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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2017/02/21 2016-2018COMMITTEE ON FINANCE 4m Session West Hawai'i Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Ilighway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii February 21, 2017 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at ORDER: 11:00 a.m. in the Council Chambers, Kona, by Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair. ROLL CALI Present: Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair Ms. Karen Eoff, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Mr. Dru Mamo Kanuha, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Eileen O'Hara, Member Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member Ms. Jennifer Ruggles, Member Absent: Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, 111, 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 I"I"EMS: The following individuals registered to speak in support of Res. 65-17 (Comm. 93), and came forward when called by the Chair: Rick Ruchty. James J. Akan. COMMITNi- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 14.6: REPORT OF CHANGE ORDERS AU"FHORIZF,D' JANUARY 1 - 15, 2017 From Finance Director Collins Tomei, dated January 26, 2017, transmitting the above report pursuant to Hawaii County Code Section 2-12.3. Motion to Close File: Ms. O'Hara moved to close file on Comm. 14.6. Seconded by Ms. Eoff. CHR. DAVID: Discussion, anyone? Hearing none FC -4 February 21, 2017 MS. LEE LOY: I have a question. CHR. DAVID: You have a question? Go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: I do. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead. Go ahead, Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Is there someone from Finance'? CHR. DAVID: Yes, I believe in Hilo. Is Jeff there in Hilo, in our Hilo Chambers? Yes, he is. MS. MURAMOTO: Yes, he's coming to the table. CHR. DAVID: Mahalo. MS. LEE LOY: Thanks, Jeff. (Note: At this time, Finance Purchasing Agent Jeffrey Dansdill came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. LEE LOY: First of all, I do want thank the Finance Department. They did start making the font a little bigger and did include some of the stuff I requested, so thank you so much for that. Jeff, 1 just had a real quick question. For West Hawaii Micro Unit Facility, we have a percent of original contract. It's at -1.8, how do we get to -L8? MR. DANSDILL: There was a change order which resulted in a reduction in the contract scope of work, so there was a savings and that's where you see the negative or the savings that was associated with the that contract. MS. LEE LOY: Great. Savings are great. Thank you. MR. DANSDILL: Okay, thank you. CHR. DAVID: Mahalo, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else? Hearing or seeing none, all those in favor of filing Communication 14.6 say "aye." Page 2 FC -4 February 21, 2017 Vote on Comm. 14.6: The motion to close file on Comm. 14.6 was carried by the Filed following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Ruggles, and Chair David - 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Richards - 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, please, Communication 15.3. Comm. 15.3: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: JANUARY 1 - 15 2017 From Controller Kay Oshiro, dated January 29, 2017. Vote on Comm. 15.3: Ms. O'Hara moved to close file on Comm. 15.3. Seconded Filed by Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Ruggles, and Chair David - S. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Richards - 1. Excused: None. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 65-17: AUTHORIZES THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE TO ENTER INTO NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE ACQUISITION OF TAX MAP KEY: 7-3-003:010, SITUATED IN THE DISTRICT OF NORTH KONA, ALSO KNOWN AS LOT 4 OF HALFOHIU HOMESTEADS, UTILIZING THE PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION FUND The 82 -acre property is listed as priority No. 10 for purchase in the 2016 Annual Report of the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission. Reference: Comm. 93 Intr. by: Ms. Eoff Motion to Approve: Ms. Eoffmoved to recommend adoption of Res. 65-17. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. (Note: At this time, Property Manager Hamann Ventura came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 3 FC -4 February 21, 2017 CHR. DAVID: Ms. Eoff. MS. EOFF: Thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to thank the testifiers that came forward today to show their commitment to helping us with the maintenance of this parcel, which as was stated is one of the properties listed on the priority for purchase this year. As Mr. Ruchty stated, it's an eight acre parcel. But, the monies are committed designated fund for the purchase of Open Space. This money isn't money that could be used right now for any other purpose, so we do have the opportunity to protect these historical, significant places, both for the cultural significance and also for opportunities to provide open space. In this case, this eight -acre is located—I don't know if you folks -1 think you can see a map behind the resolution, but it's surrounded by subdivisions. So, it will provide what I think is one of the goals and priorities of our Kona CDP (Community Development Projects), and that is to have open space within different communities. I don't know if Mr. Ventura would like to add anything to this? My understanding from reading about it and from hearing the—some letters that I received and some testimony today, that it's going to be used as a garden and would be cared for, and some of the habitation sites and gardens that were historically there will be brought back to life, so it affords quite a bit of opportunities. I would just like to ask for my Council Members to support this resolution. After this, the process is such that it will be in the hands of the administration. After that, it's up to them to either the Mayor would have to authorize the negotiation, and then there's a process for that; so this is just a step that follows the receipt of the priority list, and 1 want it to move it forward for my North Kona community. Humana, do you have anything to add? Okay, so if anyone has any questions, he's here. And other than that, I'll yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Eoff. Council Members? Mr. Kanuha. MR. KANUHA: Thank you, Madam Chair. This is, again as was stated previously, it's just the process of—it has to be sent through the Council. And, the administration might not even push it for it to be bought. So, it's just one of those steps that need to happen, if at all, it wants to be purchased. So this isn't like an automatic, we're going tobecause this resolution, if passed, it's going to be purchasedI mean, because of that, like I'll support this. For my question, it says historic, cultural habitations sites on the property. I was just trying to figure out exactly whatbecause we haven't! don't even know if I've seen a preservation plot map or whatever of what's been actually happening on there. The previous testifier said that a group has been doing this Page 4 FC -4 February 21, 2017 already in that area, on the land. So, what exactly is going on there and why the need to purchase when they're already doing that on the land itself already? MR. VENTURA: Aloha and good moming, Council. Hamana Ventura, Property Manager. In doing the research on this particular parcel, what we found is that it's actually a snapshot of a time passed: used to be a village and had some pretty unique features. A small portion of the parcel there appears to be some cultivation going on, but it's a small overall portion of the existing parcel. If we were to move forward with purchase, it would provide an opportunity to expend the utilization of the parcel, and then perhaps bring it back to the scope, whereby others, future generations, could get a better perspective of a time passed. But, there's a little bit of actual cultivation and preservation going on at this particular tune and 1 think it's by an adjoining neighbor. MR. KANUHA: So if this property was purchased by the County with the PONC (Preservation, Open Space, and Natural Resources Commission) funds, are there any prohibitions or anywithin that scope, allowable or not allowable uses, that would not permit them to use that property for the cultivation of fruits or whatever it is? MR. VENTURA: Well, we should be able to proceed along those grounds. Of course any type of improvements, whereby we would have to break ground and use a mechanize equipment is probably not allowed under the Charter. But, we would have to go back to doing some of the manual labor and some site work, like in the past, more so recreating the type of labor and industrial initiatives that were part of the past. MR. KANUHA: Yeah, and I'm trying to see exactly—you know, because this property is within—it's a small of piece of property located within a certain subdivision, kind of out of the way. I know a lot of people live in this area, and it does—this area definitely needs places for open space in perpetuity type of thing. But I'm just trying to see who exactly—would the entire public benefit for this use, or is it just specific towards this small, little area? MR. VENTURA: No, I think that it would definitely provide a general public benefit. More so, in the sense that—on the West Hawaii side, it would give us an opportunity to have a more mauka parcel. We're used to acquiring properties located down shoreline and so forth, but to have an opportunity to give the public a snapshot or a look into the past of what, perhaps, the Hawaiian community in the past, what types of farming, what types of techniques they used. It could provide historical insight for future generations: it has that opportunity. Page 5 FC -4 February 21, 2017 MR. KANUHA: Maybe later on I can talk to you about maybe seeing some of that, about the actual cultural sites that are on the property. I'm glad that we're looking towards mauka areas because that was alwaysI don't know if it was a concern, you know. Everybody wants to live by the beach, everybody wants to live by the ocean, and to preserve those places were high priority at that time. But, I'm glad that we're looking from makai to mauka because we didn't always look at one; like makai, as the places that were special. It was always, you know, ahupua'a style. So, I'm glad that we are looking at these mauka areas. What priorityI know this came out of the commission, from one to ten. I know this was number ten. But out of all these, from one to ten, what is the administration priority? Which properties would you guys like to see at the top of your list to be bought? MR. VENTURA: I think the general consensus is that we'd like to diversify our portfolio. Of course we'd love every district to have their fair share, to have participation. But following the ahupua`a format, we'd like to be able to have properties from the mountain to the sea. Right now our portfolio consists of mostly sea -level property. So, I think that it would fit well into a diversified portfolio. MR. KANUHA: So, there's a willing seller. Have they offered an amount yet? MR. VENTURA: No, we haven't gone to that point yet. We need to move forward with the sales contract, whereby we would be able to initiate an appraisal. MR. KANUHA: Okay. If this resolution passes, and I am sure it will, do you have a sense that you guys will move forward with the purchase of this property'? You have to check back with the powers that be? MR. VENTURA: That's where we are at this point. MR. KANUHA: Okay. Okay, thank you. CHR. DAVID: Mahalo. Mr. Kanuha. Ms. Eoff. MS. LOFT: I just wanted to add a couple things and answer Mr. Kanuha'swe do have a map that shows the archaeological survey from there, and 1 guess by the nextI think this gets another reading in Council[ can provide that to the Council Members. Also, just to restate that, because this is just a step in the process and there needs to be an appraisal done and there needs to be a willing seller who would accept that otter, so there are a lot of steps to do. And then some of the other parcels Page 6 FC -4 February 21, 2017 that are maybe on the priority list, they also need to be looked into to see if there are willing sellers, or if there are clear titles, or if there's, you know -so timing, it's all kind of, not juggling, but it's kind of like all got to fit the different criteria before we actually purchase anything. So, 1 wanted to thank you again, Mr. Ventura and the people that testified, and say that I'm a strong advocate of what was said here, about having some mauka parcel, as well, because we can team all about fanning, and techniques, and plants. I guess one of the things we can do is archaeological surveys, more interpretive things, flora and fauna studies, and things like that, which are, I think, provided for within the Charter for parcels like this. So, I am looking forward to working with everybody on this one. Okay, thank you. CHR. DAVID: Mahalo, Ms. Eoff Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Aloha, Mr. Ventura. Thank you. I know we had a wonderful conversation about diversifying our portfolio, especially with the purchase of OUT lands, and this is one great piece of mauka land. 1 do want to springboard off a little bit of what Mr. Kanuha mentioned, because I did hear some stuff about preserving some pathways. Assuming that all of this goes through, is that active type of pathways permitted when we purchased the property? Because I know the funds are used for conservation, and then the restoration piece. But for active -passive use, like the trail ways, I've heard it's a connector for the Queen Lei trail, so I'm wondering if we purchase this, would that type of activity be permitted? MR. VENTURA: It should be. It should be. What we of course would do as we go through our arch (archaeological) process, go back to do arch surveys, identify areas that have actual significance and may not—and we would try to restrict any impact on those areas, and then work with various groups to provide access through the property, whether it be path or any other groups that would be involved. But we shouldn't have an issue with active or passive access through these properties, that's part of the scope and the reason that the fund was created. MS. LEE LOY: Perfect. And then 1 know what happens is a lot of times they do signage, you know, to describe some of the features there, is that also a permitted use with our PONC funds? MR. VENTURA: It should be. We're actually working with Corp. and with Council at this point, to come up with signage for the properties that have been purchased through the fund, to provide the public with a means to identify. But, more so what we're finding out is that a few weeks back there was a brushfire down south and one of the Open Space properties, which is Kohua olahua, happened to be in that same area. So now what we're going to do is work along Page 7 FC -4 February 21, 2017 the path, is creating signage; so that in the event of an emergency, that first responders, Police and Fire, can identify that this property may have some significance sites. That we may need to take just a breath—it's always going to be safety first, but at least recognize that they may be going into a site that—the perception is that it's just an open field or something to that effect, but there may be some significant sites that, in that case if they brought in heavy equipment, might be an impact. So, we're working along that path to provide signage. MS. LEE LOY, And then I also heard, you know, some gardening activity, and you mentioned that a snapshot of a time period, would that preservation plan require that they use the type of plantings from that time period or would it be something that the nonprofit came up with, or whoever would be managing that piece? MR. VENTURA: I'm not sure on the concrete answer on that one. MS. LEE LOY: Okay, thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Lee. Anyone else'? Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, it was sort of touched upon by Ms. Eoff, but it's really difficult to see where this property is located based on the materials that were given to us; if we could get a better map next time? That's all. But. I support it. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. MS. EOFF: I will provide a better map for the next meeting. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Eoff. Anyone else? No? Okay, hearing or seeing none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 65-17 say "aye." Vote on Res. 65-17: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 65-17 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Ruggles, and Chair David - S. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Richards - 1. Excused: None. Page 8 FC -4 February 21, 2017 BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) CHR. DAVID: I believe that's the end of our agenda. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 11:27 a.m., Mr. Kanuha moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Ruggles-, and Chair David - 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Richards - 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: We are adjourned. Mahalo, everybody. Approve s. Maile vid, Chair Finance Committee MD/na (Date) Page 9