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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GOEAC 2024/03/19 (2022-2024)Committee on Governmental Operations and External Affairs 28' Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokdlole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii . March 19, 2024 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Operations and ORDER: External Affairs was called to order at 11:30 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Cindy Evans, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Cindy Evans, Chair Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Vice Chair (via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Mr. Matt Kdneali'i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, 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. EVANS: Let's proceed with the top of the agenda. Thank you. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 Comm. 740: NOMINATION OF TYLER PACHECO TO THE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated February 15, 2024, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Postponed: March 5, 2024 (Note: There is a motion by Mr. Kdneali'i-Kleinfelder, seconded by Ms. Kagiwada to close file on Comm. 740.) CHR. EVANS: The motion is already on the floor. So, it's to the Administration, I see here in Hilo, welcome. (Note: At this time, the nominee Tyler Pacheco and Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika'i Bartolome, came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. BARTOLOME: Aloha Mai Kakou. Pomaikai Bartolome, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Roth. Pleased to be nominating Tyler Pacheco of District 2 to the Transportation Commission. Tyler was born and raised here in Hilo. He is a graduate of Hilo High School, go Vikings. And also, you know, I've known Tyler from church. We worship together. And he also has his own business, and he's here next to me. He's also a worship leader, a public servant. He shared that, you know, he wants to serve in this capacity and we're extremely excited that he's stepping up. So, if he's confirmed, his term will end December 31, 2024. Tyler was here at our last Committee meeting and wasn't able to stay. So, just wanted to refresh your memory. Mahalo. CHR. EVANS: So, welcome Mr. Pacheo, do you offer any comments? MR. PACHECO: No, thank you. CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Members? Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Pacheco for being here and being willing to step up and serve as a volunteer on the commission. I just wanted to ask you, what you're —you probably have a passion for transportation or interest. Maybe you could tell us a little bit about why you want to serve on this commission. Page 2 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 MR. PACHECO: Mainly for the community and being a part of my community. It's kind of big for me. And as far as the transportation, I know some stuff, but not too much, but I'm willing to learn. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks very much. What kind of vehicle do you drive? MR. PACHECO: A 2023 KIA Telluride. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks. I really do appreciate, you know, getting all perspectives and people taking part in our County Government. So, thanks for stepping up and I yield. CHR. EVANS: Okay, any other Member? Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I just want to recognize that you were here at the last meeting. I saw you walking in the hallways waiting for your time to come in, and there was a lot of testimony that day, and I didn't get the chance. Well, I just wanted to get from you in person, I think my big question for you is, you know, why the Transportation Commission? What do you think you bring to it, and what do you hope to do on it? MR. PACHECO: Transportation Commission because —oh, I'm not too sure. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Any thoughts at all? MR. PACHECO: Not that I can think of right now. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, that's an interesting answer. Thank you. I yield, Chair. CHR. EVANS: Okay. Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Hi Tyler, great to see you. Thanks for being here. I think we all believe, you know, in members of our community stepping up to serve and being a part of County Government. Are you aware that our County has a Mass Transit Master Plan? We actually won an award for it. MR. PACHECO: Yeah, I got that pamphlet for it. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, definitely take a look at that booklet. There are strategies on how we can improve public transportation and access around the island. And you know, I'm curious, you have an office in downtown Hilo; your place of work, your business. Page 3 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 I'm sure you can see how pedestrians, bicyclists, cars are all kind of culminating together in one big ecosystem. So, maybe your observations of how vehicles, bicyclists, busses; how that can be, I think, maybe a bit more cohesive and work around a little better. You want to speak to that, some of your observances? MR. PACHECO: Yeah, parking is like, tight. Not too much parking. And when they did the roads, a lot of the businesses around was kind of hurt by it, I guess being that there were no places to park; and rerouting things and being done during the day versus the night. And I know it was due to just like one person or two from what I was told that wanted it during the day. So, things like that, basically. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That's really great. So, I'm going to encourage you to read our Mass Transit Master Plan. Take a moment to connect with our Mass Transit Administrator, Victor Kandle. He's newest to the position, but he's really excellent. If you want, I can also put you in touch with our folks at SSFM (Steady -State Function Method), who have been contracted to help us implement the Mass Transit Master Plan in communities island -wide. But it's just ensuring that, you know, we all have access to mass transportation, but also that when we think about how we create communities that they are more walkable, that they're more pedestrian and bicycle friendly. So, I think that by nature of you being in the downtown Hilo area, you've observed a lot of things that you can bring to the table. I think one thing that I think is really important that you can help with is, so often there are these public meetings about different transportation initiatives. They need your help putting out that kahea (issues) so that more of our community members are aware of potential projects. That way they can get educated and weigh in throughout the process. Is that something you can help us with? MR. PACHECO: Yah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. Thanks for being here today. Chair, I yield. MS. VILLEGAS: Chair? CHR. EVANS: Yes, Member Villagas. MS. VILLEGAS: Aloha, thank you for being here. And thank you, Pomai, for sharing your personal relationship and kind thoughts of trust with Mr. Pacheco. Unfortunately, I just will honestly say that I'm disappointed and deeply concerned. I understand how hard you work to try and fill positions on our commissions with volunteers. But this is a vital responsibility and I'm really concerned with your lack of answers, Mr. Pacheco, to the prior Council Members' questions. Page 4 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 As we continue to move through potential funding opportunities for our Transportation departments and all the different things that that entails, I really would have hoped that someone could have provided you with some other insights and topics that you would have been able to just provide some kind of answers showing some interests or —sorry, not interest, but having done some due diligence. You know, with similar things sitting here on the dais with other Council Members being vetted very harshly for very powerful commissions, and while this one may not be at that caliber, I'm not comfortable today passing your nomination for this role. I appreciate your willingness and desire to serve, and your kind heart which I can tell is there. But I think it behooves our County to have someone with a little more experience or having done a little digging a little deeper prior to this second and final meeting concerning your nomination. So, my apologies, but I won't be supporting your nomination today. Aloha. CHR. EVANS: Members, any other questions, comments? Member Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Mr. Pacheco, I see you're a business owner and I appreciate that. I'm a business owner too. I hear your concerns about downtown Hilo. The questions I asked are pretty much the same questions I ask across the board for anyone coming up for any commission or any committee. You know, your thoughts, plans, future. I'm reading the sheet presented by our Administration. Then, in the second paragraph, and everyone has this. Communication 740. "As a lifelong resident, you know, Tyler possesses a deep understanding of our unique transportation challenges and opportunities." My question for you, and I'm going to ask it again, and this really is driving my decision right now. What do you feel is important regarding transportation in Hawaii County, and what do you feel needs to be changed, or what do you see our future being in any regards to a mass transportation, or any transportation means? That's it. I need some thoughts from you. I need something to go on here. MR. PACHECO: Could you repeat that again? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I yield Chair, thank you. CHR. EVANS: So, I don't see there, Member Lee Loy. Did you have any questions or comments? MS. LEE LOY: I did not. Page 5 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Seeing no other Members' lights on, I just wanted to maybe reframe some questioning that we've had by other Council Members. And that is, you chose the Transportation Commission as your Number One. I mean you did pick a couple other ones, but you chose Transportation, and there's a reason you've picked Transportation as your passion. Can you just explain just a little bit more about your passion as to why you want to be on this commission and not another one? Mr. Pacheco. MR. PACHECO: I'm not sure. CHR. EVANS: Okay, alright. Thank you. So, if no further discussion? Mr. Clerk, will you take a roll call vote? Vote on Comm. 740: The motion to recommend confirmation of the nomination Failed of Mr. Tyler Pacheco to the Transportation Commission failed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kierkiewicz, and Lee Loy — 3. Noes: Committee Members Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Evans — 6. Absent: None. Excused: None. MS. EVANS: So, Mr. Clerk, next on our agenda. Comm. 759: REQUESTS A DISCUSSION OF THE 2024 HAWAI`I STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE From Council Member Heather L. Kimball, dated February 27, 2024. Motion to Close File: Ms. Kimball moved to close file on Comm. 759. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. EVANS: Any discussion? Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. Given that we're just past the mid -session of the Legislature. Wanted to just update everyone on the status of the bills that we identified as priority bills for this session as well as bills that we have adopted as part of our priority package based on their alignment with some of the policy priorities we had identified earlier in the year. So, currently the only HSAC (Hawai`i State Association of Counties) introduced bill that is still alive is 1856. This is relating to vehicular access, regulations, restrictions and ordinances. It passed over from the House. It is now awaiting Page 6 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 hearings in the Senate. But this was the bill that would allow the counties the authority under certain conditions what hazardous roadways to develop a management plan with respect to access. So, that one is still moving. The other one is not our bill, but it was one that is very similar to the HSAC package, S132474, (Senate Bill 2474) which is Paid -Family Leave is also still moving. So, we kind of abandoned supporting our HSAC package bills because this one was moving already. But we've taken on this one as support for that initiative. There are a couple of Wastewater bills that the HSAC Community is supporting. In particular, HB2743 (House Bill 2743). You may have seen the article in Civil Beat about that the other day that would give the counties the authority to implement a Clean Water fee with respect to cesspool conversions. There's a lot of moving parts in that one. So, I suggest everybody read it and get all the details. It's not something that's going to happen right away. But from the home rule perspective, it's something that HSAC is supporting. The other Wastewater bill is 1691. This one requires that within a certain distance of the shoreline, 200 feet; and in certain substrates that are particularly porous where we know that a cesspool or septic systems aren't used or any better than a cesspool. I think you guys all remember the presentation by Greg Asner a while back about that. H13 1691 requires that denitrification be added to the septic when they get that put in. So, I think it's an opportunity to get ahead of that issue. That has one more committee, wham, in the Senate, and then we'll have made it through both chambers. So, that's exciting. Couple other ones that I wanted to highlight, the Dangerous Dog one, of course is moving, HB2058. I'll pass it to you in a moment Jenn, I believe decision making was at 10:00 o'clock. So, we may have an update on where that is. Couple other things, Senate Bill 2227, which was one of our package bills, the Mortgage Foreclosure Suspension During Emergency Powers. It was pretty much determined that we don't need a specific authorization. The Governor already has the ability to do that, so legislation was not necessary. So, that's another one that's no longer moving. Another two that we're paying attention to is HB 183 8, relating to Transient Accommodation Rentals. Again, it would allow the County to phase out non -conforming transient accommodation rentals. We're not all in alignment at HSAC about supporting this, but we are following from a home rule perspective. Again, giving the counties the authority to do these ordinances I think that HSAC generally supports because it gives more authority back to the counties. Page 7 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 Then finally, I'd just like to highlight HB1542 which would allow July 2024 to December 2026; it would give the counties the authority through their Planning Commissions to change State Land Use Boundary amendments from Agricultural to Rural without having any conditions imposed by the State Land Use Commission. I have been supportive of this one. Maui County is less supportive because they would actually like to see Council involvement in Council level hearings. So, I've proposed an amendment to the Legislature on this one that would have a Council step in that request to the Land Use Commission to do the State Land Use Boundary amendment. I think it's pretty big for our County. We have a lot of areas including HPP (Hawai`i Paradise Park), Fern Acres, Orchidland where they're Agricultural. But if they were under the Rural designation, they provide some more flexibility to landowners. Although the plantation communities in my district are Agriculture as far as State Land Use, but they're fundamentally Rural in use. That would allow us to actually be better to regulate the Agriculture State Land Use, if we pulled all the Rural nonconforming stuff out. So, that's kind of the thinking on that. Anyway, that's the general overview of where we are. Everything else that we had on the HSAC package is not moving forward this year. If there are other bills that you would like me to take to HSAC for consideration for inclusion in our priority package for the final stages of the Legislature, I'm happy to listen to those now and move those forward. So, thank you Chair, I yield. CHR. EVANS: Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Kimball, and thanks for your leadership as President of HSAC. I think you're doing great things this Legislature Session. Just an update on H132058, the Dangerous Dog legislation. It did pass at Judiciary this morning with some minor amendments, nothing substantial. And I believe it's now waiting to be heard in Ways and Means on the Senate side. Thank you. CHR. EVANS: Okay, Members any questions? Seeing none, all in favor? Vote on Comm. 759: The motion to close file on Comm. 759 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Evans — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 8 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 452-24: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY Authorizes the Department of Research and Development to collaborate with Arizona State University to assist with the department's intervention of Public Utilities Commission dockets, including Integrated Grid Planning, Electrification of Transportation, Performance -based Regulation, Competitive Bidding, Microgrid, and consumer rate cases. Reference: Comm. 767 Intr. by: Ms. Evans (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Kdneali'i-Kleinfelder moved to recommend adoption of Res. 452-24. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. CHR. EVANS: I believe we have the Administration, Energy Office and the Director of Research and Development here. (Note: At this time, Research and Development Director Douglass Adams came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. ADAMS: Good morning Council Committee. My apologies. Thank you, Chair, also for the opportunity to testify on this particular resolution, and I will end up turning it over to Riley, who all of you know as our Energy Infrastructure Specialist on this particular issue. And then we also have our Deputy Corporation Counsel Suzanna Tiapula, who is on the screen as well, as well as members of Arizona State University team that we work with quite closely as we follow the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) dockets. Riley. (Note: At this time, Research and Development Energy and Infrastructure Specialist Riley Saito came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. SAITO: Riley Saito, Research and Development Energy and Infrastructure Specialist. I just want to give a little more color than what the presentation is. With Arizona State University (ASU), in your packet I provided four years or history. This is a new contract. The original contract has expired, and we are asking for an execution of a new contract just to clarify that. So, with that, Suzanna, you want to take over the presentation? Page 9 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 (Note: At this time, Deputy Corporation Counsel Suzanna Tiapula came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. TIAPULA: Thank you. Deputy Corporation Counsel Suzanne Tiapula here to answer any questions you may have about the Public Utilities Commission. And I have provided information. If we can go to slide two? (Note: At this time, Deputy Corporation Counsel Suzanne Tiapula provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the presentation, see the DVD copy of the proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office, or online at http://hawaiicounty.granicus.com. A copy of the presentation is made part of the record, see Comm. 767.1). CHR. EVANS: Thank you. With that, I'll move to Members' questions. Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thank you all for assembling to be here for this particular resolution. I recall when this first came up to Council, probably my first term. So, it sounds like we're at the end of that particular contract. Riley said it was a four-year agreement that we had with them. Is there an End -of -Contract report that they are required to provide you, and if so, can we get a copy of that? MR. SAITO: What I've included, and you should have it; we've done reports annually before the renewal or option period. So, you should have a copy of those. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Colleagues do you have copies of the reports that Riley is referring to? Do you file these reports with Council, Riley? MR. SAITO: I don't file it with Council, but I provided it with the —it should be attached with your documents you have for this hearing. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I'm just seeing a slide deck. But I'm assuming that typically when there's a contract, there's an End -of -Contract report that our contractors provide the County. And I'm just wondering if that's been submitted, and if so, could we get a copy of that? MR. SAITO: Yes. I thought I submitted it as part of this hearing too. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I don't see it in our Pinkie folder. So, maybe you could get that to us, so that we could have it as part of the record at Council. There were a number of dockets that were listed in the presentation. Is there a limit to how many dockets ASU will support the County in. Page 10 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 MR. SAITO: No. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Because there's a lot that's happening within this realm of, you know, clean energy transition. And so, I think we have about seven listed here. If more dockets come to the forefront, and they fall within the items that you've listed here, will they take those on, still at $125,000 a year? MR. SAITO: Yes. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. I'm really curious to know if ASU supports other counties' municipalities in this way of being an intervener. (Note: At this time, ASU Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation Katherine "Kit" Batten came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. BATTEN: I can speak on behalf of the JET (Just Energy Transition) Center, which is, ASU as you know, is the largest university in the United States. So, I can't speak across the entire university, but with respect to Just Energy Transition Center, the County of Hawaii is the only county that we're supporting in exactly this way. However, as I mentioned before we are supporting other communities in Northern Arizona that are undergoing a clean energy transition. That has included helping them intervene before the Arizona Corporation Commission, which is the analogues agency to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC). MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Are there opportunities for ASU to work with and support some of our local students that are in our University of Hawaii system through like some sort of virtual internships so that we can build local capacity to participate in PUC proceedings? MS. BATTEN: I would be delighted to explore that opportunity with you and with the County. We certainly work closely. I mentioned the one Ph.D student whose been working on this effort at ASU. But that's certainly something we'd be happy to work with interns who are interested in getting this experience and have a better understanding how the County in prioritizing clean energy issues as well as how the PUC works. But you know, that's something we really enjoy doing as educators in addition to the research that we perform. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Kit. Could you provide a couple of concrete examples? You know, again, I'm looking at the background report that was provided by R&D, where ASU has identified an issue of concern, but also elevated a policy recommendation to solve for it. MS. BATTEN: Certainly. So, a very recent example is that the PUC issued a series of questions for Phase IV of the Performance -Based Regulation (PBR) Page 11 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 docket. The PBR docket that Riley was talking about in greater detail just previous to this. And that opportunity to provide comments that we flagged for the County was to help guide the prioritization of issues for Phase IV of the PBR docket with focus. So, there are a number of different questions we were asked to prioritize which ones were of greatest interest to the County and to provide some additional background in terms of additional resources and information that would be required in order to answer those questions and be able to move the docket forward. So, we worked in collaboration with the County including Riley and Doug who are with you right now to fill out that form and to file it as part of the PBR docket. That's just one example we have been able to highlight and elevate areas in other dockets where we felt that potentially the interest of low and middle -income customers were not adequately being considered by the docket process. And have been able to elevate the concerns of the County on behalf of those customers; and also work with the County to file motions formally as part of these dockets on the customers' behalf. MR. ADAMS: I would just note also that we meet twice a month and I'm not sure I could have answered this question as easily as Kit did, because nearly every time we meet there's something that they find that we're then making a decision on. It can be reasonably small, or it can be a good policy initiative. But it's a part of this standard conversation that we have with the ASU team as they go through and take a look at what's happening on the dockets and how we're responding or how we want to anticipate responding for those things. So, it's very helpful. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I guess I'd be curious to know, and you don't have to answer today, but maybe for Council. But I'm honing in on policy issues and recommendations. Anything that over the last four years, our County may have implemented as a result of ASU's supporting our intervening in some of these dockets. MR. SAITO: Well, in the PBR docket we pushed for and was able to obtain, is that, as we move forward with renewable energy, there should be an immediate lower cost to low-income families. Prior to that it was more of —well, we're going to adjust rates. And we said, well, if we're taking all this performance and they're meeting these performance guidelines, that should definitely not increase. We should be providing guidelines that would actually result in a lower cost to our community, and we were able to incorporate that into the language going forward. Page 12 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I'm glad you brought up cost savings. The B-52 mentioned that the County, Big-C has saved roughly $50 to $70 million by intervening in current and prior PUC dockets. Is it $50 million or is it $70 million? Because those are very significant amounts. It's not a couple dollars. MR. SAITO: It depends on how many years you want to count. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: But I also want to know how are these savings being realized by the County? How are you measuring that, and how are members of our County or residents seeing that cost savings? Because if you look online, people are complaining about their electric bill. Costs are going up. But you're saying they're going down. I don't know who's benefiting, and again, how did we arrive that this $50-70 million? MR. SAITO: The cost going up part is related to the rate structure itself being tied to fossil fuel. So, as you watch the cost for oil, cost per barrel for oil because that goes up and down. So, will your rates, dynamically on a monthly basis. Because it's a pass -through of the cost of oil to the rate pairs. So, if you look at your bill, go back and look at during COVID (Coronavirus Disease), when oil cost was like under $10, actually at negative at one point. You'll see your electricity rates went drastically down. As oil went up, it goes up. Now, we were talking about as far as within these dockets. The other core elements related to infrastructure, generation, the type of generation, third -party generation. These core cost elements that could be stabilized. So, what the dockets handle is outside and beyond, it's more of like the fixed cost elements of rate structure and more of a long-term. That's why I brought in the years on savings. Part of that calculation includes the potential of —in 2015 when NextEra was going to buy out the utility and what the rate potential increases were from that. And in the rate case in 2018-2019 where the parent company, HECO (Hawaiian Electric Company), was allocating costs for projects to the various subsidiaries, MECO (Maui Electric Company) and HELCO (Hawai`i Electric Light Company), the three subsidiaries. They're allocating costs based on engagements of contracts for renewable energy projects that were handled basically managed by Oahu. So, as they were pushing forward these Requests for Proposals, these other types of initiatives; hiring consultants on, they're pushing the costs down to the counties. And we pushed back and we were successful in having no rate increase. They pretty much throughout the application. Page 13 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, I'm tracking where you are. Would you be open to a friendly amendment to this resolution requiring R&D (Research and Development) to submit annual reports regarding this relationship to the Council? MR. SAITO: Sure. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. I think it's really important, because as we've uncovered when we scrutinize our change orders, that's why we uncover different projects; overtime, overbudget. But I think this way we are getting, you know, good information from ASU, from the department, so that we know what's happening with these dockets and how we can be of support in kind of championing some of these ideas in our community. MR. ADAMS: If I may, I would totally agree with that. Appreciate that. Actually, one of the things that we have some difficulty doing is actually raising these issues, you know, making folks aware of them. So, the idea that we would be able to provide this information. And it would be then seeing in a public way that's really a good idea. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, I'll coordinate with your office so that we can get this for the amendment ready for Council. And I just wanted to make one more note about, just the energy mandates that have been set forth for our State, a hundred percent renewable by 2050. There's a lot of investment that's going to be made there; also, a lot of money to be made, I think, as we move into this new era of producing energy. I'd like to see costs go down for some of our local residents as we move in this direction of being more energy secure. I think there's going to be some upfront costs, but I'm thinking about the long-term piece of residents saving. MR. SAITO: Yes, that is exactly what we need to do. We need to eliminate the need to import fossil fuel and utilize embodied energy sources on island, be it wind, solar, water, geothermal. When I say embodied energy molecules, it's within biomass. It's in us, plants. Plants are like natural solar collectors, they collect energy. They have energy. What we do is bury it in our landfill, and we let it rot and produce methane. And being compliant with EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), we burn the methane to reduce the carbon emissions by 28 times. That's energy that through our course of behavior and systems setup of handling energy, we waste it. We have a shot at this. This island has an excellent shot at becoming manufacturers of energy molecules, and that's our goal. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Riley. Thank you, Director. Thank you team members from Corp. Counsel and ASU for being here, I yield. Page 14 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 CHR. EVANS: Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Yes, thank you for being here and going into depth about the intention and purpose of this resolution. And thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz for really great questions. One of the things that kind of resonated as I was listening to this is that, you know, the words policy position was brought up several times. One of the things that I'm concerned about with this arrangement is, there's actually no public input or transparency component around the policy and the intention that we're adopting when we go in and take a position as interveners. And I bring this up obviously, as part of the body that is sort of the keepers of the transparency and public input. I would want to maybe suggest that with Council Member Kierkiewicz's amendment and I'm willing to work with you on this, Ashley, is that there be a component where we at least get to vet some very high-level positions, right? If we're going to intervene where there's potential for cost savings; where there's potential for, you know, self-sufficiency; good resilience? I would like to have a component of this that allows at least one public vetting of the general positions that we're taking on these dockets as a component of this. I'm not sure if that ever happened. You know, this is obviously a renewal of the contract. Did that ever happen where there was a discussion of the policy positions you were going to take as interveners on some of these dockets? MR. SAITO: If the issues are large and far reaching, the PUC and the consumer advocate? They hold meetings within our community. And I'm thinking on how it logistically enabled for the County to manage community outreach because many times, these settings are, you know, in a week or two deadlines for turnaround. You get asked ten questions and you've got ten days to answer it. So, how do you have that dialogue? MS. KIMBALL: Let me just intervene and suggest that, you know for example, the last presentation about the HSAC priorities. So, every year before the Legislative session starts, we adopt a set of priorities this year. It was Dangerous Dogs; it was Wastewater funding; Mental Health. Very high level, but at least there was an opportunity to present to the public, this is what we're going to generally support as concepts that we want to see move forward at the State Legislature. I'm kind of seeing this as being the same kind of relationship. We're talking about a body that we don't have direct influence over, but we should at least give the public an opportunity to hear, you know generally speaking, when we take the Page 15 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 step of intervening and a PUC docket, these are the initiatives that we're putting forward. I think, Director, you kind of see the merit in this. MR. ADAMS: Yes. I do, Council Member. And part of this will be the timing and when and how you'd like to do that. But the key here are two things; one is, we're often not the folks that are presenting this. So, we're often responding to what's being presented to the PUC. So intervening, but it's based on what either the generator or the distributor is providing; or in some cases, other interveners. But more importantly, an understanding by the Council and therefore also the public of where the Administration is at when it does do these intervenings, yeah, that's clearly important. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. And what we can do is take it offline and see whether that's an appropriate amendment to this resolution, or it's something that just should happen independently. You know, with HSAC, we adopt a resolution that lists those priorities, and what I could see in some sort of reasonable time interval, the same thing could be done with you folks. So, we'll have a discussion offline about that. But I think that's an important part of this process. Thank you, Chair, I yield. CHR. EVANS: Member Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Thank you for being here today. I appreciate the information to the resolution. As far as being supportive or not, I do support the resolution. I'm really interested, why we chose ASU. We do a lot of work with them. I'm not saying good or bad, just, we do a lot of work with ASU. But we do have a university system here in the State with students who may be very akamai to things that are happening and may provide deep insights. So, you know, I'm in line with Ms. Kierkiewicz on that. But a lot of the relationship we've built with ASU and different areas have been very significant. So, I look forward to seeing what happens. On the other end of the spectrum, the two most important energy players in our State are the PUC and HECO. And I've always been interested in how we, as a County government, work within those realms. And I'm interested to see what the outcome of this would be. I mean, ultimately we called out a number of things. The biggest one is rate. So, our taxpayers, we have the highest rate in the nation and that's not a secret, and we're an island in the Middle Pacific. So, we have our hurdles to overcome. Page 16 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 The relationship between the PUC and HECO has a huge impact on us as citizens. So, I'm not going into the nitty-gritty of that. There's been a number of things that have come up in the past that are eyebrow raising, to say the least. And I'm really interested to see what the outcomes are with this possible collaboration between us and ASU. I think there was a good question asked earlier. What is your name again, sorry, from ASU? MS. BATTEN: Sorry, Hi, I'm Dr. Kit Batten. MR. KANEALI'l-KLEINFELDER: Kit Batten. Thank you for being here today, doctor. Simple question. Are you limited at all in your ability to proceed with PUC flocs as an intervener in the amount of time or, you know, cases per week? MS. BATTEN: Just to clarify. ASU is absolutely not an intervener in these dockets. We weigh in support of the County of Hawaii. So, anytime anything is filed in any one of these dockets, it's filed by the County not by ASU. In terms of number of dockets per week, this is why we've got a deep bench now of four experts including myself who can help support the County on, I believe now, that there are eight dockets that we are helping either intervene in or monitor for the County. And it can be quite a lot of work from time to time, especially since this is such a pressing issue for the State and for the nation, and of course, the globe as well. But we do have bandwidth to be able to respond and have been responding to the large influx of filings under some of the dockets over the course of the last year and into 2024 and feel confident that we'll be able to continue to do that with this budget. MR. KANEALI'l-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. Okay, I'll be supporting the agreement today. I do really look forward to seeing what we choose as a County to play a role as an intervener. Thank you for clarifying the intervener being the County not ASU. There's a huge impact on the people of Hawaii County, specifically. And I ask the question every time of our folks in HECO and HELCO, you know, when with the adoption of all these renewable energy sources, do we begin to realize cost savings for the consumer. The reality is, I don't know that we do, or ever will. And we talked about different sources of renewable energy and decoupling from the price of oil, which is just, I think, either just happened with PGV (Puna Geothermal Venture), or it is happening that there's something that's being renegotiated, which is good news. Page 17 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 As we go into the future, 100 percent renewable by 2050, do we as the rate payers ever see the realizations of cost savings? MR. ADAMS: If I may? Completely agree. We need to see cost savings. That's something that, we have the conversation with Hawaiian Electric about as well. When we approach these dockets, we're looking to support our residents/rate payers. The other elements associated with this is what Riley talked about. We think that the numbers also point this out, that as we bring in less fossil fuel at the expense that those are, and we see the reduction in price to produce our own energy, we're going to see some of those costs either stabilize or go down. We do realize, and this is part of the conversation, when you run a grid, there's costs associated with that. Those are likely to go up, because everything goes up because of inflation, one kind of another. So, all of that's understood. But it's entirely our purpose to see a reduction in the cost of living where it comes from energy; it's tied to so many other things in our economy, in our quality of life. So, totally onboard with that. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Beautiful. Okay, alright. I've heard a lot of wonderful things today. I look forward to seeing what happens if this measure does pass and our collaboration with ASU has potential. Thank you. MR. ADAMS: I should point out; we have the authority of a bully pulpit as a County in the PUC. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: As what? MR. ADAMS: As a bully pulpit, essentially, right? They'll listen to us because we're a County, but not because we have any authority, right? The utilities show holder utility, private concern. It's being run and managed in that way. And of course, its leaders would say, in particular on our island, those leaders would say, those are our friends and neighbors, we want to take care of them. That's part of the reason, you know, why they do what they do. But we have no oversight, right, that's all being done by the PUC in terms of the operations and the policies. All we can do, essentially, and what we have been doing is trying to bring the concerns for our citizens and small businesses to the floor, so the PUC has to hear that as well. So, when Riley's talking about the consumer advocate role, as well, that is part of the PUC structure. We're often times in connection, and we see that we're integrated with that. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you for that, Director. I yield, Chair, thank you. Page 18 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 CHR. EVANS: Member Villegas followed by Galimba. MR. SAITO: I'd like to —with the University of Hawaii, they actually do research. There's Hawaii Natural Energy Institute with the University of Hawaii, and because they do consult with other interveners, for the PUC, it's a conflict of interest for them to actually represent us. They're actually consumers also of electricity from the utility. So, that's where, you know with ASU being involved, it's independent out of state. Regarding when the rates are going to go down with renewal energy penetration, you hear we have a high volume of generation for renewable energy. Those contracts, geothermal was partial tied to fossil fuel. The South Wind Farm is tied to fossil fuel. Fossil fuel prices; as price goes up, their rates go up to the rate pairs. Haw! is the same way. Prior to Ukraine, the cost factor was about 12 cents/kWh (kilowatt-hour) for the independent generators. Then when the oil prices went up they were getting 22 cents/kWh for doing nothing. It's just by contract, their rates went up. The cost of buying the power is tied to the metrics of the barrel of oil. So, the good news is geothermal is being repowered. The rate is stabilized, not tied to fossil fuel. Haw-1 is being repowered, again stabilized by fossil fuel. And these are just what's out there, not final. Geothermal would be about 13 cents/kWh. So, to give you an idea of what that means, two year rolling average of cost for kWh for the utility to fire off their generators, the fuel oil to produce the kWh was 15.7 cents. That's a two-year rolling average prior to Ukraine. After Ukraine, it went up over 28 cents/kWh. So, now you have 28 cents/kWh for the utility to consume oil to produce electricity. And if geothermal is there at 13 and Tawhiri is there at 12. AES Hawaii Solar is at 8, and Innergex is at 9. So, once we get the bifurcation from fossil fuel on the renewable energy side, this goes up and down with the utility and remains stable. The larger portion of kWh that are coming from these lower sources, that's when we'll receive the actual benefit. The lower cost, the more stabilized cost. CHR. EVANS: Okay, Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. You want to weigh in and keep focus on the resolution. Thank you. Because there's a lot to learn in this area but thank you. Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Thank you, Riley for having all that data. I know your passion and your expertise in this field far surpasses anything I could ever broach. So, I'm greatly comforted to know that you're continuing to navigate and guide us in these directions. Page 19 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 Also, you know, I'm a UH (University of Hawaii) Manoa grad. I have great love and respect for our UH system, and I would love to have our UH system be at the caliber of support that we have been able to get from ASU. I wanted to thank you, Dr. Batten for being here today. For the decades you have invested in your life on topic that used to be, like you were you know, whistling in the wind and you were just somebody calling and crying "wolf," right? Now it is very relevant, very poignant, and very much in need of our focus and prioritization, and budgeting for support of. So, congratulations as a woman in your field having navigated this far and for your support. ASU's reputation here on the Big Island and all the different people I've come in contact with, has been remarkable. So, I'm also grateful for that because we have Big Island small world, and we find out pretty quickly through our relationships if people are who they say or claim they are. And so far, I've been really pleased with you guys being who you say you are and really showing up and putting up. My one question that comes to mind because it's always a little trigger of mine when the term biomass comes up is Hu Honua and Honua Ola. And I'm wondering where, you know, in hearing conversations about the PUC and HECO and prices. In my opinion, Hu Honua and Honua Ola have billions of dollars behind them because they are primarily owned by one of a very large oil and gas person. So, they can wait out a long time and keep pushing. But I would like confirmation, or I would like and answer when it comes to these docket things. And I'm not sure where they're at with their continued push. But what ASU's intentions are or what your alignment or just kind of what your perceptions are on that biomass option for energy production here on the Big Island. MS. BATTEN: Thank you for the question. I can say that to date, that the specific companies or generating facilities that you just mentioned has not been the subject of the work that we've been researching for the dockets we've been intervening. They've been helping the County intervene in. I can say that in my work at the Just Energy Transition Center and also just my work having worked in this field for 20 years, there are tradeoffs for every kind of energy source. That's a possibility, right, and biomass as energy has some benefits as long as there are good life cycle carbon emission and counting metrics that are employed. But there's also some drawbacks in terms of land use around biomass. So, I'm definitely one who never thinks that there's silver bullet solution in terms of any one renewable energy technology that's going to solve everything. I think that the work we've been undertaking with the County has underscored that because you know, their support and research that's gone into the Puna Page 20 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 Geothermal Ventures. There's work that we've been supporting the County on around hydrogen power; there is solar and wind. So, I know that's not the exact answer to your question about those specific companies, but perhaps my colleagues, Riley and Doug might have some additional thoughts to share there. But in terms of ASU, we don't favor one renewable technology over another and recognize that every renewable technology, whether it's the concerns that you've expressed or the biomass to the minerals that have to be mined to go into battery storage technologies; solar generation and wind generation, etcetera. There are pluses and minuses, and you need to be very careful about threading the needle and understanding the local situation wherever you're making policy recommendations around the best clean energy future. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you and I appreciate your broad perspective on that and recognizing, you know, there can be a double-edged sword, but the benefits have to outweigh the risks and the costs to a local community. And Hawaii, being such a special place with such special requirements and community as a whole, should this ever come up. You know, I'm grateful to my colleagues here asking for reporting annually and whatnot, so we can stay abreast of that. As if or when that conversation comes to the table for that specific energy production component, I'm very well aware. I get emails almost daily about Puna Geothermal and the number of people who have issues with and have had some negative side effects from that facility and what's happened there. So, thank you for answering that question so frankly and I appreciate your support. Did you guys want to answer anything on that? MR. ADAMS: It's the policy of this Administration not to support incineration, right? So, the other part about this directly to these dockets is that there isn't a docket that I'm aware of at the moment that we would be covering that addresses that particular facility. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. I really appreciate that direct answer. Alright, I yield. Thank you. CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. So, I'd say I'm generally in support of this. I think we're getting a very good deal in having four to five folks that are very well versed or learning to be well versed in sustainable energy. That would cost us a lot more if we were to hire them or if we were to have to hire attorneys who are specialized in energy. So, I am generally supportive of this. Page 21 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 I also see something that's of particular interest to me on the latest letter, which is the docket concerning approval to construct an overhead 69 kV (kilovolts) transmission line extension in Ocean View. And I think this is kind of a good example of potential savings that this arrangement would help us with because it's an energy project that was initiated a very long time ago when the prices for solar energy would be 45 cents/kWh. So, if this project continues, HELCO potentially would be forced to buy it at that rate, whereas the current rate for solar energy is 8-9 cents. So, that's saving us a lot of money if we can circumvent that kind of bureaucratic unfortunateness. So, just kind of wanted to share that and encourage intervention and the help that we're getting on that. That's all. Thank you. CHR. EVANS: Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Yes, a quick question. In the budget as we approach this season, where does this fund reside? MR. ADAMS: This resides in the Energy account within R&D. MR. INABA: Okay, thank you very much. I'll be in support. Thank you, Chair. CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Any other discussion? Okay, I just wanted to weigh in on that. I kind of thought like there was kind of a trend the way the resolution was written. I mean I was a little taken back and disturbed that there wasn't a lot in the "Where As" why we're doing it; what the policy is; what's driving this agreement with ASU. The reason being is because the public will weigh in on the resolution and potentially submit testimony, and there wasn't really a lot of substance in the resolution. And I did end up calling Riley and saying, you know, why isn't there more substance from Administration and the resolution? So, my bigger question is, when does the contract expire and how expedient is it that we vote on it today? MR. SAITO: The prior contract already expired on January 29th CHR. EVANS: Okay. And the policy of this County intervening with the PUC was established four years ago? MR. SAITO: Maybe ten years ago. Because during the prior Administration, I think, it really got active when NextEra was attempting to acquire HECO companies. CHR. EVANS: Okay. So, how long was the Energy Office and your position been? Page 22 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 MR. SAITO: I think it was established with —I don't know if you remember Bill Parks from DOE (U. S. Department of Energy) with a Clean Energy initiative. The Federal Department of Energy funded this Energy position, I believe in 2008-2009 for about a three -four-year period. CHR. EVANS: Okay, and then after that it was stood up as a permanent position. MR. SAITO: Correct. CHR. EVANS: Do you have any other staff within your office that supports and helps you? I mean obviously, you're going to review dockets and make a decision so that you call up ASU and tell them, this is the one. Is that kind of your process? MR. ADAMS: I think that may have been the process, but we had met more and more often, and their team has become more and more familiar with the dockets. We haven't seen a lot of new dockets. It's been a continuation. You can see from the first four digits, most of these have been older dockets. So, as their team is aware of those, they're tracking those. They're already on the list for when the meetings are going to be held by the various committees, so it may be part of a particular docket . Then our conversations with them are based on whether or not any of our team can attend. Sometimes that's the case; sometimes, it's just their team doing it and then giving us the information that they were able to glean from their including any potential policy considerations that they're seeing that we may want to weigh in on. So, that's part of that process. It becomes a very nice kind of thinking of working together kind of process. CHR. EVANS: Okay, my last question since we don't have a copy of the contract. Is it based on hours or when you're signing the contract, what is the delivery that you expect from them, and what is it based on? Number of dockets, number of hours? Then when you exceed that, you know, how do you deal with that? MR. SAITO: It's based on not any type of unit measurement. It's participation. The scope is written with these dockets listed, and with participation and the dockets; and with the last one being any addition of any other docket or activity. So, it's a fixed quarterly payment of one -quarter of the amount. When do I review the hours? If you do it on an hourly basis, that would be probably four to five times higher; if you hired environmental lawyers to represent you in this type of proceeding. CHR. EVANS: Okay. Director Adams, any other comment on contract language. Page 23 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 MR. ADAMS: We're getting a really good deal. CHR. EVANS: Okay, alright. Thank you. So, Members we have the motion before us to forward with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? Any opposed? Vote on Res. 452-24: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 452-24 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Evans — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kierkiewicz and Lee Loy — 2. Excused: None. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Relinquish Chair: At this time, the Chair relinquished the Chair to Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Please let the record reflect, I've assumed Chair of the Governmental Operations and External Affairs Committee at 12:57 p.m. Mr. Clerk. Bill 138: AMENDS CHAPTER 2, ARTICLE 7, OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED) RELATING TO PLANNING Requires the Planning Director to submit semi-annual reports to the County Council indicating those properties for which: (1) a change of zoning district ordinance has expired without completion of all conditions; (2) an initial time extension for the performance of conditions on the change of zone has been granted; (3) applications have been approved for zoning variances, subdivision variances, subdivisions, 'ohana dwelling unit permits, nonsignificant zoning changes, approval of plans for telecommunication antennas, or additional farm dwelling agreements; and (4) the Planning Director retains exclusive authority to grant the right to build. Reference: Comm.760 Intr. by: Ms. Evans and Mr. Inaba Motion to Approve: Ms. Evans moved to recommend passage of Bill 138 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. Page 24 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Evans, go ahead. MS. EVANS: Thank you very much. It's been a pleasure to work with my colleague, Member Inaba on really working to try to continue to bring transparency to our constituents; to our residents, to our neighbors as to what's going on in terms of land use development in the County. And I believe that having these reports given to the Council really helps us understand kind of, I would call it, not only a point in time, but what that community or neighborhood or that land use will look like if we continue on a certain path. We're asking the Planning Director to provide twice a year, a report to the Council, and for those who can't see it, it is a report that would come to the County Council and it will tell us if there is a change in the Zoning Ordinance such as expired without completion of all the conditions; if an additional time extension has been granted; if applications have been approved for zoning variances or subdivision variances; ohana dwellings, nonsignificant zoning changes, plan approvals of telecommunications antennas or additional farm dwelling agreements; or the Planning Director has made a decision because he has the authority to grant the right to build. I think why this is important is that a lot of things get approved that get built in our community that never comes in front of the Council. So, I do think it gives us that bigger picture in terms of what's happening locally. And that is why I'm asking for your favorable support for this bill. There's another section to it with a little more detail, but if it's okay, I'll pass it over to Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. May I, Chair? Okay. So, Council Member Evans gave us a good summary of what types of applications or approvals would be reported. And if you look at Subsection (c) of the bill, it really goes into the specifics of the information that would be provided in the report as it relates to any of those approvals that were granted by the Director or the Change of Zone Ordinance or any initial time extensions that have been granted prior to the passage of Bill 194. So again, it's really to provide the public and everyone insight as to what is going on, and I think it does pair really well with another bill that we are looking at regarding other structures that could be built on surrounding properties. So, it's giving the public and the Council the most information possible to make the best decision. In this case, it's not that our decisions are dependent on it, but it's just a more so after -the -fact presentation of information that I hope you find hopeful and for the public to know. And it was requested by the Planning Department that we hold this over to April 2nd when they are available. Page 25 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 But if there are any, you know, discussions that need to be had now, or comments or questions, we're happy to answer them. But look forward to the Director and Deputy of Planning, to kind of sharing their insight at that next Committee hearing. Thank you. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Members, discussion? Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: I'm interested, and I like where you're going with this. I think when we get to a deeper discussion about it, I'll have some concerns about (b)(3) in that, I think there's the possibility that some of the specificity there is going to actually exclude things that you may want to have reports on. So, I might suggest loosening that language to just, you know, actions that are under the jurisdiction of the Planning Commission or the Director's discretion. You know, something like that rather than being so specific because I think you may exclude —I mean I don't see SMA (Special Management Area) permits, for example included in here which I think is maybe something we'd want. Regarding (b)(4), I think that the Planning Director doesn't grant the right to build, the right for a land use. So, just semantics, but I think that would be something there. Then, I want to just maybe reflect on whether or not it makes sense to have this be a single or bi-annual report, or maybe this is just a list that is maintained somewhere that we can access on a regular basis. So, as things happen, rather than waiting for the six-month intervals, there's always place we can go and check. I think we're doing that with some other actions rather than having this report document presented to us. So, just some thoughts to consider for future deliberations. Thank you, I yield. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Villegas, go ahead. MS. VILLEGAS: I just want to, first off, thank the makers. This, I think, will be incredibly helpful, for not only our community but for us to make better decisions and be fully informed of the things that are happening here in our County and how they affect us as a whole moving forward. I anticipate, in all honesty, the Planning Department when they are here, not liking this very much. So, I'll be interested to hear what their take is on it and what their forms of concerns or pushback would be. But I'm deeply grateful for you bringing this forward, and I think it is something that may ideally help to keep our community educated and feeling connected to what's happening and Page 26 GOEAC-28 March 19, 2024 reduce some of the trepidation about, you know, the unknown. So, thank you for this. I yield. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Evans? MR. INABA: In closing, thank you for the preliminary feedback. You know, I like it direct, so it's helpful already getting us in a direction that we can have more helpful and useful conversation at our next hearing. So, with that I'll make a motion to postpone Bill 138 to our April 2"d, Committee Meetings. Vote on Motion to Mr. Inaba moved to postpone Bill 138 to April 2, 2024. Postpone: Seconded by Ms. Evans and carried by the following (Approved,) voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kimball, Villegas, and Acting Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kierkiewicz and Lee Loy — 2. Excused: None. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 1:07 p.m., Mr. Inaba moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Evans and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kimball, Villegas, and Acting Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kierkiewicz and Lee Loy — 2. Excused: None. Approved: Ms. Cindy Evans, Committee on Governmental Operations and External Affairs CE/dt q (� I 2,� - (Date) Page 27