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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GREDC 2017/02/07 (2016-2018)Committee on Governmental Relations and Economic Development 3rd Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii February 7, 2017 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Relations and Economic ORDER: Development was called to order at 1:30 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Dru Mamo Kanuha, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Dru Mamo Kanuha, Chair Ms. Jennifer Ruggles, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron Chung, Member Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Ms. Karen Eoff, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Eileen O'Hara, Member Ms. Valerie Poindexter, Member Mr. Herbert M. Richards, III, 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 in support of Comm. 19, and came forward when called by the Chair: (There were none.) COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 46.1: HAWAII STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES' DECEMBER 22, 2016, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES From Council Member Dru Mamo Kanuha, dated January 19, 2017. GREDC-3 February 7, 2017 Vote on Comm. 46.1: Mr. Richards moved to close file on Comm. 46.1. Filed Seconded by Ms. Eoff and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and Chair Kanuha — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR KANUHA: Motion passes. We can go, Mr. Clerk, to Resolution 61-17. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 61-17: URGES THE HAWAII STATE LEGISLATURE TO APPROVE FUNDING TO ADDRESS THE THREAT OF THE LITTLE FIRE ANT (LFA) Urges approval of pending bills in the 2017 legislative session to fund a project administered by the Department of Parks and Recreation to address the spread of LFA. The project includes the hiring of personnel, purchasing different types of pesticides, and equipment maintenance. Reference: Comm. 88 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend adoption of Res. 61-17. Seconded by Ms. Eoff CHR KANUHA: Ms. Lee Loy, go right ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. I actually would like to amend the motion with Communication 88.1. Motion to Amend: Ms. Lee Loy moved to amend Res. 61-17 with the contents Of Comm. 61-17. Seconded by Ms. David. CHR KANUHA: Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you very much. For the rest of my colleagues, when putting together this resolution, a number of the legislative bills hadn't been numbered yet or they hadn't been assigned to committees. Communication 88 really clarifies the language and the particular Senate bills and House bills that impact the resolution that I have before you folks. It redefines some of the Page 2 GREDC-3 Vote on Motion to Amend: (Approved) February 7, 2017 language and the various committees and all departments that would see this piece of legislation through. So I'm asking for your support. CHR KANUHA: Thank you. Committee Members, any other discussion on the amendment? I think that was easily clarified. Okay, mahalo. We'll move to vote on the amendment 88.1. The motion to amend Res. 61-17 with the contents of Comm. 88.1 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and Chair Kanuha — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR KANUHA: Motion passes. Now on to the main motion as amended, Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: As the main motion as amended, it will now be Res. 61-17 draft two, which includes the language from Communication 88.1. CHR KANUHA: Committee Members, any further discussion on Res. 61-17 as amended? Ms. Eoff MS. EOFF: Do you know the status of those bills at this time? MS. LEE LOY: That's exactly what I did during lunch. Both Senate Bill 656 and House Bill 481 were heard this morning at 9:00 a.m. There have been some tiny modifications, but both passed and are moving on to their Finance Committees at the Legislature. So we're getting some real good indication that we're getting support over at the Legislature on this. MS. EOFF: Okay, and then we can send individual support testimony too. I think that would be a good idea for all of us MS. LEE LOY: That would be ideal, especially for everybody's district whether you have a beach park or just a playground. These things help, the funding helps the community. We heard today, the presentation given by Big Island Invasive Species Council, it's going to take a collaborative effort and these pieces of legislation do that for us. CHR KANUHA: Ms. Eoff, you still have the floor. Page 3 GREDC-3 Vote on Res. 61-17 Draft 2 (Approved) February 7, 2017 MS. EOFF: No, I yield. Thank you, and thank you, Sue. CHR KANUHA: Committee Members, any other discussion on this? Okay then, ready for the vote? The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 61-17, as amended to Draft 2, was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and Chair Kanuha – 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR KANUHA: Motion passes. Mr. Clerk, Resolution 62-17. Res. 62-17: URGES THE HAWAII STATE LEGISLATURE TO IMPLEMENT THE RAPID `OHIA DEATH PART L STRATEGIC RESPONSE PLAN FOR HAWAII 2017-2019 AND TO PROVIDE FUNDING TO IMPLEMENT THE PLAN OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS The Strategic Response Plan was developed by the Department of Land and Natural Resources via multi -agency collaborations and input from people working on Rapid `Ohi`a Death. The plan estimates needs of $3.6 million for 2017, and $3.2 million for the following two years. Reference: Comm. 89 Intr. by: Ms. O'Hara Motion to Approve: Ms. O'Hara moved to recommend adoption of Res. 62-17. Seconded by Ms. Ruggles. CHR KANUHA: Ms. O'Hara, if you would like to start us off MS. O'HARA: Certainly. Thank you, Chair. This resolution—we're fortunate to have an update and presentation by members of the stakeholder group that is researching the Rapid `Ohi`a Death issue. This plan was put together to try and identify areas of research that needs to continue so that we can have a positive impact on the spread of this disease on this island, and to prevent its spread to other islands. This plan that you have before you, you're able to read through it. When it was put forth, there was an effort to educate the State Legislature about it, and that lead to a summit at the State Capitol, which I think Chairman Kanuha attended, and I attended remotely from Hilo. Page 4 GREDC-3 February 7, 2017 It's very important that this research gets funded, this is actually, in terms of research dollars, not that much money to be asking for, $10,000,000 over a three- year period. And there may be some help coming from the private sector as well as from the Federal government, but I'm hoping that our state is very serious about this. The `ohi`a is a critical tree to our ecosystems here in Hawaii, and we have of course, the largest stands of `ohi`a forests that are left undisturbed—are here on the Big Island. It will be nice if we can somehow work to preserve what we have left and prevent its spread further. So it's very important that we support this plan. The last action that I saw in Council in terms of bringing awareness about ROD (Rapid `Ohi`a Death), was passed last year and that was a resolution urging the administrators of the State of Hawaii and the County of Hawaii to take appropriate steps to prevent the spread of Rapid `Ohi`a Death. Now that we have this strategic plan, we have really good advice on best practices that our County should be following. So I really hope that we can support this resolution and move forward. Thank you. CHR KANUHA: Thank you, Ms. O'Hara. Committee Members, any other discussion on this? Okay. Just briefly, I'm definitely going to support this. I did attend that—in Honolulu, and it was a wakeup call. There are a lot of different people, part of that panel that discussed all different levels of how to manage Rapid `ohi`a Death, and I just want to know how one of us can be the Hawaiian Cultural Specialist for $100,000 a year. I was like, "Wow." I think it was a really good plan and I'm glad they made it because it is really important for our island and for the whole state as a whole. Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Mr. Chair, quick question. You attended that conference, was there a sense of urgency there and did people actually understand? Because sometimes outer islands, you know how that goes. CHR KANUHA: Absolutely. There was actually more of a sense of urgency with them because they don't want it to spread to the other islands, which happens with a lot of our invasive species. You know, how to prevent the spread to—to me, it bothers me a lot because now we're trying to manage a lot of this invasive species on our island and to keep basically the invasive species from spreading to the other islands. It's always been a problem when dealing with funding from Honolulu or from the State because we're trying to manage what we have here, but they're just trying to manage how to not get the spread. Ms. O'Hara. MS. O'HARA: In response to that question from Councilman Richards, the governor opened that summit and he was extremely supportive of the efforts to manage the spread of this disease. So that was very positive and hopefully the State has several bills that have been introduced referencing the strategic plan so I didn't give a specific bill number because as things morph in the Legislative Page 5 GREDC-3 February 7, 2017 Session, I'm not sure which of the many bills that move forward will actually end up providing some funding for this strategic plan. But it's definitely supported by the State and I hope that we see action at the Legislature this year. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Ms. O'Hara. Any other discussion? Okay, let's take the vote. Vote on Res. 62-17: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 62-17 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and Chair Kanuha — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KANUHA: Motion passes. ADJOURN There being no further business, at 12:10 p.m., Ms. David moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Leff, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles_ and Chair Kanuha — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KANUHA: we are adjourned. Approved: �v✓� FEB 1 4 2017 Mr. Don Mamo Kanuha. Chair (Date) Governmental Relations and Economic Development Committee DMK/jm Page 6