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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN CRCOC 2024/11/07 (2022-2024)Committee on Communications, Reports, and Council Oversight 36111 Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii November 7, 2024 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Communications, Reports, and ORDER: Council Oversight was called to order at 2:46 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Acting Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Acting Chair Ms. Cindy Evans, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Absent & Excused: Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, 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: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Stephanie Bath: Kim Pierce: (representing Kalamapi`i Play School) Comm. 1136, in support. Comm. 1125, in support. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 1 111: REQUESTS A PRESENTATION BY MIKE S. WALLERSTEIN, COUNSEL FOR THE STATE OF HAWAI`I PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION REGARDING ITS ENERGY EQUITY AND JUSTICE From Council Member Heather L. Kimball, dated October 9, 2024. ; and CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 Comm. 1111.1: From Council Member Heather L. Kimball, dated October 9, 2024, transmitting a slide deck from Mike S. Wallerstein. Motion to Close File: Ms. Kimball moved to close file on Comm. 1111. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. This is responding to a request from the PUC (Public Utilities Commission) to provide us with a presentation about how they are working to better integrate equity and justice into their activities. So, I will pass it over to begin the presentation. Thank you for your patience, we got started a little late today. I'm glad you're still available to be with us. (Note: At this time, Mike Wallerstein, Counsel for the State of Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, 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. 1111.1.) MS. KIMBALL: Thank you so much, Mr. Wallerstein. I really appreciate the PUC's vision on this, obviously coming from the state but we've created our new office of OSCER (Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity and Resilience). I think this kind of speaks to some of the reasons why we have that equity component in there with some of the other Sustainability and climate change related measure. So, I don't have any further questions, but I just will open it to my colleagues, and again, once again, thank you for being here and sharing this information with us, we appreciate it. MR. WALLERSTEIN: My pleasure. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Anyone have any comments or input or questions? Over in Kona? MS. VILLEGAS: Just real quick. You know, we've just navigated kind of an interesting week with some of the results coming out of this election cycle, and something that I have seen coming from the potential transition in our national leadership is the removal of equity as a priority. So, I wonder how your department is shoring up for some of those transitions, what we can do to support that remaining a priority and the value system for alignment there. I'm just wondering if you have any insights on that, any hope? MR. WALLERSTEIN: I can offer a little bit and that is we are a creature of this state. We do very little interaction with the federal government. Our marching Page 2 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 orders come from the legislature, from the governor, and from our appointed commissioners. So, I have not heard a word that we should slow down on this from any of them. So, we're not planning to —until somebody tells me differently, we are planning full speed ahead on this. Maybe it's the benefit of being a little bit farther away from Washington D.C., but we're going to keep going. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. I take that to heart. Thank you. I'm support the focus, the initiatives, and that value system of equity and inclusion. So, thank you for the work that you're doing. I yield. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Council Member Villegas. Anybody else? Alright, with that, I'll just say thank you so much, Mr. Wallerstein, for coming and sharing your information with us. You mentioned contacting our island contact for this. Was that up on one of your slides? MR. WALLERSTEIN: No, and I apologize. I can tell you her name. Her name is Teresa Coles, and I can drop her infonnation into the chat. It's probably the easiest way. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: That would be great. MR. WALLERSTEIN: Okay, I'll do that. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you so much, I appreciate that. Any other advice for our residence here who might be listening and be interested in learning how they might access, for instance, some of your funding, something like that. Does that work through any of our county organizations or is that something that people would access directly through your state PUC? MR. WALLERSTEIN: They would not access funding directly from us. We can point them in the direction of agencies that might be able to help. There are a few, Catholic Charities, Salvation Anny, and Hawaiian Electrical also, when anybody is —they'll flag accounts that appear to be approaching disconnection. They have some communications that they do with those accounts with the account holders to try and connect them with resources so that they can get them either on a payment plan or possibly get their bill current or reduced. But that's not something that the commission runs, that is something we view from our position as regulating the utility. It's not our program, it's theirs. ACTING CHR KAGIWADA: Okay. Thank you so much. I appreciate all your information. Thank you. Alright, with that, could we please have a vote on closing file on Comm. I 1 I I? All those is favor. Page 3 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 Vote on Comm. 1 111: The motion to close file on Comin. 1111 was carried by the Filed following voice vote: Ayes. Committee Members Evans, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Acting Chair Kagiwada — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Galimba — 1. Excused: None. Comm. 1125: REQUESTS AN UPDATE FROM RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR DOUGLASS ADAMS REGARDING THE UTILIZATION OF AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT FUNDS AND FUNDS TO SUPPORT EARLY CHILDCARE PROGRAMS From Council Member Jenn Kagiwada, dated October 16, 2024. (Note: Comm. 1125.1, the from Department of Research and Development Director Douglass Adams, dated November 7, 2024, transmitting an ARPA State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Plan Update to Comm. 1125, was circulated.) Motion to Close File: Ms. Kimball moved to close file on Comm. 1125. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: We have our R&D (Research and Development) Director, Douglass Adams, here to give us an update on how the county is utilizing our ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds. So, thank you for being here. (Note: At this time, Research and Development Director Douglass Adams came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. ADAMS: Thank you, Chair. It's good to see all of you, as well as you, Council Member Villegas, all the way on the other side of the island; Doug Adams, Director of Research and Development. Let me start by saying it would be silly of me to think that there are members of this august Council that are completely pleased with the work that we have done in Research and Development on this particular area, having to do with early learning and early childhood. Having said that, we know that we started this effort back in 2021-2022 time period. I'm really grateful, frankly, for the Council's support in an area that was not necessarily a normal county purpose or mission. But at that time, we recognized the importance both coming out of COVID (Coronavirus disease), our workforce issues, and the need to support our families and our children to the best of our ability. With the funding that was available through the state and local Page 4 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 fiscal recovery funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, it made eminent sense for us to try and move in that direction, really, prior to any of the other counties doing so. In the process of developing the strategy for that to try and make sure that we're looking at seats as well as supporting an increase in the professionalism of our providers, the development of that led us to talk about an amount that was in the $14 million range corning out of those funds. As we approach the encumbrance deadline of December 31, 2024, for these funds that the county has received, it's going to be more in the neighborhood of $5 million that we will be using for early childhood. As we take a look at what Research and Development has, is providing in support of mental health, food security and agriculture, small business support, stewardship support, and early learning that is in the neighborhood of $20 million, which is a third of the amount that the county has received from the federal government in this area. So, I recognize that there will be some that will say you should have put way more into the funding having to do with early childhood. I would tell you that we were looking at how to develop —the big portion of that, that was moved away from the early childhood had to do with the facilities. We just couldn't figure a way to actually get funding to develop specific facilities, large scale facilities through our procurement process. And as we approached the deadlines that we needed to get these contracts both through RFP (Request for Proposal) and then into the execution process, we knew that we had to fish or cut bait. So, we needed to do that. So, there are other —there is further information having to do with the use of the state and local fiscal recovery funds. Our Finance Director has the broad scope of that, and I know that we have other department directors here to talk about those specific projects as well. So, I'm open to your questions as are those others. Thank you. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Alright. Council Members, I did put this forward, but I want to just open it up to anybody who has questions or comments or anything; request for more information. It sounds like people here are ready to answer that. So, do people have specific questions or general questions? Yes, Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, I know that the main concern of this body has always been making sure that we spend all of these funds and get them all encumbered prior to the end of this calendar year deadline. So, I did have a conversation with Finance and Director Adams. In your pinkies, there's a list of all of the projects that have been funded by ARPA funds and so, some of the things have moved around but they did provide a status update on everything. It is my understanding, with the exception of one contract that was out, everything has been encumbered and that last one should be set by the end of the year. So, I just wanted to ask Page 5 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 Director Nakagawa to come up and just maybe give a very high-level overview of this additional document that pertains to the communication since there was the request to talk about the ARPA fiends as a whole too. (Note: At this time, Finance Director Diane Nakagawa came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. NAKAGAWA: Absolutely. Diane Nakagawa, Finance Department. Thank you, Council Members, for this request. We brought forward a program back in March 2024, and our collective county team has been working very hard and meeting every so many weeks to make sure these projects are on target. What you have in front of you is the exact program that we brought forth in March. We did go ahead and add a status to each of theirs so you can see exactly where they're at. From an encumbrance standpoint, it's not entirely encumbered but they will be. You can see a status for each of them on where the contracts are at. So, where we stand today, we have $31,188,000 encumbered. In just a few days from now, we will have $42,288,000 encumbered with our housing project. The rest of the contracts are actually routing as we speak, and those numbers will continue to get to our $60 million very shortly. The anticipated date is the end of November to have everything under contract. Should any of these contracts fall through, there is the ability to move some of these funds to some of the other projects that are already approved as far as justification through state and local fiscal recovery funds. I definitely did hear loud and clear that the priority is to get these funds spent and out in the community; wholeheartedly agree and we've been working very hard to get these out. Our departments are here today for each of these projects and are here to answer any detailed questions you have about what has been spent or contracted or encumbered. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you. So, everybody, we have in our pinkies file, Communication 1125.1. 1 think that's what Director is referring to if you want to look at that to see if there are any particular programs you have questions on. Council Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you, Chair. Director Adams, for the Early Childhood Education, two contracts executed, and funds encumbered; two grants pending contract execution. Can you just give us an overview on what those four different —it's ultimately going to be four different contracts. Can you break that down for us, please? MR. ADAMS: Absolutely. Thank you very much, Council Member. One of the contracts has to do with —is for $2,210,000 and it encompasses three different Page 6 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 specific areas, training and apprenticeship, a community work that's being done in Pahoa, part of the Pahoa Promise work. Then also increasing the family childcare start-ups and existing family childcare start-ups. So, those are the part of the $2,210,000 contract. Then we have a second contract that is associated also with the community effort in Pahoa for $399,794, in that neighborhood. The two grants are two community - based childcare centers, which will increase their capacity. So, these are existing childcare program expansions. One is the YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) for $367,000, and then to Akahiao for in the neighborhood of $500,000, and those are to develop further seats, further facilities that will add onto the facilities that they already have and add seats in. So, those are the two grants. MR. INABA: Just to clarify, you said $399,000 is for Pahoa. MR. ADAMS: That's a contract to collaborative services and that is connected to Pahoa, and that's actually something that is a —we're actually pretty proud of that process. We were trying to figure out how do we match with philanthropic sources, and that amount is an opportunity for us to match with philanthropic sources that are also supporting the Pahoa Promise program. MR. INABA: Okay, and then, sony, was that it? MR. ADAMS: Those are the four categories for the RFP that went out in April of this year. MR. INABA: Okay. And then just checking geographically, how are those funds being awarded? I know there are some big projects in Pahoa you mentioned, but what's happening down in Ka`u, up in Kohala, and out on the west side of the island? MR. ADAMS: So, the existing childcare program expansion work, one is here in YWCA. I'll have to come back to you; I can't remember where the Akahiao location is. Then on the family childcare start-ups, those actually will be available from around the island, because those funds will be set up as an opportunity by the contractor to make those funds available in $25,000 or less chunks, for existing family childcare or developing family childcare locations to increase their seating size in their local areas. So, that becomes island wide available. MR. INABA: Who is the contractor? MR. ADAMS: Friends of the Future is the contractor. Page 7 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 MR. INABA: Okay, so they're going to take how much of the $2.2 million for that purpose or they're taking all of it? MR. ADAMS: It's not all of it. Let's see if I have that right here. I do, one second. That will be in the $300,000 range. MR. INABA: Okay. Are we able to get a breakdown in writing of these projects? There's a big need we know everywhere, but right now I'm not hearing for certain that any big amount is going to the district that I represent or even for the districts not in the Pahoa area or the Hilo area. Based on what we have in front of us, I'm not able to visually see and make sense of it. Numbers are flying but I can't make sense of that. MR. ADAMS: Absolutely, I can provide that. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Council Member, I believe the Akahiao program is over in Kailua-Kona, just so you know; the one for $500,000. MR. INABA: Okay. I'm just not seeing the name of that organization or the amount. I might be missing it but, I'm not seeing it in this communication. So, thank you, Director, I look forward to getting that information. MR. ADAMS: Absolutely. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Council Member Evans. MS. EVANS: Yes, my understanding is there was an Early Childhood Education summit. Was this funded through the ARPA money? MR. ADAMS: It was. As a matter of fact, it was the third one this last September and funded through the state and local fiscal recovery funds in Early Childhood. So, a training conference. MS. EVANS: It was a training conference. Were there breakout sessions and ideas on how to continue to expand into our communities? MR. ADAMS: There were. MS. EVANS: So, there is some take aways? MR. ADAMS: Absolutely. MS. EVANS: It'd be really nice to kind of see those recommendations. It might be something that we could support this effort in this area because it's so Page 8 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 important for our workforce to be able to have their children, maybe after school programs. Is any of this funding going to after school programs? MR. ADAMS: It is not going to after school programs. Those are usually beyond the birth to five age groups, and this is for birth to five age groups. MS. EVANS: Okay, so that means a childcare center could keep someone until 6 or 7 at night while their parent's working. MR. ADAMS: That would be dependent on the childcare center. MS. EVANS: That might be something to look at to match our money to preschool and childcare centers that can take care of children while the parents are working. MR. ADAMS: That's tied, frankly, to the employer -sponsored locations. Part of the idea is to try and improve those, increase that availability of those kinds of centers as well. So, that will continue to be part of the strategy moving forward for the county. MS. EVANS: So, when you put out for grants, you can add that as criteria. Because people, are they applying for grants, or we're running—? MR. ADAMS: They will be applying for grants for the family childcare centers. MS. EVANS: Okay. Alright. Good. Thank you. I yield. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Over in Kona, do you have anything, Council Member Villegas? MS. VILLEGAS: I just want to thank Council Member Inaba for pointing out kind of the question that I had and thank you for clarifying as I was hoping for a little more funding to be allocated to west side projects; we have such need. But at this point, I just want to thank you, Mr. Adams, for the presentation. I definitely want to put in that plug for equitable distribution of ARPA resources island wide and thank you for your service. I yield. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Great to see you, Director. Thank you for your service to our county, you tools on a lot. I think about when we were in COVID (Coronavirus disease), the county had $80 million to spent in less than six months and we had a number of years to spend a little over $40 million. I think one of my biggest regrets is not convening an ad hoc of the Council in partnership with the administration to fund a way to spend that money together. Page 9 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 I don't know what happened and maybe you want to provide some reflections, but I think a lot of time was wasted. I think folks were afraid to make decisions, didn't want to f up, but a lot of representations were made by the administration about what priorities would be invested in. This was a real chance that we may not likely see again because of the change in Washington. But this was a real chance to make progress on a number of challenges that we usually don't have money for. I wish the Council was embraced as a partner because I think we could have done some real good, especially in the childcare space. I don't mean to get emotional, but I've heard a lot of folks in community, at the county really struggle with childcare, even our own county employees. So, when folks saw that this was a priority, they were stoked. They were so happy to see that kind of investment. It just feels like the ball was dropped and I'm struggling to wonder who are we supposed to hold accountable for that? Where did the buck stop? I don't think the buck stopped with you. MR. ADAMS: It does. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: It really should've maybe stopped with the Mayor. MR. ADAMS: No. No. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I needed there to more direction. MR. ADAMS: It stops with me. You can definitely hold me accountable. That's where it is, right? So, the idea that we identified an amount, I mean, you know that my primary Early Learning Coordinator is Angela Thomas. She would've taken all $60 million if we had given it. So, the fact that there is less than the $14 million that we identified, that's on me. There is a variety of reasons, but the fact is that we wanted to get there, we didn't get there. Why didn't we get there? We can certainly do a postmortem on doing that and that maybe helpful to do that but ultimately, that comes to me. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I appreciate you for being an incredible soldier. I would like for you to do some kind of AAR, an after -action review on this process, because again, I think that there were some missteps that perhaps could have been avoided. There was also a lot of time. There was a lot of time, and I do think there could have been collaboration with the Council. Every single Council Member was given some discretion on how to use COVID money during the pandemic. I think we could have really worked together to not only champion ideas, but really get things done in partnership with community. Again, missed opportunities, you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. It is what it is. Page 10 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 I'm disappointed but I'm glad we're getting money out the door. Could it have been spent differently to make a bigger impact in areas that we really care about? I think so. But I thank you for trying, for your leadership, and I do look forward to that reflection from you. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Kaneali `i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Doug, what is going on with the $7 million for Ouli Ekahi apartments? A lot of the projects were slated as getting funding, this was one that didn't due to higher than estimated bid results, but they also touched on where the funds would go now that they aren't being encumbered. So, my question —this is number 2 in the communication you gave us. There other ones say where the funds go, this one doesn't. This is $7 million unencumbered, not happening, but no direction for where the fiends are going, and it's $7 million, which is pretty substantial. (Note: At this time, Finance Director Diane Nakagawa came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. NAKAGAWA: Yeah. So, our Housing Office is here today to talk about that and can provide you with more details. We did have two housing projects that we did a solicitation for, for rehabilitation of the units. Unfortunately, as we've been seeing with many of our bids, they came in insignificantly higher. So, for those two projects, we had allocated $10 million. They came in back-to-back significantly higher, and the Housing department had enough funding to go forward with one, and one of those projects, Kula`imano, the contract is being routed shortly for $11.1 million. But Susan is here and can provide details. (Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Susan Kunz came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. KUNZ: Good afternoon, Susan Kunz, Office of Housing. So, pretty much what Director Nakagawa was saying, we went out to bid on both projects. That Ouli project was for the renovation of 33 units, upgrading of a wastewater treatment plant, which we absolutely still have to do, and some trash enclosure renovations. So, the bids came in at about $11 million, I think it was. So, it was a lot higher than we were anticipating. But what happened was Kulaimano also came in a lot higher than what we had anticipated. So, instead of being late on both and trying to figure out where we're going to get funding to go make-up that shortfall, we decided to pool all of the funds into one project so we could move forward with that one. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. Page 11 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 MS. KUNZ: Yeah, very disappointing. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Council Member. Alright, with that, I have a few comments. Thank you, Director Adams, for being here and for bringing this information forward. Once again, I am also disappointed, as I can here you are as well, on the amount that ended up getting spent on early childhood education, from $14 million to $5 million. You know, we've had some conversations. I felt like there were a lot of opportunities that we passed up in order to go a certain route, putting a lot of eggs in one basket, a lot of money in reserve for one particular thing that when that didn't pan out at the last minute, we ended up having to put that money elsewhere in projects that are deserving and important, obviously, but not where as a community we had talked about directing it. So, that was very disappointing. I hope we all learn from this and I think Council Member Kierkiewicz's statement about that maybe we could have been a little more proactive saying that we want to be involved and here's how we're going to be involved. Maybe that would have at least allowed us all to kind of know a little more along the way when it didn't seem to be panning out and be able to pivot quickly. But appreciate your team; appreciate you for working with Finance, working with Housing to get this money out the door, which is ultimately our number one thing we have to do. I heard from our testifier, and I heard from other people in the community that those early childhood dollars are still desperately needed. So, I hope as going forward as a community, as a county, we can figure out ways to support those other endeavors. But at this point, I just want to thank you for bringing this information forward to all of us and for our continuing to work with Finance to really get these last few dollars out the door. I appreciate it. MR. ADAMS: If I may. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Yes, go ahead. MR. ADAMS: First of all, I'd like to thank the Council for their support in these areas. I will say that I am appreciative of the fact that R&D, in the variety of areas that we have portfolio in, was provided a third of the funds and that we are able to get those funds out into the community in a variety of ways. Having said that, I completely concur that the need for the department, moving forward, to be in better contact with the Council and the Council Members on these areas of importance to both the administration and to the Council is really important for whoever is leading the department to do. If that, I completely agree with Council Member Kierkiewicz. It's really a key element to make sure that communication doesn't breakdown but in fact is part of that. Page 12 November 7, 2024 CRCOC-36 I would say that in the process of moving forward, I did feel that we had Council support for this particular area. I know that's true because of the disappointment that comes from the various members that we didn't necessarily utilize the full amount of the funding that we had planned. With that, I thank you for your continued support of the department and the good working men and women that are in the department. Thanks. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you. With that, we have a motion on the table — MS. EVANS: Chair, I'm sorry. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Okay, Council Member Evans. MS. EVANS: Thank you, I'm sot y. When I went back and reviewed your report, I noticed you had a couple categories that didn't have a description. The other ones did have descriptions. I was just wondering, as you are identifying your needs, which you did, and you identified who you were targeting, which you did, I think everybody did a great job that way, but when you were in the execution process, when you realized maybe the amount of money, you may have some money still left on the table, was there any opportunity to go back and revise your contract so that you could expand it? So, like for example with food, when you were doing food and agriculture, it said that you were working with contracts. It doesn't give a description, but I assume you were trying to get food out to people, maybe it was Food Basket, I don't know, food assistance. Once you saw that there was a little bit of money left on the table, wouldn't there have been a way to just kind of go and modify the contract to keep that and serving more people? I guess that's my question. Was there something about grant management that we're missing here that maybe we could show support to R&D? MR. ADAMS: I would, I guess I'd make the following comment, Council Member. Changing the contract process, once we went into the RFPS, once the RFPs were closed and we began to get into the evaluation and development of contracts, that took some time because these were complex RFPS. To then go back in and try and address those with funding that would become available because we didn't use it in a way that we had anticipated using it in early childhood, ran the risk, frankly, of us not getting those contracts done in time and the money encumbered. So, the use of those funds then in projects such as, that are also listed in here, the Pahala Wastewater and the Ouli housing, those turnout to be good places to put those fundings; not the least, and this is where the Finance Director should be saying this, but not the least of which is because there's a direct correlation to not Page 13 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 using general obligation bond funding as a result. So, yes, we didn't consider that, but the risk was too great of the funds not being encumbered. MS. EVANS: Okay, I guess my takeaway is lessons learned. This always is lessons learned when these things happen. It would be nice to look at grant management and contracts. I know when we do the monthly report we always say if it's over 200 percent of the original contract, is something going on, what's the issue here, but there has to be some way to expand on a contract, give us that flexibility of even if we don't change what we're spending the money on, but we're actually expanding because we had a little extra money left. There must be a way to address that. So, that's just a challenge to the people in probably Corporation Counsel and the Finance Director in how we write our contracts with grant management, if there's a way to kind of have that where we're not changing what we're spending the money on. But what we're saying is there's a way, maybe, if it's 10 or 15 or 20 percent and it's still being spent in the same area, there might be a way to do that. I'm just challenging because this is really unfortunate because there may have been a way because you already had the contract, and you already flushed out who you were going to work with. It would have been nice if you could have expanded, given them more money, but thank you. Thank you, Chair, I yield. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Okay, thank you, Council Member. Alright, with that, we have a motion on the table to close file on Communication 1125. All those in favor please say "aye." Vote on Comm. 1125: The motion to close file on Comm. 1125 was carried by the Filed following voice vote: Ayes. Committee Members Evans, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Acting Chair Kagiwada — 6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Galimba and Inaba — 2. Excused: None. STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public. PUBLIC ON COMM. 1136: The Chair called Jordan Epperson, who registered to speak in support of Comm. 1136, and came forward when called. Comm. 1136: REQUESTS AN UPDATE FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS REGARDING THE PUNA ALTERNATE ROUTE STUDY From Council Member Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, dated October 23, 2024. Page 14 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 Motion to Close File: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to close file on Comm. 1136. Seconded by Ms. Kimball. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, take it away. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Thank you for being here today, Director Pause. I asked for the update on the Council floor because I've received so many requests about where it stands, what we're doing, and I know there's a lot involved. You gave us kind of a ballpark on when you'd be back with the study results, but a lot of folks were kind of wondering and problems persists in our districts, both Ashley and I, and that bleeds into Hilo. So, where do you stand with the study? I'm thinking both makka and makai of Highway 130, and funding, and everything else that goes into the project. I do appreciate you being here today to give us an update. (Note: At this time, Public Works Director Stephen Pause came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. PAUSE: Thank you, Council Members, Steve Pause, Director of Public Works. Not a lot of information, but certainly enough that I hope will make people realize that things are moving forward. So, small but important naming of the study is now the Puna Alternate Route Study (PARS). We've removed the "m" for mauka. Call it PARS if you want instead of PMARS (Puna Mauka Alternate Route Study). So, presently, we've received the $1 million from the state; it's been allotted. We are in the process of allotting the county match of a million dollars. That request is currently being circulated. Finance Director Nakagawa can confirm that, but we expect that will go through here pretty quick, and we'll have all the funding in place. I think we mentioned last time that we're going to need a lot of help from a consultant. So, you're familiar with the professional services selection process. So, we've selected a professional services consultant, and we provided them a letter, that selection letter. We've asked them to prepare a proposal for a work scope as well as a fee proposal, as well as a schedule, and we expect to have that from them by the 251" of November, so, later this month. Once we get that and we go through their work scope, their fee, their proposed schedule, we would then contract with them and then I would suggest we'd be off and running. I think I have reported in the past that we're looking at probably a duration of about 15 to 18 months to do this work. Page 15 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 The makki portion of the study and again, there's going to be, I want to assure you — MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Can I ask a question? Fifteen to 18 months from the contract from the beginning or 15 to 18 months from when we started the conversation? MR. PAUSE: No, it'd be 15 to 18 months from once we get somebody on board to help us get working. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. MR. PAUSE: So anyway, there's going to be, first of all, this is an update for you, your constituents, for the general public. I guess I also want to reiterate what I've stated before that there's going to be ample opportunities for input and dialogue from the community. At this point right now, generally speaking, the makai portion of the route will go between Nanawale Estates and Ho`olaulima Road where the landfill is and then the anticipated mauka portion of the route would be between Ainaloa Drive and Puainako. That's what we've conveyed to help the consultant develop their work scope around. Along the way, the scope of work involves doing traffic analyses, traffic impact analysis report. There will be enviromnental discussions around archaeological, endangered species, et cetera, regulatory discussions, pennits, looking at land, what types of acquisition might be necessary, financial, what will all of this cost? As I said, ample opportunities for public input. Some of the things that I know they've discussed in terms of the scope of work, would also involve developing and reaching out directly to community associations and communities in developing steering committees to help guide this. I went through the initial outline of the work that our engineering folks have provided. It looks like there's going to be at least three to four opportunities where there will be sit downs where we'll have agendas and we'll have community meetings to really go forward, engage that with folks. Again, that's a high level because we have not contracted with the folks that we've reached out to. I can't really divulge who they are because it really doesn't become real until they provide us a proposal, but it's a good fine. We've worked with them before and our engineering staff, I know we always deal with continuity issues especially these days, but our engineering staff, so, this will be Keone Thompson, Engineering Chief, Melanie DeMello, the Deputy Chief, Alice Kalawe, will be involved in this study as well. I think you know who, from doing the point of recovery work as well. But yeah, it's coming along. Page 16 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. So, we're looking at 2026 as far as results then? MR. PAUSE: I don't think it's going to be we're going to start and nobody's going to have results for 18 months. I think it's going to be a process where, especially with community input, that there'll be discussions along the way of here's what we have gotten so far, what does the community still have? It's not going to be we're going to go out, engage with community, go write a report, do studies, and come back 18 months later. It'll be a collaborative effort, I'm sure. That's the only way something like this would work. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, is the thought to have both Puna Uka and Puna Kai meetings? MR. PAUSE: You mean like separate meetings? I don't know that I've thought that far in advance. I'm not quite sure we've even done that yet. KANEALI `I-KL,EINFELD ER: Okay. MR. PAUSE: It's a good thought. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I think so. MR. PAUSE: But there'll also be various community engagements. Just a real brief list, Nanawale Community Association, Hawaiian Shores, Hawaiian Paradise Park, Shipman, Hawaii Macadamia Nut Orchards, Panaewa, Hilo Industrial representatives, Council Members; there will be a giant list of stakeholders and I think we'll have to hit the right spot in terms of how do you engage them, whether it's done in a group basis, maybe individual meetings as well. I'm a big fan of face-to-face versus Zoom, especially now that we're passed those things from the past with COVID. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: One more time, so I heard Nanawale to landfill road in Hilo. MR. PAUSE: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And then I heard Ainaola to Puainako. I'm trying to sketch that through in my mind and my brain is just — MR. PAUSE: I'm trying to as well. Obviously, again, we've talked about what the study, what we'd like it to do, obviously, is going to be to relieve traffic. I think that the mauka route would be something that would try to take that traffic directly up to Saddle Road. I think that was the vision. Page 17 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 MR, KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I agree. I think there is a tie in to decreasing traffic as well as providing quicker and faster and more efficient access into Hilo for all services from public safety to workforce development, to school, whatever it might be. If for whatever reason Puainako is on there, I'm trying to get to Puainako in my brain from Ainaloa. On even existing roadways, that's difficult and you're traversing multiple communities. So, maybe just check your notes on that one. MR. PAUSE: As I mentioned, it's a high level. Yes, I will check my notes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. I think too, I'd like you to lean on I think just in general, Ashley and I have kind of the most skin in the game here and definitely where you're landing in Hilo, so, districts 2 and 3 as far as being touched on. But please keep us in the loop with what's happening. I know you can't share contract information if you're in negotiations right now for a contractor, but I think each of us has ideas and landing points and starting points that would make sense, plus the ability to talk to our State Legislature right now and make sure that CIP (Capital Improvement Project) funding is being proposed for potential projects now so that it's landing in next year's session. So, that's landing in a year or two's time to be in the right place at the right time. MR. PAUSE: Yeah, and I think both you and Council Member Kierkiewicz would be invaluable as we start this, and we start looking at setting the boundaries and the limits. We've had a lot of discussions. I know when we were going through this about excluding areas and just making sure that we're sensitive and that we're meeting the previously decided upon limits of what our investigations and what we can and can't do. So, I think that both of you will provide valuable input as this starts. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Beautiful. Thank you very much, Steve, for the update. Appreciate you doing it here. I was tempted just to write you an email and ask for who and where we're at, but I think this is better and it provides more information to the community. MR. PAUSE: I was thinking that maybe you'd ask in another 26 days. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I had a feeling you might say that, and in response, I'd say I hope it's not just a short 26 days. We hope we have you for a little bit longer. MR. PAUSE: Thank you, Council Member, I appreciate that. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. I yield, Chair. Thank you. Page 18 November 7, 2024 CRCOC-36 ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you so much. Thank you, Director, for being here. Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, for putting this communication forward. We always have folks in the community very curious about where that $2 million has gone to study perfect set of routes in and out of Puna, and even between upper and lower there isn't connectivity, which is really critical, I think, for the emergency response piece. It's not lost on me, that it's deliberately called PARS, Puna Alternate Route Study. The "m", makai, not mauka, was really a poison pill when this body first took up this conversation. I do want to snake sure that I'm stating for the record the letter from Department of Hawaiian Home Land (DHHL) Chair Kali Watson, about not including any Hawaiian Homes' lands in this conversation because you talked about boundaries, Director. So, I just want to make that very clear that I has always been my intention to respect the wishes of the homestead community as we proceed with this study. I think it's really important to evaluate where are folks going? I think there's an assumption that's being made that everybody is just going to Hilo. I have a sneaky suspicion that a lot of folks are actually going to the west side or to North Hawaii or even down Ka`u. Getting a really good handle on where folks are going will help us to figure out where to put the alternate route. So, I say that because I don't know if that is beyond your consultant to be able to do to get a sense of where folks are going. That way, they're able to hone in on what roads are realistically something that we can develop. I don't want roads that are not feasible in the sense that we're not going to be having willing landowners to negotiate with the county. I want roads that we can actually manifest for our community after this study is done. Do you want to comment about any of it? MR. PAUSE: No, I agree with that, and again, I mentioned earlier about having those early discussions about boundaries. I am well aware of the commitments that were made to DHHL, and believe it or not, on my list of talking points is that is off the table. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I think it's highlighted in like bright red. MR. PAUSE: It is. That's my blood, actually. No, we're well aware of that. So, that's a non -starter and then I agree with you that we should really be developing routes that are feasible and under feasibility comes not just financial economics, but also the reality of availability of land. Then as I mentioned, a number of the other factors that will come in would be, just we're not doing an EA (Environmental Assessment) or an EIS (Environmental hnpact Statement), but Page 19 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 high-level analysis of endangered species, and protective forests, and flood zones, and volcanic hazard zones, so all of those factors will be initially looked at, archaeological as well. Then you mentioned also traffic. Yes, the intent here is to do traffic count for the affected areas. I agree with you, where are people coming from? Where are they going? Then also, that would all be data that would be collected to do the traffic impact analysis report. So, I think you've heard me enough in the past; I'm very much data driven and I think we should be making or at least recommending decisions that are based on good information, good data. Traffic counts are one thing, but just the practical reality of let's put a road someplace that we know we'll never be able to put a road. That's a piece of data that needs to be incorporated. So, I agree with what you're saying. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I do want to advocate for adding more communities to the list that you had originally read off. MR. PAUSE: I apologize, I only read half of my list. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. There was like three more pages. MR. PAUSE: No, that's my mistake. So, the initial list I read was from makai. So, on the mauka side, Ainaloa Community Association, Orchidland Community Association, Hawaiian Acres, Fern Acres, Kurtistown, Mountain View, Wai5kca Uka. So, I do have two lists, and maybe I was thinking of Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder when he said do you want to have meetings separately from makai and mauka. Again, this is work in progress. We clearly need to reach all the folks that would be affected by and/or benefit from what we're trying to do here. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. I feel reassured now that you've mentioned all those communities because it is one Puna, and everybody has skin in the game here. I do like the idea of over the course of the 15 to 18 months when the study is happening, the various touch points that you talked about where we're going out into the community gathering information. But the consultants are also going back to kind of share about some of the ideas, scenarios, that have been explored, potential routes that they are considering to get more community feedback before the actual plan is finalized. Is that the vision? MR. PAUSE: Yes, that would be my vision, and that interaction is really critical. I think we have to have the ability to engage the community, but at the same time, come up with ideas and get feedback. I think that ultimately, it's the only way that something like this is going to work because as you are aware, within your communities, there are a lot of constraints and I think we need to identify those upfront, and I think we need to have those discussions. Page 20 CRCOC-36 November 7, 2024 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That's a very smart approach. I look forward to continuing to work with you and your team advance this contract. Once somebody has been selected, could you kindly let Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and I know? You might also want to include Council Member Onishi because he does represent a portion of lower Puna. MR. PAUSE: Yeah, that's not a problem at all, and I look forward to hopefully, having an opportunity to continue working with you guys. Thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Fantastic. Thanks for being here. I yield. ACTING CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Anyone else? No? Okay, I'd love to be included if you get to the point farther down when maybe touching district 2 as well in the conversations and making sure that the communities there are included. Thank you so much for this and thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder for bringing this forward. It sounds like a lot of people were just antsy with this information. Thank you, Director, for being here, and with that, we have a motion on the table to close file on Communication 1136. All those in favor. Vote on Comm. 1136: The motion to close file on Comm. 1136 was carried by the Filed following voice vote: Ayes. Committee Members Evans, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Acting Chair Kagiwada — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Galimba — 1. Excused: None. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 4:03 pan. Chair Villegas adjourned the meeting. MENT: Approved: Rebecca Vi egas, Chair Communications, Reports, and Council Oversight Committee RV/jm (Date) Page 21