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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2025/01/21 (2022-2024)Committee on Finance 2n1 Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii January 21, 2025 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at ORDER: 10:05 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Mr. James E. Hustace, Acting Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: 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 (via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Mr. Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Absent & Excused: Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Chair STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of Business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 23.3: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: DECEMBER 1 — 15, 2024 From Acting Controller Kay Oshiro, dated December 20, 2024. Vote on Comm. 23.3: Mr. Inaba moved to close file on Comm. 23.3. Seconded Filed by Ms. Kimball and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Acting Chair Hustace — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder —1. Excused: None. FC-2 January 21, 2025 Comm. 73: MONTHLY BUDGET STATUS REPORT FOR THE MONTH ENDED JUNE 30, 2024 From Finance Director Diane Nakagawa, dated December 24, 2024, transmitting the above report pursuant to Section 6-6.3(h) of the Hawaii County Charter. Vote on Comm. 73: Mr. Inaba moved to close file on Comm. 73. Seconded by Filed Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Acting Chair Hustace — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder —1. Excused: None. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 57-25: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A MULTI -YEAR AGREEMENT TO IMPLEMENT ELECTRONIC CITATIONS IN HAWAI`I Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year agreement with an estimated cost of $249,334 for the first year and $241,614.63 for years two through five to implement an electronic citation program. Reference: Comm.85 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend adoption of Res. 57-25. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Any discussion? I believe we have Mr. Keltner in the Hilo Chambers. Do you want to provide any insight or updates on this resolution? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, Mr. Keltner is not here in Hilo Chambers. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Okay. Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. I appreciate the update. Any discussion from the body? Yes, Ms. Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Yeah, I have some questions about the specific nature of electronic citations and what that means, specifically. Is there anyone available who can provide some information? Page 2 FC-2 January 21, 2025 ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you for the question. Looks like we are joined by Mr. Keltner on Zoom. Thank you, Mr. Keltner, for joining us today. Did you catch the question from Council Member Villegas. (Note: At this time, Traffic Safety Coordinator Torey Keltner came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. KELTNER: Thank you for having me. I apologize for not being there in person today. I'm on vacation and I wanted to make sure that we did have information forwarded to you. So, thank you, Chair; thank you, Members of the Council. Council Member Villegas, if there are specific questions, I certainly have a lot of information I can provide. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Yes. The term electronic citations are just incredibly broad. So, is this transitioning paper tickets for when you get a speeding ticket; is this for running a red light? It makes me think of the camera that they put to catch people running red lights. Just what specifically does this - I mean, we're looking at a quarter of a million dollars each year, which I'm totally all about investing in bringing our services and protocols into the 21" century, but there's a lot of sensitivity around electronic citations. MR. KELTNER: I completely understand your concerns. So, I'll explain kind of quickly what it is. E-citations or electronic citations are a mean by which officers in their patrol cars can issue citations just like they would issue a citation if they handwrote it. The reason for the push to go to this is the amount of time it takes for an officer to actually handwrite a citation. I've went through and looked at a whole bunch of different numbers of where we were at, and it takes about six to eight minutes for an officer to write out one particular citation and it takes about two minutes for them to actually type out a citation in an E-citation format. Then what it does is it actually produces a paper document to give to the driver of the vehicle. So, the process for the drivers is not going to change in how they do it. But the way that we're able to cover more things with the same amount of people that we currently have will be of great benefit. I did a cost price analysis on it and the difference that an E-citation takes about two minutes to issue that and then officers can move on. And there's some concerns about that the more time they spend on the side of the road, behind a vehicle, the higher probability that somebody gets hit by another car or, you know, other interactions are negative that way. There's cost savings in that and I can provide that information is that's something that you would want. But then another piece of it is, another consideration is when they do the electronic citations, the data entry goes directly into our records management system, which then produces information that can be sent to the judiciary. In this case, our judiciary wants to have a PDF (Portable Document Format) document Page 3 FC-2 January 21, 2025 sent to a particular site so that they can then open it up and then do the data entry in their capacity. So, it will take away the additional workload that we have clerks, officers, supervisors, actually taking a handwritten citation, entering that data into the computer system again, then storing the hardcopy documents, and then transporting the hardcopy documents to the judiciary. So, there's a whole bunch of work that can come out of that. And when I looked at it, I hope everybody understands; for me, I really do look at what's a benefit to the County in all these things that we're doing. I know that basically $249,000 to start this is a significant amount of money, but the amount of money that we would save in time of all the people in the County, employees of the County, is going to exceed that pretty quickly. Sorry, I'm rambling. Do you have any other questions? MS. VILLEGAS: No. That was extremely helpful. Thank you for providing more specifics and details on what this actually entails as far as process. And that takes care of any concerns that I have, and I will be in complete support. Thank you for all the research that you've done on this and your efforts to streamline, save time, money, and energy, and provide for a more efficient process; and for the safety of our first responders and police officers by reducing the time that they have to stand on the side of the road. I yield. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Onishi. MR. ONISHL Thank you. Thank you, Chair. I have a couple questions. First of all, state judiciary; are they going to be helping with compensating with some of these expenses? MR. KELTNER: At this point, they will not. I'm not sure if everyone is aware, there was a movement, it's been several attempts to try to get this through and the judiciary had indicated a few years ago that they were going to do that, and we got up towards the end and then it fell through. And something similar to this has happened multiple times and when I started looking at it and getting the information, I particularly looked at the savings of time and what we can do with officers in that. And when I did the comparison of that, and like I said, I'm glad to provide that information. I can see that it's very beneficial for the County to do that. But the judiciary at this point is not going to provide funding for it. And the way that they're getting it, the interface between the third party, is going to give us information where officers can enter the citation information into the citations; they can also then click in there and pull information from our records management system that immediately populates that. If judiciary decides they want to do that thing, it's not part of what we're going to be paying. Judiciary can pay for their portion of it at this point, you know, or if we can work something additional out, obviously, that would be great for us. Page 4 FC-2 January 21, 2025 MR. ONISHL Thank you. Well, why I mentioned this because back then all the fines that the courts collect, we don't get one cent. And when we're on HSAC (Hawai`i State Association of Counties), we pushed for that, that they have to at least help us compensate for the police enforcement and also for the prosecutors. But they never ever gave us a portion of that county wise, right? And so, like we're, again, helping the state out again and we're not even getting compensated. So, that's the part I don't really like about it because, you know, we're getting up to date, which is great. You're doing a great job. But we're not getting anything from that, right? And then also, in part of the request, it says here like a multiyear agreement, vendor to be determined, a five-year term; at, you're estimating each year at like $249,000 plus, right? MR. KELTNER: Actually, there's a reduction after the first year to $241,000. MR. ONISHL Right. But what I'm trying to say is you don't even have a vendor yet, correct, you've got to go out to bid? MR. KELTNER: Well, these numbers came specifically through the research into it and there's one company that has an interface currently in place. But it would go out to bid. That would be, you know, typical. MR. ONISHL Right. But then, we're not guaranteed these numbers that we're seeing, correct? It could go higher, or it could go lower. MR. KELTNER: Yeah, I don't know the procurement and I have to be careful to make sure that I'm not saying anything that would be —so I can't say yes or no for sure. MR. ONISHL Because this is like an estimate that you're projecting, correct? MR. KELTNER: I would have to speculate that. MR. ONISHL Okay. And then also, is any other counties doing this? MR. KELTNER: Yes. Maui County has been doing this for about five years, I believe. And Honolulu Police Department has been doing this about a year less than Maui, if I remember. But they had to stop because the E-citation company that they went with, there were some issues between the two of them and so they stopped that and they're actually working on a system internally to try to develop something internally, which we looked at. It's very complicated to do that. MR. ONISHL And see, so that's what, too, I'm worried about. You know, sometimes with the County because we've gone into contracts before like with the police department and things went wrong, like the cost went higher, the program itself wasn't as what was expected and so forth. So, I'm just curious to make sure Page 5 FC-2 January 21, 2025 that hopefully, like we get the system that Maui has because it's proven, like you said, over six years they've been using it, right? MR. KELTNER: Well, if I can give an example, and this is me from my previous career. I'm a retired police lieutenant from Helen, Montana, in the capitol city there. And we actually went into a contract when I was there, and I've been now here employed almost ten years at the Hawai `i Police Department, and they use the same vendor, and it happens to be the same vendor that I got information from because I looked at what the benefits were and the cost. The company has actually come back with the information I had as the lowest one. But they used that same company for many years, and we're very happy with the interface between the police department and also the judiciary at that point. And so, that comes from an experience, and it just so happens that it's the same company. MR. ONISHL Okay. My last thing is, okay, so is it possible for you to work with Maui, piggyback them so that we might be able to get a lower pricing because now we're giving that vendor more business? For example, like when I found out property tax, every county runs their system differently and I asked Oahu, why doesn't all the counties use one system and that way it could be used like countywide, right, and then also the cost would be lower because one vendor would be providing services for four counties. So, maybe something to look at. MR. KELTNER: I believe it would be a consideration, but I think one of the issues is that their records management system is different than ours so it would be a different set of interfaces in the system. I'm not saying that it isn't worth looking into but most certainly, it's going to be a different set up for that. MR. ONISHL Okay. Because I think, too, if we have the same system as Maui would, if someone get cited on the Big Island, Maui would have that same information, right, since it's on the same program; that's a possibility? MR. KELTNER: Possibly that could be that way. We have a similar, well, we have the same records management system as Kauai, but we don't have access to the information that they do in our system there. And this would run back into that records management system. So, you know, it's probably above my understanding for the technical side of how they would go about getting that stuff done. I know all of the information goes into the judiciary into JIMS (Judiciary Information Management System), I think that's what it's called. So in eCourt Kokua, we can get that information out there. MR. ONISHL Okay. Thank you. I yield. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Council Member. Any other discussion? Council Member Kierkiewicz, anything from Hilo side? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I'm good, Chair. Thank you. Page 6 FC-2 January 21, 2025 ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Mr. Kepner. I appreciate this effort to create efficiency in our systems and with the police officers. So, thank you for helping us move this along. MR. KELTNER: Thank you for considering. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Of course. Appreciate your time and I wish you nice rest of your vacation. With that, Council Members, motion to forward Resolution 57-25 to Council, all those in favor please identify yourself with an Ic aye. Vote on Res. 57-25: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 57-25 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Acting Chair Hustace — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder —1. Excused: None. Res. 58-25: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A MULTI -YEAR AGREEMENT FOR A FACILITIES CONDITIONS ASSESSMENT AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR HAWAI`I COUNTY FACILITIES Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a one-year and six-month agreement with an estimated cost of $328,640, for the Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity and Resilience to develop a Facilities Conditions Assessment and Energy Management Plan for County of Hawaii facilities. Reference: Comm.86 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend adoption of Res. 58-25. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Council Members, we have Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity and Resilience (OSCER) Administrator Ms. Morrison in our Hilo Chambers if you have any questions about this resolution in particular. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair? ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Yes. Council Member Kierkiewicz, please lead us off. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Administrator Morrison, great to see you and I'll also note that Ms. Kalua-Lewis with Public Works is also in the Page 7 FC-2 January 21, 2025 gallery. There is a nice, I think, collaboration happening between OSCER and Public Works to finally get done this facilities condition assessment and now energy management plan. Ms. Morrison, if you could just provide a summary of the work that is ahead and how the office and the department will be working together to get this really important information. (Note: At this time, Sustainability, Climate, Equity and Resilience Interim Administrator Behtany Morrison came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. MORRISON: Sure thing. Aloha, good morning. Bethany Morrison, Interim Administrator for Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity and Resilience. Yes, this is and has been a great project to collaborate across the departments. Primarily we've been working with the Department of Public Works and the Parks and Recreation Department to really understand the condition of our facilities before we look at our energy use and possible savings through our energy management plan. So, what we have done so far is really just engaging with those departments and starting to work through how we could prioritize which facilities would get this facilities condition assessment. It's a pretty intense process where the consultant would go into the building and sort of document everything and then we would have that documentation moving forward, which is just very valuable for a couple of things. Obviously, when we start to look at our energy and just being better stewards of our resources. That's one piece. But this is also going to help with asset management that Public Works has been pursuing as well as sort of maintenance and repair schedules. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Administrator Morrison. So, I just want to make sure I understand this clearly. The consultant will be assessing all of the facilities that are under Public Works and Parks and Recreation kuleana, or some? And second part to the question is will there be a template going forward where our employees can be trained up in doing those really critical assessments? Because I think we're all really aware of how behind we are in managing a lot of these facilities and I just want to make sure that at the end of the day, everything can be comprehensively reviewed so we as a Council, understand the significant investment it's going to take over time to ensure our facilities are in the best condition for our employees and the public. MS. MORRISON: Absolutely. So, what we have done is we have sort of worked through the list of all the facilities and then come up with a prioritization method. And so, depending on negotiations with the contract, which will start happening next month, we'll see how far down that list we can get for our dollar. And then, yes, we will have a template moving forward. This also provides for two rounds of sort of on -site work and documentation, which includes working with the facilities managers because it's very important that we hear directly from those Page 8 FC-2 January 21, 2025 that are impacted and really understand their facilities better than sort of maybe anybody could. So the consultant will be working with them and then that template then moving forward will have all of, again, sort of a wide range of attributes around these buildings that can then be assessed moving forward. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great. And there will be some kind of digital dashboard to track all of this information and progress made to update the facilities? MS. MORRISON: Yeah. There will be a database created for this. I'm not sure about the dashboard. But that sort of depends on where we get to with Public Works and their asset management that they're pursuing. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I mean, so long as we're transitioning out of using paper to track all this information, it would be great to have. Ms. Kalua-Lewis, do you want to add to the conversation? Perfect. Great to see you. Good morning. (Note: At this time, Public Works Business Manager Kelsey Kalua-Lewis came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. KALUA-LEWIS: Good morning. Kelsey Kalua-Lewis, Business Manager at the Department of Public Works (DPW). So, we're definitely excited to collaborate on this with OSCER. We do have a plan, you know, some of the OSCER staff and the DPW Admin program manager have been working get this kind of list; I'd like to call it like a master list, working with RPT (Real Property Tax), Risk Management, Property Management, just so we can identify all of what the County kind of should be maintaining, owns, maybe leases that we have to maintain. From this, we're hoping to just have a shared list. Our vision is to kind of to have a master list for all departments to use and utilize for their purposes going forward and be maintained for current statuses, you know, different variations of course, with our aging facilities. So, that's definitely something that I would hope eventually would be in some sort of asset management system. But after this first initial stage, with collaboration with OSCER, we can go from there. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Fantastic. It's a really comprehensive undertaking. Thank you so much for your leadership in this area. I wonder if you would be open to a friendly amendment, maybe at Council, about a report being provided to the County Council. I think it's really important that we, as a legislative body who authorizes the budget, has a presentation of, you know, what is found by the consultant after the assessment. Is that something that you folks would be open to? MS. MORRISON: Absolutely. A facilities condition assessment report and an energy management plan is part of the final deliverables. And so we'd be happy to present that at Council. Page 9 FC-2 January 21, 2025 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Perfect. I will work with both of you on the language so that it's not a surprise during Council. Thank you so much for being here. Chair, I yield. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Council Member. Any other Council Members to weigh in on this? Yes. Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Administrator, for being here to answer questions. I see that this is funded by a conservation block grant. What are the conditions of the grant; is there a timeline associated with this project being done and are there any additional funds that become available on the outcome of this work? MS. MORRISON: Thank you, Council Member Kimball. Yes. So, this project is funded by the US Department of Energy under their conservation block grant and it's for a period of three years. We came before Council in October to accept those funds, Resolution 613. And the rest of the funding is coming from the OSCER budget that was set aside for climate action plan implementation projects. And then there is no future so far that we have heard, future funds coming from that program. So, this is sort of a one time opportunity for us. And then depending on again sort of where we get to with negotiations, we will see if additional funding is needed to support the project for the ultimate contract. MS. KIMBALL: That was going to be my next question given the number of facilities that we manage, this seems like maybe not enough. So, are there plans to expand beyond those initial priorities and seek additional funding to broaden the scope and number of facilities that can be evaluated? MS. MORRISON: So, we looked at a variant of other municipalities that have done this work when we were initially scoping out this project and applying for the funds and some counties or cities had spent as little as $50,000, and some had spent as much as $300,000. And so, with that information, we sort of did our best guess work that we will obviously need to spend more just because it costs a little bit more to do the work, and there may be travel included in that consultant's contract depending on who gets selected. So, the hope is that we can get through, as I mentioned, we have some priorities that we've already identified and I can just speak to, like without getting into too much detail, Priority 1, and these are based on sort of the highest energy use and also criticality for our departments. So, that Priority 1 list is 14 facilities. Then the second priority list is 19, and the third is 42. Yes. So, it's hopeful that we'll be getting through at least those first two priorities with those funds, but we're going to try for as much as we can during negotiation next month. MS. KIMBALL: Great. Thank you. You answered by next question; was whether or not there was some sort of evaluation based on energy usage, which I Page 10 FC-2 January 21, 2025 think, obviously, makes a ton of sense. So, thank you for doing that. And I have no further questions, Chair. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Council Members. Any other Members with a question? Yes. Council Member Onishi. MR. ONISHL Thank you. This question is for Public Works. At this West Hawaii Civic Center, the P panels that we have here, is all of them working? MS. KALUA-LEWIS: That is not something I know at the moment. I can talk to the Building Chief and get back to you on that. MR. ONISHL Okay. Because I've heard from people that some of them are out and if here's out, then I'm wondering how about the County Building in Hilo. So, if you can get back that information to us later. MS. KALUA-LEWIS: Yes. Of course. MR. ONISHL Okay. Thank you. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you. Any other members? Okay, with that, we have a motion to forward Resolution 58-25 to Council. All members in favor please make yourself known. Vote on Res. 58-25: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 58-25 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Acting Chair Hustace — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder —1. Excused: None.. Res. 59-25: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT Allows for the receipt of $3,600,000 of federally -derived funds to support the assessment, design, repairs, and renovation costs of the old Hilo Hospital, located at 34 Rainbow Drive in South Hilo. Reference: Comm.87 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend adoption of Res. 59-25. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. Page 11 FC-2 January 21, 2025 ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: And we are joined today by our Housing Administrator Kehau Costa if the members have any questions in particular about this resolution. And we'll start off with Council Member Kagiwada. Please. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you so much. Good morning. (Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Kehaulani Costa came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. COSTA: Good morning. MS. KAGIWADA: So, this project has been long in the making. I'm wondering if you could just give us a very brief reminder of what other funding has been committed to this project in addition to this $3.6 million for design? MS. COSTA: Yes. So, the $3.6 million is in addition to the $13 million congressional funding that we've already received. So, it will just further the renovation a little bit more. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. And do we, I guess we don't have an estimate since we don't have the design yet, as far as what the total project cost will be? MS. COSTA: We're going to go to bid soon on roof replacement, tree removal, hazmat removal, and this will hopefully get us a little further towards fire suppression code updates. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Thank you very much for that update. I know this is tiny bit maybe off this topic, if you could give me a little leeway. The importance of this project in the overall plan for that site and getting it really useful for the County and addressing some of our needs, can you just briefly speak to that? MS. COSTA: So, the mauka side of the building is currently being utilized by HOPE Services under contract to provide emergency shelter and permanent supportive housing. The makai side, which needs considerable renovation, there is a reso for long-term lease for BISAC (Big Island Substance Abuse Clinic) to do a treatment facility there. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Thank you so much. And I also know that we're looking at the possibility of developing the other acreage around that site, so it could be something that could really be a substantial support for our community. MS. COSTA: There is a master plan, but it's ways off. This is first priority. MS. KAGIWADA: That's right. Okay. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Of course I'll be supporting. Page 12 FC-2 January 21, 2025 ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Kimball, please. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, thank you. Hi. MS. COSTA: Hi. MS. KIMBALL: So, is this money specifically earmarked towards the old hospital and not useable for anything else? MS. COSTA: Yes. Yes. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. I'm sure that Council Member Kagiwada's comments were preemptive for what she could anticipate, which was my comments, which is I don't believe in funding this project, and I continue to hold the line. We are now up to $16.6 (million), and I will be keeping track. I would much rather see us invest these funds and I realize they're free money, but it's not going to end up being free money to us in the end and I will continue to make that argument that a new facility would be a much better use of funds than trying to recycle something that just is going to be a money pit. MS. COSTA: Understood. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Onishi, please. MR. ONISHL So, Ms. Kimball, how much is the total right now? $16.6 million. I was going to ask you that too because when I was with the governor's office, we went to the blessing at that site, and yes, that building is really bad. I mean, it's termited, and certain areas, like the flooring, I guess, it's kind of sinking so doors cannot open and so forth. And I mean, to invest in something like that, I mean, you're just saying that they're going to repair the roof now, but I thought back then they did repair the roof. MS. COSTA: Mauka side of the building has had a repaired roof, but not the makai side. MR. ONISHL Okay. Okay. And then, that sprinkler system you're mentioning right, so it's amazing that when we went, because at the time I was at the governor's office, and I took the homeless coordinator. And prior to going to that celebration, we went to this other site where they house. You know, it's a shelter where in case the police would find or that persons needed help, they'll take it to this facility and then we were told by the director that they were told that they needed to put in a sprinkler system because their housing residents or people, right? So, when we went to that facility, we looked around and I told the homeless coordinator, try look here, they're housing, I think they had like 15 Page 13 FC-2 January 21, 2025 cubicles at that time, like back in 2018 or 2019 or 2020, something like that. And I told him there's no sprinkler system here, so how come this facility isn't being required by fire and, you know, when they were opening up, they're in their requirements. So, to me, something was wrong and that's why, I don't know, at that time I always kind of question how this whole system is being worked, right. Like we talk about the nepotism again, right, you know someone, you're going to get your, you know, if you don't know, then could be something else. But yeah, I would like to see, as Ms. Kimball said, the money being utilized much better. And like I always said, like at the last meeting about how we can spread the money around because, for example, that facility that I just talked about, I don't know if they did get the upgrades yet, but I know that at that time we were told it was going to be like about maybe $300,000 for them to put the sprinkler system in, which they didn't have. So, you know, to me, it's like trying to help everybody, but I guess this is designated for this certain area. MS. COSTA: Specific, yes. MR. ONISHL And County Housing did go and apply for this, correct? MS. COSTA: Office of Housing. Yes. MR. ONISHL Yeah. Okay. So maybe you folks can get more money and help more of the facilities to get them all updated. Thank you. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Villegas, please. MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah. Thank you for all the comments from my colleagues. l was actually born in that hospital. So, that was 52 years ago, and it was old then. So, what you're saying really resonates with me. I also get heartburn about how much government contracts cost and are getting paid and the wisdom in utilizing a resource as opposed to knocking something down and making shelter. But I also want to recognize and empathize with you inheriting all of these things. So, trying to navigate them, mitigate any issues, but also some things that are in motion are moving forward in motion. So, I'll be supporting this today and, you know, your work. But I also at the same time just want my colleague, Ms. Kimball, to understand that I also firmly support her determination to hold accountable and for the message to be sent for future projects. So, thank you for your hard work on this and for being here today. I yield. MS. COSTA: Yes. Thank you. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Galimba, please. Page 14 FC-2 January 21, 2025 MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. Briefly in line with some of the other comments. I mean, I can see how there's an immediate need and we're needing facilities to fill that need but do you have an idea of like a line of where it becomes —or also where they otherwise not going to work out, like it'd be better to not apply for more funding for this and go to like Kauhale or some other lower cost per benefit kind of solution. Do you have any idea of that? So, we're at $16.6 million and we're going to get makai side somewhat habitable for BISAC, which is important but then, you know, are you planning to go again and get more money for what could be a very short-term solution because the whole building is questionable. Can you talk a little bit about that? At this point in your evolution, of course. MS. COSTA: So, I'm assuming that some of those conversations were had prior to me and decision points were made on the way. We are a little bit into this now with accepting the funding and plans and designs moving forward. It is a big project. It is going to cost a lot of money but it's also 50,000 square feet of usable space and engineer reports have said there are good bones on this building. Similarly, I've heard that Kukui`ula has been through two governors and three mayors. And the cost of building, new build, and with federal funds; prevailing wage, you know, contracts; it's expensive. So, you know, we have a foundation to start with on this building. The conversation about whether to walk away from it and build something entirely new, I think, perhaps we're a little bit past that. But, you know, we're looking for funding for all of our projects all the time and it feels like we are constantly pushing a little further and a little further along on lots of our projects. So, when do we hit the return on investment walk away. I'd like to think we're a little bit past that because we are starting to utilize the funds. So, I've been in meetings where I've said the opportunity to step away from the project, that decision should've been made prior and because we are stepping into it, we need to lean into it. MS. GALIMBA: Understood. I guess another way to ask that is do you have like an idea of when you're going to be asking for more funds; do you also have like a maintenance, like do you have the whole picture already that perhaps you could share with us at some point so that we have a better understanding? MS. COSTA: I can provide a report on that. I would need to have my team pull that together for me. I know what is being projected as an overall cost of renovations; I know that we are putting in for CIP (Capital Improvement Project) money and, you know, federal funding comes up; we apply for it. MS. GALIMBA: I definitely support that. Yes. MS. COSTA: Yes. And we do have an asset manager in OHCD (Office of Housing and Community Development) that manages all of our assets and has a portfolio. I just reviewed 33 properties that we oversee and manage. Page 15 FC-2 January 21, 2025 MS. GALIMBA: Okay. Thanks. So yeah, you could share that with us? MS. COSTA: Yes. MS. GALIMBA: That'd be awesome. Thank you. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Council Member. I see a couple of lights on. I just want to check in with Council Member Kierkiewicz in Hilo if she had any questions. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: No, Chair. I'm good. Thank you. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you. Ms. Kimball, please. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, thank you. I don't want to beat something to death but in response to Council Member Galimba's question, you know, if we take a 50,000 square foot facility at an average of $600 a square foot for a new development, we're talking about $30 million. So, we're already very close to half way mark on this, coming in from federal funds, right. And I too have toured this facility multiple times, and while it may have good bones, you're got lead, asbestos, water damage. And so, not only do we have the construction costs, but we have all of those mitigation costs associated with this. And again, appreciate the Office of Housing's effort to put lipstick on a pig and make something workable for our community, but I just, again, feel like this is going to be —and this is a ceremonial no for me but, you know, I just feel like this is not the best investment of funds and I know you know that. So, thank you. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Council Member. Council Member, Kagiwada, please. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Yeah. The reason I asked that first question had more to do with this being part of something bigger at that site. I know you said that the master plan had been done, but that's far away. I know the potential steps in between to enhance the site, but this being the linchpin of that getting off the ground, you know, I know you're in conversations to look at Kauhale up there in addition, not in replacement to this site. There are over 10 buildable acres that we have on this site, so there's a lot of potential up there. I do also know in discussions that we talked about that yes, there are some serious problems with this building, but tearing down this building would have to deal with many of the same issues at a very high cost and as you noted before, starting from scratch given everything we know about construction costs including materials costs right now, would just drive this as seemly unattainable in any way. So, I'm very thankful to our senators and specifically Senator Schatz for helping get this funding and I hope that the state will also that we have a champion there to get us some state funding as well. I think it's going to be an all hands on deck to get this done. It is a heavy lift, but I think it's super important for the community. Page 16 FC-2 January 21, 2025 And thank you for stepping in when the ball is already rolling and keeping us going. Thank you. I yield. MS. COSTA: Thank you. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Ms. Kagiwada. Mr. Onishi. MR. ONISHL Thanks. Just one thing. Your master plan; so in the master plan, is there plans for your office to be moving in there? MS. COSTA: No. MR. ONISHL That's not part of the master plan. Is there a possibility of having, with all the investments that's going to be coming towards us to have that, then that way we don't have to pay rent where you folks are now? MS. COSTA: It hasn't been discussed. But thank you for the suggestion. MR. ONISHL Yeah. I mean, that might be an idea. And then plus the resources are there anyway, right, your partners. So, you guys are going to be close together. Like for example when they built the prosecutor's office, they made it close to the courthouse to make it more convenient for everyone, right? So, something to look at. Thank you. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Council Member. Any other discussion on the resolution here? Thank you, Administrator. Appreciate your time here with us today and your insight and providing the feedback here to the Council Members. Thank you so much. MS. COSTA: Thank you. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Ms. Clerk, please call the roll. Vote on Res. 59-25: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 59-25 was (Approved) carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Acting Chair Hustace — 7. Noes: Committee Member Kimball —1. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder —1. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Can we have the next item when you're ready? Page 17 FC-2 January 21, 2025 Res. 60-25: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, PURSUANT TO HAWAI`I REVISED STATUTES SECTION 46-7, FOR A GRANT TO THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CIVIL DEFENSE AGENCY Allows for the receipt of $1,000,000 of federally -derived funds to be used towards the Rural Emergency Medical Communications Demonstration Project, which focuses on enhancing lifeline capabilities in rural communities. Reference: Comm.88 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) (Note: Comm. 88.1, from Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, dated January 21, 2025, transmitting a PowerPoint Presentation, was circulated.) Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend adoption of Res. 60-25. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: And then today we are joined by our Civil Defense Administrator, Talmadge Magno, here in the Kona Chambers if the Council Members have any particular questions on the resolution here. Thank you, Administrator. Appreciate your time today. (Note: At this time, Civil Defense Administrator Talmadge Magno came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. MAGNO: Good morning. Talmadge Magno, Civil Defense Administrator. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Good morning. Mr. Inaba, floor is yours. MR. INABA: Yes. Thank you, Chair. Administrator, can you just give us and the public a quick overview of this resolution, please? MR. MAGNO: This grant came to us in the second half of last year from the State Department of Health and you can see that it's a homeland security grant. So, throughout the process of developing this, which I've been told is a new grant, so you can see some of the enhancements that have been put into it to capture, I guess, the way this grant is used and the programs that it gets put to. So, incorporating projects that we were already working on with the state, with our partners, we look to finalize some of those activities. We've come up with nine different objectives. Some of which are to the management of this funding and the remainder speak to communications with the various rural communities to the Civil Defense and their organizations. And it talks about, kind of focuses on the health side of it as far as first aid, AED (Automated External Defibrillator) equipment and training, and also, you know, addiction and so forth as far as Narcan training and Narcan kits. Page 18 FC-2 January 21, 2025 Also with the equipment purchases will come the training aspect of it; certifications, so that we can continue these projects and these activities. So, it looks to basically the resilience of our rural communities in both communication and health. MR. INABA: Okay. And do you already have dates selected and course classes set that maybe we can share, or are we still in the planning stage right now? MR. MAGNO: This is still in the planning stages, working with the Department of Homeland Security to nail all of this down. MR. INABA: Okay. Thank you. If you could just please maybe just communicate with the Council? We want to make sure, especially in these rural communities that we're offering, you know, the resources and the opportunities for them to engage. And it seems that the grant term ends September 29, 2026, so timeline, you know, get a million dollars in one year that was otherwise maybe unexpected, we have a lot of work to do but a lot of opportunity for our residents. So, we'd be happy to get that information out and to help you out. Thank you. MR. MAGNO: Thank you. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Council Member. Any other Council Members, questions, considerations? Mr. Onishi, please. MR. ONISHL Thank you. So, it mentions about AEDs. So, you folks are going to be look into purchasing once this is all set up? MR. MAGNO: Yes. That's the goal to have AEDs and have the training to go along with them. So, certified instructors. MR. ONISHL And are you folks going to be providing funding to also get it like serviced? Because the AEDs last so long, right, and then it needs to be serviced. And so, somebody is going to have to pay for that. Do you folks have plans for that? MR. MAGNO: So, you'll see throughout this document there's a number of activities like that, that operationally we're going to have to absorb, whether it's going to be, you know, might be annual certifications or actually like the Starlink, you have your service fees and so forth. So, all those are going to have to be planned out operationally as far as the budgeting. MR. ONISHL Yeah, because at one time we wanted to put some in the state building and like DAGS (Department of Accounting and General Services) didn't want to fund that, right, and then so we didn't have an entity that could so we couldn't do it. But public health nurse had their own, but it was in their office, so if anything would happen in front of the state building, you know, it would be Page 19 FC-2 January 21, 2025 hard to get that device to the patient, right? But yeah, so can you please, if you can, provide that extra funding for that update services and so forth? Thank you. MR. MAGNO: Yeah. Thanks. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Kierkiewicz, did you have a question? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I do. Thank you, Chair. Administrator Magno, great to see you. Thank you for being here. I've always felt that investment in community preparedness and resilience has been underfunded so I am, you know, very pleased to see that we have been awarded this $1 million grant. Appreciate all the different community partners that are going to be collaborating with the agency to train up our residents. Administrator, I was wondering if you could help me better understand what is meant by community -based emergency communications? We had a conversation, you and I, and I believe Mr. (Barry) Periatt was part of the conversation about work to help our communities develop community emergency management plans, and I wonder if there is a difference or if it's the same thing; but if you could provide clarity, that would be appreciated? Thank you. MR. MAGNO: Thanks for the question. I believe it's the same thing, or it is the same thing. You know, we use that slogan that we want to be able to communicate with the last house on the last lot in the last subdivision. So, and it's basically using current technologies or long -proven technologies and then get these skillsets into those folks to be able to send messages back and forth so that we know what's happening to them and they know what's available, you know, from our side of any kind of response. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So, it sounds like every community on Hawaii Island will have a customized plan based on available resources and assets, so should an emergency happen in a particular community, folks are trained up to mobilize and activate, and be in communication with Civil Defense and other government agencies? MR. MAGNO: Absolutely. That's our desire, to the point where we want each family, each individual, to have a plan. So, it might be a big ask, but that's what we're shooting for. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Fantastic. And to Council Member Inaba's point, once dates have been identified to engage various communities, please let Council Members know. We are very good at convening residents in our districts and would love to partner with you to host these really important conversations. MR. MAGNO: We'll make sure you guys get the dates. Thank you. Page 20 FC-2 January 21, 2025 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Thank you. And then, in the event where we are purchasing things like AEDs or amateur radio communication infrastructure, is that equipment County property or is it something that is going to be, I don't want to say the term gifted, but is it given to a community group such as CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) with the understanding that they're using it if there is some kind of formal agreement with the County, and should they relinquish their responsibilities, we get that equipment back and can provide it to another community partner? MR. MAGNO: First of all, we'll have to follow the federal, I guess, their statutes and rules as far as property. I think there's a number of ways we can do it. But definitely want to make it to where items going into community don't just stay idle or get out of disrepair and somehow maintain some responsibility so that we can get items back or have them serviced so that they stay viable. So, we'll definitely take a look at that as far as this program progresses. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Fantastic. Thank you. I am in strong support of this resolution. I yield. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Council Member. Any other discussion; any other thoughts? Thank you, Administrator. I echo the sentiment from my colleagues and look forward to working with you on connecting our communities. When we talk about rural communities, that's pretty much most of our island, if not all, I would assume. And so, you'll probably be working with all the Council Members in all the districts to kind of work with community partners. So, look forward to helping build those relationships. I know you have a lot out in the community and looking forward to working with you and your staff on bringing this to our residents and building resilience across the island. So, thank you for doing this. Mahalo. MR. MAGNO: Thank you. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: With that, Mr. Clerk, we have a motion to forward Resolution 60-25 to Council. All members in favor? Page 21 FC-2 January 21, 2025 Vote on Res. 60-25: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 60-25 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, and Acting Chair Hustace — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Villegas — 2. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Next item, please. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 19: 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 — Community Project Funding Old Hilo Hospital account ($3,600,000); and appropriates the same to the Community Project Funding Old Hilo Hospital account, to be used to support the assessment, design, repairs, and renovation costs of the old Hilo Hospital, located at 34 Rainbow Drive in South Hilo. Reference: Comm.87 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend passage of Bill 19 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Discussion? Ms. Kagiwada, please. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. I'll just say this is the companion piece to Resolution 59-25 that we just discussed. Thank you. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Yes. Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Yes, Chair. Just letting you know you'll have to do a roll call again. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: I acknowledge that. Thank you. Any other discussion on the companion measure? Okay, hearing none. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll. Page 22 FC-2 Vote on Bill 19 (Approved) January 21, 2025 The motion to recommend passage of Bill 19 was carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, and Acting Chair Hustace — 6. Noes: Committee Member Kimball —1. Absent: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Villegas — 2. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. When you're ready, please read the next item. Bill 20: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BIDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2025 Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants — Rural Emergency Medical Demonstration Project account ($1,000,000); and appropriates the same to the Rural Emergency Medical Demonstration Project account, to be used towards the Rural Emergency Medical Communications Demonstrations Project, which focuses on enhancing lifeline capabilities in rural communities. Reference: Comm.88 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Vote on Bill 20: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend passage of Bill 20 on first (Approved) reading. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, and Acting Chair Hustace — 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Villegas — 2. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you. With no further business, we will adjourn today's meeting of the Finance Committee at 11:08 a.m. Page 23 M it Approved: Mr. Matt l Finance C MK/tk January 21, 2025 There being no further business on our agenda today, Acting Chair Hustace adjourned the meeting at 11:08 a.m. Thank you very much. ACTING CHR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Council Members. -Kleinfelder, Chair �, Z _ - (Date) Page 24