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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2024/04/16 (2022-2024) Committee on Finance 34th Session West Hawai`i Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i April 16, 2024 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at ORDER: 1:30 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Cindy Evans, Acting Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Cindy Evans, Vice Chair Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Absent&Excused: Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member STATEMENTS The Acting 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.) ACTING CHR. EVANS: Please proceed. COMMUNI- The Acting Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 12.28: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: FEBRUARY 16—29, 2024 From Controller Kay Oshiro, dated March 13, 2024. Motion to Close File: Ms. Kimball moved to close file on Comm. 12.28. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Any discussion? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair,just wanted to mention that we do have the Director of Finance here in Hilo Chambers should there be any discussion. Thank you. FC-34 April 16,2024 ACTING CHR. EVANS: So, could we have the Director come up quickly and tell the public what we're voting on? Thank you. (Note: At this time, Finance Director Diane Nakagawa came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. NAKAGAWA: Good afternoon, Council Members. Diane Nakagawa, Department of Finance. This item is actually a report of transfers from February 16, 2024 through February 29, 2024 from the various departments, as described, as attached in the report. So, there are various items, these are line budget items in the department that are transferred for various reasons. If you have any questions on anything specific, I'd be happy to answer or if the department is here, they'd be happy to answer as well. MS. KAGIWADA: Chair? ACTING CHR. EVANS: Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Just one question. I don't have any questions about the actual items or anything. Just in the Report of Transfers Authorized, I'm just wondering why there's no numbering associated with and department noted for the transfer for the Hamakua Youth and Community Center to the Mental Health Kokua? MS. NAKAGAWA: Sorry, Council Member, can you explain your question again? MS. KAGIWADA: Sorry, on the page that says Report of Transfers Authorized that has the list, basically, I'm just wondering why there's no numbering for that one item. It's just kind of left there hanging in the middle. I'm just wondering why that is. MS. NAKAGAWA: Oh, I see that. MS. KAGIWADA: That's from OHCD (Office of Housing and Community Development), is that correct? MS. NAKAGAWA: Right. That is correct. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, and no date or anything. So, I just found it odd that there was this space there. MS. NAKAGAWA: I think it's the spacing of the report. MS. KAGIWADA: Oh, the one below it. I see Improv Phase 1. I see, got it. And the Kua Bay one,that's also Fire. Is that a separate one than number 34? Page 2 FC-34 April 16,2024 The numbering just didn't make sense to me with these transfer numbers here. So, I see, the Hamakua Youth one is for below. MS. KIMBALL: The Youth one went to the Mental Health Kokua. MS. KAGIWADA: Right, I get that. So, that's part of number 35. So, is the Kua Bay State equipment one part of 34, even though it's different count numbers? MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, look at the log right here. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, sorry, I was just trying to understand that, how it lined up. MS. NAKAGAWA: The spacing is just a little off, a little difficult. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, thank you. No further questions. Thank you, Chair. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Any more questions? Director, I have a question. Is it in the budget language or is it in the Code, the kind of direction you have for the ability to transfer between accounts? MS. NAKAGAWA So, is the question the reason why we come before Council? ACTING CHR. EVANS: The authorization to transfer between accounts, does that come in the Code or is that language that's in our budget? MS. NAKAGAWA: I believe that's in the Code, but I can look for that and send that to you. It may be in the Code or Charter. Let me check that out for you. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. I'm always interested in how it's authorized when it starts to get moved around. Thank you. MS. NAKAGAWA: Of course. You're welcome. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Okay. No further discussion, all in favor? Sorry, Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Sorry, I didn't see you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. You're just moving quick, appreciate you. I do have one question for the Finance Director. The CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funding that was moved, so Hamakua Youth didn't receive funding. Do you know the reason why besides what was provided on the B-52? MS. NAKAGAWA: I don't know the exact reason. I know this has come up a couple different times at Council for a project that just didn't go forward. But we can have Housing provide a little more detail. Page 3 FC-34 April 16,2024 MS. KIMBALL: Chair, I can respond to that question. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Please respond, Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: So, the initial Block Grant was given to Hamakua Youth to renovate the old hospital up in Honoka`a. After doing an environmental assessment of the property and getting some initial drafting work done by a consultant, the funding was going to be nowhere near enough to complete the project. So, they decided not to proceed at this time. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's too bad. Okay. MS. KIMBALL: It is unfortunate. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Then, the Hilo Residential Complex, do you know why besides being at the top of list, that was chosen, Director? No, okay. I'll follow-up with the Office of Housing. Thank you. I yield, Chair. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Any other discussion, Members? Seeing or hearing none, we have a motion before us. All in favor? Any opposed? Vote on Comm. 12.28: The motion to close file on Comm. 12.28 was carried by (Filed) the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Villegas, and Acting Chair Evans—6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba, Kierkiewicz, and Lee Loy—3. Excused: None. Comm. 12.29: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: MARCH 1 — 15, 2024 From Controller Kay Oshiro, dated March 22, 2024. Motion to Close File: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to close file on Comm. 12.29. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Any discussion? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yes, please. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Member Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Just a quick note on the—we have the Fire Department here, but I did see that we're moving funding Page 4 FC-34 April 16,2024 from one section to another section for the purpose of two LUCAS compression devices. EMS (Emergency Medical Services) OCE (Other Current Expenses) transferring $16,000 to EMS Equipment, Miscellaneous $16,000, for the purchase of two LUCAS compression devices. I'm just making a mental note of that for our discussion at budget. (Note: At this time, Assistant Fire Chief Darwin Okinaka came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. OKINAKA: What it is for? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: No, we've purchased them in the past for our departments. Much needed. MR. OKINAKA: Yeah, that's for like CPR(Cardiopulmonary Resuscitator) Compression. There's new equipment, but I think they just needed to transfer to make the purchase. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, and this is on top of what we already purchased? So these are two more in this year's fiscal year budget? Okay, thank you. Appreciate you. That's it, I yield, Chair. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Any further discussion? Okay, seeing none, we have a motion, all in favor? Any opposed? Vote on Comm. 12.29: The motion to close file on Comm. 12.29 was carried by (Filed) the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneali'i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Villegas, and Acting Chair Evans—6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba, Kierkiewicz, and Lee Loy—3. Excused: None. Comm. 13.32: REPORT OF CHANGE ORDERS AUTHORIZED: MARCH 1 — 15, 2024 From Finance Director Diane Nakagawa, dated March 21, 2024, transmitting the above report pursuant to Section 2-12.3 of the Hawai`i County Code. Motion to Close File: Ms. Galimba moved to close file Comm. 13.32. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Any discussion? Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: No, not at this time, Chair. Thank you. Page 5 FC-34 April 16,2024 ACTING CHR. EVANS: Okay, hearing or seeing no other discussion or lights on, we have a motion, all in favor? Any opposed? Vote on Comm. 13.32: The motion to close file on Comm. 13.32 was carried by (Filed) the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Villegas, and Acting Chair Evans—6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba, Kierkiewicz, and Lee Loy—3. Excused: None. ORDER OF The Acting Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 471-24: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE HAWAI`I EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (HI-EMA), PURSUANT TO HAWAI`I REVISED STATUTES 46-7, FOR A GRANT TO THE HAWAI`I FIRE DEPARTMENT Allows for the receipt of$33,200 to fund the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program- Post Mana Road Fire program to reduce the risk of wildfires. Reference: Comm. 797 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to recommend adoption of Res. 471-24. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Any discussion? Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: We do have the amazing Fire Department here. If they would like to give us a little bit of background, then we can go to questions. Thank you, Chair. (Note: At this time, Assistant Fire Chief Darwin Okinaka came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. OKINAKA: Good afternoon, Council. Darwin Okinaka, Assistant Fire Chief with the Hawai`i Fire Department. So the background on this grant is, like I mentioned, it's Post Fire from the Mana Road Fire. So, we've been working with HI-EMA (Hawai`i Emergency Management Agency) and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) on this Post Fire Hazard Mitigation Grant Page 6 FC-34 April 16,2024 Program (HMGP) for the past three years now since the fire. We finally got it approved. This is the first phase. There's going to be two phases. This is Phase One, and this phase is more of the Administrative side of the different projects that we're doing. The projects vary from Defensible Space projects in various communities that were affected by the Mana Road fire, as well as a Fuels Reduction projects for the, you know, same similar locations. So, as far as communities and large land owners—Parker Ranch is one of them. DHHL (Department of Hawaiian Home Lands) Pu'ukapu Farm Lots, Waiki`i Ranch, Waikoloa Village, Kanehoa-Anekona, Kamuela View Estates are the different communities that will be benefiting from this grant to do various types of defensible space work and fuels reduction work on their properties. So, we had to identify a number of different projects. Sorry, Pa'auilo is another one, and some properties surrounding the Pa'auilo neighborhood that were affected by the wildfires just prior to the Mana Road fire. But anyway, yeah, it's been some work with Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, that partnered with us to reach out to the community and large landowners to see how we can work with them and support them in mitigating fuels to protect their homes and properties in the event of additional wildfires. So, that's basically what it is. I'm open to any questions. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. One question for you. This is for this fiscal year? MR .OKINAKA: I believe we're getting it into the budget this fiscal year. So, we're going to start Phase One this fiscal year as soon as we have the funding; working with Hawai`i Wildfire on planning out the different projects. Then, the second phase will probably start next fiscal year. But we have to finish this Phase One first, and then the actual execution of the projects will be the second phase. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you, I yield. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. MS. KIMBALL: Chair, if I may? ACTING CHR. EVANS: Yes, Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. Do we have any sense of what the second phase will be, the amount? Page 7 FC-34 April 16,2024 MR. OKINAKA: I believe the entire grant was 500 and something thousand. So, the remaining funds actually is what it is. MS. KIMBALL: Okay, great. Yeah, $33,000, it's not minuscule but for a project like this, it's not nearly enough. But thank you for your work on bringing this into the County, it's definitely needed and very much appreciated. So thank you, happy to support it. Thank you, Chair, I yield. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Member Galimba, please. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks. I just wanted to ask about this. I guess the funding is related to the FEMA grant from Mana Road. So, does that mean that it needs to be focused on, sort of,North Hawai`i and the communities there, or is this more of an island-wide agreement? MR. OKINAKA: This specific grant, because it was based off of the post fire from the Mana Road fire, it was concentrated on projects in and around that general area. MS. GALIMBA: Okay, yes, that's what I thought. I just wanted to double check on that. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Okay, anyone in Hilo, any more discussion? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair, I have a follow-up please. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Okay, Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Actually, for Diane. So, I was looking over the documents. There's a$10,000, you know, plus or minus matching fund. Sorry, matching requirement for the County. Wondering if the Finance Department can help ensure that we put these matching or requirements in the resolution, because they are and can be significant. It's not through authorization of the funding, that's fine;just for the more information being presented in one concise document versus having a resolution authorizing a $32,000 grant but having there be a$10,000 match linked to it. Can that be put in the resolutions going forward for all? This might be policy-based from Finance Department to other departments or from every department. (Note: At this time, Finance Director Diane Nakagawa came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. NAKAGAWA: Council Member, so, I understand the request in making it very clear that there is a County match when we put this forward. We can go ahead and take a look at how we can do that. I'm not sure if that's the most appropriate way. But I do understand the want to see and be very clear that when Page 8 FC-34 April 16,2024 this comes through, there is also a County match that should be identified very clearly. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, I think so. The B-52 is clear but not everyone has access to that document. MS. NAKAGAWA: We'll take a look at it. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you, I yield, Chair. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Any other questions? Okay, I have a question. So, the grant's coming from the State directly to the Fire Department, and it's coming in two phases. And what you said in your testimony is, it was to be used to deal with wildfire prevention, I believe. So, then you spoke about defensible spaces. So, my question is, is the community that's been impacted,the Mana Road community, do they need to apply to the Fire Department for grants? So, you have a grant, do they come along and apply for grants so that they can bulldoze a 100-foot strip, or all the work and all the expenditures going to be done by the Fire Department? MR. OKINAKA: So, the work will be done either by the property owners or contractor. The Fire Department will not do any of the work. It's just the funding had to be sourced through the Fire Department. This is actually a FEMA grant. So, FEMA funding because of the fire based off of the FMAG (Fire Management Assistant Grant) that was submitted after the fire. So, it's a FEMA grant, Hazard Mitigation Grant that's routed through HI-EMA to the County Fire Department to be able to do mitigation work with the community. We work with Hawai`i Wildfire Management Organization, as they've been doing a lot of this type of work with the community over the years. So, they assisted in identifying the various communities. And the communities' projects are already identified and laid out. As part of the application process, we had to identify all of the locations; all of the work that will be done utilizing these funds. That's the only way we could get the approval for the grant. So, the projects are already identified. ACTING CHR. EVANS: I personally would like to see the projects that are going to be—because Mana Road is, you know, in Waimea on the edge, which I believe it is now in Member Kimball's. No, it's not Member Kimball's, it's still in mine, I believe. So, I'd like to see the projects themselves and who might be contracted—who's going to do it, because we learn from watching communities take defensible actions. So, it might be something that we might want to repeat, or we learn lessons that might go over to, let's say Waikoloa or Puako. You Page 9 FC-34 April 16,2024 know, so I think there's potential to learn from this. So if I may, I'd really like to see the breakdown. MR. OKINAKA: Yeah, definitely. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Any further discussion? If not, all in favor? Any opposed? Vote on Res. 471-24: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 471-24 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Villegas, and Acting Chair Evans —6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba, Kierkiewicz, and Lee Loy—3. Excused: None. BILLS FOR The Acting Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 146: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2024 Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants—Hazard Mitigation Grant Program— Mana Road Fire account ($33,200); and appropriates the same to the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program—Mana Road Fire account to reduce the risk of wildfires. Reference: Comm. 797 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to recommend passage of Bill 146 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Any discussion? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair, this is the sister companion measure to Resolution 471-24. Look for everyone's support on this measure. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Any discussion? Seeing none, we have a motion on the floor, all in favor. Okay, any opposed? Page 10 FC-34 April 16,2024 Vote on Bill 146: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 146 on first (Approved) reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Villegas, and Acting Chair Evans-6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba, Kierkiewicz, and Lee Loy-3. Excused: None. ADJOURN- There being no further business, Acting Chair Evans adjourned the MENT: the meeting at 1:55 p.m. We're adjourned. Thank you. Approved: 45-7S0/2Y Mr. Matt Kaneal `i-Kleinfelder, Chair (Date) Finance Commit: MK/dt Page 11