HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2017-09-20 2016-2018
Hawaiʻi County Council
nd
22 Session
West Hawaiʻi Civic Center
74-5044 Ane Keohokālole Highway, Building A
Kailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi
September 20, 2017
INVOCATION: Pastor Jason Meechan of Kona Faith Center gave the mornings invocation.
CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawaiʻi County Council was called to order at
ORDER: 9:08 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Karen Eoff,
Acting Chair.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Chair (came in later)
Ms. Karen Eoff, Vice Chair
Mr. Aaron Chung, Member
Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (came in later)
Mr. Dru Mamo Kanuha, Member
Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member
Ms. Eileen O’Hara, Member
Mr. Herbert M. “Tim” Richards, III, Member
Ms. Jennifer Ruggles, Member
PLEDGE OF The Acting Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of
ALLEGIANCE: Allegiance.
(At this time, Ms. Lee Loy led the Council in the Pledge of
Allegiance.)
ACTING CHR. EOFF: I’m going to ask Ms. O’Hara—she has a statement she
would like to make this morning.
Announcement: MS. O’HARA: Thank you, Chair. I was just waking up this morning and
watching the news and felt that it was important for us all to recognize that while
we have important issues that face us locally and we take those to heart, we need
to extend our compassion and our concern and prayers to all of those across the
planet who are suffering from major disasters in today’s world. As you all know,
Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. My aunt was from Puerto Rico, so I still have
cousins there and they have just been wiped out, as has much of the Caribbean.
And an earthquake hit Mexico City killing hundreds of people. It’s very tough
times for those people, their families, for those who lost loved ones, and who need
to now rebuild their lives. So, it’s important that we consider that and have a
moment of gratitude for how fortunate we are, here in Hawai‘i. This is a year that
the hurricanes, so far, have passed us by. Let’s hope we get through the season
Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
that way, and no major earthquakes, and no major tsunamis. We’re fortunate and
we need to recognize that with our gratitude and our compassion towards those
who are suffering. So, thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, Ms. O’Hara.
Relinquish Chair: At this time, Acting Chair Eoff relinquished the chair to Chair Poindexter.
PETITIONS, The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
MEMORIALS, Petitions, Memorials, Certificates of Merit, and Expressions of Condolence.
CERTIFICATES
OF MERIT, AND (There were none.)
EXPRESSIONS OF
CONDOLENCE:
STATEMENTS The Acting Chair directed the Council 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:
Cory Harden: Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165), in support.
(representing the Sierra Club)
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Before the next testifier speaks, I just wanted
to let everybody know that Council Members David and Poindexter have joined
us. Okay, your next testifier, please, in Hilo.
Unknown Male: All agenda items, in support.
Rene Siracusa: Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165), in support.
(representing Malama ʻO Puna)
Joyce Alberta Folena: Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165), in support.
Gregory T. Smith: Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165), in support.
Elizabeth Elkjer: Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165), in support.
Sarah Rafferty: Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165), in support.
Stacey Breininy: Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165), in support.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Mason Cabay: Res. 274-17 (Comm. 423), in support.
(representing UH Hilo Filipino
Studies Program)
Miles Okumura: Res. 271-17 (Comm. 420), in support.
(representing Peace Committee and
Honoka‘a Hongwanji)
Wendy Scott-Vance: Bill 52 (Comm. 351), in support.
Shani Kai Gacayan: Res. 272-17 (Comm. 421), in support.
(representing Hāmākua-Kohala Health)
Michelle Galimba: Bill 52 (Comm. 351), in support.
Thomas Yeh: Bill 52 (Comm. 351), comment.
Julie Mitchell: Res. 273-17 (Comm. 422), in support.
Krista Donaldson: Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165), in support.
Cherie Griffore: Res. 270-17 (Comm. 419);
Res. 271-17 (Comm. 420);
Res. 272-17 (Comm. 421);
Res. 292-17 (Comm. 444); and
Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165), in support.
Catherine Spina: Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165), in support.
Shelley Mahi-Hanai: Res. 267-17 (Comm. 416);
Res. 268-17 (Comm. 417);
Res. 269-17 (Comm. 418);
Res. 271-17 (Comm. 420);
Res. 272-17 (Comm. 421);
Res. 274-17 (Comm. 423);
Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165);
Bill 52 (Comm. 351); and
Bill 60 (Comm. 386), in support and comment.
Rudy Webster: Res. 267-17 (Comm. 416), in support.
Megan Lamson: Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165); and
Bill 52 (Comm. 351), in support.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Jerry Warren: Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165); and
Bill 52 (Comm. 351), in opposition.
Bob Ernst: Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165), in support
and comment.
Sam Bennett: Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165), in support.
Mason Myrmo: Bill 13, Draft 4 (Comm. 107.165), in support.
Recess: At 11:04 a.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 11:17 a.m.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Let’s turn to our agenda. I have approval of minutes. I’m
just going to take that quickly, my intention is to take the minutes and Bill 59 and
60, which Mr. Fuke has been waiting and that shouldn’t take us too long. Then,
after that, I’m going to go to Bill 13 and after that Bill 52. We’ll take those two
items out of order, but I’m going to get through the minutes and Mr. Fuke’s item.
APPROVAL The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
OF MINUTES: Approval of Minutes.
Vote on Approval of Mr. Richards moved to approve the Minutes of December 17, 2014.
Minutes: Seconded by Ms. David and carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, O’Hara, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles,
and Acting Chair Eoff – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Vote on Approval of Ms. Poindexter moved to approve the Minutes of March 16, 2016.
Minutes: Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, O’Hara, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles,
and Acting Chair Eoff – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Vote on Approval of Ms. Poindexter moved to approve the Minutes of August 2, 2017.
Minutes: Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, O’Hara, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles,
and Acting Chair Eoff – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
COMMUNI- The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
CATIONS: Communications.
(There were none.)
ACTING CHR. EOFF: I would just like to skip to Bills for Second Reading.
Mr. Clerk, Bill 59 and 60. You can read them both in, but we’ll take the motion
separately.
Change Order As directed by the Acting Chair and with no objection from the Council
of Business: Members, the following items were taken out of order:
Bill 59: AMENDS THE STATE LAND USE BOUNDARIES MAPS FOR THE
COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT
CLASSIFICATION FROM THE AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT TO THE
URBAN DISTRICT AT KEAʻAU, PUNA, HAWAIʻI, COVERED BY TAX
MAP KEY: 1-6-141:002
; and
Motion to Approve: Ms. Poindexter moved to pass Bill 59 on second and final
reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion? I know Mr. Fuke has been waiting this
morning but we have discussed this in Committee and at first reading so unless
you have questions, I won’t bring him up. Okay, all in favor say “aye.”
Vote on Bill 59: The motion to pass Bill 59 on second and final reading
(Adopted) was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, O’Hara, Poindexter, Richards,
Ruggles, and Acting Chair Eoff – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Bill 60: AMENDS SECTION 25-8-22 (PUNA DISTRICT ZONE MAP), ARTICLE 8,
CHAPTER 25 (ZONING) OF THE HAWAIʻI COUNTY CODE 1983
(2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT
CLASSIFICATION FROM AGRICULTURAL – TWENTY ACRES (A-20a)
TO GENERAL INDUSTRIAL – 20,000 SQUARE FEET (MG-20) AT
KEAʻAU, PUNA, HAWAIʻI, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 1-6-141:002
(Applicant: Hawaiʻi Island Distilling, LLC) (Area: 6.505 acres)
The Windward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation
for this amendment to the State Land Use Boundaries Maps and change of zone,
which would allow the applicant to establish a microbrewery with a retail sales
and tasting center.
Reference: Comm. 386
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff (B/R)
First Reading: September 7, 2017
Motion to Approve: Ms. Poindexter moved to pass Bill 60 on second and final
reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion on that? Seeing none, all
in favor say “aye.”
Vote on Bill 60: The motion to pass Bill 60 on second and final reading
(Adopted) was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, O’Hara, Poindexter, Richards,
Ruggles, and Acting Chair Eoff – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you and thank you, Mr. Fuke, for your patience.
Mr. Clerk, could you please read Bill 13?
ORDER OF The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
THE DAY Order of the Day (Second or Final Reading).
(SECOND OR
FINAL READING): (Items were taken up previously.)
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Bill 13 AMENDS CHAPTER 20 OF THE HAWAIʻI COUNTY CODE 1983
(Draft 4): (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY ADDING A NEW ARTICLE
RELATING TO REDUCTION OF POLYSTYRENE FOAM “STYROFOAM”
FOOD CONTAINERS AND FOOD SERVICE WARE
Prohibits food vendors from dispensing prepared food in disposable polystyrene
food service ware effective July 1, 2019. Exempts food packaged outside the
limits of the County; ice chest and coolers; and packaging for raw meat, fish, and
eggs that have not been further processed.
Reference: Comm. 107.165
Intr. by: Ms. O’Hara
Postponed: March 8, 2017
Referred to the Environmental
Management Commission: July 7, 2017
First Reading: September 7, 2017
(Note: Comm. 107.166, from Council Member Herbert M. “Tim” Richards
dated September 19, 2017, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 13,
Draft 4, was circulated.)
Motion to Approve: Ms. O’Hara moved to pass Bill 13, Draft 4, on second and
final reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. O’Hara, you have the floor.
MS. O’HARA: Thank you, Chair. Anyway, we heard a lot of good testimony on
this bill and I’m sorry if I’m making that noise, I was trying to get my computer to
work. Okay, we’ll just wing it. I was going to explain that recently I attended the
th
100 year anniversary of Lili‘uokalani Park. It was a wonderful festival. I had to
park a ways away in the overflow parking. And as I walked to the festival and
back to my car, I encountered three separate litter dumps hidden in the bushes,
because there’s a lot of grass growing up in the unused parking lots in that back
area. They were all Styrofoam take out containers, each of the three places. If
you know the venue, you know how close that is to the ocean and how likely that
material will unfortunately disintegrate into small pieces and potentially end up in
the ocean where it afflicts our marine life and marine birds.
I bring that up because we need to understand the difference of rigid polystyrene
or the kind of packaging materials that come with your refrigerators, your TV
screens, your computers, et cetera versus the take out container industry of
polystyrene. And I say we need to differentiate, because I’ve heard from other
Council Members that they would vote for a complete ban but not a limited ban.
And I appreciate that, but I think a complete ban needs to concur at the State level
and hopefully that will happen soon. The limited ban is something we can
implement now. It’s needed to protect our marine and coastal resources. It’s
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
needed to educate the public about the necessity to use alternative forms of take-
out containers. You can bring your own plates and dishes for that matter, but
there are compostable forms, there are recyclable plastic forms, there are some
really innovative materials being provided by the manufacturing industry in
response to the fact that over a hundred cities and counties, mostly coastal have
banned polystyrene take-out containers.
I brought in an egg container last time and yet we’ve exempted egg containers.
We’re now seeing fish and meat being packaged in a different way, not requiring
Styrofoam, so the industry responds to positive messaging and in economics we
call this consumers voting with their dollars. And I don’t want to send the wrong
message to these manufacturers, and for that reason, and I’m not going to be
supporting the proposed amendment once it’s put on the table. I can’t speak to it
right now until it’s up there, but I do fully support Bill 13 in its current language.
It is closely tracked to the Maui ordinance that passed in June and should—or
let’s say when the State gets around to passing a statewide ban on polystyrene
food containers, it helps if we are all in alignment, in terms of the types of
languages and what not.
So, I ask for your support on Bill 13. We’ve gotten almost exclusively positive
testimony with maybe three exceptions and one of those exceptions was in our
last meeting when Mr. Carpenter, who is on the board of Pacific Waste, opposed
Bill 13 saying what we needed was better litter enforcement. Enforcement is very
expensive and it has not occurred in the County of Hawai‘i, even though we have
laws on the books, because our Police force has higher priorities. Secondly, he
indicated that polystyrene was a safe substance, a lot of people will contest that,
but that’s not the essence of this bill.
While Pacific Waste manages about 50 percent of the residential commercial pick
up waste and this trash going to landfill on the island, the other business that takes
up most of the other 50 percent; Business Services, actually, contacted me and
asked me to expand this bill to include Styrofoam peanuts. So, there’s a
difference between waste haulers and I just point that out because Styrofoam
peanuts are very light as is the nature of polystyrene and it escapes into the
environment, and they have trouble containing it even with covered loads. So,
again, I just want to ask for everyone’s support on Bill 13. Thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you, Ms. O’Hara. Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. I have the amendment that I put forward
and it’s in your packets. I’d like to propose this amendment; it’s
Communication 107.166.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, does everybody have it?
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Motion to Amend: Mr. Richards moved to amend Bill 13, Draft 4, with the
contents of Comm. 107.166. Seconded by Mr. Kanuha.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Now, we’re looking at—that was to amend Bill 13 with
the contents of 107.166, which Mr. Richards will explain.
MR. RICHARDS: Just briefly, and I don’t want it to be misunderstood, I do fully
support Bill 13, and I will be supporting it. My intention with this amendment is
to clarify and save the County some angst as we go through and be very specific
about what we’re talking about. We’re talking about polystyrene foam and there
are some containers coming forward that are the hardened polystyrene and I want
to make sure those are not included in the ban at this point. I fully agree with
Councilwoman O’Hara’s direction that we want to clean up our environment and
get rid of all of our polystyrene foam, not just food containers but step by step.
As we come forward with this, I want to include this definition so we don’t put
the County through some litigation going forward. That’s my intent with this.
Regardless, I will be supporting the Bill 13 and its desire to eliminate Styrofoam.
I yield.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. Poindexter.
MS. POINDEXTER: I’m kind of confused, because when I went to look up what
is polystyrene, it kind of included everything. So, you know, then does that mean
that if someone chooses to use what they are using instead, this is rigid
polystyrene? So, I don’t know how do we differentiate? I don’t know if Council
Member Richards or Council Member O’Hara, since you’ve had the background
in the Environmental—I don’t know who would be the perfect person to answer
that?
MR. RICHARDS: I don’t know if there’s a perfect person. I can take a crack at
it and then Eileen can come.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, since it’s your amendment, I would love to hear it.
MR. RICHARDS: As I understand, oriented polystyrene is a hardened form that
the foam hasn’t expanded and its 90 percent air. What we’re talking about, the
rigid polystyrene is essentially can look like plastic and is very hard. It’s not a
foam per say. One of the things that I’m working on this rigid polystyrene for
example is here. It’s hard and I think it’s actually already covered under our bill
as it is right now. What I’m trying to do is just make sure that we’re very clear
what we’re allowing and disallowing. The long term intention is to get rid of it all
and so this is just a step going forward.
MS. POINDEXTER: So, what you’re handing out is rigid?
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
MR. RICHARDS: That is one form of it, yes.
MS. POINDEXTER: Do you know what the other forms are?
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, it looks like—
MS. POINDEXTER: Are they like the hardened polystyrene?
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, it looks like plastic, what you consider hard plastic.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, because this is kind of hard to break and stuff, so.
MR. RICHARDS: I’ll defer to Eileen now.
MS. POINDEXTER: Okay. Then, can I ask Council Member O’Hara, your
opinion on that?
MS. O’HARA: Yes, thank you. I think we are picking—here, and that’s why I
gave my discourse the deference about the waste generation. When you are
dealing with other forms of hard polystyrene, people are more than likely going to
put that into the trash. It’s going to end up in the landfill, not the best place for it,
but it will end up in the landfill. Whereas with take-out containers they are more
likely to blow out the window, blow out the back of the pickup truck, you put it in
the trash can, you’ve had your lunch in the park and the trash cans are
overflowing and it ends up in the environment. So, that’s why we are targeting
take-out containers.
Now this is proprietary technology, that’s why if you try to google it, you will not
find a definition for rigid polystyrene. And by putting that into the definition
you’re creating a loophole, where everybody can come forward and say, oh, I’m
producing polystyrene but it’s a proprietary technology. If you look at where Mr.
Richards wants to insert this in the definition, it’s basically meaning that will be
exempted. So, what we are doing there is sending a message to manufacturers
saying, well you can be innovative in creating new take-out containers with
polystyrene, you’re just not going to call it EPS (Expanded Polystyrene), you’re
going to call it proprietary technology. And I don’t think that’s really where we
want to go, and that’s why I’m opposing the amendment.
MS. POINDEXTER: Okay, thank you for the explanation. So, I will yield at this
time.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Ms. Ruggles.
MS. RUGGLES: Thank you, Chair. I just had a question for Mr. Richards.
What is the difference between rigid and solid hard polystyrene to you?
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
MR. RICHARDS: I guess I’m going to have to say nuances, and like I said, my
intention is to be clear what we are exempting. This amendment may not be
needed. I had a conversation with Megan who testified. I get what we are saying
here. My intention is so we don’t end up in court challenging the definition of
this. So, for me, the foam is very 90 percent gas as opposed to rigid, which is
minimal or none. Does that make sense?
MS. RUGGLES: I’m seeing that you are making a difference between the rigid
and the foam and I really appreciate you bringing in that example. I just don’t
understand why we should include rigid and solid hard.
MR. RICHARDS: Interpretation. That was my intent.
MS. RUGGLES: Okay, because I also did a bunch of research on rigid and I
really couldn’t find much. Some sources define it as being expanded, which is
confusing and others don’t. So, I just don’t know how clarifying this amendment
is. Okay, thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Kanuha.
MR. KANUHA: Thank you, and when we start adding these rigid polystyrene,
you are going to have to also define it within the bill too and I don’t know if it’s
going to get too complicated. First off, you know, within the bill without this
amendment, would that be exempted or it wouldn’t be exempted? So it would be
part of the something you couldn’t give out anymore, correct?
MS. O’HARA: That’s the interpretation currently, if you are asking me, I don’t
know.
MR. KANUHA: Maybe I can ask Bill about this bill, Director Kucharski?
(Note: At this time, Environmental Management Director
William Kucharski came forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. KUCHARSKI: Yes, sir. Good morning.
MR. KANUHA: Good morning. You know, we’re discussing the amendment.
Basically, the amendment is polystyrene foam does not include rigid polystyrene
or solid hard polystyrene. Do you have any comment about this amendment?
Does this clarify anything for your department or are we going down a slippery
slope?
MR. KUCHARSKI: Bill Kucharski, again, Director of DEM (Department of
Environmental Management). The exemption of a hard or rigid polystyrene from
the definition of a polystyrene foam, I’m not certain what benefit that has,
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
because the enforcement and the requirements indicate that the material that has
to be used has to be recyclable or reusable. Since the solid foam does not meet
that standard, I’m not certain it would be allowed in any case.
MR. KANUHA: Okay, thank you. I’ll yield.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, Mr. Kanuha, is there any other comments,
Council Members? Then, I guess we should go ahead and take a vote on this
amendment. All those in favor of amending Bill 13, with the contents of
Communication 107.166—I believe maybe I should ask the clerk to take a roll
call on that?
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 13, Draft 4, with the contents of
Amend: Comm. 107.166 failed by the following roll call vote:
(Failed)
Ayes: Council Members Lee Loy and Richards – 2.
Noes: Council Members David, Kanuha, O’Hara,
Poindexter, Ruggles, and Acting Chair Eoff – 6.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
MR. HENRICKS: Chair Eoff, you have two votes in favor.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, three noes and so the amendment fails, Mr. Chung
voted, so.
MR. HENRICKS: I have Mr. Chung marked as absent.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, he was marked as absent—it was after he called it.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Oh, okay, well anyways, the amendment fails, there were
two yeses. I will move on to Bill 13, the main motion. Ms. O’Hara, do you have
some final comments or do you want me to go to the Council Members?
MS. O’HARA: You can go to the other Council Members.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, does anybody have comments? No, seeing none, I
will go ahead and take a roll—I’m sorry, on the main motion, Bill 13. Mr. Chung.
MR. CHUNG: I don’t want to belabor the point okay because we know how this
is going to go, but I just want to make a comment. Actually, I wanted to go point
by point of all the comments made by some of our speakers and I wanted to
respond to it, but I’m not going to take up your time. But, you know, I think I
have and I think Ms. Lee Loy have been recipients of some really unkind e-mails
and letters, not many, but enough that it becomes an annoyance, right. And all
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
accusing me and us of being unable to listen to what people are saying and the
science of this and that. Well, I would say this and maybe it is true, but I think
those same people who are making those accusations got to admit nothing I do is
going to change their minds either. So I think they stand guilty of the same thing
that they are accusing me and Ms. Lee Loy of.
I want to make that comment because really we all live on this island. We love
this island. We all look at things differently; however, and I think it’s very
important that we talk about respect on the part of each of us and our views.
That’s really all it comes down to. I respect where you guys are coming from and
I resigned to the fact that my point of view will not prevail today and that’s fine,
but I would hope members of the public, some of those who are really mean
spirited would take that to heart too, that we all have views as well. That’s all I
wanted to say, thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, Mr. Chung, any other comments? Okay.
Then Mr. Clerk, can we take a roll call vote on Bill 13?
Vote on Bill 13 The motion to pass Bill 13, Draft 4, on second and final
(Draft 4): reading was carried by the following roll call vote:
(Adopted)
Ayes: Council Members David, Kanuha, O’Hara,
Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 7.
Noes: Council Members Chung and Lee Loy – 2.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, Bill 13 is adopted. Thank you all for
being here today. Okay, I’d like to go to Bill 52.
BILLS FOR The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
ORDINANCES Bills for Ordinances (First Reading).
(FIRST READING):
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Bill 52: ADOPTS THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I KA‘Ū COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT PLAN (CDP)
The Windward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation
for the adoption of the Kaū CDP. The CDP Program iʻs established by the
County’s General Plan to create a framework for residents and other
stakeholders to participate in regional planning for their communities. The
planning area for the Kaū CDP encompasses most of Judicial District 9, ʻ
surrounding Ocean View, Waiohinu, Nāālehu, and Pāhala.ʻ
Reference: Comm. 351
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: PC-29
(Note: Comm. 351.6, from Council Member Sue Lee Loy dated
September 19, 2017, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 52 was
circulated.)
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 52 on first reading and adopt
Planning Committee Report No. 29. Seconded by
Ms. Poindexter.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. David, you have the floor.
MS. DAVID: Thank you very much, Chair, and mahalo everyone, again, for
coming again and testifying on this important piece of legislation. What I have to
say to my colleagues is that my position has not changed and I know that there
might be some other issues that will come up later here, but we have vetted this
with Corporation Counsel, we have vetted this with the Planning Department on
different concerns twice. I’m not sure how else it can be said. I think the bill
itself, and the adoption of the bill is a sound adequate piece of legislation, and I
know that there are other concerns expressed.
But, my personal feeling is that in the process of this entire CDP (Community
Development Plan) and also the other CDP’s that have been already adopted, this
is the process that allows it to actually work with other processes and laws as we
move along. And for whatever reason, if someone feels that it needs to be fine-
tuned, amended, I think that’s great, but I think it has to be done in a different
venue aside from this venue what we are doing right now. That way it insures
that whatever proposal that comes forward can be vetted and the public can
provide input.
I also would like to say that we did receive last evening a communication with the
proposed amendment. So, with all due respect for the proposal from
Ms. Lee Loy, I feel that we need some time to actually look at what’s being
proposed and within the next couple weeks either confirm my position, which has
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
never changed from the beginning, and get more information. I mean up until this
point, up until this amendment, I have no question, but I would really appreciate
some time to really look at the proposals coming before us. At the top of my
head, I don’t believe or feel it’s necessary to amend the bill, but that I’d like some
opportunity to think about and be sure in my mind, my position to refer my
position. So, at this time, I will yield if anyone wants to comment, but I would
like to let my Council Members know that I intend to postpone this to the next
meeting.
MS. DAVID: Is that a motion?
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Well, we can discuss the postponement, right, if I make
the motion? Okay, I’ll make the motion to postpone and then we can discuss the
motion.
Motion to Postpone: Ms. David moved to postpone Bill 52 to October 4, 2017.
Seconded by Ms. Poindexter.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: I will open that up to discussion.
MR. HENRICKS: Madam Chair, before you entertain the discussion, can you
specify which date.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Oh, I’m sorry. The motion was to postpone until our next
th
meeting in Hilo, which I believe would be October 4.
th
MR. HENRICKS: Correct, October 4.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, so there’s been a motion to postpone to October
th
4, and I’m entertaining discussion on the postponement.
MR. HENRICKS: Can you please let me know—I understand who made the
motion, the second was Ms. Poindexter?
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Yeah, made by Ms. David, seconded by Ms. Poindexter.
MR. HENRICKS: Thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, discussion on the postponement. Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. We are bound by Sunshine Law and I did
propose an amendment and because of the Sunshine Law, this is a process that is
afforded to us. So, I do want everybody to have time, as Ms. David is requesting,
but I want to share the backdrop on the amendment. If we take it to
postponement, everybody is going to stay in their silos and ask their questions and
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
get feedback, and then we’ll be two weeks later, still thinking about something
that I’m trying to clarify. So at this time, I’m going to speak on the postponement
in hopes that we can have the conversation about the amendment and bring a
better understanding on that. But if it is the will of the Council to postpone and
everybody withdraw back into their offices for conversation, you know, that’s
what’s going to happen. So, I yield at this time with the understanding that I’m
going to be voting against the postponement for right now.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. David, did you want to think about what she said or
would you like to respond to that?
MS. DAVID: I would like to hear from the rest of the Council Members, too.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, I saw you going for your light, so.
MS. DAVID: No, I would like to hear everybody else’s position. And also, if I
may—want to know that the discussion that I would like to have today would
include everyone. So, you know, given that, I know someone has to leave.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, well just for your information, I think Ms. O’Hara
said she can stay until approximately twelve thirty.
MS. DAVID: Okay.
MS. LEE LOY: We also have Planning Department staff and they have to leave
also. So I get what everybody is saying to slow down a little bit, but we are going
to be losing some individuals and even the Planning Department staff that’s
waiting for us to bring a little bit more clarity. So, however we move this
forward, I just wanted to share that also.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay. Ms. O’Hara.
MS. O’HARA: Briefly, I would prefer that we move forward and dealt with the
amendment that’s going to be introduced, but I also want to support Ms. David on
this matter. I fully support the CDP. I would like to see it pass on today. I can’t
speak to the amendment until it’s actually on the table, but I would be opposing
the amendment in its current form. So that’s where I stand, but I will follow
Ms. David’s lead if she wants to postpone this, fine, but I would prefer we move
forward today.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. CDP—I’m not going to argue the point
that this is the will of many of the community in Ka‘ū. Ka‘ū is near and dear and
Councilwoman David and I have talked story quite a bit about Ka‘ū, and I have
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
the same aloha for the area. My concern is what Mr. Chung brought up
previously in part. It’s a procedural thing and I think we have a procedural
problem with this.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Excuse me, but right now, I think we are supposed to be
talking on the motion to postpone discussion on the CDP.
MR. RICHARDS: Oh, strictly on the motion to postpone.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: So the question is whether we should move forward with
discussion or postpone this.
MR. RICHARDS: I’m going to, as far as postponing, I would support a
postponement with an idea. Can I talk about my idea later?
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, but once we postpone it, then there won’t be any
more discussion. So, you might as well try and include your point—
MR. RICHARDS: With a portion of the postponement, I would suggest maybe
putting an ad hoc committee that seemed to work pretty well for Bill 13. I yield.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Mr. Chung.
MR. CHUNG: I certainly understand Ms. Lee Loy’s desire to at least explain her
amendment and I would be fully in support of that. But, at the same time, I would
do that with the proviso that nobody else debate that matter because then, we’re
going to be here for a long time, only to postpone the whole matter anyway. So,
it makes no sense. I’m just wondering Madam Chair, if you would allow Ms. Lee
Loy some latitude within the context of this present postponement motion, to give
her the time to explain because it’s a very brief amendment, and then get it
postponed. I’m going to support the postponement, but this way we can at least
give Ms. Lee Loy a chance to explain what she’s trying to advance.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, Ms. David, regarding your motion.
MS. DAVID: To postpone? Okay, I’m going to withdraw my postponement to
have the full latitude.
MS. POINDEXTER: I withdraw the second.
Withdraw Motion Ms. David withdrew her motion to postpone.
to Postpone: Ms. Poindexter withdrew her second.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, that motion has been withdrawn. Ms. Lee Loy?
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
MS. LEE LOY: Motion to amend Bill 52 with Communication 351.6.
Motion to Amend: Ms. Lee Loy moved to amend Bill 52 with the
contents of Comm. 351.6. Seconded by Mr. Chung.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Council Members, do you all have it? Okay, I’ll go
ahead and give the floor back to Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair, and thank you, to the rest of my colleagues,
for allowing me to explain the backdrop of this amendment. First and foremost,
my apologies that this was done at such a late hour. I listened very intently at our
Committee meeting and there seemed to be an issue and everybody kind of was
barking around on what policies are guidelines and what are wishes. So I took
that and stepped back a little bit, and then went and talked to members of the
Planning Department, along with members of the Corporation Counsel, on what is
the best vehicle to lift up the intentions of the Ka‘ū CDP and put it into the Code.
There was also a comment that this was being singled out while other CDP’s
don’t have the same type of clarifying language. And it’s just an unfortunate
circumstance of timing. We have a General Plan that’s pushing on 15 years old.
We have CDP’s that are adopted incrementally and we have learned a lot of
lessons there. So we have a General Plan that I’m going to call generation x, and
we have a Ka‘ū’s CDP, which is 2.0. It’s like going from Nintendo to Xbox to,
you know, a great game.
So the document that we have, the Ka‘ū CDP is a phenomenal planning tool. It
really does provide the goals and wishes of that community. I stand firmly behind
that. The unfortunate situation we have is lifting up that clarifying language that
is contained within a hundred pages of documentation. And so, this amendment
was really prepared to provide that clarity but also lift that up into the Code itself.
And the Ka‘ū CDP is adopted by this one sheet of paper and then the Ka‘ū CDP
itself is an attachment. So when we hear concerns about possible litigation or
how to interpret, the clarity is provided right up front, right in section 16-2. It’s
very clear. And that was a complete backdrop of this clarifying language.
I worked very hard with the Planning Department to make sure that it was given
the same amount of vetting with the Missler decision in containing the exact same
language. I asked the question if this actually amends the CDP; the 100 pages
itself. I got feedback that it’s not substantive changes because we are just
changing the bill, which sticks to the one topic. I really am urging my Council
Members to take a good hard look at this classification, because we just have a
number of planning documents that are out of sync right now. As the other ones
catch up, like the Kona one and as they are re-tooled, or the Puna one, or coming
forward with the Hāmākua CDP, all of those will be refined again and they can
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
add their own clarifying language at that time. But for right now, the placeholder
is what we have in front of us which is section 16-2.
Taking a further step back, there’s been some conversation about amending a
different section of the Code of how the General Plan looks at these CDP’s, but
that’s not right yet, and there may be future legislation that changes that section.
But for right now, what we have in front of us is the clarity and lifting up those
goals and objectives from the CDP right into the Code itself. I ran out of time,
but that’s pretty much the gist. So, I yield.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Ms. Poindexter.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yes, I appreciate you bringing this forward, I do. However,
I believe that this should be a stand-alone agenda item that should give all of the
people who have CDP’s in all of their districts time to chime in on this issue. I
think it’s fair that we have passed all the other CDP’s and that we’ve learned from
that and we’ve learned from that case as well. I think we should pass this along. I
think this should, again, be a stand-alone agenda item and give everyone the
opportunity to chime in on this. I have some concerns that we’ve received some
testimony even from attorney’s offices and when I made some calls—before
writing this, did you get a chance to speak with the Planning Director or Planning
Department? No, we didn’t, because we listened to the discussion that you’re
having on Council.
But the problem I have with that is we’ve gone into executive session. So when
we come out, not even the public, or the attorney’s offices who are trying to
submit testimony are aware of what’s happening in executive session. So, for
them to make the decision to support an amendment without all the correct
information is not okay, too. So I say that I’m not going to support this
amendment, because what I think needs to happen is the people who are
supporting the amendment needs to go meet with our Planning Department. They
need to understand everything. Legislation can come back on this and we as a
County, all of the people, all of the different CDP’s, can come in to share and
voice their opinion as well. I think that it is the fairest way. So, at this time, I’m
not supporting this amendment, but I feel this is a great discussion and needs to
come up for discussion. So, thank you, Council Member Lee Loy.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Ms. O’Hara.
MS. O’HARA: Thank you, Chair. I understand that this amendment is in
response to the Missler decision and how it may or might not impact the Ka‘ū
CDP, and it’s well intended. A version is needed, but I have to agree with
Ms. Poindexter, that I don’t feel that including it into the adoption language for
the Ka‘ū CDP is the most appropriate way to insert this important language. I
think it needs to be a stand-alone piece of legislation that applies to all of the
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
CDP’s, and I realize that we have them at different stages, yes, the Puna CDP was
adopted in 2008 and then the Kona, et cetera. So, it’s been a progression over the
last ten years and we will be adopting a new GP (General Plan), hopefully in a
year or so, and that will require amendments from the GP that will require
amendments to the CDP’s. So we have time in the future to add the appropriate
language and this is good language, I just don’t think it’s inserted in the right
place at this point in time. And it does appear to be a deterrent to adopting the
Ka‘ū CDP in its current form as developed by the community over a period of—I
understand up to ten years. So that needs to be recognized. I’m ready to
recognize that today, but I’m not ready to approve this amendment as it’s drafted.
Thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, Ms. O’Hara. Mr. Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Okay, thank you. Since everybody is talking, I just wanted
clarification from Ms. Lee Loy. I can understand the first sentence of this
proposed amendment, “In the event of any conflict between Ka‘ū CDP and
General Plan, as amended.” General Plan shall be imposing. That is simple.
What is meant in the second sentence, because in my mind, policy or policy
control or policy directives are done through legislation? Then, the second clause
says, “It shall not constitute automatic amendments to existing codes.” I have to
be able to understand what is meant here.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Chair, if I may?
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: So that specific sentence, I worked really hard with the Planning
Department on, that was actually—the policy control language came right out of
the Ka‘ū CDP, because that’s the intent of the document, was to have certain
policy controls or policy guidelines that was the will and the intent of the
community. And then other areas where the wish or, you know, take into
consideration, so that particular section was lifted right out of the Ka‘ū CDP to try
and bring clarity, because you are absolutely right, Mr. Chung, unfortunately, the
CDP isn’t written like a law. It’s written like a planning tool, and so it’s going to
be hard to incorporate that intent the way it’s written down in the 100 pages. So
that’s what the intent was, to lift that up. But, if at any point those policy
guidelines directives start bumping up into other areas of the Code or the General
Plan or Chapter—HRS 205 or some other regulatory document, that it wouldn’t
automatically change that section. I hope that makes sense.
MR. CHUNG: Joe, can you come up? Did you have time to look at this
amendment? If you didn’t, that’s alright. If you need more time then I’ll just wait
for another time to ask you questions about it.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
(Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Joseph Kamelamela came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. KAMELAMELA: No, I did look at the amendment.
MR. CHUNG: Okay, what are your comments? You have any comments on this
amendment?
MR. KAMELAMELA: Well, I have to start from where I began the last time. I
think the Kaū CDP itself, it’s appropriate, okay? I think it has someʻ—
MR. CHUNG: Appropriate in what regard? I’m sorry to interrupt, but
appropriate in what regard?
MR. KAMELAMELA: That it’s unnecessary to have any type of amendment at
this time. So, the language being proposed, I do understand that it’s something
that has been lifted up from the plan itself. And what had been stated by both
Council Member David and Council Member Lee Loy, I mean they’re both true
statements. And so what it comes down to is actually the will of the Council now
to kind of decide which option to take. They’re both reasonable alternatives. If
you were to tell me what’s the best option, for me right now, I’m comfortable
with the plan as is.
MR. CHUNG: In terms of it being—
MR. KAMELAMELA: A planning document.
MR. CHUNG: And providing recommendations as opposed to being law.
MR. KAMELAMELA: Well, they’re policy in terms of substance, it
substantially fills in the area. I should back track. The reason for these plans is
the recognition that each region is diverse. I see it because I’ve actually walked,
back in 2006, the area of Kaū. So itʻ has unique features that many other places
don’t have, and reading this planning tool, I look at it as a planning tool, it helps
to determine how to plan for this specific area.
MR. CHUNG: Okay Joe, and maybe this question might be more appropriate
during the main motion, but I have to ask it in order for me to understand this
amendment. You’ve read this letter from Carlsmith, Ball, right? It’s dated
September 19, and you also heard the testimony of Mr. Yeh. These are two
outfits that represent large landowners of course, but they’re concerned. What is
your opinion regarding what was said by Mr. Yeh and by Carlsmith, Ball? Can
you address their concerns? I mean, not to address it legislatively, just what are
your comments regarding their concerns?
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
MR. KAMELAMELA: Yeah, I may not—point by point, but—
MR. CHUNG: Are their concerns valid?
MR. KAMELAMELA: You know, attorneys would always put forth a position
and so their position, I can see representing their clientele, which are landowners.
So I can say this, that I understand their position because they’re representing a
particular interest. You know, my interest is actually in this situation, a little bit
different because Yeh has a question now, what kind of policy that this Council
wants to make? So if you’re asking me what I think about the comments by the
attorneys, I think it arguments that are reasonable.
MR. CHUNG: So, getting back to Ms. Lee Loy’s amendment now, so based on
your interpretation, this is not just a matter of refining what we have presently, it’s
an alternative. It’s not just a difference between solid and rigid or something like
that, it’s different, right?
MR. KAMELAMELA: Yeah.
MR. CHUNG: Okay.
MR. KAMELAMELA: Well put, Mr. Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Alright. Thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Was that it, Mr. Chung? Okay. Ms. Ruggles, did you
have a comment or a question? Anybody else? Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. We’re still on the amendment, correct?
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Yes.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. I have to echo my concern with Councilwoman
Lee Loy as far as the interpretation. And this again has to do with the procedural,
and I do agree that we did learn a lot over the years concerning CDP’s. And what
we’ve learned is that whereas our Corporation Counsel has articulated that this is
a great planning tool, and I don’t disagree with that at all because it is, it does
represent the will of the community. Missler has dictated that actually, and I use
the word dictated on purpose, that it would be considered weight of the law. In
that situation, that bothers me because we have a document, and as I understood
this coming forward, we cannot make changes by one document that are
sweeping, or we shouldn’t be doing that. Yet, it would appear in this situation
now, by adopting this as is, we could be doing that.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
I don’t see a list of all the changes that would be impacted and that one bothers
me. And so I understand Councilwoman Lee Loy’s intent here, and I don’t
disagree that this is a higher question that we need to address. I understand
Councilwoman David’s intent to postpone so we can have these conversations. I
proposed the ad hoc to try and get to that, but I would support the amendment
because the idea is to get that very important planning document for us so we get
an idea of what we’re supposed to be doing. But if we adopt something that has
carte blanche changes, that bothers me a lot and I don’t think that’s right. I have
other comments but it’s not pertaining to the amendment. I yield.
CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you, any other comments on the amendment?
Mr. Kanuha.
MR. KANUHA: Thank you. Can I bring up the Planning Department?
ACTING CHR. EOFF: I think we have Deputy Director Arai and we have April
Surprenant in Hilo.
(Note: At this time, Deputy Planning Director Daryn Arai and Planning
Program Manager April Surprenant came forward to address the members
of the Committee.)
MR. KANUHA: Good afternoon.
MR. ARAI: Hi. Good afternoon.
MR. KANUHA: I’m assuming you’ve taken a look at these amendments. As
Ms. Lee Loy stated earlier, she worked with the Planning Department on
formulating these amendments. Can I get your, I was going to say opinion, but
can you—do have any comments on these amendments, or this amendment?
MR. ARAI: Speaking on the amendment introduced by Council Member
Lee Loy, we agree with Mr. Kamelamela that we do not find it as necessary
because the Kaū CDP was deliberate in trying to avoid specific reference to ʻ
amendment—to specific laws and codes. But if we feel that it provides a level of
comfort to the Council Members, then we would not have any strong objection.
MR. KANUHA: Thank you. So what’s intended within the Kaū CDP is exactly ʻ
what’s stated in this amendment?
MR. ARAI: That is correct.
MR. KANUHA: Okay. I’m just trying to comprehend, even though it’s that
simple. That’s the spooky part. Okay and I appreciate what Ms. O’Hara spoke
about earlier and that it really rang a bell with what she was saying about the—
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
absolutely, we don’t want to single out the Kaū CDP. If it’s intended to go ʻ
towards the rest of the CDP’s, that could be a discussion at a later time, I
completely agree. If it’s—okay, I’ll just state that right now. Thank you for that
simple clarification about this amendment. I just—okay, I don’t want to say any
more, I yield.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you, Mr. Kanuha. Mr. Chung.
MR. CHUNG: It’s not that simple actually. The reason for that is unless I heard
Daryn wrong, he said he agreed with Mr. Kamelamela. Mr. Kamelamela said that
it’s either/or, right? It’s not the same thing. Daryn said it is already contained in
the Kaū CDP, which would imply that it is the same thing and just redundant. I ʻ
don’t really know and you know, Sue is a planner, she knows her stuff. And
normally, I would like to defer to her, but this thing is just too damn confusing for
me right now and I need time to really digest it. I’m just hoping that motion to
postpone is somehow going to resurrect itself at some point, but I don’t know,
maybe this discussion is going to render it moot. I don’t know. I’m just not
prepared to cast a responsible vote on this matter, this amendment right now.
Thanks.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. Ruggles, did you want to comment or question?
MS. RUGGLES: Yes, thank you. So in the discussion on the Kaū CDP, it was ʻ
already clarified that the General Plan is the controlling policy document in the
case of a conflict. I just wanted to ask Planning, where is this stated? Is it in the
General Plan?
MS. SURPRENANT: Hi, April Surprenant of the Planning Department. Yes, it
is in the General Plan, in Chapter 15. I can point you to that if you want that first
and then I can also point it to you in the Kaū CDP.ʻ
MS. RUGGLES: Okay, no need, I believe you.
MS. SURPRENANT: Okay.
MS. RUGGLES: The second sentence says, “All statements of policy controls in
the Kaū CDP shall constitute specific policy directivesʻ, but shall not constitute
automatic amendments to existing codes or rules.” Is that anywhere in the
General Plan or CDP?
MS. SURPRENANT: No.
MS. RUGGLES: The first sentence is in the CDP but the second is not?
MS. SURPRENANT: Correct. It reflects the intent of the CDP, but it is a policy
document of directives and guidelines, but is not intended to amend codes.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
MS. RUGGLES: Okay. I’m just wondering, if this is already stated in the CDP
and the General Plan, why this is necessary and I also—I think Ms. O’Hara brings
up a really good point in that this does sort of single out the Kaū CDP and this ʻ
may not be the most appropriate way to reiterate this already existing policy. And
with that, I’ll yield. Thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Am I—is it okay if I make a comment at this
time, like everyone else has on the amendment? Can? Okay. So, the way I feel
is that this language is actually an overreaction to the Missler case. The Missler
case specifically dealt with parts of the Kona CDP which actually were
interpreted to have amended code. So in this case, the Kaū CDP was written ʻ
differently, and we were told when we had the overview by Mr. Whitmore I think,
at a prior meeting, that—and I asked that question because the Planning Director
had recommended that a few of the “shalls” in the Kaū CDP be changed to ʻ
“should” and that was in light of any misunderstandings on whether it actually
changed code by law or were meant to be “should,” as a policy.
We were told that those “shalls” had been changed to “shoulds” and that the rest
of the “shalls” that were left in the document were either in conformance with
Code language or General Plan and wouldn’t impose a problem. So if that’s still
true, which I believe it is, I don’t think this amendment is necessary. I don’t think
it belongs in this section of our Code. It does deviate from the way the rest of the
CDP’s are adopted and I think if there’s need for more clarification later, the
Council or Planning Department can take that up as a—or if it becomes an issue.
But my understanding is that this document has been vetted, that the Planning
Department is telling us there really isn’t a need to amend this bill and just to be
clear, we’re not amending the CDP within this—what Ms. Lee Loy is proposing
doesn’t amend the CDP, it amends the Code in the way that this is being adopted.
So I don’t support this amendment, I don’t think it’s that confusing, I don’t think
it’s necessary, and I don’t want us to just be overreacting because some attorneys
have some concerns. I think that we’re good to go and that’s just my—I wanted
to say that so I can continue to have discussion on the postponement though, if
there’s more on the amendment. I’m sorry, more discussion on the amendment,
Communication 351.6. I’m sorry. Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you and this is what the Sunshine Law does. We have to
have this conversation right here like this. I really want this body to consider this
and maybe even take more time to consider it because what I keep hearing is that
it’s singling out Kaū. It actually is preservingʻ—in my optics on this one is it’s
actually preserving the intent right in the Code, until other sections 15-2, 16-1,
when those start getting ripe to be amended. This is a great placeholder to
maintain that intent, and it’s really challenging for us to adopt changes to our
Code because the section in our Charter says it has to have a single purpose. So
we cannot make sweeping changes here at 16-2 and also go get Chapter 15, which
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
adopts the General Plan and all the other conversations. We can’t put it all
together. And so it’s—this one piece that then has to catch up with another piece.
So, Ms. O’Hara is right, there is some overarching language that has to happen.
But in the meantime, this is a great placeholder to maintain the will and intent of
the CDP, because this might not be the same body when that amendment comes,
which could bring sweeping changes and then change the intent because we didn’t
put in this clarifying language. That’s how I’m trying to look down the road a
little bit on this one. And if people need more time, I can support that and maybe
the motion should be along the lines of giving people more time and postponing
this amendment to the next meeting, and then everybody can go gather their
thoughts and reach out to the different departments and the community. Again,
this was done out of great respect for their work and I’m just trying to elevate that
intent right up into the Code. And if people have other optics on that, like
Mr. Chung said, we’re going to respect each other’s opinions. But that’s exactly
where I’m coming from, is elevating the intent of the CDP right into the Code
adoption. I yield.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Mr. Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Yeah, Madam Chairman, with all due respect, I’m kind of
concerned by the statements that you made that this is an overreaction and it’s just
because some attorneys have concerns. See, these attorneys—everyone seems to
be on the same page as to how this thing should be applied. It’s not like there’s
divergent types of opinions on this. If there were, yeah, maybe they have their
opinion, you got your opinion, but different positions. But I think everyone here
is of the same positions, but these attorneys now, they’re being paid big bucks and
they’re there to protect certain interests, and we all know that. But they want to
make sure that what’s being proposed here is, and the language that’s being used,
is consistent with the intent. They’re not trying to do something that’s different
from what the stated intent was. So I think it would behoove us to at least kind of
listen to what they have to say because they are attorneys after all.
It may be an overreaction, I don’t know. I have no idea because I’m not well
versed in this area of law. But I don’t think we should just summarily say
because they are—just because some attorneys have concerns that it’s an
overreaction. I think that might be a too simple of a dismissal.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Could I clarify then my—I’ll just clarify my statement. I
respect the opinion of the attorneys. I have also did some research on this and
realized that what was said in the Missler case doesn’t necessarily apply to the
Kaū CDP, that is whʻy I said that. The other thing is I did meet with Mr. Yeh for
probably an hour or two this week and I understood and I agree from where he’s
coming from, but I just disagree with it needing to be placed here on this bill. So
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
it’s not because I don’t respect their point of view and the reason why they want
to do this.
MR. CHUNG: I guess thank you for that clarification. I’m still not ready to vote
on this amendment however. I’m sorry.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay. I think I had Mr. Kanuha and then Ms. David.
MR. KANUHA: And I agree with that, what Mr. Chung stated as well. What
was brought up in the—from Ms. Garson was you know, clarifying these points
that it was with the intent of the Windward Planning Commission with the
recommended approval of the Kaū CDP. It’s justʻ—what I’m getting confused
about is—see, that’s why I’m so confused with this thing and that’s why I have
the issues. Daryn, when I asked before, the language in this amendment is not
needed because it’s already within this document, that’s the intent. The actions
were formatted that way. That it’s not going to amend—make automatic
amendments to the existing Codes or rules. With this language—so we’re
obviously not amending the CDP, we’re amending the bill, correct? So the—this
amendment wouldn’t go back to the CDP’s, is that a correct statement, for their
approval or denial or because we’re not amending the CDP?
MR. ARAI: Because we view this proposed amendment as clarifying, we don’t
view it therefore, as substantive enough that it warrants going back to like the
Steering Committee or the Planning Commission.
MR. KANUHA: Okay. Let me just, for 10 seconds, just kind of put this all
together.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Just a minute. Did you want to yield, or are you still—?
MR. KANUHA: You know what? I’ll yield at this time.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay and you want to clarify something?
MS. LEE LOY: And that’s one more thing I took into consideration when I
worked with Planning Department and Corporation Counsel, that this amendment
would not have to go back, not delay the process anymore. And like Mr. Arai
said, it’s clarifying the intent or clarifying language, so it would not be required to
go back down to Planning Commission or even back down to the Steering
Committee. That again, I gave that consideration as a backdrop when I was
putting this together. I keep reiterating it. This Kaū CDP really is the will and ʻ
the intent of community. I am trying to lift that up because that’s what’s going to
get inserted into our Code. 100 pages of the CDP is not going to be put in our
Code, it’s this one bill that will be. So I did take that into consideration when I
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
was trying to put this together. And again, I apologize for its late hour, but that’s
how much consideration I was giving it from the last time we met on it.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. David.
MS. DAVID: Thank you and I appreciate everyone’s input. Number one, I don’t
agree that this is not a non-substantive change. I look at this process, even as
benign as it seems to be, just reiterating a couple things that are already,
supposedly, included in the CDP. I think that because it differs substantially from
how we’ve been adopting CDP’s, through this one particular ordinance, and it
refers to the other CDP’s, I feel that it does single out Kaū because for some ʻ
reason, we find the need to put additional adoption language into this adopting
ordinance. And this ordinance should be treated in the same manner as all the
others were. We adopt a CDP as a whole, by reference. So in my mind, this is
what our—what we’re addressing now.
As far as the amendment, I have also talked to Planning and I have also talked
with Corporation Counsel, and I have also talked with Mr. Yeh. My impression is
that this amendment would not be necessary. So if it was the will of the Council
maybe, it is necessary, but I see this as from a legislative standpoint, whether it is
legislatively necessary and I don’t get that. And I really believe that here, while
we are in a sense protecting the interest of certain, I mean of different people or
entities, this bill will adopt something that the community spent lots of effort into
developing, and that is the interest that I want to protect, for choice of a better
word.
In having this document forward, in its current form, without any amendments,
and be consistent in how this body—this body has changed many times from the
time we adopted the first CDP, so I have great faith that regardless, if we do it the
same way, if something comes up, there is a really great process at different levels
of government that will protect everybody’s interest. I don’t see us being able to
make sure that we address everything up front because we cannot. For the
argument that Missler keeps bringing up, I don’t see how we can apply the Kona
CDP to this one. In hind sight, the Kona CDP had Code changes within it that
specifically said section such and such of the Code is amended. We have no
amendments in the Kaū CDP and I think we’ve learned from that.ʻ
So for me, I don’t believe, and I’m glad we had this discussion today because I
really feel that this amendment, although it just restates things that we all
understand it to be, I don’t believe it’s necessary. I think it can be done in another
venue that will take into account everybody’s concerns, not only the Kaū CDPʻ,
where you can look at them in totality and do something that might fix all our
concerns. I don’t see us fixing—I don’t see concerns that I need to fix or we need
to fix now with this amendment. So respectfully, I will not support the
amendment and as for time to digest this, this is first reading so since we’ve
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
already went into discussion, I think we—I don’t see any sense of postponing it
because we’re going to have to address this anyway at the next reading. So I
probably will not support or even raise the postponement. And I yield.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Are there any other comments? We’re on the
amendment. Seeing none then, I’ll go ahead and do a roll call vote on amending
the Bill 52 with the contents of Communication 351.6. Could you please call the
roll?
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend 52 with the contents of Comm. 351.6
Amend: failed by the following roll call vote:
(Failed)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Lee Loy and Richards – 3.
Noes: Council Members David, Kanuha, O’Hara,
Poindexter, Ruggles, and Acting Chair Eoff – 6.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
(Note: Mr. Chung voted “kānalua” then “aye.” Mr. Kanuha
voted “kānalua” then “no.”)
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. The amendment fails, so we’re back to
the main motion, which is to approve Bill 52 at first reading. Council Members,
is there more discussion? Mr. Kanuha.
MR. KANUHA: I absolutely support the Kaū CDPʻ, but I will state with this bill,
in the event of any conflict between the Kaū CDP and the General Plan, as ʻ
amended, the General Plan shall be controlling. All statements of policy controls
in the Kaū CDP shall constitute specific policy directives, butʻ shall not constitute
automatic amendments to existing Codes or Rules. I’m supporting this Kaū CDP ʻ
with the understanding that I support what the Planning Department said, what I
heard from the Corporation Counsel and what I fully understand that’s my
understanding of why I’m voting for this. I absolutely support the Kaū CDP and ʻ
will definitely support what the community wants to have done there, with this
understanding, which I fully understand and fully comprehend and that’s why I’m
voting for this, full support.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, Mr. Kanuha. Other comments?
Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: I’m going to ditto that I am supporting the Kaūʻ CDP with the
understanding—I just have to get it in the record. We have to get it in the record
because later on there’s going to be some interpretation, and if it’s not in the law,
I can reflect back on it was the intent to lift this up out of the Kaū CDP and put it ʻ
in the law. So I support the Kaū CDP with that understanding. Thank you.ʻ
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Ms. O’Hara.
MS. OʼHARA: I just want to say that I do support the CDP. I think the language
that’s being offered is understood, implied, and we don’t need to do an external
amendment, so I’m supporting it in its current state. Thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: I’d like to call Mr. Kamelamela up to the table please.
(Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Joseph Kamelamela came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. KAMELAMELA: Joseph Kamelamela, aloha.
MR. RICHARDS: Aloha. Thanks for coming up. You’ve heard what’s been
articulated by Councilman Kanuha and Councilwoman Lee Loy. Does that carry
the weight of law? Because as it’s been explained to me, the CDP carries the
weight of law regardless of what is stated in it, as far as “shall” or “should.” Does
that carry the weight of law? My concern again, is not the intent of the document,
but what’s going to happen because of that and I’m deeply concerned about that.
So does what they say carry the weight of law and is this truly a planning
document?
MR. KAMELAMELA: I believe it is a planning document and the statement
made by the two Council Members actually—sometimes there’s challenges to the
law and so if there’s any ambiguity, then courts could look at like what was the
discussion like? And so I hear very clearly that in terms of their understanding,
they had stated quite clearly what the intent is, which is to ensure that if there is
an ambiguity, which sometimes there is, the courts would look at what the
legislative intent is. And so having their statements would reflect that intent.
What also the courts would look at would also be the testimony that happened,
provided like by Mr. Whitmore who actually informed this body as to what they
did to ensure and to also to take into consideration the concerns of Missler and to
ensure that this is a policy document. It is meant to provide some kind of
substantive direction and how to plan for Kaū. I don’t know if that fʻully answers
your question because it’s so broad, but it’s helpful, very helpful.
MR. RICHARDS: So when you said a planning policy document, planning
policy—
MR. KAMELAMELA: Planning policy.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
MR. RICHARDS: So cut to the chase on one point concerning the quarter-mile
set back. This is a planning policy and does not change that and so it is
recommended through this and is not mandated by this? Is that a fair statement?
MR. KAMELAMELA: Okay, so I think I should provide certain kind of
comments to that. Because I heard the testimony about the policy 28, you know,
whether—well maybe I heard or read comments about policy 28, which talks
about a quarter-mile set back. And so a question has been asked as whether
passing this is a facial taking and so the courts actually look through certain things
to kind of look at that question. So the way that I understand policy 28 is this, the
policy applies to all landowners who have coastal properties, so there would be no
discriminatory action taken by this board. Also, from what I understand too,
based on data and certain kinds of assessments that was made, there’s a lot of
cultural resources. I know that I’ve walked there in 2006 and actually saw much
more than I’ve ever seen in an area, so it’s hard for people to argue that it’s
arbitrary or capricious in nature to have a policy like this.
The other thing that I noticed about policy 28 too, is that it does provide due
process to the landowners because they can provide more specific information,
because the intent of such a policy is kind of to protect and preserve the coastline.
And so yes, there’s the quarter-mile set back, but there’s some flexibility and
therefore, the landowner is given their due process rights in presenting so. So
that’s how the—that’s what makes this more of a policy, rather than a “shall,” you
know, this “shall be” the way it is. And we still have processes available because
there is a SMA (Special Management Area) process that stayed in existence to
ensure that the parties adequately present their side. Any further questions on that
issue?
MR. RICHARDS: So, in a nutshell, this is not dictating a quarter-mile set back, it
is strongly suggesting?
MR. KAMELAMELA: Yes, there is that flexibility that’s provided.
MR. RICHARDS: Actually, I’m not asking for flexibility, what I’m asking is if
it’s a strong suggestion or an actual set-back. And then you have the—
MR. KAMELAMELA: It’s a strong suggestion.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you. I yield.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Sorry, comments? Mr. Chung.
MR. CHUNG: I’m going to be supporting it today, as I have been, but I have to
echo the sentiments of Mr. Kanuha and Ms. Lee Loy, just for the record. I’m still
confused somewhat, particularly after what Joe just said because everybody keeps
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
on using the word policy. We are the policy making body, I just had to check the
County Charter one more time and although it’s not specifically said, policy is
advanced through legislation, public policy anyway. And so I still don’t quite—
I’m still very confused because we keep on using the word “policy” in the context
of this discussion. But I’ll be supporting it again today.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Ms. David.
MS. DAVID: I think just in winding down, you brought up, Mr. Chung brought
up a thing that I was thinking about too, is the plain language of the definition of
policy is to set ideas or plans that are to be used as the basis for making decisions.
And I think the community—the CDP’s are basically a tool to be used in that
manner. So thank you for reminding me, Mr. Chung. I yield.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Any other comments? I’ll just wrap it
up and—
MS. MOYER: I’m sorry, Daryn would like to speak.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Arai?
MR. ARAI: I’m sorry for interjecting and I’m really trying to be sensitive to the
comments that have been expressed today. I want to make sure that everyone
leaves this room with a clear understanding, so I’m going to really try my best to
kind of give you my perspective on things and understand, I’m not a big bucks
attorney but I’m going to really try my best. The Kaū CDP contains both policy ʻ
intent and policy controls, intent being guidelines, controls being directives or
mandates. And because it is adopted by ordinance, one could argue that those
mandates are clearly binding upon the County, upon the Planning Department.
When we apply our land use laws where there’s a Zoning Code or Subdivision
Code, it is not—we’re not siloed. There are many regulations, laws, policies, you
name it that we have to be mindful of when we’re trying to implement the
requirements of the Zoning Code and the Subdivision Codes for example. So, I
strongly believe that the Kaū CDP, because we were very deliberate in not ʻ
making specific reference to code sections or amending code sections, I firmly
believe the Kaū CDP does not amend our existing codes and laws. What it does ʻ
is it provides a series of guidelines and policy directives, which the directives
being binding, upon the department, so we can analyze both at the same time. It’s
almost as if the Kaū CDP stands alone in that we have to consider it when we ʻ
apply and analyze all the other codes and regulations that we are compelled to
administer. So I just want to make sure that and I hope I’m clear enough, but I
want to make sure that when we leave this room—I just wanted to share my
perspective, I guess that’s what I’m simply trying to say. Thank you for giving
me the opportunity.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, we really appreciate that. If there are no
more questions at this point, I’m just going to wrap it up by agreeing that this
Kaū CDP is just one of many land use planning tools that we use when making ʻ
decisions to build our communities and really appreciate the work that has gone
into this Kaū CDP, by the community and by the staff. So with that, we’ll go ʻ
ahead and take a, just a voice vote, voice vote is okay? Or I’ll go ahead and take
a roll call vote. Mr. Clerk.
Vote on Bill 52: The motion to pass Bill 52 on first reading was carried by
(Approved) the following roll call vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, O’Hara, Poindexter, Richards,
Ruggles, and Acting Chair Eoff – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None
(Note: Mr. Richards voted “kānalua” then “aye.”)
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Bill 52 moves to second reading. I think maybe we better
take a lunch break or go through this agenda. Okay, wait a minute, got different
opinions. You think we can go through this? Okay, maybe we’ll take a five
minute recess and we’ll come back and attempt to go through the rest of the
agenda. Thank you.
Recess: At 12:54 p.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 1:03 p.m.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: I’d like to call the meeting back to order. We’re ready
with the top of the agenda. Mr. Clerk, Resolution 260.
Return to Order The Acting Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business.
of Business:
ORDER OF The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of
RESOLUTIONS: business, Order of Resolutions.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Res. 260-17: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR
AGREEMENT FOR AN INDEPENDENT AUDITOR OR AUDITORS
Authorizes a five-year contract for an independent auditor or auditors to
perform the annual audit of the accounts and other evidences of financial
transactions of the County and of every County agency and executive agency.
Reference: Comm. 400
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-36
Vote on Res. 260-17: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 260-17 and adopt Finance
(Adopted) Committee Report 36. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and
carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles
and Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 261.
Res. 261-17: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN
AGREEMENT WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS
(DHHL), PURSUANT TO HAWAI‘I REVISED STATUTES 46-7, FOR THE
COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I TO RECEIVE REIMBURSEMENT FUNDS FOR
STREETLIGHT CONVERSION ON PROPERTY HELD BY THE
DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS
The agreement is for DHHL to reimburse the County $400,000 for the
conversion of streetlights on DHHL lands from low pressure sodium to light
emitting diode.
Reference: Comm. 401
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-37
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Vote on Res. 261-17: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 261-17 and adopt Finance
(Adopted) Committee Report No. 37. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and
carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles
and Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 266.
Res. 266-17: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HAWAI‘I
ISLAND UNITED WAY TO SUPPORT ITS MARKETING/BRANDING
EFFORTS
Transfers $1,500 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief
account (Council District 4); and credits to the Liquor Control, Public Programs
account.
Reference: Comm. 415
Intr. by: Ms. O’Hara
Vote on Res. 266-17: Ms. Ruggles moved to adopt Res. 266-17. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles
and Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 267.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Res. 267-17: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE BIG
ISLAND RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
TO SUPPORT THE 5TH ANNUAL HAWAI‘I ISLAND ALL NATIONS
POWWOW
Transfers $1,650 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief
account (Council District 4); and credits to the Liquor Control, Public Programs
account.
Reference: Comm. 416
Intr. by: Ms. O’Hara
Motion to Approve: Ms. Ruggles moved to adopt Res. 267-17. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion?
MS. RUGGLES: Chair?
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. Ruggles.
MS. RUGGLES: So, Ms. O’Hara wanted me to just share that she has a Native
American background and that if we look into any family tree, most of us actually
have a Native American background. And that her Great Grandmother was Lenni
Lanape Delawarian Algonquian.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Mr. Kanuha.
MR. KANUHA: I also wanted to chime in that I am, not only Native Hawaiian,
but also my mother is part Choctaw. So, I just wanted to say that and say I fully
support this resolution.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you.
MS. RUGGLES: I’d also like to add that my grandfather was half Cherokee.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you.
MS. RUGGLES: I’m in full support of this.
MR. RICHARDS: I have to weigh in here as well.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Richards.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
MR. RICHARDS: My wife and my children are Choctaw.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Chung.
MR. CHUNG: I took a class in American Indian at UH (University of Hawaiʻi).
Thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, all in favor, please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 267-17: The motion to adopt Res. 267-17 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles
and Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 268.
Res. 268-17: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE
FRIENDS OF HOKULE‘A AND HAWAI‘ILOA FOR THE “MAHALO,
HAWAI‘I SAIL” EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH IN WEST HAWAI‘I
Transfers $3,000 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief
account (Council District 6); and credits to the Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 417
Intr. by: Ms. David
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 268-17. Seconded by
Ms. Poindexter.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Comments?
MS. DAVID: Thank you. I’d just would like to ask my Council Members to
support this. This is a very great educational outreach for something that has such
a wide cultural importance for this island and for this State, so I’d appreciate your
support.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, any other comments? Ms. Lee Loy.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
MS. LEE LOY: I just want to thank Ms. David and I know on the next one,
Ms. Eoff, I did a little prodding for this money so thank you and thank you for
helping our canoe. Thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Mr. Kanuha.
MR. KANUHA: Are they coming to West Hawaiʻi?
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Yes, they are. We don’t know the exact date at this time.
MR. KANUHA: They’re trying to figure it out, right?
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Yeah.
MR. KANUHA: Yeah, that’s what my understanding was.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay. Seeing no other comments, all in favor say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 268-17: The motion to adopt Res. 268-17 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles
and Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 269.
Res. 269-17: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE
FRIENDS OF HOKULE‘A AND HAWAI‘ILOA FOR THE “MAHALO,
HAWAI‘I SAIL” EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH IN WEST HAWAI‘I
Transfers $3,000 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief
account (Council District 8); and credits to the Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 418
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff
Motion to Approve: Ms. Poindexter moved to adopt Res. 269-17. Seconded by
Ms. David.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, this is the same program that we just
discussed, so I appreciate your support. All in favor please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 269-17: The motion to adopt Res. 269-17 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles
and Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 270.
Res. 270-17: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT FOR THE RENTAL OF A PORTABLE
BATHROOM FOR BANYAN BEACH IN KONA
Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief
account (Council District 7); and credits to the Department of Public Works,
Transfer to Highway Fund account.
Reference: Comm. 419
Intr. by: Mr. Kanuha
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kanuha moved to adopt Res. 270-17. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Kanuha.
MR. KANUHA: Thank you, Madam Chair. Just real briefly—oh wait, you know
what? I have an amendment and then I can talk about it.
Motion to Amend: Mr. Kanuha moved to amend Res. 270-17 with the
contents of Comm. 419.1. Seconded by Ms. David.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Kanuha.
MR. KANUHA: Thank you. This amendment adds in a few of the words in
addition to just rent, it’s for the rental and cleaning of the ADA (Americans with
Disabilities Act) portable bathroom, which will be placed at the Banyan’s Beach
Park. I’m also adding another $2,000. The original intent was to—well with only
$2,000, they can make a contract to clean the bathroom only once a week. We’re
going to make the contract to clean it twice a week, because it’s heavily used. So
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
that’s the additional monies that I wanted to place in there. It makes it cleaner,
safer, healthier, all of the above that I don’t need to explain, but that’s the reason
for the amendment.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, great. Thank you, all of those in favor of the
amendment please say “aye.”
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Res. 270-17 with the contents of
Amend: Comm. 419.1 was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
Vote on Motion to Mr. Kanuha moved to suspend Council Rule 24 to
Suspend Council waive the holdover for the amendment of Res. 270-17.
Rules: Seconded by Ms. David and carried by the following
(Approved) voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Back to the main motion as amended. Mr. Kanuha, you
have any final statement?
MR. KANUHA: Thank you. Yes, so this bathroom is placed in the easement that
the County has access to. Banyan’s Beach isn’t currently a County park. It has
been in the works to try to be a County park, but there are some issues with that.
The last several years, the County has been maintaining, or has been providing a
bathroom on this easement for users of that area. Again, it’s a heavily used area.
Recently, because of budget concerns, the bathroom was taken away. The
community stepped in and was trying to pay for the last several months but
couldn’t do it anymore because how much it cost. And really, if we don’t have a
bathroom there, people are going to use the bathroom all over the place. It’s a
real health hazard so I wanted to try to help out the community and work with
Public Works. Mahalo Public Works for working with us to get this here. So
that’s why the needed bathroom, and hopefully, I can continue. We could only do
it for one year because of certain constraints, so hopefully next year I can
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
continue it on for another year. But I ask for your support, desperately needed
here at Banyans.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Seeing no further discussion, all in
favor say—
MS. LEE LOY: Chair?
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: I just wanted to follow up on a question. You mentioned that it’s
in an easement and the County is trying to like acquisition the park? Sorry, I—
MR. KANUHA: Sure. May I explain, Madam Chair?
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Go ahead.
MR. KANUHA: Yes, so Banyans is located between two condominiums.
There’s an easement that connects Aliʻi Drive to the surf spot. Right next to that
easement is an area, probably twice the size of this room, that is owned by one of
the condominiums. I think that area was put on the PONC (Public Access, Open
Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission) list a long time ago.
Things didn’t work out and the County did not end up getting or purchasing that.
I don’t know what happened, but it got off the table, end of discussion for that
purchase. So that’s kind of the history. There was a lot more that was going on,
but that’s kind of the current state. It’s still owned by the Bali Kai or one of those
condominiums, but the County has that access for that easement.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, because I think the PONC fund process that’s—
okay, so that’s the property? Got it. Thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you, any other questions? Seeing none, all
in favor say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 270-17: The motion to adopt Res. 270-17, as amended to Draft 2,
(Adopted) was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
Page 41
Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 270 as amended was approved. Resolution
271.
Res. 271-17: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE
TH
HONPA HONGWANJI MISSION OF HAWAI‘I FOR THE 11 ANNUAL
PARADE AND FESTIVAL FOR THE UNITED NATIONS
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE
Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief
account (Council District 1); and credits to the Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 420
Intr. by: Ms. Poindexter
Motion to Approve: Ms. Poindexter moved to adopt Res. 271-17. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. Poindexter.
Ms. POINDEXTER: You heard testimony and I guess it’s self-explanatory, just
ask for your support. Thanks..
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. All in favor say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 271-17: The motion to adopt Res. 271-17 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 271 is approved. Resolution 272.
Page 42
Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Res. 272-17: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE
TH
HĀMĀKUA HEALTH CENTER INC. FOR THE 4 ANNUAL HᾹMᾹKUA-
KOHALA HEALTH AND WELLNESS FAIR
Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account
(Council District 1); and credits to the Parks and Recreation, Administration
Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 421
Intr. by: Ms. Poindexter
Motion to Approve: Ms. Poindexter moved to adopt Res. 272-17. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion?
MS. POINDEXTER: Just heard testimony and resolution is self-explanatory, I
ask for your support. Thanks.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: All in favor say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 272-17: The motion to adopt Res. 272-17 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 272 is approved. Resolution 273.
Res. 273-17: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO KU‘IKAHI
MEDIATION CENTER FOR ITS PUNA HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION
TRAINING AND MENTORING PROGRAM
Transfers $6,000 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account
(Council District 5); and credits to the Research and Development, Hawai‘i
County Resource Center account.
Reference: Comm. 422
Intr. by: Ms. Ruggles
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Motion to Approve: Ms. Ruggles moved to adopt Res. 273-17. Seconded by
Ms. Poindexter.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Comment?
MS. RUGGLES: Yes, please, thank you. So this resolution, as one of the
testifiers mentioned, did transform from Mr. Paleka and Mr. Ilagan’s Kuʻikahi
Homeowner Conference. I attended the conference and many others attended it.
Well just to give you some background, as you may know, Puna is facing a
situation that is unique amongst the State in that we have very large subdivisions.
It consists of publicly travelled private roads that are managed by volunteers and
funded either voluntarily or involuntarily by the residents who pay road fees.
Because of this, as you know, a lot of our roads are in very poor condition. A lot
of these volunteers are sort of left on their own to manage the associations and the
funding. There are a lot of problems that come with that, things like running
meetings, accounting, transparency, participation. They lack funding and the
basic foundation and underlying issue is that these associations don’t quite have
the resources they need to function as ultimately as they can.
So the conference was very successful. I believe it was last year, except it wasn’t
tailored to each associations’ needs enough, I felt. And so when we met with
Kuʻikahi Mediation Center, Ms. O’Hara and I, we came up with this idea of
providing a more specialized program for these associations. And out of that
came this program and so we’re going to have a trained facilitator come and
provide a very specialized training to each association. They’re going to come to
meetings, they’re going to do an assessment, they’re going to read the bylaws, and
they’re going to design training for them and follow up. And with that, I’ll also
have a report. So that’s sort of the history of this resolution and I urge you to
support it. Thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. All in favor say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 273-17: The motion to adopt Res. 273-17 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 274.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Res. 274-17: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE
CONGRESS OF VISAYAN ORGANIZATIONS FOUNDATION FOR
EXPENSES RELATING TO THE 2017 FILIPINO-AMERICAN HERITAGE
MONTH CELEBRATION AND BARRIO FIESTA
Transfers $5,000 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account
(Council District 1); and credits to the Research and Development, Hawai‘i
County Resource Center account.
Reference: Comm. 423
Intr. by: Ms. Poindexter
Vote on Res. 274-17: Ms. Poindexter moved to adopt Res. 274-17. Seconded by
(Adopted) Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 275.
Res. 275-17: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE
SUCCESS FACTORY, INC., FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY,
ENGINEERING, AND MATH EDUCATION AT THE NEXTECH 3-DAY
CAMP
Transfers $2,500 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account
(Council District 3); and credits to the Liquor Control, Public Programs account.
Reference: Comm. 424
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy
Page 45
Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Vote on Res. 275-17: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 275-17. Seconded by
(Adopted) Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 276.
Res. 276-17: COMMITS TO FUNDING THE COST ITEMS AGREED UPON BY THE
EMPLOYERS AND THE UNITED PUBLIC WORKERS UNIT 01 AND
EMPLOYEES EXCLUDED FROM BARGAINING UNIT 01 FOR THE
CONTRACT PERIOD JULY 1, 2017, THROUGH JUNE 30, 2021
Cost items estimated at $11,651,117 in the four-year contract are across-the-
board increases and one-time bonuses.
Reference: Comm. 425
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 276-17. Seconded by
Ms. Poindexter.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. David.
MS. DAVID: Thank you. I believe that Kay is available in Hilo if Council
Members have questions regarding this resolution.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Who did you say was available?
MS. DAVID: Kay Oshiro.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Mr. Kanuha may have a question.
MR. KANUHA: The question is was this increase, was it set up within the
current fiscal budget of 2017-2018 with these increases? So, I don’t know if
Collins or Kay—I know usually it’s—we prepare for these negotiations, but—
good afternoon.
(Note: At this time, Finance Director Collins Tomei and Finance
Controller Kay Oshiro came forward to address the members of the
Council.)
Page 46
Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
MR. TOMEI: Good afternoon, Collins Tomei, Director of Finance.
MS. OSHIRO: Kay Oshiro, Controller for the County.
MR. TOMEI: To address the question about whether these requirements were
considered for the budget, the answer is yes, we did appropriate, I guess the
estimate for this, but keep in mind this is over a four-year period. So although
you see the $11 million number, it’s just a portion that we can budget for per year.
MR. KANUHA: For sure, and we budgeted for the first one, correct?
MR. TOMEI: Yes.
MR. KANUHA: Thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, any other questions? Seeing none, all in favor say
“aye.”
Vote on Res. 276-17: The motion to adopt Res. 276-17 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Kanuha, Lee Loy,
Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and Acting
Chair Eoff – 7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Chung and O’Hara – 2.
Excused: None
Res. 277-17: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
FOR ONE COPY MACHINE FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC
WORKS
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement for one copier to
be used by the department’s Kona Building Division, at an estimated annual cost
of $3,313.
Reference: Comm. 426
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Vote on Res. 277-17: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 277-17. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Kanuha, Lee Loy,
Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and Acting
Chair Eoff – 7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Chung and O’Hara – 2.
Excused: None
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 278.
Res. 278-17: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
FOR ONE COPY MACHINE FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC
WORKS
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement for one copier to
be used by the department’s Highways Division at its South Hilo roads baseyard,
at an estimated annual cost of $1,860.
Reference: Comm. 427
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Vote on Res. 278-17: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 278-17. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Moving to Resolution 279.
Page 48
Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Res. 279-17: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
FOR ONE COPY MACHINE FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC
WORKS
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement for one copier to
be used by the department’s Highways Division at its Hāmākua roads baseyard,
at an estimated annual cost of $1,860.
Reference: Comm. 428
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Vote on Res. 279-17: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 279-17. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 280.
Res. 280-17: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
FOR ONE COPY MACHINE FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC
WORKS
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement for one copier to
be used by the department’s Administration Division in Hilo, at an estimated
annual cost of $3,313.
Reference: Comm. 429
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Vote on Res. 280-17: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 280-17. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None
Page 49
Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Moving to Resolution 281.
Res. 281-17: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
FOR ONE MULTI-FUNCTION COPY MACHINE FOR THE FINANCE
DEPARTMENT
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement for one copier to
be used by the department’s Vehicle Registration and Licensing Division at its
Hilo office, at an estimated monthly cost of $151.
Reference: Comm. 430
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Vote on Res. 281-17: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 281-17. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 282.
Res. 282-17: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
FOUR LIGHT-DUTY UTILITY VEHICLES FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF
PARKS AND RECREATION
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement for four utility
vehicles to be used at the Hilo Municipal Golf Course, at an estimated total
monthly cost of $720. The vehicles would be used to transport employees,
supplies, and material for golf course maintenance and would become the
property of the department upon completion of the terms of the lease.
Reference: Comm. 431
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 282-17. Seconded by
Ms. Poindexter.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion?
Page 50
Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
MS. DAVID: I believe if anyone has questions, Parks and Recreation is
available. Is that Director Kamaka? If we have questions, yes. If no one has
questions, then I just ask for your support.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, no questions. All in favor say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 282-17: The motion to adopt Res. 282-17 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 283.
Res. 283-17: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
A HEAVY-DUTY UTILITY VEHICLE FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF
PARKS AND RECREATION
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement for a utility
vehicle to be used at the Hilo Municipal Golf Course, at an estimated monthly
cost of $240. The vehicle would be used to tow other equipment and haul
supplies and material for golf course maintenance, and would become the
property of the department upon completion of the terms of the lease.
Reference: Comm. 432
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Vote on Res. 283-17: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 283-17. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 284.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Res. 284-17: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A MONETARY DONATION OF
$186 TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
Donated by Polynesian Adventure Tours, LLC. Funds would be used for the
Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens.
Reference: Comm. 433
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Vote on Res. 284-17: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 284-17. Seconded by
(Adopted) Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 285.
Res. 285-17: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
FOR A GREENS MOWER FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND
RECREATION
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement for a mower to be
used at the Hilo Municipal Golf Course, at an estimated monthly cost of $770.
The mower would replace the current mower and become the property of the
department upon completion of the terms of the lease.
Reference: Comm. 434
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Vote on Res. 285-17: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 285-17. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 286.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Res. 286-17: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
FOR A FIVE GANG CONTOUR ROTARY MOWER FOR THE
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement for a mower to be
used at the Hilo Municipal Golf Course, at an estimated monthly cost of $1,158.
The mower would augment two zero-turn mowers currently in use and become
the property of the department upon completion of the terms of the lease.
Reference: Comm. 435
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Vote on Res. 286-17: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 286-17. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Poindexter was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 292.
Res. 292-17: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
OF TWO FIRE APPARATUS (FIRE TRUCKS) FOR THE HAWAI‘I FIRE
DEPARTMENT
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement for two fire
trucks, at a monthly cost of approximately $28,500. The trucks would replace
20-year old trucks at the Keauhou and Waikoloa Fire Stations.
Reference: Comm. 444
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 292-17. Seconded by
Ms. Poindexter.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion?
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, I have a question.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Richards.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
MR. RICHARDS: For Finance. Do we have Finance in the room?
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you, Director.
(Note: At this time, Finance Director Collins Tomei came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MR. TOMEI: Collins Tomei, Director of Finance.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Director. On these trucks, did I hear this is a lease
to own, and what is the interest rate on these?
MR. TOMEI: I’m going to ask Melanio from the Fire Department to come up.
(Note: At this time, Fire Department Accountant Melanio Lorenzo came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. LORENZO: Good afternoon, Council Members. Melanio Lorenzo,
Accountant for the Fire Department.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you for coming up. The question I had was, these five-
year leases, are these lease to own and what is the interest rate on these leases?
MR. LORENZO: We have a master lease with Bank of Hawaiʻi and as of the
preparation for the request for Council action, which was in early September, the
interest rate provided back then was 2.93 percent.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, and is this a lease to own?
MR. LORENZO: Yes.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you, no further questions.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Ms. David.
MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair. In fact, I think Glen Honda from the Fire
Department was supposed to be here but he was just explaining that this is about
the Honokaʻa four-wheel drive truck that just went into service. Not? Oh, the
two fire trucks? Okay. Alright. Resolution 292 says it’s a lease of two fire
trucks for the Fire Department for Keauhou and Waikoloa Fire Stations, $28,500
a month. But the two trucks would be dropped off when the two new ones will
come on so it’s going to be status quo as far as payments. And the new trucks
will take some time to be built, so won’t be ready until next year. That’s what the
message was from Glen Honda. So it’s—I get that it’s a switch. When the old
ones go, the new ones will come in and the lease payments will still be the same.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you, Ms. David. Okay, all in favor please
say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 292-17: The motion to adopt Res. 292-17 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 292 is adopted. Going now to Bills for First
Reading, Bill 63.
Bill 63: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 17-39, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2018
Increases revenues in the State Grants - Street Light/Traffic Signal Maintenance
account ($400,000); and appropriates the same to the Traffic Signals & Street
Lights account. Funds would be used to reimburse the County $400,000 for the
conversion of streetlights on lands owned by the State Department of Hawaiian
Home Lands from low pressure sodium to light emitting diode.
Reference: Comm. 402
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-38
Vote on Bill 63: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 63 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 38. Seconded by
Mr. Kanuha and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None
CHR. EOFF: Bill 64.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Bill 64: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 17-40, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE
FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2017, TO JUNE 30, 2018
Adds the Fire Department Haihai Fire Station (Kawailani Station Replacement)
project for $154,000 to the Capital Budget. Funds for this project shall be
provided from the General Obligation Bonds, Capital Projects Fund - Fund
Balance and/or Other Sources. Funds would be used to complete the
construction of the Haihai Fire Station.
Reference: Comm. 403
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-39
Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire
membership to amend, pursuant to
Section 10-6(e), Hawai‘i County Charter
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 64 on first reading and
adopt Finance Committee Report No. 39. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion? Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Explanation please. So I guess from Finance or Fire
Department.
(Note: At this time, Finance Director Collins Tomei came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, Director.
MR. TOMEI: Collins Tomei, Director of Finance. This would have been better
answered by Fire Department, but I think I can answer the question. This
$154,000 was I believe an upgrade for IT (Information Technology) items. Again
too, I don’t have the specifics for this.
MR. RICHARDS: Can we get the specifics? It’s $150,000.
MR. TOMEI: I’ll have to get back to you folks, yeah? When do you need the
information?
MR. RICHARDS: I would like have it before we vote. Can we defer this to the
end of the agenda?
MR. TOMEI: Okay, I’ll be right back.
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, we will—do we need a motion to table this?
Vote on Motion to Mr. Richards moved to table Bill 64 to the end of the
Table: agenda. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the
(Approved) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None
ACTING CHR. EOFF: We’ll take Bill 64, I mean 66.
Bill 66: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 17-39, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2018
Increases revenues in the Transfer from General Fund account ($2,000); and
appropriates the same to the Highway Maintenance Administration Other
Current Expenses account. Funds would be used for the annual rental of a
portable toilet for Banyan Beach in Kona.
Reference: Comm. 436
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 66 on first reading. Seconded
by Mr. Kanuha.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Kanuha.
MR. KANUHA: Thank you, and this is the companion bill to my resolution
because we’re putting monies into the Highway Fund. We had to change the—or
we had to amend the operating budget, which is why this bill is placed here and
which is why I’m also going to ask to amend Bill 66 with the contents of
Communication 436.1.
Motion to Amend: Mr. Kanuha moved to amend Bill 66 with the contents of
Comm. 436.1. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any more discussion on that? Seeing none, all in favor
say “aye.”
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 66 with the contents of
Amend: Comm. 436.1 was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members David, Kanuha, Lee Loy,
O’Hara, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Back to the main motion, Bill 66 as amended. Any more
discussion?
MR. KANUHA: Just ask for your approval.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, all in favor say “aye.”
Vote on Bill 66: The motion to pass Bill 66, as amended to Draft 2, on
(Adopted) first reading was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Kanuha, Lee Loy,
O’Hara, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Bill 66 as amended move to second reading. Okay,
reports.
REPORTS: The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order
of business, Reports.
PC-26 NOMINATION OF STEVEN HIRAKAMI TO THE BOARD OF APPEALS
(Comm. 405):
Requires Council
Confirmation by: October 1, 2017 (Section 13-4(l),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Vote on PC-26: Ms. David moved to adopt Planning Committee Report
(Adopted) No. 26. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Next.
PC-27 NOMINATION OF JOHN L. HETHERINGTON TO THE KAILUA
(Comm. 406): VILLAGE DESIGN COMMISSION
Requires Council
Confirmation by: October 1, 2017 (Section 13-4(l),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Vote on PC-27: Mr. Kanuha moved to adopt Planning Committee Report
(Adopted) No. 27. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Next.
PC-28 NOMINATION OF JASMINE VICTORIA CRUSAT TO THE KAILUA
(Comm. 40): VILLAGE DESIGN COMMISSION
Requires Council
Confirmation by: October 1, 2017 (Section 13-4(l),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
Vote on PC-28: Mr. Kanuha moved to adopt Planning Committee Report
(Approved) No. 28. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and was carried by
the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. EOFF: Motion carries. And I think we’re back to Bill 64, which we need
to take off the table.
Vote one Motion to Ms. Lee Loy moved to remove Bill 64 from the table.
Remove from Table: Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following
(Approved) voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: And I believe I see Director Tomei and maybe he has the
information that Mr. Richards was requesting. Or you want to ask your question
again?
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you for coming back. Question on the Haihai
construction and the $154,000, specifically, what is that for?
(Note: At this time, Fire Department Accountant Melanio Lorenzo came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. LORENZO: Good afternoon Councilman Richards, Melanio Lorenzo,
Accountant for Hawaiʻi Fire Department.
MR. RICHARDS: Yes, go ahead.
MR. LORENZO: The $154,000 is just a reappropriation of the remainder of the
th
project funds that lapsed on June 30, and we’re reappropriating it for this fiscal
year.
MR. RICHARDS: So this is not an increase, this is actually just—
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Hawaiʻi County Council-22 September 20, 2017
MR. LORENZO: No, it’s not additional money.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, so this already appropriated and it’s just a lapse or
reappropriating. Okay, thank you.
MR. LORENZO: Yes.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you very much. All in favor of approving
Bill 64 please say “aye.”
Vote on Bill 64: The motion to pass Bill 64 on first reading and adopt Finance
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 39 was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O’Hara – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: And I believe that takes care of all of our agenda items
for today.
REFERRALS FOR The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
EXECUTIVE Referrals for Executive Session.
SESSION:
(There were none.)
OTHER The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
BUSINESS: Other Business.
(There was none.)
ANNOUNCE- The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
MENTS: Announcements.
(There were none.)
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Hawai`i County Council-22 September 20, 2017
ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 1:43 p.m., Mr. Kanuha moved to adjourn the
MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and
Acting Chair Eoff— 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member O'Hara— 1.
Excused: None
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, Council Members, and we are adjourned for
today.
NOV 1 5 2017
Council Approval:
9UNTY CLERK
SM/slm
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