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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2024/04/30 (2022-2024)Committee on Finance 35th Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii April 30, 2024 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to ORDER: order at 1:00 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Chair Ms. Cindy Evans, Vice Chair Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member (came in later) Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Nancy Carr Smith: Res. 500-24 (Comm. 839), in support. Amedeo Markoff: Res. 487-24 (Comm. 819), in support. (representing Pahoa Lava Zone and Mainstreet Pahoa Association) Laura Mallery Sayre: (representing Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation) Dr. Frank Sayre: (representing Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation) Res. 500-24 (Comm. 839), in support. Res. 500-24 (Comm. 839), in support. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Henricks, if we could go to our first order of business, Communication 12.30. FC-35 April 30, 2024 COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 12.30: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: MARCH 16 — 31, 2024 From Controller Kay Oshiro, dated April 10, 2024. Motion to Close File: Mr. Inaba moved to close file on Comm. 12.30. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Do we have Finance in the Chambers in Hilo? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes, Chair. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Diane? Aaron? Thank you for being here today, Director. I have a question for you. Looking over the form A-102, provided for the request of transferred funds explanation being need to purchase vehicles used by Finance and other departments to travel island wide for $110,000. Are we looking at a gas vehicle or are we looking at an electric vehicle? (Note: At this time, Finance Director Diane Nakagawa came forward and addressed the members of the Committee.) MS. NAKAGAWA: Good afternoon, Chair, Members of Council. Diane Nakagawa, Finance Department. I also have here today, Kay Oshiro, our Controller. This would be a hybrid. We're looking at hybrid vehicles. And this is for Finance Admin. We currently do not have any vehicles. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I like to hear that we're going towards the renewable energy fuel vehicles. Thank you. And thank you for being here today, Ms. Oshiro. And then on the next one for the transfer to Public Open Space fund, can you just explain the explanation? I know it sounds goofy, but I was looking at it and it's interesting. (Note: At this time, Finance Controller Kay Oshiro came forward and addressed the members of the Committee.) MS. OSHIRO: Hi. I'm Kay Oshiro. I'm the Controller of the Finance Department. So, basically what we need to do was to take some of the appropriation for the transfer to the maintenance for the regular transfer to the PONC (Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation) fund for our quarterly transfer. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And then the second part, transfer to the Public Open Space Maintenance fund, as lower than anticipated revenues. Page 2 FC-35 April 30, 2024 The maximum accrue when it was realized per Section 10/16, what was the limit? MS. OSHIRO: I don't know it offhand. I can get back to you, but I don't know it offhand. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, but the whole idea is we hit the maximum accrue limit, that's why we're transferring back over to the other fund, correct? MS. OSHIRO: So, basically because we hit the limit then yes, we don't transfer anymore to the fund once that fund limit got hit. The fund balance limit was hit. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Council Members? Hearing and seeing none, motion is on the floor to close file on Communication 12.30. All in favor? Vote on Comm. 12.30: The motion to close file on Comm. 12.30 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Lee Loy — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Communication 13.33, please. Comm. 13.33: REPORT OF CHANGE ORDERS AUTHORIZED: MARCH 16 — 31, 2024 From Finance Director Diane Nakagawa, dated April 11, 2024, transmitting the above report pursuant to Section 2-12.3 of the Hawaii County Code. Vote on Comm. 13.33: Mr. Inaba moved to close file on Comm. 13.33. Seconded Filed by Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Lee Loy — 1. Excused: None. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Next communication, please. Comm. 231.6: THIRD QUARTER REPORT OF PERSONS EMPLOYED UNDER A CONTRACT FOR LESS THAN 90 DAYS: JANUARY 1 — MARCH 31, 2024 Page 3 FC-35 April 30, 2024 From Human Resources Director Sommer J. Tokihiro, dated April 1, 2024, transmitting the above report pursuant to Section 2-12.5 of the Hawaii County Code. Vote on Comm. 231.6: Mr. Inaba moved to close file on Comm. 231.6. Seconded Filed by Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Lee Loy — 1. Excused: None. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 487-24: AUTHORIZES THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT TO AWARD FUNDS TO THE PAHOA LAVA ZONE MUSEUM THROUGH THE GEOTHERMAL RELOCATION AND COMMUNITY BENEFITS PROGRAM Provides $65,000 in grant funds to purchase, install, and maintain 25 surveillance systems throughout Pahoa Village. Reference: Comm.819 Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend adoption of Res. 487-24. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Ms. Kierkiewicz, take it away. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. And I just want to first take a moment to thank Amedeo Markoff, one of our strong community partners, for not just being here today but for also just putting in the work to ensure that we have a Pahoa that is safe, and folks want to visit. So, mahalo nui for your heart and your efforts. As he mentioned, in August of last year our office organized the Inaugural Pahoa Public Safety Partnership Crime Prevention summit and we brought together more than 60 members of the community from government and various sectors. And the whole point was to devise strategies to make Pahoa safer for our community, and things that we focused on were related to trespassing enforcement, built environment improvements, youth engagement, and mental health support. And one of the outcomes from the summit was this recognition Page 4 FC-35 April 30, 2024 for the need for enhanced security measures. And so, it lead to this proposal today, which is a surveillance system. Each of the surveillance systems consists of eight cameras. So, there will be a total of 200 cameras mounted throughout Pahoa town from Post Office Road all the way to Paul's Repair along Pahoa Village Road, and each has a recording device capable of storing footage for approximately two months. And so, again, these systems are going to cover key areas of Downtown Pahoa, businesses, sidewalks, public spaces, and we will be offering access to these camera feeds to relevant County departments including Police, Prosecutors, Fire, Mass Transit, Parks and Recreation, and Public Works. And the whole idea is to aid in the protection of County assets, but also to aid in investigations if there is a crime that is reported. Based on our research into these systems, it's expected that these cameras will be operational for at least five years. And so, to ensure transparency we are also going to be posting signs indicating the presence of surveillance cameras throughout the town. And studies have shown that these sort of passive surveillance systems, they actually serve as a deterrent to criminal activity and contribute to overall safety and security of the community. So, we're really excited about the potential to make this investment into our heart of Pahoa because our local small businesses, they really are the heartbeat of our community, and we want to make sure that we are finding innovative ways to support them. This system is not only going to be monitoring activities that are occurring in Pahoa but will be able to provide data that I think will aid us in securing additional resources for the community when we are talking about addressing things like homelessness, mental health support, medical assistance, housing, social services, the list really goes on. You know, Mainstreet Pahoa in partnership with fiscal sponsor Pahoa Lava Zone Museum. We'll be executing MOA's (Memorandum of Agreement) with various businesses to have these cameras installed at their storefronts. They'll also receive training on how to utilize the system. And the money that has been identified for this particular project also includes maintenance of these systems for three years that way we ensure that there is some longevity here. Finally, I just want to thank, not just Amedeo, but our community policer for Pahoa Officer Terrance Scanlan. He has a security surveillance background, so he was able to provide mana`o around what sort of system to be investing in. And so, just looking for everyone's favorable support for this particular request so that we can contribute to the safety and well-being of our Pahoa community. Thank you, Chair. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Inaba. Page 5 FC-35 April 30, 2024 MR. INABA: Yeah. Question. So, the day to day operation and surveillance, what we're seeing, is done by who? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, if I might? CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Please. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. That will be handled by our fiscal sponsor, Pahoa Lava Zone Museum. MR. INABA: Okay. And then, so they have access to all of the cameras in the feed? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes. MR. INABA: At all times? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: At all times. So, they will be the principal monitor of the camera feeds. And if there is a request to access any of that footage, it would be granted to a relevant County department or agency. MR. INABA: Okay. And then, I guess, just thinking down the line that, you know, have you talked with the Prosecuting Attorney's Office just to make sure that we set things up and the way the recordings are saved and filed are going to be useful should they need to be used again in court or anything like that? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes. Police and Prosecutors were absolutely at the design table when we thought about this system because we wanted to make sure that what we were capturing was something that could be entered into evidence if there was a need for it in court. MR. INABA: Okay. And then I believe you said this, Council Member Kierkiewicz. So, if a business installs a camera on their storefront, do they have access at all times to that feed? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes. They would also have access to the feed. MR. INABA: Okay. Perfect. I think it's a unique request and hope it does support public safety and, you know, overall maybe crime reduction in your community. I'll be supporting. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Back to Hilo. Seeing none. Okay, is Mr. Markoff in the room still? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: He's still here. Page 6 FC-35 April 30, 2024 CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Alright. (Note: At this time, Pahoa Lava Zone Museum Chief Executive Officer Amedeo Markoff came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. MARKOFF: Hey, Matt. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thanks for being here today, Amedeo. MR. MARKOFF: Of course. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Just checking in. The $10,000 that we've granted. I believe it was $10,000 between Ashley and I, for the previous cameras. Are those in use now, working well, has there been any use of those towards crimes, or was it able to resolve any situations in Pahoa? MR. MARKOFF: It was actually $5,000. But yes, it has. You know, one of the things that Ashley mentioned was a lot of it is preventative. And in areas where we had the cameras, we had a reduction in crime in those specific areas. We've had problems with folks kind of sneaking up on the cameras and kind of vandalizing the cameras because they know that they're there. And so, when they want to use that area for nefarious purposes or whatever, often times they'll actually destroy the camera. And because of the nature of the camera systems not overlapping, we lost several cameras. And we replaced them, and they are all operational. One of the things, you know, we had asked for initially, Matt, when I came to you with this project. Gosh, it's got to be at least five years ago. It feels like longer though. We had asked for money for maintenance in the $25,000 and we didn't get that. And we were really happy to be able to do what we did. But we have had issues over the years with, you know, cameras being down. And I just want to speak to something Mr. Inaba said earlier. It is a passive system so there's no one sitting there watching the feed 24/7. But it's all digitally recorded. And so, when an incident happens, the business is going to ask for the footage. Their role is really passive. They can access it but they cannot edit it, and there's no way for them to adjust the cameras or anything like that. In reference to like chain of evidence, it's real important that only people who would actually testify in court, like myself, or another administrator from Pahoa Lava Zone Museum, have the capability to adjust the cameras or access the cameras in an administrative fashion. So, sorry I'm jumping around but I just wanted to touch on those. Page 7 FC-35 April 30, 2024 CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Thank you. And then — MR. MARKOFF: I'm sorry. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Go ahead. MR. MARKOFF: You know it rains a lot in Pahoa. And so, we've learned a lot about how these camera systems should be installed and the type of installation that —you're an electrician background so you know exactly what I'm talking about. And so, we've learned how to harden them a bit more and we've also, not to say anything negative about HELCo (Hawai`i Electric Light Company) but sometimes power fluctuates a little bit. And so, we've had issues with power surges, and so we've built in surge protectors to the next round of cameras as well to address that issue. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Well done. Well done, Mr. Markoff. Look forward to seeing the outcomes of this project. Is Mr. Kern in Chambers in Hilo? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, he is not here. But I can get someone from the Planning Department if that's required. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: No. I'll follow up at the next meeting. Okay. Council Members, any further discussion? Okay, hearing and seeing none. Motion is on the floor. All in favor? Vote on Res. 487-24: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 487-24 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Lee Loy — 1. Excused: None. Res. 500-24: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A MONETARY DONATION OF $750,000 FROM THE DANIEL R. SAYRE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION The donation to the Department of Parks and Recreation would be used for the design, permitting, and other costs associated with the construction of a new multi -use community center/emergency shelter facility at Spencer Kalani Schutte Park. Reference: Comm.839 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Page 8 FC-35 April 30, 2024 Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend adoption of Res. 500-24. Seconded by Ms. Evans. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: We have Director Messina here. We had wonderful testimony from the Sayre's themselves. Mr. Messina, if you'd kind of get us started and then I'll go to the Council. (Note: At this time, Park and Recreation Director Maurice Messina came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. MESSINA: Thank you. Maurice Messina. Director of Parks and Recreation. Yes. This generous donation is going to ensure that we can design and permit the Waimea Community Center and Kalani Schutte District Park in Waimea. The original design was completed around 2014. Since then, I believe that there have been a couple of Code changes, and along with us wanting to, you know, if we're going to design it, let's make it a shelter. Right now, everything is accessible. All the different rooms and bathrooms are all accessible from the outside. We need to redesign it so that everything can be accessed from the inside including, you know, hallways, and add some extra bathrooms, add some showers, that way it can be a standalone shelter if need be. And the Mayor instructed us to find every available resource that we can for affecting the construction once that happens. We expect about a year or so for the design and permitting process to go through and during that time we're going to work with State, County, legislature. Also, we'll talk with Civil Defense and see if there's a possibility for hazard mitigation money to assist with this project as well. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Director. Council Member Evans. MS. EVANS: Well, this is kind of exciting to see this project move forward. Will you have a generator in this building; is it going to be a self-contained on its —kind of take care of itself in emergencies? MR. MESSINA: Well, what we do is we work with Civil Defense, and we put the generator hookups to identified shelter facilities so if the need arises, you know, it can have a generator hooked up and run it. MS. EVANS: Yeah. Just want to make sure your electrical and all that can take the generator. I've looked at my house as a lift when you do generators. But I was also thinking if this is going to be a self-contained, you're probably going to have —are you going to have an incident command center? I mean, isn't there some —my understanding, hearsay, there's interoperation something planning efforts going on around the County to look at how you can have these operational centers by maybe district or whatever? Page 9 FC-35 April 30, 2024 MR. MESSINA: I might confess that question better to be left for our Civil Defense Administrator. MS. EVANS: Okay. MR. MESSINA: Yeah. We're not looking to turn this into a like a satellite EOC (Earth Observation Center) or anything. This is just a community center and shelter. MS. EVANS: Okay. So, your community center, you're envisioning a meeting room or just a very large meeting room with a certified kitchen and it's kind of a multi -purpose, is that — MR. MESSINA: We're just going to get into the design. Right now we're not looking to create a certified kitchen. But it's going to be meeting rooms because when it's not utilized as a shelter, it will be a community center for elderly activities, recreation, meeting areas, and whatever else the community will need. And once this gets open, we can actually start working on the Waimea Community Center that's next to the ball fields in the other part of town because we've got to fix that roof and we've got to do some other work on it. But can't necessarily close that down because that's the only community center we have in the area right now. MS. EVANS: I see. So, the actual repairs are a little put off until we can figure out how to stand up another location for a shelter? MR. MESSINA: It's just like all of our other facilities throughout the island. They need repairs. But I'm very hesitant about closing down a facility for a year or so, so that we can make a bunch of repairs and the community has nowhere else to go. So, we look at this as a win -win situation for us. MS. EVANS: Yeah. No. It is. It is. Thank you. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Going to Hilo. MS. KIMBALL: Chair, if I may? CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. I just want to take a moment to mahalo Nancy Carr Smith. You know, projects like this often take somebody that will be a birddog on getting the process through and she has done that here with this. It's been something that I know that many hands have been involved in, but I really want to recognize here for her leading effort in bringing this funding in to the community. And of course, just mahalo to the Sayre's for this and your constant support of the various activities that benefit our community around the Page 10 FC-35 April 30, 2024 County. So, thank you all for your help in getting this funding to Parks and Rec. I yield, Chair. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair? CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I just wanted to take a moment to kako`o Council Member Kimball. I had an opportunity to speak with Nancy Carr Smith, and so I know that she has been personally involved for a number of years trying to make this happen and was involved in helping to secure the donation to the Sayre Foundation. So, thank you, Nancy. If you're listening, for all of your heart and aloha for our community, and to the Sayre's for just always partnering with the County to make sure that we have infrastructure, equipment, apparatus, that our County and various departments need to deliver essential services. I'm really excited about what's being envisioned for this community, the multi -purpose uses that Director Messina had outlined and the ability for it also to be essentially a hub that supports community during times of disaster. And we know that disasters are part of our ongoing reality these days. So, I'm glad that we are taking the time to make these investments in the necessary infrastructure to support our community. Thank you. I yield. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Evans. MS. EVANS: Yeah. I didn't mention it, but I know that Nancy is listening, and Frank and Laura are listening, and I do really recognize that this is just the best example of partnerships and understanding not only the needs of the community but really finding a project that people can rally and get behind. And I'm sure whoever is supporting these projects and how you're raising your funds, we want to say thank you to those who continue to give to the foundation and to the work of the foundation. So, again, thank you. I definitely want to thank you for the residents of the South Kohala community, and actually the whole region. If we get into some disaster, we need to have these shelters. So, thank you. Aloha. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Mr. Messina, do you have something else you wanted to add? MR. MESSINA: Yes. We are playing catch up in our department with the hundreds of facilities that we have and the decades of deferred maintenance. And with folks like the Sayre Foundation and the hard work that Nancy Smith put into this, without their contributions this would not see the light of day right now. And so, we're so appreciative of this and all the other community efforts throughout the island where community members and organizations and Page 11 FC-35 April 30, 2024 private beneficiaries are stepping up to really help our parks system. So, without them, we don't know what we would do. And so, we hope that this kindness continues throughout the island. Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Director. Okay. Seeing no further discussion. Yeah, this is an amazing opportunity. Extended mahalo to the Sayre's, if you're watching, just for your ongoing commitment to our community. Thank you. With that, we have a motion on the floor to forward Resolution 500-24 to Council with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? Vote on Res. 500-24: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 500-24 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 154: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-51, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR DULY 1. 2023 TO JUNE 30. 2024 Adds the Parks and Recreation Spencer Kalani Schutte District Park Community Center/Emergency Shelter — Private Project ($750,000) to the Capital Budget. Funds for this project shall be provided from Private Contributions, to construct a new multi -use community center/emergency shelter facility at Spencer Kalani Schutte District Park. Funds for this project shall be provided from Private Contributions to be used for the design, permitting, and other costs associated with the construction of a new multi -use community center/emergency shelter facility at Spencer Kalani Schutte Park. Reference: Comm.839 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend passage of Bill 154 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: This is the sister bill to Resolution 500. Any discussion? Hearing and seeing none, motion is on the floor. All in favor? Page 12 FC-35 Vote on Bill 154 (Approved) Bill 155 Motion to Approve April 30, 2024 The motion to recommend passage of Bill 154 on first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-51, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR DULY 1, 2023 TO JUNE 30, 2024 Appropriates fuel tax revenues expected to be collected from 2024-2026 by establishing the following fuel tax program appropriations to the Capital Budget: Roadway Projects (Engineering) ($2,825,755); Bridge Inspection, Repair and Replacement Program (Engineering) ($1,883,836); and Local Road Improvements (Highways) ($4,709,591), for atotal appropriation of $9,419,182. Reference: Comm.840 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Mr. Inaba moved to recommend passage of Bill 155 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Members, discussion on the measure? MR.INABA: Yes. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Inaba, go ahead. MR. INABA: Yeah. If we could just —I'm not sure if it's Finance or if it's going to be DPW (Department of Public Works), but if they could please give us just an overview of the plans and how some of the projects, maybe even within the local road improvement, if we know of any that we are committing to at this time? (Note: At this time, Public Works Business Administrator Kelsey Kalua-Lewis came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. KALUA-LEWIS: Hi. Good afternoon. Kelsey Kalua-Lewis, Business Manager of Public Works. Thank you for your question. To kind of answer your question on how this comes about is every two years we go in for a new Page 13 FC-35 April 30, 2024 fuel tax increment. So, this would be increment number nine, in which will go to appropriate the anticipated revenues in fiscal year 2025 and 2026 for designated fuel tax for CIP (Capital Improvement Projects) projects. We always do a 50150 split between the Engineering Division and the Highway Maintenance Division. And between the Engineering Division we do 60 percent for I believe it was roadway improvement projects and 40 percent for bridges. For Highway Division specifically, one of the goals of this administration has been paving. There's no plans to change that. Niel and his guys over there are still committed to getting as much roads paved as possible to pave. For fiscal year 2024, they've paved about 31.53 miles and with this new increment, they'll just continue to continue paving and hitting their goals. For the Engineering Division, some of the projects that the Engineering Chief identified were the Mamalahoa Highway resurfacing, Palani Road/Ali`i Drive rehabilitation, Manono Street improvements, and then various bridges throughout the district, more specifically, Kaiwiki bridge and Waima`auau string bridge, sorry. Yeah. I'm open to answer any other questions you guys have. MR. INABA: Thank you. For Exhibit B, it's a table showing how we go about distributing the maintenance of things based on the existing road miles contained within those different districts, right? MS. KALUA-LEWIS: Yeah. So, basically the road districts differ a little from the Council districts. So, it's basically road districts and it can change between years because if we transfer a road or if a road gets dedicated, or the County takes over a road. But basically, Highways Division keeps an inventory of how many miles in the districts. MR. INABA: Okay. And then my question is, is that selection process determined or specified in Code, or how do we go about selecting —or choosing to distribute funds based on the existing number of miles in those different areas? MS. KALUA-LEWIS: I know most fuel tax things; a lot of the items were Code and then also previous resolutions. I don't have a specific answer for you right now. But usually we follow historically what has been done and how it was previously kind of split up in prior years. MR. INABA: Okay. Anybody from Finance have anymore maybe background information just on how we've gone about that, understanding that that's the way it's been done. (Note: At this time, Finance Deputy Director Aaron Brown came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 14 FC-35 April 30, 2024 MR. BROWN: Hi. Aaron Brown, Deputy Finance Director. From the research that I've done going back to the first increment basically breaking out the CIP for fuel tax, the original resolution kind of had that spelled out. To be fair to all of the districts, it's based on the proportion of total roads per road district. So, even as the Council districts change, the road districts will stay the same. And I think the vision then that they did through resolution was to make sure it was fair based on each district's proportion of roads. MR. INABA: Okay. I don't know if I agree with this and just because it's the way we've done things. First time I'm seeing this that I can remember. And the fact that 17 percent goes between North and South Kona versus 30 percent is just in South Hilo. Obviously, we know that there's a concentration of roads in South Hilo as compared to other areas. But there is definitely need across the island in all of our districts, and I just maybe want us to consider if this is still the best approach going based on existing roads because then we're always going to see almost a third of all maintenance monies going to roads in the South Hilo district. So, maybe we can review offline, Deputy Director, and circle back before the Council hearing. Thank you. MR. BROWN: Sounds good. MS. KALUA-LEWIS: Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Council Member Inaba. Council Member Evans. MS. EVANS: Yeah. I wanted to add to this discussion that I know that in Waikoloa when we were having the discussion about these existing roads that had been there for over 40 years and they were starting to get potholes and cracks. It's like what really drives you coming here and working on them. And then I discovered that they go out, they being Public Works, will go out and they will evaluate the conditions of the road and they actually have some matrix that says to what level of degradation they have. And if that exists, that might be something that we could consider is if they've evaluated this different level of problem roads, you know, they have potholes and cracks, and potential liability because that might be another criteria versus just you have more miles. Well, there's some districts are getting newer roads, and so they're brand new roads and that is still being considered in this percentage. So, I like you're questioning it. I don't know where to go from here, but I like the idea of maybe adding some criteria that might focus on areas that need it more. Thank you. MR. BROWN: Chair, if I may? CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Deputy Director Brown, go ahead. Page 15 FC-35 April 30, 2024 MR. BROWN: Yeah, to add onto the conversation on what Council Member Evans is saying. So I know Public Works has, you know, to her point, they definitely prioritize roads based on need. And they have a system that they use to evaluate it, and I think Kelsey might be able to answer a little bit more on what they're doing there for that. But I want to make a note that the monies that are being appropriated for each district, they stay within that district. So, as the priorities come up and there's a road that has been distinguished as needing maintenance, the monies for that district will be used for there and then it'll continue to be in that sort of bucket of money for that district. So, it doesn't lapse away. It stays in that district. And what you'll see is, Public Works will come back later on, and this is just a projection on how much fuel tax they're going to receive. You know, no one has a crystal ball so after two years in this increment, if we're received more fuel tax revenue than what we're estimating here, we'll have to come back to Council and then reappropriate that excess money. That excess money will then go to these same buckets in the same proportion that is shown here. So, each district will not be, you know, monies that are assigned to one district cannot be reassigned to another is what I'm saying. It doesn't lapse away in a sense where, I mean, the overall ordinance will lapse but that district will not run out of that money, will not be put somewhere else. We'll have to come back, we'll reappropriate it and it'll go to that district, if that makes sense. MS. EVANS: And the other thing is, eventually how we're dealing with getting our taxes from electric vehicles. So eventually we're going to have some taxation that we'll get? MR. BROWN: Yes. That's a slightly different type of fee or tax for the electric vehicles. This one is specifically fuel tax. That one, you know, they're looking at an overall fee structure that's not quite flushed out yet. But we can look at instead of getting this fuel tax that's getting separated and appropriated per district like this, we can look at again once the state kind of figures out the legislation there from the state, we'll look at how do we make sure that it's, you know, equally spread out amongst the districts and then both for our road paving and for the engineering projects we're seeing here. MS. EVANS: Okay. Thank you. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member —we should go to Hilo. Anyone in Hilo? MS. KIMBALL: We're good, Chair. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Council Member Lee Loy. Page 16 FC-35 April 30, 2024 MS. LEE LOY: Thanks. Kelsey or Aaron. You know, what's the timing of it? And I ask this question because my colleagues are incredibly sharp. This is something I've asked from day one on how these fuel tax dollars lapse, and exactly what we walked out today. My question is, is this something that we could hold in Committee just so we can really have a robust conversation about it so my colleagues can understand how these dollars come in and have to be appropriated and stay within the buckets within the various regions, or is that something we should have offline? MS. KALUA-LEWIS: I don't think there's a timing issue. Very open to discussion about this. We usually come in I'm actually coming in kind of late this year to get this reviewed and, you know, hit Committee and go through Council. But I don't think there's any timing issues. We are usually conservative in our first year as we don't want to overspend more than what we're bringing in in revenues. So, I don't think timing should be an issue. MS. LEE LOY: Perfect. And I'm asking this because I think we all want to do better. We don't want to leave money on the table. We want to make sure that we're meeting the needs of our community and I think some of my colleagues kind of really need to understand that needs assessment that goes into the various things that we do to assess the roads and prioritize them. And, you know, often times it just comes in piece meals when we're buying the lidar mapping or whatever programs that we have. I think I'm willing to support, but I was there. Where my colleagues are today, I was there and I also think there's opportunities to not only as you mentioned, Aaron, how we look at the HIRUC (Hawaii Road Usage Charge) program and how we prioritize the funding into the various districts, but how to we transition into the fuel tax going down and how we collect those dollars so that everybody understands that, you know, roads are getting paved by a priority list or a needs assessment rather than political will. And I think that just keeps it there for everybody. MR. BROWN: Happy to have discussions offline and even, you know, in the public setting as well. We can help the public understand. So however, the Council wants to approach this. The only caution I have is until this ordinance and this increment is created, we are not able to, you know, the money is not appropriated so we cannot then go ahead and use it. So, my only caution is, you know, if we take too long to appropriate the monies then that monies cannot be utilized for the actual road paving and engineering work. But I don't think there's a huge, you know, need to get it out extremely quickly and we're more than happy to have discussion, whatever forum the Council wants. MS. LEE LOY: Sure. You know, I'm going to leave it to the rest of my colleagues to maybe reach out to the department and have a kind of robust conversation with them individually and then, you know, as we begin to map out the budget, as we come up on the next two weeks, this is another critical piece on how we get things done. In addition to, maybe Mr. Brown, you can help them Page 17 FC-35 April 30, 2024 understand how there's guardrails around these funds, right? It's only in highways, for only certain things and cannot be, you know, kind of spread over into a General Fund project. MR. BROWN: Correct. And those perimeters were set out in state law. It's very specific in what fuel tax can be used for. So, yeah, happy to have further discussion. MS. LEE LOY: Great. Yeah, happy to support and move this up to Council. But encourage my colleagues to get their arms around this one. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Okay, hearing and seeing no further discussion. Deputy Director Brown, on the very back page, Exhibit B, estimated budget FY 2024-26, in line with some of the other questions that I've asked, I see decreases to Puna, South Hilo, North Hilo, and North Kohala, and increases in South Kohala and North Kona. Noting the discussion today regarding funds not lapsing, staying within the district, this kind of takes it in a different direction where we're actually specifying a decreased amount in the spending for our fuel taxes in these districts, correct? MR. BROWN: So, there's a decrease there because that is the proportion of total County roads for each district. So, as other districts add more road miles, you know, each district that did not add additional miles will actually have a reduction in their proportion of total miles. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Interesting. Okay. And then to the two year report. Why is it a two year increment? Is it just a guiding documents, you know, that create the reporting mechanism or is it a specificity to two years being the correct amount of time for fuel taxes or state process? MS. KALUA-LEWIS: Yeah. I mean, it's always been two years. I don't know if Aaron can add anything to that. MR. BROWN: You know, I'm not sure if it's two years because this was created by state statute that it matches the state's budgeting cycle of two years. From, you know, again, the research that I've done going back to the first increment, it was always done on two year increments based on the state law. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I'd like to see some thought around that as well. I think there's some questions, you know. For my fellow Council Members I would say I would like to move this ahead mainly because we have a timeline, and I can hear Mr. Brown's comments calling this, just does need to be moved ahead. But for public discussion, there is no better place than what we're doing right now. So, I think questions should be flushed out in public and maybe some background information provided to the Council Page 18 FC-35 April 30, 2024 Members for their review. Yeah. And just overall, 31.5 miles, Ms. Kalua- Lewis, correct? That is your last name, right? MS. KALUA-LEWIS: Yes. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. MS. KALUA-LEWIS: So, 31.53 miles this fiscal year. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Is that the highest amount of miles we've ever paved? MS. KALUA-LEWIS: I believe so, yeah. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I believe it is. Well done. Okay. Thank you very much. Council Members? Okay, hearing and seeing none, motion to forward Bill 155 to Council with a favorable recommendation is on the floor. All in favor? Vote on Bill 155: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 155 on first (Approved) reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas —1. Excused: None. Bill 156: 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 Interest — Other Federal account ($620,000) and the Interest — Housing account ($2,000); and appropriates the same to the Emergency Rental Assistance Administration COVID-19 account ($10,000); Cities of Financial Empowerment account ($2,000); Emergency Rental Assistance 2 Administration COVID-19 account ($500,000); Hawaii Island Landlord/Tenant Mediation Program account ($10,000); and the 2021 Hawaii Island Homeowner Assistance Program -Administration account ($100,000). Reference: Comm.841 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend passage of Bill 156 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. Page 19 FC-35 April 30, 2024 CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Discussion on the measure? Mr. Inaba, go ahead. MR. INABA: Yeah. I don't know if it's Housing or Finance, but just making sure we understand correctly how this interest is being accrued. But yeah, if we can just get an overview? Is Housing or Finance in Hilo? CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Can you hear us in Hilo? MS. KIMBALL: Deputy's coming to the table. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. (Note: At this time, Finance Deputy Director Aaron Brown came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. BROWN: Hi. Aaron Brown. Finance. Housing would be able to provide better information than I can at this point. What I can see though that this is interest that we've accumulated, and so we're coming in to reappropriate that monies to them. As you can see in the expenditure accounts, they're going to be utilizing these specific accounts, one to five accounts here. I'm hoping that Sharon is MR. INABA: Yeah. She's here on Zoom. MR. BROWN: There she is. MR. INABA: Ms. Hirota, I just want to make sure that I am understanding. So, we're taking in funds and then are these funds that we don't spend so then we're accruing interest, or how are we actually getting this interest money? (Note: At this time, Housing Division Manager Sharon Hirota came forward to address the members of the Committee. MS. HIROTA: Aloha. Sharon Hirota, County of Hawaii Office of Housing. So, yes. This is interest that is being earned on monies that remains balanced in our account. MR. INABA: Okay. And where are we getting the interest? MS. HIROTA: Yeah. So, this is funds received, deposited into various accounts within the County, and it is interest bearing accounts. And so, we need to increase the amounts in each of the accounts to reflect the interest that is currently being earned. Page 20 FC-35 April 30, 2024 MR. INABA: That seems like a lot of money we're earning. So, it's a lot of money that must be sitting there is what I'm assuming. But those are all federal funds, right? MS. HIROTA: Correct. This is all federal funds. I think the largest one is the emergency rental assistance admit fund (2:00:49). Federal government gave us additional recently $15 million. We're getting ready to launch the program tomorrow, May I". So, in the area of, our accountants have estimated that between now and total spend down, we should earn around $500,000 in interest. MR. INABA: Okay. MS. HIROTA: But it's just an estimate. When the funds are earned, so there's an account that we can appropriate to. MR. INABA: And then we're typically seeing this interest paid out on an annual basis? I just can't remember seeing this. MS. HIROTA: So, I think the interest is earned on a monthly basis. And so, we're creating the account so that we can make sure we have an account to put the monies into. MR. INABA: Okay. Got it. Thank you so much. Chair, I yield. MS. HIROTA: Yeah. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Checking in Hilo. Okay. Seeing no further discussion, motion is on the floor to forward Bill 156 to Council with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? Vote on Bill 156: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 156 on first (Approved) reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 21 FC-35 April 30, 2024 Bill 157: 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 — National Coastal Resilience Fund account ($2,000,000); and appropriates the same to the National Coastal Resilience Fund account, to be used by the Department of Research and Development to complete a Community -Based Hilo Resilience and Watershed Management Plan. Reference: Comm.842 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kagiwada moved to recommend passage of Bill 157 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you so much. And I'm glad to see our Director of Research and Development on here. I just want to really thank him for him and his staff going after this money to really do this important work with our community around developing a plan for a healthy Hilo Bay watershed. Can't thank him and his staff members, especially, Beth Dykstra, enough. So, thank you so much and if you have anything to add, I'd love to hear it. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Director Adams, do you have anything to add to the conversation? (Note: At this time, Research and Development Director Douglass Adams came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. ADAMS: Yeah, just briefly, that Beth did the additional work on this. I really appreciate Council Member Kagiwada bringing this to our attention and then the additional work that is ongoing currently. We've very fortunate to see the groundwork just show up within the last month. But there has been ongoing work with the community and then also with US Corp. of Engineers. As we're looking at a potential match, we're funding the federal branch of the program as well. So, lots happening here that we're going to be able to work on over the next couple of weeks. Thank you. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Director. Council Members in Hilo, any discussion? Okay. Director Adams, give me just a little bit of background on what you hope to do with this funding for $2 million. MR. ADAMS: The plan is to identify nature based solutions to protect the watershed's natural resources and built environment. In addition to that, we only have a Hilo Bay study that was conducted by the Corp of Engineers for the Page 22 FC-35 April 30, 2024 Department of Planning prior to or just I think it came in just in 2020-2021, and the work that Corp had done, that study plus the efforts that this particular plan, the idea is if this is going to be able to launch us towards activities that will clean our watershed and the bay area. So, this is a next step in the process of cleaning Hilo Bay. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Can these funds be leveraged with other funding sources to do bigger projects? MR. ADAMS: That's the plan, is to use some of the funding that the Corp of Engineer has so that we can in fact have the plan be a more robust plan than what the $2 million will provide by itself. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. MR. ADAMS: This is a community based activity. So, what they will do, this is not consultants taking the money and going off into a closed door somewhere. This is using the folks that we have here in the community. So, in addition to the people that care deeply about the watershed and the plan also helps the University. Obviously, the Corp is folks that we were talking to as well. And so; this is a hosted community stakeholders that will be coming together to work on the development of this plan. There will be a consultant that will be hired as well. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And this, I'm looking over at 13- 52, there is, sorry I'm going to find the wording. The watersheds feeding into Hilo Bay as well as Hilo Bay's water quality. So, I would take into account then Wailoa and the river that I'm blanking on the name right now. MS. KAGIWADA: Wailuku. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Wailuku River. Interesting. Okay. MS. KAGIWADA: Chair, I can add a little if you'd like? CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yes, please. Ms. Kagiwada, go ahead. MS. KAGIWADA: So, the director's absolutely right. This is for a —it's actually a three year project to really involve the community in a deep way. And we will hopefully come out with a plan that will help some of our organizations that have started doing some of the work or are interested in doing some of the work, get additional funding so they can actually do the work. That is the hope. And the money that we hope to get matched from the Army Corp of Engineers, what we're realizing we might need additional funds for is some of the studies around the water quality and things like that, some of the little more expensive things. So, that's what that —the money that we're going after for the additional Page 23 FC-35 April 30, 2024 potential $2 million will be for some of those more expensive studies. But the original $2 million is really to do this in depth work with the community over almost three year time period. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Thank you for that. I can see some really neat potentials for a workforce innovation projects within this funding if that's a possibility on getting some workers moving on actual MR. ADAMS: I'm pretty sure that would be part of the efforts that would be associated specifically with the stakeholders themselves and the workforce support for them that they could then use, as a part of their efforts in support of this plan development. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Awesome. It's a neat project. I look forward to seeing what happens, Mr. Adams. Thank you. Okay. No further discussion from the Council? Okay, hearing and seeing none, motion is on the floor to forward Bill 157 to Council with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? Vote on Bill 157: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 157 on first (Approved) reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Bill 158: 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 — Aina Based Youth Prevention and Resilience Programs account ($12,000); and appropriates the same to the Aina Based Youth Prevention and Resilience Programs account, to be used by the Department of Parks and Recreation for planning, designing, and implementation of substance free educational community service events. Reference: Comm.843 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend passage of Bill 158 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Members, any discussion on the measure? Page 24 FC-35 April 30, 2024 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, we have members from Parks and Recreation. So, would love to give them the opportunity to speak to this program. It sounds really amazing for our youth, but also just love that we are able to give them some time in `aina. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Thank you. Go ahead, Mr. Sewake. (Note: At this time, Parks and Recreation Business Manager Reid Sewake and Recreation Division Administrator Lindsey Iyo came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. SEWAKE: Reid Sewake, Business Manager. To my right is Lindsey Iyo, Recreation Administrator. So, Palama Settle recognized recreations programs as meeting the criteria for these grant funds. We see, essentially preventing teen alcohol and drug use. So, we just ask for your Council's approval to amend the budget by adding an appropriation for the expenditure of these funds. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you very much. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I have one question. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I'm looking at the attached exhibits and there are a list of community partners that have been identified in the various regions. Are you limited to working only with these organizations or would you be open to expanding that list? MS. IYO: Hi. Lindsey Iyo. Recreation Division Administrator. So, these are past partnerships that we have worked with. But we are open to partner with any other organizations that has the same goals as this program. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Awesome. $12,000 is not a lot of money. It's a lot but not a lot especially if you're looking to do work island wide. Can you just speak to how you're able to stretch these dollars to have island wide impact? MR. SEWAKE: So, the initial $12,000 for this year, I think Lindsey already has a place in plan for that. But we do foresee continuing this grant in future years to get that island wide base. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Lindsey, you want to add anything else? MS. IYO: Yeah, sure. So, in the past we actually have not had any sort of financial assistance with this program. We've done this program through registration fees from the participants. And, you know, we started out the Page 25 FC-35 April 30, 2024 program at $20 per participant and we've been able to operate through this program for almost eight years now. So, this is the first type of funding that we'll be getting. And so, you know, like Reid mentioned, we do have a plan in place for this year to beef up some training for our staff. You know, the history of this program, it kind of goes back to Keaukaha, where it started. And it was an idea to take these kids who typically don't get to go out into different areas on the island and, you know, just have them experience our beautiful island. And so, you know, starting in Keaukaha and we branched out to other districts. So, with this $12,000 we'll actually be able to provide more training for our recreation personnel in order to expand this program to various parts of the island. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Awesome. I want to connect with you folks offline just to understand some of the work that you've done over the last eight years and your vision for the program, where we could potentially take it. We're in the midst of budget season and so as a Council I think we absolutely want to be supporting efforts that have been proven, and especially programs that are benefiting our youth in our natural environment. Thanks for being here. I'll be supporting it. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Any further discussion on the measure? Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah. Thanks. And for my colleague, Ms. Kierkiewicz, absolutely. Here we are in the middle of a budget cycle and can support something a little bit more for this program. I'm really humbled by the work that this program has done. You know, they came to me my first year on the Council and started off that program, and I'd love to see this continue to expand for other programs especially in other communities. You know, these are kids that, as mentioned, don't have an opportunity and, you know, the bus fees, and the opportunity to get into `aina is just perfect especially during our breaks, you know, spring break or summer break. So, this is a hint to my colleague, I look forward to seeing what kind of other funds we can come with to this program in the future. I yield. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Okay. Hearing and seeing no further discussion, motion is on the floor to forward Bill 158 to Council with a favorable recommendation. Thank you very much for being here today Parks and Rec. All in favor? Page 26 rC-35 April 30, 2024 Vote on Bill 158: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 158 on first (Approved) reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. ADJOURN- There being no further business on our agenda today, Chair MENT: Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder adjourned the meeting at 2:15 p.m. Thank you very much. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Approved: Mr. Matt Kan li`i-Klein elder, Chair (D te) Finance Commi MK/tk Page 27