Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2025/01/07 (2024-2026)Committee on Finance Is' Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 January 7, 2025 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at ORDER: 2:02 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Chair Mr. James E. Hustace, Vice Chair Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Mr. Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, Member (came in later) Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Absent & Excused: Ms. Heather Kimball, 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: Laura Sayre: (representing the Daniel Sayre Foundation) Frank Sayre: (representing the Daniel Sayre Foundation) Shirley David: (representing St. Michaels Catholic Church) Andi Pawasarat-Losalio: (representing Bridge House) Comm. 27, in support. Comm. 27, in support. Res. 46 (Comm. 67); and Res. 47 (Comm. 68), in support. Res. 46 (Comm. 67), in support. FC-1 Ryan Naka: (representing Project Vision Hawaii) Hannah Preston -Pita: (representing Big Island Substance Abuse Council) Russell Hamilton: (representing Lokahi Treatment Center) January 7, 2025 Res. 46 (Comm. 67), in support. Res. 46 (Comm. 67), in support Res. 46 (Comm. 67); and Res. 47 (Comm. 68), in support. Les Estrella: Res. 46 (Comm. 67), in support. (representing Going Home Hawaii) Michelle Manalo: Res. 46 (Comm. 67), in support. (representing Going Home Hawaii) Koohan Paik-Mander: Torey Keltner: (representing the Hawaii Police Department) Res. 47 (Comm. 68), in support. Bill 6 (Comm. 31); Bill 7 (Comm. 32); Bill 8 (Comm. 33); Bill 9 (Comm. 34); and Bill 13 (Comm. 69), in support. Roger Christie: Res. 30 (Comm. 28), in support. (representing the Cannabis Ministry) Paul Norman: (representing Neighborhood Place of Puna) Res. 46 (Comm. 67), in support. Mary Ramos: Res. 46 (Comm. 67), in support. (representing the Salvation Army Family Intervention Services) Raquel Gali: Res. 46 (Comm. 67), in support. (representing the Salvation Army Family Intervention Services) Iopa Mauna Kea: Res. 46 (Comm. 67), in support. (representing Men of Pa`a) Brandee Menino: Res. 46 (Comm. 67), in support. (representing Hope Services Hawaii) Page 2 FC-1 Change Order of Business: Res. 46-25: Austin Martin: (representing the Libertarian Party of Hawaii) Dudley Caravalho: (representing Roots Advocates for Youth) January 7, 2025 Res. 30 (Comm. 28), comment. Res. 45 (Comm. 66), in support. As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Committee Members, the following items were taken out of order: APPROVES THE AWARD OF FUNDS TO VARIOUS NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS FOR PROGRAMS ADDRESSING HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS BY THE OFFICE OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Proposes 15 grant awards to 9 different nonprofit organizations for a total of $10,500,000 in funding that was derived from Residential Tier Two property tax revenues. Reference: Comm.67 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) (Note: Comm. 67.1, from Housing Administrator Kehaulani Costa, dated January 3, 2025, transmitting additional information to Res. 46-25, was circulated.) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend adoption of Res. 46-25. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: We have our Housing and Development team here. Would you like to say anything before we go to Council Members? Please introduce yourselves and your new titles, please. (Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Kehaulani Costa and Assistant Housing Administrator Keiko Mercado came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. COSTA: Aloha. I'm Kehau Costa, Housing Administrator of the Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD); introducing Keiko Mercado, Assistant Housing Administrator, and thank you for having us here today. So, today we're asking for your support of Resolution 46-25, awarding funds to various nonprofit organizations for programs addressing housing and homelessness through the homelessness and housing fund or HHF, as you've heard it called today. Page 3 FC- t January 7, 2025 On August 14, 2024, just this last year, the Office of Housing and Community Development issued a request for proposals (RFP) focused on effectively reducing homelessness in the number of individuals or the duration and reoccurrence of homelessness. Proposals were required to align with the 13 strategic roadmap priorities with emphasis on pathways to housing, data collection, and collaboration with partner agencies. We received 30 proposals with a total request of just over $34 million. And initial prescreening process confirmed that all proposals were document ready and met eligibility requirements as listed in Section 1.3 of the RFP. I want to provide assurance that these awards have been made in compliance with the appropriate Section of Chapter 2, Article 25, of the County Code, and we'll answer questions around that a little later. A proposal review committee consisting of representatives of the Mayor's Office, Parks and Recreation, and the OHCD used publicly available scoring rubric to assess and rank the 30 submissions. With $10.5 million in funding available, the top 14 ranked projects were selected for full funding and the remaining balance of funds were allocated to the 151h ranked project for partial funding. The committee forwarded a recommendation for funding 15 projects from nine organizations. So, a synopsis of each project has been provided to the Council as an exhibit to Communication 67.1. These 15 projects will address homelessness and housing instability across various vulnerable populations. Key efforts include case management, housing navigation, street medicine, and rental assistance. Programs also offer recovery housing, counseling, reintegration services for substance abuse and justice involved individuals. In that communication that we've provided, we've also provided the detail on proposed intended outcomes of this year three award, and I hope you had an opportunity to review that. What I really wanted to talk about a little bit or share a little bit is this is an award for year three of the fund. In this past year, just the second year of the fund, OHCD has been in the process of assessing and building capacity for better management and reporting of this fund and its impact. So, some of the highlights or the activities we've engaged in, we've hired an in house Program Data Manager. So, we've just hired someone in house. We are in procurement of data management software to streamline operations and improve reporting. We've developed a data dashboard and that will be launched next month, February, on our website. Additionally we've contracted SAS Services to consult on design, evaluation, and administration of the fund moving forward. We are actively engaged with the consultant team in planning, training, and technical assistance for the administration and the evaluation of the fund, developing a process and outcomes evaluation for the fund, communicating the funds outcomes and progress to the community using data information, and they've just completed widespread interviews with key stakeholders to gain insights on the fund's activities, outcomes, and suggested improvements. So, I'm sharing this with you because I Page 4 FC-1 January 7, 2025 know that responsibly managing that fund is important to all of us, critically important, for the funds longevity and I hope you can appreciate the work that we're doing there. I actually feel really emotional by the group that's behind us and all the testimony we heard today. Last year, I got to participate in some of the community practice convenings and the strength of the team that has grown from this fund and the way they interact is really impressive. And I see how this fund is building capacity in our community through the group that I have my back to, I apologize. I'd also like to maybe ask Keiko to introduce the Community Engagement Division, where this work is housed, and then we can answer any questions. MS. MERCADO: Good afternoon. Keiko Mercado, Office of Housing Assistant Housing Administrator. With us today, on the Community Engagement team, we have Courtney Vincent; we have Allison Gardner, and Holly Hreha. So, you folks know that we've had a lot of change happening within the division and our office, and so we're all kind of transitioning into new positions and we're all supporting each other as we move through that. MS. COSTA: So, these three staff are the team, along with Keiko and I, are the team that are managing this fund. And so, the incredible impact that the community is doing, we just have three staff in our office managing all of that, so I wanted to acknowledge them. CHR. KANEALI`1-KLEINFELDER: Beautiful. Thank you very much for the overview, Administrator Costa and Assistant Administrator. It's a nice change and wonderful to have you here today. To the Council Members for questions, conversation regarding the resolution. Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you for being here. You guys have a heavy lift. With the opportunity of such large funding also comes large responsibility. I was listening and you mentioned that you guys have now hired an in house data manager and are investing in software? So, my first question comes, and if I remember correctly, historically, under the prior administration, one of the beneficiaries of the fund was actually given the contract to be the data manager. Correct? MS. COSTA: Yes. MS. VILLEGAS: So, that's no longer the case. MS. COSTA: Moving it in house. MS. VILLEGAS: Moving it in house and hiring a person to do that. Page 5 FC- I January 7, 2025 MS. COSTA: Yes. And that's Holly, and she's new. She was just hired in December. She just completed her PhD. Really interesting; I just want to share about Holly is that her PhD was in looking at datasets from various medical datasets to look at the outcomes of certain environmental factors on health and longevity. And so, it's just really exciting to have somebody that has been looking at datasets, collecting datasets through her own PhD work to show the outcomes and tell the story of how programs or environmental factors can affect what we're trying to do here. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. I appreciate that. It's kind of using the IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and the EQ (Emotional Quotient), right, and connecting them for outcomes? MS. COSTA: Yes. MS. VILLEGAS: So, I suppose I was just a little concerned because if I remember correctly, in a prior report from the prior administration, we had already funded software to do this. So, I mean, I'm just wondering if you —I get it, we changed administrations, and a lot of things go back to zero and then have to be built up again. So, I just wondered what the status of that was or the software that was purchased by the organization who had been prior contracted to manage the data. What happened to all that? MS. COSTA: So, I'll have to give you a report on that later. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. MS. COSTA: I don't have that answer now. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. No worries. Just a question. And then; if I heard you correctly, an outside consultant has been hired to basically do an inventory of the whole fund, take a look at everything, and then provide a report in order to see how it's going? MS. COSTA: Yup. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. When do they anticipate having that; and are you at liberty to share who that contract is with? MS. COSTA: SAS Services. And I'll let you know when the contract ends, when the final report's going to be available. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. Great. Thank you. I appreciate that. Just a couple more questions. As I look through this report, I just find it a little bit confusing and difficult in the notes, and perhaps this is why the consultant is there and the data, but I noticed, you know, it's the elephant in the room but not really for me. I Page 6 FC- I January 7, 2025 see two organizations, each one was assigned 24.97 percent of this $10.5 million and the other organization, another one has been allocated 29.35 percent of this funding. And as I've stated for years up here, I have questions about the equity and then the returns. When I do the numbers on $2,622,414, what I can best guess, because this report is on participants per year at facilities, it totals to 259 people served in that whole year. And then when I do the math, so that's like $10,000 a person per year, which isn't so bad when we've done math on some of the other things. I just have questions, and I'll humbly admit, I have worked closely with an organization on the Kona side who in one year sent 152 people home and had them permanently housed, and when I try to do the math here for the number of people served, it's hard to tell because of the way it's presented. 2,000 engagements per year, enrolled 60 households, 100 homeless at risk families per year, then it's engagements with 650 households, participants; the numbers, I just feel like there has to a better system because I have the fortunate or unfortunate job of sitting here and speaking the concerns of my constituents and the people who hold me accountable for what I vote for and support an allocation of funding and how it's authentically reported and what's getting done for this amount of money. And thank you for stepping into this role. This is, as much as I would love to believe that with the right amount of money, we can solve homelessness. I don't think that's true. I think it's a social epidemic and it's related to too many other causes. But we do have an obligation to hold the organizations that have been funded with tens of millions of dollars to provide actual results because my district is suffering and the people that are trying to provide services, I know it's a really tough job, but somewhere in the middle, the millions are filtering down and somehow, it's just not getting us where we need to. So, I'm asking you, I'm begging. Thank you for those answers, and we can talk offline and let me know how we can work together. MS. COSTA: I appreciate your statements and really the challenge of accountability that you are entrusting us with, me with, in this new administration. So, I appreciate it. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Likewise, likewise. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Thank you. Good afternoon. I guess I'm new, so I don't know about this right. I guess this started from last year. MS. COSTA: Two years ago. MR. ONISHI: Two years ago. Page 7 FC- I January 7, 2025 MS. COSTA: Yes. MR. ONISHI: Okay. So, you mentioned earlier, I guess, they had to go through a process of being awarded, right? MS. COSTA: Yes. MS. KAGIWADA: And so, from this list of 15 organizations, how many times — so this is like their third and final or the second? MS. COSTA: Not always. No. So, it's an annual proposal. MR. ONISHL• But the funding comes every year. MS. COSTA: Every year, annually. MR. ONISHI: Okay. MS. COSTA: And it's a five year fund. MR. ONISHI: Five year fund. MS. COSTA: Five year fund. MR. ONISHI: Okay. So, for five years, we get this money, right? MS. COSTA: Yes. MR. ONISHI: Okay. So, out of this 15, how many of these organizations got it from last year? MS. COSTA: I can give you a report on that. I'm not entirely sure if it's in the communication that we sent to you but if it's not then I — MR. ONISHI: It's kind of like the one that you sent on January 3`d . MS. COSTA: Yes. And I can let you know who are returning, what programs are being re -funded, and what are some of the new programs. MR. ONISHI: Okay. So, my question is, like you said you had how many, 70 something? MS. COSTA: 30 proposals. MR. ONISHI: Yeah, 30 proposals. And so, 15 got. Page 8 FC-1 January 7, 2025 MS. COSTA: Yes. MR. ONISHI: To me, I would like to see it being spread among the different services because every organization from what I've seen before when I was on the Council, it kind of like, everybody does almost so much of the same, right, but then it's just different organizations. So, if somehow you guys could work with the ones that never got any funding and see how you guys can help them to qualify, right, to be awarded? MS. COSTA: Yes. MR. ONISHI: So, they can at least expand their program or at least provide more services from their side. MS. COSTA: Agreed. MR. ONISHI: Yeah, okay. MS. COSTA: You know, that's the challenge with that. It is competitive. And there are organizations that have been funded in the past and did not receive funding just based on how their proposal came in and was ranked this year. There's new organizations. You know, I didn't get to say aloha to Iopa, but he's one of the new organizations that has applied for funding the past two years, Men of Pa`a. So, it is nice to see new organizations building capacity to apply appropriate proposals and be funded, but it's not without the acknowledgement of organizations that were not funded, and some of those organizations provided excellent services in past years. It's one of the challenges of this fund, not being a multiyear contract, so some organizations receive funding and really ramp up and when they don't receive funding the following year, it has consequences in our community. So, your point is noted, and I think it also goes to Rebecca's point on some organizations that have been funded in that past and did good work. We're working with our consultants to look at that and to see how we can better administer the fund. MR. ONISHI: Because usually like how I see it in the past was that we help with starting up, right. It's not a continuous where the County is going to be providing this funding every year and you're going to depend on that. They need to look out, right, into other areas too and then see how they can create their revenue to help provide those services, right. And that's what, you know, I want to see that, if that can happen. And the last thing is, so those that had repeated awarded, do you folks have some kind of data on their success rate? MS. COSTA: Yes. So, you know, and just a reminder that year one; we've completed year one, we're in completion of year two. So, the data is coming in. But this program is really in its infancy in that respect. So, as we're awarding year Page 9 FC- I January 7, 2025 three, we're collecting our data on year two, and we should have an impact report out shortly for year two. So, it is a relatively new fund. MR. ONISHI: Okay. And then like you have goals set for these organizations that have repeated funding that they got us that's excelling more and more and more, right, yeah, not just being sustainable? MS. COSTA: Yes. Yes. MR. ONISHI: Okay. Good. Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. Good afternoon, Administrator. Thank you for your time. Just to the point of my fellow Council Members, I think it's a challenge, right, with trying to give out equitable funds across the board. But I don't know if that is necessarily effective for the programs that were trials and trying to run. You know, maybe they need the full amount of the funding. So, I hear you on that and trying to find that balance. Happy to work on, you know, trying to understand that and what we can do more effectively there. Would it be possible to —I think last year the previous administration delivered some budget forms to kind of match the funds that were requested to kind of see as part of the communication, the funds they received, the budget requests that kind of came in from the different agencies and community partners to kind of see how that all matches up as this goes to Council, if that would be alright? And then the last point I kind of wanted to make is about sustainability. You mentioned sustainability a little bit. You know, the ordinance that this put into effect has a shelf life and, you know, it would be good to have a conversation with the office if this should be extended and with the community partners, if we should be extending this or are we on a path of setting them up, you know, as Member Onishi said, that they can go off on their own; are they there yet; what can we do to help them, you know, be there in a comfortable place, or do we need to kind of put more guardrails up and keep supporting these impacts on our community? I mean, the testimony received is, you know, it's heartbreaking. And the affect that they're doing in our community to really support our different districts and our residents. So, I'm grateful for the work that they're doing and just curious to see how we can affect this going forward, whether we extend it or what more we can do to support them. So, thank you. MS. COSTA: Thank you. MR. HUSTACE: I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Inaba. Page 10 FC-1 January 7, 2025 MR. INABA: Thank you, Chair. Mahalo, Administrator, for the extra information provided. And I think it just speaks to, you know, I always talk about our grants and across all offices and departments of the County, how are we putting grants out there; how are we reporting on it? Because you folks do it different from us and we do it differently from PONC (Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation) maintenance, and we really need to get on the same page there. I always bring that up with Director Nakagawa, and I believe we're going to head in that direction with this new administration. For the position for managing data, is that funded by this program's funds? MS. COSTA: Yes. MR. INABA: Okay. So, it's not a permanent position then? MS. COSTA: No. MR. INABA: Got it. And then, yes, going back to what Council Member Villegas said, that data reporting, there was a contract for that, was that from the first year or the second year; do we remember? MS. COSTA: First and second year. MR. INABA: Okay. Both. Okay. So, as you folks worked towards getting that management, is the idea to hopefully be able to build off of what we had previously funded? MS. COSTA: Yes and then bringing it in house. MR. INABA: Okay. Someone in the audience nodded their head when we talked about supporting some of those who were not qualified. How did that happen? And I don't know if your staff wants to come up to explain that for the 15 who were not awarded, how were they supported to try and make sure that they were given the best chance to be successful? MS. MERCADO: So it looks a little different for each year. The first year there were a few organizations that were not funded but the team really felt like the programs were important, so we sought other funding to support those organizations and have included them in our community of practice as we went forward. And then this year, I think what the nod was about was us meeting with the organizations that were not awarded, that were not going to be awarded, to go through their applications and kind of point out the questions that the evaluators had and maybe some of the concerns and then provide any insights that might help them for the next round. MR. INABA: Okay. So, when I compared this information with the next resolution, the next resolution showed which organizations had applied that were Page 11 FC- I January 7, 2025 not awarded and which were disqualified. Can we also get that information for this resolution just so we can see, you know, what that total ask was; what the potential outcomes were proposed by those organizations? And then, I don't believe that the ordinance, when this was passed, specified like a year to year grant application process. Is that something that is required somewhere, or did that get put into rules of the office? I'm just wondering if we can transition. Obviously, we're at year three now of five. I don't support continued funding in the current mechanism based on the real property tax system. I think we have to reevaluate that. But if we are going to continue, I'm wondering if we have that ability to go for two or three year contracts so we're giving the nonprofits also the opportunity to carry out and they're not coming year for year to try and get funding again. MS. COSTA: Yes. MR. INABA: So, that's an option then? (Note: At this time, Deputy Corporation Counsel Sylvia Wan came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. WAN: Deputy Corporation Counsel Sylvia Wan. I'm also Counsel for Office of Housing and Community Development, so I do provide them legal guidance. As far as the contracts being for one year, my understanding is that the funding is annual, so they are provided a certain amount of funding based on the income that happens for that particular fiscal year and that is what is governing the fact that the contract is for one year because they don't know, and they can't anticipate what the funding is going to be for next year. And in this instance, because the funding is supposed to be for programs and services, the contracts are just that, just one year for programs and services. So, if it is going to extend into multiyear, there will probably need to be an amendment to the ordinance right now that allows for this fund. Preferably, it would allow for maybe revolving funds. So, this is a completely different fund as far as the way that it's set up than like the affordable housing production fund, which does allow for that rollover. MR. INABA: Is there anything that prevents us though from actually because we know that we have this amount this coming year to be spent, so what prevents us from using that money across multiple years? We're not tapping into future funding. We're assigning this year's allotted amount across multiple years moving forward. MS. WAN: So the contract itself, the term can extend longer, but the money they are going to be spending would just be from this year. So, at this point, when they're asking for proposals, they're asking for proposals that would be for this Page 12 FG1 January 7, 2025 year's funding. And they have extended for programs that have not met all of their deliverables within the one-year timeframe. There has been short extensions to allow them to finish their work with no additional funding. So, that has happened and that is allowable under the ordinances. But if you're talking about them doing contracts for multiple years, getting funds for multiple years, that's a completely different animal, legally speaking. MR. INABA: Okay. I think we need to have more discussion with Finance because I don't think this one year model is working in the best interest of our deliverables and I'm seeing a lot of nods from office staff and recipients. So, something we can maybe revisit together, yeah. Okay. Thank you, Deputy. MS. WAN: There's always room for improvement. MR. INABA: And then lastly, yeah, I'm going to follow up on how our funding mechanism is working, whereas some of our funding is a set amount and I know we are doing others with real property, you know, what is it, 25 percent of the- 75 percent of the tier two amount, over $2 million. Administrator (Lisa) Miura from Real Property Tax is here, and I don't know, especially for such a new program, I think the intension was good but it's almost like runaway funding now with the assessments of our real property tax having grown recently. So, something that maybe we need to revisit at such time that this five year period is going to expire and, you know, really talk story ahead of time to make sure that we're planning accordingly and able to get those funds out and use it effectively for our community. So, thank you, Administrator, and let's talk story regarding how to present information for grants at least until we all, as a County, can get on the same system together so we have the information we need here at Council. Thank you. MS. COSTA: Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Thank you all for being here; thank you, Administrator, Assistant Administrator, for bringing this additional information; and for all the testifiers. You really brought forth amazing progress and work that's being done with this funding. I do want to just bring something up because I don't want to leave the public and other people with the impression that, I think, might have been made earlier, which is if you could speak to a little bit about; there are different people experiencing homelessness that have varying, varying different needs. Some could be as simple as a plane ticket somewhere. And those numbers could seem like that's the easiest, best way to use our money because they're simple and we can get it. But there are people who are born and raised here, have been homeless for 30 years, have addiction issues, justice involved issues; that is not going to be the same amount of support and funding needed to help that person get into a situation that's better than the other person. So, I just Page 13 FC- I January 7, 2025 want to make sure that we're not comparing apples and oranges. So, if you have any input on that, I'd love to hear it. MS. COSTA: I'm definitely not the expert. It's such a complex issue. I just feel really privileged that I was with Office of Housing last year as the Section 8 Division Manager and I had the opportunity to be invited to some of the trainings and community of practice events that community engagement held, and I learned a lot. And that's what's really hard about reporting on the data because some people might need just rental assistance, and maybe just for a month, and that's one touchpoint. Some people need something every single day. And so, you know, just looking at the transaction numbers or the engagement numbers, it's really hard to just look at the number. And that's what we're working on, looking at the data, but also showing the impact. You know, and I also know that I'm part of the community, we often focus on the visible homeless and we don't always see that decreasing but just learning how many people are sleeping cars, just to go to work, and you don't see those cars along the highway if you don't wake up early enough to get out there. But just knowing there are a lot of families in our community experiencing homelessness that we don't see. And some of those families, we are able to help but it's not as visible as, you know, our visible homeless. So, it's just such a complex issue. And I hope we're making a really significant impact, and I hope the community can appreciate that. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you so much. Yeah, I just hope as we get this really important valuable data that along with it, we have some context that's written up with it so that it's not just, let's look at these numbers. We should just put all of our money in this thing because it's a better bang for our buck. But that isn't necessarily who we need to reach and who we need to help. You know, it's a very complex issue. I know the folks out here understand it way better than I do. But I just don't want to leave the public with this idea that if we simply look at who is effectively, you know, taking care of numbers at a certain rate, and if we just put all our money there, we'd be done, and it's just not like that. It's so complicated with all the different needs out there. MS. COSTA: Multiple strategies. MS. KAGIWADA: Yeah. And I will just say, from my perspective, I have heard back from people in the downtown Hilo area that they have seen some improvement. So, I'm very thankful for that because I think some of those folks have been, you know, needing those multiple touchpoints every day, hardest people to reach, and I think some of those people are getting the help they need so I'm very thankful for everybody here and for the work you're doing. MS. COSTA: I am as well. Thank you. Page 14 FC-1 January 7, 2025 MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. I also want to thank all the folks here that work around this issue. It's so, so important. I think it's really great that you're getting a consultant to help with the data and the presentation of that so that the work that's being done can be properly acknowledged and presented. It's not an easy thing. You know, and the other thing is, I mean, I think this funding is really important because it addresses —I give kudos to the former Council Members that set this up because there's structural issues in our society and on our island that are not going away and that are actually getting worse. So, I think we really need to stick with it. And I love that in some ways the funding source almost, it tries to balance out the problem by getting funding. You know, the very rich basically are helping the folks that are being impacted by some of the affordability trends that are hurting people here. So, I do think we really need to stick together. The think that I think would be really interesting for me would be to see, I think we're a little early at this point, but to see if there's any flow from the homeless fund to the affordable production fund because that's really where we want to go. We need to get the housing that's affordable so that we, at least some portion of the population, can move from one fund to the other. So, in looking at the data, I'd love to be able to see if we could start to make progress around that. Thank you, everyone, for the work you do. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. For my freshman colleagues, this program was established by former Council Chairman Aaron Chung. In his wisdom, he coordinated, you know, presentations from community to kind of speak to the issues that they were facing on the ground dealing with, you know, individuals experiencing homelessness island -wide and talking about there being very little flexible funding to implement programs that make sense for our island community. A lot of restrictions from state and federal government and so he recognized the opportunity to create something that was community driven, government supported. And to your point, Council Member Galimba, we are in the infancy of this and, you know, kudos to everybody that is working tirelessly in this space with so much compassion and innovation to serve our most needy and vulnerable. You are doing God's work, and I have nothing but tremendous gratitude for you. And thank you, Administrator and Assistant, for kind of stepping into this and helping to continue to champion this work. There's a lot of work to do. There's a lot of refinement that can be done in this program. Page 15 FC-1 January 7, 2025 I'm very excited to have Holly on board to evaluate the progress we've made according to the roadmap that was architected for this fund. There were themes and priorities that were identified several years ago. It'd be really interesting to see how much progress we've made in the last few years. And so, I'm hoping at Council in two weeks, I believe January 22°d, we could get a sense of where SAS Services is on the contract and exactly what they're scope is. If there's a little bit of room to do a little bit more based on the kind of data and information we're hoping to see, we'd love to be able to relay that at that time. But I think that the work that our community partners are doing is so critical. Over the last few years I've gotten to know Michelle Kauhane with Hawaii Community Foundation quite well. And she said, "Ash, there's no way you're going to make folks that work in nonprofits especially social services sustainable." They're not running a business. They're doing work that government cannot do. So, it's our job as philanthropy and government to support the amazing work that they're doing. Again, lots of room for improvement within the program. I do want to challenge ourselves to figure out ways we can do multiyear contracts but also, have a better sense of all of the County funding that nonprofit organizations are getting and also who's not getting. Don't forget we have the Waiwai grant program that the Council runs and each of us have pretty generous contingency relief funding. I think braiding all of those resources together will be just enough to help all of our nonprofits do the good work that they're doing. So, we're here to support you. I'll be supporting this resolution, and please come with more information to the Council meeting. Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Thank you. Maybe Corporation Counsel might want to come up. So, you talked about like we have families that are living in cars and so forth, right? Now, just hearing about the funding that we're getting now, it's like not restrictive too much like federal or state, right, guidelines? MS. WAN: Yes. When you're talking about federal funding and you're talking about state funding, there's usually a number of general terms and conditions for those types of entities. MR. ONISHI: Right. Correct. MS. WAN: I mean, right now I'm talking generally, but like federal has their own procurement standards and they will make sure that also grantees comply with those some procurement standards and like. MR. ONISHI: So, my thought is like Section 8, the funding that you folks provide the rental assistance, it's limited right? And you folks are to a limit Page 16 FC- I January 7, 2025 already where there's a waiting list, right? So, could we use some of these funds to help with that subsidy? MS. WAN: So, my understanding of that kind of thing is it would have to come in as a proposal for a program in order for that type of work to be done. My understanding is they're already a rent subsidy program. MR. ONISHI: Yeah. So, within the Housing, right? MS. WAN: Within what's already being presented to — MR. ONISHI: Yeah, so what I'm saying is like a portion of this given back to Housing so you guys can continue to write more subsidies for rental assistance. MS. WAN: So, are you asking them to hold back funding? MR. ONISHI: No. MS. WAN: Because right now they're allotted a certain amount, and I think it was $10.5 million this year. And so, they've allocated all of the funds. MR. ONISHI: No, I understand. MS. WAN: I'm sorry. Maybe I'm not understanding. MR. ONISHI: So, moving forward what I'm asking is if it's possible to use a portion like say even like one percent or two percent or five percent of the total, and that goes back to County Housing to help with Section 8, with the assisting of the rental because this is being coordinated with the County, right; this is property tax? MS. COSTA: I understand what you're saying. That would be us administering that program. MR. ONISHI: Correct. MS, COSTA: Over the past maybe two years, we've had the emergency rental assistance program. So, we do have a program existing right now that helps with rental assistance, so we haven't needed to use additional funds for rental assistance. But I absolutely understand what you're saying. Some of our programs that are funded through this program are providing rental assistance and sometimes it's for specific vulnerable populations, like the justice involved, you know, to help them with housing. That might not be the case for this, but some of the programs do offer rental assistance through their programs. Page 17 FC-1 January 7, 2025 MR. ONISHI: But there's a possibility it could go back; a portion could go back to you guys? Council, we can reword it, or we can, you know, like amend the requirements. MS. COSTA: I think anything is possible, but the details, we'd have to work at the details. MR. ONISHI: Yeah. MS. COSTA: I understand what you're saying though. I do know what you're asking. Could we provide more rental assistance? MR. ONISHI: Yeah, because then, like you seeing, back on the Council, I did hear stories about families living in cars down in the bayfront area like that, right? So, we were looking at trying to establish a parking area where the families could go and stay there and they would have, I guess, the showers and the restrooms that they could go to, right, and it was a safe place where they would have security for them, you know, for protection. But, yeah, so I just was thinking outside the box, maybe there's a possibility, you know, how we can help. MS. COSTA: Yes. MR. ONISHI: Okay. Thanks. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Yeah, quickly. I think that's a good point, Vice Chair Onishi, with regards to we might have priorities within the office that we don't have other funding for and if we can just allocate some of this funding. And I know the former administrator would require staff to submit applications. I personally think that's a waste of time. You know, you folks have direct oversight over your own office and if we need to bolster up some of the Section 8 and, you know, you took care of that division and that program, so that might be something that we can really try and follow up on with what Council Member Onishi mentioned. And I had one other thing, but the day is getting long, and I forgot now. But thank you again for being here. MS. COSTA: Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Ms. Miura, I have a question. You may not be able to answer it but it's just a wandering thought. I know you're here for something else, but it does relate to this. I was looking at the background report. Please introduce yourself. (Note: At this time, Real Property Tax Administrator Lisa Miura came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 18 FC-1 January 7, 2025 MS. MIURA: Real Property Tax Administrator Lisa Miura. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. So, I'm looking at it and I like when they do the background report. March 23, 2022, County of Hawaii past Ordinance 22-26, which appropriates 75 percent of tier two property tax revenues for the next five years to address homelessness and housing. Question for you is, tier two property tax revenue, has it increased because of our assessments? Yes. That's interesting. MS. MIURA: Yes. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Because, yeah, the rates don't change. Thank you, Mr. Inaba. MS. MIURA: Well, the tax rates could change but we haven't changed it. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Could change? But we didn't. We actually decreased them for certain categories, not this one. MS. MIURA: Correct. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: But so, the assessments going up, then the revenues increase. So, this dollar amount that we're talking about right now increases as well. If the assessments go down, which is currently what's trending, then this dollar amount would decrease? MS. MIURA: I wouldn't say it's trending for us quite yet, but if it does go down, then yes. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. So, right now we're holding steady? MS. MIURA: Correct. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: With the potential five year window for this fund specifically. MS. MIURA: Two years left to go after this. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Two years left to go. So, we should be holding around the same dollar amount; it's not going to fluctuate crazily, I would think? MS. MIURA: Well, I'm not good at two years into the future. This year, I think we're doing okay considering there's also been some construction in the area. Page 19 FC-1 Vote on Res. 46-25: (Approved) January 7, 2025 CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, ultimately, I'm looking to two resolutions; 46 and 47. Between the two of them, it's about $23 million, $24 million. What I heard today, what I like is accountability. $10 million does a lot of work in the County regardless of what's it's being applied to. That's new community centers; that is homeless projects; that is anything and everything. So, accountability for taxpayer dollars to the tune of $10 million is important and I like the accountability piece. Yeah, so, agree. And thank you for the information you provided today. I was going to ask if any grant awards were less than $25,000, but you explained that there weren't any, yeah? Okay. I like this being done in the community. This fund, to me, was always meant to address homelessness and there's a lot of aspects of homelessness, but the key to this was always homelessness. We have housing funds; we have other funds for housing. I know this can be applied to housing. I don't like that. I want this focused on homeless and addressing homelessness, and I'm going to keep hammering on that because that was my original thought for this and that was the original intention of this bill, and I like that. It can be addressed into things that you need, but homelessness was the key component of this fund and it's being taken, as Ms. Galimba said, from I guess mostly the west side of the island at properties valued at over $2 million. So, I'd like to see a point reflecting that. So, thank you for doing the work and thank you for providing the information. I think we have some homework to do before coming back to Council. MS. COSTA: Yes. Thank you. CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Council Members? Okay, seeing nothing further, motion is on the floor. All in favor? The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 46-25 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kimball — 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Resolution 47-25, please. Page 20 FC-1 January 7, 2025 Res. 47-25: APPROVES THE AWARD OF FUNDS TO VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS FOR PROGRAMS ADDRESSING AFFORDABLE HOUSING BY THE OFFICE OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Allows for grant awards to Hale Ola O Mohouli LLLP ($3,200,000) and Kuakini Family I LP ($5,000,000) for the development of affordable rental units and $5,075,000 to be retained by the Office of Housing and Community Development for the development of 25 single-family dwellings for workforce housing ($4,200,000) and to provide financial assistance to 17 low-income homeowners to conduct essential repair work ($875,000). Reference: Comm.68 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) (Note: Comm. 68.1, from Housing Administrator Kehaulani Costa, dated December 30, 2024, transmitting additional information to Res. 47-25, was circulated.) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend adoption of Res. 47-25. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: We have the department here again. Do you want to open anything for this resolution, or you want to go to questions from the Council? Let's go to questions from the Council. If there are any then you can kind of shoot back. Okay, Council Members, anything on the resolution? Council Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Yes. Can you please give us the overview? Thank you. And then I think if you could just distinguish also between the two funds to make sure everyone's clear on what the purpose is for each of them? (Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Kehaulani Costa came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. COSTA: Yes. So, Kehau Costa, Housing Administrator. I also have Royce Shiroma here with me today, so he can help answer some questions. Brief overview, we're asking for support of Resolution 47-25, approving the award of these funds to various organizations for programs addressing affordable housing. This fund, the affordable housing production fund is made possible through Ordinance 22-77, which appropriates at least $5 million per year for the Office of Housing and Community Development to facilitate programs that support affordable housing production in the County of Hawaii. In January, we initiated the process to amend the AHP (Affordable Housing Program) program administrative rules. So, this fund does have administrative rules. So we amended those administrative rules to enhance the program's overall effectiveness. We went to public comment and public hearing on those rules. We Page 21 FC-1 January 7, 2025 gathered community feedback on the County's affordable housing needs and key input from these meetings highlighted the need for homeownership incentives addressing gap group needs, which is the above 80 percent to 140 percent AMI (Area Median Income) housing, workforce housing development, infrastructure development to support housing construction. So, those were the key inputs from community meetings. Based on that community feedback, we updated the goals and priorities for this year, 2024-2025; we prioritized the three goals and priorities for this fund for this year; were to prioritize the gap group. So, prioritizing projects that serve households earning between 81 percent and 140 percent of the AMI. That focus aimed to expand traditionally subsidized projects typically targeted at the lower, below 80 percent AMI. So, this includes units up to 140 percent AMI. The second priority was homeownership incentives, prioritizing homeownership incentives such as for sale housing, down payment assistance, and rent to own models, specifically catering to workforce families within the 81 to 140 percent AMI bracket. And the third priority was new construction and adaptive reused, prioritizing new construction and adaptive reuse projects to address demands for both new construction and adaptive reuse solutions, transforming existing buildings into residential spaces. After incorporating these priorities into the RFP, we issued the RPF in May. OHCD received 13 proposals totaling approximately $48 million in funding request. Each proposal was reviewed in accordance with the AHP program administrative rules and the program proposal guide. And Royce is here, he can present on the proposed projects, and we have some of the projects available also. And we can answer any questions from there. MR. INABA: Thank you, Administrator. Mr. Shiroma, I just want to put a plug in for you and your team, the information provided in this packet clearly explains all the projects. So, four of them, right; or is it five? Yeah, four of them. The able explains it and you folks went into detail. So, no questions for you folks. thank you. And Administrator, when we're looking at funding for future years, I know this current fiscal year we had $9 million. Are you advocating for the same amount or do we anticipate going to the required five in this upcoming fiscal year? MS. COSTA: We advocate for as much as we can fund. MR. INABA: Perfect. No, this looks like really great projects and just mahalo, Council Member Kierkiewicz, it looks like the work that you put in and the ordinance that this Council passed those years ago is really starting to catch traction now. So, thank you. I look forward to supporting this. Page 22 FC- I January 7, 2025 CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Okay, see no discussion except for—nope. Okay, seeing no discussion. Council Members, motion is on the floor. Thank you very much. Good job, Housing and Community Development team. MS. KAGIWADA: I have a quick question. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Ms. Kagiwada, go ahead. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Just a quick question. For these projects, can these be for profits as well as nonprofits or are they all nonprofits? (Note: At this time, Economic Development Specialists Royce Shiroma came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. SHIROMA: These actually, two of them are for profit. However, the eligible entities can be nonprofit also and government agencies. Two of them are also government agencies; one of them is the Community Development Division in our office, who we do — MS. KAGIWADA: Yeah. MR. SHIROMA: And the other one is for the RRP (Residential Repair Program), which Courtney at Community Engagement handles that. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Alright. I'm interested in as we go forward with this and if we have more nonprofits out there willing to do some of this work, I guess I would feel better about urging us to go that direction as opposed to potentially doing projects that put profit in developers pocket. MR. SHIROMA: So far, the only nonprofit that actually has gone forward and applied and received funding is the land trust. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Okay. Thank you. Just something to, I guess, keep out there in our discussions going forward. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Okay. Seeing no discussion, Council Members, motion is on the floor to forward Resolution 47-25 to Council with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? Page 23 FC-1 Vote on Res. 47-25: (Approved) Return to Order of RncinPcc C OMMT TTJT- CATIONS : January 7, 2025 The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 47-25 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kimball — 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Let's go back to the top of the agenda, Mr. Clerk. Communication 23. The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Communications. Comm. 23: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: JUNE 16 — 30 AND OCTOBER 16 — 31 2024 From Controller Kay Oshiro, dated November 15, 2024. Vote on Comm. 23: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 23. Filed Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kimball — 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Next item, please. Comm. 23. 1: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: NOVEMBER 1 — 15 2024 From Acting Controller Kay Oshiro, dated December 2, 2024. Motion to Close File: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 23.1. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Members, we do have the Fire Department here. Just give us an overview on this because this is a substantial amount of funding. Page 24 FC-1 January 7, 2025 (Note: At this time, Deputy Fire Chief Daniel Volpe came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. VOLPE: Yeah, absolutely. Deputy Chief Daniel Volpe, Hawaii Fire Department. So, what this is, is a transfer from lease funds for equipment purchases. In anticipation of Fire Department, that big apparatus fire trucks, very expensive, we're usually on a lease to own package. So what that means is the lease payments are in a line item within the budget. So, what we've created today was a bunch of leases that actually were paid in full, which resulted in an excess amount of money into that line item with that lease payments. With permission and discussion with Finance Director, we were able to repurpose some of those funds and then transfer them into some of these additional purchases. It does not affect any future leases; it's just part of the line item. Essentially, when we're looking at the two purchases here, $55,000, that's an MSA supplied air system. That is different from the air packs that we wear when we walk into structure fires. What this is, is kind of a long; this is for confined space rescue. Any of our specialized rescue or specialized hazmat companies that have to go underground, below grade, basement, you know, people that fall into silos or pipes or any confined space area, it's what gives them a lot longer travel time and then a much more continuous air supply. In order to provide kind of required training to maintain OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) standards for our hazmat company, that equipment is required for that. The second purchase you see there is going to be primary for a brush truck vehicle that's a replacement for Honoka`a. That brush truck has been through its bases over the last 15 to 20 years. Considering in that district, we've got Waipi`o Valley, we've got all the mauka areas, Kalopa, Pauka`a, a lot of those. And then come the makai side, a lot of those kind of areas, kind of bridges, a lot of old areas. So, what they need is a lighter, more nimble vehicle. The vehicle they have has been through 20 years of active use. This is a replacement for that vehicle. So, these funds that are transferred over are just repuiposing this existing lease money. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. MR. VOLPE: Sure thing. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Questions? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: No. Just a comment. Fire Chief, I'm just so impressed with the depth of knowledge that you possess and how prepared you are for our questions. So, thank you for being here. MR. VOLPE: Yup, my pleasure. Thank you. Page 25 FC-1 January 7, 2025 CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Okay. Seeing no further discussion, motion is on the floor to close file on Communication 23.1, all in favor? Vote on Comm. 23.1: The motion to close file on Comm. 23.1 was carried by the Filed following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kimball — 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Next item, please. Comm. 23.2: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: JUNE 16 — 30 AND NOVEMBER 16 — 30 2024 From Acting Controller Kay Oshiro, dated December 12, 2024. Vote on Comm. 23.2: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 23.2. Filed Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kimball — 1. Excused: None. Comm. 24: REPORT OF CHANGE ORDERS AUTHORIZED: OCTOBER 16 — 31 2024 From Finance Director Diane Nakagawa, dated November 21, 2024, transmitting the above pursuant to Section 2-12.3 of the Hawaii County Code. Motion to Close File: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 24. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Discussion? MS. GALIMBA: Yes. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Galimba, go ahead. MS. GALIMBA: I just would like some explanation of the first line item that the buses; it's a very large amount. Page 26 FC- r January 7, 2025 (Note: At this time, Acting Mass Transit Administrator Jennifer Martin and Finance Manager Kelly Anne Fujii came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. MARTIN: Hi. Good afternoon. I'm Acting Administrator Jennifer Martin for the Mass Transit Agency. Our Administrator is on vacation. Here I have Kelly Anne Fujii, our Finance person. So, in regard to the extra funds on our bus purchase, that amount of money included other items that are needed to help track what our bus does. So for example, it includes safety vision to keep our riders safe and also to help use GPS (Global Positioning System) to find where our buses are located. It also included an Amerex fire detection system to let the driver know, should their engine be on fire. A B400 retarder upgrade is part of the transmission that helps with all of our hills and all of our terrain that our island has so that it reduces the amount of wear and tear on the actual brake system of the bus; aluminum rims, which act better in the weather condition that we have here. Our Rosco stainless steel side arms are just another item that helps with weather; and Genfare fareboxes are for when we do start to charge riders for fares again. The queue strength, queue pod positions are for our ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance. GMV is another GPS system that we have. Our Sportsworks three - position bike rack is that the riders can use the buses with their bicycles. Then we also increased our security options on the vehicles just to make sure that riders as well as drivers are safe. That's pretty much the additional items that were put into the bus build after the original build was approved. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you very much. That all sounds very reasonable. I guess I was just wondering; number one, easy question, how many buses; is that seven? MS. MARTIN: Eight. MS. GALIMBA: Eight buses. MS. MARTIN: Yeah. MS. GALIMBA: I guess, next question would be are those items then going to be included in any orders going forward so that we don't have the same kind of overage? MS. MARTIN: Yes. That is correct. I believe that some of the items were left out of the original build by our previous administrator prior to Mr. Kandle. So, our other, other administrator. So, when the original specs for this build was submitted it lacked items that are already on our existing fleet. So, moving forward, we are looking to standardize the different options that will be included into our specs for our vehicle purchases. Page 27 FC-1 January 7, 2025 MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. And when will these buses get here or are they already here? MS. MARTIN: So, one is actually scheduled to arrive sometime this month and the other seven are supposed to be here around March, I believe, March of 2025. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks. So, this additional million something just comes out of your budget? It already was in there, but you just needed to cover this additional amount, correct? MS. MARTIN: Correct. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks. That's all my questions. I don't know if anyone else has others. Thanks. MS. MARTIN: Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah. Thanks for clarifying this up. There's some more to my questions. How many buses; why the additions were needed; and the original build was approved by then not prior Administrator John Andoh, but then whoever was before him? MS. MARTIN: I think it was —go ahead. MS. FUJII: By John Andoh, yes. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. It was by John Andoh. But it hadn't, I feel like this is like a list of how to pimp your bus, you know, like a pimp my ride kind of a thing. But I can see, you know, the need for these things and I do appreciate all the hard work that's been put into getting our transportation division and our buses and everything up into the 21" century. And so, in comparison to when I started serving in this role until now, the difference is massive. So, thank you for that and thank you for stepping in, in this interim while your boss is on vacation. MS. MARTIN: Thank you. MS. VILLEGAS: But yeah, thanks. So, if I got this correct though, the original contract before was about $1.3 million and then it added another $1 million, but then it says, cumulative $4.922 million. MS. FUJII: So, originally it was $1.2 million, that is correct. That was originally for just two buses. And then we added on six more buses, which resulted in $3.8 million to be added onto the $1.2 million. So, around $5 million. And then we had added on that additional options to the buses. Page 28 FC- I January 7, 2025 MS. VILLEGAS: See, now that makes a lot of sense because I was like, wow, this is a really expensive pimp my ride. MS. FUJII: But yeah, it's for eight buses. MS. VILLEGAS: It's for eight buses. Great. Because it's an increase of 380 percent, but also you got six more buses. Thank you. That helps clarify why the number went so big. I yield. That's perfect. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Actually, a question for Civil Defense. Mr. Uehara, just hoping to get an update on the progress being made under your leadership for our County's radio system. (Note: At this time, Radio Systems Manager Scott Uehara came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. UEHARA: Good afternoon. Scott Uehara, Radio Systems Manager with the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So it says here, rescheduling deployment and installation services of Motorola and changes to equipment needed to be added to our emergency call center. Original contract date for this work was 2014, so a lot of progress over the last decade. I'm just trying to understand where we are with this work? MR. UEHARA: Sure. So, the original date, that's the original date that the whole system was procured. Are you referring to just the items for the call center or for every single change order that we have on this? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: No. Just for this change order for the radio system. Yup. MR. UEHARA: Sure. So, the facility has been certified to occupy. So, we have been installing the equipment with our contractor, Motorola, and then their subcontractors have also been installing the additional equipment. All of the console positions have been installed and currently this week we're working on configuration right now. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. And when can we anticipate being wrapped up with this work? MR. UEHARA: There's still some items that need to be installed and we're still waiting for some of these items. One of them is an internet connection so that we can get remote monitoring on the system. Page 29 FC-1 January 7, 2025 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Is that something you're working with IT (Information Technology) to coordinate? MR. UEHARA: Yes. IT and the Police Department. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Great. You feel everything's on track for the project? MR. UEHARA: Yes. As well as it can be. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Great. Thank you for being here. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Okay. Is anyone from Housing still here? Royce, maybe you can help me on this one? The Vibrant Hawaii contract for the community based social services navigators pilot program. Thank you. Sorry, Keiko, it's got your name on it. But is the Vibrant Hawaii Social Services Navigator's Pilot Program with Vibrant. It's a communication; it was a change order for the total price of their program. It looks like the original contract amount was $800,000. We're increasing by $590,000. So, 14 navigators? (Note: At this time, Assistant Housing Administrator Keiko Mercado came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. MERCADO: And a program manager. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And a program manager. So, is this a one- time shot or this is a program we're running. MS. MERCADO: Keiko Mercado, Assistant Housing Administrator for the Office of Housing. So, this is an expansion of the program that was originally started. And these community navigators, it's kind of an adjustment. The first part of the program started with navigators in each district and then very quickly, Vibrant Hawaii noticed the need was greater than that, and so they made adjustments. And so, in some districts where the need is heavier or the geographic area is larger, they've added additional navigators. And the work has also gotten more complex. Initially the idea was for the navigators to operate out of the hubs that are on the island and connect community to the different resources that are available, whether it be SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits or emergency rental assistance, but they very quickly found that the needs were much greater than that so they're doing a little bit of everything. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Where did the funding come from for this? Page 30 FC-1 January 7, 2025 MS. MERCADO: This is ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) SLFRF (State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds). CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: ARPA funding. Okay. Thank you. MS. MERCADO: You're welcome. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Seeing no further discussion, we do have the motion on the floor to close file on Communication 24. All in favor? Vote on Comm. 24: The motion to close file on Comm. 24 was carried by the Filed following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kimball and Villegas — 2. Excused: None. Comm. 24.1: REPORT OF CHANGE ORDERS AUTHORIZED: NOVEMBER 1 — 15 2024 From Finance Director Diane Nakagawa, dated December 11, 2024, transmitting the above report pursuant to Section 2-12.3 of the Hawaii County Code. Vote on Comm. 24.1: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 24.1. Filed Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kimball and Villegas — 2. Excused: None. Comm. 25: NOTIFICATION OF FUND BALANCE AS OF JUNE 30 2024 From Finance Director Diane Nakagawa, dated November 15, 2024, transmitting the above pursuant to Section 2-12.4 of the Hawaii County Code, indicating a total budgetary fund balance of $212,488,113.65. Motion to Close File: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Members, we do have the Finance Director here. Can you give us an overview and then we'll go to Council Member Page 31 FC-1 January 7, 2025 questions. We do have new Council Members, maybe a real quick, of the fund balance. (Note: At this time, Finance Director Diane Nakagawa and Managing Director William V. Brilhante Jr., came forward to address the members of the Committee. ) MS. NAKAGAWA: Sure. Diane Nakagawa, Finance Director. I actually had the pleasure of talking with our newer Council Members a little bit about Finance 101, Budget 101; talked a little bit about our fund balance. So today, what we bring forward is our fund balance for year ending June 30, 2024. As shown in our communication, our fund balance is $174,911,022.65. Fund balance designated for future year; in this case future year is our current fiscal year 2025, and that's $37,577,91. So, with a total budgetary fund balance for year ending June 30, 2024, $212,488,113.65. Primarily, as explained in the communication, this fund balance is due to higher than expected collections in real property tax in TAT (Transient Accommodation Tax), you know, so a little bit more on our interest revenues this past year. On the expenditure side, we continue as we've talked about today is vacancies. So there are less in salaries and wages and a reduction our expenditures as well as some other OCE (Other Current Expenses) and equipment needs that were not spent in the budget. So, that is in front of you, our fund balance. As we've been talking about all day, we are still in the middle of our budget process for this year and of course this fund balance and all the things that we think about when we talk about how we spend this money, and our obligations will be heavily weighted and discussed as we get into what the plan is for our budget year. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Director. Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. So, I keep a little spreadsheet from when I first sat on the Council to track our fund balance over the years. When I first came on the Council, and it'll be interesting to know what the fund balance looked like when you were first on the Council, Council Member Onishi. But in 2019, the fund balance was $33 million; 2020, it was $40 million; 2021, $52 million; 2022, $70 million; 2023, was like sticker shock for me at $132 million; and this year we have a whopping $212 million. And so, Director, one of the questions that I have is, you know, should the state legislature decide not to continue the County to leverage the general excise tax (GET), that half percent, and thinking about all the different revenue streams that we have, we can still maintain operations, fulfill obligations without that additional source. Page 32 FC-1 January 7, 2025 MS. NAKAGAWA: Councilwoman Kierkiewicz, great question. So, one of the many things that we will need to consider when talking about the usage of our fund balance. So, as we've talked about, there are obligations. So, the last few years, specifically, we have been ensuring that we have this funding in place to pay for those obligations that are yet to come. That's one area that I think we will need to look at. As you talked about, there are possible decreases in revenue sources and are the different strategies that we are going to put into place to make sure that those services continue, and then what are the priorities that we'll have to increase funding for. So, as we look at a fund balance of this size, I think we have to still consider all of the other things that we have yet to determine and to be placed in our budget, right? So, we have debt service considerations as we continue to look at our infrastructure projects in the hundreds of millions of dollars and how that will increase and how we will need to continue to make sure that we can pay that debt service and those projects. So, a lot of discussions that will happen over the next several months, you know, working closely —thank you, Managing Director, for being here today in a topic that I know we will have many more conversations about because there are a lot of issues and priorities and, you know, how we get there will take the input of all of us to figure that out. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great. Thank you for that. Is there a target fund balance that we should have for the County and how is that determined? MS. NAKAGAWA: So, we spent a lot of time last year at budget and I appreciate your willingness to understand that. Two things we've talked about in the County Code is between five and fifteen percent to be kept in that budget stabilization, rainy day, fund. GFOA (Government Finance Officers Association) talks about, they went between five to fifteen percent at one point and now we're looking at two months of expenditures. So, two months of your General Fund expenditures. So, as we take a look at this budget year, when we come back to present the budget to you, that will definitely be one of the areas that we will break down in terms of what is the total General Fund and what does that mean as far as percentage of our recommendation and where we are at. Just a little early, but I will definitely make sure that we talk about that and where we stand. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Fantastic. How does our fund balance contribute to our credit rating; does it have any effect on our credit worthiness? MS. NAKAGAWA: It does. It does. So, this is a good thing. Having this much in our fund balance, as we talk to our financial advisors, as we're getting ready to issue bonds, you know, their statement is, let's lead with this. Let's lead with your ability to pay. Page 33 FC-1 January 7, 2025 MS, KIERKIEWICZ: And then final question. New federal administration, you know, any economic factors, policy changes that you foresee could impact our fund balance, or still too tell? MS. NAKAGAWA: Still early to tell. I think we're all a little nervous anticipating, but nothing that we know of at the moment but, you know, I think we're all on the same page as wondering what those changes; how are those changes going to impact our federal contribution to some of our programs. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, yeah. Let's continue to keep a pulse on that. Thank you for being here and, Managing Director, both of you, for safeguarding our fund balance. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you, Director. Comments, Managing Director? MR. BRILHANTE: William Brilhante, Managing Director. You know, Ms. Nakagawa has hit the nail on the head. It's a problem. But for the administration that's coming in, it's somewhat a good problem to have. You know, but unfortunately, with everything good there's a, you know, every day in order to appreciate the beauty of Hawaii Island, there has to be a little rain. So, the bad associated with this is, you know, as we move forward then, you know, we do have expenditures that we're going to have to address. You know, the tremendous need for infrastructure improvements, you know, which we talked about earlier, the wastewater treatment facilities in Hilo, in Nd`dlehu, in Pahala, in Kealakehe, you know, Pepe`ekeo, Pdpa`ikou, you know, all those are going to have to be addressed because so much of these, you know, structures and hard capital projects, you know, we've had a lot of deferred maintenance and now it's to the point where we can't push the can down the road anymore. We have to address it because we have the AOC (Administrative Order on Consent) from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). So, you know, that's something we have to think about. We also have to anticipate negotiations with the unions for possible raises. You know, that's going to be something on the table. We've just initiated those discussions with all four of the unions. So, we're going to have to come up with funds. We still haven't addressed the issue with, you know, COVID (Coronavirus Disease) hazard pay. You know, that's something that's still out there that, again, with all four of the unions. And so, you know, we're going to have the debt service associated with the bond loan we just made. And so, these are all factors that, you know, as we're addressing, you know, the current budget cycle and as we're sitting down and we're dotting the I's, crossing the T's, you know, this discussion and this fund balance is just something part of the entire puzzle. It's just one of the pieces of the puzzle that we're going to have fit. And fortunately, Page 34 FC- I January 7, 2025 it gives us a little maneuverability but it's not going to be the silver bullet that fixes all of our problems. So, going forward the target is five to fifteen percent, you know, for fund balance in order to be compliant. So, that's something that we're definitely going to look at going forward. I don't think, you know, our future fund balances are going to be this high. You know, maybe next year we don't anticipate that. There will be some tightening of the estimations. And, you know, again, what's out of our control is what we've seen a lot is the increase in real property tax values. And I think, you know, that's a supply and demand issue. It's somewhat out of our hands, you know, a little bit. And we definitely want to address the problem but, you know, that's what's creating so much of this fund balance at this time, are those increases. And then the final thing we talked about this morning was a lot of this money is a as result of vacant positions. You know, and that's something we definitely want to address as we heard this morning, almost across the board, every department director that came in said that they're really short of positions, and if you're short of position, that's where you see these realized savings is you're not having to pay the salaries for them. So, with the anticipation of filling those positions, again, it's going to, you know, be a reduction in the next year's fund balance. Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah. Just a quick question. So, if I understood correctly, then the hazard pay, has that been resolved or is that still? MR. BRILHANTE: I'm not speaking out of turn, hopefully. But what we're understanding of is, there has been an arbitration award for only the HGEA (Hawai`i Government Employees Association) bargaining unit. SHOPO (State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers), Fire, and UPW (United Public Workers) are still unresolved. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. Okay. Because that's what we had talked about prior is that's what some of that big fund reflected. So, thanks for helping to clarify and confirm that. And that's all I had. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Seeing no further discussion, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Motion is on the floor to close file on Communication 25. All in favor? Page 35 FC-1 Vote on Comm. 25: Filed The motion to close file on Comm. 25 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kimball — 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Communication 26, please. January 7, 2025 Comm. 26: 2024 ANNUAL REPORT: REAL PROPERTY TAX BOARD OF REVIEW From Real Property Tax Board of Review Chairman Michael Okumoto, dated October 8, 2024, transmitting the above report pursuant to Section 19-97(e) of the Hawaii County Code. Motion to Close File: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 26. Seconded by Ms. Galimba CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: We do have Real Property in the Chambers. Let's go to the Council. Do you have any questions off of that? Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I mean, our Administrator and Deputy Administrator are here. Thank you for all of the work that you are doing, you've done to support our Tax Board of Review. We do have their list of recommendations. A lot of it is, please continue to support this office. But I wanted to spend a little bit of time talking about where they felt we can improve when it comes to a community engagement and communication. Did they have anything specific? Their suggestions were very general, like go talk to the chamber, but not everybody's a member of the chamber. And so, I just wonder how we can have a better connection with our community so they're aware of bills that are coming down the pipe, proposed programs that could be impacting them, and ideas that they had to just strengthen communication all around. (Note: At this time, Real Property Tax Administrator Lisa Miura and Assistant Administrator Keita Jo came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. MIURA: Lisa Miura, Real Property Tax Administrator, here with Keita Jo, Assistant Real Property Tax Administrator. That is a good question because as we went through a major Code change in 2023, there was a lot of public outreach by our office this year as that Code was implemented. And so, as we were talking to a lot of the farmers and ranchers, I was asking them, how do you get your information? It's not from necessarily always the newspaper. It's not social Page 36 FC-1 January 7, 2025 media; they're not reading our assessment notice inserts. Is it our website? Well, no, not really; it's not that, but it's a little bit of everything and maybe making our assessment notice inserts simpler and less government like so it didn't have so much things on it that it just focused on how to lower taxes, getting the point across. And we can't do a mailing every time there's a proposal by Council because we would spend a lot of money on mailing and by the time we do the RFP or the quotes and get it out, it might've already died or it might've completely changed. So, it just takes a long time. It's been very difficult for our office, but I will tell you from our side and talking to staff, we've decided to modify our website. And we're going through that change now. So, right now you go to it; it's a little archaic. It's about 18 years old. And so, we need to make it much more simpler where you're just seeing buttons and not a ton of words. And even though we like vanilla at government, we need to make it a lot more user-friendly and mobile -friendly. It's not a mobile -friendly application. So, I wish I could say there's one easy button, but it's going to be a combination of several things at low to minimal cost to the budget. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great. And I know we talked about mailings as being maybe sometimes effective but very expensive. Maybe piloting some text notifications and survey monkeys to get a sense of folks. Everybody has a phone we can, you know, I believe that information is available where we can send those notifications out to folks. So, that might be something to explore. I was also curious about the one legislative matter that they put forward about the need for equitable enforcement of tax regulations. I know that over the last couple of years there's been more of a consorted effort from your office to make sure that uses are aligned; maybe speak to how that's unfolding and additional support that you'd like to see this upcoming budget cycle. MS. MIURA: So, Keita and I are not present when they create this report. And it's the boards report to the Mayor and County Council. When it came to this legislative matter, it was our understanding that it was more around compliance and some of the appellants came to the appeal hearings feeling like, you know, they got caught doing the short-term rental and lost their homeowner tax class, where we should go after everybody at the whole island at the same time, and that's where it would be nice. I mean, if we didn't have to go after anybody and everything was just honest and clean, or everybody understood. But in reality, we have one compliance officer, and I would say a lot of taxpayers feel like that's one too many and the ones that get caught feel like that's not enough because they want everybody else to get caught as well. And so, I don't know how to properly address that. It was in the supplemental before; it was the request last year. But there have been other items that are of higher priority, not just for our office but Finance as a whole. Page 37 FC- I January 7, 2025 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Got it. Thank you for your insights into this. Deputy Administrator, anything you want to add? MR. JO: No. Just other than thanking the board for their time. I mean, these are members from the community that come from a wide range of backgrounds. I just want to thank them for their time. We had Chairperson (Michael) Okumoto, Member (Dale) Tokuuke, Member (Mark) Davis, and Member (Jason) Eisert. It is an important part of our real property tax program to have this avenue for individuals who feel agreed with our assessments. So, to see this in action is really important. One thing I do want to put out there is we are looking for more members. We have two vacancies, and we are right at quorum with three members. So, it's an important, you know, position in our board that we need to look at filling. So, we're going to be working with the Mayor's Office to get the word out. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I know the EA (Executive Assistant) in charge, Micah Alameda, is working very, very hard to get folks to apply. And I did appreciate the board members talking about knowing upfront the time commitment and travel that is involved to fully step into the role. So, Micah, if you're watching, make sure that folks know in advance before they say yes. Thank you, both, for supporting this board and thank you to members of the public for their service. yield. Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Real Property. I appreciate you. Anything else? Good, good. Council Members? Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Just one quick question. The Chairperson's reflection said that they'd characterize the year as the numbers of appeals being down this year. Do you have anything to attribute that or thoughts on why that is? MR. JO: So, this is the first year that the appeal fee became nonrefundable. So, there's a $50 appeal fee that's paid by any individual who feels agreed to go through the process. And our staff work really, really hard to educate, have discussions ahead of time, ahead of individuals paying that $50 to help them understand our process and the values for their specific properties. So, that's why, to a large extent, the number of appeals were low is because of those two things at play. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Good. Alright, thank you so much. Appreciate that. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Seeing no further discussion, motion is on the floor to close file on Communication 26. Thank you for being here today. All in favor? Page 38 FC-1 Vote on Comm. 26: Filed Comm. 27: Motion to Close File: January 7, 2025 The motion to close file on Comm. 26 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kimball — 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Communication 27, please. REPORT OF DONATIONS RECEIVED FROM THE DANIEL R. SAYRE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION AS OF NOVEMBER 2024 From Finance Director Diane Nakagawa, dated November 29, 2024, transmitting the above report pursuant to Resolution 468-20. Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 27. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: We do have the Fire Department here. Anything to offer? This is the report of donations from the Daniel Sayre Foundation. (Note: At this time, Assistant Fire Chief Darwin Okinaka came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. OKINAKA: Good afternoon, everybody. Happy new year. My name is Darwin Okinaka, Assistant Fire Chief with the Hawaii Fire Department. I guess I'll give a little brief overview of the donations that we're reporting today. One of them is a wild land tanker for the Waiki`i Ranch Volunteer Fire Company. This apparatus was actually received in 2023, and I guess we just overlooked the submittal of the donation. So, just catching up on that one. It's one of those off -road tankers; so, you know, lifted, high tanker that can assist with going off -road and fighting many of our wild land fires in West Hawaii and has done so much great work already. The second donation is a brand new fire engine; a pumper for the South Kohala Fire Station, which has been in the works for almost as long as we've had this other one. It's been about three years at least since we've started this project. And as you may know, with COVID and the delays with getting, you know, equipment and being able to build these apparatus, and not only that but the demand for fire apparatus nowadays, it takes upwards of three to four years to build a fire apparatus. But we finally received the apparatus and it's just about ready to be placed in service. It's a brand new pumper, state of the art pumper, for the South Kohala Fire Station that was donated with a bunch of equipment Page 39 FC-I January 7, 2025 also by the Sayre Foundation. So, very grateful for, again, the countless millions of dollars of donations that both Frank and Laura Sayre and the organizations as well as the donors from our community and abroad that commit to supporting the Hawaii Fire Department and our needs. Open for any questions. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you very much, Assistant Fire Chief Okinaka. Well said. Thank you to the Sayre's. Council Members? Okay, thank you. Motion is on the floor to close file on Communication 27. All in favor? Vote on Comm. 27: The motion to close file on Comm. 27 was carried by the Filed following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kimball — 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Resolution 30-25, please. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. (Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.) Res. 30-25: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A GRANT AWARD OF $23,750 FROM THE URBAN SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTOR'S NETWORK TO THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY, CLIMATE, EQUITY AND RESILIENCE Funds would be used to conduct a pilot project to train county staff and partner community -based organizations in participatory storytelling in relationship to place and what sustainability and climate action means to our community. Reference: Comm.28 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend adoption of Res. 30-25. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you for being here, Administrator Morrison. Go ahead. (Note: At this time, Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, and Resilience Administrator Bethany Morrison came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 40 FC-1 January 7, 2025 MS. MORRISON: Good afternoon and thank you guys. I know you've had a long day. I appreciate you holding out for this. Bethany Morrison, Interim Administrator for the Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, and Resilience (OSCER). Just a couple things I'd like to share about this. It's a pretty small opportunity, but it has a really big impact. When we started off with our Climate Action Plan, as most of you know, it was very focused on getting our County processes in order, making sure that we are holding ourselves accountable before we go engaging with the community. So this year is really about engaging with community, and part of that is making sure that we're building trust and relationships before we really begin to engage with folks. Throughout my career, I've seen a lot of ways that we've engaged. Some positive, some negative. And this project really allows us the opportunity to provide capacity within our community -based organizations, to work with our communities to do their own storytelling rather than us going to them and saying, "Hey, here's this thing; what do you think?" and getting some reactions and feedback. It's really going to them and talking about what does sustainability and climate change look like in your community and giving them the tools and the resources to be able to share that in any way that they're comfortable sharing. We've seen this demonstrated across the world, frankly, in really beginning to engage with our indigenous communities and providing them the tools to use their own voice to share their stories. So, as we start to think about, you know, engaging our community partnerships and that side as part of our Climate Action Plan, we really wanted to do it correctly and really find a way that allows folks to share with us where they're comfortable sharing, and this project allows for us to do that. So, again, it's a very small project but it will have a big impact. The project itself is really a train the trainer project, so we will be engaging with our community based organizations and the office itself to train staff and organizations in how to work with community to help them tell their own stories and give them the tools to do that. Objectives of this project; deepen partnerships with historically marginalized and underserved community members, further the implementation of our ICAP (Integrated Climate Action Plan) by engaging communities for place based feedback and qualitative data to guide implementation, priorities, and decision - making, empower community members to take control of their narrative around what sustainability and climate action mean to them, and finally to pilot pathways for equitable place space community engagement to serve as an example on foundation for future engagement for Hawaii County's Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, and Resilience. That's what I have to share and I'm open to any questions. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you very much. Council Member Kagiwada. Page 41 FGt January 7, 2025 MS, KAGIWADA: Thank you. Thank you, Administrator. Just wondering how you'll be selecting the community organizations to participate for this? MS. MORRISON: We decided we're going to do an RFP for a couple of reasons. One is we want to build capacity. And so, rather than selecting one or two that we're already partnering with, we wanted to broaden it and allow folks that haven't participated to have that opportunity to build their capacity. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. And what, do you have a sense of what people are going to be asked to be sharing in their RFP, like what do they need to bring to the table? MS. MORRISON: Yeah. So, they have to be community -based, they have to have built some kind of trust and relationship already in community so that when they begin to engage and help roll this out, they have that trust and those relationships. This is meant to be a very low -tech opportunity for storytelling and so there is not a lot of technology need. But they will need to have some capacity in being able to roll out, you know, the practices. And then finally, part of this project is to develop platform. So, where does all this land, after we've done some of this really good intake of storytelling, where does that land. So, they will have to have capacity to engage with that platform as well. MS. KAGIWADA: Alright. Sounds really interesting. Thank you so much for bringing it forward. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Administrator, for the details. Does this mean we get to work with Kristin Baja? MS. MORRISON: She is no longer with USDN (Urban Sustainability Directors Network). MS. KIERKIEWICZ: She's not? Okay. MS. MORRISON: That doesn't mean we won't get to work with her, but she has left that organization. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. I remember she was the keynote for a planning conference I went to on Maui; totally blown away. I love what the organization does. They work globally. And I remember being really inspired by the resilience hub framework, which is what I use to kind of stand things up here. So, I just want to understand. The deliverable for this grant is by June 2025, the contractor would have completed a train the trainer program. And then from there is there additional funding to go out into the community to collect stories and what is the tangible item that we can expect from this place, space, storytelling Page 42 FC- r January 7, 2025 narrative? Is it written narrative; is it audio; is it video? Just trying to understand how the stories are going to be captured. MS. MORRISON: Yeah. And part of that is that we don't know yet, and we're going to be working with a provider that's going to give us options. So, some community members, maybe they want to make their own video reels; some community members, maybe they want to submit something written. So, there is a breath of media that we'll be engaging folks on. The office itself will be supporting that work, working with our community -based partners after this training is completed. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MS. MORRISON: And that would be the rest of 2025. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Got it. So, it could also be like poetry or mixed media? MS. MORRISON: Exactly. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MS. MORRISON: Which is, again, trying to meet people where they are and where they're comfortable sharing. So, it could be a variety of media that comes in. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Great. So, capturing the stories, understanding the impact of climate change, and then using that mana`o to inform County actions and ways we can better support our community. MS. MORRISON: Exactly. Exactly. Yes. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Great. I understand and am in full support. Thank you for making this happen. I yield. MS. MORRISON: Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Sure. Thank you for being here today, Bethany; and for your creativity in finding funding like this in order to really connect the people with the places for the purpose so we could bring their desires most authentically to light. I just have kind of a quick question too. You know, in my visioning for OSCER and its inception, I had imagined and nand you, you can't do everything, I totally get it, and you're already been saddled with. But there being work directly with the different departments and divisions in order to, I don't know, for instance, provide other options? You know, we no longer spray glyphosate, now they Page 43 FC-1 January 7, 2025 spray glyphosonate. But to be able to really get in with each of the divisions to help with transition away from practices that are the antithesis of what we want to be doing to our soils and our waters and dadadadada, and all the reasons in providing that support within the departments to help them to transition to more sustainable regenerative practices. Are there —and I may be totally off topic here, but it just had me thinking of like, I love this, but I want to make sure that's happening too. MS. MORRISON: Absolutely. So, this first year has been setting up those processes and one of the positions that's going to be coming on board is a special projects coordinator to do that in word coordination with those departments towards those efforts. In the budget, you guys will also see, hopefully, a supplemental ask for another special projects coordinator to focus on the community side, so that we are making sure that we are in one space listening and providing that feedback back to the departments in that role that OSCER is supposed to be playing. MS. VILLEGAS: Perfect. I think that's a perfect synchronicity. You know, for instance, I get lots fun communication from constituents griping about weeds on the side of the road; and we stopped spraying poison and now we've got these weeds. And I'm thinking, yeah, this week because it rained, but next week those weeks will be dead whether or not you poison them or don't poison them and then they'll still just be dead on the side of the road. But trying to be a cross connector with community to share and educate so they understand, you know, what's going on in the transitions and continue to support the departments when they make hard decisions like that in order to step away from a practice that in the long run is more detrimental. Yeah. Thank you, Bethany. I appreciate it. MS. MORRISON: Thank you. MS. VILLEGAS: Administrator. I want to call you Bethany Hamilton for some reason right now. Morrison, sorry. Thank you so much. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks. I just wanted to say real quickly, I do think this is a brilliant project. And though small could have big impacts like you were saying, helping folks to generate their own story because we all live in our narratives. That's where we live. So, instead of trying to sort of impose a narrative on people, helping to generate those narratives so that it's in line with their own place and experiences and not some kind of alien concept. So, I think this is brilliant and thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Morrison. I appreciate it. Motion is on the floor to forward Resolution 30-25 to Council with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? Page 44 FC-1 Vote on Res. 30-25: (Approved) Res. 31-25 Motion to Approve: January 7, 2025 The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 30-25 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kimball — 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Next item please. AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF HAWAI`I DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, PURSUANT TO HAWAI`I REVISED STATUTES SECTION 46-7 Allows for the receipt of $135,000 to assist coffee farmers by offsetting the cost of the insecticide used to control the Coffee Berry Borer and/or approved fungicides to control Coffee Leaf Rust. Reference: Comm.29 Intr. by: Council Member Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend adoption of Res. 31-25. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: We do have Mr. Sako here from Research and Development. You want to add anything? You don't have to. I'm just giving you that option. Okay. Council Members? Mr. Onishi, go ahead. MR. ONISHI: Thank you. Mr. Sako, can you please come up? If you could introduce yourself. (Note: At this time, Economic Development Specialist Glenn Sako came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. SAKO: Hi. Good afternoon. I'm Glenn Sako, Economic Development Specialist with the Department of Research and Development (R&D). MR. ONISHI: Thank you. You know, I look at this and I'm really happy that, I guess, did you apply for this grant? MR. SAKO: No. This is something that has been the Department of Agriculture since 2015 has been providing funds intermittently up to and yeah, has continuously provided funds up to this point. MR. ONISHI: And then, how do you disburse this funds? Page 45 FC- I January 7, 2025 MR. SAKO: So, what it is, is there's a program manager that is hired by the state to work with the producers. Originally, they had to mark all of the acreage that is in coffee; the producers had to submit an application and what other legal forms that were needed. And then the program manager receives the receipts for the pesticides that are qualified for this program, reviews them, makes sure that they're the proper ones and that the amount that they are requesting does not exceed $600 per acre per year, with a cap I believe was either $6,000 or $9,000 per producer. Then the manager sends the receipts to our accountant with R&D who then reviews and processes the payments for this and sends it back to the producers. MR. ONISHI: Okay. Okay. So, could we somehow do the same thing with the fire ants treatments if there were funding? MR. SAKO: Well, there's always a way that we can look into a program to see how we can support the purchase of pesticides to help control the fire ants on this island. MR. ONISHI: Because I don't know if you remember but back then when I was on the Council, you know, we created the fire ant crew and then we also went back to the Hawaii Invasive Species Council to get funding, right, to help the public. MR. SAKO: Right. MR. ONISHI: Right. But that money was, I guess, allocated to Big Island Invasive Species to distribute, correct? MR. SAKO: Correct. MR. ONISHI: Yeah. So, this program is totally different, like not how we got the money for the fire ants. MR. SAKO: Yeah. Because for the fire ant program we had to submit a proposal to Hawaii Invasive Species Council to receive funding for it. MR. ONISHI: Right. And I'm the one who got lobbied for that and got the money for that. MR. SAKO: But in this case, I guess, Department of Agriculture had responded to requests from the coffee producers. MR. ONISHI: Okay. Okay. So, is it possible where the County could request or ask the Department of Agriculture to help provide funding for the fire ants? MR. SAKO: You can always ask. Page 46 FC-1 Vote on Res. 31-25: (Approved) Res. 32-25: January 7, 2025 MR.ONISHI: Yeah. MR. SAKO: Yeah. And there's a big push on controlling invasive species in the past two sessions. MR. ONISHI: Okay. Okay. So I'll be contacting your office and then we can see what we can do and see if we can get some funding. Thank you. MR. SAKO: You're welcome. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Sako. Okay, Mr. Brown. Motion is on the floor. All in favor? The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 31-25 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kimball — 1. Excused: None. AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, HAWAI`I CRIMINAL JUSTICE DATA CENTER, PURSUANT TO HAWAI`I REVISED STATUTES SECTION 46-7, FOR A GRANT TO THE HAWAI`I COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT Allows for the receipt of $318,240 of federally -derived funds to enhance the department's Records Section to improve accuracy, quality, timeliness, immediate accessibility, and integration of national systems of criminal history and related records. Reference: Comm.30 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Page 47 FC- I Vote on Res. 32-25: (Approved) Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend adoption of Res. 32-25. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kimball — 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Resolution 45-25, please. January 7, 2025 Res. 45-25: APPROVES THE AWARD OF FUNDS TO ROOTS ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH BY THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION Provides $50,000 of grant funds for the Roots Skate Park Phase three project at Kamehameha Park in North Kohala. Reference: Comm.66 Intr. by: Council Member Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend adoption of Res. 45-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Hustace, your district. MR. HUSTACE: This was by request, I believe, from Parks and Recreation. And we have representative from Parks and Recreation, if you want to just provide a little update on the current application? (Note: At this time, Parks and Recreation Business Manager Charmaine Felipe came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. FELIPE: Charmaine Felipe, Parks and Recreation Business Manager. Parks and Recreation is requesting support from Council to provide a $50,000 grant to Roots Advocates for Youth and their Roots Skate Park Phase 3 project at the Kamehameha Park in North Kohala. The construction value of this project is estimated at $239,000. $50,000 would help cover some of the labor that they will incur for this project. The Phase 3 project will consist of just under 3,000 square feet of concrete to expand the skate park with another substantial addition, which will be utilized by the Kohala Community and the skate enthusiasts from around the island. And so, this phase is a, what we consider a bowl, which will be in the center of the existing project. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you. I know there were some contingency funds given last year for the same purpose from Council Members here and just curious how Page 48 FC- I January 7, 2025 they're doing. And I'll reach out to them on what they've connecting with route through you; if they're progressing on the funds that they're needing, you know, going forward for this phase in its entirety. MS. FELIPE: Correct. Council Member Cindy Evans awarded them $20,000, which they're utilizing through our department by ordering materials for this project. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you. I yield. Thank you, Chair. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Charmaine. It's pretty awesome. $50,000 for the skate park in Kohala. Any other funding applied already; how much was applied from Cindy? $70,000. And then Phase 3 completes, or still got more to go? MS. FELIPE: I'm not sure on that. I did see the park myself and I think it's a great addition to the whole complex. Completing the bowl looks like it might be a complete project, but it all depends on the skaters. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Awesome. Awesome. I love it. Kids need it. That's awesome. Thank you for being here. Council Members, anything further? Hearing and seeing none, motion is on the floor to forward Resolution 45-25 to Council with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? Vote on Res. 45-25: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 45-25 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kimball — 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Resolution 48-25, please. Res. 48-25: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF HAWAI`I DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, HIGHWAY SAFETY OFFICE, PURSUANT TO HAWAI`I REVISED STATUTES SECTION 46-7, FOR A GRANT TO THE HAWAI`I POLICE DEPARTMENT Allows for the receipt of $41,792 of federally -derived funds to conduct community engagement and enforcement activities related to pedestrian safety. Reference: Comm.69 Intr. by: Council Member Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Page 49 FC-I January 7, 2025 Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend adoption of Res. 48-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Keltner. (Note: At this time, Traffic Safety Coordinator Torey Keltner came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. KELTNER: Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Members. I appreciate your time and one thing I have to say before I say this is I sat here today and realized how lucky we are to have you guys and how you're actually contemplating all these things. Makes me have a lot of respect, and I'm not just saying that. Truly, I've noticed that. I know it's been a long day. So, thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, sir. MR. KELTNER: So, this is actually a new grant that we put it. I spoke with the DOT (Department of Transportation) about this, and it's an opportunity for us to have pedestrian and bicycle safety that we haven't had in a way previously, since I've been here in the ten years doing it. So, the idea is to have additional officers on bicycles and also on foot and in vehicles in areas where we have high volumes of pedestrian bicycle traffic. And it's not strictly enforcement, there will be enforcement, but there's also an educational piece to it in trying to engage. And that's why it's worded that way so that there's actually public engagement. So, I think it's something that's a step forward in how we're going to address some of the things we do. But I think and I hope that this is another positive step. We have too many people that get killed and hit by cars and this was an avenue I thought maybe could help us. Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, sir. Council Members? Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Just quick. Do you have like an example? I'm trying to picture what that would be like. So, you see somebody jaywalking and you stop them and talk to them; is that what you're talking about? MR. KELTNER: That could be one thing. And I have a perfect example that come up just today. Waikoloa School; there's some teachers that had concerns because kids are coming to school on electric bikes. And young kids are coming on these bikes that travel at high speeds. And I actually spoke with the captain from South Kohala, Captain (Roylen) Valera, and he brought it up and said, you know, is this something we could use these funds to go there and do that and give materials to the kids, to the teachers, and do that? So, we'll have an opportunity for officers to go and do that as an additional shift, you know, pre and post shift because we're already very busy and strapped. But this will give that opportunity for them to do additional things. So, yeah, that's one example that it could be. Page 50 FC-1 January 7, 2025 One that I've found in down on our beaches, you know, where we have people walking in and out of traffic in high volumes. We, unfortunately, get people being hit by cars, and it's another avenue of being present in areas where it's not as easy in a car that you could do on foot or on a bike, and it's just a great benefit. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Okay. Thank you so much. I'll look forward to seeing how this plays out. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Mr. Keltner, for your leadership and being proactive in securing us additional funding. One thing I wanted to suggest was maybe connecting with the Hawaii Public Health Institute. They do a lot of work in, you know, bicyclist, pedestrian safety. So, perhaps connecting with them on a couple of activations and community outreach could help to stretch these dollars. So, just a suggestion. Thank you. MR. KELTNER: Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Yeah, thank you. You're getting money from the Department of Transportation. You know, I remember back then when I was on the Council, and I always got to refer back to when I was on the Council, but we had a program before and they used to go to the schools and have these bikes and helmets and teaching the younger children, I think it was in elementary school, and they used to go around and inform them and help them learn about the safety and everything. The other thing was that they used to get money for the seatbelts, the click it and ticket, and we used to do like this like sports activities to educate the younger kids. Do you folks still get that funding? MR. KELTNER: Yes. I believe that's we'll address that in some of the next upcoming bills that we're going to present. We do things and with Chief Ben (Moszkowicz) is very supportive of us taking these steps in that way. It's great. We're poised to do some things that we did, I know we did in the past, that we'll do again. MR. ONISHI: Yeah. It was successful. Thank you for all your hard work. MR. KELTNER: Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. One question. Someone asked me if we could buy mopeds or electric scooters for the officers to get around, kind of like we do for bikes, but it provides that community engagement piece because they're physically in the community and in areas that harder accessed with a vehicle. Is that something that could apply under this grant? Page 51 FC-I January 7, 2025 MR. KELTNER: Actually initially, that's where the discussion came from. And what I found is we were able to put that, and it'll be listed in our STEP (Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program) grant. We actually have 12 electric bikes listed in the STEP grant that DOT has approved. We actually have six of them already being tested and we'll get an additional 12 in this grant that will do that. And it's for that specifically. So, we'll deploy those, like the first set; we're lucky. We had two officers go through and are now instructors for exactly this. So, we have one on each side of the island and they've already set one class that they've trained old officers to do, and we'll have another set. And we'll deploy those 12 bikes throughout the island in different locations. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's cool. I like it. It provides a real in the community approach for officers and more so than you can in a vehicle, and you can cover more ground than you would on foot. So, tremendous capability to be in places where things might be happening or just to be present in the community and build that community engagement piece. I love it. MR. KELTNER: Exactly. Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thanks for your work on that. Okay. Council Members, we have to motion on the floor to forward Resolution 48-25 to Council with a favorable recommendation on the floor. All in favor? Vote on Res. 48-25: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 48-25 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Bill 3, please. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Page 52 FC-1 January 7, 2025 Bill 3: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30. 2025 Appropriates revenues in the Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity and Resilience Private Contributions account ($23,750); and appropriates the same to the Emergent Learning Funds account. Funds would be used to conduct a pilot project to train county staff and partner community -based organizations in participatory storytelling in relationship to place and what sustainability and climate action means to our community. Reference: Comm.28 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Vote on Bill 3: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend passage of Bill 3 on (Approved) first reading. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Bill 4, please. Bill 4: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30. 2025 Appropriates revenues in the State Grants — Coffee Berry Borer Pesticide Subsidy Program account ($135,000); and appropriates the same to the Coffee Berry Borer Pesticide Subsidy Program account. Funds would be used to assist coffee farmers by offsetting the cost of the insecticide used to control the Coffee Berry Borer and/or approved fungicides to control Coffee Leaf Rust. Reference: Comm.29 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Page 53 FC-1 January 7, 2025 Vote on Bill 4: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend passage of Bill 4 on (Approved) first reading. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. Bill 5: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30 2025 Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants — National Criminal History Improvement Program account ($318,240); and appropriates the same to the National Criminal History Improvement Program account. Funds would be used to enhance the department's Records Section to improve accuracy, quality, timeliness, immediate accessibility, and integration of national systems of criminal history and related records. Reference: Comm.30 Intr. by: Council Member Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Vote on Bill 5: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend passage of Bill 5 on (Approved) first reading. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Next item, please. Page 54 FC-1 January 7, 2025 Bill 6: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30. 2025 Increases revenues in the Federal Grants — Hawai`i County Police Department Data Grant account ($27,780); and appropriates the same to the Hawaii County Police Department Data Grant account, for a total appropriation of $107,780. Funds would be used to establish a statewide traffic data system and ensure compliance with national standards. Reference: Comm.31 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend passage of Bill 6 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Keltner, you want to just give us a brief overview. You've got about five or six lined up in front of us. (Note: At this time, Traffic Safety Coordinator Torey Keltner came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. KELTNER: I do. Thank you, Chair. This will be quick. One of the primary cost in here is an update to the MDTs (Mobile Data Terminal) that the traffic enforcement unit officers use. They've come to end of life and so we need to get some new equipment so that they have the same security that they need to have for accessing our data and then some other updated infer cables and stuff like that for downloading major crash data from cars that are destroyed. So, that's all I have. Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Members? Hearing and seeing none, motion is on the floor. All in favor? Vote on Bill 6: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 6 was carried by (Approved) the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. Page 55 FC-I January 7, 2025 Bill 7: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO, 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30.2025 Increases revenues in the Federal Grants — Hawai`i County Police Department Roadblock Program account ($37,839.15); and appropriates the same to the Hawaii County Police Department Roadblock Program account, for a total appropriation of $532,839.15. Funds would be used to reduce the number of drivers operating a vehicle while impaired. Reference: Comm.32 Intr. by: Council Member K5neali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Vote on Bill 7: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend passage of Bill 7 on (Approved) first reading. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Bill 8, please. Bill 8: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30. 2025 Increases revenues in the Federal Grants — Occupant Protection Program account ($1,724.50); and appropriates the same to the Occupant Protection Program account, for a total appropriation of $161,724.50. Funds would be used for occupant protection projects. Reference: Comm.33 Intr. by: Council Member Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend passage of Bill 8 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Keltner. (Note: At this time, Traffic Safety Coordinator Torey Keltner came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. KELTNER: Thank you, Chair. I just have to say, this is one that I'm proud of, an avenue that we've changed. You may have seen it, and we did publicize a Page 56 FC-I January 7, 2025 road closure that we did and a roadblock that we did it in front Mt. View School. We paired it with a child safety seat clinic on the side. So, we had vehicles that came through, about 300 of them. We actually were able to help families with installing car seats properly, but we gave away I think it was 11 car seats, I believe, to families in need in that community. And that's kind of the approach that we're going to take with some of these like that. And I do have to say, one of the roadblocks we did previously, within six minutes, we had a DUI (Driving Under the Influence) at 9:00 in the morning. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: There is a hazard to drinking at night and then thinking you're all good the next day. MR. KELTNER: Correct. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you for that. That was in Mt. View? MR. KELTNER: Not the DUI, but the roadblock with the child safety seat clinic was on a Saturday morning, and it was very successful. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: 11 car seats you guys gave away? MR. KELTNER: Yeah. I believe it was 11. Yeah. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Good job. Thank you. Council Members? Okay, hearing and seeing none, motion is on the floor. All in favor? Vote on Bill 8: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 8 was carried by (Approved) the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. Page 57 FC- I January 7, 2025 Bill 9: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30.2025 Increases revenues in the Federal Grants — Hawai`i County Police Department 2023 Selective Traffic Enforcement Programs Grant account ($48,764); and appropriates the same to the Hawaii County Police Department 2023 Selective Traffic Enforcement Programs Grant account, for a total appropriation of $628,764. Funds would be used for training, education, enforcement, and community collaboration to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries. Reference: Comm.34 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend passage of Bill 9 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Any discussion from the Council? Mr. Keltner. (Note: At this time, Traffic Safety Coordinator Torey Keltner came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. KELTNER: Thank you, Chair. This is where the 12 electric bikes will be put in there. And another thing that we have, we've increased the number of stalker radars and we're going to file for speeding because it's obviously a factor in major crashes. We're going to be able to purchase 20 more of those to distribute, and we already have many of those out there. A personal objective of mine is to make sure that every officer on duty has one of those in their vehicle with them every time they work. So, thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Awesome. Thank you. Okay. Motion is on the floor. All in favor? Vote on Bill 9: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 9 was carried by (Approved) the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Bill 13, please. Page 58 FC-1 January 7, 2025 Bill 13: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30 2025 Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants — Hawai`i County Police Department Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Grant account ($41,792); and appropriates the same to the Hawaii County Police Department Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Grant account. Funds would be used to conduct community engagement and enforcement activities related to pedestrian safety. Reference: Comm.69 Intr. by: Council Member Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend passage of Bill 13 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Discussion on the measure? Council Member Kierkiewicz, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Just speaking globally. Thank you, Mr. Keltner. I always love seeing you because it means more grant money and programs that really do make an impact and encourage safety in our community. So, thank you very much for your diligence and your dedication. I yield. (Note: At this time, Traffic Safety Coordinator Torey Keltner came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. KELTNER: Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Keltner, go ahead. MR. KELTNER: Chair, I appreciate this. Just quickly on this. You know, this is the first year that we're going to be doing this again. And if there are events in your communities that you have a need or see, and have maybe a recommendation, if you would get in touch with me or I'll reach out, we'll see if we can help get officers in those areas and see how it works because I really do believe it's our community working together to make this work, right. Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you very much. Appreciate your patience today. You stayed all the way through. We're way past our deadline for all of our committees and you're still here and you're still going. So, well done. With that, motion is on the floor to forward Bill 13 to Council with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? Page 59 FC-1 January 7, 2025 Vote on Bill 13: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 13 was carried (Approved) by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Last one. Bill 14: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30.2025 Increases revenues in the Federal Grants — Housing Trust Fund Grant account ($137,592); and appropriates the same to the Housing Trust Fund Projects account ($130,351) and Housing Trust Fund Administration account ($7,241), for a total appropriation of $2,987,592. Funds would be used to produce affordable housing through the acquisition, new construction, reconstruction, and/or rehabilitation of non -luxury housing with suitable amenities. Reference: Comm.70 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend passage of Bill 14 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Administrator Costa, you stayed till the end. Thank you very much. You might as well give us a little bit of something on this one. (Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Kehaulani Costa came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. COSTA: We just received a little more money than we expected, federal funds. That's it. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Awesome. Thank you. Thank you very much. Council Members? Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Yeah. So, it is kind of a small amount of money for these kind of things. What are you going to be using it for? MS. COSTA: I do have Royce on Zoom. He could probably answer. But Housing Trust Fund, I don't know the awards of this. This is similar to our home Page 60 FG 1 January 7, 2025 fund. We use this for affordable housing development, proposals and applications. MS. KAGIWADA: So, just a small amount more will be added to something? MS. COSTA: Yes. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Thanks. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. I think we're good. Thank you, Royce. Appreciate you. Okay. Council Members, seeing no further discussion, we have the motion —thank you, Administrator Costa, for sticking it out with us. Seeing no further discussion, we have Bill 14 on the table. Motion is to forward Bill 14 to Council with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? Vote on Bill 14: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 14 was carried (Approved) by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba and Kimball — 2. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That does bring us to the end of our agenda. ADJOURN- There being no further business on our agenda today, Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder MENT: adjourned the meeting at 5:14 p.m. Thank you very much. Approved: Mr. M'N Finance MK/tk `i-Kleinfelder, Chair 2,�-,2s (Date) Page 61