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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN CRCOC 2023/09/19 (2022-2024)Committee on Communications, Reports, and Council Oversight 1411 Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii September 19, 2023 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Communications, Reports, and ORDER: Council Oversight was called to order at 1:30 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Chair. IYl7MgrMe\MR Present: Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Chair Ms. Cindy Evans, Member Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Absent and Excused: Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Vice Chair STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The Chair called on Toby Hazel, who registered to speak in comment regarding Comm. 322. 1, and came forward when called. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 322.1: QUARTERLY AFFORDABLE HOUSING REPORT: APRIL 1, 2023 — JUNE 30, 2023 From Housing Administrator Susan K. Kunz, dated August 28, 2023, transmitting the above report pursuant to Section 11-19 of the Hawaii County Code. Motion to Close File: Ms. Kimball moved to close file on Comm. 322.1. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. VILLEGAS: Go ahead and move forth, Ms. Kunz, would you like to come join us? Fantastic, just press the button and state your name for the record. CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 (Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Susan Kunz came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. KUNZ: Good afternoon, I'm Susan Kunz, I'm the Housing Administrator for the Office of Housing. I'm here today to present the quarterly report that was outlined in Ordinance 23-20, it's a quarterly report which provides you information on several things. So in Exhibit 1 of the report that I submitted, I provided you with a list of developers who have possession of excess housing credits. You will notice that there are no changes for this period. The second item is to provide you with a summary of current housing and affordable housing inventory which you will see on Exhibit 2. We've made some revisions to that section, but it's to reflect changes in the property management company. I believe that was it. Just to reflect the changes in the property management companies. Also in this report, we are to provide you within the County of significant actions, which are listed. So you will see that for this period we only have to report that there were two out of three finished lots that were sold during this period. And this was to meet an affordable housing requirement, no credits were involved. They did produce the three finished lots, but were only able to sell two so far. And I can answer any questions that you might have. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Ms. Kunz. Opening it up to any questions or comments from my colleagues. Yes. Ms. Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Sorry, I missed that number, so there were two lots sold out of how many? MS. KUNZ: Three. MS. GALIlVIBA: Three, okay. MS. KUNZ: There was an affordable housing agreement, and three finished and affordable lots were to be produced and sold. So only two of them have been sold to date, and were following up with them to make sure that the third one— MS. GALIMBA: This is part of a larger development, which some of them are market and some are affordable? MS. KUNZ: No. I believe that this particular project was only the three lots and that was it. MS. GALIMBA: Okay, thanks. For the units available, were there any major changes with the overall inventory. Were there any big changes overall? Page 2 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 MS. KUNZ: No, not during this period. MS. GALIMBA: Okay, thanks, I yield. MS. KUNZ: You know, I would state though, that we are seeing a lot of progress. So, I'm hoping maybe in the next reporting period I might be able to report the increases in the affordable housing units that are in the inventory. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Council Member Galimba. Anyone else? Yes, Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Susan, for the report. On Exhibit 2, looking at the list of facilities; Senior Housing Rental, and I'm sorry to bring this up. Hale Aloha O Puna in Kea`au, it was a topic of much controversy online in relations to the Governor's Beyond Barriers (Build Beyond Barriers Working Group) Emergency Proclamation, sort of Housing Committee. It was on a recent agenda for discussion, and it was characterized as being repurposed to support housing for those that were impacted by the devasting Maui wildfires. So I'm just wondering if you could provide a little bit of clarification around that and the intention. My understanding is there might be some folks that are feeling very traumatized by the events, and they want to transition elsewhere, but just trying to understand what our county's involvement is in providing that sort of housing to folks that have been displaced, but also recognizing that we have tremendous housing needs and issues here. I'm wanting to make sure that, again, I empathize with the issues. I still have folks from the eruption that are still trying to get home and find housing. So, I just want to make sure that we're prioritizing our challenges, and giving where we can, but making sure first and foremost that we are taking care of our Hawaii County residents. MS. KUNZ: Yes. Thank you for bringing that up and for giving me the opportunity to address that, because I one hundred percent agree with you. So let me address Hale Aloha O Puna. That particular project is a project that's over 30 years old, it is owned and managed by the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, so this is a State project. I have been in close contact with the organization to follow the progress of these units. I very much support and want to see these units get back online. It was a project that was on the agenda for the housing emergency proclamation because there were delays in getting the permits for this particular project. And it's been in the pipeline for quite a few years. And if you can imagine, it's transitioned from a project that plans were developed under the 2006 Building Code and is now being processed under the 2018. So there's a need to make sure that the plans are meeting the requirements of the new code, which it has. Page 3 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 You know, there was an unfortunate situation where, I know too much about this project. The previous architect had passed and so that's what caused this delay. So it's ready to move forward, I want to see these units on the market like we all do. And so, the intention of the State was to utilize the proclamation to get the permits. After working closely with the County and Public Works Department, there was an understanding to be able to move the project off of the cancelled list and to reinstate the project. So, in fact, the project was actually pulled off of the agenda. There was controversy because it was referenced to that, this particular project could be prioritized for people who are affected by the Maui fire. You know, this is the State who lost two major projects in the Lahaina area, who had actually lost two families in the fire, and have about four families right now who are showing interest to move to the Big Island because they have family here that can support them. So I think the State's intention was to—because this was the first project coming down the pipeline, they wanted to be able to offer this as an option. It's not to say that they're prioritizing this project only for those displaced by the fire. For me there's a big difference. And so like I said, there looks like there's about four families who are showing some interest, who have family here, that may utilize some of those units. Did I answer your question? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: You provided a lot of really great detail, and I appreciate the Chair in providing us this latitude. You know, I know that these updates happen quarterly. And this is an asset that we have had on the books for quite some time for renovation. You mentioned the 2006 Building Code, I mean when were the permits filed? It's 2023. MS. KUNZ: I believe in 2016. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MS. KUNZ: Prior to the 2018 Code getting passed, so it was submitted when the 2006 Building Code was— MS. KIERKIEWICZ: And so no action on the building side, it seems? MS. KUNZ: There wasn't. I think there was a lot of conversation leading up to the meeting, which encouraged the executive director to be able to remove it from that. So I believe there's ongoing conversations, I hope that it's moving forward in the right direction. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, I'll leave that there. Thank you very much, Susan, really appreciate the update. Chair, I yield. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you so much, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Council Member Kimball. Page 4 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Administrator Kunz. I just had a quick question in terms of the transition in emergency housing, which hasn't changed from the last report. Is there movement to create more units of that nature in the near future with the Council funding? MS. KUNZ: Yes, there actually is. I believe under the Homeless Emergency Proclamation, there have been discussions with some local non -profits and the State to utilize that proclamation to move some projects. So I'm aware of Sacred Hearts in the Pahoa area, that's moving forward under the proclamation. Salvation Army has also submitted an application for units in East Hawaii, in Hilo. Oh, my goodness there's one more, I'm going to think about it in a few minutes. There is one more project that's in the pipeline as well. MS. KIMBALL: Great. Thank you, Administrator. I yield, Chair. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Council Member Kimball. Anyone else? Okay. MR. INABA: Thank you. Good afternoon, Administrator. I wanted to clarify. So, for those two finished lots they were constructed and sold. They're listed here under significant actions taken under the authority of Chapter 11. So was that in satisfaction of a requirement? I'm just trying to understand what the two finished lots, how they came to be. MS. KUNZ: So, what I do know about this is this was an agreement that was done back in the 1990's, so it was an old one. There was a 10 percent obligation at that time, not 20 percent. So these units were part of a housing obligation where they rezoned a subdivision in Kona, I believe it was in the Palisades area. So, the requirement was to finish and produce three finished lots for sale as affordable. So it is my understanding that the third lot is in escrow, so they're moving forward, yeah. MR. INABA: Okay, so it was part of a requirement for a subdivision. MS. KUNZ: Yes. MR. INABA: Thank you very much. Appreciate it and thank you for the quarterly report, really appreciate it. Chair, I yield. CHR. VILLEGAS: Fantastic. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Good afternoon, Susan. I just was looking at Exhibit 2, and we can have this conversation offline. But these are special needs housing, and I'm just really curious because I have seen a lot of people come through for all kinds of housing; housing AMI's (Area Midian Income). I have in my entire time here not seen a single person come through for special needs housing, which I'm Page 5 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 guessing fits our families with kids with special needs. How old is this unit count? MS. KUNZ: Well the unit count is current. Yeah, but the housing projects may be older. And I do want to share that special needs could also include elderly housing, there's a lot of requirements for elderly housing also include persons with disabilities. Hold on, let me take a look at this list real quick. MS. LEE LOY: Maybe I should refrain from that. MS. KUNZ: Yeah, I'm sorry. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, because we have those units and I was just curious how long we've been at that number, I think. MS. KUNZ: Yeah, I'll be honest these are older projects, and we've been at these numbers for quite some time. And I am looking at the list of these facilities, and these are very specific to persons with disabilities. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, maybe we can't take it offline. I think that's one more area where we can start to encourage housing, right. We're always—people in front of us trying to meet 80 AMI, 30 AMI, 120 AMI, 140 AMI, but this is one area that I think we could really kick the door wide open in. I think you and I both have some personal experiences around this, and this would be a really nice call for a request for interest to see how we could expand this area of housing. Thanks. MS. KUNZ: Thank you. MS. LEE LOY: I yield. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Alright, so I'll just wrap this up with a couple of questions. I kind of nerded out on the numbers a little bit, and just looked back at the report that was provided for us a few months ago. So I just had a couple of questions, specifically in Exhibit 2, Rental Housing. I noticed that the number of facilities went down by one, which equated to 24 units. And it seems that this is the Hilo Maile Terrace, that is no longer on the list for rental housing. MS. KUNZ: Right. So this particular project fulfilled their affordability period. So at that time the owners can opt to either, I mean they're open to decide how they're going to continue to market their units. I do have non -profits in contact with us after their affordability period and tell me that they're going to continue to provide affordable housing. Then, I have some who are opting to go on the market, so I think this may be the case here. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but Page 6 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 because I haven't gotten word that they're going to remain on the list I'm assuming that. CHR. VILLEGAS: Okay, thank you. Do you know what the affordability period had been? MS. KUNZ: These are rentals, so I would assume it was 20 years, based on Chapter 11. CHR. VII.LEGAS: Okay. Just good for us to keep in mind as we look at more developments coming on. Those 20 years goes by really fast, and now we've potentially got 24 families of people that no longer have access to something. We had a meeting last night with a project, and they are committing to 61 years which feels more like a lifetime. I mean, we're all living much longer than that, but it feels like a lifetime. Thank you for explaining what happened with that, and why those units are no longer reflected on that spreadsheet. I also just noticed under the Emergency Shelter and Transitional Housing; Exhibit 3, we decreased shelters by one, and that priority report we had 16, and that decreased our total emergency shelter beds by 85. We had a total of 274 before, and now we're down to 189. In comparing the two spreadsheets it looks like we lost 96 beds, units at Ulu Wini, we gained seven at Wilder, and gained five at Kuleana. So I was just wondering what the transition was at Ulu Wini, because once again, that's a lot of beds to lose. MS. KUNZ: Yeah, so we didn't lose all of those units, those units are still being rented as affordable. But there were 24 or 23 units at Ulu Wini that were marked as transitional units. We've converted them from transitional to—they're affordable, so it's permanent affordable housing. CHR. VILLEGAS: But it didn't show up, it didn't transfer like nothing in these other reports had a correlating increase in those numbers. MS. KUNZ: So the other one would be Ka Lamaku, it's still on the list although—what was the difference you were showing? CHR. VILLEGAS: The difference I'm showing in beds is 85 beds. The inventory decreased by a total of 85 beds, which is a lot for a three-month timeframe. MS. KUNZ: You know what, I think I need to get back to you, because that number doesn't sound correct. I can't account for it in my mind. CHR. VILLEGAS: Okay. If you could do that, that would be great. I know there was some transition to how Ulu Wini was being managed, and how the beds Page 7 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 were being allocated. And there was a lot of concern, because right now we have a crisis in our public parks with those. And we consistently get word that well, are no beds, and then to see transitional housing beds. As much as we want longer-term rentals, I don't know, there's got to be a place where people go to get directly off the streets. So, if you could follow up with me on that. And I'm happy to share just my little numbers so you can look at it. MS. KUNZ: Perfect. Yeah, the numbers are not adding up to me, so I'm wondering if maybe there was an incorrect reporting on some of the numbers. But we didn't lose that many beds for sure, I would know about it. CHR. VILLEGAS: Alright. Well, that would be wonderful to hear. MS. KUNZ: You know, the other thing I wanted to add, when we were talking about new units coming down the pipeline. So I didn't mention Ka Lamaku, which is moving along very nicely. So we will see— CHR. VILLEGAS: I'm sorry, where is Ka Lamaku? MS. KUNZ: Oh, not Ka Lamaku. I'm sorry, Kukuiola. CHR. VILLEGAS: Kukuiola, got it. MS. KUNZ: Sorry, Kukuiola. So that project is moving along very nicely. We're going to see 60 emergency shelter beds there and then for the 48 permanent units behind it. But I'm really trying to focus on those initial emergency shelter beds that are coming up. And we have another project in Hilo, which we just did a public meeting for last week Thursday. And that is the development of 34 Rainbow Drive, the old Memorial Hospital. So, we do have housing units that we are planning to do there as well. So, we actually got quite a few units coming down the pipeline to serve that population. CHR. VILLEGAS: Fantastic, thank you. And then where are we at with the units; they're small, they're supposed to be temporary units but at the old airport at Maka`eo the 18 units that were there. MS. KUNZ: That's Ka Lamaku. CHR. VILLEGAS: Ka Lamaku. MS KUNZ: Yeah. So when Hope Services notified us that they could no longer manage the property, we had gone out and done outreach to the community, worked with some of the non -profits. We had a pretty good indication that we would get some applications, so we did an RFP (Request for Proposal). But unfortunately, we did not receive any applications for the management of that Page 8 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 property. So we continue to work with a couple of non -profits now that I'm hopeful will step-up to the plate. But if I cannot get anyone out there to manage the properties, I can't. Yeah, so we continue to work on that. CHR. VILLEGAS: Okay, so then just a quick question. I see it's still listed here as beds and units, but it's not an operation. MS. KUNZ: Yeah. So my staff had noted from me that during this period, they had to report them as being there, but currently they are not. So remember this is a reported period through June. CHR. VILLEGAS: June, okay. And then that's when the contract ends. MS. KUNZ: Yeah. CHR. VILLEGAS: Okay, great. Thank you for helping me clarify that, and I was excited to meet with one of those non -profits last week as well. And I'm hopeful that there's some opportunity for some support from those navigating These. Unfortunately, some of our issues and other areas in our state. So thank you, Director Kunz, for your patience, and walking through these numbers with me. Let me know what you find out, and we'll get these all connected. MS. KUNZ: Will do, thank you. CHR. VILLEGAS: Alright, thank you so much. And with that, I'll go ahead and take a vote to close file on Communication 322.1. All those in favor? Any opposed? Vote on Comm. 322.1: The motion to close file on Comm. 322.1 was carried Filed by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kaneali`i—Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Villegas — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kagiwada — 1. Excused: None. Comm. 424: REQUESTS A PRESENTATION BY CHRISTIAN P. GIARDINA, RESEARCH ECOLOGIST OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOREST SERVICE, REGARDING THEIR OPERATIONAL SCALE PLANNING FOR RIDGE -TO -REEF STEWARDSHIP From Council Member Heather L. Kimball, dated August 31, 2023. Page 9 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to close file on Comm. 424. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. (Note: Comm. 424. 1, from Council Member Heather Kimball dated September 14, 2023, transmitting a presentation to Comm. 424, was circulated.) CHR. VILLEGAS: Alright and with that I'll go ahead and turn it over to Council Member Kimball to share a little bit more about this communication. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, thank you, Chair. So it's my great pleasure to introduce paddling friend, just general friend, mentor, colleague, Christian Giardina from U.S. Forest Service. And then actually a former student of mine, Ph. D. candidate Gina McGuire, to present today on using decisions support tools for better rich treat management. And I think if you guys recall our conversation with Greg Asner and some of the data layers that he was putting together, he mentioned that this project and this team was in the works. And I wanted to make sure, you folks had an opportunity to learn about the work that they're doing and have the opportunity to ask some questions. So with that Christian take it away. (Note: At this time, Research Ecologist Christian P. Giardina and Gina McGuire Ph. D. came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. GIARDINA: First mahalo for having us here. And it's great to have this opportunity to share our research over the last two years. I'm actually going to pass it to Gina, who's going to take us through the slides, and then we'll have some time at the end if you have any questions. But really again, appreciate you having us here. CHR. VILLEGAS: Please introduce yourself for the record. MS. MCGUIRE: Thank you all so much for having us here today, it's really a pleasure. So my name is Gina McGuire, I was born and raised in the Kona district. I'm currently in a post -doctoral position with the Akaka Foundation, just completed my Ph. D. in the Geography Department. (Note: At this time, Gina McGuire Ph.D. provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the presentation, see the DVD copy of the proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office, or online at http:Hhawaiicounty.granicus.coin. A copy of the presentation is made part of the record, see Comm. 424. 1.) Page 10 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 CHR. VELLEGAS: Thank you, so much. Council Member Kimball MS. KIMBALL: Yeah. Thank you so much Gina, for that excellent presentation. And I'm sure my colleagues have a lot of questions for you folks, so I'll pass it on to them. I think you could all see the potential power of a tool like this, and you know, they're looking for guidance from us in terms of how were thinking about decisions up here on the dais and how this tool, you know, for an island -wide scale might be something we'd utilize in our decision-making processes as were evaluating projects here on the dais. Anyway, I'll yield now and open it up to everyone else. Thank you. CHR. VMLEGAS: Thank you. Council Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kimball, for bringing your friends. I would just say I think this is such useful information, it's not my area of expertise and I don't understand some of the maps myself. I'll have to ask her after, but thinking about how this can inform not just decision making but our existing code and policies regarding grading; grubbing; our wastewater; and what our policies are now and how we could improve it so it's not necessarily everyday decision making, but standing policy. And I think as you folks, you know, get further in your research and hoping that what you folks find is going be able to translate beyond our island. Because the different things that you take into account, you know, whether you can incorporate cultural significant locations into these models that is incredible and just valuable for all of our people's needs, So thank you so much for kind of giving us the quick insight as to where we are today, it will be good to definitely see how we can use this to help our island from a policy standpoint. Thank you. MS. MCGUIRE: Thank you. I also wanted to point out to you guys, like how were working with Miloli`i as a pilot city. But if there's any way within your communities at like Puako and Honoka`a really has a driving question that I think would really be open to responding to that and prioritizing communities that want to engage. But thank you so much for your feedback. CHR. VELLEGAS: Fantastic. Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you also for the presentation, very interesting. Is it going to be like a web -based tool usually? MR. GIARDINA: Yeah, so were intent on developing the technology for the tool upfront. Then in the third year of the project, we're on the second year of the project now, we would develop an inner face that would allow users to access the technology in a really user-friendly way. So we have a current proto type that actually Heather helped develop; it's a user interface that provides an opportunity to play with how prioritization can affect the priority maps that you create. So if Page 11 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 you emphasize cost or you emphasize equal logical value, you emphasize the production of fresh water; it will shift how the tool identifies key areas to achieve that outcome. So yeah, we're hoping to have an inner face, we're also hoping to—which we didn't do with the prototype, but we're hoping to hire an extension technology transfer position. We already have funding in place for about an 18 -month period, after the tool is released to work with potential users. That's one of the translation pieces that is sometimes left behind, that you produce a tool and it's not easily accessible. But we will have a full-time person for 18 months to help with that translation. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks. Yeah, it's super interesting. So will that be like do you have an idea where you would house that, yet? MR. GIARDINA: We don't know exactly where the website that will be created in year three is going live, but we will definitely make sure that it's a functioning and user-friendly inner face. The person who will hire that person will probably be based in Hilo. And I should also mention that Gina has accepted an extended post op with the forest service, and part of her position will also be to help over four years with some of this extension knowledge translation need. Right, is that fair? MS. GALIMBA: Oh, that's cool, you'll have to come back again and show us how it works when you get it up in year three. MR. GIARDINA: Absolutely. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks, yeah. I was just thinking, sort of doing a potential PONC (Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Committee) property in South Kona and something like this I think might be helpful for us and also perhaps for the PONC Commission to provide some scientific bases for their selection process. That's something I think would be a very useful tool for this. Yeah, thank you. MR. GIARDINA: That's exactly the kind of decision of support that we'd like to provide; how to prioritize purchasing land, for example, for some kind of conservation set aside, that also reduces the development pressure on the flux of contaminants into the near shore. So yeah, that's an awesome example. MS. GALEVIBA: Thanks. Congratulations on surviving your Ph.D. And I yield. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Council Member Galimba. Anyone else? Alright Council Member Evans. Page 12 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 MS. EVANS: Thank you. Wow, it's so impressive to be now, today in the year 2023 that we have technology, artificial intelligence, and ability to take all these modeling sets, and the ability for you to pull them all together so that we can collectively see the different sets of information. I mean I'm so impressed. The water shed management has been around for 50 years but has really lacked the ability to have the different data sets, the different experts, the different specialties and then pull it all together. So I think pulling it all together is like, that's what we need to do right now, and I think it's a game changer. The other thing I wanted to comment on is I think you're bringing a lot of money in jobs to this island. So to me that's a really important part of diversifying economy, is to have higher education and have all these professionals on our island doing things. So my bigger question is how are you funding all this? Is this through grant writing, is it supported by the different agencies? I see your partners, are your partners bringing money to our Island and jobs? MR. GIARDINA: So the core of the funding has come from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Forest Service. And it was the result of a fairly extensive conversation between the Forest Service and different partners that we have. And the Division of Forest and Wildlife under Hawaii DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources) and some colleagues at the watershed partnerships identified a need for better knowledge integration and to modeling, and then better integration of modeling into decision support. And so the Forest Service said, "Okay, we will allocate about a million dollars in total to support this effort". And it does translate into a number of staff people who are part of us now in this project, so it does bring capacity and jobs here. Yeah, and then definitely want to emphasize that this funding source from the Forest Service is being leveraged by a number of assets that Arizona State University brings, the University of Hawaii brings, and the State brings. And so we did bring maybe the initial part of funding, but there's a lot of leveraging that's happening. It's really exciting to see all of these data sets coming together. Great example is our partnership with the University of Hawaii (UH), some really excellent mapping work that's happen through UH Hilo. And some really excellent fire work that's happening through UH Manoa. And so we're excited to bring these pieces together. MS. EVANS: Excellent. The other thing, is there possibilities for our children in high school and in middle schools to be invited, and witness, and participate or something because we're growing next generation of potentially STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) students or whatever? So is there that kind of involvement? MR. GIARDINA: I love that question. Yeah, we have a program that we support with the University of Hawaii, and the Akaka Foundation of Tropical Forest called Pilina `Aina. And it's a conservation education program, and we partnered Page 13 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 with NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) B -WET (Bay Watershed Education and Training) program on a two-year ridge to reef education program. We started integrating some of the basics, and NOAA's excited about this, right, because they are all about ridge to reef. They're excited about bringing this kind of learning into the classrooms, so we've had huaka`i (trip or voyage) with teachers in year one of this program coming into some of these North Kona, South Kohala watersheds. And then in year two, the teachers will bring their students and engage both the landscapes and the stewards of these places but then the knowledge that gets generated in this project. So yeah, very excited to see where that goes and hopefully to grow that. MS. MCGUME: I would just add to that, that you had a high schooler on the team when I started. He has since started college and he's a duke now, but he was a really outstanding high school student, so we're really excited about continuing that legacy that he started. MS. EVANS: Thank you. My last comment is that I love the idea of modeling and data sets and there's a whole—people are getting trained and just manage data sets, right, and mind it for making decisions. So, I think there's other things coming out of this that we can learn a lot of lessons from and that's how we can bring all these sets together. So I'm very excited, look forward to seeing where this goes. Thank you, I yield. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Council Member Kdneali `i–Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ma'am. Very well done, thank you, for your time today. I think so far, I really resonated with what Mr. Inaba said, in regard to codifying some of what you've come up with, what you're going to come up with, and setting that in stone. Because it's going to become how we look at projects walking in our door and make better decision making which is beautiful. You did ask the questions, so I'm going to try and respond in ways that I think would be helpful. There's a lot of push towards, and Mr. Inaba touched on this, the grading, and grubbing, and clear cutting of lots and what that leads to. That has come up in a number of different arenas that I `ve sat in and watched, and trying to protect my interests, and protect the environment, and people's rights is an interesting balance, so ways of making a smart decision in that lens would be very useful. In the past, I've worked with our National Parks folks, Jeff Zimpfer if that name is familiar. He brought up water availability and I think it's the anchialine ponds, but as I've seen increased development the water levels have decreased, which decreases a resource that's protected. But he's had a hard time making any progress on that at all with local agencies and their inner play; the national verses county inner play. It's very interesting the way they can bring things up and we Page 14 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 can bring things up, but he can't directly ask us to work on something without there being a major process involved. So, ways of helping him would be helpful. And then as we look at these affordable housing prices, and we look at density and urban sprawl and make sure we're not just developing things in the middle of nowhere. A tool like this helps us really define what areas we want to see development in, what areas we don't want to. And not just because that's just random growth in the middle of nowhere, but this is a protective watershed, or this is an area with high cesspool contamination, or this is a ground water discharge site for this area which is a reef issue. Those kinds of things tied into our decision making will be incredibly useful. So that's what I have here at this point, I'm not a Ph. D., but you did a wonderful job of putting some things in front of us that were amazing. MS. MCGUIRE: Thank you. I just wanted to address, I heard both of you that grubbing and clearing is really important and in sediment off load. So I think we'll prioritize that, especially probably in the Hamakua, North Hilo I'm envisioning. And I grew up downstream of a ginger farm, and every time they bulldozed the stream turned brown. So I hear you, and I will make sure that's prioritized. And then, I also wanted to say we are including anchialine ponds in the ground water and I don't think we're doing service water in South Kona, but in the ground water modeling to see how different things will affect those levels as well. So we are paying attention to those. I thank you guys so much for your feedback, I hear you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. I yield, Chair. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Alright, with that I will wrap up. Oh, I'm sorry, Sue. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you so much. When Heather brings her friends the grade point average really goes up in the room, so thank you for being here. I just had a quick question and maybe because this is top of mind for me. You know, in your slide deck you mentioned partners in collaboration, and I see a lot of large land holders. And I was just curious if the Department of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL) was in any one of these subsets. And I'm asking that question because they're currently going through Hawaii Islands General Plan update from their holding's perspective. MR. GIARDINA: So one of our subject manner experts is Kualii Camara, who I'm guessing many of you know. He has been a colleague for a number of years, friend, and colleague. And maybe more than almost anyone else that I hang out with on a regular basis, he understands what's happening on the mountain, he understands stewardship. And so we're really relying on him for some key insights on Windward Mauna Kea, but he also has experience on DHHL and other Page 15 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 geographies; Kahikinui or South Kohala, and so he brings a lot of experience to our project in these other areas. We actually just had a meeting, kind of pau hana, with him to ask him some questions about that, so. I would say because of the geographic importance of Humu`ula, and other DHHL, and these three geographies that they are definitely represented. And Kualii is like I said, a subject matter expert, but we're not formally partnering with DHHL and Honolulu, for example, as a partner organization. We could go in that direction, but we haven't taken that approach yet. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, I just like the decision-making opportunities and Hawaiian Homelands those are one's tracks of lands that can never be gentrified, and will remain in trust with that department. And so, I was just really curious. And if you're open to it, they're currently going through their regional plans and updating that, and cross walking those plans against our own county general plans; along with as you mentioned, Humu`ula Pi`ihonua which is their largest track of land. And they're the largest track of land holdings in which they're doing the Aina Mauna Legacy Program, which is for a lot of the hunting that they look at. And I just think there would be some great opportunities, not only as Council Member Inaba mentioned, about actionable ideas and cross walking legislation. And I also think DHHL will be an awesome anchor for stewardship because that land isn't going anywhere. In fact, they're buying up new properties, right, to add to their inventory list. And so, appreciate the network that we have and sometimes it's great to network in the garage with a cooler with some of these great friends. But I also think there's a huge opportunity to drop in sound policy within the Department of Hawaiian Homelands Island Plan and their own regional plans that speak directly to Humu`ula Pi`ihonua, Waimea Nui, Kailapa; a lot of big tracks of land that interestingly enough some of them exist on the ridge and others down at the reef, so. MR. GIARDINA: Yeah, we did an initial visit with the Kailapa community leader there, I think it was Diane Kaneali`i, and had an initial instruction to an amazing plan that they had put together. I know that's exactly the kind of work that we want to support. And Kualii has talked about some of the planning that he's doing, would he be the entry point for us? MS. LEE LOY: Well the Department of Hawaiian Homelands are actually here on island; they were here yesterday and again today. Andrew Troy is letting up their land division, but I'm sure there's definitely other people that we can connect you with. I just think it would be a really robust plan. And like I mentioned, you know, we can pass legislation here but frankly what we say is not going to impact DHHL. They have to make their decisions themselves. So if they're looking for conservation, that's a business decision for that trust, and the beneficiaries of that trust to make. When I travel in these spaces, I'm so proud to be from the Big Island, because we're the one space that really doesn't have to undo a lot of our things as far as land use policies, stewardships were Page 16 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 actually kind of right on the cusp where we can start to guide them. Whereas you know, somewhere like City and County of Honolulu, you know, they're city already, so. If it's okay with you, I'll definitely connect the two of you guys. MR. GIARDINA: Yeah, mahalo for that. We'll connect with Kualii for sure. Yeah, and continue that. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah. There were a couple of items on their agenda just today around some of the stewardship that they were doing up at Humu`ula Pi`ihonua, which we know has a lot of gorse. Very invasive species up there and how they manage that along with the ungulates that they're trying to fence in or out. MR. GIARDINA: Kualii was just sharing with us some of his exciting innovative plans for gorse. MS. LEE LOY: Gorse, yes, energy. Anyway, we can take it offline. Thank you so much, I yield. MR. GIARDINA: Mahalo, everyone for having us here, really exciting to hear your questions. And glad that this is striking you as interesting. CHR. VELLEGAS: Thank you. Mr. Kaneali`i–Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, you guys jogged my memory. For one, yeah, that's my aunty. But that particular property is actually one of the few existing complete ahupua`a, and they do have an amazing plan. I was going to ask, on that thought water has always been their biggest issue. It's not that there's no water existing in the area, but do you tie in and look at water as the public trust when you start to look at your data, and your water usage, and where water is being used and not released back in, which is how it's supposed to be done here? And if not, please incorporate that in because we have a lot of water usage on island that doesn't actually conform. And even more so, how to make some changes, make sure it is being used appropriately. MR. GIARDINA: I can maybe give a very brief response to that. So we are interacting with Aaron Strauch who has worked fairly extensively with folks like Kapua Sproat to engage water as sacred resource beyond sort of maybe where water is being used, you know, in some of the sectors that we see today. So we are very much acknowledging this centrality and sacred bowl of water in how we function as a community and in this society. We know from recent events this summer that water has really driven some important, I'll say problems, and the stewardship of water. And so, we are hoping that this can result in science that supports equitable management of water. I think I can say that. And also, really excited to be working with Gina because she has been bringing in a—perspective to water to our project. And we are trying to bring this notion of water sacred to Page 17 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 all aspects of our project. And it's a little bit of a learning curve for a federal agency because we're used to thinking about gallons per minute. And I think we're very appreciative of Gina's input, but also of our colleagues who are telling us that water needs to be viewed as much more than gallons per minute. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, agreed. The one thing that stood on my head that someone taught me was, we had the most unique loss regarding water here for very specific reasons. But more so, you can't grandfather your water rights, that one blew my mind. So there's a lot of usage that is not conforming whatsoever, and very important as we drive agriculture and development and planning for the future. Thank you. CHR. VILLEGAS: Alright. I think with that, I'll just wrap this up. Wow, just going to start off with a wow. Thank you so much. This strengthens my hope and my faith in our capacity as a County to work collaboratively with other agencies and scientists, such as yourself, to bring forth technologies that are going to provide us with information we need in order to make the best decision possible in a palatable, user-friendly, accurate format. Thank you for that. I am really, really, excited to see this. I am also hopeful that you know they work fairly autonomously, but our Department of Water Supply, even through their own admission, is light years behind in their ability to really, effectively create a map of our water. If we have these aquifers and have all these water credits, and we have all these TMK (Tax Map Key) numbers, and they've been allocated to there; with today's technology we should be able to create a map that shows the exact numbers, right. If there's exact water units per aquifer, I mean even if that needs to be adjusted, but just to have something to look at instead of something in a DOS (Disk Operating System) system that is a spreadsheet that's hard to make heads or tails of. So I'm hopeful that there might be opportunity for you guys to work collaboratively with Department of Water Supply, to improve their current structures and systems and help them. I know they look for that as well, it's got to be frustrating in their roles to not have the technology available in order to be cutting edge. I also just really appreciate this term and I had to write it down again, indigenous agro-ecological systems restoration. That's fantastic. And something we've been challenged with is we're still waiting for a Water Use Development Plan from the Department of Water Supply. And one of the reasons that's taking so long is because it is directed to what Council Member Kdneali`i— Kleinfelder referred to with the Kaloko-Honokohau National Park and the lawsuits related to the effects of utilizing upland water and how that affects our cultural eco systems and native Hawaiian practices. So that ties right into why we don't have that yet. So thank you for utilizing those terms, and elevating them to this status of real necessity. And also, that it doesn't sound like a pie in the sky. You have the data and the mapping capacities to show what that means, instead of Page 18 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 years gone by it just always felt you were asking for something unobtainable or impossible. So, this is just spectacular. I just had a quick question about the map where you showed the water use and the strawberry guava. I was wondering if I understood it correctly. In looking at those mappings, it seems to imply that the decrease and the reduction of invasive species and the strawberry guava equated to increasing water efficiency, and you were able to map that. Is that kind of how that correlated? MR. GIARDINA: Just to make sure we're looking at the same figures, is it this one? CHR. VILLEGAS: Yeah, this one. Watershed Decision Support Force Ecology and Management. MR. GIARDINA: Yeah, there's a little complexity here. So as Gina was explaining, the left is our best estimation of where strawberry guava is located. The middle image is showing the change in water yield that would result with full invasion. So you can kind of see the letters in parenthesis, it's FI for full invasion minus current conditions. And it's just saying that in this blue area that is fairly free of strawberry guava, it's just above that big red belt of strawberry guava on the left. If that were to become fully invaded, there would be a big change in water. Then the panel on the right, and I think you clipped these from different figures that's why there are two panel A's. Apologies for that, but this is looking at these water yield changes. So, there's a second middle panel that compares fully restored and current conditions and so that lights up differently. It would show where the current strawberry guava is, if you do a bunch of restoration in that you would alter water yield. And so this panel on the right highlights where the biggest bang for your buck is in terms of restoration action. And this core is complicated because it also brings in things like cost, things like ecological integrity, all things being equal. Maybe you treat this spot instead of that spot because this is ecologically more valuable. CHR. VILLEGAS: Right—but water being precious, priceless. So if we are entering an era of water is more precious than gold, and so how to make most effectively sure that we are—this seems to reflect as we're interacting with invasive species. How to be most efficient and protecting our water resources highest bang for the buck. Thank you, I just wanted to make I understood that. No, I think you said it right, I just wanted to make sure. I also then wanted to just pop in, you were saying Miloh `i, and Puako, and sites for potential utilization of this. I would put out there Kahaluu Bay. Cindy Punihaole, I was there with her yesterday and meeting with a number of different people, and they have a lot of Page 19 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 data. I've been working very closely with Sea Grant and a lot of organizations. So, just drop that in your head for a potential partnership. And then last but not least, just kind of a begging for the dry side. In Kona these days we're seeing a lot more rain, which is great in some capacities. But when I look at the TMK (Tax Map Key) maps, and I look at the prior zoning parameters and mapping gets brought to us with specific developments. What's included in the flooding area is usually just a tiny little white dotted line, or dark dotted line on one side or another, and it's like this distant after thought. And we get development proposals that are like wait a minute, most of this property is in a flood plain. And one of the arguments was well, we'll just make sure to build the building on stilts, so they're not as affected to my consternation. Because you're going to park your car under there, you're going to put your oil, you're going to have all your other human stuff that if or when it floods it's going to end up in our coast. And so Sue Aronson (Kona Coast Realty Corporation) has been working and is very, very passionate about the ridge to reef concept, and is working on, and has a map. One of the first times I've ever seen a map like this, happy to show it to you and also, it's right in our County Council Offices. And it shows the flood corridors on the Kona side, which people don't really think of because we tend to be dry. But when she goes, she goes, and water does not stop for anything or anyone. And our brown water currencies, and the degradation of our equal system, and the loss of our precious topsoil, we have so little. And what we're seeing after decades ago permits were given, and the zonings were changed, and what not. Way up mauka, where now the forest is being removed, grubbed, and grated. And it's only a matter of time, and it's already happened, and it will happen again. We have these massive brown water occurrences, massive flooding occasions that affect the neighborhoods, not just the ecosystems, but the people living just makai of them. So I'm so excited and I just want to keep the west side really highlighted as that target, because we are also targeted for lots of developments. And so as Kona grows and continues to be kind of an urban hub, and we have a housing crisis and all these different things, and all the impetus is about water, and water credits, and what not. So, this technology I see as having the opportunity for us to make better decisions based on accurate data that is user friendly. And equitable for us to be able to share and acknowledge with one another. So thank you so much. I love the pink; the shoes are on fire. The glitter, yes. So encouraging to see a woman in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), especially at your caliber of education. And thank you for committing to continue to serve, and study, and participate here on the Big Island; it's really, really powerful. So, thank you. And with that, all those in favor of closing file on Communication 424. Page 20 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 Vote on Comm. 424: The motion to close file on Comm. 424 was carried Filed by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kaneali`i—Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Villegas — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kagiwada — 1. Excused: None. CHR. VILLEGAS: With that, I'd just like to ask for a five-minute recess, for a potty break. Alright, we're in recess and we'll be back at 3:00. Recess: At 2:53 p.m., the Chair called for a recess. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 3:00 p.m. CHR. VILLEGAS: Aloha, calling this meeting back into session, Committee on Communications, Reports, and Council Oversight. Mr. Clerk, go ahead, and read in Communication 425. Comm. 425: REQUESTS A PRESENTATION BY THE MASS TRANSIT AGENCY AND REPRESENTATIVES FROM SSFM INTERNATIONAL REGARDING ISLAND -WIDE TRANSIT SERVICES AND TITLE H AMERICANS WITH' DISABILITIES ACT SERVICES From Council Member Susan L. K. Lee Loy, dated August 31, 2023. Motion to Close File: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 425. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. (Note: Comms. 425.1 and 425.2, from Council Member Susan L. K. Lee Loy dated September 14 and 18, 2023, transmitting a presentation and a handout to Comm. 425, was circulated.) CHR. VILLEGAS: Council Member Lee Loy, I'll go ahead and turn this over to you. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you so much. Today we have the privilege and honor of welcoming our new Mass Transit Director. I think we're all so used to John Andoh and we had a little bit of a transition there. But I just thought it would be a great opportunity to introduce yourself to the Council, along with bringing us up to speed on where you are with our DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) compliance, and any future plans that you have from Mass Transit. I think we set your budget, and you have some monies that come to you Page 21 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 through the GE (General Excise) fund, so we know there's a lot of resources there. But I also want to point out that we have our good friend in Hilo from SSFM, Jo -Anna Herkes, who also is a great partner with us at Mass Transit. So if you guys don't mind, go ahead take it away, (Note: At this time, Mass Transit Administrator Victor Kandle came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. KANDLE: Aloha, Council Members and Chair. Thank you for the opportunity to meet with you. I'm Victor Kandle. As Susan pointed out, I started my new Administration back in June. I've been very busy these three months getting an idea of the background, the projects, the funding, and the personnel, and grants and all that. So it's been a lot. What I know at this point is that the support from the Council has been very thorough and has put me in the position of feeling very accountable and responsible for that support. It's very clear to me that John worked hard to forward the Mass Transit Master Plan, and you all have supported that plan to a great deal. So to me, my Administration is going to be about transparency, collaboration, with many different groups and staff, and really progressing the outline of the plan. I'm working on putting together quite a few little bits of data to help support or provide evidence for success or adjustments that are needed et cetera. So that's where we're at, that's kind of where I'm at today. So, we'll move on to the next slide. (Note: At this time, Mass Transit Administrator Victor Kandle provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the presentation, see the DVD copy of the proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office, or online at htlp:Hhawaiicounty.granicus.com. A copy of the presentation is made part of the record, see Comm. 425.1 and 425.2.) CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you so much. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you so much. I did want to invite Joanna, who's in our Hilo Chambers, if there's anything else she wanted to highlight. Thanks Joanna, we do have all the work that you did relate to the ADA (The Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance for our bus stops. And thank you for marking it out or calling it out by Council District, and I just was curious if you had anything else to add? (Note: At this time, SSFM Jo—Anna Herkes came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. HERKES: No, not really. And please forgive me though there might have been some areas of those photos, I wasn't sure which district it's in. So it was Page 22 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 either District two or three, so forgive me if I didn't know exactly where some of these stops were. Other than the fact that collaboratively with DPW (Department of Public Works), and the contractor, and other parties involved with accomplishing this mandate from DOJ (Department of Justice); it was a great effort. Everything really went quite smoothly, we did have a few concerns after the construction was done with a few mitigation issues that we had to take care of, which I believe have all been completed as well. I did not interface with DOJ; Corporation Counsel did. So I think if Suzanna has anything that she'd like to add, as far as us helping comply the county with this mandate from DOJ. I'll turn it over to Suzanna. MS. LEE LOY: Thanks, Jo -Anna. First of all, thank you and welcome. You know, diving into—with us over here. I just had a real quick question around your MT -18. You mentioned you're in the process of four mechanics but only one application received, is it just because of the minimum qualifications or interest? MR. KANDLE: It seems to be related to the minimum qualifications. I did note it was just one application, because I think that there had been concerns about hiring; and I share that concern. So, one of the things that I've talked to some people about is maybe the possibility of an apprentice program, that kind of thing, because I think that we're going to need the help. And I think if we can bring some new people in, I think that they're going to be more amendable to the zero -emission type structure. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, for sharing that. I think you're not alone, there's a lot of agencies and departments that are struggling with hiring and slowly stepping people into our apprentice program or job shadowing; something that's not new to us. So definitely there's that, and then work that we've been doing with Hawaii Community College for the job training, especially in the mechanics field because of the new technology with our hydrogen and electric buses and some of the other things. Thank you for sharing that. And then this second one, you had a transit fleet and facilities manager. One person, two areas of expertise fleet management and facility management. MR. KANDLE: So it is both. And currently, we have our fix route program manager managing the facilities, as well. So part of the goal of that position is to peel some of her responsibilities away because she's the soul person responsible for fixed route. Everything from customer service to customer complaints to scheduling, to managing the contract with Roberts; and routing all of it. So she's got a lot. The facility and the fleet kind of go together in regard to like the shop and that kind of stuff. One of the things that kind of sparked in my mind on your previous comments about our staff. I feel honestly kind of blessed by the fact that I've been given such a good team; and that is sincere. I came from an agency that had good people, but I didn't feel like they had an opportunity to Page 23 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 really manage so much. And the team we have in place manages a lot, and so I'm very thankful that I find myself in a situation that I am. MS. LEE LOY: What a great compliment for your staff. I didn't have any other questions other than, you know, we put a lot of effort into that Mass Transit Master Plan and making sure that it was funded. And we know that at some point that monies are going to sunset. And so I just want us as body if not this legislative cycle or one coming up, that we make sure that we're making the right pitch to extend that funding, because I've seen it transform Hawaii Island. And when we talk about access and equity issues. I mean you mentioned it, there's a number of people riding the bus who just have no transportation. And you know, you highlighted our ADA compliance piece and that's one population, but we have many, many, many. Whether it's kids going to school or our seniors trying to get to a doctor's appointment, it really is a lifeline for them. I see a lot of the work that we do here on the dais is really making sure that our community has that lifeline for just everyday grocery shopping, doctors, and getting around town. So thank you for being here, welcome on board. I yield. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Council Member Kaneali `i—Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I—KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you for being here today, nice to put a face to the name. So with everything you just said, a quick mahalo to Ms. Herkes in our Hilo Chambers, who's been here and around for a very long time. Thank you for your help. Writership numbers increased since COVID (Coronavirus Disease). What I remember from the previous Administrator was his wanting to provide free fares to up our ridership numbers, which equals more federal funding opportunities. That really was a selling point for me, for free fares, and it's working; people are riding the buses, but he was also building that ridership number to equal more funding for us. So, I hope you take that into consideration as you look at your whole. Any thoughts towards putting cameras on the buses, so that we can see what's happening in real time or at least a database you can pull from if you get an incident that you need to deal with? MR. KANDLE: That question came up in our preproduction meeting yesterday. It's not Town and Country, I can't remember the name of the company. Country Township, anyway, they're based in Wisconsin. They're going to provide us with eight buses, and we were just talking about that yesterday. We were talking about security cameras and that was listed as an option to be considered. And so it came up, do we want to consider. Yes, we do. So, it's on the list along with a couple of other things that I'm interested in seeing on those buses. What the cost is and what has been set aside for that purchase. I think, given the data connected to the funding that was going to new flyer means that I'm going have Page 24 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 the funding to provide those options, I think. But I haven't had time to really dig into that to know that. But I think that security cameras are an important part, and I think that if can also have them live that's definitely going to be helpful too. MR. KANEALI`I–KLEINFELDER: I agree. I think it will build security for the people riding the buses, and they will feel more comfortable. MR. KANDLE: Yes. Just in the three months, I've had a significant amount of feedback. Including from Cindy, that there's an interest or a concern about the security on our system. And I hear it in some of our passenger's call -ins when it makes it to my phone, and it does make it to my phone. I think it's going to be a pretty important element to provide additional support to solving, strategizing on how to do that. MR. KANEALI`I–KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. You talked about Uber. I've always wondered, as we grow, is there shift towards smaller mass transit? It's not the big classic giant buses, but as were moving towards smaller which is more convenient to get into more rural areas and then connect back to larger buses. Is that kind of the transition we're making? MR. KANDLE: So that's a great question because one of the things that I learned during the finalizing of our ADA compliance was that there was some kind of exchange that went like okay, well what are you going to do about the route that goes in here where there is no possibility of compliance? We'll remove service. That kind of surprised me when I learned that. So I think of Orchid land, I think of Fern Acres, and some of these communities where we are serving, that the possibilities of being ADA compliant with a stop are going to be very challenging, given that it's private land, private roads, and we don't have any ownership there. So the answer to your question is I don't know, but I think it's very—one of things that I have been thinking of and to go back to the Master Transit Plan. I'm moderately familiar with it, as far as hub and spoke. So you think of that, but I'm also thinking in terms of connectivity between Pahoa and Hilo and being able to mark it that the bus goes through without the traffic. So I just thought how nice it would be if there was a transit lane dedicated to transit or how nice it would be if we could say we've opened up Government Road and Railroad that goes kind of through the communities on the back side and it was transit only or something like that or transit in bicycle. So I think of some core routes between hubs with smaller circular buses going through the neighborhoods to feed those core routes and hubs. I don't know if that's well within the scope of the Transit Plan, but we would be responding to the Transit Plan first and then looking at how we could incorporate some of these other ideas. One of the things that I've learned through the years of experience in transit is that if you see the bus sitting in the traffic with all the cars, there's no Page 25 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 reason to take the bus. If you see the bus zooming by, zooming by, zooming by; it's clear. and it does make a difference. So anyway, that's kind of my thoughts on that. It's very peremptory to all the rest of the topic of planning. MR. KANEALI`I—KLEINFELDER: Okay. My last question for you. And this one is interesting and there's some things I want to follow-up with you later on, we'll set a meeting up. The van pool program that we have works well, but I get a lot of requests from folks in the community who are trying to get a group of kids together to go to a certain school. And possibly, you know, I think one was getting from the area I represent in Puna to Waimea, and having a number of parents wanting to do that, and wanting to find a vehicle big enough. But one of the hurdles we got stuck in was the program exists, but we were not able to utilize it for school kids because of the way it was designed. And this something that John (John Andoh, previous Mass Transit Administrator) and I started working on, but never finished with the enterprise folks. There never was a final conclusion to the answer. And John was thinking that we could, but they were saying couldn't. It was frustrating because we have the program, I can see the potential, but we couldn't utilize it for good use like getting our kids to school, having a vanpool, sharing between a number of families in that area, getting to another area. So, I love this. I mean if you don't know that's fine, I'm not expecting you to know. But you can dig into that a little bit and get an answer out of those guys. I got three emails out to three different people and none of them can give me an answer, which probably tells me that I think we can, but they just need a little push. MR. KANDLE: So some good news, while I'm not familiar with the specifics of putting it to Waimea and the school children or what roadblocks exist or don't exist there. In regard to the van pool, it does seem to be working well. I'm working on their contract right now and they requested a number of adjustments that we're working with legal. We're working through that. I don't know the answer to your question, but the good news is I am a pusher. I end up having to prioritize things, and to me that would be a priority. And I am a pusher. MR. KANEALI`I—KLEINFELDER: Beautiful. I mean, we can't have this lack of buses and availability for kids or increased costs to parents in underserved, low-income areas. That program offers a neat alternative, but if we can't use it, we're kind of stuck; it doesn't make sense. As you work with them, try to figure out what enterprise has got on their end and why we can't or if we can, and that will be tremendous. Thank you, and very nice to meet you. Thank you, sir. Thank you to your staff for being here as well. CHR. VELLEGAS: Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Well I just wanted to say that he thanked me, but it's really all you that deserve the thanks. I can't remember what the timing was, but it was at a Page 26 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 very strange time that we were presented with this very complicated problem of kids that needed to get to school. And it wasn't really your problem to solve, but you jumped in and figured it out, and your staff did it very quickly and efficiently with compassion. So I really thank you for doing that, and continuing to work with the school to get the kids there. I just wanted to ask you something about the fares. As far as we have a free fare now, which obviously is very popular, and is building numbers. I got the impression that potentially, well I'm not sure whether we could do that because we got federal funding or whether the federal funding came with a string attached of free fares. I'm kind of wondering if we could increase it to like a very small fare, to sort of work on the security issue but still make it very attractive and accessible to all residents or are there sort of issues around that. I kind of remember there being some issues around that from previous administrators, but I wondered if you could talk about that a little bit. MR. KANDLE: Sure. So to the first part, I will say this; it went like this. "Hey, Victor, we got a problem with school children trying to get to school on an overloaded bus." Kasie (Mass Transit Program Manager Kasie Kailikea), tell me more about this. Kasie is our fixed route person. And so a lot of situations are presented to me, and I depend on my team. So really the thanks should go to Kasie, because she dug in and got a lot of the details. So, I really appreciated her in that role. In regard to the free fare, because I understand it was a grant that allows us to—and I don't think it actually covers the whole amount, but I believe it covers most of it. And that's through December 2025; so we got about two years left on that. Some of my thinking on restoration affairs would be in line with what some other transit agencies do where it's kind of based on income. So, I think that when you think about a transit rider you have wide range of needs being served. You think of commuters who have to travel a long distance and are saving money by riding the system; but really don't have great income. So I think in terms of levels of income that kind of set a rate. I don't know if we want to get it super complicated, but you could think in terms of like some kind of tier; low- income, young people, elderly, or kind of—citizen status, some stuff like that. So, I think that we should definitely look at a tiered approach on a restoration of fares. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks, for that. I yield, that's all. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Council Member Galimba. Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. And thank you for being here, Administrator, I appreciate your time and putting together a presentation for us. A couple of quick things, with your predecessor and R&D (Department of Research and Development), we worked on a grant through part of the infrastructure package for six additional paratransit vehicles that would be electric and the charging Page 27 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 infrastructure for them. So that was back in June, just bringing that to your attention, in case that wasn't relayed to you that had been worked on through R&D. MR. KANDLE: I think that there are some gaps in my knowledge. I have heard talk about that, and it was not one of those things I was able to track down before the presentation today. I wonder if it matches with the Lono grant, because that is for three hydrogen and three electric vehicles. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, it was a different grant. It was primarily around charging infrastructure. But as we were working on it and thinking about the justice for initiative and serving disenfranchised, disadvantaged communities, we thought oh, this is a cool opportunity to bring in electric paratransit into the County. And so, I think we put together a pretty good application. MR. KANDLE: I'll definitely dig in and research that because I was just talking with Erik Soderholm yesterday. He is proposing some opportunities for some electric paratransit vehicles, including the possibility of a lease. So, I was looking at that and I kind of feel like given his background that he would be kind of aware of that. So I'll just have to look at that, and dig in. So I just don't know. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. R&D was the lead on that, so Riley Saito would probably be the best. MR. KANDLE: Well I get to spend the whole week with him next week, so. MS. KIMBALL: Perfect. Another conversation you can have with him is about the hydrogen bus versus battery electric bus question. At this point, the topography shouldn't be a problem for battery electric. So I wouldn't use it as an argument point towards hydrogen, it's the refueling time or the recharging time that is the bigger issue. I have just a little point of frustration for me, that argument has been made and it just isn't true with most recently designed battery electric buses that can make it over saddle and back without any issue. MR. KANDLE: You bring up a good point, because they did, CTE (Center for Transportation and the Environment) did acknowledge that the greater battery capacity was going to solve a lot of problems. But there were two areas that they were still concerned about. And one of them was down at the rise that comes out of Nd`dlehu up towards Ocean View that's a pretty significant long grade and steep. So I think they were still concerned about that one, as far as battery electric bus. If we get to a point where these get resolved, I'm definitely more interested in a very cohesive fleet. And it would make a lot of things much more easily manageable. I do like the possibilities with hydrogen fuel, but I do think that it's also a pretty young science, especially in transit. Page 28 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, it is, and it's certainly not nearly as long as the full battery electric. And at this point it's still a third of the efficiency of battery electric hydrogen is, in terms of you're going to need three times the energy to create the hydrogen for the equivalent amount of horse power. So, that of course needs that horse power. The last kind of comment I wanted to make, and I want to thank you for acknowledging your staff and the great staff you have Because I think working for the County government is sometimes a thankless job. So it's great that you acknowledge your staff. However, I do want to share with you that my staff, my Council Aide, has utilized the bus service or attempted to a couple of times, and has been met with very poor customer service. And to the point, I actually asked her to talk with Managing Director Lee Lord and share her experience. So, I would encourage you to come to my office and have another conversation. And she can share with you the particulars of her situation, but it was more than one isolated incident. I'm sure that it was just part of the larger picture, but I was pretty concerned about what I heard from her. So, I want to make sure that you have that conversation at some point. MR. KANDLE: I am not unaware of some of the customer service challenges. I fielded some pretty serious pieces of feedback over the last few months. I think in some ways there's a lot of need for better, clear communication on what the expectations are. I know, for example, that we denied service to somebody because they wanted to go to Hilo on this route, not the route that would normally be ahead of that. And so it kind of got perceived in the wrong way. So we followed up and were like, you can't deny service. You can advise it would be better if. And they're like we're saving spots for our customers that are going to fill the bus up down the road. It's like, you can't do that. I can appreciate somebody wanting to articulate that. It should stop at sharing that; it should be okay come on board. Because we do not deny service, it kind of came up also with the school thing. There was one incident where they were like well, I got passengers that need to get to work, and if I fill it up with school children. And so, I think there was that one incident that I got immediately corrected. I think some other situations were just honestly inappropriate feedback from an operator to our passengers. I know in one particular situation the driver ended up resigning. I don't know if it's related to the one you're talking about, but we're now unaware of some of the challenges there. MS. KIlVIBALL: Yeah, thank you for that. I appreciate your focus on that. I know part of it is just consistency and the information that people are receiving when they call for help. I just wanted to make you aware of that. Just as a final note, I'll say fully on board with mass transit only lanes. I think that's a great Page 29 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 idea, definitely want to incentivize using the bus ticket to work. So thank you, I yield, Chair. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Council Member Evans MS. EVANS: Thank you. Well I have one comment, because I do have constituents that ride the bus. They don't have a bus stop, so their experience is they have to wave down the bus. And I know we have that on certain stretches of our highway. We have a long coast, you know, in North Kohala and people wave. So I'm just again—pulling off, and waving, and a lot of traffic, and a lot of things go on. They drive right past them and don't pull over and pick them up, and they've been waiting there for an hour, right, or whatever. So is there a way to educate and have this conversation with the public, like where's the best place for them? Should we have places that are designated along the coast? And maybe if they can get to those spots, maybe you don't have a shelter there, but maybe we have a really nice Hawaiian really pretty sign. You know, this is kind of the preferred place that you wait for your bus. Because I know in a lot of rural areas I've been, where they tell me you go down there a quarter mile and stand by that sign. That's where the bus person is going to expect, that's where they want you to be, right, when they pull over. So just a thought because I heard about the bus driving by them, and I'm like maybe they were in a traffic situation; too many cars were coming in two different directions and we just didn't see them, and realized that they were standing—you know, this is the sign to get the bus, right? So it's just a thought, because of our rural nature. MR. KANDLE: I think my concern on that is, there's the safety component. I think there's an opportunity for disparate treatment between operators and passengers. Oh, I know that passenger, I don't want to stop or oh, I didn't see. And so I think really, we need to keep progressing to identifying safe locations that are well marked, that are lit, may have a shelter, they're ADA compliant, they have the signage, and it's part of our whole program. And we really did do that with the 177 stops for the ADA compliance, and each time I want keep on expanding that. I think at some point, perhaps we can get to there's none of this. There's just—you have a passenger on board who's requesting a stop that's not a stop in advance, where they can do it safely. So we call those, now the term just left me. We used to just do it during night service, and that just became kind of a nice thing that we can do. But it still ends up putting the operator in an awkward position of evaluating well, can I safely stop at the 7-11, yeah. I'm totally with you on here's the stop, it's advertised, and it's marked. And it's known both the operator and—because you can't really withhold the driver accountable to, well you passed the stop. There's not a stop there. Only there is, culturally, a stop there. So it definitely can get— Page 30 CRCOC-14 September 19, 2023 MS. EVANS: And the distances are so great. Kawaihae, the Kohala Coast, the Harbor, all the subdivisions running up the coast, all the subdivisions running up Kawaihae Road. How do you do it? I don't know, but I'd love to promote more people getting on buses. Thank you, I yield. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Anyone else have any other comments? Alright, thank you for being here and stepping into these big shoes, and perpetuating all the progress that was made in this department agency office. And just stepping in with such fervor and utilizing your skills and strengths to ensure that SSFM's plans have been laid and our community is well served. So with that, all those in favor of closing file on Communication 425 please say "aye." Vote on Comm. 425: The motion to close file on Comm. 425 was carried Filed by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Kaneali`i—Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Villegas — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kagiwada — 2. Excused: None. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 3:56 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Kaneali`i—Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Villegas — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kagiwada — 2. Excused: None. CHR. VILLEGAS: We are adjourned. Aloha. Approved: A6ff AWA"eccAlillegas, Chair Communications, Reports, and Council Oversight Committee RV/rk 2 ®6 23 (Date) Page 31