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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PCIA 2024/07/23 (2022-2024)Policy Committee on Infrastructure and Assets 13" Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokdlole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii July 23, 2024 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Policy Committee on Infrastructure and Assets ORDER: was called to order at 11:59 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Chair. Present: Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Chair Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Vice Chair (via videoconference in Hilo) Ms. Cindy Evans, Member Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member (came in later) Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Mr. Matt Kdneali'i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) Recess: At 12:00 p.m., the Chair called for a recess. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 4:00 p.m. CHR. LEE LOY: Taking this meeting out of recess. Kind of probing my colleagues, couple of options is to put this meeting back in recess and pick it up at the end of today or to a time -certain tomorrow, and I am proposing tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. Can I get some direction from my colleagues? MS. KAGIWADA: Sounds good. MS. EVANS: Thank you very much for doing this and accommodating this so we can have it. Thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Sure. I just want to check with our Clerk's Office to ensure that our staff in Hilo will be ready for us at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning. PCIA-13 July 23, 2024 MR. ARACELEY: Thank you so much for your consideration, Chair. We've talked to the staff in Hilo, and they understand, 8:30 a.m. in the morning. CHR. LEE LOY: Great, and we'll send a note to Director Pause tomorrow. Alright, this meeting is in recess until 8:30 (a.m.) tomorrow, July 24. Recess: At 4:07 p.m., the Chair called for a recess. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 8:30 a.m., on July 24, 2024. CHR. LEE LOY: Good morning, today is July 24th . I will be taking the Policy Committee on Infrastructure and Assets out of recess, and the time now is 8:30 (a.m.) Present: Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Chair 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. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali'i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) CHR. LEE LOY: Alright, if you don't mind reading in Bill 165, please. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 165: AMENDS CHAPTER 24, ARTICLE 10 OF THE HAWAI'l COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO PARKING Changes the County Building parking lot located at 25 Aupum Street in Hilo from a two-hour metered parking zone to a two-hour parking area. Reference: Comm. 884 Intr. by: Ms. Evans Postponed: June 4 and June 18, 2024 Page 2 PCIA-13 July 23, 2024 (Note: There is a motion by Ms. Kimball, seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz, to recommend passage of Bill 165 on first reading.) CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Ms. Evans, we have an active motion. Why don't you go ahead and start us off with discussion. MS. EVANS: Thank you very much. First of all, I want to thank everybody for being present at 8:30 a.m. Appreciate everybody participating in this discussion. The last time we met on this, there was a lot of information that we really felt was needed to have a good discussion on this. So, we asked Director Pause, Director of Public Works to put together a report for us, and I think it's been distributed to all of my colleagues. And so, would you please, Director Pause? Thank you, go over that with us and the public so we can hear what the current status is. Thank you. (Note: At this time, Public Works Director Stephen Pause came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. PAUSE: Certainly. Steve Pause, Director of Public Works. At our meeting on the 18th of June, you had asked for some information. So, we went forward and collected it and summarized it in a communication, dated July 22" d At issue or what we were looking at or looking for was specific information about parking meters at the Aupuni Center, as well as at the Hawaii County Building. And then, in the course of doing that work, we discovered that our folks monitor parking meters at the Post Office in Downtown Hilo, which was interesting. So, I summarized that information in terms of the number of meters at the Hawaii County Building, there's 50 metered stalls; 10 of which are out of service, two of which are used for EV (Electric Vehicle) charging. So, there's a total of 38 meters in service at the County Building. At the Aupuni Center spaces, they face Kilauea Avenue, there's a total of 38 metered stalls; three of which are out of service for a total of 35 that are monitored. Then the area Downtown, and the reason it was relevant is when we talk about revenues from metered parking, it includes those 30-metered stalls in Downtown Hilo, nine of which are out of service. So, I think I had mentioned it last time, the annual revenue for parking meters is about $11,000 a year. We were asked if we write tickets, and on the average, there's about 20 tickets written a month. The fines are $35, and I was told that the money goes directly to the State when folks pay their fines. I guess in a similar vein to when you are stopped by the police, and you pay a speeding ticket. Page 3 PCIA- 13 July 23, 2024 Then we were asked about change machines. There are currently no change machines. And when I did a little bit of research on that for getting coin changed, I was told that it had been looked in the past, but nobody could figure out a place where it would be safe to install them. On occasion, folks come in from the outside to our counter at Public Works and ask for change. So, we oblige when people do that. We were asked about the cost of meters; the cost to replace, and we've had meters broken. We've actually even had them stolen off the poles, but the cost in general is about $500 a meter to replace the existing coin -operated meters that are out there. We put together a cost if we were to remove all 88 meters and posts from the County Building as well as the Aupuni Center; it would be $30,000. That does not include posting new signs. I'm sure our Traffic Division could make the signs, and I'm not sure if I have a price on that. We also did a little bit of research. I think you're familiar with the Smart Meter parking stations. One that comes to mind is at `Akaka Falls, the State has one where you go and put your credit card in and then you create a tag, and you can go put that in your windshield. So, if we were considering that either at Aupuni or a the Hawaii County Building, it's about $30,000, the cost to install it. And it would be probably solar -activated as well. Then we took another look to the West, where we are today, and the West Hawaii Civic Center does not have parking meters. There's 167 parking stalls for visitors, and I noted of which I 1 are reserved for handicapped. But again, there's no metered parking here. There's a two-hour limit posted; I believe. But one thing I just wanted to reiterate is, we do have one Parking Enforcement Officer, Mel, and she's located Hilo side. So, there really isn't anybody enforcing the two-hour limit here. The other thing that sums up parking meters; and the other thing was with respect to employee parking. And again, I've listed, generally speaking, each of the three facilities; the County Building, the Aupuni Center as well as West Hawaii Civic Center have employee -dedicated parking stalls. There's differences in costs based on the employee versus a designated or an appointed spot. And those parking fees are collected for all three locations, and the revenues sum up to be about $62,000 a year. So, if I've missed something, please let me know, but I think I tried to pull together all the information that was asked for, okay? Page 4 PCIA-13 July 23, 2024 CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Pause. Ms. Evans, you still have the floor. MS. EVANS: Couple things jumped out at me. One is that, in our Code, I did not see notice of the Post Office or Aupuni Center. I only saw the Hawaii County Building when it came to metered. So, there's I think an irregularity in the Code, just to point that out. The other thing is, the other day I stopped by Goodwill, and there was a lot of families in there buying things, and I noticed everybody used their cellphones to pay. And I asked the guy, I said, is that the way people do it now? Credit, debit, Venmo, all that? Then he goes, "Oh, yeah." So, this thing about change, and I guess one of the things that I think is important is that what we have, the coin ones, are not, in my opinion, where we're going in our society and how people are paying. And the coin thing kind of bothers me that it's change, but more importantly is, again, I think it's the people's house. I really feel strongly that when people come and do business in our building, that they shouldn't have to pay to be at the building. I do think the two-hour parking limit is a good thing. But if you're going to be stuck in a meeting, or if you're going to be stuck giving testimony at a public hearing, that there may be a way to arrange where we can have little things that people could put on their dashboard saying that, you know, they're in the hearing or whatever. But, given out to them by staff. There's got to be a way to manage it. The other thing that's interesting, I had this thought this morning driving in, if we want people out of cars, and we want carpooling; people bicycling or riding the bus, then maybe we should be talking about our employees, and what do we really want to do in terms of providing parking for our employees? Because we do have on the streets in front of the County building. People can park there all day long, and there is no two-hour parking, and it's on the road that's in front of the building. I think there's a lot of options on how we tackle employee parking as well as this. Do we want metered stalls? Now, I did hear from Member Kagiwada. She has concerns about Downtown Hilo and metered parking. And who would have known that we're managing at the Post Office. That's curious. Why would we be managing 30 stalls at the Post Office? I think we need to understand the history to that, because there is an expense for us to do that. Again, the last thing is, instead of removing the meters, maybe what you do is get one of those that they put over the top of the meter, and it just says, "Two - Hour Parking Limit," and you cover over; you don't even remove it. Then you can see how that works out for us. So, it's like you don't have to pull all the meters, but you could see how effective it might be and how it might work by Page 5 PCIA- 13 July 23, 2024 covering the meters up and just say, "Two -Hour Parking Limit," and see how it goes. So, it's not like, you don't have to jump that far. You can kind of test it out. I think that would be a really good option. So, those are my thoughts. Thank you. I look forward to hearing from my other colleagues, thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Evans. Anyone else with comments? Ms. Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. So, there's a lot of good information here. Thanks for gathering it. You know, West and East Hawaii are just so different. As you know, East Hawai is surrounded by other buildings; lots of things going on there. This is kind of stand-alone here, there's nobody else around. There's obviously a lot of parking here. I don't like it when our County does things like makes laws that we don't enforce. I think it sets a really bad look for us. So, you know, having a posted "Two -Hour Time Limit" and not enforcing it, I don't believe it's a good way to go. And I do think that people are going to be more upset by getting $35 parking fines for the two-hour parking than they are now for having to put a little bit of change in the meter. So, I would be happy to look at the Smart Meter. It sounds like the $30,000 per location, that means like per Hawaii County Building and per Aupuni Center? MR. PAUSE: That correct. You'd probably want to locate one in each building parking. MS. KAGIWADA: Oh, that's the thing where you go and get a little ticket and put it on your dash? MR. PAUSE: Yes, and I believe you can pay by credit card; you can put dollar bills in. And I could do the research, but I think Council Member Evans requests to be able to waive your Smartphone, likely would work as well. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. I mean, and it's solar -activated you said? MR. PAUSE: Yes, there are ones out there that are solar. MS. KAGIWADA: I wish we had the parking person here. Do we have the parking person available? No? MR. PAUSE: We have a Parking Enforcement Officer who's based in our office in Hilo. Page 6 PCIA-13 July 23, 2024 MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. To me, it's more of a burden if they have to go somehow mark or check cars, then two hours later they go back to see if they're still there and then give them a ticket. And to constantly be doing that. So, every new car they see parked, they have to somehow mark it or notate it, and then come back two hours later to give tickets. If the intention is to post the "Two -Hour Time Limit," but not enforce it, I'm really against that. I think we shouldn't be enforcing the thoughts in our residents' minds that we constantly don't enforce our laws. So, yeah, there's a lot here. I don't know, you didn't really speak to the employee parking, Council Member. I mean, it would be great if everybody had free parking for the employees, but I'm not sure how that would work. I agree encouraging people to get other means of transportation to work is great. There aren't a lot of options right now. So, I'm not really sure how much we can move the dial on that. Those are my initial thoughts. I really worry in East Hawaii about all the parking for visitors being taken up by people that are working or doing other things around that area and not actually coming to our building. Thanks. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kagiwada. If the record could reflect, Mr. Inaba has now joined us. Looking for anyone with comments. Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Council Member Evans for bringing this forward. I do support the intent here, and I think based on what the Director showed today and kind of in the previous meeting, wondering if we might be able to take an approach of maybe just having this —I don't want folks to use it as a free parking and then they just stay there for who knows how long, especially overnight. Wondering if we might consider a pivot with this for parking, like all parking needs to be cleared at the end of the day. I do support, like I said, the intent of people corning to the County Buildings to be able to do business. And for me, you know, even if they're going to park there for a short time to go the Kamehameha Statue or just want to stop by. It's the County Building. I don't think folks should have to pay to go there. So, I do support this, and I'm just thinking of ways that we can also accommodate some of the concerns that have been expressed by the department. But thank you again, for bringing this forward. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Ms. Galimba. Page 7 PCIA- 13 July 23, 2024 MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. Yes, I'm also supportive of the intent, but also see some of the issues. My thinking is to make a longer time limit, like four hours. Most hearings probably can get done within four hours. Not all, but that might solve the problem. But yeah, two hours is a little bit short for what can happen quite often. These meetings can go over two hours. So, in general, supportive. I think to me, although everybody has Smartphones, I think I'd rather it just be free. It's simpler. Yeah, thanks. CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Ms. Galimba. I'll check over in Hilo, Ms. Kierkiewicz any comments? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. In support. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Anyone else? If I could, first of all, thank, I clearly see what Ms. Evans is doing. She's really trying to modernize what we have. I think there is a lot of great information that the Director has provided, and even some suggestions on the approach. That being said, it looks like we're going to need to tailor this. I'm looking at the maker. You know, how do we move forward? Our former colleague would always say, "Not ready for primetime." I think there's some work to be done. We can postpone. I think we have some dates in August. First meeting is the 6 th; or the 20th, would be our next Committee meetings in August. Just looking for some direction from the maker. MS. EVANS: I would suggest we postpone it till the Committee hearing on September 3,d . So, I can make that motion to postpone. CHR. LEE LOY: Any discussion on the postponement? Alrighty, seeing none, on the postponement, all those in favor, please say "aye." Vote on Motion to Ms. Evans moved to postpone Bill 165 to September 3, 2024. Postpone: Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the following voice (Approved) vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, and Chair Lee Loy — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kdneali'i-Kleinfelder and Villegas — 2. Excused: None. Page 8 PCIA- 13 July 23, 2024 ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 8:50 a.m., Chair Lee Loy adjourned the MENT: meeting. Approved: <zV I (Date) SL/dt Page 9