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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2024/08/06 (2022-2024)Committee on Finance 41st Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii August 6, 2024 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at ORDER: 1:00 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Acting Chair. I Present: Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Acting Chair Ms. Cindy Evans, Vice Chair (via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (came in later, via videoconference from Kona) Absent & Excused: Mr. Matt Kdneali'i-Kleinfelder, Chair Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, 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.) ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Could we start at the top of the agenda? COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 12.36: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: JUNE 16 — 30, 2024 From Controller Kay Oshiro, dated July 8, 2024. Motion to Close File: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 12.36. Seconded by Ms. Kimball. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Is there any questions or discussion? MS. EVANS: Chair? ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Evans. FC-41 August 6, 2024 MS. EVANS: Thank you. I just had one question and that was on the police transfers of funds. Thank you. So, what I see is that this is the transfer funds to cover July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024; and I noticed that there was quite a bit of overtime in South Hilo and in Puna and I didn't see overtime in other districts on the island. And I was just kind of curious is overtime had something to do with some of the big events that we had this last year in the Hilo area? (Note: At this time, Police Department Major Sherry Bird and Accountant Hauoli Aiona came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. BIRD: Good afternoon. Sherry Bird. Major with the Hawaii Police Department and I have Hauoli Aiona, our Department Account IV with us. As far as the overtime, you know, we've increased our recruit classes. So, for instance, we're currently running three at one time. So with the recruit classes, we have double -digits recruits out on the road with their field training officers and, you know, more officers on the road doing more work and incurring a lot of overtime. MS. EVANS: Okay. And then in Puna, there was quite a bit of overtime. Was that similar? MS. BIRD: Our recruits also do training in the Puna districts as well; Puna District, Hilo, Kona, and South Kohala. MS. EVANS: Okay. And the other thing is with dispatch, I believe there was quite a bit there and I was kind of curious, were we having any staffing shortages in dispatch? MS. BIRD: Yes. We do have I want to say probably about 13 openings in our dispatch right now. So, yes, overtime, you know, the dispatchers are having to cover those vacancies basically. MS. EVANS: Okay. And then the last question is can you explain where tech services, what that would entail because it's $320,000 over budget? MS. BIRD: Our technical services includes our dispatch center, our radio communications center, our computer center, all our IT (Information Technology), all the technical stuff, really. MS. EVANS: Yeah. Because it's salary and wages and overtime. Okay. It just kind of stood out because it's a large amount; total $740,000 over what we had budgeted. Okay. Thank you. I yield. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Anyone here in Hilo? Seeing none, all in favor of closing file on Communication 12.36 please say "aye." Page 2 FC-41 August 6, 2024 Vote on Comm. 12.36: Filed The motion to close file on Comm. 12.36 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Galimba — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 2. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Next item, please. Comm. 95.6: FOURTH QUARTER REALLOCATION REPORT: APRIL 1 — JUNE 30, 2024 From Human Resources Director Sommer J. Tokihiro, dated July 11, 2024. Vote on Comm. 95.6: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 95.6. Filed Seconded by Ms. Kimball and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Galimba — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 2. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Next item, please. Comm. 556.3: FOURTH QUARTER REPORT OF UNCAPITALIZED DONATIONS: APRIL 1 — JUNE 30 2024 From Finance Director Diane Nakagawa, dated July 19, 2024, transmitting the above report pursuant to Resolution 186-23. Motion to Close File: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 556.3. Seconded by Ms. Kimball. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Any discussion or questions? Chair Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. As always, I just want to say thank you to the folks that have donated to the efforts of our community through these donations, and I'm heartened to see so many of them related to security. You know, this year in the budget hearing, security, safety, were identified as top priority. So, glad to see that investment with our partnerships with various federal organizations. So, thank you, again, on behalf of the Council. Page 3 FC-41 August 6, 2024 ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Council Member Evans, did you have any questions? MS. EVANS: Thank you. Just a question for Finance. When I looked at the donors name —thank you, Director Nakagawa. (Note: At this time, Finance Director Diane Nakagawa came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. NAKAGAWA: Yes, Council Member Evans? MS. EVANS: When I'm looking at the donor names, I see these are organizations. So, is that some kind of —like the difference between organizations that have —let's say they would invite us there to be a speaker, for example, and pay our way to be a speaker, would that fall underneath this noricapitalized donation or would that fall in another category? MS. NAKAGAWA: Diane Nakagawa. Finance Department. Good afternoon, Council Members. I believe that would also fall in this donations report. And a lot of times I know there's not a significant amount of detail on the comments but there are times when our staff does play a role in these conferences, they have speaking opportunities as well to share their experiences, just not all that detail is sometimes entered in this report. MS. EVANS: Yeah. It's pretty impressive to see our place showing up at all these different events. Yeah. I was just curious. If we're seeking to attend things and find ways to go, then we would be the instigator, but in this instance, the way I'm reading it, it sounds like we were invited. So, I'm just kind of implying that. That's why I asked the question. MS. NAKAGAWA: Yeah. Normally I believe it's a variety of reasons. You know, our staff looks for opportunities to get additional training but also to share their knowledge and expertise at these types of gatherings and conferences. MS. EVANS: Okay. Thank you. Thank you. MS. NAKAGAWA: You're welcome. MS. EVANS: I yield. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Seeing none, all in favor of approving Communication 556.3, please say "aye." Page 4 FC-41 August 6, 2024 Vote on Comm. 556.3: The motion to close file on Comm. 556.3 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Galimba — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kaneali `i-Kleinfelder — 2. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Next item, please. Comm. 947: TABULAR SUMMARY OF NET FUNDED DEBT AS OF JUNE 30 2024 From Finance Director Diane Nakagawa, dated July 15, 2024, transmitting the above report pursuant to Chapter 47C of the Hawaii Revised Statutes. Motion to Close File: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 947. Seconded by Ms. Kimball. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Any discussion? Any questions in Kona? MS. VILLEGAS: Yes. Fast. Thank you, Chair. It's Rebecca. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Yes. Thanks, Council Member Villegas. Director Nakagawa's coming up at the moment. MS. VILLEGAS: Great. Thank you. Aloha, Director Nakagawa. Thank you for being here today. I just was just hoping for just kind of a —there's a lot of numbers, big numbers; but also, you know, funds that we have taken out loans and bonds for in order to facilitate and pay for much needed projects and infrastructure improvements in our County. I wondered if you could just give a quick debrief on what this means, not just for myself, but for the community as far as where we stand on our debt statements? (Note: At this time, Finance Director Diane Nakagawa and County Treasurer Chris Nakano came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. NAKAGAWA: Sure. Happy to do that, Council Member. I do want to introduce Chris Nakano. He is our County Treasurer. And if you have any questions, Chris and I will be happy to answer. And Chris, please feel free to jump in wherever you would like. So, this requirement is a requirement by HRS (Hawaii Revised Statutes) to provide this statement of funded debt in 90 days after each start of each fiscal Page 5 FC-41 August 6, 2024 year. So, we bring this to you each year. So, I can walk you through the information you have in front of you. So, under Number 1, you'll see the total principle amount of County debt; so you have our GO (General Obligation) bonds for $430 million, then you'll have the state revolving loan funds for $49 million, and then our revenue bonds for $13 million. So, revenue bonds is like our Kaloko Heights. So, I'll walk through that. What you see in Number 2 is what's excluded from this debt to get to your final number of $424 million. So, in (a.), your general obligation bonds that are maturing, which means these are our payments in the current year. So, we subtract the current payments of $34 million, same with the state revolving funds, the $4 million is what gets subtracted. This is the payment in the current year. Revenue bonds; these are the amounts that will be paid. That's the CFD (Contract for Difference), (d.) is the amount that is paid by Water Supply, that's reimbursed to the County; and (e.) General obligation bonds, these are our improvement districts. So, those are paid by the property owners. So that gets removed from our statement of funded debt. Brings you to $424 million. Each of the schedules that are attached breaks down each of these numbers in greater detail. So, in (a.) all the different general obligation bonds that were issued, and what's maturing in the current year is the schedule to your right and that's the $34 million that you'll see in Number 2. Same with (b.) and (c.), and (d.) and (e.). These are just the backup numbers that go to the summary table. So, what this is showing us is the total amount of debt that the County has and is paying for. Chris, anything to add? MR. NAKANO: No. I don't have anything to add. Thank you. MS. NAKAGAWA: Alright. Any questions? MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Ms. Nakagawa. That's helpful just on how the flow works. In general, is this a reflection of the County being in, you know, nobody wants to be in debt let's say, but it's kind of the cost of doing business and running a county. Does this reflect a pretty healthy standing for our County at this point? MS. NAKAGAWA: Yeah. Council Member, that's a great question. And one of the things that we talk about, especially as we're going through our budget review process is where we're at in terms of percentage, right? When we talk about what we've issued so far and when we're authorized, so there is a difference between those two. And the percentage is something that gets brought up a lot. So, where we want to be is that 15 percent, right. So, this year, what we talked about in budget is we're at 7.99 percent of issued debt. So, if we were to then issue all of the bonds that were authorized, we would be at 13.88 percent. But right now where we stand, we're in a healthy place in where we stand today. Page 6 FC-41 August 6, 2024 MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, And we don't want to go —like 15 percent is the max that you'd ever want to get to, right? You don't want to over 15 percent. So, we're even in the halfway margin for that. Okay. Thank you so much. That's really helpful. It tells the story of all the numbers. I appreciate you going through that for me. I yield. MS. NAKAGAWA: You're welcome. Thank you. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. If no one else has any questions — Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KFERKIIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Director, thank you for the overview. MS. NAKAGAWA: Sure. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I'm curious for Schedule A, there's a date of issue extending back from 2008. I'm going to assume that these were all authorized by Council ordinance? MS. NAKAGAWA: Yes. MS. KEERKIJEWICZ: Is it possible that going forward, we get the ordinance number for the date of issue? I'm curious because often times there's an exhibit or a be it resolved that identifies the projects that this money is allocated to spend. So, in my mind when I'm looking at the information presented in this report, I can see what projects have moved, because we've financed them, and what might be outstanding. Is that something we can accommodate? MS. NAKAGAWA: Yeah. We can look into that. MS. KIJERKIEWICZ: Okay. Would it be possible to maybe send us a memo, we can file it for the record to attach to this communication that breaks down these ordinances? MS. NAKAGAWA: Yeah. We can look at how we can do that. Give us a little bit of time to go through this. MS. KIIERKIIEWICZ: Fun, Thank you. I don't know if I'm finding it here, but how does this comparing to where we were last year in terms of how much debt we've accumulated? Because this Council term we've passed a number of ordinances authorizing bond financing for a number of infrastructure projects, and I'm thinking primarily of the wastewater treatment facilities. But there were also other ordinances for other manini type projects, mostly for parks and like mass transit. So, just trying to understand how the debt has sort of increased year to year. Page 7 FC-41 August 6, 2024 MS. NAKAGAWA: Okay. Absolutely. So, if you were to have the last report in front of you, that was dated in 2023, our net funded debt has actually — MS. KIERKIEWICZ: What's the communication number on that one? MS. NAKAGAWA: Let's see. I don't know if I have it on here. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: No worries, I'll look it up. MS. NAKAGAWA: We can send it to you as well. So, if you take a look at that, the — MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Hang on a second. There's this really weird rumbling noise. Okay, there we go. Thank you. MS. NAKAGAWA: Okay. In comparison to the last report that we submitted in 2023, the net funded debt has actually gone down. So, we've paid more of our debt down since we've issued. So, I know we have come for several authorizations, but the last one we did included the $99 million in this last statement in 2023 that we went for. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Do we pay more because we can afford to because we've seen an increase in our Real Property Tax haul; how does that work out, the payment structure? MR. NAKANO: I'm Chris Nakano, the Treasurer of the County of Hawaii. We paid the debt service based on a schedule that's legally that we owe to the bondholders. So, it's on a set schedule that we pay the debt down. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So, there's a certain amount, but do we ever go above that particular amount when we're paying off our debt? You know how like when you pay your mortgage there's the minimum payment required? Sometimes you got a little extra cash that you can use to pay off a little bit more every month. Do we do that as a County? MR. NAKANO: Yeah. Generally, we do not do that. We generally just stick to the payment schedule. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Great. I don't know if this is a silly question to ask, but do we ever refinance any of our existing debt? MR. NAKANO: Yes, we do. In fact, we did that in 2016 where we retired the older debt which were at higher rates and, you know, we refinanced the debt. We have not done it since then though. Page 8 FC-41 August 6, 2024 MS. KIIERKIIEWICZ: We don't want to do it right now. I don't think it would be advantageous. But it sounds like you're always taking a temperature to see if it would be a good idea to kind of refinance our debt. MR. NAKANO: Correct. Yes. MS. NAKAGAWA: Chris is constantly reviewing options. MS. KIIERKIIEWICZ: Okay. Sounds good. And then do we have any anticipated challenges with meeting our debt service that you foresee this fiscal year, the next three to five years? MS. NAKAGAWA: So, the challenge that we see that we all know about, and we've been talking about is our wastewater projects. And we are anticipating very soon a better idea of what the cost of those critical infrastructure projects will be. And once that is determined, we will be potentially coming back to you for future authorizations. MS. KEERKIIEWICZ: Okay. That's helpful to know. And that is not the only need that County has. MS. NAKAGAWA: That is not the only need. MS. KIEERKIIEWICZ: Right. So, we've got to think about how are we balancing paying for all of the challenges we're facing. MS. NAKAGAWA: That is the discussion of how we prioritize our needs in the County. Yes. MS. KIIERKIIEWICZ: Thank you very much. I appreciate the presentation. Treasurer Nakano, great to meet you. Thank you. MS. NAKAGAWA: Thank you. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Any other questions? I think you covered my questions, so no worries. That's, yes, very good. Seeing no other lights, all in favor please say "aye." Page 9 FC-41 Vote on Comm. 947: Filed ORDER OF RESOLUTIONS: Res. 562-24 August 6, 2024 The motion to close file on Comm. 947 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Galimba — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 2. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: With that, we will move on to resolutions. The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Order of Resolutions. F.A11119061111r AGREEMENT WITH SP COUNTY OF HAWAI`I, LLC, TO REPLACE HAWAI`I COUNTY SHARED -USE ELECTRIC VEHICLES Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a ten-year lease agreement with an approximate monthly cost of $8,357, to replace the County's disposed shared -use electric vehicle fleet with eight new electric vehicles. Reference: Comm.943 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Postponed: July 23, 2024 (Note: There is a motion by Ms. Lee Loy, seconded by Ms. Galimba, to recommend adoption of Res. 562-24.) (Note: Comm. 943.1, from Finance Director Diane Nakagawa dated July 31, 2024, transmitting proposed amendments to Res. 562-24, was circulated.) ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Since we already have a motion on the floor, I will move to discussion. I believe we have some folks from R&D (Research & Development) here who would like to share some information with us. Mr. Saito, would you like to lead off? (Note: At this time, Research & Development Director Douglass Adams came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. ADAMS: Let me just —Doug Adams. Director of Research & Development. Thank you, Council Members for the opportunity to have this conversation. In addition to Riley, who you know very well, I'd also like to introduce Members of SP, Sustainability Partners, that are in the room with us. We have Noel Morin and Benson Medina, and they are available to —actually, I Page 10 FC-41 August 6, 2024 think probably make this presentation, if you're ready to do that? Alright. I know that this is his presentation. (Note: At this time, Research & Development Economic Specialist III Riley Saito and Sustainability Partner's Infrastructure Partner Noel Morin came forward and provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the subject presentation, see the DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is made a part of the record, see Comm. 943.2) MR. MORIN: And that concludes the EV (Electric Vehicle) component. So I will — MR. SAITO: You've got to add on the operations side of this. It will be the intent is that we share -use the vehicles. So, County employees would have training on the vehicles, how they work and operate, and any kind of bells and whistles because the EV's come with like —it's like you're flying a rocket ship or something. It's a lot of data being presented graphically. So, it does take training but we'll, you know, allow the employees to actually use it and understand what it is like to actually operate an EV. Not only that but it will allow us to do comparisons and get feedback from the employees on how does the two -wheel drive compare to the all -wheel drive; we can see the actual performance of maintenance by the provider. What they provide is on a data sheet of what they warrant and how they're going to maintain it, which many of us know that may or may not be actually true in reality. And so, we've had that experience with the previous manufacturer and so, we'd want to see how these —where they claim they will be on island with on -island staff; we want to see if that is a reality; or they'll say, it'll take three months to fix this because we don't have the parts. So, we didn't pick one brand, one manufacturer. We picked different models, different makes; two -wheel drive, all -wheel drive, and allow our employees to really take a look at the real -life performance and get feedback from them. Do we need the all -wheel drive vehicle; do we need an SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle). If you look at our 13- to 20-year-old inventory of vehicles we have right now, there are many SUV's, there are many four-wheel drives, and I want to see if that's really necessary. If it is, then we know as we expand the fleet over the next few years, where we should go and what direction we should take. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you, Mr. Saito. MR. ADAMS: I was just going to add —thank you very much, Chair, there are some things that we in the department as part of the County need to be doing because this is a demo, and of course metrics is going to be a key part of that as both Noel and Riley have indicated. There's plenty of information regarding that. However, there's also some processes that we're going to have to take into Page 11 FC-41 August 6, 2024 account. This is really the first time that I'm aware of, and I can be corrected here, where we're going full EV. That's actually not correct. Where we have had EV's in the past and we have had situations where we have run out of charge, right? And so, what is the situation? How do we manage that? Those processes are going to be important for this demo project and our ability to talk specifically to those kinds of things. So, we're looking forward to doing this particularly since we don't have as many chargers —nowhere in the state do we have enough chargers for the amount of EV's or even hybrid's that we have on the roads. It's a constant topic of conversation whenever I get into a Lyft that's an EV and have it with the individual driver and they're like, "We don't have anything here. It's terrible." And so, I try not to tell them that, well, it's even worse where I'm at. So, it really is a focus of ours to work on the charging infrastructure, and this will be contributing to that as we go through the demo project with these vehicles. Thank you. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you, Director Adams. And as a new EV owner, I definitely —I'm very excited about this. And yes, the first training has to be, don't run out of charge. Any questions or comments? Chair Kimball, go ahead. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for being here and, you know, excited to see that this is finally getting off the ground. I wanted to just confirm. So, this is all happening under the sole source agreement through HDOT (Hawai`i Department of Transportation), is that correct? MR. MORIN: Yeah. That is the case. So, there was the agreement with the state, the DOT contract, which is a 10-year contract. We're about three years into it and the County is signed on to that. So, for every project there is a service addendum, which essentially describes a new initiative, and that's what we're working through here as we're working through this particular project. There's another project we're working on, which I believe we'll discuss in a subsequent meeting for charging stations. Separate addendum. But all of those addendums roll up into the master contract. MS. KIMBALL: And so it's a ten -year —sorry, go ahead. MR. MORIN: The contract with DOT and therefore with the County as well is a ten-year contract. MS. KIMBALL: And we're three years in. MR. MORIN: However, every addendum lives on its own. So, in every project that we have with our customers is intended to be perpetual. So, you know, if Page 1.2 FC-41 August 6, 2024 there's a need and it continues to be relevant and the monthly payments are acceptable, it can go well beyond ten years. MS. KIMBALL: Understood. Okay. So, if these contracts, these lease agreements can be outside of the DOT? MR. ADAMS: So, the master agreement establishes the framework for the contracts that we have because we are part of that master agreement as the County. I was just going to make the point that it's not a sole source. It was an RFP (Request for Proposal) that HDOT ran and then Sustainability Partners was awarded out of the RFP. So, they were the RFP winner. And then all of the variety of partners that are part of that master agreement then are working with Sustainability Partners on electrification of transportation opportunities. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. And Chair, with a little leeway I know we're talking about EV's for the County right here but briefly, the breath of that agreement, it would include EV's for the County charging infrastructure bus and mass transit type fleets, what else? MR. MORIN: Yes. So, it covers the zero emission vehicles and charging infrastructure or fueling infrastructure, as well as any energy system that might be required to fuel the vehicles. So, what that means is microgrids, which could be PV (Photovoltaics) and storage. It could be any vehicle from busses to garbage trucks all the way down to golf carts and then the charging infrastructure to support those vehicles. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. So, this could potentially include PV installation as long as it's tied to the transportation network in some way? MR. MORIN: Absolutely. Yes. And some of the projects we have, their facilities just don't have enough energy, and in situations like that there is a desire for PV and that's within scope. MS. KIMBALL: Excellent. Okay. Good to know. MR. ADAMS: I would just note, and you didn't necessarily elude to this, but I would note that just because this particular master agreement exists, that does not mean that that's the only way that we can have charging infrastructure or different vehicles or any of that kind of stuff. It is a way that has been set up for this to work, but it doesn't have to be the only way. As a matter of fact, it won't be on the charging infrastructure side because we have other funding that's bringing different charging infrastructure here already. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah. Thank you for that clarification. But generally, I mean, with the fact that all of the repair and maintenance and whatnot is being accounted for by SP, this seems, you know, fairly competitive. I'm comfortable with the Page 13 FC-41 August 6, 2024 rate personally but I'm assuming that you folks, based on your research, would agree that this is a reasonable deal for us or else you would provide it. MR. ADAMS: Part of the reason why Noel says Riley's a tough customer. MS. KIMBALL: I can only imagine. And I just want to make one other comment and that's, you know, the slide because it's the second slide that identifies, okay, we have all these different departments, they all have their own vehicle fleet, and then this ideal situation where we're sharing a bunch of EV's or alternative fuel vehicles, which, you know, I like that concept with or without the renewable fuel vehicles. Like the fact that we have so many vehicles that are sitting most of the time because it's assigned to a department —so, I'm curious what you have in place or intend to develop to manage the different departments usages of these vehicles if you have anything in place already and how scalable that you think that might be to a countywide vehicle sharing program. Because regardless of whether we're using alternative fuel vehicles or not, that sort of sharing is going to be efficiencies and savings across the County. So, what do you guys have in mind for that aspect of it? MR. ADAMS: So, Riley's going to give you the Riley idealized view of that and then I'll come back and tell you what I think is real. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. Are you going to take that from him, Riley? MR. SAITO: All the time. But I don't let that stop me. So, there's existing software applications that allow shared use of assets for mobility. And so, there's a company that's actually doing shared use vehicles in condominiums in high rise housing on Oahu. So, they have residents buy in to share the vehicle, like 500 miles a month or seven days in a month and they pay a fixed amount. And so, this system, they're allowed to actually make a reservation, and the vehicle is delivered to the location of pick up, sort of like a hybrid of Turo and Uber and Lyft where you make a reservation, your car is at a certain location and you are authorized to use it as an employee; you would be authorized to use it, you're trained, and you'd have access to actually, you know, pickup the vehicle and use it. So, one of the thoughts was a company like —would actually represent the asset use provided by Sustainability Partners. So, we're talking about like 200 cars in that asset base and your employees would actually make the reservation for their use, with the estimated miles and pickup, drop-off and all of that, and the vehicle would be there. And so, that is in practice in place of, you know, Benson from Sustainability Partners says, "I intend to make them a rental car company." And maybe that might be the best way to use an asset, to not have it sit idle on asphalt. MR. ADAMS: The other part of what's happened is that when we had the EV's that we had previously, we ran a sharing program that essentially Riley ran out of Page 1.4 FC-41 August 6, 2024 the Kona Office. We also share when those vehicles are on this side, we also have the ability to share those with different departments that are here as well. So, we have had a manual sharing opportunity in addition to what Riley was just talking about, technologically. We have not had the conversations with the other departments about them reducing the number in their fleet and their ability for them to be able to share based on their usage of where and how much, and the number of people that are in those vehicles. That work still has to be done as a part of their, dare I say, some of the stuff that OSCER (Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, and Resilience) is going to end up doing as well. MS. KIMBALL: So, those assessments of the usages in the other departments have not yet been done? MR. ADAMS: Riley? MR. SAITO: I'm sorry. What was that? MS. KIMBALL: The assessments, you know, you were talking about some of the data that has been collected already, but those assessments of the vehicle usage in the other departments, has that been done or not? I thought it had. MR. SAITO: Yes. I actually —when we had like five vehicles operating, they would average about 10,000 miles a year each at about 55 miles a — MS. KIMBALL: I was actually referring to the existing fleet, not exclusively the electrics. MR. ADAMS: In other words, what the other departments have done. So, when you did the fleet work with our vistas in the past, it was really about location and the impact, and what those individual vehicles had done. Did you gather data on what those vehicles, you know, the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles were running per department? MR. SAITO: Yes. I have the data and the spreadsheets for about four years on how many miles they travel, how often they fill in gas, what they fill in, all of that I've gathered. I can extract whatever is needed. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. So, Director, last question. Do we anticipate putting out a separate RFP for some sort of software to do this management, the rental car system, or would that be another item that might fall under the SP agreement; what are we thinking? MR. ADAMS: We're having this conversation in real time. 1►5IC:iiu :: • . . Page 15 FC-41 August 6, 2024 MR. ADAMS: So, we have some work to actually do to identify the best way to do that. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. My only closing comment here would be, let's consider employing something that would not be exclusive to the EV's, but ultimately would transition to that and that we could use more broadly for our fleet because I do think that would be good for us. I know we have an amendment on this. I can introduce this now if you want or if we don't have additional dialogue? ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Let me check in Kona. Kona, any questions, comments there? MS. EVANS: Yes. I do. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Go ahead, Council Member Evans. MS. EVANS: Thank you. I'm kind of hoping that I'm assuming it'll move to Council, that it would be great to have Deanna Sako here from administration because I'd like to see how this is going to fit into fleet management and the other vehicles. You know, we have a lot of vehicles being managed by the County, and how we're standing up another fleet management now with electrical vehicles. How does that fit into the bigger picture of how we're going to manage the fleet, and I was also thinking about OSCER and how the OSCER group and how this kind of fits into their umbrella in a way. And so, we now have OSCER, we have a fleet manager, and now we're asking you to kind of operate, evaluate, and enter into a ten-year lease agreement. That's a lot. Ten years. So, I'd like to know where the administration, kind of what their feeling is on how this is going to kind of get incorporated into standard practice for the County because I just don't see this in the office of R&D to do fleet management. I'd really like to hear from Deanna Sako and how administration sees this, incorporating it into really where we're headed. I think we're in this electrical vehicle for the long run because we keep investing quite a bit of money into these electrical vehicle stations. And then the upkeep of the electrical vehicle stations and who's responsible for that. Is that the Building Department and, you know, our Public Works? So, now you got Public Works involved and you involved, and OSCER involved. And so, I'd really like to hear from Deanna Sako about how this is going to like —what is the big picture? Because this is a piece of something that's pretty cool to see how we're promoting this, but how does this really fit in the long run. I would hope to hear that when it moves forward and gets in front of us next time. Thank you. I yield. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Council Member Kimball, go ahead. Page 16 FC-41 August 6, 2024 Motion to Amend: Ms. Kimball moved to amend Res. 562-24 with the contents of Comm. 943.1. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah. So, the correction was already mentioned from eight to seven vehicles and then just the correct reference to SP in terms of this agreement. I don't know that there's anything that you guys would like to add but seems mostly clerical in nature. Thank you. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Any questions or discussion on the amendment in Kona? No. Anyone here? Seeing none, all in favor of approving Communication 943.1 to amend Resolution 562-24? Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Res 562-24 with the contents of to Amend: Comm. 943.1 was carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Galimba — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 2. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Back to the main motion. Any other comment? Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair Galimba. Thank you so much for this presentation. I think we've kind of spoke about it in many different arenas here at the Council, but it's great to finally understand the competitive process that Sustainability Partners engage at the statewide level and how the County opted into that. Great presentation. I'll be supporting the resolution. I have a question about the maintenance piece. You talked about the cost of maintaining these vehicles are part of this contract, this agreement; how are we dealing with any bargaining unit issues that could arise from this? We do have an Automotive Division within the County, which maintains all of our County vehicles and I just want to understand if those conversations have happened and what are we doing to actually build the capacity of our employees within the County to start maintaining these types of vehicles especially if these are going to be the vehicles of the future? MR. ADAMS: I'll make a quick comment and then I'll ask Riley to talk to this. So, we have had already EV's in the County, right? And they have been maintained by the Automotive Division, particularly if I could, the ICE Page 1.7 FC-41 August 6, 2024 automotive portions of that and the batteries have been different in regard to that. But there have been conversations with Public Works and R&D, and with SP about what this looks like moving forward. So, Riley, why don't I let you talk about that. MR. SAITO: So, with the previous EV's or hybrids that we had, the Chevy Volts, the maintenance was actually performed by certified techs that were with Big Island Toyota in Hilo. The Automotive Division is pretty much set up with maintaining internal combustion engines, so we don't have the equipment, the floor space. You actually, you know, maintain an electric vehicle a lot differently than you an internal combustion engine. And so, we're starting with these seven vehicles to really learn and see what and how —what it takes to maintain the vehicles. There's a lot less moving parts with an electric vehicle so the maintenance is pretty much focused on an electronic basis. You do have breaks, tires, windshield wipers, things like that, but a lot of the other maintenance pieces are based on electronics. And so, we aren't currently set up at the automotive base yard. The intent is as we grow this; to bring our County employees with us and it needs to be that way and give us time to actually transition because if you imagine, think the future, the next 15, 20 years as this transformation occurs, you will have dual technologies existing. You will have dual skillsets required and equipment required. With the buses, the electric zero emission buses get maintained from the roof. Our internal combustion engine buses get maintained underneath, so you have a lift. And so, basic differences like that will exist in parallel. And this is the beginning, is to learn and understand what exactly is needed in the real world to keep these vehicles operating so that we can make informed decisions on how we transform our County Automotive Division to be inclusive of zero emission vehicles. MR. ADAMS: Let me just add a couple things real quick. One is, of course, the County doesn't own these vehicles, right, as a part of this agreement. And so, there's no collective bargaining agreement impact as a part of that. But I think more importantly, I think this is what I'm taking your question to go to is, how are we training our employees but also our future employees to be able to take care of these kinds of vehicles, and that is a part of the conversation that we're having both as a part of the good jobs Hawaii work and within our own workforce development elements. What we don't have currently is any ETP (Employee Training Program) qualified trainers on this island for this kind of work where you're training folks to learn how to take care of, you know, these EV's. We have to get there because this is the way that we're going as a country and part of what we would be good about this particular demo project is we will see where the maintainers Page 18 FC-41 August 6, 2024 are. We'll be able to have conversations with those, understanding what the training regiments have been for them to actually work on these vehicles and then bring that into the kinds of subsidies that we can provide to see that training being done here. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Director, thanks for just confirming that the reason why we're able to do this and have Sustainability Partners maintain is because these vehicles are not owned by the County. That's what I was looking for. When Riley said this is just the beginning, the beginning was actually in 2013, when we acquired the Chevy Volts. And it's been over a decade now and we still, I feel, haven't put pen to paper around how we plan for the workforce development piece not only within our County, but how that even could connect to the Hawaii Community College in creating programs and curriculums to get people certified. If okay with you, and I'm happy to chat more offline, Director. There was that ASU (Arizona State University) agreement to where Council Member Kimball and I worked on an amendment. I'd like to amend this to require some kind of report at the end of one year so that when we talk about the intention is to create the program, we're already actually did the analysis to say, this is what the program is going to need to get off the ground. So, if you're amenable to that, it's I think a friendly amendment, but I think would put us in a really good position to even think about how we might utilize WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) in this sense to build up, you know, some kind of program within HCC ( Hawai`i Community College) to upscale our employees and our residents. MR. ADAMS: Absolutely. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Perfect. I'll chat offline with you. Thank you. Appreciate the latitude. I yield. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thanks, Chair. I actually was in alignment with Council Member Kierkiewicz about an impact report because it's also mentioned here in your slide deck that you want to collect data. And I wasn't sure if we've landed in a space as far as what kind of data was going to be collected. But if it's not too late, I would love to see, in addition to the miles traveled, you know, an employee survey of what car they like; why they like it or why they don't. I was actually more interested in the road conditions because I actually understand that we get better mileage if our roads are paved nicely, right. And so, I would also love to be able to track where these miles are being absorbed so that maybe that could be a future roadmap when we look at paving roads in various districts, how this would actually support that. Page 19 FC-41 August 6, 2024 In addition to, this would be a nice place where we could braid funding, right, with our GE (General Excise) dollars, with our mass transit dollars, and now with this as far as a solution for transitioning over to EV. I just see that nice fit where all of a sudden, we're making business decisions based on data rather than political will and or nagging to pave a particular road in a particular district. That's what I was leaning in on and that's why if there was some type of impact report where we could actually begin to measure the data, and then future Council and Council Members can actually start making key investments in the basic infrastructure of the road. And then finally, you're going hear this, you're always going to hear this from me. I'm a huge champion of induction road systems and induction parking. I've been part of a larger federal, our NACo (National Association of Counties) Board of Association with the transportation committees. This is the forward - facing way on how we stand up charging systems, is to create parking lots and or road systems that charging is within the roadway, so people are just driving and charging at the same time or parking at their place of business and charging at the same time. And I know there's amazing dollars out there to begin to realize that. So, I think in addition to what Ms. Kierkiewicz asked, if there was ways to kind of tailor some of that information into that impact report and or study or data gathering would be great and very useful for future councils. Thank you. I yield. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Anyone else? Seeing none, I ask everyone to vote then. So, all in favor of forwarding Resolution 562-24, as amended, to the Council with a favorable recommendation, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 562-24: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 562-24, as Draft 2 amended to Draft 2, was carried by the following voice (Approved) vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Galimba — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 2. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Next item, please. Page 20 FC-41 August 6, 2024 Res. 574-24: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF HAWAPI DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, PURSUANT TO HAWAPI REVISED STATUTES SECTION 46-7, FOR A WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT GRANT Allows for the receipt of $2, 100,000 in federally -derived funds, which would be used by the Department of Research and Development to assist adults, dislocated workers, and youths by providing services that will train individuals to increase employment, retention, earnings, skills, and literacy. Reference: Comm. 963 Intr. by: Mr. Kdneali'i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend adoption of Res. 574-24. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Any comments or discussion? Director Adams and Mr. Mercado. (Note: At this time, Research & Development Director Douglass Adams and Economic Specialist Clinton Mercado came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. ADAMS: Doug Adams. Director of Research and Development. MR. MERCADO: Aloha, Council Members. I'm Clinton Mercado from Research and Development with the Workforce Innovative Opportunity Act. MR. ADAMS: And the Executive Director for the Hawaii County Workforce Development Board. I will just make a brief comment. About a month ago I came forward to ask you to move forward the ordinance, resolution, and ordinance for PY-23 (Program Year) funding and at that time I told you that we were behind and have been for a couple of years with that, and that there were a variety of reasons for that. We are now ahead. This is PY-24 funding. The federal government provided this information to the state and the state provided — we had actually put forward the B-52 with information based on approximate allocation amounts from the federal government and what they had provided. But since then the state has actually identified specifically what our allocation is. I don't remember if the numbers are in this particular B-52. MR. MERCADO: Not in this one. MR. ADAMS: Yeah. But we can always work that. But the key here is that we're ahead of the game and making sure that we can move forward once the Council is able to support the resolution and the ordinance, the appropriation of these funds into the County. We'll be able to then get moving on the contracts to Page 21 FC-41 August 6, 2024 execute these funds in support of our youth and adult dislocated worker clients, and that way we have a better opportunity, more than just a year, which we have been having over the last few years, to actually use those funds. This will give us almost two years to be able to execute those contracts. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: It's always better to be ahead. Thank you. Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Director, thank you for the explanation. So, just to clarify, when we adopted Bill 178, that allocated about $1.7 million in WIOA, we got the call about how much money our county was actually getting. It was actually $400,000 more, $2.1 million. And so, this bill amends that ordinance we adopted. Am I getting this correctly? MR. ADAMS: The one that we did in July was for program year 2023, this is program year 2024 funds. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. So, we have two years' worth of funding to spend, or we spent last fiscal year? MR. ADAMS: We typically —the federal government in WIOA gives us three years' worth of funding. The first two years come to the local workforce development boards. In our case, Hawaii County Workforce Development Board. And that third year, the balance of that funding that has provided to those local workforce development boards is pulled back to the state and then the state uses it for whatever it needs to for that third year. And so, for program year 2023, we have one more year to spend up those funds. For program year 2024 funds, once we have gone through the processes here and have the RFP's and have the contracts, once PY-23 funds are gone, then we were able to spend the PY-24 funds. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: You have to spend that $1.7 million first before you access this $2.1 million? MR. ADAMS: Until the timing of that PY-23 funding —so, example, that will end for us at the County level on June 30, 2025. If we use funding in youth, which we often times do, prior to that, then we can begin to use the PY-24 funding in youth right away. So, they want you to use all the funding in the program year while it still exists, but then once it's done, you can begin to use the next year's program year funding. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. That's helpful. And this is a total of $3.8 million, which is pretty fantastic. Wonderful. Page 22 FC-41 August 6, 2024 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I'll be supporting it. Clinton, you're on my list of folks to meet with because I want to make sure I'm supporting you. MR. MERCADO: Yes. Looking forward to it. Absolutely. MS. KEERKIIEWICZ: You're so gung-ho and I think you're just the perfect kind of energy that's needed to be infused in all of these WIOA activities. So, look forward to connecting. Mahalo. MR. MERCADO: Thank you. I'm excited for the opportunity. Thank you. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Going over to Kona, any questions there? MS. VILLEGAS: No thank you, Chair. We'll let you know if we have any. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. I am also very excited, and we need a meeting too. But I just wondered if you could just, I don't know, give an example of like some of the training or jobs or anything that people, types of things that people might be involved in here. Can you just give an example or two? MR. MERCADO: Thank you, Council Member. For instance, like trade jobs; your plumbing, electrical, contractors. One of our mandated partners are the Hawaii Community College and they have various training that they provide. So, it's that, it's being able to network with the community, educating them of what the resources that is available to them, and then introducing them to the variable resources such as HCC or like Goodwill. We have the eligible training provider list that has various types of training that the public has access to. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. And they would access this by coming to your office. MR. MERCADO: Absolutely. They can come to our office — MR. ADAMS: To the AJC (American Job Center). MR. MERCADO: To the AJC, excuse me. And one of the biggest push that we have is networking, right, being able to reach out to the youth, you know, high school, intermediate, educating them of what type of resources are available because a lot of them don't understand. Or if you mention AJC, not much know about it. 0 LV 1"WTO LAVA' UkINM_- RI Page 23 FC-41 August 6, 2024 MR. MERCADO: So, it's all about being able to connect with the community, various nonprofit organizations, the government, to figure out ways how we can better connect with the people and educate them of the resources. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Well, let us know how we can help get the word out and you have things to send out to the public and everything, we would love to help. MR. MERCADO: Yes, looking forward to it. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Thank you very much. MR. ADAMS: I would just make the comment, Council Member, that job fairs is a big thing that Clinton has already been part of and making sure that those things are going out. So, wherever those occur, our ability to connect with you so that your districts are aware of those, we'll for sure be doing that. So, thank you. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thanks, gentlemen. Thanks for being here. I know you mentioned a lot of the trades and working with HCC. Can I just share one potential area or trades that I know really needs students potential opportunities for work is our riveters and our welders. We've got a lot of electricians, plumbers, carpenters, operating engineers, coming out of HCC, but there is an incredible need for welders and riveter, especially if we're going to realize the infrastructure dollars with our bridge replacement, we not growing the workforce. It's an older workforce and we're not putting new workforce into that pipe. So, just tuck that in your back pocket when you start designing some of those programs. Thank you, Chair. I yield. MR. MERCADO: Thank you. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Well, seeing no one else, I just wanted to congratulate you. This is very exciting to have so many resources for workforce development. MR. MERCADO: Thank you. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: With that, all in favor of forwarding Resolution 574-24 to Council with a favorable recommendation, please say "aye." Page 24 FC-41 August 6, 2024 Vote on Res. 574-24: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 574-24 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Galimba — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kdneali'i-Kleinfelder — 2. Excused: None. MR. ADAMS: I'd just like to say thank you to the Council for both of these deserve movements that we're trying to make in both of these areas. So, thank you very much. Thank you. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Next item. Companion measure. BELLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 187: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAFI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30,2025 Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants — Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) account ($2, 100,000); and appropriates the same to the following 2024-2025 WIOA accounts: Administration/Planning ($200,000); Adult Program ($800,000); Dislocated Worker Program ($350,000); and Youth Program ($750,000). Funds would be used by the Department of Research and Development to assist adults, dislocated workers, and youths by providing services that will train individuals to increase employment, retention, earnings, skills, and literacy. Reference: Comm. 963 Intr. by: Mr. Kdneali'i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend passage of Bill 187 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor of forwarding Bill 187—go ahead. (Note: At this time, Research & Development Director Douglass Adams came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. ADAMS: I apologize. I noted during the conversation on the previous resolution, the amount that's indicated here is based on the federal allocation. We Page 25 FC-41 August 6, 2024 will make sure that the actual amounts that the state has provided since this information was provided as a part of the agenda, is included in here. So, this is a little higher just so that we didn't have to come back afterwards. But we'll make sure that the exact amounts that the state is providing us is available to you in two weeks or prior. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor of forwarding Bill 187 to Council with a favorable recommendation, please say "aye." Vote on Bill 187: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 187 on first (Approved) reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Galimba — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kdneali'i-Kleinfelder — 2. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Is there any other business? Seeing none, the meeting of the Finance Committee is adjourned. ADJOURN- There being no further business on our agenda today, Acting Chair Galimba MENT: adjourned the meeting at 2:17 p.m. Thank you very much. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Approved: 9/2-31 Mr. Matt KdnbW�i-Kleinfe der, Chair (Date) "j Finance Committee MK/tk Page 26