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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0128.103 2010-2012uilding FC ERK 6 WA vote delayed " By ERIN MILLER Stephens Media Comments from a deputy attorney general prompted the Hawaii County Council to delay, again, a final vote on a proposed comprehensive build- ing code. Council Chairman Dominic Yagong said he contacted Deputy Attorney General Pat Ohara, who is assigned to t_ e state's building department, to seek the state's posi- tion- on whether the council could enact code requirements that are less See CODE Page A6 A new planet fo, PICoUNCIL Ref. To jojfirmiii Internet tot Date.4444,2...2.111...m. - - :.-- -z COI ViSit us on the Web Big isle history - % Business ,--<, Col www.hawaiitribune-herald.com '---, „0., Classified .., ,,. Crc ,-..- Comics , - De POSTED t,12440` ir3)041 Coi'sti c.... mem, I mem ' Mmrt MNet ie 14(• �o vU•&I)�rmoils% u , ire! Zo Cbe.V6A06 4 6%+M Iz,uI%C.siM. )Gwy. I'28 ■j+ CAA. 1299 DRUG TESTS From front page Toriano, deputy director of the Department of Human Resources. Violations are treated as issues of miscon- duct, subject to penalties up to and including termi- nation. In addition, drug screening is conducted for certain classes of work and classes of employees, based on federal law and collec- tive bargaining agreements,, she said. Mayor Billy Kenoi told Stephens Media on Wednes- day that he hadn't seen the bill, but he isn't opposed to the concept. Because the bill requires six votes to pass, it's likely any poten- tial veto would be overrid- den anyway. "I wish the councilman luck," Kenoi said. "He won't get any objection from me to put it on the ballot and leave it up to the voters." The county Char- ter already provides for impeachment or removal from office for "malfea- sance, misfeasance, nonfea- sance or maladministration." The Circuit Court has the power to remove officials for cause upon a petition by CODEFrom front page 2 percent of the voters in the county or in the County Council district, depending on the office. The amendment would require the HR director to administer a drug test annually at random times of year, with the cost borne by the elected official. If the test is positive, an elected official is allowed to request a second, split urine test at a different lab to verify the first. If that one is also positive, the elected official will be suspended without pay for two consec- utiye pay periods, assessed by a drug treatment coun- selor and enrolled in drug education classes. If a follow -up test taken 90 days later is also posi- tive, the official would be removed from office. Yagong said he had attempted to pass a bill cov- ering much the same terri- tory in 2002, but he with- drew it after being advised it could be contrary to the county Charter. Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook - Lauer@ westhawaiitoday. com. stringent than the state's code., That issue surfaced at earlier council meetings, with Deputy Corporation Counsel Kyle Chang advis- ing council members that they may not have a less stringent code. "(Ohara's) answer was yes," Yagong said. "The way she interprets the code, if the state were to build a project in the County of Hawaii, the state will totally ignore any code less strin- gent than its code. It does not apply to residential. It applies to state projects and state buildings." Yagong's comments at the West Hawaii Civic Cen- ter came after about two and a half hours of testi- mony Wednesday morning, much of which focused on the building code. Archi- tects, including the Hawaii Island chapter of the Ameri- can Institute of Architects, testified in favor of the code adoption and penalties for compliance failures. More than a dozen residents, pri- marily from Hilo and Puna, said the code was too strict and would make building a home cost- prohibitive. Chang said he also spoke with Ohara, but did not change his recommendation to the council. "If challenged in court, the ordinance may be declared void and pre -empt- ed by state law," he said. Hilo ' Councilman Den- nis Onishi suggested the council request a written opinion from Ohara. Other council members agreed and approved a postpone- ment until the council's next meeting, Nov. 2, to get that opinion. A bill, named Aliyah's Law after 17- month -old Ali - yah Braden, who was killed in a motor vehicle collision caused by a drunken driver, passed its final reading. It will allow police offi- cers to impound a vehicle driven by someone arrested STAR From front page for drunken driving. Police officers may also seize the vehicle of someone driving without a license, with a suspended license or while fraudulently using license plates, safety check stickers or vehicle registra- tion. South Kohala Council- woman Brenda Ford, who introduced the bill, said officers have discretion to take the action and would not impound the vehicle of someone pulled over for a traffic violation who also failed to have their license with them. The council adopted the two resolutions allowing the Corporation Counsel's office to proceed with the emi- nent domain process for two parcels along the planned Laaloa Avenue extension. Council members approved skipping the standard five - day waiting period between when the measure is passed and when the measure is forwarded to the mayor's office. Deputy Corporation Counsel Katherine Garson said the eminent domain process could take about 90 days, if a judge grants an immediate order of pos- session. Council members adopted, with a 6 -2 vote, a resolution asking the state Legislature to establish a vote -by -mail pilot program. Onishi and Hilo Council- man J Yoshimoto opposed the resolution. Onishi was the sole dis- senter during the final read - 1ng of a proposed Charter amendment to set the amount of property tax revenues put aside for public access and open space purchases at 2 percent. "The voters have con- sistently said this is what they want," said Ford, who introduced the measure. "It is necessary to put this in the charter (so) it cannot be defunded by the administra- tion."