, let's get into the Pahoa MS. SOON: Just quickly in terms of scheduling. The draft is available within the Administration for final comments, or refinements, or whatever, and John has Page 36 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 given them until the end of the week. So you'll see it in a more formal manner very shortly thereafter. CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Cheryl. MS. SOON: Yeah. So moving on to the Pahoa Hub Planning. Again as a review, SSFM working with MTA had previously initiated this work under the master plan contract; by the way, that supplement is a separate contract to the master plan contract. And we did two rounds of public meetings, first trying to identify sites and then comparing 11 different sites. And that was distributed within the Administration, we provided criteria in terms of size, availability, you know, who owned the lot, et cetera. It pretty much ended at that point with the new Administration. So we're picking it up again with the transit hub planning. It will include the potential colocation of a State library. The State library had done its own study with a different consultant firm and identified three sites, and they actually did an EA (Environmental Assessment) on those three sites, but the library stopped that work because they didn't like any of the sites, and so they didn't want to award a design contract for any of those sites. Meanwhile, the Office of State Planning, under their Transit Oriented Development, their TOD program, was looking forward to opportunities on all the islands, not just rail on Oahu. This was one of the ones that they looked at that they found interesting, and it was actually through the State of Office of Planning, that this has joined up with the library system. So we'll be again going through site selection but with two scenarios, one with where they're separate and one with where they're together. I personally loved the idea of them being together, but you know, we're trying to be biased in any way. So the identification, and in the course of that, we'll narrow it from, you know, a dozen or so sites down to three, and then we'll start doing conceptual site work on those three, and then we will be going into preparing an Environmental Assessment. We looked at the site report, coming out by the end of this year. This may vary a little bit because we haven't totally coordinated it yet with the library and with their outreach processes. We had initially—John doesn't even know this. I apologize for doing this in this manner. We had initially proposed, due to the scope of work that was given to us, two sets of community virtual meetings. But we're going to meet with John shortly, because we had a meeting in-house this morning, that we think people are a little bit ready to come out of things just being virtual, and would like to propose to him some ways of doing some of the community meetings, over and above just having a virtual meeting. So we'll see how that flies with himself. And in the course of that, we would like to talk to Matt and Ashley because it's their district, and they're so good at public outreach Page 37 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 in their own district. So we'll see how that—so that could slightly jigger the schedule a little bit. But we're looking for the site selection report and the conceptual drawings coming out by the end of the year and then scheduling whatever form of outreach, virtual meetings, and other things. You know, if not in that month, then early in next year, and with the idea of trying to have a draft Environmental Assessment by the middle of next year, by around about June; in which case, there would be another public meeting. Technically, a public meeting is not required for EA. It is for EIS (Environmental Impact Statement). But we think it's still a good idea, this community is used to it. They're good participants, so we would like to do it that way. And with the final Environmental Assessment by the end of the year. So, that's the schedule and the reasons for it. Looks to be a very fun and exciting proj ect. CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Cheryl. Thanks, John. Our Puna Council member walked in. This is really about the Pahoa Bus Hub, if you have any questions. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I don't. I've been watching this closely, and love the idea of Kaloli locating with the library. Russell Rudderman actually approached me as all this discussion was happening a couple of years ago and said, "You know there's a library coming, right, and that we should be like thinking about co-locating." That was the first time it hit me. And then afterward, seeing come to this point right now, that may be a possibility. And the point of Mass Transit is to be able to move people around and provide that access. Two things, like libraries, grocery shopping, and commercial areas. So they just go hand-in-hand. So this is neat. MS. SOON: Absolutely. And one other thing, when we looked at the programming, and the desired features of the library, I was really thrilled to see it included the community room. You know, you need community meeting places. That's a natural element in this whole site planning. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And it's also just good to see you and Joanna, because I haven't seen you in a long time. MS. SOON: We've missed you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: It's been a long time. MS. SOON: I've missed coming over here. You're the one here. I've been missing in action. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Don't speak for Joanna. She may not miss me but. Wonderful to see you, and thank you for the update. Thank you. Page 38 PWMTC-25 September 6,2022 MS. SOON: Thank you. And if you don't mind if we can introduce another member of our company whom you haven't met, and that's Scott Hayashi. He's our Chief Operating Officer. We begged him to come over and meet some of our clients, and see what we're doing over here. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Nice to meet you. MS. SOON: The upper echelon has been very supportive of the work over here. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you, Chair. CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Yes, welcome, Scott. We're pretty special here over here on the Big Island. And they do great work, SSFM does great work here. I didn't have any more questions. But thank you so much for a very, very thorough update. Really loved the financial plan, Cheryl. That's where I just live, in that financial plan. So with that, I believe we have a motion on the floor to close, Mr. Clerk. Vote on Comm. 930: The motion to close file on Comm. 930 was carried by the Filed following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Richards, and Chair Lee Loy —5. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, and Villegas —4. Excused: None. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 2:30 p.m., Ms. Kimball moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Richards, and Chair Lee Loy —5. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, and Villegas —4. Excused: None. Page 39