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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2023-09-06 2022-2024 Hawaii County Council 21" Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii September 6, 2023 INVOCATION: Pastor Eric Anderson of Church of the Holy Cross gave the morning's invocation. CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawaii County Council was called to order at ORDER: 9:01 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Vice Chair Ms. Cindy Evans, Member(via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member (came in later) Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member PLEDGE OF The Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of ALLEGIANCE: Allegiance. (At this time, County Clerk Jon Henricks led the Council in the Pledge of Allegiance.) PETITIONS, The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Petitions, MEMORIALS, Memorials, Certificates of Merit, and Expressions of Condolence. CERTIFICATES OF MERIT, AND (Note: At this time, Ms. Kagiwada presented Certificates of Merit to the winners EXPRESSIONS OF of the 2023 Hawaii State Little League Championship.) CONDOLENCE: STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The following individual registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Jon Olson: Res. 223-23 (Comm. 397), in support. APPROVAL The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Approval OF MINUTES: of Minutes. Vote on Approval Ms. Lee Loy moved to approve the Minutes of July 6 and of Minutes: July 26, 2023. Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the (Approved) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: I want to thank Council Services for the prompt turnaround of Council minutes. At this time, I'm going to take a couple of things out of order. Mr. Clerk, Resolution 225-23, please. Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the of Business: following items were taken out of order: Res. 225-23: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE FRIENDS OF FIRST RESPONDERS TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES FOR APPRECIATION WEEKS IN 2024 Transfers $5,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 8); and credits to the Police Department, Police Administration Division-Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 403 Intr. by: Mr. Inaba Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to adopt Res. 225-23. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KIMBALL: Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. I know that others on the Council are providing support via our CRF (Contingency Relief Fund)to the Friends of the First Responders this fiscal year. This one's specifically going to Appreciation Weeks in 2024. We have Chaplain Godoy here, and they do all kinds of good work for our Police and Fire `ohana. Ask for your support in this year's Appreciation Weeks planning and execution. Mahalo. Page 2 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Vice Chair Inaba. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor please say "aye." Vote on Res. 225-23: The motion to adopt Res. 225-23 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Resolution 225-23 is adopted. If we can now go to Resolution 239-23. Res. 239-23: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO FRIENDS OF FIRST RESPONDERS FOR THE FAMILY FIRST COUPLES RETREAT FOR FIRST RESPONDERS Transfers $8,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 4); and credits to the Hawaii Fire Department, Fire Operations Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 423 Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 239-23. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. There is a retreat that is being organized by Friends of First Responders this weekend. There is a lot that I think spouses and `ohana do to ensure that firefighters are at their best every single day when they're called to respond to all types of different situations to keep our community safe. And so, happy to k6kua this particular project. I also do want to disclose that my partner is a firefighter; we are not attending the retreat. And we did make sure with Corporation Counsel that we were okay and in the clear to provide this sort of k6kua. So just wanted to make that disclosure. Am looking for everyone's support for this I think very worthwhile event. Thank you, pastor, and to everyone involved for organizing. Page 3 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Yeah, I support the idea but I do—I have a daughter in the Police Department, and then Ms. Lee Loy has a partner in the Police Department. So I was wondering about our ability to vote on the matter because this is a really neat thing that Renee is doing. So I'm glad you checked and that we've been hopefully all cleared to vote on that, yeah. Okay, thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Anyone else? MS. VILLEGAS: Yes. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you for the amazing work you're doing to support our first responders. And as we're navigating a time of just perpetual crisis and tragedy, my heart goes out to all of our first responders on every island. I have asked for a little bit more insight from Corp. (Corporation) Counsel because there's been some mixed messages about CRF spending on events that require a ticket to participate, because I firmly agree that this is to the greater public good by supporting our first responders. But my office has had some mixed responses, which just creates a little challenge when I tell a nonprofit organization I can't contribute CRF funds for this because this is a ticketed event that's not open to the public. So I just want to let you all know, as colleagues, as we continue to navigate the parameters around CRF, our contingency fund gives, that trying to get some more specific guidance from Corp. Counsel. Because I don't know about you guys, but I've personally experienced telling somebody "No, we can't give," and then come to the dais and one of my colleagues has given to the exact thing. And so,just so none of us end up looking like that person that said no but then got it from somewhere else. So we're in alignment and we have those barriers to stay within to remain safe, and support every one of us in consistency, exactly, so that we are all in alignment. So thank you. Thank you for everything that you're doing. My heart will be with those who are all together this weekend, and experiencing this time of support, yeah. And thank you to Corp. Counsel for looking for more alignment for all of us and that consistency. So, with that, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Villegas. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor please say "aye." Page 4 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Vote on Res. 239-23: The motion to adopt Res. 239-23 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Resolution 239-23 is adopted. If we can now go to Bill 61 for first reading. Bill 61: AMENDS SECTION 25-8-19 (NORTH HILO ZONE MAP), ARTICLE 8, CHAPTER 25 (ZONING) OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT CLASSIFICATION FROM AGRICULTURAL—TWENTY ACRES (A-20a) TO AGRICULTURAL—FIVE ACRES (A-5a) AT `O`OKALA, NORTH HILO, HAWAII, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 3-9-001:024 (Applicant: Dennis Schmitz) (Area: 20.027 acres) The Windward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for this change of zone request, which would allow the applicant to request the subdivision of the property into four lots, each approximately five acres in size. The property is located north(makai) of Old Mamalahoa Highway approximately 270 feet east of its intersection with Milo Street. Reference: Comm. 388 Intr. by: Mr. Inaba(B/R) Approve: LAAC-30 (Note: Comm. 388.1, from Council Member Holeka Goro Inaba dated September 1, 2023, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 61, was circulated.) Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to pass Bill 61 on first reading and adopt Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions Committee Report No. 30. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. KIMBALL: We have Corporation Counsel. Would you like to say a few words before we speak? (Note: At this time, Assistant Corporation Counsel J Yoshimoto came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. YOSHIMOTO: Yes, Madam Chair. Good morning, Council Members. J Yoshimoto, Assistant Corporation Counsel. There is an issue regarding some testimony, or actually email, that was sent to all of the Council Members Page 5 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 regarding this matter. I don't see any Sunshine Law issue with respect to what has happened, but I wanted to be proactive and advise the Council Members do not respond to all on that particular email regarding Bill 61 because then that could be a Sunshine Law issue. But as it stands now, because it was sent by a member of the public to all of you, they can do that, right. It's just the Sunshine issues happen when there's either current or serial communication, and that hasn't happened here. I just wanted to make sure that we're proactive, everyone's aware of that. I'm pretty sure you are, but I just wanted to make sure. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you so much. I appreciate that. All right, with that, Council Member Inaba, would you like to start us off? MR. INABA: Yes, sure. We did have discussion in Committee regarding this bill. And at Committee hearing, I did share that I would be bringing forth an amendment to put in a time condition, which was agreed upon by the applicant. So, in our pinkie (folder) today, we have Communication 388.1. It simply amends Condition M. So, now it reads, "Final Subdivision Approval for the proposed subdivision shall be secured within five years from the effective date of this ordinance." And then adding Condition N, which says that any time conditions are not met or "substantially complied with in a timely fashion, the Planning Director shall initiate rezoning of the property to its original or more appropriate designation." Keeping in mind that the Council did pass a bill recently that allows for an initial extension of time for performance of conditions via a resolution passed by the Council upon request of the applicant. So, again, based on the Windward Planning Commission's transmittal letter and the representations made by the applicant that the subdivision would be completed in three years, we provided five years to get the subdivision done, making sure that there's enough time for any unforeseen holdups with processing of the application or any of its accompanying paperwork. I ask for your support on this amendment. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Can I have you make the motion on the amendment, please? Motion to Amend: Mr. Inaba moved to amend Bill 61 with the contents of Comm. 388.1. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. CHR. KIMBALL: Discussion on the amendment, Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thanks. On the amendment. I see Mr. Arai, the applicant's representative. I just wanted to ask a little bit about this particular adjustment and the mechanics of it. Page 6 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 CHR. KIMBALL: We could ask the applicant and the applicant's representative to come to the front table, please. That'd be great. MS. LEE LOY: Thanks, Mr. Arai. CHR. KIMBALL: Please introduce yourself for the record. (Note: At this time, Dennis Schmitz, applicant, and Daryn Arai, applicant's representative, came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. ARAI: Good morning, Chair Kimball, members of the Council. My name is Daryn Arai. I reside in Hilo. Assisting the applicant, Dennis Schmitz, who's sitting to my right. MS. LEE LOY: Mr. Arai, I'm just kind of walking through this. I understand that we're trying to get performance, right, out of these change of zone applications. I think my heartburn on this particular amendment is you go through the action of doing subdivision and have invested in that. And then for whatever reason—we never know what the market looks like. We never know what happens with family issues, how long those things take—and then we have a follow-up condition that kind of pushes that if there's been noncompliance, we revert back to the original zoning. My heartburn with that is the mechanics of a takings issue, right. Because, you've complied with the subdivision, right, for five acres and could even go through the process of deeding it out to separate owners. And then the mechanics later on, if there's nonperformance with other things, everything flips back to 20 acres. I'm just—as a planner and understanding how land use works and the investment that property owners make in their properties, I mean I think we end up down a rabbit hole of what is substantially complied with, takings, and then nonperformance. And what a legal mess that could become. Your thoughts on this amendment. And if you guys make representations you guys can do it, I'm fine with it. I'm just concerned what happens if we don't, and that the Council has now put ourselves in a legal battle. MR. ARAI: Thank you for that question, Council Member Lee Loy. Historically, performance conditions were included in zoning ordinances like these and also even administratively-issued permits. The purpose for them was to ensure timely completion of the project as represented, because the decisions made at a particular time were based on information present at that particular time. And 20 years later, circumstances may change that warrants a reevaluation of the request. But that's only if the applicant has made no effort to implement the project as they originally presented. That being said, I understand your concern. Page 7 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 So it comes down to fitting the conditions and making it align with the scope and nature of the project that's currently before you. If this was a large, super- massive project covering hundreds of acres, I can see the implications. In this particular situation, we're talking about four lots, each of it five acres in size. So it's serviced by adequate facilities. We appreciate the amendment introduced by Council Member Inaba for the five years to complete the project. The applicant has represented it could accomplish it in three. But COVID (coronavirus disease) has taught us that circumstances can change, and it's clearly beyond the control of the applicant. And that's the type of considerations I think are worthy whenever you're dealing with administration of an ordinance and its performance conditions. So the concerns you express is all dependent on the type of performance conditions included. If it's something like just completing the subdivision, once the subdivision is issued final subdivision approval, then in essence, and arguably, the Council should automatically release the applicant from that particular conditions because they satisfied it. But to then go and start looking at other conditions, say, like there's a Condition B that says the applicant shall comply with the requirements of the State Land Use law regarding agricultural districts. If there's an issue 20 years from now, could someone use that to try to unravel the zoning? That is something you have to speak to your counsel about because, again, there's this thing about vestedness and something like detrimental reliance. Once you get to a particular place, thinking you're done with it, someone could use the ordinance to resurface another issue. So, again, it's really the—I think your ordinance actually says, where it talks about conditions included in the ordinance are "necessary to prevent circumstances which may be adverse to public health, safety, and welfare; or reasonably conceived to fulfill needs directly emanating from the land use proposed with respect to protection of the public from the potentially deleterious effect of the proposed use, or fulfillment of the need for public service demands created by the proposed use." That sets forth the type of conditions that should be included in any change of zone ordinance. So there has to be that nexus. If you go beyond that, then I think you're going beyond your authority. Sorry. I don't want to act like I'm your counsel or anything, but I'm just saying that's how we've viewed these types of performance conditions. So it has to fit the proposed use and the purpose of the proposed zoning that's currently before you. Page 8 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 And I think I said it at the last meeting. It's about establishing a proper land use pattern. If you think that the type of zoning is appropriate in this area and it's appropriate as far as the policy direction looking years ahead as expressed, say, in a community development plan, then lean on it. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Arai. I think, in this situation, we're ag-ag, right; Ag-20 to Ag-5. We're staying within ag. The parcels are just getting smaller. I think this Council has observed and expressed a lot of frustration where we're going from ag to commercial, in which we're relying on other performance measures like signalization, like road widening. And those things haven't happened, whereby the applicant and/or future property owners just keep kicking the can down the road while community continues to suffer with bad traffic or no water or no signalization. In this situation, and I understand Mr. Inaba putting forth what the Council set out as a policy of ours, is to ensure compliance. My heartburn is we made you comply with subdivision. Other things didn't happen, but now the director shall initiate a more appropriate zoning, which then doesn't ask the applicant to perform road widening, signalization, some of the bigger community asks. I'm going to hang back and listen to my colleagues on where they land on this one. I understand what we're trying to achieve. I think the mechanics on this one creates future problems down the road. I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Anyone else on the amendment? Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Daryn, great to see you. A quick "yes" or "no." Are you in support of the amendment that's being deliberated by the Council? MR. ARAI: We are in support. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you. I mean, my position has always been I don't see a need to, in all situations,prescribe a time condition for projects if the land use that we prescribed is good now. It should be good in perpetuity. I think that there are more complex projects where timing elements do make sense. I think I made it really clear in Committee I'm not in support of putting a timing condition on this particular ordinance, but if I'm hearing from you and your client that you are in support/in favor of this, I will be supporting it today. MR. ARAI: I appreciate that. Could I just clarify my response? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Sure. Page 9 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 MR. ARAI: Maybe the better way for us to respond is we accept the proposed amendment. Because, as I mentioned earlier, the amendment is offering five in lieu of the three that we represented. So we accept that and we accept the responsibility, but at the same time, we understand the mechanics of it. You do have an SMA (Special Management Area)permit that does provide an administrative extension, so now the ordinance and the SMA are misaligned. So we accept the amendment that's introduced. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That is helpful. I'm going to revert my stance. I won't be supporting this amendment. I will be supporting the bill in general. But I do think that there are just so many factors outside of your control. And so I, again, I don't want to have to burden you with this when there's so many other agencies at different levels that play a role, right, to ensure that you're able to get final subdivision approval within the five-year time frame. Thanks for clarifying. I appreciate it. Chair, I yield. MR. ARAI: You're welcome. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. I was listening and I was a little bit concerned about the language, that the Council would hope the applicant would accept our recommendations. Because, that's our job to both be policymakers and create what we consider community safety, or taking into account the community's wants and needs and desires. So it's not that you're willing to accept it; it's that we're going to impose it and you feel you can fulfill those things. Not for you folks, the applicants, and any case, not just in your case, but for the applicants to tell us it's okay if we do that, because that starts to get real ugly over time. That's not the way government works, or at least in my opinion. But what I'm hearing from you is, despite Ms. Lee Loy's comments, you're open to the amendment because you feel you can fulfill that in the right amount of time that's being specified by Mr. Inaba's amendment. Correct? MR. ARAI: That is correct. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. That's very helpful for me. Then, Mr. Yoshimoto, if you could. Thank you for making room, Mr. Arai. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Yes, sir. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: If you can answer, you can answer. If you can't, you can't. That's fine. Ms. Lee Loy's concerning comment that this could put us in a spot as far as the County making a condition or adding a condition to Page 10 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 the bill, the ordinance, that could potentially put us or lead us to being liable in some future event. And regarding deeds and subdivision or rezoning, I don't quite understand where she was going with that, but I'm hoping you can help elucidate what she brought up. MR. YOSHIMOTO: I'm sorry. Who brought up? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Lee Loy's comment. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Because I couldn't hear from the back. So actually Ican I get a summary? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, that's good because that maybe helped everybody. Council Member, if you could kind of repeat what you had with a little latitude, Chair—repeat what you said as far as putting us in a bad spot in the County because that's concerning, and then Mr. Yoshimoto could help us understand how. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah. And thanks, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, for kind of helping me clarify. We're looking at an amendment that has two components: a timing element, five years to comply with a subdivision, and then a second one on nonperformance. And my heartburn is when we go through a subdivision application, the applicant now becomes vested, right, and added value to their property. And should they fail or not be able to comply with other things, this bill, which will become law, says the director shall initiate a more appropriate zoning. My heartburn is we have an applicant, a property owner, who has now vested rights. And now the government, the Planning Director, is now taking that away because we've crafted a piece of legislation that gives him the authority to do so. I'm just down this rabbit hole because I know plenty Hawaiians who no like their lands taken away. And here we have a situation. They're trying to do something we're asking them to perform, but for whatever reason, nonperformance, the government aka(also known as) the Planning Director now has the authority to downzone. That's where my concern lies; if we've just created an avenue for future liability. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Understood. Well done. I understand. Okay. That's good. Sorry, I couldn't hear from back there. For some reason, the acoustics are just kind of funky. Anyway, generally, if we're talking about the liabilities of the County, I'd like to recommend to go into Executive Session. But, generically, I can say that there are issues and concerns based on existing case law that I know about. I'll leave it at that. But I would rather go into Executive Session if you want to know in further detail. But to answer your question, yes, there could be issues regarding liability. Page 11 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And there's nothing in the ordinance that protects us against the liability? MR. YOSHIMOTO: I did not review the entire ordinance. I just reviewed the amendments. I can look at it, but if you'd give me some time. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. All right. I would love an answer right now, but if you need more time, that's fine. Just wanted to understand where we stand. Okay, thank you. I yield. Thank you, Mr. Yoshimoto. I yield, Chair. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Mr. Yoshimoto? Sorry. Bringing you back to the hot seat. If I'm understanding this correctly, the heartburn is related to the term "shall," versus the term "may." MR. YOSHIMOTO: I don't know what Mr. Arai mentioned. If you want to defer to him as far as what his concern is. MS. VILLEGAS: No, he said he's fine with the amendment. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Oh, okay. I couldn't hear, sorry. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. I appreciate the amendment. I support the amendment. I support the inclusion of time frames, especially as it relates to yeah, I'm bumbling here in my mind, but—yeah, I'll yield at this time. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Villegas. Checking in with Council Member Evans in Kona. Any comments on the amendment? MS. EVANS: Yes. Thank you. So I'm looking at the original condition that was given to us by the Planning Director, and his language says, "the Planning Director may initiate rezoning of the property to its original or more appropriate designation." So the Planning Director likes that language. So when we were having this discussion, I guess I got a little confused. It kind of sounded like we didn't like the "more appropriate designation" language. Personally, I am very happy with the amendment. I think there's time if we move this forward to maybe fine-tune the language a little bit more. Maybe working with the Planning Director and the legal people if we feel somehow it's setting us up for potentialI don't know. Are we going to get a lawsuit? I'm a little confused. Page 12 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 I have to tell you, over here in Kona sometimes it is hard to hear. I know that you've changed things in Hilo and upgraded the system, but it's a little still not quite up to snuff yet. But we're working on that. Anyway, following that line of thinking, I think the Planning Director is really comfortable with saying conditions not being met or substantially complied with in a timely fashion, the Planning Director may initiate rezoning to its original or more appropriate designation. So I'm a little confused as to why would be hanging out there for someone eventually coming back to us legally. And maybe there being some case law, I think we should have further discussion. Maybe Council Member Inaba can maybe pursue that a little bit. But today I would like to forward the amendment and accept it the way it's written. So that's where my stand is. Thank you, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Evans. I'll just make note. The Planning Department folks did reach out to me before today's hearing and let me know that they are all off-island for the planning conference. So, unfortunately, if we have questions for the Planning Department, they are not able to address them for us today. Just wanted to make note of that. Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks. I'm just kind of wondering, since this is coming up, this is an issue, perhaps we should just go into Executive Session and hear the case law so that we can have all the information that we need to make a good decision. I mean, I'm not dead set on that, but it seems like it would be a good thing to do if Mr. Yoshimoto is up for that. I mean, if another time would be better, if the next round would be better, we could do it in the next round. It'd be better? Okay. So make a note. Can we do that? CHR. KIMBALL: Would you like to make a motion to go into Executive Session now or ? MS. GALIMBA: I think it would be better if he's prepared so that we can have a fruitful discussion. So I will not make the motion to go into Executive Session at this time. Thanks. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Galimba. Vice Chair Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. Just wanted to point out that this language exists in most all ordinances already. The main difference, as someone pointed out, was the word "shall"versus "may." And the point of replacing "may"with "shall" is that it keeps us, as a planning department, aware of which conditions and which ordinances are expiring. And if we do have time components to them, then we should be reviewing them at the end of their time frame. And if they're not in compliance or they're not in line anymore with what they were approved, not Page 13 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 saying they go back to what they originally were, but they go to what is appropriate at that time. So that's what the "shall" does; it forces us to review and make a decision on a certain parcel as to what type of zoning it should have. Should it get to stay at what it was rezoned as if the conditions weren't met? I don't think so. Should it go back to what it originally was, being that certain new roads or certain uses have changed? No. So then that's where the Planning Director and Corporation Counsel at that time to (inaudible) and make an intelligent decision as to what the appropriate zoning should be if the conditions are not complied with. So, very straightforward. Nothing new here except for putting in the five-year time frame, and saying that the Planning Department will need to be reviewing it and checking for what is the most appropriate, should an applicant not meet the conditions. And if the applicant didn't meet the conditions because of things outside of their control, they can come back to the Council and get an extension to finish up what they need to. So I'm going to ask that we do take a vote on this today. And if there is significant legal concern from Corporation Counsel in reviewing prior ordinances and the language contained within, then we can take that up at the next hearing. Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Vice Chair Inaba. Any good thoughts? Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: The maker of the amendment has his heart set. I'm going to be voting "no" against this amendment. I look forward to future discussions and in Executive Session around—it's challenging because we have members really oversimplifying what is a very complex process, the number of agencies involved, which is why when we were taking this up, I like the "stop the clock,"right, because a lot of the time is spent in an agency reviewing. We don't know what's going to happen. So let's go ahead, put it up for a vote. But when we get to second reading, maybe I'm going to request that we go into Executive Session, specifically around case law as it relates to taking, investments by property owners, and where that bright line exists, and the ownership, that property ownership, is maintained, and they rely heavily on the representations that were made. I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. I'm not sure who was first over here. Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Just appreciate the conversation. And I want to say thank you to Mr. Arai, Mr. Schmitz, and—Mrs. Schmitz? sorry, I put my foot in my mouth before to the applicants. But unlike me, maybe a little more personal. But thank you for your time. This is part of our discussion. Thank you for sitting in and being patient with us, yeah. Thank you. Page 14 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: You guys are enduring something that, in my mind, relates to some legislation that was recently passed, which removes the opportunity for an automatic administrative time extension. So there are a lot of other issues it seems at play: who has the right to do what and when and where. So that's what I'm seeing in the background here. I am comfortable with this amendment. I will be supporting its move forward. Thank you, Mr. Inaba, for ensuring that these time allotments are continuing to that they continue to be included as the requirements with the property. Yeah. So, for me, there's a lot of other things kind of going on. And you, fortunately or unfortunately, get to be privy to this process and some of the changes that have been happening, and some of the requests from our constituents for continued accountability when it comes to time frames. Because, we are in a time and a circumstance where people have abused it and have just assumed that they will just continue to get as much time as they'd like to. So I appreciate that you're stating you have intentions for this to be done in three years, and I think it's feasible that this is stating five years. That all makes sense. So I'll be supporting this moving forward today, and it will be interesting if we go into Executive Session. You won't get to hear all the nitty-gritty and all that, but I'll be learning a lot more as we go. But, yeah, I'll be supporting the amendment today moving forward. And I do wholeheartedly support the time constraints and parameters put on the zoning changes and whatnot. So thank you for your patience with this process, and I think we're going to get you where you need to go. But we're going to contain this terminology, which is very common and has been used for years. So thank you. I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Villegas. Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. J, I was just going to request—you don't need to come forward. In preparation for when we're at Council next and we go into Executive Session, I'm wondering if you could provide us with a written opinion ahead of the meeting. That way we have the case law to refer to and can do our research and have a productive discussion in a couple of weeks. I'm going to stand by my position and not vote in favor of this particular amendment. I'm just craving consistency, and I think that it makes it really hard for anybody—an affordable housing developer, an `ohanain a climate of so much uncertainty to figure out what they're going to do. Not every single one of these ordinances—and, Daryn, you were at the Planning Department. You're a Page 15 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 former Deputy Planning Director. Not all ordinances have a timing condition. I think about one that we just approved last term: Kagimoto Store. Not only did we approve the rezone, there were no conditions in the ordinance, let alone a timing element. So, for me, I just struggle with we have these statements being made, but it doesn't seem to be applied consistently. And for me, I just don't understand when folks are having to come forward and prove that they've done enough, what is enough? Is it meeting one of the conditions? Is it meeting 98 percent of the conditions? Fifty percent? Who gets to be the judge of that? I don't know. I don't like the uncertainty. I agree with this rezone. I think it's good in perpetuity. I don't think we need the timing condition. I really appreciate the opportunity to have the conversation, but it's just going to be a"no" on this amendment for me today. Thank you. I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. So I guess I'm looking for a little clarity here maybe from our Clerk. If we vote this amendment down at this point, and we go into Executive Session and we have limited information, can it be brought back again? And is the opposite true if we vote this amendment forward and we go into Executive Session and learn more information, can we at that point address what are our options here? Could you explain that,please? MR. HENRICKS: Madam Chair, may I address the Council? CHR. KIMBALL: Please do, Mr. Clerk. MR. HENRICKS: I'm glad you asked that because I was going to request some time outside of the meeting to discuss procedural matters with Mr. Yoshimoto. If the vote is taken now, it calls into question the purpose of an Executive Session on this matter after the vote has been taken. And it could present procedural issues if the Council should have, as a body, a change of course on whichever way the vote would be disposed of today, and also might call into question the validity of asking for an Executive Session when the matter has already been decided upon by the Council. Because, generally speaking, outside of the motion to reconsider a specific motion, once the Council moves in a certain direction on a matter, it's not to move opposite of that direction into conflicting directions. So the timing of requesting an Executive Session after something has been disposed of by the Council could be problematic moving forward. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you so much. Just wondering if the maker would be amenable to tabling this at this point so that we could have that Executive Session before voting. Because, I don't feel very comfortable voting one way or another without all the information. Page 16 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kagiwada. Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: I just wanted to say I am in the same boat as Council Member Kagiwada. I would appreciate having all of the information before having to make a vote one way or the other. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Galimba. Before I go to you, Vice Chair Inaba, to the applicant and the applicant's representative: Is there any urgency for you folks? No? Okay. Vice Chair Inaba. MR. INABA: I'm just trying to get an understanding what exactly we're going to be briefed on because is it specific to this application, or is it specific—is it general to takings? I'm not sure exactly what we're going to be getting in this Executive Session. And really, like I said, it's coming down to "may"versus "shall"because that's the only change in terms of the language that's always been used. So I just want some clarity as to what we should be expecting, and if it should be determining whether—is that the big difference we're going to be waiting on? "Shall"versus "may" in this Condition M? MR. YOSHIMOTO: Good morning again, Council Members. J Yoshimoto, Assistant Corporation Counsel. Based on what I can hear, now that I can hear, I'm sorry,probably all of the above. My understanding is this Council has received legal advice from our office regarding vested rights, takings, through other planning issues. So my understanding is the Executive Session would be to provide a refresher as to those legal issues as far as vested rights, takings, and how they relate to ordinances like this; whereby, some things may happen beyond the applicant's control. And therein lies maybe the concerns about"may"versus "shall,"right, because there are many working parts, and that's why the "may" gives flexibility. I understand the Council's concerns about"shall." So that's my understanding as far as what the Executive Session would entail that would help the Council, or if what I said is enough today to help provide guidance to the Council. And the thing is I haven't looked at this specific ordinance. That's why I don't feel comfortable in giving this body a definitive answer, because I hadn't looked at it other than this morning. So that goes to Mr. Kaneali`i-KI einfelder's question as far as whether the ordinance takes care of the issues and concerns, and I don't know. I mean, I need to look at it, and Ms. Strance will, too, as well. MR. INABA: My recommendation, I think, would be to take this up maybe not as it relates specifically to this application, but maybe in a Committee meeting or outside of this. Because, it seems like we're going beyond the scope of this, whether we're answering for, yes, a"may" or"shall" question here. We're Page 17 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 talking what are takings, and I don't know that we should be having a broad discussion on everything takings when we're really trying to understand the difference between what the "may" and the "shall" does in this condition. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Right. What is the effect of it, right, yeah. And I need to research that because I can't tell you off the cuff, yeah. MR. INABA: Mr. Clerk, we're not able to—we'd have to remove this motion currently on the floor. We couldn't just postpone this matter as it is. Is that right? MR. HENRICKS: If there was a motion to postpone at this point in the proceedings and the motion was successful, the bill would be postponed to whatever point in time was suggested. And then the amendment that is on the floor would be postponed right alongside with it. So, when you came back to session, then the motion on the floor would be to amend Bill 61 with Communication 388.1. MR. INABA: Okay. Well, I hear my colleagues wanting to have more information regarding some of what is contained in the amendment. So, Chair, I didn't get a chance to speak yet, but I'm happy to postpone the entire matter. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Vice Chair Inaba. I will just briefly say that I share the interest of my colleagues in maybe diving into this a little bit more deeply, and I do think it's appropriate. I was just kind of reviewing how many of these conditions were conditions of the subdivision process, which to me I see two separate things here: the time condition on the subdivision process and then the time condition on all applicable conditions. An example where I think there might be a problem is Condition L "The method of sewage disposal shall meet with the requirements of the State Department of Health." Now, if you subdivide this, you sell the lots or give them to your kids, they don't develop the property for ten years, they're not meeting that condition of—even though if they were to actually build, at some point they would have to, right, because that's State law. So there are some nuances here that I think I'd like to understand in more detail. So I do appreciate the recommendation to postpone. And I think that's the best course of action at this time, especially since we don't have the Planning Department to weigh in as well. So, I'll take your motion. Motion to Postpone: Mr. Inaba moved to postpone Bill 61 to September 20, 2023. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. KIMBALL: Any discussion on the postponement? Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Page 18 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Mr. Inaba, for letting us discuss further, given that your amendment was on the floor and kind of brought out the discussion. I'm interested in learning a little bit more before we jump forward. And just thank you for the conversation, everybody. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Council Member Lee Loy, on the postponement. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. On the postponement, absolutely appreciate. Good information helps us make good decisions. I think the other nuance in all of this, and if Mr. Yoshimoto could help level-set us, is this is an ordinance on a change of zone, but we also have an underlying SMA. And so there is even more mechanics going on over there when it comes to performance and compliance or noncompliance. And so, I'm glad we had this conversation because this is the bees nest of it's not just that simple to have performance conditions when there's other underlying regulatory processes that has to happen. In support of the postponement. And also look forward to having our Planning Department active when we reconvene this conversation in two weeks. I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Council Member Evans, checking in, on the postponement. Any comments? MS. EVANS: Yes. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Go ahead. MS. EVANS: I'm really glad we're drilling down on the specifics. And, yes, we need it. I was more concerned about the legality that keeps coming up that maybe we're setting ourselves up for a taking. We clearly need to have this conversation, so I look forward to the Executive Session. And I appreciate Council Member Lee Loy bringing it up. Thank you. I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Evans. With that, I'll go ahead with the vote. All those in favor of postponement,please say "aye." Vote on Motion to The motion to postpone Bill 61 to September 20, 2023, was Postpone: carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 19 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 CHR. KIMBALL: Bill 61 is postponed to September 20''. I want to thank you folks for your patience and for being here today. Thank you. With that, Mr. Clerk, we'll go to the top of the agenda,please. Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business. of Business: ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions. (Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.) Res. 219-23: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, PURSUANT TO HAWAII REVISED STATUTES 46-7, FOR A GRANT TO THE HAWAII COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Allows for the receipt of$49,942, which would be used to identify partnerships, project funding, and other available resources to establish and implement a Food Access Plan. Reference: Comm. 390 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Approve: FC-66 Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 219-23 and Finance Committee Report No. 66. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member. MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Just appreciating Ms. Freeman in R&D (Research and Development) and what she does for the County. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Any further discussion? I don't know if we have anybody from R&D on. No? Okay. Seeing no further discussion, all those in favor please say "aye." Vote on Res. 219-23: The motion to adopt Res. 219-23 and Finance Committee (Adopted) Report No. 66 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 20 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 CHR. KIMBALL: Resolution 219-23 is adopted. Let's take the companion bill with this. Bill 62, please. Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the of Business: following item was taken out of order: Bill 62: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2024 Appropriates revenues in the State Grants —Food Access Plan Resource Coordination Grant account($49,942); and appropriates the same to the Food Access Plan Resource Coordination Grant account, which would be used to identify partnerships, project funding, and other available resources to establish and implement a Food Access Plan. Reference: Comm. 390 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Approve: FC-67 Vote on Bill 62: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 62 on first (Approved) reading and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 67. Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Bill 62 is approved at first reading. Back to Resolution 220-23. Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business. of Business: Page 21 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Res. 220-23: AWARDS A PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION MAINTENANCE FUND STEWARDSHIP GRANT TO ALA KAHAKAI TRAIL ASSOCIATION Approves a grant of$160,000 to Ala Kahakai Trail Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, to establish a Kaunamano Community Resource Management Plan to ensure the conservation,preservation, and protection of Kaunamano Property in Ka`u(Tax Map Keys: 9-5-011:001, 004, 005, 006 and 9-5-012:001), pursuant to Section 10-16(h) of the Hawaii County Charter. Reference: Comm. 391 Intr. by: Ms. Galimba Approve: LAAC-28 Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to adopt Res. 220-23 and Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions Committee Report No. 28. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks. I just wanted to note that I am going to recuse myself because I lease the subject property. Thanks. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Any further discussion on Resolution 220-23? Seeing none, all those in favor please say "aye." Vote on Res. 220-23: The motion to adopt Res. 220-23 and Legislative (Adopted) Approvals and Acquisitions Committee Report No. 28 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball —7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: Council Member Galimba— 1. Page 22 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Res. 221-23: AWARDS A PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION MAINTENANCE FUND STEWARDSHIP GRANT TO ALA KAHAKAI TRAIL ASSOCIATION Approves a grant of$87,000 to Ala Kahakai Trail Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, for its Waikapuna-Kaunamano Heritage Preserve Ranger Program for the maintenance, protection, and preservation of the Waikapuna and Kaunamano Properties in Ka`u(Tax Map Keys: 9-5-007:016, 9-5-011:001, 004, 005, 006 and 9-5-012:001), pursuant to Section 10-16(h) of the Hawaii County Charter. Reference: Comm. 392 Intr. by: Ms. Galimba Approve: LAAC-29 Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to adopt Res. 221-23 and Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions Committee Report No. 29. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. Again, I will be recusing myself because I also lease this property. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Galimba. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor please say "aye." Vote on Res. 221-23: The motion to adopt Res. 221-23 and Legislative (Adopted) Approvals and Acquisitions Committee Report No. 29 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball —7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: Council Member Galimba— 1. CHR. KIMBALL: Resolution 221-23 is adopted. Page 23 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Res. 223-23: STRONGLY URGES IMMEDIATE ACTION BY THE HAWAII STATE LEGISLATURE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE & CONSUMER AFFAIRS, AND HAWAII PROPERTY INSURANCE ASSOCIATION TO ADDRESS INSURANCE ACCESSIBILITY ON HAWAII ISLAND, PARTICULARLY IN LAVA ZONES 1 AND 2 Seeks to expand coverage to include commercial businesses, implement subsidies or financial assistance programs to mitigate the financial burden for residents in Lava Zones 1 and 2, and explore the creation of a risk pooling mechanism. Reference: Comm. 397 Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz Approve: GOEAC-72 (Note: Comm. 397.38, from Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz dated September 6, 2023, transmitting proposed amendments to Res. 223-23, was circulated.) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 223-23 and Governmental Operations and External Affairs Committee Report No. 72. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Motion to Amend: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to amend Res. 223-23 with the contents of Comm. 397.38. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Kierkiewicz, on the amendment. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. At our Committee meeting, there were requests to also include a copy of the United States Geological Survey, USGS, lava flow hazard map, and this details a long-term view of the geographic record as it relates to volcanic eruptions on Hawaii Island. So I did want to include that. Please note that it is a hazard map and not a risk map. I just want to make that note, because a lot of folks seem to think that decisions are being made based on this map. It is merely documenting the hazards that exist as it relates to people and infrastructure in these various lava zones. And I'll break it down this way: A tiger is a hazard. Right? It's dangerous and it can cause one harm. But it lives in a jungle. We're here on Hawaii Island, not in the jungle. Not anywhere near tigers. And so our risk? Very low. Actually, none because we're not in the jungle where a tiger could potentially get us. So again, it is about exposure to the hazard. And looking at the geographic records, I just wanted to put that in here for folks to have that information. Page 24 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Also, in one of our `BE IT RESOLVEDs,"because we had put this together so quickly in a day, we had inserted the incorrect word. We don't want to "increase" policy premiums. We certainly want to decrease them. But I'm noting this now, there's an extra"s" in the word"decrease,"which we will have cleaned up in the final version of this resolution should it be adopted by the Council. But what we also heard in conversations by this body and by the community is they just want an evaluation: what's equitable, what's fair. At the end of the day, when we take a look at the mandate for Hawaii HPIA (Hawai`i Property Insurance Association), it talks about having access to reasonably-, appropriately- priced insurance. And this is designed to protect folks so that they can live in the homes and communities that they love. Real simple amendment to the resolution. Looking for everyone's support on this. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Comments on the amendment? Yes? MR. HENRICKS: Just a procedure. Prior to calling the vote, could I ask for a motion to correct the typo in 397.38 to correct the spelling of the word "decreasing"? Vote on Motion to Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to amend Comm. 397.38 by Amend: correcting the spelling of"descreasing." Seconded by (Approved) Mr. Inaba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. MR. HENRICKS: Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: We're back to the main amendment. So any discussion on the amendment? Council Member Kierkiewicz (inaudible). Okay. I actually did want to ask a question of you, and I know you're not an expert on this by any means, but what is your sense of the quality of this hazard map? I know that in some of the discussions I saw about this resolution in the press, there were conversations about how old this map was and how it might not actually take into account current geography after the flows that have occurred. Do you have any sense of that? Page 25 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: My recollection is this map is from the '70s, and so it does not take into consideration recent events that have occurred on our island. This is something for the Federal Government to obviously take a look into. But I wonder what kind of Pandora's box we would unlock if we were to take a closer look at the risks that are on our island related to volcanic eruption. CHR. KIMBALL: Yeah, it is kind of a Catch-22 situation with this. I have a sense that some of the areas that are identified as high-risk may not be, and some of them that are not identified may be. So, yeah,just something to take into account for all of us that that map may be not quite accurate. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. In support of this resolution. I just want to make a note or an observation maybe to add to the conversation going if this is passed. I have family that are homeowners in California. Recently, due to the fires and things there, some of the larger insurance agencies that were required to offer policies to everybody if they offered to anybody in California have been pulling out entirely out of the state. And so just want to make sure that that's kind of thought about and looked into as we go forward. So thank you and thanks to the maker. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kagiwada. I'm going to give a little leeway because we're still on the amendment, but if you wanted to respond, Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I appreciate that, Chair. I'm not sure, Council Member Kagiwada, if you were here at Committee when I introduced this, but I did highlight insurance carriers pulling out of California and Florida. It is the trend that we are seeing nationally. I have a separate resolution that we are working on, that is going to call for a national conversation. Years ago, the National Flood Insurance Program was introduced. I'm hoping that Congress is going to be convening a conversation to see how they might expand that program in light of recent events related to disruptions in climate that all states are facing, right. Natural disasters do not discriminate by zip code or political lines. And this is something that we have to have a closer look at because we're all at risk. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Council Member Lee Loy, on the amendment. MS. LEE LOY: Yes, and a little bit of latitude from my colleague Ms. Kagiwada. We did something similar to the fires in our HSAC (Hawai`i State Association of Counties) agenda. And so we have, as an entire state of counties, adopted a resolution specifically around that. And so we can elevate that here on a future meeting because, as Ms. Kierkiewicz mentioned, it's becoming a new norm where Page 26 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 insurance payments and premiums are paid for years on end, and then when people try to collect, it's just not available or just doesn't meet the need and then they leave. And we saw that in Kauai after our hurricanes. So just a lot out there. Thank you, Chair, for the latitude. I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Okay, I'm going to go ahead and move forward with the vote on the amendment so we can get to the main motion. All those in favor of amending Resolution 223-23 with the contents of Communication 397.38, as amended, please say "aye." Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Res. 223-23 with the contents of Amend: Comm. 397.38, as amended, was carried by the following (Approved) voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Inaba— 1. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: So we're now back to the main motion. Council Member Lee Loy. Vote on Motion to Ms. Lee Loy moved to suspend Council Rule 23 to waive Suspend Council the holdover for the substantive amendment of Rules: Res. 223-23. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the (Approved) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: We're back to the main motion, adopting Resolution 223-23. Any further discussion on the resolution, as amended? Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I want to just thank everybody for their continued support. There is a lot at stake, especially for the Puna community. I highlighted at Committee there are 1,500 folks that are impacted by Universal pulling out of the region. One thousand of those policies are on Hawaii Island. Nine hundred are in Lava Zone 2 in Puna. So this is significant. It is going to destabilize families and households. It's going to impact economy. Through Page 27 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 HPIA, you cannot get commercial insurance. So a lot of businesses that operate out of homes are impacted. There's economic issues. There's also the ability to access and keep paying your mortgage. So there's a lot at stake here. And folks often asking. I've read some testimony, and some of it's pretty harsh: Why do people live there?! There are deep ancestral and cultural ties to that area. It is also one of the most affordable places left to live in Hawaii. It is incredibly beautiful. The word "puna" means "spring,"to spring forth. There's a lot of incredible, creative energy in that area. And the lifestyle is bar none. Agriculture. Sustainable. And so, for generations,people have lived in Puna with Tutu Pele. They've recognized where they are, and they are able to work in concert with `aina and what happens. And I think what this does is it challenges us as we think about future development and how we live on this island, how do we build and exist in a more resilient and sustainable way. So just looking for everyone's support on this resolution. Again, it does prescribe solutions that our State counterparts can act on immediately in the next upcoming legislative session. Thank you, Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Any further discussion on the resolution? Checking in with Kona, Council Member Evans? MS. EVANS: No comment. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. I want to add that some of our HOAs (Homeowners Associations) are experiencing increases in their insurance as well, general liability for the community associations. And these are not necessarily within Lava Zones I or 2. Just rates are going up. And it really does tie in, interestingly, to the amount of disasters we're seeing due to whatever circumstances: fire, sea-level rise, blah, blah, blah, blah. But the insurance rates, nonpayment, and possibly losing your home, given kind of where we are in climate change as well, does actually start to lend itself towards human migration. It's an interesting (inaudible) and thinking about this and watching how it's going on nationally and globally as we start to shift. And if you look up these kinds of key words of human migration, insurance, climate change, you start to see this global push towards interesting things. So I'm interested in the idea. I'll support the resolution, but I think, as policymakers and future kind of visionaries, you've got to kind of see what's going on as a whole. So I'll support Page 28 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 the resolution today. Thank you for making the amendments. The increasing policy premiums was concerning because that's the exact opposite of what we're trying to do. So good catch and thank you for bringing this forward. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member. Any further discussion? Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. I will be supporting this. But I guess, somewhat in line with what Council Member Kaneali`i-KI einfelder's talking about, there's larger issues that are at play that are very difficult to grapple with. And kind of the fact of the matter is insurance is a business, and you can't really force an insurer to insure anybody really. Otherwise, they'd just leave. That being said, they're also members of the community. And there are potential measures that could be taken as a society, as a community to insure ourselves. But it's definitely a very big issue. It may be necessary for some people to not have insurance. It isn't actually a human right even though we—our financial system, it's part of getting a loan to being able to afford getting a house. There is a lot at stake, as you've said, Council Member Kierkiewicz. So it's just sort of wanting to bring those ideas up just to kind of keep it real, I guess. But definitely support urging this conversation at the State level. And I think our HPIA organization could use a lot of discussion and work to bring it potentially to the state of being able to deal with the issues that we have. So thank you for bringing this forward. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Galimba. Anyone else? All right, seeing no further discussion, all those in favor of adopting Resolution 223-23, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 223-23: The motion to adopt Res. 223-23, as amended to Draft 2, Draft 2 and Governmental Operations and External Affairs (Adopted) Committee Report No. 72 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Resolution 223-23 is adopted. Page 29 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Res. 226-23: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE BIG ISLAND RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL FOR EXPENSES RELATED TO THE 37TH ANNUAL BIG ISLAND PRO-AM SURFING TRIALS Transfers $1,000 from the Clerk-Council Services –Contingency Relief account (Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 404 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 226-23. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. I think this was this weekend, but it was in the pipe. And so my understanding is we can still do it. Ask for my colleagues' support. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Anyone else? Council Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. I just would like to get word from Corporation Counsel just so we're clear, because if we are able to waive things through Committee and have a breach and get things on, then I'd like us all to know so we can all exercise that option. (Note: At this time, Assistant Corporation Counsel J Yoshimoto came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. YOSHIMOTO: Good morning, Council Members. J Yoshimoto, Assistant Corporation Counsel. MR. INABA: I'll repeat the question. No worries. I know it's bad hearing. MR. YOSHIMOTO: It must be me. I think my wife has a point probably. CHR. KIMBALL: Actually, before I have you do that, Vice Chair Inaba and Corporation Counsel Yoshimoto, what I have been advised—and I'll share this with you folks—from Judge Strance is that if the person receiving or the entity receiving the CRF funds can have a reasonable expectation before the event occurs, in which case like the CRF form, the CRF request, has been submitted and all the documentation is there, even if we don't get the resolution quite in time we are okay. But you're welcome to share your opinion on that. Page 30 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 MR. YOSHIMOTO: I'm sorry, what was the question initially? CHR. KIMBALL: Go ahead, Vice Chair Inaba. MR. INABA: It seems like Corporation Counsel Strance answered it, but we've been advised in the last term not to provide CRF to refund an organization for expenses related to things that have already happened, hence refund. So, this event for this resolution before us right now did happen over the weekend, this past weekend, and I was wanting clarity as to where the hard cutoff is. And it seems that if all of the paperwork has been submitted for processing prior to the event, then we are able to take up the resolution and approve it. MR. YOSHIMOTO: And I would agree with that interpretation, because in the past, Council has done similar type of actions where it has been close in time, like you said, because sometimes things take time. Sometimes it's things beyond our control as well. So I don't see any issues with that. MR. INABA: Perfect. Great for us all to know. Thank you. Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Vice Chair Inaba. Any further discussion? Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Around the timing element, I also recall, and maybe this was something with Deanna over at Finance, that they were actually carrying over from a prior year's event and asking for reimbursement, and that was definitely a very bright line of cutting it off. Like we're not going to pay for old debt that happened from a previous event. But yeah, looking forward to my colleagues' support. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Vice Chair Inaba, did you ? Okay. Thank you. Yeah, thank you for bringing that issue up. And as Council Member Villegas earlier mentioned, still some challenges on understanding the whole public purpose part and requirement with respect to CRF. We continue to look at the Code language as well as our rules to help provide that consistency, those bright guidelines. I do want to say that although Judge Strance's opinion is as long as the expectation is clear, the paperwork is in, and the last step, the resolution, is just remaining outstanding, please get your CRF request done in time and do not delay. It's much easier and much cleaner if we do it that way. So, with that, all those in favor of adopting Resolution 226-23, please say "aye." Page 31 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Vote on Res. 226-23: The motion to adopt Res. 226-23 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Resolution 226-23 is adopted. Res. 227-23: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT GROUP FOR EXPENSES RELATING TO THE 9TH ANNUAL HAWAII ISLAND ALL NATIONS POWWOW Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 4); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 405 Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 227-23. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Happy to be supporting this event. It actually occurs next weekend in Kea`au at Puna Hongwanji. So invite everyone out to come and experience Native American cultural heritage presentations. I think it's going to be an awesome time. So, looking for everyone's support on this. Thank you. I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Any further discussion? Thank you for getting this in on time. All those in favor, please say Ic aye. Page 32 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Vote on Res. 227-23: The motion to adopt Res. 227-23 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Resolution 227-23 is adopted. Res. 228-23: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE WAIMEA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION TO SUPPORT THE 2023 WAIMEA CHRISTMAS TWILIGHT PARADE Transfers $7,900 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 9); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 406 Intr. by: Ms. Evans (Note: Comm. 406.1, from Council Member Cindy Evans dated September 1, 2023, transmitting proposed amendments to Res. 228-23, was circulated.) Motion to Approve: Ms. Evans moved to adopt Res. 228-23. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Evans. MS. EVANS: Thank you. Thank you, colleagues. I'm going to explain the resolution, and I'm going to offer an amendment to it afterwards. This Waimea Christmas parade is the one that is the trucks. It's really recognizing the truckers that we have across our island and in our community. It's really a wonderful event. It's held at dusk. All the trucks are lit up with lights. It's been around for many years, and community has worked so hard to keep this going. It's an outdoor event. And it's so well-received, and I just look forward to supporting this effort and ask for your support. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Motion to Amend: Ms. Evans moved to amend Res. 228-23 with the contents of Comm. 406.1. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. Page 33 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 CHR. KIMBALL: On the amendment, Council Member Evans. MS. EVANS: Thank you. So my amendment is to reduce the amount by $1,000. And what happenedI suppose it's a chain events. One is that Member Kimball has given $4,000 to this event, and I decided that I wanted to reduce it mainly because the wildfires that we had in District 9 impact Waimea where the Christmas parade is at. It also impacted—we had three wildfires on August the 8t'. So I have contacted the people that are organizing this parade and told them that I was going to reduce it; that I wanted to put some funds towards the Fire Department and the volunteers, and what we did to respond to the fires. I want to take some money from my CRF and make sure that our Fire Department and volunteer fire departments get what they need. And so they were very appreciative of what they're getting, and understand my wanting to reduce it by a thousand dollars. So I ask for your support. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Any further discussion on the amendment? Seeing none, all those in favor of amending Resolution 228-23 with the contents of 406.1, please say "aye." Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Res. 228-23 with the contents of Amend: Comm. 406.1 was carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Back to the main resolution. Any further discussion? Vote on Motion to Ms. Evans moved to suspend Council Rule 23 to waive the Suspend Council holdover for the substantive amendment of Res. 228-23. Rules: Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following (Approved) voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 34 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 CHR. KIMBALL: We're back to the main resolution. Any further discussion? We're good? All right, all those in favor please say "aye." Vote on Res. 228-23: The motion to adopt Res. 228-23, as amended to Draft 2, Draft 2 was carried by the following voice vote: (Adopted) Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Resolution 228-23, as amended, is adopted. Res. 229-23: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO KONA AQUATICS CLUB, INC., TO REPLACE SHADE CANOPIES AT THE KONA COMMUNITY AQUATIC CENTER Transfers $10,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 8); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 407 Intr. by: Mr. Inaba Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to adopt Res. 229-23. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. KIMBALL: Vice Chair Inaba. MR. INABA: Just ask for my colleagues' support. Kind of a friends-of-the-park type of agreement here with the organization helping to maintain and replace things at the Kona pool. Mahalo. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Just in support. Kind of curious because I notice we've lent a lot of our CRFs for repair and maintenance, especially in parks. And I know for this particular pool, I think there was also blocks, like swimming blocks. And I'm just wondering are we not budgeting enough in our Parks Repair and Maintenance? Or this helps advance this repair faster than the others? Just curious if you have any insight on that. Page 35 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. I'll let Vice Chair Inaba respond, and then I'll go to Council Member Villegas. MR. INABA: I can't speak to what is being budgeted or not and the application of those funds, but I just know that I was reached out to directly by the club who has been working with the Department of Parks and Recreation. So, wanted to offer my support. And being that it's one of only two pools in Kona, there is a need there. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Vice Chair Inaba. Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: I can shed some light on that. The blocks were actually paid for by private organization community members. It was hundreds of thousands of dollars that weren't in the Parks budget. And so there has been a really great collaborative effort between some they're basically family members and business owners who, their youth or they themselves, utilize that pool very consistently. So they have brought forth private funding, and Parks and Rec. (Recreation) has been able to put up some funding. But our Parks need so much money in order to get our infrastructure back up to ideal working capacity. And so this is kind of a collaborative effort through conversations. I, myself, will have some CRF coming up soon related to this so that Council Members with CRF funding joining Parks and Rec. and joining the public in contributing for the betterment of these facilities. There's been a lot of collaborative work around this, and the pool really needed. We were unable to host swim meets because we didn't have blocks. And so there were a lot of parents and some business owners who were really concerned about that. But there was no money in the budget to do it at that time so they put it up. And with that, I'll yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Villegas. Anyone else before I go back to Council Member Lee Loy? Council Member. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. In support of. And I know that some of that private funding was also use of the pool—in exchange for use of the pool. I'm just leaning in. We do have a sponsorship ordinance. And if we really want to make big improvements, we should lean into that sponsorship agreement and really direct that money. And I just share that because I'm having the same issues with the pools here in Hilo, which is really creating a lot of downtime and nonuse. So I think we're experiencing it everywhere, and just using this as an opportunity to highlight another avenue rather than our CRF funds. I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Any additional discussion? I'll also take this opportunity to highlight. In the conversations about Page 36 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 CRF in general with Corporation Counsel and the Finance Department, the origination of the CRFs were for sort of one-off County-related projects: for a basketball net or tent canopies. And if Finance had their way, we would only use CRF for projects like this. So I think this is kind of a return to the roots of the CRF program, and I just want to make sure that there's that awareness when we're thinking about how we're able to use the funds now. So, with that, all those in favor of adopting Resolution 229-23, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 229-23: The motion to adopt Res. 229-23 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Resolution 229-23 is adopted. Res. 230-23: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT GROUP FOR EXPENSES RELATING TO THE 2023 HAWAII ISLAND ALL NATIONS POWWOW Transfers $7,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 5); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 408 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 230-23. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member. MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Happy to support this. I did this same thing last year. And I really do appreciate Trina from the Grassroots Community Development Group. She's amazing. They did a number of projects in our district: skate park and just different community-minded things. I really appreciate them. But this powwow I think really does well in our community, and it really helps in that cultural collaboration kind of mindset. They go to our schools. They do the powwow. You can come experience different cultures, and Page 37 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 it just really is a nice event. So look forward to everyone's support. Appreciate Department of Liquor Control helping us get this done, and I appreciate my fellow Council Members' support on this motion. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor please say "aye." Vote on Res. 230-23: The motion to adopt Res. 230-23 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kagiwada— 1. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Resolution 230-23 is adopted. Then, ask for a brief recess. The time now is 10:50, so let's come back at 10:55. We're in recess. Recess: At 10:50 a.m., the Chair called for a recess. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 10:57 a.m. Res. 231-23: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO ASSIST THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WITH EXPENSES RELATING TO THE 67TH ANNUAL HAWAII STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE Transfers $2,575 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 8); and credits to the Police Department, Police Administration Division-Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 411 Intr. by: Mr. Inaba Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to adopt Res. 231-23. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KIMBALL: Vice Chair Inaba. MR. INABA: Just ask for my colleagues' support. This is a request coming out of Chief Ben's office. Mahalo. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member. Any further discussion on this resolution? Seeing none, all those in favor please say "aye." Page 38 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Vote on Res. 231-23: The motion to adopt Res. 231-23 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Lee Loy — 1. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Resolution 231-23 is adopted. Res. 232-23: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO FRIENDS OF FIRST RESPONDERS FOR ITS GRIN CRISIS INTERVENTION TRAINING IN WEST HAWAII Transfers $5,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 5); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 412 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 232-23. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Looking for everyone's support. I had to go recheck because GRIN isn't really a nice acronym for the words that it represents. It stands for Group Crisis Intervention, what you can see, GRIN. I had to look that up because it's not one word for every letter, which I usually like, but anyway. Yeah, so, acronym. Group Crisis Intervention Training. And I think, not I think, very much needed given the amount of mental health kind of issues that we're having on-island that our different first responders deal with. And I do like this nonprofit. She's doing well. Thank you. Look forward to everyone's support. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Any other discussion on this resolution? Seeing none, all those in favor please say "aye." Page 39 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Vote on Res. 232-23: The motion to adopt Res. 232-23 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Lee Loy — 1. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Resolution 232-23 is adopted. Res. 233-23: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE BIG ISLAND LIONS FOUNDATION TO SUPPORT THE 2023 DOWNTOWN HILO CHRISTMAS LIGHTS PARADE Transfers $3,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 1); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 413 Intr. by: Ms. Kimball Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to adopt Res. 233-23. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KIMBALL: I'll just ask for my colleagues' support on this CRF resolution. Thank you. Any further discussion? Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: BILF (Big Island Lions Foundation). That's a nice acronym. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. I know how important acronyms are. Do you know how hard we worked for OSCER (Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, and Resilience)? All right, all those in favor please say "aye." Page 40 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Vote on Res. 233-23: The motion to adopt Res. 233-23 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Lee Loy — 1. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Resolution 233-23 is adopted. Res. 238-23: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A MONETARY DONATION OF $5,000 TO THE ANIMAL CONTROL AND PROTECTION AGENCY The donation from Alexander and Baldwin LLC would be used to purchase capacity-building equipment and supplies to provide services island-wide. Reference: Comm. 420 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Waived: FC Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 238-23. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you very much. This was waived to Council to expedite the funding, and I do appreciate the Alexander and Baldwin LLC's further donation to our Animal Control and Protection Agency. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member. Anyone else? Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Is there anyone from Animal Control on Zoom? CHR. KIMBALL: I am not sure. Do we have anyone on Zoom? It doesn't look like it. Would you like to see if we can get somebody to ? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I'm just curious if anybody, maybe our Finance Committee Chair, had any insight in how this donation kind of came about. Is this agency soliciting donations from organizations in the community? Ten thousand dollars, that's going to be the total amount that they are granting to the County this fiscal year. I've never heard of capacity-building equipment. I've heard of capacity-building and equipment and supplies. Page 41 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 And so I'm going to be supporting this but will be following up with Animal Control to get just a little bit more information because animal issues are a very hot topic, a sensitive topic, in our community. And so with the significant investment that this Council made this budget cycle in this agency, I think folks are going to want to know how quickly and how this money is going to be used. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Any additional discussion? I'm going to suggest maybe we table this, and we can come back to it. I'll try to get ahold of Managing Director Lee Lord and see if they can come down. We do have a new animal control—yes, please. Okay, so can I get a motion to table? Vote on Motion to Mr. Inaba moved to table Res. 238-23. Seconded by Table: Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Villegas, and Chair Kimball–8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Lee Loy – 1. Excused: None. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Bills for ORDINANCES Ordinances (First Reading). (FIRST READING): (Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.) Bill 49: INITIATES AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE III, SECTION 3-4 OF THE (Draft 3) HAWAII COUNTY CHARTER(2022 EDITION), RELATING TO VACANCY IN OFFICE Adds an exception to the process of filling vacancies on the County Council by providing that a vacant County Council district seat shall be filled by the person elected to serve the upcoming Council term, if that vacancy occurs or exists after the incoming Council Member was elected. Reference: Comm. 305.18 Intr. by: Ms. Evans Approve: GOEAC-73 2/3 Vote: First of three required readings, Section 15-1(a), Hawai`i County Charter (Note: Comm. 305.19, from Council Member Cindy Evans dated September 5, 2023, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 49, Draft 3, was circulated.) Page 42 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Motion to Approve: Ms. Evans moved to pass Bill 49, Draft 3, on first reading and adopt Governmental Operations and External Affairs Committee Report No. 73. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Evans. MS. EVANS: Thank you. Thank you, members. I really appreciate the good discussion we had over several months as to how do we move forward with amending the Charter, and what I believe is updating the Charter. We have a couple of things in here that we've looked at that is to update from the fact in the past we had to notify people of vacancies by registered mail. We've removed that. We also have looked at the fact that sometimes people the seat gets vacated after the primary election, where in fact someone does get elected in the primary election. And so if there's a vacancy, this gives some really clear guidance that if they are elected in the primary election and there is a vacancy, that they could be seated in that their time to filling that vacancy would not count towards their term limit. I appreciateI think that after lengthy discussion may have simplified it. Pretty simple, I think, for us and the public to understand. I am going to be offering an amendment. Based on our discussion that we had at our last Committee hearing, we advanced it and I had mentioned that I would bring forth an amendment to address a couple of specifics that people thought should be in the bill that were present in the original Charter. So, with that, Chair, should I now offer up the amendment? CHR. KIMBALL: Yes, please, Council Member. MS. EVANS: I'm sorry? CHR. KIMBALL: Yes, please go ahead with the amendment. Motion to Amend: Ms. Evans moved to amend Bill 49, Draft 3, with the contents of Comm. 305.19. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Evans, on the amendment. MS. EVANS: Thank you. So the amendment has two parts. One is to have real clarity about if there's a vacancy that occurs, it will be a majority of the remaining members that shall appoint by resolution. It gives real clarity on what the process is. If we do not do this, then we would probably have to look at doing some Council rules to get the clarity. And I think people would prefer that we have it in the Charter amendment how it's done. Page 43 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 The other thing is to have clarity on the timing of it so we make sure that the Chair takes action within a certain time—time-certain. The way it's written in this amendment, it's "Within 30 days after the occurrence of any vacancy, the council chairperson shall notify all remaining members of the Council" oh, there's a mistake here. It says, "by registered mail that on a specified regular meeting date, formal action shall be taken to fill the vacancy." I'm sorry. That is incorrect. So it's not by registered mail. It's just"they will notify." So there is an error in that, and I don't know, Mr. Clerk, how I correct that at this point. CHR. KIMBALL: Mr. Clerk, your recommendation? This is more than editorial. It's substantive. So I'm guessing the motion should be withdrawn, and she'll have to submit a new amendment. MR. HENRICKS: That would be preferred, to have the amendments that are preferred to be in writing exactly as they are intended to be. CHR. KIMBALL: So, Council Member Evans, I'm going to recommend that you withdraw the motion to amend at this time and come back with a further amendment that makes that correction. MS. EVANS: Correct. Yes, thank you. Withdraw Motion Ms. Evans withdrew her motion to amend Bill 49, Draft 3, to Amend: with the contents of Comm. 305.19. CHR. KIMBALL: Okay. And then would you—I don't think that there's enough time to get that revised amendment to us today. I think we're going to have to postpone the first reading to the next session of the Council. MS. EVANS: Okay. Motion to Postpone: Ms. Evans moved to postpone Bill 49, Draft 3, to September 20, 2023. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KIMBALL: Any discussion on the postponement? Vice Chair Inaba. MR. INABA: I just have one comment, and it's just about the time in which the chairperson notifies remaining members. I'm not sure. We've had many editions of this bill, and just wondering if thirty days was what it always was, or was it five or six days, a shorter time frame, so that we get to seeI just wanted to throw that out there as you work on a clean amendment. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Vice Chair Inaba. Any further discussion on the postponement? Seeing none, all those in favor please say "aye." Page 44 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Vote on Motion to The motion to postpone Bill 49, Draft 3, to September 20, Postpone: 2023, was carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Bill 65: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2024 Appropriates revenues in the Animal Control Private Contributions account ($10,000); and appropriates the same to the Animal Control Private Contributions account, which would be used to purchase capacity-building equipment and supplies to provide services island-wide. Reference: Comm. 420 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Waived: FC Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 65 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Looking for the Council's will on this since the resolution was postponed. So if that is the Council's will, can be or we can forward this to second reading in the next Council meeting so it's all ready to go one time, and await further comment from the Administration, Animal Control, Finance. I look for your thoughts. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member. I don't think we've had any response from the Managing Director at this point. Given that we are so close to the end of the agenda, I'm not sure if it makes sense to table this further and wait. No? Okay. We'll go ahead with this, then. All those in favor, please say "aye." Page 45 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Vote on Bill 65: The motion to pass Bill 65 on first reading was carried by (Approved) the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Bill 65 is approved at first reading. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of THE DAY the Day (Second or Final Reading). (SECOND OR FINAL READING): Bill 59: AMENDS CHAPTER 19, ARTICLE 10, SECTION 19-71, OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO HOME EXEMPTIONS Amends subsection (d) by adding an age range of 75 years of age or over but not 80 years of age or over for a$110,000 exemption and adding an exemption of $125,000 for taxpayers 80 years of age or over. Reference: Comm. 371 Intr. by: Ms. Evans First Reading: August 16, 2023 Motion to Approve: Ms. Evans moved to pass Bill 59 on second and final reading. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Evans. MS. EVANS: Thank you. I ask for everyone's favorable support. We estimate 5,360 homeowners would qualify for this exemption, and this is for 80-year-olds- plus. And that would equate to about$400,000 of savings to our older Hawaii Island homeowners. So I appreciate your support. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Any further discussion by the body? Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Mr. Jo, thank you for coming in so promptly. That was beautiful. Excellent timing as usual. My question for you, I'm hoping you have this information at your disposal, the amount of revenue generated by this particular class that we're amending, the plus-80s or 80-pluses. Page 46 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 (Note: At this time, Assistant Real Property Tax Administrator Keita Jo came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. JO: Actually, this is related to the exemption for individuals 80 years and over. So it's actually a reduction in revenue of about 400,000. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: No, no, but that total bracket, what is the revenue generated from that total bracket that we're adjusting? MR. JO: I do not have that answer. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I'm interested in knowing that number. MR. JO: We can provide it to you at a later time. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. You can just email, text, whatever you guys like do. MR. JO: No problem. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And then, yeah, thank you. Thank you, Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Any additional discussion on Bill 59? Seeing none, all those in favor please say "aye." Vote on Bill 59: The motion to pass Bill 59 on second and final reading was (Adopted) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Bill 59 is adopted at second and final reading. Page 47 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 Bill 60: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2024 Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants —Climate Pollution Reduction Grant account($350,000); and appropriates the same to the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant account to develop a Priority Climate Action Plan and a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan in coordination with the State Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission. Reference: Comm. 381 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) First Reading: August 16, 2023 Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 60 on second and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: I look for everyone's support. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: Any further discussion on this one? Seeing none, all those in favor please say "aye." Vote on Bill 60: The motion to pass Bill 60 on second and final reading was (Adopted) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Bill 60 is adopted at second and final reading. Vote on Motion to Mr. Inaba moved to remove Res. 238-23 from the table. Remove from Table: Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following (Approved) voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 48 Hawaii County Council-21 September 6,2023 CHR. KIMBALL: Resolution 238-23. I don't think—we still don't have anybody from the Administration. We'll hopefully maybe get them with Bill 65 next time so they can talk to us about these donations. Yeah, I know. The reso (resolution) will have to go forward, but with the bill, they can talk about it. Okay, Vice Chair Inaba. MR. INABA: Just a question. Do we know that those are the exact corresponding dollar amounts between the two? The reso and the—how come it's 10,000 versus 5,000? Okay. All right. Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz, for sharing. CHR. KIMBALL: Vice Chair Inaba, would you mind stating the MR. INABA: Yeah, she just stated. I think she mentioned it earlier, actually, that there would be a second resolution coming for $5,000, which would total the $10,000 listed in Bill 65. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. MR. INABA: No further questions. Thank you. CHR. KIMBALL: All right, all those in favor of adopting Resolution 238-23, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 238-23: The motion to adopt Res. 238-23 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball–9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Resolution 238-23 is adopted. OTHER The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Other BUSINESS: Business. (There were none.) ANNOUNCE- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, MENTS: Announcements. (There were none.) Page 49 Hawai`i County Council-21 September 6,2023 ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 11:19 a.m., Mr. Inaba moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: The time is now 11:19. Thank you, everyone. Council Approval: O C T 0 4 2023 IdII COUNTY CLERK JH/dg Page 50