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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PCIA 2024/06/18 (2022-2024)Policy Committee on Infrastructure and Assets 12111 Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii June 18, 2024 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Policy Committee on Infrastructure and Assets ORDER: was called to order at 9:05 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Acting Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Chair (via videoconference in Hilo) Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Vice Chair (via videoconference in Hilo) Ms. Cindy Evans, Member Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Jenri Kagiwada, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Absent & Excused: Mr. Matt Kaneah'i-Kleinfelder, Member STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: Recess: Reconvene: BILLS FOR ORDINANCES: The Acting Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. (There were none,) At 9:06 a.m., the Chair called for a recess. The meeting reconvened at 9:28 a.m. The Acting Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Bills for Ordinances. PCIA-12 June 18, 2024 Bill 165: AMENDS CHAPTER 24, ARTICLE 10 OF THE HAWAPI COUNTY CODE 1983 2016 EDITION AS AMENDED RELATING TO PARKING Changes the County Building parking lot located at 25 Aupuni Street in Hilo from a two -Dour metered parking zone to a two-hour parking area. Reference: Comm.884 Intr. by: Ms. Evans Postponed: June 4, 2024 (Note: There is a motion by Ms. Kimball, seconded by Ms, Kierkiewicz, to recommend passage of Bill 165 on first reading.) ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Council Member Evans, MS. EVANS: Thank you very much. I wanted to give the background on this and why I introduced this bill. .lust for people that are listening, when I look at county buildings, I was not focused at all that this was a downtown Milo impact. As a matter of fact, I see it as a complex area of government facilities where we have the State and the County collectively in one area. So, what happened for me is I've had constituents who have driven over from West Hawaii to have these meetings at the Civic Center in Hilo. They have asked why would you have us pay for parking when we come over there to do our business? And it really resonated with me because I too, before I became a Council Member, drove over to the building and always wondered why are you charging me to come here to do my business with the County? Then I go across the street from the main building where the Mayor is and the Finance Director and the Fire Chief, and the County Council, and then I go across the street where there's Planning and Building and Parks and the Auditor, whatever. When you go across the street, there's a two-hour parking limit restriction with signs for visitors, but yet, when you go over to the other building there's a parking meter. Then when I come to Kona, where our Civic Center is, we don't have parking meters here. So, I asked the big question to myself, why one building? Why do we have to have parking meters there? So, I'm making the recommendation to the Council to consider that we go to the two -Dour parking limit like we have at the County building across the street. Now, some people have said, well, you know, there's conflict because we have the State. The State has an office building next door and there just doesn't seem to be enough parking for employees, So then, the bigger question for me is, there's a huge parking lot right below the building, that is to my understanding, under the control of DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources). So, if we need to have employee parking that doesn't exist, maybe we should be looking Page 2 PCIA- 12 June 18, 2024 to talk to the State about getting some more of that parking spaces that's right below the Civic Center, which is going towards the makai side of the building. Then also, maybe on the street, maybe we should have —consider the street, should we have two-hour parking limits? Again, I think it's an issue. If you don't believe this is the right venue, I clearly think it could serve us to really dig down deep on the fact that we only have one parking lot for County business that has parking meters that I'm aware of So, I am suggesting going a different route. I yield. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Could we ask Director Pause to please join us on this one? Thank you. I'm just wondering, have we had some issues with these parking meters? Was this something that you cause to the Council Member about? Is there a problem that you're aware of? (Note: At this time, Public Works Director Stephen Pause came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. PAUSE: Hi, Steve Pause, Director of Public Works. No, Council Member Evans broached the subject with us, and I think we had discussions. We do have a parking enforcement person. We are tasked with enforcing the parking rules. But no, I don't really have an opinion one way or the other as far as this goes. I think at our last hearing, I brought up the revenue is minimal, right? I think $9,000 is what we collected so far this year. I think 11. I should also note that upon further review, we also do have parking meters on the Aupuni side, on the side that faces Kilauea. So, I would suggest if you're going to go forward with something like this, you might want to incorporate those meters as well if that's what you choose to do. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Have you estimated how much it costs to remove and dispose of all the parking meters? MR. PAUSE: No, we have not. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. I personally don't see any reason why we should do this. I know that downtown across from --on bay front there, near where the bus terminal is, we put in parking meters, and we took out the parking meters. I've had comments from people that they want their parking meters back. I've also heard a lot of people grumble saying that is such a waste of taxpayer dollars to keep going back and forth and to put things in and take them out. So, for me, if it's not a problem I don't see why we should. And it may not earn a lot of money, but it earns some money, and it will cost us money to take them out. So, I Page 3 PC1A-12 June 18, 2024 personally don't think we should do anything on this one. So, that's my take. Thank you for introducing though. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Going over to Hilo. Anyone there? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, we are here but no comments. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Council Member Inaba. MR. INABA: In support. I don't think it's too much to ask for free parking at a government building when people have to come to meet with, whether it be the Mayor or individuals leading departments. For myself, I even think we could go a step further, it's not included in this bill, but to make free parking for County employees. The fact that County employees have to pay to park at work on this island is a little crazy to me. But thanks for starting off this conversation with this piece that benefits the public. Thank you. ACTING CHR GALIMBA: Council Merriber Villegas, MS. VILLEGAS: Interesting opportunities and concepts brought forth for free parking, which I am aware. We pay for a parking spot for ourselves, as Council Members. Something that has been done historically, is like for myself, being here in Kona, a member of the staff in Hilo could use my parking spot in Hilo in order to avoid going having to go out and feed the meter every two hours surrounding the County building there, So, I see some of the challenges associated with that and the potential disparity between us having free parking here versus not in Hilo. However, I see a challenge with this particular piece of legislation moving forward because I think from a principal standpoint, it would be really great to have the Council Member that represents the district be a little more involved and able to then do a little more research about what does it cost to remove them. What does it cost to put them back? How much money is made from them? How many are there? The data and the specifics around what this really entails and risk versus reward, I think would be really helpful. From a principal standpoint, it would be nice to have parking available and people not stressed. I know I've had a couple times that I've had to run out and feed the meter before I had a parking spot, and that can be stressful for people. I get that. I think, there is an opportunity for perhaps the Council Member who brought this forward and the Council Member who represents the district to work together and come up with some of these answers and just be able to better determine what the solution is moving forward. And with DPW, what these —we don't want to undo and redo any more than it already happens unintentionally. So, With intentionality and consciousness, gather the data and information, and then be able to move Page 4 PCIA-12 June 18, 2024 forward more equitably. That's what I would be most comfortable with today. So, just putting that out there in the hopes that this could bring an opportunity for solutions and alignment and moving forward. I yield. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. I just have a quick question for the maker, when you were doing your introduction, you mentioned that the question in your mind was why metered parking here, Then the director mentioned that there's also now metered parking at a certain section only of the Aupuni Center. Did you ever get an answer to that from anyone who might understand why historically we put meters in that area? I think I'd want to know the answer to that question before voting on this because if there was a legitimate reason that meters were put in, then I wouldn't want to support this. I don't know if you have an answer to that question. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Evans. MS. EVANS: Thank you. No, I don't have an answer to that. I do though, think it's important to maybe be a little bit more informed. So, my understanding when you get a ticket —how much is the ticket? Is it $90? 1 heard $90, but we need to know what the ticket is for someone. Also, if you have a two-hour meter, that means your parking enforcement person has to walk through that parking lot on a regular basis. So, the person who is doing the monitoring and giving out the tickets, are they down in that area just walking in circles going from across the street where you have a two-hour limit sign, coming over to the parking meter side, back and forth? How do they manage their days? MR. PAUSE: We do have a full-time traffic enforcement person. That area in front of Aupuni, the area of parking on the location where we are across the street —and unbeknownst to me, I found this out, there are areas of downtown Hilo that our traffic person regularly attends to, for on -street parking. MS. EVANS: That's interesting too, MR. PAUSE: There are. Yeah, on Kino`ole, down by the Post Office. MS. EVANS: Right. MR. PAUSE: So, let me also just add, the other aspect of that, and you've all been there recently, we have a lot of activity going on right now in our parking lot. We've got the roof project, and we've got the sewer line replacement project. So, if nothing else, our traffic person is fairly tied up these days just helping people move around in our own parking lot. Page 5 HNFAIIK June 19, 2024 MS. EVANS: Right. Good. The other thing is, in Code, what I saw was only this one parking lot metered. So, when you mentioned the one across the street, I'm not sure it ever made it in the Code because it looks like you have to get approval by the Council to have an area that has parking meters. MR. PAUSE: Yes, in prepping for today, I guess I should have gone a little further. A lot of this information to me was fairly new, so, I definitely would want to circle back. I think the questions about the cost of removing meters, I mean I would take it one step fiirther, what would be the cost of modernizing the meters so that you could use a credit card instead of having to feed it with coins. So, there's a little bit more homework that I can take back and get done here, MS. EVANS: Thanks for bringing that up because the age of the meters is such that you have to have coins, which means do we have someone, when you walk in the civic building, designated to have the cash so that someone can say I need, you know, four quarters, please? Has the cost been the same all these years? A quarter for every 15 minutes or I don't even know, but the age of the meters, it's not conducive and parking lots now are very different the way that meters are. MR. PAUSE: Those are all valid points. The other piece of that would also be, what is our inaintenance plan? I mean I hear meters break. How do we get them fixed? You've opened up a lot of additional questions here that I can certainly take back and get answers for. MS, EVANS: Assuming they are fixable. They're pretty old from what I can tell. MR. PAUSE: Well, nothing lasts forever. MS. EVANS: Right. So, I do think there's a lot of information to be had. What I would like to do is come back in two weeks and have all these questions answered to bring to this committee. So, my recommendation is to postpone to our next committee hearing. MR. PAUSE: Could I potentially get four weeks? MS. EVANS: You need four weeks? MR. PAUSE: I think you've raised enough questions and you've sparked my interest to do a little bit better research. So, if I could have four weeks instead of two, that would be helpful. MS. EVANS: Yeah, I don't have a problem with that. MR. PAUSE: Thank you. Page 6 PCIA- 12 June 18, 2024 MS. EVANS: Okay, that would make it July 23`d. It will be postponed to July 23`d. Before I make the motion and take a vote, I also want to note when I talked with people about our parking lot here, there is concern that if we don't manage this parking lot, it becomes a park and ride. So, people can come here, park their vehicles and be picked up and go wherever they're going. So, how do we really regulate the use of the public using our parking lot here, and is it on a two-hour parking limit? What is the limit for this parking lot here in Kona? So, that would be another thing I'd like to know. MR. PAUSE: Sure, that's a fair question, and again, this has become a bit more front and center for me because we are also in the process of working with State Highways to look at powerful charging stations here, and will designate a portion of the parking lot for that as well. So, there's a lot going on. Those are all fair questions. How do we —not only how do we manage things in Hilo but how we manage things in Kona? Again, with the little bit of extra time, I'll be able to come back with better answers. MS. EVANS: Okay, thank you. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Before we go to a postponement, I see Council Member Kagiwada's light is on. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. I like the idea of exploring what it would take to upgrade the meters to current standards where you don't need change. I just want to point out that there's somewhat of a misleading statement, I think, in that if we don't have meters and we're doing two hour parking, it's actually more work, I believe, for the parking attendant, than if we have meters because they have to go ahead and either mark the cars when they start parking there, some indication when they begin parking to know when their two hours is up. So, it's actually, they have to go around at least twice for every car that they would do if they're just looking at a meter to see if it has run out of time or not. So, I do think we do need some more answers here and it would be great if we could find out a little more information before going forward with any changes. Thank you, I yield. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Yes, just putting in my two cents here. For one, the ticket is $35. I know this because I got one and my council aide also has gotten many. Though to the point of fording more parking for our Council employees, I think that is a relevant point. I'm generally in favor but had no idea that we would be opening such a complex topic. So, looking forward to finding out more about all of this, especially the costs of removal or renewal. MR. PAUSE: If I could add one more, not necessarily complicating matter, but I might as well throw it out there. We have been looking at putting in a crosswalk between the two buildings across Aupuni. That's something that our engineering folks are working on the design. We do have an issue where we don't have Page 7 PCIA-12 June 18, 2024 enough parking spaces for all the County workers, and Aupuni sees County workers parking there. So, on the grand scheme here, it's another thing to look at. We've talked about maybe posting two-hour parking on Aupuni. The crosswalk will eliminate a few parking spaces just because the line of sight and the intersections with the parking lot. So again, it's a good time to kind of look at this a bit more holistically and take a better comprehensive look at it. So, we'll do that. Hopefully, I'll have some good answers for you in four weeps. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Vote on Motion to Ms. Evans moved to postpone Bill 165 to July 23, 2024, Postpone: Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by the following (Approved) voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Galimba — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kancali`i-Kleinfelder--- 1. Excused: None. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 9:52 a.m., Acting Chair Galimba adjourned the MENT: meeting. ACTING CHR GALIMBA: Thank you. Approved: MkuL.K. Lee Loy, Ch 'r on Infrastructure and Assets SL/jm L4 (Date) Page 8