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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2023/10/31 (2022-2024) Committee on Finance nd 22 Session Hawaiʻi County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai‘i October 31, 2023 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at ORDER: 9:30 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Mr. Matt Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Matt Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Chair Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Absent & Excused: Ms. Cindy Evans, Vice Chair Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Clerk, Communication 12.19, please. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 12.19: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: SEPTEMBER 16 – 30, 2023 From Controller Kay Oshiro, dated October 5, 2023. FC-22 October 31, 2023 Vote on Comm. 12.19: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 12.19. (Filed) Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Evans, Inaba, and Villegas – 3. Excused: None. Comm. 13.21: REPORT OF CHANGE ORDERS AUTHORIZED: SEPTEMBER 16 – 30, 2023 From Finance Director Deanna Sako, dated October 4, 2023, transmitting the above report pursuant to Section 2-12.3 of the Hawai‘i County Code. Motion to Close File: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 13.21. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Any discussion? Hearing and seeing none—we’ve got some questions out there. Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Deanna, just checking on the contract for the radio system? I’m guessing it’s because it’s renewed every year, because I’m seeing basically— (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. SAKO: The first one, yes. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, you know, almost 500 percent increase from the original contract. MS. SAKO: Yeah, it’s one of our price-term agreements. So, we’re probably coming up on the end of that, and they’ll have to bid it out again shortly. But yes, it’s the same contract, and it’s just the annual renewal. MS. LEE LOY: And then same for the camera maintenance repair, HPD (Hawai‘i Police Department)? MS. SAKO: Yes, it’s also an option year that goes through September 30, 2023. MS. LEE LOY: Great. Thanks Deanna. Chair, I yield. Page 2 FC-22 October 31, 2023 CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you, Deanna. Seeing no further discussion, motion is on the floor to close file on Communication 13.21. All in favor? Any opposed? Vote on Comm. 13.21: The motion to close file on Comm. 13.21 was carried (Filed) by following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Evans, Inaba, and Villegas – 3. Excused: None. Comm. 231.4: FIRST QUARTER REPORT OF PERSONS EMPLOYED UNDER A CONTRACT FOR LESS THAN 90 DAYS: JULY 1 – SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 From Acting Human Resources Director Danny B. Patel, dated October 2, 2023, transmitting the above report pursuant to Section 2-12.5 of the Hawaiʻi County Code. Vote on Comm. 231.4: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 231.4. (Filed) Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Evans, Inaba, and Villegas – 3. Excused: None. Comm. 556: FIRST QUARTER REPORT OF UNCAPITALIZED DONATIONS: JULY – SEPTEMBER 2023 From Finance Director Deanna S. Sako, dated October 13, 2023, transmitting the above report pursuant to Resolution No. 186-23. Motion to Close File: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 556. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Any discussion? MS. KIMBALL: Chair, just like to take a moment to acknowledge all of the folks that have contributed to efforts of the County. We always appreciate the support. Thank you. Page 3 FC-22 October 31, 2023 CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Council Member Kimball. Seeing no further discussion, the motion is on the floor to close file on Communication 556. All in favor? Any opposed? Vote on Comm. 556: The motion to close file on Comm. 556 was carried (Filed) by following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Evans, Inaba, and Villegas – 3. Excused: None. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 331-23: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TO AWARD FUNDS TO VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS FOR PROGRAMS ADDRESSING AFFORDABLE HOUSING Allows for the distribution of $17,324,559.46 of grant funds to seven organizations to support the County’s Affordable Housing Production Program. Reference: Comm. 560 Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R) ; and Comm. 560.1: From Housing and Community Development Administrator Susan K. Kunz dated October 20, 2023, transmitting additional information related to Resolution 331-23. Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend adoption of Res. 331-23. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: We do have the department here today joining us today, not in costume, unfortunately. Some members in the audience are in costume. We appreciate this. But if they could come up and present the information to us on the resolution so we can start the conversation, and we’ll go from there. Thank you, Ms. Kunz. Please introduce yourself for the record. (Note: At this time, Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD) Administrator Susan Kunz came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 4 FC-22 October 31, 2023 MS. KUNZ: Good morning, Chair. Good morning, members of the Finance Committee. My name is Susan Kunz, Housing Administrator for the Office of Housing. I do want to recognize that I have representatives from the organizations that we’ve awarded funds to on Zoom and in the Kona Office. So, if you have any questions, they’re here to answer any questions of the projects and things like that. But I wanted to give you kind of a brief overview of how we got to where we’re at and what we’ve gone through to get here. Back in June of 2022, the County Council passed Ordinance 22-77, which allocated a minimum of $5 million annually to facilitate projects that support affordable housing production and any unspent funds in the General Fund as directed by the Finance Director So, for the last two years, we were allocated approximately $9 million each year. In the first year, we were tasked with putting together Administrative Rules that would help guide us in setting priorities for the use of this fund. The staff also did a lot of research on other affordable housing programs and contacted our counterparts on the other islands to see how they were utilizing their allocations of affordable housing funds. So, we did engage in this research and all of this collaboration and put together Administrative Rules. In addition, the staff also conducted two public hearings to hear from the community, what the community thought that we needed in order to meet our affordable housing needs. So based on that, the OHCD set goals and priorities that were based around three criteria, three goals. One was to increase the supply of affordable housing units by prioritizing new construction or acquisition of land or market units to produce affordable housing units. Two, to prioritize households earning between 100 to 140 AMI (Area Median Income); and to produce affordable rental units with longer term affordability periods. So, these were the priorities that we incorporated into the RFP (Request for Proposal) as we were selecting projects for this round. The Administrative Rules became effective on April 20, 2023. Right thereafter in May, we issued our first RFP. And what we did was we took the two first years of funding and put them together, and that’s how we’re coming up with the $17 million. So, the project proposals were reviewed in accordance with the Affordable Housing Production Program Administrative Rules, and utilizing a weighted system, similar to what we use when we go out for a CDBG (Community Development Block Grant), and HOME (Home Investment Partnerships Program), and those other very long-lasting programs that we’ve had, very successful programs. Page 5 FC-22 October 31, 2023 Use the scoring system and assess projects aligned with those goals and priorities for the funding route. We reviewed these lists of projects with the Mayor; got his approval, and so we’re here before you today. I believe this resolution also lists for you an exhibit. The listing of awardees, the project names, the amounts, and what types of organizations they are. I guess I’ll stop here and answer any questions that you might have. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. Kunz. To the Council. Council Member Kimball, go ahead. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, and definitely exciting to see this getting off the ground and all these projects being worked on. I would like to kind of run through each of these and maybe get some of the details about the ranges of units and the term of affordability. Is everything just developed in alignment with Chapter 11, or do you have different terms of affordability on these? Are they going to be affordable in perpetuity? MS. KUNZ: The Administrative Rules, well, we did look at Chapter 11 to align what we were doing here with Chapter 11. I can run through some of the—in fact, I think I’ll have Royce (Shiroma) come up and kind of run through some of the projects for you. Is that okay? MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, this would be a great time to hear from the organizations if they would like to chime in and give us more details as well. I think we all look forward to hearing more about them. (Note: At this time, Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD) Program Specialist Royce Shiroma came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. SHIROMA: Good morning. Royce Shiroma, Office of Housing and Community Development. So, to answer your question, yes, it aligns with Chapter 11, and the affordability period, for example, the rental housing would be 10 years, versus ownership would be 20 years. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, is that cool with everybody? Let’s have a brief overview, and maybe—with the representatives that are here. MR. SHIROMA: So, let’s start off with the first on the list. The first project we have is the—I’m not sure if anyone from PAC (Pacific Housing Assistance Corporation) Housing is here. So, if you could kind of explain what the project summary is all about. Page 6 FC-22 October 31, 2023 (Note: At this time, PAC Housing Executive Director Audrey Awaya came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. AWAYA: Aloha Finance Committee Council Members and OHCD staff. My name is Audrey Awaya and I’m Executive Director of Pacific Housing Assistance Corporation, and we are the nonprofit sponsor and developer of Nā Hale Mākoa. We’re pleased to be here today to share a little bit about our project. We’re still very excited and thankful to be on the list to be selected for financing in the County. Nā Hale Mākoa is a 140-unit workforce housing project that will be built in the County’s Kamakoa Nui Subdivision in Waikoloa. Our property is 10.3 acres that the Hawai‘i County will be leasing to us for 68 years, and we are planning to provide 140 one-, two-, and three-bedroom units for families earning 30 to 140 percent of median income. On the site, we have 15 two-story multiplex buildings, a community center that has a project office space for tenant gatherings for community meetings; resource center; technology center; afterschool programs with high-speed internet access. Thirty of our units will be reserved for those earning 80 to 140 percent of AMI. So the gap—the missing middle, which we’re really pleased to be able to provide because we know that that’s a great need for those on the Big Island, as well as anywhere in the State of Hawai‘i. We have obtained financing from the State Housing Finance Agency in the amount of $80 million. And we are set to close our financing next year in March with construction starting in April, and we anticipate, you know, the first families to be able to move in, in August of 2025. We have secured all of our building permits. So, you know, we’re shovel ready, and we’re set to go. We’re still looking forward to be able to close our financing and start construction. That’s kind of a brief summary of our project. I’m willing to answer any questions that you have. We have our development team here via Zoom as well. MS. KIMBALL: Okay, I’ll put it out to the body. Do we want to get an overview of each project first and then save questions to the end? Yeah, I think that would be most efficient; so if we can run through each one. Thank you. Go ahead, Mr. Shiroma. MR. SHIROMA: Okay. The next project we have is Manago Mau, and funds will be used to purchase the Manago Hotel, which is located in South Kona. Everybody’s familiar with that site. Page 7 FC-22 October 31, 2023 We’re looking at 71 units. After the purchase, the Manago Mau project, will be using 71 units for 140 percent AMI and below. One unit will be for the manager. And we’re looking at having so-called workforce housing for that project. The next project we have is the Land Trust, Pa Ali‘i Street, which is in Volcano. The Land Trust will be using $300,000 in order to construct the single-family unit over there. Currently, that property is owned by the Land Trust. So, the cost, $300,000, will be sufficient just for the construction. And looking at having the target family at 140 (percent) or below, AMI. It will be in perpetuity, so it’ll be for the life of the project, for the actual unit itself. The next project will also be for the Land Trust, in which the location is in University Heights in Hilo, Central Hilo near the University. And similar to the Volcano home, it’ll be one unit for $300,000, and it’ll be targeting a family of 140 (percent) AMI and below also. The next project is the Ho‘omalu at Waikoloa project. This project is run by Hoʻomalu at Waikoloa LP, aka Stanford Carr. They’ll be using $3 million in order to construct; I would say a 229-unit multifamily structure; rental housing for an affordability period of 65 years. The project itself is located right outside Queen’s Marketplace, I think, on that road in Waikoloa. Oh, Stanford Carr? CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Who is at the desk in Kona, who was prepared to speak? Thank you, Scotty. MR. SHIROMA: Is this Reyn? (Note: At this time, Reyn Kimura and Scott Head of Stanford Carr Development came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. KIMURA: Yes, this is Reyn. Aloha Chair and Council Members, my apologies. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to have us provide a summary of the project, but we appreciate the opportunity. As Mr. Shiroma mentioned, this is a workforce affordable housing project located within Waikoloa Resort. It has 229 units of which one is the manager’s unit. Roughly 12 units will be serving households who earn 30 percent or below the AMI, 168 units will serve households who earn 60 percent or below the AMI, and 48 units will serve households who earn 100 percent or below of AMI. This project will include 11 residential buildings as well as one community center. And as Mr. Shiroma mentioned, this will include an affordability period of 65 years. So, we appreciate the opportunity to present to you. That’s all I have, thank you. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Sir. When everyone is done, we can continue. Page 8 FC-22 October 31, 2023 MR. SHIROMA: So, the next one will be Kamakoa Nui Workforce Housing, mini loop. This will be for construction of the road that is located in Kamakoa Nui, that area located in Waikoloa Village. And this will be for the road, in which once the road is completed, they’re planning on constructing 643 units. That’s part of the Master Plan the County has completed. The target for that will be the 318 at 60 percent AMI and below; 132 at 120 percent AMI; and 193 at 140 percent AMI. And we’re looking at both mixture of rental and for-sale units there. And for the record, I think I mixed up the affordability period for the rental and the for-sale. So, it’s actually 20 years for rental and 10 years, for-sale. Sorry about that. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Royce. MR. SHIROMA: Then the last project we awarded is the Hale Ola O Mohouli, which is a project by HICDC, Hawai‘i Island Community Development Corporation. We’re funding $824,559.46, and this project is located in Hilo. It’ll be right above the Mohouli extension; right above the senior housing that they constructed along that street. And this will be for five units at 30 percent AMI; and 84 units at 60 percent AMI. All of these will be single-family rental units that will be built in a pocket-neighborhood type of community over there. So, a total of 90 units. Yeah, I’m sorry, I want to recognize Kristy (Lungo) from Mental Health Kokua who is in Kona, along with Greg (Payton). They’re there to answer any questions about the Manago Mau project if you guys are interested. MS. GALIMBA: Yeah, could I have Kristy come up. It’s a very interesting project. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Sorry, Council Member Kimball still has the floor on this, Ms. Galimba. But it’s a good recommendation, yes. MS. KIMBALL: Since we are doing this kind of efficiently, we’ll have them make a few comments on the project. I have one question, then I’ll yield the floor to my colleagues. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Introduce yourself for the record and go ahead when you’re ready. Mahalo, just a brief overview. (Note: At this time, Kristy Lungo and Greg Payton with Mental Health Kokua came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. LUNGO: Sure. As you guys know, Kona has been really struggling with providing staffing for all of our nonprofits, police, fire, teachers, hospitals, medical. So, we really wanted to find a project that we could renovate without Page 9 FC-22 October 31, 2023 displacing anyone. And you know, the only thing that came to mind for me was a hotel, and by the grace of God, I gave Mr. Manago a call one day and I shared with him our concerns for community about being able to provide infrastructure staffing to beef up our community in a way where we could function more efficiently. We’re all intertwined. We often work with the police; we often work with the hospital. We work with medical folks. All of these organizations are very, very short staffed. Everything is harder when these organizations, our backbone of our community—these organizations are not sufficiently staffed. So, when I reached out to Mr. Manago, he really was at a point in his life where he thought that maybe he was ready to sell. And I think because this particular project, with Mr. Manago being such a core member of the community and having always supported the community with lodging and food and comfort, that this project sounded really wonderful to him. So, we started to communicate about setting up workforce development housing. And it is for that group of folks, our infrastructure, and our community. So, basically, it’s a renovation. We’ll renovate, I believe 64 of those units are either studio or SRO (Single Room Occupancy), single-occupancy units that we’ll renovate into smaller kitchenette type studio apartments. Then there are a number of two-bedrooms and a studio that we can convert, or that we will be utilizing to provide housing for—one of those units would be to provide housing for a manager. The hope is to eventually develop this into, not just housing, but childcare. And you have to understand this is extremely affordable housing. So, the plan is to provide housing to folks, that say, maybe $1,800 out in the community from a private landlord; or with us, that’s same unit would rent for $900 a month. And that’s like putting $900 a month into the pockets of the people that support our community without having to give them a pay raise or increase their wages in a way where most employers are not able to increase wages to that extent, one or two to open up an opportunity for these folks that actually work in our community to actually live well in our community. So, that’s the premise in short. Greg, did you have something? MR. PAYTON: Just to add on. What we’re looking at is figuring out a way that the local nonprofits can, not only recruit, but also retain employees over the duration. So, this is a dedicated workforce housing project in perpetuity. We’ll open up for any questions you might have. MS. KIMBALL: Great, thank you. I just had a couple of quick questions for the Kamakoa Nui Mini Loop. So, right now we’re just doing the infrastructure. Then will you be putting out an RFP to develop all of it, or is the plan to sell some of those just as lots that others could develop? Page 10 FC-22 October 31, 2023 MR. PAYTON: I think that’s somebody else’s project. MS. KIMBALL: Sorry, I’m going back to a different project. MS. KUNZ: Okay, so regarding Kamakoa Nui’s Mini Loop project. So, the funds are going to be used for the infrastructure to put in the roads. It will then give us access to the parcels surrounding the mini loop. Some of them in the Master Plan are designated for rentals and some are designated for sale. We will most likely be working through developer organizations who will do this work on behalf of the County. The County will not be developing directly. MS. KIMBALL: Right, right, but the plan is to develop all of them, or is the plan to leave some available for sale as lots for individuals to develop? MS. KUNZ: I believe that the Master Plan is to develop all of it. MS. KIMBALL: Alright. MS. KUNZ: Okay, Harry’s frowning at me. (Note: At this time, Assistant Administrator Harry Yada of Office of Housing and Community Development came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. YADA: Can you repeat the questions? Sorry, Harry Yada, Office of Housing and Community Development. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. My question was for the Mini Loop project, is the plan to contract and have all of the area developed, or are we selling some of these as affordable lots? MR. YADA: Well, the Mini Loop will provide the infrastructure that will allow us to then RFP out different parcels. Because some are rental, and some are for sale; single families as well as multi-family. So, they’ll probably be separate RFP’s. But the total density potential lot, once we build the loop, is like over 600 units. MS. KIMBALL: I guess a better way to put my question forward is, are we looking at an arrangement like with the Land Trust for the single-family units where maybe we’re making the lots available to be developed under that model? Because I think we all have a lot of interest in that model as a way to keep the cost down to the eventual buyer, although they wouldn’t own the underlying land. MR. YADA: Yeah, I guess so. We’re just focused on building the loop at this point. I don’t know if we’ve made definitive decisions on the individual concepts Page 11 FC-22 October 31, 2023 and RFP’s and the type of structures that would go into the actual development itself at this point. MS. KIMBALL: Okay, since it’s still early, I can put my two cents in and in support of that particular model. The other question that I had was with respect to the rentals and the ones that are workforce housing, are we managing the rentals or are they being managed ultimately by the developer, the nonprofit organization? The reason I bring it up is, you know, we’re deliberating that other bill about the workforce housing and the preference for residents. Is that going to apply to some of these or not because we’re not managing the wait list? MR. YADA: I would say our intent is to RFP it, which means it would be privately developed. As to rentals, you know, typically the rentals get financed by HHFDC (Hawai‘i Housing Finance and Development Corporation) funding or other sources of funding that provides their own restrictions on AMI’s and what they can and cannot do, right, so it’s kind of difficult for us at this point to say, especially on the rentals because of the financing. MS. KUNZ: Yeah, and I think a lot of our internal discussion is trying to balance the capacity and the staffing that we have to run a property like that, right? And so, at this point, we’re really going to be looking at RFP, I think, and having organizations come in to manage for us. MS. KIMBALL: But as I understood when we had the hearing on the affordable preference bill, there might be some opportunity to negotiate those preferences within that RFP process. MS. KUNZ: I see. So, related to that bill, I don’t know if I can make a commitment at this point. I think it’s a great bill, you know, I mean I supported it. I don’t know how many of this particular project is going to apply to that. Like I said, I think my focus is more on whether or not we have the capacity to manage something like that in-house as opposed to working with the developer who can take— MS. KIMBALL: So, the ones that are designated the workforce housing will have a requirement that people work within the area? MS. KUNZ: I’m sorry, say that again. MS. KIMBALL: Some of these are designated as workforce housing, so they would have that requirement of folks having employment within the area? MS. KUNZ: Yes. MS. KIMBALL: Great. Okay. Then just one final note, Chair, with some flexibility. You know, something was brought to my attention recently that Page 12 FC-22 October 31, 2023 applies to this rental process, is that oftentimes whomever is providing the rentals charge folks an application fee for background check or something like that. And something that was just brought to my attention that’s like $45 per person in a household. So, it adds up to be quite a bit. I’m not sure if it’s something that we as the County would have the authority to limit, especially when it’s these affordable units. Because what I understand is happening, is people are trying to find different rental units, so, it’s not just one- time $45, but it’s every application. So, it was brought up as a concern. Something that’s keeping people out of accessing housing is that application fee. So, just something to think about if there’s a way that we can maybe put a limit on that if we’re RFPing the management process. MS. KUNZ: Yes, definitely, I agree. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. I yield, Chair. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Council Member. Looking around the room, Council Member Kagiwada, go ahead. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Thank you so much for your presentation and all this good work. Couple questions about Hale Ola Mohouli in District 2. So, that looks like it was the last one to make the cut. They asked for $2 million and are being awarded $824,000-plus. Just wondering if there’s a plan to make up that difference or will they be in line possibly for the next round to get some funding. What’s the deal there? MR. SHIROMA: Part of the reason why the project was not rated as high, was that they haven’t committed all their funding for that project yet, and my understanding right now, there are some changes to the actual design and plan being done. So, that will further delay this project being constructed. So, at this time, we provided the balance of the money. So, they can at least take it to the State and say they have some commitments already for the LIHTC (Low-Income Housing Tax Credit) and the Rental Housing Resolving Fund, the Hula Mae. So, that’s part of the reason why it wasn’t rated as high. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, so this funding is for LIHTC? MR. SHIROMA: No, no, no. The LIHTC is a separate source of money. MS. KAGIWADA: So, they can secure that? MR. SHIROMA: To secure that. Right now, they haven’t been selected during this round of awards from the State. So, they’re going to apply again next year. Page 13 FC-22 October 31, 2023 MS. KAGIWADA: I see. So, you gave them some funding with the hopes that it strengthens their position to get this built? MR. SHIROMA: Yeah, yeah. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. But at this point, all the funding is not in place. MR. SHIROMA: Not in place right now. But they can apply, like you said, again next year. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, alright. Just back to the—so, it says also 90 units will be—affordability period is 61 years. So, at this point, what happens after the 61 years, just so I understand it, especially being that this is Hawai‘i Island Community Development Corporation? MR. SHIROMA: After the 61 years, I assume that the ownership will stay with them. So, it’ll be up to them, how they want to use the facility after 61 years. Probably the other part of this is that there is a land lease, too, for that property with the County. So, it needs to be consistent with that. But, yeah, so after 61 years, they can basically— MS. KAGIWADA: Oh, I see, a 65-year land lease it looks like. MR. SHIROMA: My understanding is Keith (Kato) is in Zoom right now. So, if you have other questions for him, he can answer them too. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, it says State-owned land conveyed to County of Hawai‘i via Executive Order then leased to HICDC for 65 years. MR. SHIROMA: Yes. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. So, you’re trying to keep those two things kind of in line, so, if any changes happen, they happen with those changes. Okay, I see. Alright, thank you. Yeah, keep us informed about what’s going on with this project. Thank you. Did you have something else to add? MS. KUNZ: No, I was wondering if you had any questions for Keith Kato, because he’s on Zoom. Are you okay? MS. KAGIWADA: I think I’m okay right now. It sounds like, you know, they still need to get their financing in order. So, we’ll wait till they get there. I mean, Mr. Kato, do you want to add anything? (Note: At this time, Hawai‘i Island Community Development Corporation’s Executive Director Keith Kato came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 14 FC-22 October 31, 2023 MR. KATO: Well, nothing really to add other than to confirm what Royce just said. You know, we’re going to be applying for the funding early next year with the State, and we hope we’re able to make up for whatever gap that we have. And as far as the land lease goes, you know, right now we have 70 years left on the ground lease, and after that it reverts back to the County for their control. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, thank you. Alright I don’t have any more questions right now. Thanks. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Hi Susan, hi Royce, great to see you. First, thank you so much. I remember we first had conversations a few years ago about Bill 160 and the intent and how it all would work. So, it’s great to see it finally off the ground and to see a list of projects that are going to be benefiting. I think when we first talked about there being a huge need to solve the affordable housing crisis, we didn’t really know how many folks would be applying for this program. But 20 applicants; more than 55 million in requests. Clearly the need outweighs what we are able to provide; 18 million is still pretty significant, and we’re able to fund seven projects, which are in different phases of project development. I appreciate the geographic distribution and really focusing on putting homes where folks are working. A few questions. The first I have is, what sort of ongoing support will the Office of Housing and Community Development provide, ongoing support, oversight or technical assistance to folks that have been awarded through this program? MR. SHIROMA: We’re going to provide oversight throughout the whole process. Even after it’s constructed, we need to comply with the affordability period. So, every year we will be monitoring these projects throughout. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Excellent, thank you. You know, I mentioned earlier, each project is in a different phase of development, therefore, each has a different completion date. And when I say completion; turnkey, a person, a family can move in. What is the timeline to implement and use the money that’s been awarded through this grant? MR. SHIROMA: According to the Administrative Rules, currently, we have at least one year to have an agreement with them through grant agreement. And then they have five years to provide occupancy for that. Yeah, I think that’s the restrictions. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Anything else you want to add, Administrator? Page 15 FC-22 October 31, 2023 MS. KUNZ: No, that’s it. So, in other words, five years to spend and have those units occupied. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Folks on this award list today, if they would like to apply for a second round of funding but have not exhausted the award that they’ve been given today, are they eligible? Like for instance, there’s an unforeseen obstacle, and they’re going to need a little bit more money than they had originally requested to carry out their scope of work. Are they eligible for funds? MR. SHIROMA: The Administrative Rules does not restrict that to them. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, just want to be clear. MR. SHIROMA: It’s going to be that they will again need to come up and go against the other applicants also, so there’s no guarantee for them to get awarded again. Even though they were awarded the first time, there’s no guarantee the second time they’ll be awarded. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Right. Because there’s a scoring group, there’s criteria, there’s other folks to compete against for this pot of money. MS. KUNZ: Correct. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Can you tell me a little bit more about your monitoring process. How are we going to know the details of the outcomes, the social impact? How will the public know? You have a really beautiful website, and I just wonder how else that might be leveraged to showcase project progress? Especially when we are investing public dollars to make these projects happen. MR. SHIROMA: On the program side, every year we’ll be coming before you and reporting the outcomes of the projects that were completed, as well as the projects that have not been completed and going through whatever phase they’re going through. At that time, we’ll probably do an update through our website utilizing the documents that we provide here at Council so the public can see that. I’m not sure if Susan wants to add to that. MS. KUNZ: No. I think that unless you have suggestions or specific details that you would like to see, we can consider. But our process includes not just the frontend of coming before you to get approval for the award of these projects and presenting you with an annual plan, but similar to our other HUD (Housing and Urban Development) Funds, on the backend doing a report out on how we’ve progressed for that year. So, they’ll be a constant reporting effort. I do want to point out, too, that Chelsea Jensen has joined our team several months ago and has been doing a tremendous job with upgrading our website and all of those things. And I think the progress that we’re going to be seeing at the Page 16 FC-22 October 31, 2023 sites at the different project can be chronicled that way, and she’s been doing a terrific job with videos and media releases and things like that. So, I’m planning to continue doing that work. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Her work is excellent, keep it up Chelsea. Other departments, you might want to go see Chelsea. No, I do think that the County is doing incredible work and it’s actually our job to continue to tell our story and celebrate our successes. Because if we’re not humbly tooting our own horns, the community is not going to know the tangible and positive impact of their dollars. MS. KUNZ: I so appreciate having her on board. You know, it’s not an area that we’ve focused on or have done professionally in the past but you’re right. You know, my staff, it’s not that I’m searching for stories to tell, because they’re doing the work, right. So now I have someone at a professional level on staff who’s helping us to tell that story. So I think it’s really important. Thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I do want to note that there were a couple of projects here, one was ineligible. And if you are able to speak at a high level about what made this particular application ineligible and why some applicant would choose to withdraw their application, perhaps they found additional financing elsewhere. MR. SHIROMA: Yeah, one of them and I won’t mention the applicant, but one of them was not eligible because part of the requirements under the HP Administrative Rules is that they cannot use our funding or these funds to fulfill any requirements for other programs. So, we found out they were actually using these funds to fulfill a requirement under Chapter 11. So, we deemed that ineligible. The second one, actually, they themselves volunteered to pull out of it because they were kind of —another project that I wouldn’t name, couldn’t secure the site. Because they were actually competing with another applicant for that site and that’s the reason why they pulled out. They couldn’t secure that site. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. That’s really helpful to know. Thank you. Final question. Future funding for this program, I see out Finance Director there. I’m hoping that the County coffers are good, and we can be really generous and grant more than $5 million to this fund. But I’m wondering going forward, is this going to be an annual program, are you looking at maybe doing every two years? I’m just thinking about the real impact that can be made with a larger infusion of cash into the community. It’s harder to spread around $5 million, than it is to spread around $18 million. MS. KUNZ: That is true. And the fact that we had $18 (million) on this first run, I think, was really impactful. I mean, you can see the types of projects that we’re actually able to fund. But at this point, I mean, because of the expenditure Page 17 FC-22 October 31, 2023 deadlines and those types of things, the only reason why we lumped two allocations together was because we needed that first year to do the Administrative Rules. You know, something to consider I suppose, but at this point, we’re thinking about doing this on an annual basis. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, I know that was our intention but it’s nice to have a bigger pot. But again, I also want to just see where this goes to see how successful our community partners are in implementing their projects before the Council decides if, you know, an increase to this fund is warranted. One more question I thought of. Could this funding be used to leverage other capital to grow the Housing Production Program? MS. KUNZ: You know, we’ve talked about programs like revolving funds and things like that. There was consideration, actually, of one particular program this year but opted not to utilize that. But, definitely, yes, we should be looking at ways to leverage the funds either way. I think so. MR. SHIROMA: And I think because the first year we weren’t sure of how to run this, we just did grants. However, in the future, we may consider loans in which there will be money coming back to the County through this program. And then we can reallocate it to other projects in the future. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I like that idea, continue to pay it forward. I thought of one more thing. I saw some other really excellent projects here that didn’t quite make the cut; rehabilitation, right, taking care of existing units so that all we’ve got to do is repair. So we have additional inventory. We’re not losing inventory of the market. Another really important program here is like the down payment assistance. A lot of local families are kind of struggling with that initial down payment. So I wonder, excellent projects here, what is Office of Housing doing to support projects, suggestions like this? MS. KUNZ: Yeah, we also thought those were really awesome projects. I wish we had more money so we could fund further down the ranking. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Does any of your HUD money qualify to support programs like that? Rehabilitation and down payment assistance? MS. KUNZ: Yes, I think a home could qualify for down payment assistance. I believe that in the past we’ve utilized it for that. The way that particular program was written up, I don’t think that it would qualify for something like HUD (U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development). I’m sorry, I’m kind of lost track of what you were asking me about. So, the down payment program—oh the Page 18 FC-22 October 31, 2023 rehabilitation. So, those are also incredibly important. And I know that the Administrative Rules does have language to support that. But the higher scoring went to new units, unfortunately. I 100 percent agree that if we don’t do something to support preservation of existing units, we’re going to be making our need higher, right? So, we do see that. You know, the way that the scoring is currently, the language for it, we are putting a higher priority on new units at this point. So, I’m hoping that projects like that won’t give up. There is definitely language to support it. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I’m just hopeful, I know Office of Housing is busy, but if there can be support provided to community partners that are willing to do the work, some guidance so that they could go after available federal funding or at least tweak their project narrative a little bit to fit the criteria from the federal government. Thank you. I don’t think we meant to try to solve the affordable housing crisis with this pot of funding, but it definitely feeds into this broader strategy of making more homes available to our local families. So, mahalo nui for all of your hard work. I yield. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you, Chair. I also wanted to thank you for all the work and thoughtfulness that went into this. Also, thank you for the geographic range and also the range of types of projects so that we’re trying different kinds of solutions and approaches. So, I really appreciate that. I just had a couple of questions. One was that you had two public hearings that were required, was that before the Administrative Rules and then you incorporated that into it? And what kind of feedback did you get that you incorporated? MS. KUNZ: I can confirm that yes, the two public hearings we held in advance of finalizing the Administrative Rules—in fact, we used the public hearing as a means to get comments from the community to help us drive what the priorities were going to be and what the community thought the housing needs were. And we definitely incorporated that into the Administrative Rules. Do you want to add anything to that? MR. SHIROMA: No. MS. GALIMBA: Did you get pretty good participation in the public hearings? MS. KUNZ: Yeah, we did, we used different methods of trying. You know, it’s interesting when you have a Zoom public meeting. And I think we kind of did it quasi where we had some people in house and some by Zoom, but people are shy. Page 19 FC-22 October 31, 2023 I know the second public hearing we had, we tried to utilize a method of questionnaires so that people didn’t have to speak but they could give their input during the public hearing. So, we gathered a little bit more information that way. MS. GALIMBA: Okay, sounds great. The other question I had is kind of a question about the Kamakoa; the infrastructure. And you were talking about putting that in and it’s for a certain number of rental housing and a certain number for sale. My understanding is its County land, so would it be for sale but leave the land lease on it or would you actually be selling the land? MS. KUNZ: No, I mean because it’s County land we can do for-sale projects. And I believe of the 680 plus units that are written to the Master Plan, it’s about 50-50, what we plan to do for rental units and for-sale units. MS. GALIMBA: Okay, would you possibly be thinking also if the land trust model works out, of incorporating some of that kind of model? MS. KUNZ: I don’t see why we couldn’t consider—like Harry had mentioned earlier, it’s not written into the Master Plan, but we certainly have some leeway to consider all kinds of creative models, for sure. MS. GALIMBA: Okay, thanks for the clarification. I yield. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thanks Susan and Royce for being here. You know, echoing the comments, when I opened up the exhibit and saw housing all over, it was just absolutely refreshing that it wasn’t in just one space. So, really a lot of thanks to the scoring and how it all landed where there seem to be this very even distribution, you know, all over the island. I had a question, and I think it might have been asked already. A number of projects talk about rehabilitation. Well, let me walk back a little bit. First and foremost, love the priority funding right in the gap group of our workforce. These are our teachers, our firefighters, our police officers, our nurses. Love that we’re finding housing for that gap group, because that’s actually some of the backbone of community. If we don’t have a teacher, we’re not going to have healthy communities. So, regarding the rehab project, and actually this one is kind of similar to that Mental Health Kokua project up at Manago Hotel where they’re rehabbing an existing facility. My question is, the funding is for rehabilitation, but actually, this one is for purchase, correct, on the Mental Health Kokua program? MR. SHIROMA: Yes, that’s correct. The AHP (Affordable Housing Production) funds will be used to purchase the property. That was what the application ask Page 20 FC-22 October 31, 2023 requested. However, they’re using private funding on their own as a loan, I think to do the rehabilitation after the purchase, if the purchase goes through. Yeah, that’s their plan. MS. LEE LOY: Got it. I was like, how does this work? You know, the end goal is rehabilitation of the hotel units into single-family units, and I was like, how does that work? Okay, that answers that question. And Susan, just looking at the total of what is 1,100 units to come online, it looks like the first 140 units will be in 2025; then the rest of the units, are they fitting within the five-year runway for the funding that we’re providing now? MS. KUNZ: I don’t know the breakdown of each one. I think maybe Royce might be able to tell you, but I have to say yes, because that was part of the way that the— MS. LEE LOY: The evaluation, right, and they got ranked. MS. KUNZ: Yes. MS. LEE LOY: Okay. And then I have a question around—some of the units, you know, at the 30 to 60 or 80 percent AMI, what happens if those units—we don’t have an audience for them and they’re not available? Do they just sit, or do we actually move them into another category? Because I recognize housing vouchers are tied to some of these units. MS. KUNZ: Right. MR. SHIROMA: I think depending on how they recognize the source of funding for those units. Because, for example, LIHTC, a target 60 (percent) and below. So, they need to recognize X amount of units based on their application that’s 60 and below. There’s maybe other funding sources that have other restrictions also. So, they need to, you know, kind of watch how they allocate the funding towards the units, similar to what ours is too. MS. LEE LOY: Okay. So, when they braid that type of funding like the LIHTC funding, the funding that we have; other funding that’s available, and they hit the 60 percent AMI, how long does it stay available for that target audience? MS. KUNZ: I believe for LIHTC, it’s 20 years. MS. LEE LOY: Perfect. Yeah, I think there was some concern that they build for certain targets, but they don’t find that audience to step into those units; that they move it into another— Page 21 FC-22 October 31, 2023 MS. KUNZ: You know, a lot of these projects have done market studies and things like that. I mean, they are certain that there is a need in the community and the funders are making sure that there’s a need in the community before they award monies to that. MS. LEE LOY: Great. Just really, really—today’s a good day. I think you sit in this seat long enough, and we do a lot of work to get funding going, you know, push on the departments and the agencies to get work done. I can honestly say, there’s a number of projects that I see here that came through for zoning opportunities, right? And here we are just a few short years later, seeing housing being developed. So, thank you very much for all the efforts and the hard work. Really, it’s a good day. Today’s a good day. Chair, I yield. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Okay, seeing no further discussion, that leaves it back to me. I have a couple questions for you, given the conversation. Looking over your Executive Summary, the OHCD goals for this funding round, which is two years of about $9 million apiece, correct? So, $18 million total minus your Admin expenses, 17 point something million. The goals were prioritizing new construction, as you stated, right? Okay. And I find this interesting, prioritizing households earning between 100 to 140 AMI. So, what is 100 percent AMI in Hawai‘i County? What is the number? MS. KUNZ: What is the income? CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: The Area Median Income, Hawai‘i County at 100 percent. MS. KUNZ: Oh, I don’t have that right off the top of my head. MR. SHIROMA: I see in the Affordable Housing Guidelines, for for-sale, you’re looking at a three-bedroom; 100 percent, we’re looking at $100,800. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: That’s a four-person household earning $100,000. MR. SHIROMA: Yeah, $100,800. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: That’s $100,000 salary between two people in a home? MR. SHIROMA: Yeah, I would assume two working. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, and 140 (percent)? MR. SHIROMA: At 140 percent, it would be $141,120. Page 22 FC-22 October 31, 2023 CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: So, we prioritize households earning, two people, approximately $50,000 to $70,000 a piece each year. MR. SHIROMA: Yes. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Because when I think affordability, I’m thinking about the folks who make less than that, and there’s a lot of them. So, I appreciate what we’re doing here but I’m also looking at this as raising taxpayer money to fund affordable housing projects to ensure that we’re meeting the goals of community. I feel like, in my gut, that the 60 to 100 would probably be the people who need the most help; maybe even the 30 to 100. But we’ve set our goals on the 100-140, and understand that’s a lot of our working class, the folks like us. But there’s a whole lot of other people that need the help. So, what was the prioritization idea between the 100 to 140 percent AMI for the department? Why that area? MS. KUNZ: Right. So, first I want you to kind of take a step back and know that the Affordable Housing Production Fund is just a fund, right, in the whole big scheme of things. There are a lot of Federal and State funding programs out there that are funding the lower AMI. When we looked at the County’s inventory of existing housing units, everything that we’ve produced over the years is at 60 percent AMI. So, it’s not enough, but what we have is all focused on that. The State and Federal funding focuses on that. As we made our way through the communities in different districts, I just kept hearing how our workforce community members are not able to find housing. So, we talk about these different projects that are starting. We’ve done blessings, we’ve done openings in the last couple of years. All 60 and maybe 80 percent AMI, and they’re crying and they’re saying, but I can’t qualify for those, it’s too low. So, I have teachers, and you know, what have you that are saying that they can’t find housing. So, this is a pot of money; 140 percent is the limit on what HUD considers affordable. So, we wanted to make sure and try to focus on what we’re doing on this workforce program. Now, it doesn’t mean that a project that is 80 percent or below cannot qualify for this and that we wouldn’t fund it, but we just decided to do this run by focusing on that higher affordable AMI. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I’m looking through the projects to kind of understand that that was the reasoning going in and that was the prioritization; and the projects would follow at that. Some of the projects have a number of units at 60 percent, some are topping out at 100. There’s a few in here that range at hitting the 140 and up. So, you know, that’s just an area of concern for me that we may not be addressing these funds in public taxpayer money to the folks that actually need the help. Page 23 FC-22 October 31, 2023 As far as the for-sale units, you know, looking through this. I know you said it’s about 50-50, there’s only 300 units of the 1,100 units that are for-sale units, and those are a 10-year maximum sale, or 10-year minimum sale. So, 10-year max or 100-year minimum? Minimum. Okay. So, as far as the down-payment kind of idea, understandable. But with only 30 percent of the units coming in as for-sale units, then we’re considering a down payment for a very small amount of units compared to what we’re putting out there. You only have—there’s three projects. There’s Kamakoa Nui, which is for-sale, a mixed; and then you have the two Land Trust, which is only two homes. The rest are coming in at Rental Multi-Family, and this is just from your summary. If these are incorrect, then please let me know. But everything else is rental. Yeah, and I don’t have a problem with that, just stating that. You said it was 50-50. MS. KUNZ: I was talking about Kamakoa Nui. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Just Kamakoa Nui? MS. KUNZ: Yes, CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Maybe that was a misunderstanding, then. MS. KUNZ: Yeah. So, just Kamakoa Nui has a total of 643 units that will have access to do with the Mini Loop Road; and 318 are rentals and 325 are for-sale units. So, I was just talking specifically about that project. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Of all the projects, three of them are not for-sale, but two are just single-family homes. One home. Okay. Well, I like what we’re doing here. I am concerned that we are focusing on a bracket that may not need as much help as the folks below that bracket. And I think on the next round, not I think, I would like to see more focus on the 30 to 100, because that’s the folks who need help. MS. KUNZ: Okay, thank you. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, thank you. Okay, any further discussion from the Council? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, just one note. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Kierkiewicz, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Administrator, I wonder if there’s enough time between now and Council to generate a list of the different funding Page 24 FC-22 October 31, 2023 opportunities that are out there to support the different AMI’s. Because I’m hearing you guys very clearly, but a lot of outreach was done in every single district around this island and with folks that are in the business of developing housing, that identified this is where we need help. This fund was intended to help fill that gap. So, I think it would give us a better understanding of how thorough that process is and to understand why specifically, you’re using this funding to benefit a targeted AMI group. But also, what other programs and funding is out there to help everybody else? MS. KUNZ: Okay, I got it. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you. Chair, I yield. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Sorry, just a quick comment. One other thing that might be really helpful is just to list all on one page, the target AMI’s for all these as a whole. Because when I look through it, I actually see a lot more for 30 to 100 percent AMI than the 100 to 140 percent AMI. So, it’s a little hard flipping back and forth to get the big picture, but if we had it all on one page of how many units— MS. KUNZ: So, a listing of each project, total number of units, and the AMI? MS. KAGIWADA: Right, and then a total at the bottom saying how many units for these programs as a whole we’re targeting each. Because I do actually believe even though the focus was 100 to 140 percent AMI, which I think is actually a really important focus to get that gap funding actually, the way it plays out, because of all those other sources of funding; federal, state for those lower—often people can find funding for those a lot more easily. So, it would be good to see it all on one page though, I think. Thank you. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, I was going to ask the same thing that Ms. Kagiwada asked. A matrix or a table of all the different units, but also, if you could also add in—there was one other thing, oh, estimated date for the units to come online. That would also be very helpful. I just share that because we do a lot of work here on the dais, and maybe there’s other ways that we could help knowing that these things are going to be coming online and some of the business decisions we make going forward to help those knowing that this housing is going to be taking root sometime 2025, thereon. Maybe there’s some work that we can do right here in 2023-2024 to help get them ready. Capacity building, right? Financial literacy programs, right? All these things that will take for these people to get ready for that housing. Thank you, I yield. Page 25 FC-22 October 31, 2023 CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: I will just make—since we’re going to paint a whole picture here, why don’t you throw in the graphs that came from the Housing Study that show the needs per income bins, as well as the—I believe it was all on one chart, the number of rentals versus for-sale units. Because I think that will frame this entire discussion in terms of what you guys are producing through this fund. Thanks. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Then one final request. If statistics are provided, love to see the background of those statistical reports; who was asked; who was present at the meetings, and what kind of people showed up. MS. KUNZ: On the public hearings? CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah. MS. KUNZ: Okay. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Because I think it’s always interesting because we get a lot of reports and data presented to the Council and even just in general like in surveys that are done. Then you find out there were 100 people, normal people who show up for hearings. And 95 percent of them said, “We need this.” But there were no community members there saying, “Hey by the way, we’re struggling and we’re dying over here, so, we could use some help.” But thank you. MS. KUNZ: So, just the number of people that attended? CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: If you’re going to provide information, just a background. I can find the information myself if we go back to the meetings, but I’d like to know where the statistics are coming from. MS. KUNZ: Okay. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Okay, we have a motion on the floor to forward Resolution 331-23 to Council with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? Page 26 FC-22 October 31, 2023 Vote on Res. 331-23: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 331-23 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Evans, Inaba, and Villegas – 3. Excused: None. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you very much. Thank you to all of our folks joining us for this item as well. Appreciate your time today. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great job, Housing. CHR. KĀNEALI‘I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Clerk, Bill 96, please. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 96: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2024 Decreases appropriations in the Housing Production account (-$17,324,559.46); and appropriates the same to the following accounts: Kamakoa Nui LP- Construction ($2 million), Mental Health Kokua-Property Acquisition ($5.5 million), Hale O Hawai‘i County-Volcano Construction ($300,000), Hale O Hawai‘i County-Hilo Construction ($300,000), Hoʻomalu at Waikoloa LP- Construction ($3 million), OHCD-Infrastructure Development Kamakoa Nui ($5.4 million), and Hawai‘i Island Community Development Corporation- Construction Mohouli ($824,559.46). Reference: Comm. 560 Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend passage of Bill 96 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Council, discussion on the bill. Okay, hearing and seeing none. Sister measure to Resolution 331-23, all in favor. Any opposed? Page 27 FC-22 October 31, 2023 Vote on Bill 96: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 96 on first (Approved) reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Evans, Inaba, and Villegas – 3. Excused: None. Bill 97: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-51, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2023 TO JUNE 30, 2024 Adds the Public Works Lanikāula Street Rehabilitation Kīlauea Avenue to Manono Street – County project ($1,250,000) and the Lanikāula Street Rehabilitation Kīlauea Avenue to Manono Street – Federal project ($5 million) to the Capital Budget. Funds for this project shall be provided from General Obligation Bonds, Capital Projects Fund – Fund Balance and/or other Sources ($1,250,000) and Federal Grants Receivable ($5 million), to rehabilitate roadway pavement. Reference: Comm. 561 Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend passage of Bill 97 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: We have members from the department joining us today. Thank you for being here. I like your costume, by the way. Looking good. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thanks. Malia. I had to pick between the two, I was like, I want Malia. Thanks, Malia, just a real quick question. (Note: At this time, Public Works Deputy Director Malia Kekai came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. KEKAI: Malia Kekai, Deputy Director of Public Works acting as Steve Pause, Director of Public Works. MS. LEE LOY: He’s a Patriot’s fan? MS. KEKAI: He is. MS. LEE LOY: Poor thing, already. Page 28 FC-22 October 31, 2023 MS. KEKAI: A 100 percent, are you surprised? MS. LEE LOY: Malia, thanks. Just curious, love that we’re braiding this money. We’re taking this money from, you know, different buckets within the County, but matching or braiding that with some funding from the Feds. Curious, is this just road rehab or are we looking at bike paths, sidewalks, complete street, painting? This is definitely in alignment with our University of Hawai‘i. And I actually had a conversation with the Chancellor talking about these types of connections for their students. So, if you could expand a little bit. MS. KEKAI: Sure. This particular pot of money is just rehab money. So, as we know that’s basically, we take what’s there and we put it back nicer, right? We don’t get to do improvements, so, not with this specifically. But you know, with the new Safe Routes coming up and all that other stuff, we will be looking at all the different routes because this does also connect to HCC (Hawai‘i Community College) and a lot of different schools are really near this section. And there aren’t sidewalks, so you know, we’ll definitely look into it. But this particular funding won’t be used for that, yeah. MS. LEE LOY: But let’s see if later on through the project, that maybe we can scrape up some others for those types of things. I’m also hearing from the Chancellor, maybe just bike paths. The kids are really interested in electric bikes. So, getting them from the campus, you know, to Safeway, that kind of stuff or some of the other things. It would just really go a long way even if it’s just restriping like painting it a little differently, I know that would go a long way. MS. KEKAI: Yeah, we’ll definitely look into that. I’ll refer to my engineers on how much space you would need, and if we need to, you know, widen the road, or maybe even take a little property. We’ll see, but we’ll definitely look into it. MS. LEE LOY: Thanks. Thank you, I yield. CHR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Galimba, go ahead. MS. GALIMBA: Just a quick one, my Hilo geography is not as good as I thought it was. How many blocks is Kīlauea to Manono Street? MS. KEKAI: It’s really just one block. MS. GALIMBA: Ok, thanks. CHR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Just a quick kind of second to what my colleague, Ms. Lee Loy, was saying. Hope that, you know, I know you have a lot Page 29 FC-22 October 31, 2023 to take into account here and it is a small project as far as space goes and everything. But, yeah, looking to support you in any way we can to help make this happen. MS. KEKAI: Thank you, we appreciate it. CHR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Okay, Ms. Kekai, Mr. Pause. I recently called Traffic Division, because I’m watching the traffic back up on Kīlauea during heavy traffic times. The interesting part was we repaved, we did concrete work along the edges, made nice sidewalks, then I found out it was more due to the multi-modal transportation, safe pathways to school idea. But the restriping, the loss of roadway and the new scheme of everything, traffic wise, has actually now created a long back up that didn’t exist before, maybe due to more people on the road. I’m not sure, but I found it interesting that the improvements we did has now actually backed us up in that little section, which is kind of a major intersection of Hilo. So, with that said, as we look at this, although being one block, that loss of roadway, and we’re extremely limited in Hilo for roadway size. You really can’t get much bigger without taking people’s property. Please take into account impacts on traffic, because we’re growing and there’s not a lot of room there. So, kind of balancing both needs, yeah. Thank you. Okay, with that we a have motion is on the floor to forward Bill 97 to Council with a favorable recommendation, all in favor? Vote on Bill 97: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 97 on first (Approved) reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Evans, Inaba, and Villegas – 3. Excused: None. CHR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Bill 98, please. Page 30 FC-22 October 31, 2023 Bill 98: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2024 Increases revenues in the State Grants – Kua Bay account ($198,220) and West Hawai‘i Ocean Safety account ($245,194); and appropriates the same to the Kua Bay – State Salaries and Wages account and the Hapuna Beach – State Salaries and Wages account, for total appropriations of $778,220 (Kua Bay) and $1,264,297 (Hapuna Beach). These additional funds would be used for costs associated with ocean safety at Kua Bay and Hapuna Beach. Reference: Comm. 562 Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend passage of Bill 98 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Council Members, discussion on the bill. Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I see Chief Okinaka in the gallery. Chief, just mahalo nui for being patient. I wanted you to have an opportunity to speak to this money that we’ve received from the state and how it’s supporting important ocean safety personnel in West Hawaiʻi. (Note: At this time, Assistant Fire Chief Darwin Okinaka came forward to address the members of the Committee). MR. OKINAKA: No problem. Good morning, Darwin Okinaka, Assistant Fire Chief with the Hawaiʻi Fire Department Operations Division. We’re glad to have—this is the second year actually we’ve gotten these funds. This is to supplement the salaries and wages for both state beaches. During COVID (coronavirus disease), they cut back, and they told us we could only use the budget for salaries and wages. Starting last fiscal year, they provided us some additional funding so we submitted a request again and they once again approved the request and provided the funding so we can buy much needed equipment, supplies, PPE for our guards at those two beaches. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you so much for your continued advocacy and ensuring that we have a good relationship with the State so we can secure these important dollars. I think a lot of folks really enjoy visiting these particular beaches and they can be very dangerous if you’re not careful. So just appreciate the personnel and the equipment to support. Thank you. Chair, I yield. CHR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Okay, seeing no further discussion, Mr. Okinaka, thank you for your time this morning. Page 31 FC-22 October 31, 2023 MR. OKINAKA: Thank you. CHR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: We have the motion on the floor to forward Bill 98 to Council with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? Vote on Bill 98: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 98 on first (Approved) reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Evans, Inaba, and Villegas – 3. Excused: None. CHR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Bill 99, please. Bill 99: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2024 Increases revenues in the Federal Grants – Traffic Safety Training Project account ($11,479.88); and appropriates the same to the Traffic Safety Training Project account, for a total appropriation of $166,479.88. These additional funds would be used to support the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Traffic Safety Training Project. Reference: Comm. 563 Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend passage of Bill 99 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I see Grant Nagata, Business Manager for Prosecutors. Grant, could you come forward? Just curious if this is new funding that your office has seen to support this particular training. And feel free to talk a little bit about the program and the benefits to Prosecutors and I think Police as well. (Note: At this time, Prosecuting Attorney’s Business Manager Grant Nagata came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. NAGATA: Good morning, Grant Nagata, Business Administrator for the Prosecutor’s Office. So, this is not new monies, these are federal monies that have passed through the state that we typically get every year. So, for this fiscal year, we actually got a little bit more than we thought, so that’s why we’re here at Page 32 FC-22 October 31, 2023 Council, to ask for $11,000 more in appropriations. So, these funds are federal funds that passed through the state and so it’s monies that are utilized for training for our Prosecutors as well as Law Enforcement. So, it helps pay for training, travel cost, and provides for training on the most current techniques and methods in prosecution and investigation of impaired driving. So, appreciate your support. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. So, this allows personnel to go to conferences, participate in webinars to get access to training but also, we could secure someone from another island or the continent to come here to train the trainer? MR. NAGATA: Not quite. So, we have a TSRP, which is a Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor, so it provides for travel monies for that attorney and we usually send a second attorney as well for training on the mainland for some life saver conferences and then also for collaborative training with the state. So that state, I think it’s about every quarter. So, that includes Police Departments from all the different counties, DOT (Department of Transportation), judiciary, MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the different coalitions, other Prosecutors’ Offices around the state, Sheriff’s, as well as the AG’s (Attorney General) office, so it’s a—so that, they have on Oʻahu, so it pays for that. We also put on an annual training that the Prosecutors Office puts on usually every summer, so we include Law Enforcement as well as Prosecuting Attorneys from all the different counties. So, that’s training that is done every year. So, this year, I spoke to our attorney that is in charge of this program, and so they’re looking to do like DUI (Driving Under the Influence) and OVUI (Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence) training and is kind of geared for some of the newer folks but also, it’s a good refresher for seasoned attorneys and Law Enforcement as well. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Grant, for being here and all those helpful details. MR. NAGATA: You’re welcome. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I yield. CHR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. I don’t have a question, I just wanted to say congratulations on your Employee of the Year. MR. NAGATA: Thank you, I appreciate it. Thank you. MS. LEE LOY: I yield. Page 33 IBM Vote on Bill 99 (Approved) ADJOURN- MFNT- Approved: Mr. Matt Ka-ne I`i Finance Co ii Lee MK/dt October 31, 2023 CHR. KAN EAL I'l -KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. Seeing no further discussion, Bill 99 is on the floor to be forwarded to Council with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? The motion to recommend passage of Bill 99 on first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Kdneali'i-Kleinfelder -- 6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Evans, Inaba, and Villegas — 3. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI'l-KLEINFELDER: We have a motion to adjourn. There being no further business, at 11:03 a.m., Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Kdneali'i-Kleinfelder — 6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Evans, Inaba, and Villegas — 3. Excused: None. , Chair (Date) Page 34