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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0010.006 2022-2024 •? c' k� • ' Phone: (808) 961-8828 HEATHER L. KIMBALL :•�P COUNCIL CHAIR = " ��="�' Fax: (808) 961-8912 Council District 1 (North Hilo, Email:heather.kimball@hawaiicountv.gov Hamakua, and portion of Waimea) ` HAWAI`I COUNTY COUNCIL COUNTY OF HAWAI`I 25 Aupuni Street, Ste. 1402, Hilo, Hawai`i 96720 —+ r Wes, DATE: November 17, 2023 r= TO: Members of the Hawai'i County Council .�.. - FROM: Heather Kimball, Council Chair SUBJECT: Approved Minutes of the Hawai`i State Association of Counties Executive Committee Meeting held on August 25, 2023 and September 21, 2023 Please find attached the approved minutes of the Hawai`i State Association of Counties Executive Committee Meeting held on August 25, 2023 and September 21, 2023. Please place these matters on the agenda for the next appropriate Committee. Mahalo HK:bjt Comm:No V• 'Ref.To r l`j i ` Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer . ,Ref:-Dote, Hoy'.-2 4 .2023 OC�9 Hawaii State Association of Counties (HSAC) Zi Counties of Kaua'i Maui, Hawai'i and City &I Countyof Honolulu T Website:hawaiicounties.org;Email:hsacOhawalicounties.org cotno MINUTES HSAC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING FRIDAY,AUGUST 25,2023 10:00 A.M., or soon thereafter Via Videoconference Zoom link Meeting ID: 817 8918 8454 Passcode: 251778 City and County of Honolulu 530 South King Street,Room 202,Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 County of Hawaii 25 Aupuni Street, Suite 2409, Hilo, Hawaii 96720 County of Kauai 4396 Rice Street, Suite 209, Lihu`e,Kauai, Hawaii 96766 County of Maui 200 S. High Street,Wailuku,Maui,Hawaii 96793 Attendees: CM Tommy Waters, CM Heather Kimball, Lobbyist Jon Okudara, Allison Okasaki, David Raatz, Dorthi, CM Esther Kia'aina, CM Felicia Cowden, Gina Young, CM Jenn Kagiwada, Kaci Tsuneda, Kamakana Watanabe, Kasie Apo Takayama, Lisa Watanabe, CM Mel Rapozo, Clarissa Macdonald, Remi Mitchell, S. Laiu HNL OCS, CM Shane Sinenci, ED Nahelani Parsons, CM Bernard Carvalho, CM Sue Lee Loy. I. CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Agenda approved. III. MINUTES a. June 26, 2023 HSAC EC meeting b. June 26, 2023 HSAC General Membership meeting August 25, 2023, HSAC Meeting Minutes Page 12 .,0 ";::=. I SA 1,:z. Minutes approved. IV. REPORTS a. Treasurer's Report CM Kimball: Balance in the primary account, $128,116.36. Balance in the HSAC conference account, $99,477.97, Total deposit account balances, $227,594.33. Treasurer's report received and approved b. County Reports: i. County of Hawai`i CM Kimball: Council recently passed a bill to allow for expanded usage of recovery funds granted by the state for the 2018 lava flow, to support capacity building and local projects. Another bill on maintenance and repair work on private roadways, there is public usage in private subdivisions that need some additional maintenance. Finally, resolution regarding the only private insurance company that covered lava zones is pulling out so that those homes can no longer get private home owners insurance. Passed a resolution to ask the state to help resolve. Potentially this could also result in insurance companies pulling out due to wildfires. Working on the HSAC legislative package for the 2024 session. ii. County of Kaua`i CM Carvalho: Several bills regarding property tax,changing terms from owner to tax payer, increasing exemption amounts, four bills overall. Revitalizing the process. Including long term affordable housing tax rate and the different tax rates that fall under that. Bill 2906 establishing staff support positions for CM HSAC conference, still have availability for some of the site visits. Golf tournament, encouraging more people to sign up. Location is Wailua golf course. Conference registration is 165-200 as of now. Thursday evening event is the social gathering, Friday all speakers and breakout sessions are all set. Will have local products available at the front of the conference area. CM Cowden: Question about civil defense, how do we make our islands safe. What can we expect about Maui being discussed? CM Carvalho: We are going to include something about Maui, nothing specific as of right now, but we are open to see how we are going to discuss it. S�TE0.Ss August 25, 2023, giSAC Meeting Minutes Page I. 3SA o' i CM Kimball: Stuart Coleman from Wai collective inquiring if can present on cesspools. Would like a recommendation from each council for who they would like to participate in the conversation with Rep Nakamura on waste water and cesspool conversion. CM Waters: We are investing in infrastructure in Ewa but getting some push back from the community, what are the other counties experiencing? CM Kimball: Looking.into a cost for not converting and having that cost escalate over time. Looking at denitrification in addition to converting from cesspool. Working on some innovative solutions, especially on reclaimed water from our systems. Looking at a pressurized liquid only, so treat only the liquid part and treat that. Localized system. Get the cost down to make it identical to septic. CM Waters: Maybe we take this to the legislature and ask for funding, this is an unfunded mandate. iii. County of Maui CM Sinenci: Maui wildfire update. 4 fires on Maui on August 8, estimated 2,178 acres burned. S Maui in Kihei,fire contained for the last 13 days. Fatality update is at 115 confirmed deceased and 95%of the area searched Office confirmed 2 family members accounted for today, hopefully more families will help locate those on the list. 538 FEMA workers, 470 Army reserves, 556 Hawaii national guards, 390 Red Cross volunteers and 50 search and rescue dogs. Hotel rooms being used for temporary housing. 9545 verified requests to FEMA for emergency assistance funds. Over 1000 survivors whose primary residences have been destroyed and have been contacted by the Red Cross. Clean up efforts, EPA has begun work to remove hazardous waste in Kula, no word on Lahaina clean up. Unsafe water advisory still in effect. 1800 customers are still out of power, but HECO hopes to have 90%+ restored by this weekend People being sheltered in hotels and some in the main shelter More general discussion on government response and the funds coming in and identifring the short term needs of housing, medical needs including physical and mental, clean up of toxic materials, identify the missing persons. Long term needs include housing, economic recovery ,rebuilding a historically culturally sensitive location on the ocean, plan for future to strengthen disaster preparedness planning and resilience. More discussion on the committee meetings to follow and actions going to be taken. Administration suspended real property taxes and some charter provisions by the Mayor. August 25, 2023, HSAC MeetingMinutesPage IS�TE�s 4 SAs''• �ouc+t.. CM Carvalho:Here to support and do whatever we can to support Maui. CM Kimball:Sharing words of support to Maui. Encouraging people to donate funds rather than items. Put a system in place to collect donations at fire and police stations. CM Waters: Where is the best place to encourage donations to be sent to? CM Sinenci: Maui nui strong, CNHA, Red Cross, HCF, many others, trying to get these donations directly to those impacted. This is a long term need. mahalo for the support. iv. City and County of Honolulu CM Waters:Asked CM Kiaaina to join us today. CM Kiaaina:Ed Snffen has been designated as the state infrastructure coordinator. Each county will have their own coordinator, working towards a federal infrastructure workshop to build capacity on all levels. Targeting the 1st or 2nd week of December. Goal to see a more coordinated team to interface with the federal level. More discussion on the types of funding out there, and how to increase access and education in order to access more funding. All reports received. c. NACo Report CM Waters:Nothing new to report. d. WIR Report CM Sue Lee Loy: WIR discussion on the wildfires that are occurring on the mainland, impacting ranchers and farmers. WIR has been looking at policy around how to collaborate between the federal agencies and local support. Having a larger policy discussion about a universal form that can be filled out following a disaster so they don't have to repeat so many forms for the assistance they need. WIR report received e. Executive Director Report ED Parsons: ED report included in the agenda. NEw information from the Maui CM is that they may not be able to attend in person at the HSAC conference, requesting that the meeting also be available remotely so they can join the meeting as well as request for flexibility on their reimbursement for attending. August 25, 2023, HSAC Meeting Minutes Page 15 .St;;TeAs . SAIN f. Legislative Report Lobbyist Okudara: Working with CMPaltin on legislation. Doing more research on air guns and replicas, continuing to work on the list from Heather on boards and commissions.Also working on the legislation regarding counties with more than 3 islands. Also looking at other ways for counties to raise funds. CM Kimball: Got opinion from corp counsel, with respect to the three islands, their interpretation is that it does exclude the other islands except for Maui. So if other counties want to regulate overnight accommodations, then need to address that. Will share the LUC memo. Hosting an ag tourism event in Hawi on the 31st. Challenge is regulating short term rentals on ag lands. Discussion on whether to re-introduce the bills from the 2023 HSAC legislative package. Intention to re-introduce the bills as the version that made it the furthest in the legislative process. ED Parsons: Reminder about timeline, September 30 is the next deadline on the timeline for HSAC to receive those proposals from each county for consideration in the HSAC legislative package. CM Waters: Can we ask the legislature to extend GET Lobbyist Okudara:Looking at taxing authority, specifically which funds will generate the most. CM Cowden: Would like to see the conveyance tax looked at, it is low. Legislative report received. V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS VI. NEW BUSINESS a. City and County of Honolulu Resolution No. 23-164, FD1 APPROVING THE HAWAI`I STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES' NOMINEES TO THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES AND THE WESTERN August 25, 2023, HSAC Meeting Minutes Page 16 .3;Si�TE" � SAs. INTERSTATE REGION BOARDS OF DIRECTORS FOR THE 2023-2024 TERM, which was approved by the City and County of Honolulu on July 12,2023. Received. b. Hawai`i County of Resolution No. 206-23, A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE NOMINATION OF MEMBERS TO THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND THE WESTERN INTERSTATE REGION BOARD OF DIRECTORS., which was approved by the County of Hawai`i on July 26, 2023. Received. c. Communication (08/11/2023) from Council Chair Heather L.Kimball,requesting discussion and approval on an amendment to the 2023-2024 HSAC budget. This amendment will specifically decrease two HSAC budget line items to increase line item 13, "EC Auditing/Professional Services" to account for the anticipated expenses resulting from a financial audit. Approved. d. Review and approval of the contract for lobbyist Jon Okudara, of Okudara & Associated,Inc. Approved. e. Resolution introduced by WIR Board of Director Council Member Sue Lee Loy • (08/17/2023), A RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE VITAL ROLE OF INSURANCE COMPANIES AND THEIR COMMITMENT TO THEIR POLICYHOLDERS IN THE STATE OF HAWAI`I AS THEY SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY THE RECENT WILDFIRE DISASTERS, requesting support from the members of HSAC. CM Sue Lee boy: Discussion on how past disasters in the islands have raised awareness about the need for insurance companies to develop a public awareness campaign about how people can access their policy and how insurance companies can be more proactive and supportive. Need this resolution for Maui and for all other areas of the state who deal with disaster response. August 25, 2023, HSAC Meeting Minutes Page 17 .... �;SS�TE"5= � SAiri COUNT CM Mel Rapozo: Discussion on how the insurance companies during Iniki left homeowners without coverage. Hopefully Maui insurance coverage will be there, and we need to band together in support. Resolution adopted. • VII. ANNOUNCEMENTS a. Scheduling of the next Executive Committee meeting. i. Upcoming Executive Committee meeting is scheduled for September 21. 2023 at 4:30 p.m. VIII. ADJOURNMENT 3P``S C> . Hawai`i State Association of Counties (HSAC) _'� Counties of Kauai, Maui, Hawaii, and City & County of Honolulu Website: hawaiicounties.orq ; Email: hsac a awaiicounties.org = .440 MINUTES HSAC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21,2023 4:30 P.M.,or soon thereafter In person at the Grand Ballroom Breakout room, Koloa Landing Resort,2641 Poipu Rd, Koloa,HI 96756 Viewing only via Videoconference Zoom link Meeting ID: 895 1501 6009 Passcode: 308218 City and County of Honolulu 530 South King Street, Room 202, Honolulu,Hawaii 96813 County of Hawaii 25 Aupuni Street, Suite 2409,Hilo,Hawaii 96720 County of Kauai 4396 Rice Street, Suite 209, Lihu`e,Kauai,Hawaii 96766 County of Maui 200 S. High Street,Wailuku, Maui,Hawaii 96793 Attendance: CM Tommy Waters, CM Tamara Paltin, CM Bernard Carvalho, Jr. , CM Heather Kimball, CM Shane Sinenci, Allison Okasaki, Kasie Apo Takayama, Sommerset Yamamoto, CM Felicia Cowdnen, CM Billy De Costa, NACo President Mary Jo McGuire, NACo Executive Director Matt Chase, CM Sue Lee Loy, HSAC ED Nahelani Parsons, Lobbyist Jon Okudara. I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Agenda approved. III. MINUTES a. July 31, 2023 HSAC EC meeting Minutes approved. IV. REPORTS September 21, 2023, HSAC Meeting Minutes Page 12ass�'E�S, .• SA Z •., COON a. Treasurer's Report Balance in the primary HSAC account: $106, 538.44. Balance in the HSAC conference account: $133,401.53. Total deposit account balance: $240,939.97. Treasurer's report received. b. County Reports: i. County of Hawai`i CM Kimball: Update on the HSAC legislative package which is moving along, including good discussion on the traffic and roads bill. ii. County of Kaua`i CM Carvalho:Mahalo to all for attending the conference. iii. County of Maui CM Paltin: Discussion on debris ordinance if you want to go an alternate path other than the Army corp of engineers. Passed real property tax relief that would apply for a defined natural disaster. Update on the statistics of how many are in shelters and temporary lodging. Requesting long term housing contracts for those in hotels. Also requesting schools and child care in West Maui regarding re-enrollment. Looking at different ideas on how to give relief to property owners who lost their property, ways they can still keep their land but can get cash immediately to help with the recovery process. Impact on childcare and schools is significant making it hard for people to get back to work when there is nowhere for the children to go. Need to look at a 3 year mortgage deferral not a 3 month. iv. City and County of Honolulu CM Waters: Looking at teen vaping, currently the counties are preempted at looking at tobacco but it is a big problem, Looking at other ways for counties to generate revenue. The housing statute:21H, to extend the number of days the county has to give approval. Looking at charter amendment for climate change and resiliency fund. c. NACo Report President Mary JoMcGuire: Appreciative to be here, visited Maui to give support including James Gore who has a lot of disaster experience. Met with the Mayor and the Councilmembers September 21,,2023, HSAC Meeting Minutes Page 13ISA) E' • while there. Visited Kauai county council meeting Visited County of Hawaii at dinner and then Honolulu City and County today at lunch. Matt Chase, Executive Director of NACo, HI County as funds in the American treasury rescue plan. Recently a bill passed to use the dollars for disaster recovery. HI just got money for broadband funds. 1 in 3 counties is facing a disaster that warrants a FEMA designation. The cost of these disasters is going up. The FEMA disaster relief fund is not a lot of money. Congress hopefully will replenish the funds, but when they do, these funds are for 2-3 years ago. Working on a lot of reforms with FEMA, require FEMA to have an online dashboard to find out the status of the requests being processed. CM Sue Lee Loy: Discussion about the resolution passed at the last HSAC EC meeting requesting a comprehensive program to evaluate insurance companies, how they collect, and making sure they do not pull out following a disaster. CM Cowden:Discussion on insurance market. d. WIR Report CM Sue Lee Loy: Discussion on disasters in WIR, many are farmers and ranchers. Using AI looking at reviewing all the forms that they need to complete to consolidate them into one form, so they can simplify the process. WIR will be creating this and testing it themselves first. NACo and WIR reports received. e. Executive Director Report ED Parsons: Full copy of the ED report is included in the agenda. Reminder that we must receive your legislative items so we can have them on the agenda for our October meeting. Suggestion to introduce a resolution in support of CM Paltin's suggestion about a mortgage deferment to be included in the HSAC legislative report. Announcement that I will be moving back to Oahu in November and available to serve at any future meetings in person. f. Legislative Report Lobbyist Jon Okudara: Review of the HSAC proposals including research with CM Waters on taxing authority. Sharing information on the proposals and continuing to work with each of the HSAC EC members on their proposals. September 21, 2023, HSAC Meeting Minutes Page I 4 s,03EAsso''. o:. • 0FtOUHSft?•F: V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS • VI. NEW BUSINESS a. Approval to update the BOH general account (ending in 8882) signature card to include Treasurer Heather Kimball, and staff, Kaci Tsuneda, effective immediately. Approved. b. Communication (09/08/2023) from Council Chair Heather L.Kimball, requesting approval of an amendment to the 2023-2024 HSAC budget. This amendment will specifically decrease the "Promotion, Events, and Outreach" budget line item to create a new line item 34, "D&O and General Liability Insurance"to account for the anticipated expenses resulting from Directors & Officer and General Liability insurance coverage for a term of September 1, 2023,through September 1, 2024. Approved. VII. ANNOUNCEMENTS a. Scheduling of the next Executive Committee meeting. Tuesday October 24, 2023, 12 noon. VIII. ADJOURNMENT