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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2018-05-09 2016-2018 Hawai‘i County Council th 37 Session West Hawai‘i Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokālole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i May 9, 2018 INVOCATION: Pastor Makana Delovio of New Hope Legacy gave the morning’s invocation. CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawai‘i County Council was called to order at ORDER: 9:05 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Karen Eoff, Acting Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Chair Ms. Karen Eoff, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Mr. Dru Mamo Kanuha, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Eileen O’Hara, Member (via videoconference from Hilo, came in later) Mr. Herbert M. “Tim” Richards, III, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Jennifer Ruggles, Member PLEDGE OF The Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of ALLEGIANCE: Allegiance. (At this time, Ms. David led the Council in the Pledge of Allegiance.) PETITIONS, The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Petitions, MEMORIALS, Memorials, Certificates of Merit, and Expressions of Condolence. CERTIFICATES OF MERIT, AND (There were none.) EXPRESSIONS OF CONDOLENCE: STATEMENTS The 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. Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Albert Nakagi: Bill 102, Draft 2 (Comm. 722.5), in opposition. (See Comm. 792.1) Myles Miyasato: Bill 102, Draft 2 (Comm. 722.5), in opposition. Sandra Demoruelle: Bill 142 (Comm. 913), comment; and Bill 143 (Comm. 914); comment. Richard Henderson II: Bill 102, Draft 2 (Comm. 722.5), in opposition. (representing the Hawai‘i Island Realtors) Jerry Warren: Bill 142 (Comm. 913), comment; and Bill 143 (Comm. 914), comment. ACTING CHR. EOFF: I’d like to take a few quick items. I know we should approve the minutes and then, there’s several bills that Mr. Gyotoku, is in the chambers, and has asked to take out of order. Those should be really fast, and then, after, that I would go to Bill 102. I see that the Managing Director and I believe the Mayor is in the chambers. So, if that schedule or order of things is okay with everybody I will go ahead and then after that take the rest of the items on the agenda. APPROVAL The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Approval OF MINUTES: of Minutes. Vote on Approval Ms. Poindexter moved to approve the minutes of of Minutes: July 19, 2016. Seconded by Ms. David and carried by the (Approved) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members David, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O’Hara, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and Acting Chair Eoff – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Chung – 1. Excused: None. Page 2 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Vote on Approval Ms. David moved to approve the minutes of March 28, 2018. of Minutes: Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following (Approved) voice vote: Ayes: Council Members David, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O’Hara, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and Acting Chair Eoff – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Chung – 1. Excused: None. COMMUNI-The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. (There were none.) ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Clerk, can we take, I believe it would be Bill 145, on first reading and then order of the day? There’s 128, 129, 133, 134, 35, can we just start will Bill 145? Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the of Business: following items were taken out of order: Bill 145: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 17-39, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2018 Appropriates revenues in the State Grants – Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act account ($15,000); and appropriates the same to the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act – Sector Partnership Engagements account. Funds would be used by the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board to engage with the private sector to identify employment and training needs. Reference: Comm. 916 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Waived: FC Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 145 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion or questions for Housing Administrator, Gyotoku? Seeing none, all in favor, please say “aye.” Page 3 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Vote on Bill 145: The motion to pass Bill 145 on first reading was carried by (Approved) 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: Motion carries. Bill 145 passes first reading. Bill 128. Bill 128: 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 Federal – 2017 Block Grant account ($24,362); and appropriates the same to the Administration, Planning & Fair Housing account for a total appropriation of $2,524,362. These additional funds would be used for the Office of Housing and Community Development’s Community Development Block Grant program. Reference: Comm. 841 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) First Reading: April 25, 2018 Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 128 on second and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion or questions? Seeing none, all in favor, please say “aye.” Vote on Bill 128: The motion to pass Bill 128 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: Bill 128 is adopted. Bill 129. Page 4 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Bill 129: 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 Federal Grants – Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA) account ($1.3 million); and appropriates the same to the following 2018-2019 WIOA accounts: Administration Planning ($130,000); Adult Program ($400,000); Dislocated Worker Program ($345,000); and Youth Program ($425,000). Funds would be used to assist adults, dislocated workers, and youth by providing services that will train individuals to increase employment, retention, earnings, skills, and literacy. Reference: Comm. 842 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) First Reading: April 25, 2018 Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 129 on second and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, please say “aye.” Vote on Bill 129: The motion to pass Bill 129 on second and final reading (Adopted) 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 Chung – 1. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. EOFF: We have—is that 8 ayes? MS. GOODENOW: Yes, Mr. Chung is out of the chambers. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you very much, Bill 133. Well, first of all, Bill 129 is adopted. Bill 133. Page 5 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Bill 133: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 17-39, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2018 Appropriates revenues in the Federal – 2018 Housing Trust Fund Grant account ($1,425,000); and appropriates the same to the following accounts: Kaloko Heights Affordable Housing ($1,350,000) and Office of Housing and Community Development Administration ($75,000). Funds would be used towards projects that benefit persons of extremely-low income throughout Hawai‘i Island. Reference: Comm. 852 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) First Reading: April 25, 2018 Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 133 on second and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, please say “aye.” Vote on Bill 133: The motion to pass Bill 133 on second and final reading (Adopted) 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 Chung – 1. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Bill 133 is adopted. Bill 134. Bill 134: 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 Federal – 2018 HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) ($2,375,000) and HOME Grant – Program Income ($50,000) accounts, for a total of $2,425,000; and appropriates the same to the following accounts: Kaloko Heights Affordable Housing ($1.4 million); Tenant Base Rental Assistance Program ($900,000); and Office of Housing and Community Development Administration ($125,000). Funds would be used towards projects that benefit persons of low and moderate income throughout Hawai‘i Island. Reference: Comm. 853 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) First Reading: April 25, 2018 Page 6 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 134 on second and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, please say “aye.” Vote on Bill 134: The motion to pass Bill 134 on second and final reading (Adopted) 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 Chung – 1. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Bill 134 is adopted. Bill 135. Bill 135: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 17-39, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2018 Appropriates revenues in the Federal – 2018 Block Grant ($2,428,055) and Block Grant – Program Income ($100,000) accounts, for a total of $2,528,055; and appropriates the same to the following accounts: Paradise Park Fire Station – Wildland 4x4 Brush Truck ($270,000); Kula‘imano Elderly Renovations ($850,000); Hale Maluhia Men’s Shelter – Roof and Americans with Disabilities Act Improvements ($151,742); Kiheipua Family Shelter – Roof and Kitchen Renovations ($137,753); Boys & Girls Club – Gym and Paving Improvements ($571,560); Boys & Girls Club – Van Acquisition ($47,000); and Administration, Planning & Fair Housing ($500,000). Funds would be used towards projects that benefit persons of low and moderate income throughout Hawai‘i Island. Reference: Comm. 854 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) First Reading: April 25, 2018 Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 135 on second and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say “aye.” Page 7 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Vote on Bill 135: The motion to pass Bill 135 on second and final reading (Adopted) 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 Chung – 1. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Bill 134 is adopted. Okay, I just got a note that Lee Lord is in Hilo Chambers, also, for Bill 144 and Resolution 604. So, let’s take those really quickly, too. Mr. Clerk, can you read Resolution 604. Res. 604-18: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF HAWAI‘I DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, PURSUANT TO HAWAI‘I REVISED STATUTES SECTION 46-7, FOR A GRANT TO THE OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY Funds would be used to reimburse the department for expenses incurred by the West Hawai‘i Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center project. Reference: Comm. 915 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Waived: FC Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 604-18. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion or questions for Mr. Lee Lord? No, then, all in favor, please say “aye.” Excuse me, Mr. Lord, is there another resolution or just Bill 144? (Note: At this time, Business Manager Lee Lord came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. LEE LORD: 604-18. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, that’s the one we just did. We did 604-18, so, I guess, the next one would be the companion Bill 144, correct? MR. LEE LORD: Yes, ma’am. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, may I have a motion to approve—oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Clerk? Oh, he didn’t vote? All in favor, please say “aye” for Resolution 604. Page 8 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Vote on Res. 604-18: The motion to adopt Res. 604-18 was carried by the (Adopted) 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 Chung – 1. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution is adopted. Then, Mr. Clerk, can you read Bill 144. Bill 144: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 17-39, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2018 Appropriates revenues in the State Grants – Juvenile Intake & Assessment Center account ($210,000); and appropriates the same to the Juvenile Intake & Assessment Center – State account. Funds would be used to reimburse the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney for expenses incurred by the West Hawai‘i Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center project. Reference: Comm. 915 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Waived: FC Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 144 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussions? Seeing none, all in favor, please say “aye.” Vote on Bill 144: The motion to pass Bill 144 on first reading was carried by (Approved) 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 Chung – 1. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Bill 144 will move to second reading. Okay. I think that is it, on Mr. Lee Lord? MR. LEE LORD: Yes, mahalo. Yes, that’s all for today. Page 9 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. MR. LEE LORD: Thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Council Members, I’d like to take up Bill 102, Draft 2, at this time. I think the Mayor and the Managing Director are in Hilo, so we’ll go ahead with—Mr. Clerk, can you read Bill 102, Draft 2. Bill 102 AMENDS CHAPTER 2 OF THE HAWAI‘I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 (Draft 2): EDITION, AS AMENDED) BY ADDING A NEW ARTICLE RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION SURCHARGE Establishes a one-half percent general excise and use tax surcharge to fund operating or capital costs of public transportation systems within Hawai‘i County, to be levied beginning January 1, 2019. Reference: Comm. 722.5 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Negative: FC-79 (Due to a vote of 3-ayes, 6-noes) Public Hearing: February 20, 2018 Postponed: February 21, 2018 (Note: There is a motion by Ms. David, seconded by Ms. O’Hara, to approve Bill 102, Draft 2.) ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. David, I believe, a motion on the floor already. MS. DAVID: Yes, right, and, then, I guess everyone was just provided a copy of Communication 722.83 from the Director of Finance and that is a proposed amendment, I believe, to Bill 102, Draft 2. So, at this time, I guess I’ll make a motion to amend bill number 102, draft 2, with the contents of Communication 722.83 Motion to Amend: Ms. David moved to amend Bill 102, Draft 2, with the contents of Communication 722.83. Seconded by Ms. O’Hara. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Discussion, Council Members? Is that Mr. Chung? Mr. Richards? MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. I’d like to ask Director Sako to come up to the table please? (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Council.) Page 10 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 MS. SAKO: Good morning, Deanna Sako, Director of Finance. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you, Deanna. Thanks for being here. And, just so we start the conversation with a semblance of understanding of what we’re talking about today, please explain how this whole bill ended up in the Legislature. So, exactly what we can use these funds for coming forward, if approved. MS. SAKO: Okay, so the communication does relate to Act 11, which the Governor just signed. So, that was related to the Senate Bill that—maybe it was House Bill, sorry, that went to the Legislature to extend the deadline that we have to approve the GE (General Excise) Tax by, and well they did do that and we thstst have to June 30 to get it adopted on January 1, 2019, or effective, January 1, 2019. But, the other thing that bill did was it changed what we can use if for. There had been an amendment to allow us to be part of it for transportation and part of it for other purposes, but it’s back to being 100 percent transportation, again. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, so when we say transportation, we’re talking Mass Transit, but we’re also talking roads. MS. SAKO: Yes, transportation of all kinds, roads, bikeways, mass transit, all those types of events. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you, I yield at this point. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, Council Members, questions for Ms. Sako or questions about the amendment? MS. O’HARA: I have a question? ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. O’Hara. MS. O’HARA: Yeah, Deanna, so it’s a hundred percent—they took away that two percent for potentially using on private roads open to the public, or whatever that—was? MS. SAKO: I believe so, but I’m double checking really quickly here. MS. O’HARA: Okay, because I thought I heard that was still— MS. SAKO: Okay, I’m not seeing that part of it. That two percent can be—yeah I am not seeing that two percent on the private, sorry. MS. O’HARA: Okay, just wanted to clarify. Thank you. Page 11 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 ACTING CHR. EOFF: We cannot see Ms. Sako, I’m not sure—oh, okay, we can hear you folks, but we cannot see you if the screen is frozen, so, we’ll just continue though. I believe Ms. Poindexter has a question. MS. POINDEXTER: Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. Ms. Sako, isn’t there two dates besides the June? Is it next year? st MS. SAKO: Right, so—but, if we want to adopt by January 1, 2019, then we thst have to approve by June 30. Otherwise, if it happens anywhere between July 1, stst 2018, the adoption, and March 31, 2019, it would be effective for January 1, 2020. MS. POINDEXTER: Okay, so if we decide, hypothetically, if we decide to not support this one and support for the next deadline, that will give an opportunity for maybe the State Legislatures to go in and amend that to include other expenses. Is that what you see could be a possibility? MS. SAKO: That is one possibility. We are also hopeful that if it’s adopted now, that the Legislature would go in and possibly make changes, possibly in a special session, especially with, you know, roads being inundated by lava in Puna that, you know, they may open up that, you know, what we can use these funds on for more possibilities as well. MS. POINDEXTER: Right and at this point, like you said, there is not that two percent in there for the private roads, correct? MS. SAKO: Correct. MS. POINDEXTER: Okay. So, at one point, I’d love to ask DPW (Department of Public Works), you know, if the money would come now, I mean, are they ready for all the road repairs there, which I doubt, because we don’t know, you know, what the outcome is going to be for another couple of months of how we deal with this. And I don’t think plans or anything would be ready to go and really start paving. MS. SAKO: Right, but they did have their other list of roads that we presented earlier. MS. POINDEXTER: And we had the raise in the fuel tax for that. So, my concern right now, is that all that money would go for transportation and roads, which my hopes was that it would open it up. You know, because the TAT (Transient Accommodations Tax) doesn’t look like we going to get that increase that we would be able to use some of that money for first responders, facilities, Page 12 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 our gyms, our parks, the maintenance. A lot of different expenses, so that’s a lot to think about. But, I am going to yield at this time and listen to what my other colleagues have to say. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, in Hilo, can you speak up if you’d like to comment? MR. CHUNG: Yes, I’d like to talk. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, I mean, I think this measure is doomed, quite frankly, the way it’s going. But, I’m kind of perplexed by the statements that I just heard. You know, Senator Lorraine Inouye was the Transportation Committee Chair, had authored amendments to this bill to make it more flexible; she put in the flexibility clause, she put in the two percent provision which would allow some of these monies to be used for private roads; I announced that. Everyone had that information the last time that we took this matter up. No change in any of the positions, it was still very negative towards the whole concept. And so, when it went to the Money Committee, they took it out. Why go through that process? Why go through all of that humbug if it’s going to fall upon deaf ears? They did this to address our concerns, here, to make it more palatable. So, I’m kind of very confused by the message that I’m hearing today. You know, I still favor this. There was a man, Mr. Nakaji, who came up this morning who said that he was against this, but he was for Mass Transit, he wanted to make sure that we understood that. And I really wanted to suggest to the administration, maybe you guys should put him on the Mass Transit Commission. I mean, I’m serious because if he’s in favor of Mass Transit, perhaps he will get a better perspective of, you know, the dire straits that program is in, you know, given the fact that we’re lacking the sufficient funds to move ahead. In fact, we had a gentleman yesterday who we voted for, Mr. Weatherford, who acknowledged that, yeah, it’s not good. Those weren’t his words, but he acknowledged that we need improvement, but he didn’t say this. But, the only way we’re going to substantially improve that program is if we have an infusion of money, there’s no question in my mind. Again, with regard to Mr. Nakaji, you know, he showed us an article from California about how California being the most liberal state, you know, now they are kind of in dire financial straits. This is a little bit different you know, because California had proposition 13, real estate based proposition. And what we’re trying to do here and I want everyone to understand this, is to balance our revenue stream, because right now we are top heavy reliant on real property taxes. And if last year didn’t prove that to anyone, then something is wrong because we had to raise real property taxes. Page 13 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Now, if we approve this GET (General Excise Tax), then we can have at least— I’m not saying we have to have a corresponding decrease in the revenue, but at least we can relieve some of the burden that is being placed on property owners. Because no matter what, those things are being passed along to some other people, whether they’re renters or whoever. And, it may even have a deleterious effect on our affordable housing market. So, you know, there’s a lot of things, it’s not just a matter of knee jerk reaction, heh, we don’t like higher taxes, it’s regressive. No, there’s a lot of other components to this thing and, oh, when you look at it in its totality, I believe it’s going to be better for the County if not, I wouldn’t be voting for it. Now, with regard to Mr. Miyasato’s concerns, I think they’re very valid. And I really want—and he’s with the Operating Engineers, because their concern is that, you know, you would think at first blush, you get an infusion of monies that are going to be used for transportation projects, the Operating Engineers should be jumping for joy, right? But, now I understand—I mean when you came here, that’s really the first time I listen to, you know, their concerns and they’re legitimate. And what I would suggest is, and in case you guys didn’t hear it, maybe we can provide a transcript. All I ask is for the Administration, Operating Engineers, and other Trade Unions, to talk stories, that’s all it is. Open up lines of communication and go from there. I mean, because Mr. Miyasato did leave it open for them to come and be supportive of the measure, but they just had some concerns. And I shared those concerns, they’re legitimate. And I also believe that these are concerns that can be worked out through dialogue. That’s all I have to say. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, Mr. Chung. I’d like to take a brief recess, so we can reset the screens, so—but before we do that I’ll just remind everybody that when we come back, we’ll continue the discussion to amend Bill 102, Draft 2, with the contents of Communication 722.83. So, if it’s okay, we’ll just take a—I don’t know how long it will take. Jeanette will let us know when she’s reset the video conferencing. Thank you, we’re in recess. Recess: At 10:01 a.m., the Chair called for a recess. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 10:07 a.m. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Are we ready: I’d like to call the meeting out of recess, and we’re still going to continue on with the discussion on Communication 722.83. Council Members? Go ahead, Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. I’d like to call Deanna back. I guess I have just more of a clarification question and maybe you can help me understand. Now that it’s Act 11, I understood it to mean paving of roads, transportation, and the like, but I also understood it to be increased capacity. So, if a road or bridge was Page 14 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 improved it would actually increase a carrying capacity from a one-lane bridge to a two-lane bridge or a two-lane bridge with enhanced bike paths. Is that correct, still? (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Council.) MS. SAKO: So, now it goes back to the original language that was in the original bill. So, I didn’t remember it being increased capacity, I just remember it being, you know, roads, transportation, paths, transit systems; those types of things. So, maybe if you could show me what you’re looking at, I might better be able to answer. MS. LEE LOY: And, then, I think this is more of a procedural question and it’s probably not for you, Deanna, but now that these amendments have come forward, are they considered substantive changes that would require us to go back through a public hearing process? MS. SAKO: My understanding was that the way it ended up, being that they went back to the original language that’s in Draft 2, right now. And because it’s just the authority that changed from the Act 1 of the special session to Act 11 of the regular 2018 session that we would not. But, we can confirm that if Corporation Counsel is in Kona. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Kamelamela, did you have a comment? In response to the question Ms. Lee Loy is questioning if amending this bill would require us to go to a public hearing? (Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Joseph Kamelamela came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. KAMELAMELA: Joseph Kamelamela, Corp. Counsel. Good morning, Chair and members of the County Council. No, because there’s really no change. The only thing that got changed was the date and that’s something that was anticipated or thought of by the Council before, too, so. It’s essentially the same request to be used for transportation only. The other one that people was referring to had involved, you know, six percent being used for transportation, two percent for private roads, and if that had happened, yeah, we would have to do another bill and then, start a whole new process. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Kamelamela. MR. KAMELAMELA: You’re welcome. Page 15 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 MS. LEE LOY: You know, I agree with Mr. Chung and I think putting us in the best position was and continues to be my goal. But, I did hear some compelling feedback today from the realtors, from Operating Engineers regarding a list of projects, how the funds would be used; there’s the outstanding Mass Transit audit that I think we have to put some fair box collection piece in front of rebuilding that system. And the bottom line is, I voted kānalua yes because I asked for a plan and we continued to not see a plan that I think if we attached it to this bill, just as a framework, there would be a lot more buy in from other members of the Council. I don’t think it’s hard to ask for that framework. One, to be accountable to the projects getting complete and to provide a level of transparency, which is something Mayor Kim has spoken about from day one. So, I’m going to yield at this time, but maybe the administration should seriously consider ripening this piece of legislation to address the issues that we heard from the very beginning and here we are months later still with some fuzzy words on a paper and no project list; no accountability on where these monies are going. And I heard Mr. Henderson loud and clear. It’s about supplanting money to move money from one account to another account and that is the major concern for me, which, then, dovetails into the dialing back of fuel tax, the dialing back of real property tax, which some of our other Council Members have concerns about. We keep chasing the TAT (Transient Accommodations Tax) and we’re not getting anywhere. We got to control what we can control, provide accountability and transparency, and maybe at that point we’ll have a bigger buy in from the Council. I yield. MS. SAKO: Madam Chair, may I respond? ACTING CHR. EOFF: Go ahead, Ms. Sako. MS. SAKO: So, back in—was it March? I honestly don’t remember. We did pass out a communication at the meeting and maybe we didn’t label it plan, our— section we did on General Excise Tax (GET), Surcharge and Mass Transit Financial Plan and at that point it was to add in the expenditures from the Mass Transit Master Plan which actually hasn’t been finalized but at the draft we had at the time. As well as we listed five major road projects at the bottom that would be the first priority, because the fuel tax is going for the local area paving to the small road projects no problem. But, GET would be used for the larger projects, such as Ane Keohokālole Phase III-Hinalani to Kaiminani, Henry Street-Palani Road to Queen Kaʻahumanu, Kuakini Phase II-lower Waiānuenue Avenue and upper Waiānuenue Avenue. These would be more reconstruction projects, not just repaving. So, you know, digging it out, redoing it. So, the price tag on these, just of those ones I added or talked about adds up to nearly a hundred and fifty million dollars. In addition, the plan for 2019 and that Mass Transit Plan added up to about $7.4 million and $8.3 million in 2020. That Page 16 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 was when we thought we were getting only 25 percent max per year for the GE tax. Subsequent to that, the State has increased those projections but, there is still a lot to do. I conquer that, you know, the audit is still to come before you guys. I don’t think it’s been agendized yet, but, you know, there are things like fare boxes and things like that. We have a new Transit Administrator who is working very hard to get that system up and running, we have more buses on the road today than we did a couple months ago, she knows what she’s looking at, she knows we need the fare box system, but we don’t want to put it in broken down buses either. You know, we want to do it in the new buses that are going to be around for time to come. So, I think we did present a plan. I’m sorry if we didn’t attach it to the bill or we didn’t make it clear but, you know, I think the community and Council were there that day when we passed it out. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, and thank you, Ms. Sako. I think—but at that time, we were looking at a $25 million GE revenue and now we understand it to be anywhere between $30 and $50. And so, again, it’s still a moving target. And you’re absolutely right, you did present that, but some of that information is now stale and I think there is an opportunity here to create that framework, create what the public is asking for, is some accountability that the monies will be used for projects and not to supplant other areas of the funds. MS. SAKO: I think the way the bill is written right now, it can only be used for transportation. I mean, there is no option. You know, that language was taken out by the State Legislature, so this is the only thing we can use it for. And not that it’s my—never mind—I will just—thank you. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Deanna. I yield. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Is there anyone else in Hilo? Oh, Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, I’d like to ask some questions but if someone’s ahead of me that’s fine. ACTING CHR. EOFF: I don’t have anyone ahead of you, I think, but I can’t tell we’re in Hilo. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, so we’re still on the amendment? I have some questions concerning the bill in the finances going forward. So, do we want to finish on the amendment and then I can come back and ask those questions? Either way you want to do it, Chair. ACTING CHR. EOFF: It’s up to you if you can relate your questioning to this amendment then you can go ahead. Page 17 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 MR. RICHARDS: It all has to do with the finances so, a little latitude. Director, I think Councilwoman Lee Loy raised the question, and we’re talking from 25 million to 40 million. A little bit of a moving target. The question I have for you is assuming we pass this, we have a proposed balanced budget before us of about 518 and this would increase revenues. Those revenues, is there account that these go into that are, I don’t want to say sequestered, per say, but they are accounted for, but they are not actually budgeted for. So, they would be accumulating a certain account but not budgeted anywhere. MS. SAKO: Right. So, because the Legislation hasn’t passed, we didn’t include it in the proposed budget. However, if this bill were to pass, we would come in with a proposed amendment or you know, Council could propose an amendment. But, we do have some thoughts on where the money could be best used. You know, especially now with the lava flowing in Puna, there’s a lot of things, probably, we might want to change in the budget as it was presented to Council. So, this might not be the only amendment, but we could do that and we’re still working with Corporation Counsel if we would put it in the Highway Fund as a separate revenue source or create a separate fund. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, but my question is, the funds accumulate. We’re not talking about amending it. Just because we have the funds doesn’t mean we need to spend them right away. My point is if we approve this, is there an account—I assume there is a line item somewhere that these funds would accrue until such times that we have proved spending towards some specific project. MS. SAKO: Okay, so, yes. First of all, the funds wouldn’t start coming in until January 1, 2019, but, yes, we can put it in a bank account. But, nothing gets to be spent unless it’s appropriated. MR. RICHARDS: Correct. MS. SAKO: So, at some point, we would need to come in to amend the budget. MR. RICHARDS: Correct. So, if we pass this and we pass the budgeted— whatever 515 and we start accruing and be half a year for our fiscal. So, let’s just say for sake of argument we have 20 million dollars come in between January and July 1, 2019, that 20 million is unappropriated. So, thereby, it’s being retained in the County until, such time as, Council passes it, where would that money be? MS. SAKO: It would either go into Highway Fund balance or a new fund balance. MR. RICHARDS: So, do we need to create a new line or is there already a metric set up to deal with that? Page 18 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 MS. SAKO: We can create a revenue account at any time. We can’t necessarily create an expenditure account without a budget amendment and appropriation. MR. RICHARDS: Correct. So, I’m not worried about the spending side. MS. SAKO: I haven’t created the revenue account yet is what I’m saying but, yes, that’s easy to do. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you. I yield at this time. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Council Members, I’d like to extend latitude on this discussion because it really all relates as well to the bill. And so, we can continue this discussion on the amendment with whoever is next. Is there someone in Hilo that had their light on? MR. CHUNG: Madam Chairman? ACTING CHR. EOFF: Yes. MR. CHUNG: This isn’t really a question or a matter of discussion. I just wanted to know—because I don’t think this thing is going to pass today. I mean, I’m just wondering if we need the Mayor over here because, quite frankly, we got more important things. And, you know, we could convey all of our concerns to Ms. Sako, so I’m just wondering what’s the pleasure of this? ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, can we ask the Mayor if he would like to come forward at this time? Thank you. (Note: At this time, Mayor Harry Kim came forward to address the members of the Council.) MAYOR KIM: Thank you very much, Council. You know, my mind is on several things right now and sitting there Will Okabe showed me information that Halemaʻumaʻu just had an ash explosion. This morning’s briefing on Halemaʻumaʻu was that the Halemaʻumaʻu is totally dry. I think all of us know, if you had newspaper from maybe two or three weeks ago it was an exciting time because the lava was going over to the rim. So, being absolutely dry means a drop of 800 feet or more. The consequence of that kind of thing just depends on how far it drops and the result of salt water or fresh water intrusion that causes explosions. The only thing I’m elaborating here is how very, very fluid everything is today. And, we have a lot, thousands of people that are having a very, very difficult time today for all different reasons of the eruption. I think some of you know, especially Ms. O’Hara because of your area, they are very concerned of the Page 19 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 geothermal, the public I mean. I don’t think I’m letting the cat out of the bag because I was told that by Ms. Lauder. She knows about it; that the Governor is writing an additional proclamation of emergency asking for and giving the County Government of Hawai‘i authority to take over the mitigation and preparedness plans of PGV (Puna Geothermal Venture). I just produced two things of fluidity of what is happening to the people of Puna that is having such a difficult time. I think we have a tremendous team. I’ve talked to the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) representative last night from New York that just came in, and I think your Hawai‘i County Civil Defense organization made up of Federal, State, County, the private sector is the best in the nation bar none. I say that openly to you and I say it openly to the people of this island; bar none. So, it’s working together to address and mitigate as much as best as possible. I’ll be happy to answer any questions on that if you want, or I can go directly to the GE tax? I don’t know, is Mr. Henderson behind me? Did he leave? You know, he and I go so far back. I don’t want to say how far back we go. I think I’m older than him, but that’s okay. Everything he says about the GET tax is right in regards to where he comes from with taxes. I want to put this a little bit in perspective. Right now our sole source of revenues to do what we do comes from, primarily, property tax. I wrote testimonies very disturbed at the Department of Education, wanted to see it again, add a surcharge to take away some of that authority. And I wrote very strongly how bad that is. I mean, you know, it’s more than just bad. It should not even be considered. Right now in round numbers, and Deanna is behind me and she’ll correct me when I make mistakes, but it’s roughly, what, 72 to 75 percent of our total revenues come from this one source. Kauaʻi crossed that, and they are about 85 percent sole source property tax. I think it’s bad for any jurisdiction to rely on one source of anything, whether it be airlines or property tax, for your total source of dependency. Everything Mr. Henderson said about where the money comes from is absolutely right. This is where I’ll differ from him. I think, Mr. Chung, you and I have had private talks and that I would trust you know what I’m talking about. I consider that to be the most important thing that we work on. I hear the questions from Ms. Lee Loy and Mr. Henderson in regards to a trust of us, where the money is going, questions on appropriations, switching accounts, and those things. I can talk to doomsday, but it would be meaningless. But we would violate your trust. But I think you know the system. The system is this, on the money we come to you. We come to you as our authority on how we want to spend this money. We come to you in the system that requires a public hearing, we come to you knowing that anytime I want to switch an account from Page 20 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 this or that, we have to come back to you. The system is very transparent. It provides for transparency. All I commit to is 100 percent following the rules and regulations that govern all of us. Prior to coming up to you, members of the Council, and going back to Mr. Henderson, Mr. Henderson, those are just words so I would say to you and all members of this Council and the community, check this Administration’s record of what we did with every dollar we spent from the years 2000 to 2008, and now the year, one month of 2016 and all of 2017 in our proposed budget. Check it out. I think you’ll be proud of your government. There are some of you that were part of it. We created the Rainy Day Fund, we didn’t just spend it. That’s the biggest misconception of what we presented. A balanced budget means simply this: the people responsible for making a projected budget gives it to us, we take that figure, we look at all the expenses, then we present how we’re going to spend that money. Like last year, we made the decision that just we need to get more money and raise it to meet expenses that has to be met, whether it be collective bargaining, certain kinds of repairs, et cetera. And you did the very unpopular thing of raising not only the property tax, but the fuel tax. Sticking to the fuel tax, I think you know yes, that’s more money but all it did was go from maintenance, repaving and repair of roads from 60 years to 30 years. Every person on this island knows that this is very, very little improvement that we made, but we’re just trying to keep up and we’re not going to do it with the ongoing. And you were asked to do a very unpopular thing, one week after the property tax, raise the fuel tax. We knew the position we put you in, the difficulty of that. And you did that. But we made no pretense at the time what it would do. There’s no catch up here. There is no catch up in that kind of race. On the GET, Mr. Henderson, I commit to you and all members of this island simply, we committed to you the Council last time. I think you know that, on this GET, asking you to pass it. We will work with you hand-in-hand on your priorities. This just gives us an opportunity to catch up. I’m very disappointed and I did call the Chairs of the House and the Senate prior to the Conference Committee meeting on that. I was assured that there would be problem in regards to 60-40. I was unfortunately in the hospital at the time when it passed. Very surprised, very disappointed my first day back. The following Monday I called both leaders, “What happened?” The explanation was not relevant, but it did happen. I will continue to pursue that. But I want you to understand where the most influential position for both House and Senate coming tomorrow, talking about a special session to see if they can help us out. I will ask them on Act 11, please reconsider and give us back the 60-40, because of money needed for other areas as well. Page 21 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 I think you know, we’ve said it often enough, in regards to priorities of police, every one of your districts, every one of our districts on this island asking for more police. We found the money in these hard times of this present year, of giving the police $600,000 to try to replace some of their vehicles, when all of them should be replaced. This is what we’ve been doing for so long. Look at the Parks Maintenance, Road Maintenance. Look at what happened to our transit. I take full responsibility from December 5, 2016, until I leave. The responsibility to come to you for a program, as Ms. Lee Loy has asked for justifiably, in regards to how you’re going to spend the money. The system is a built-in check on this Administration on how we will spend every dollar of it. This will give us an opportunity if we can get them to go back to the 60-40, and I’m very confident in that now for next year, to give us another major source of revenue for our General Fund besides property tax. In round numbers, and I think it’s going to be more because of the way of tourism, that will account from what I understand, 25 percent of the whole. That’s a gift. We’re talking about $50 million plus a year. That will give us an opportunity to catch up instead of just maintaining. I promise you, the members of the Council, I will hold true to what I committed to you, all of that money that we will propose will come to you for a proposal of how we spend the money. There will be 1,000 percent transparency on every dollar. And in closing, I ask you to check our track record. We came in a very difficult time in 2000-2008. And from the blessing of a good economy in the second term, we were able to create the Rainy Day Fund. We were able to put millions of dollars when not required in to GASB (General Accounting Standards Board) payment. We put money into the Emergency Fund, which we’re going to use now. There’s no problem to me in promising opening it to Mr. Henderson and members of this island how we will spend that money. The issue here is this gives us an opportunity to catch up on something that will not be caught up on just property tax. Thank you very much. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Council Members, do you have any questions for the Mayor? MR. CHUNG: Yeah. And you know, again I asked for that courtesy so that the Mayor could go on his way and attend to much more important business. But I just have one request, and you were here when I stated it. The Operating Engineers have some concerns, and I think it’s shared by at least—more than a few of us. If you could just open up discussions with them and try to see what their concerns are. I’m sure both sides can reach a meeting of the mind. If you could extend that courtesy. That’s all I ask. MAYOR KIM: It’s guaranteed, absolutely. It will be done. And to others as well. Page 22 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 MR. CHUNG: Thank you. MAYOR KIM: And I hope you’re wrong on the tax, that you said it would not pass. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any other questions for Mayor? MS. LEE LOY: Yes. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. One other piece of legislation that passed this year was the Constitutional amendment, and I was wondering if you had some idea how that’s actually going to impact our real property tax budget, because I heard you say we have just one, well, two sources, revenue sources. But with this Constitutional amendment, I have a bigger concern on how that actually begins to erode one revenue source that we have been in control of for a very long time. If you could share that? Thank you. MAYOR KIM: First of all, I was presented more than one testimony against it. I think for what I read, all of the bill, that there’s so many loose ends on how it’s going to be implemented, that they’ve got some work to do. I’m not an expert in that area. All I know is we’ll fight it all the way. There are things that they have to address. I was very surprised, but not surprised when almost unanimously it passed. Then when I looked at it, not surprised in this sense, it’s no skin off their back, just throw it back to the County for more revenues for a State function. But we will keep up with it, Ms. Lee Loy, in regards to opportunity for input, because there will be. And we’ll continue, the County Administration, I think most of you are in opposition to this, and we’ll see what we get. I’m confident that we present a very open and clear picture to the counties of what this means to the county governments. Because I’ve talked to all three mayors; all three mayors oppose it very strongly, as us. MS. LEE LOY: Just a follow up. Do we have any crystal ball idea of what that number is, what percentage? Maybe Deanna can help with a response. (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Council.) MS. SAKO: I happened to grab the wrong piece of paper when I came down, but it’s the right piece of paper for this question. The proposed ballot language is, “Shall the Legislature be authorized to establish as provided by law a surcharge on an investment real property to be used to support public education,” and nowhere did they define “investment real property.” So we don’t know what that Page 23 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 is. They have said that it would be properties over $1 million. They have said certain amounts and rates. But you know, the Legislature has made promises and said things before, and that’s not always what passes. Can I sit here and say none of us here will be impacted because it’s meant to be investment? No, I can’t. I mean, it could be anything. So we don’t know what they’re going to do. I think that’s what’s scary to me. I’ve heard rates of $7 per thousand, which you know, we charge $11-some right now on our residential property. That would nearly double that for some people who already think they pay too much in that category. So I believe it would limit our ability to continue to raise taxes. Be it looking to the future, yes, we balanced the fiscal year ’19 budget, but the fiscal year ’20 budget when ERS (Employee Retirement System) goes five percentage points for police and firemen, how are we going to balance the budget then? So we’ve been trying to be able to diversify our revenues. Yes, GE tax is not going to be used for the General Fund. It’s going to be used for transportation right now. But we need to have other sources of revenue, because otherwise our real property tax taxpayers are going to have to carry the burden. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Thank you, Deanna. Thank you, Mayor. I yield. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay. Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Ms. O’Hara. MS. OʼHARA: Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Off the top of your head, can you identify how much in the proposed 2019 budget we’re going to be subsidizing Highways and Mass Transit from our General Fund? MS. SAKO: Right now, there’s a little over $6 million in the General Fund budget for Mass Transit; however, part of that is grant money. So if you take that out, I believe it’s between $4 and $4.5 million. There is no subsidy to Highways. Only to transit. MS. OʼHARA: And without the subsidy, additional subsidy to Highways, are repaving schedule remains every 69 years rather than the ideal of 30 to 40? MS. SAKO: My understanding is they did get it down. They were aggressively paving, then lava came. No offense, it just redirects your priorities, you know. So now it’s on public safety. It’s keeping people clear. So our Highways guys have been refocused. They’re still doing work around town, but you know, definitely a big group of them are focused on lava. So can I say they’re going to stick with their schedule the rest of the year? No, I can’t guarantee it. Definitely weather permitted, but they have definitely made a lot of progress just with even the first year’s increase. So I believe by the time we get the third year increment in, then they should be down to that 30 year or below. Page 24 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 MS. OʼHARA: So in the transportation element of County Government, the agencies that will suffer the most is Mass Transit. MS. SAKO: Yes. Going forward? MS. OʼHARA: Yeah. MS. SAKO: Yeah. MS. OʼHARA: Am I not right that we can access additional funds, State and perhaps, I know we’re not—we haven’t received a green light from the feds and that may take awhile, but aren’t we potentially going to receive some funding to compensate for the emergency activities out there by DPW (Department of Public Works)? They’re doing a great job, by the way. MS. SAKO: They are, and we do hope that, like in disasters past, that FEMA will come through for us. We are trying to be very careful. We hear rumors that other jurisdictions are only getting 13 percent reimbursement because the FEMA rules have changed so much and become so stringent. So you know, I’d like to think we’re better than that, and that we’re going to try to follow all of their rules. But they change on a regular basis. So while yes, we hope that there will be a federal declaration, both State and federal help. It’s not just for us, it’s also for the residents. So you know, there’s a lot going on and there’s a lot of moving parts right now. I think the unknown length of this one is also difficult to tell right now. MS. OʼHARA: Well I do know the only project that was planned for this year with the additional fuel tax monies, is actually on the emergency route that we’re prepping right now, and that was the one mile from four corners to the end of the dirt road that we know as Beach Road. I’ve driven it many, many times in the last week, and it is very rough. I know that will get paved, but there is need for other improvements in the area. Our roads in that area are totally deficient to handle the traffic they’re being asked to handle right now. So this is really critical, and we don’t know. We don’t know where things are going to go. MS. SAKO: I mean, we don’t know, we all hope and pray that the people impacted, that this will stop quickly. But it’s that unknown nature and like you said, how heavily traveled those roads are going to be. They were built for emergencies in 2014. If it’s going to continue to be a daily basis, then those probably need to be improved even more. MS. OʼHARA: Yeah, I’m not talking about the emergency roads we developed in 2014, what I’m talking about is preexisting, really small, windy, curvy blind hill roads that are being used and driven on way too fast. I just keep trying to get Page 25 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 people to slow down. For that matter, people need to know that Pahoa town is alive and well. Please come in. Please spend some money in Pahoa Town. They’re suffering down there. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Any other comments from Hilo right now, or questions? Here in Kona, Council Members? I think, Mayor, of you need to go, we’re probably going to—or you can stay, but we’re going to be continuing the discussion. Thank you very much for your statements, and actually all the work that you have to do right now to take care of the people affected by this lava flow. So thank you very, very much. MAYOR KIM: Members of the Council, Madam Chair, thank you for this time. Appreciate it. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, Council Members, back to the discussion on this proposed amendment. Any comments or questions? I have a question for Ms. Sako. So if I understand correctly, the new Act 11 offers us an opportunity to extend the deadline for making a decision as to whether or not we want to raise a GET surcharge, is that correct? MS. SAKO: Yeah, so the old deadline based on the language we have in the bill stth was March 31. Now it’s June 30 if we want the same implementation date of st January 1, 2019, or it’s also extended to March 31, 2019. But then the tax wouldn’t be effective until January 1, 2020. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, what was the second deadline if we don’t do it by the June 20, 2018? st MS. SAKO: March 31, 2019. ACTING CHR. EOFF: If we were to take that route, would a new bill come forward to us? Because I’m thinking if we put this off, the Legislature may make some of the adjustments during either what the Mayor said could happen during a special session or in the future. Would that give us time to bring forward a new bill which also during that time we could better know where were at financially with all of the different moving parts that we have right now? I know you did submit a balanced budget for now. Could we work with that, provide more information to the constituency over the next several months as to where we’re headed, and better assess our real property tax revenues in the coming year as well before we actually decide yes or no on this surcharge? MS. SAKO: I mean yes, it’s a possibility, but there’s two schools of thought. One, for the people who really want it to be like a 60-40 split, like have that happen in that Legislature bill. One school of thought says that if we adopt it and we’re actually collecting the GE tax, that the Legislature may take what we want Page 26 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 and our wishes more seriously because we actually adopted it. I’m not a true politician and I don’t know what’s really right. But that’s one school of thought is that if we were to adopt it, we would have more weight with the Legislature in terms of amending the use. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, I think that kind of answers my question. But I guess what I was getting at is would postponing adopting it give us as a County a chance to assess our needs better and produce a plan going forward that actually could be distributed to all the constituency and we see where we’re at with the Mass Transit, how far we can go using the fuel tax and the monies we have currently in this balanced budget to start making progress with Mass Transit, et cetera; and then we would still have an opportunity at a future date to look again at adopting a surcharge. MS. SAKO: The Council can do as it wishes. I think the Administration, including the Mayor, has made his point clear, and the Council can choose to do what they wish, yes. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you, Deanna. Any other questions before we vote on this amendment? Ms. Ruggles. MS. RUGGLES: Thank you. I just have a comment. I just wanted to comment on some of the discussion earlier about the idea of decreasing property taxes and increasing the GE tax, as if increasing the GE tax and then decreasing the property tax somehow offsets the impact of the general excise on the public. This is concerning to me, because the idea is that we would rather tax food and medicine and goods, basic goods that people need for survival as opposed to taxing properties like hotel and resort, commercial/industrial, second homes and assets. So when we balance taxing food and medicine with property, which is an asset, that is concerning, because we’re hurting people who have less in exchange for helping those who have more. So this is concerning to me, and I just wanted to express that I do not support that idea. I think it is highly regressive. More regressive than just increasing the GE tax. It’s going to hurt those who can least afford it the most. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, Ms. Ruggles. MS. SAKO: Madam Chair, can I just clarify one thing? ACTING CHR. EOFF: Sure. Page 27 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 MS. SAKO: One of the things is that we did learn subsequent to some of the discussion that prescription drugs are not subject to the general excise tax. It may have been even me who kind of misled people on that, so I just wanted to clarify that. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Council Members, any other comments? I guess we want to go to the vote on amending Bill 201, Draft 2, with Communication 722.83. Mr. Clerk, can you do a roll call? Vote on Amendment: The motion to amend Bill 201, Draft 2, with the contents of (Approved) Comm. 722.83 was carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O’Hara, Poindexter, Richards, Ruggles, and Acting Chair Eoff – 8. Noes: Council Members David and Ruggles – 2. Absent: None. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, now we can discuss the Bill 102 as amended, which puts in the correct Act number and extends the deadline for adoption. Is there discussion, Council Members, on Bill 102 as amended with this communication? Ms. O’Hara. MS. O’HARA: I’m going to yield to Mr. Richards. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Okay, so we’re back with the GE tax, and so as we go forward, interesting that the conversation was teed up with Council Woman Ruggles. I have legislation coming forward that proposed reducing real property as well as the fuel tax, to offset an impact of the GE. If we look at the total dollars coming forward, I disagree with her in the sense that with the GE, we will cast a bigger net. It’s been articulated quite well by several Council Members— ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Richards? MR. RICHARDS: Yes? ACTING CHR. EOFF: I have a point of order here. Just a second. I think there was some concern that you can’t talk about an upcoming piece of legislation, but if you go back to just talking about the bill, we’ll be fine. MR. RICHARDS: I thought I was. Page 28 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, well, I don’t know. You mentioned something about a future piece of legislation. MR. RICHARDS: Correct. If we offset—so how do we discuss this, Chair? I’m seeking direction. ACTING CHR. EOFF: I’m going to defer to the Clerk. I’m not sure how exactly how to— MR. HENRICKS: Not my decision to make obviously. It’s the Council’s decision. But perhaps if the discussion is broad and doesn’t mention specific legislation that may come forward as opposed to just a general discussion that introduces ideas, that might be more palatable to the rest of the Council. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, reign me back if I am not general enough. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Alright. MR. RICHARDS: The intention of this group is to seek the finances in a fair method across our County. One of the concerns that’s been articulated is that too much of our—or not too much, but a large portion of our funding for our County comes from real property. Because of that, we are sensitive to changes in that funding. Having a more broad portfolio of funding is in the County’s best interest. Generally speaking I don’t think anybody supports tax increases because of what we’ve been through last year with real property and fuel. Looking to the future, estimates of a proposed GE surcharge of a half percent would bring to the County somewhere in between $20 and $40 million from best estimates. Of that, and again looking at the numbers it’s estimated at probably somewhere around 50 percent of that, 40 to 50 percent of that would actually be paid for by our visitor industry. If we were able to have offsets in our tax structure for our constituency that offset the impact of increase in GE while seeing a decrease in other tax structures, I think that would be palatable, and I know it would be palatable to the constituency I have talked to, my constituency. So looking forward to the future, if we were to accept this realizing it would be better for the County because we’re actually collecting the revenues from people outside our County in addition to the people within our County, it will actually increase our general revenues, able to better afford the expenses that we see before us, but not taxing our own constituency as much. We’ll actually net-net on that one. So that was about as general as I can be. I will yield at this point. Page 29 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Ms. O’Hara, I’m going to take Ms. Ruggles next, then I’ll come back to Ms. O’Hara. MS. RUGGLES: Thank you, Chair. I appreciate the idea and understand the desire of wanting to tax visitors over residents and I think that’s a good idea. However, to say that we’re reducing property taxes offsets the impact of the GE tax is based on the assumption that those paying the GE tax actually own property and will actually feel the benefit of having a property decrease. However, everyone pays the GE tax, not everyone pays property taxes. Generally those that don’t pay property taxes don’t have property because they can’t afford property. So that offset goes to those who are paying the GE tax when they go to the store to buy those basic necessities. So if we wanted to tax visitors, I believe that we could raise the taxes on hotel and resorts. As far as the concern about wanting to diversify our sources of income, I also don’t understand what the concern is with continuing to use the real property tax. We do have other sources of income, and like I said, we’re relying on an act that, as opposed to what people need to survive. So with that I’ll yield. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Ms. O’Hara. MS. OʼHARA: Thank you. Thank you, Chair. I just need to respond to that last comment. Albeit not everyone is a property owner, but everybody needs shelter and those that are not absolutely homeless usually pay rent. When there is property tax increases, those property tax increases are passed on to the renters. So everybody feels it. Everybody feels it. No, raising your property taxes alone is never going to get us to a healthy economy here on the Big Island. We need to look across all sources of revenue. If we were to adopt the GE tax increase for transportation needs only, we would be able to invest in a reliable and very much needed bus services. What we have now is a joke and we’ve all agreed to that. We will not be able to do those investments with the current budget, without additional monies. I’ve argued this all along. There is offset for those who don’t own property. We could reduce fuel tax if we increase the GE tax. There are ways to offset this if we think smartly and use our tax bases appropriately. A half percent increase is going to cost the average household approximately $10 more a month. Everyone that I talked to in Puna, and some who didn’t agree with this at first, have now since agreed, say that would be of benefit to my district. It would be a benefit to the entire island. If you’re going to rely on property taxes, I’ve got to bring around the point that we’re losing property right now. We’ve lost 36 homes and the property values in the Puna District are going to plummet once again just as they did after the 2014 event. We’ve lost insurance, people will not be able to buy and sell. This is not a positive for a district that is probably one of the poorest in the state. Page 30 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 So we need to help our people. We need money to help our people. I am going to propose that we postpone this bill until the second Council meeting in August. I’m sensing that we will not have the support to pass it today and I want to keep it on the table for consideration as things develop. If we have a special session of the Legislature that may bring us more information. We need to see where Pele goes in Puna. That’s going to have an impact on our decisions. So I want to give it enough time that we have new information. So I’m moving to postpone this until the second meeting in August. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Do I have a second? Motion to Postpone: Ms. O’Hara moved to postpone Bill 102, Draft 2 as amended to August 22, 2018. Seconded by Mr. Chung. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Just for discussion? MR. CHUNG: Yeah, for discussion. I don’t know what moving it up two months is going to do. I’m in favor of the postponement. I think this needs a thorough vetting. We’ve been trying our best to do it. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Excuse me, Mr. Chung. I just need to—excuse me. I just need to tell the Clerk that there was a motion by Ms. O’Hara and a second by nd Mr. Chung to postpone Bill 102 to August 22. Mr. Chung, I’m sorry to have interrupted. Go ahead. MR. CHUNG: One of my criticisms about the way this was all done, the process, was that it came up so late. We need a thorough vetting, and of course the second meeting in August would do it. But I’m thinking it would be better if it’s done in the first meeting of January or somewhere thereafter. We might have new Council members, who knows. And at least they would be a part going forward. I think just three—what is this? We’re in May. We have three months, things aren’t really going to do much. I prefer it to be later. I’m in support of the motion in concept, but I’d just like the maker to maybe change the date sometime later. That’s why I was an “in part” second. ACTING CHR. EOFF: I don’t know if you’d like to change the date now or continue the discussion, because there could be some other ideas floating out there about the date. MS. OʼHARA: Chair, I’m willing to listen to further discussion and I’m also willing to change that date if the Council prefers. ACTING CHR. EOFF: This reminds me of what happened yesterday, but if we go ahead and leave the motion alone but discuss more first, I think maybe we could decide how to go forward. Ms. Poindexter. Page 31 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 MS. POINDEXTER: Thank you, Madam Chair. Here’s the problem with postponing this bill. If we leave it and postpone Bill 102, even if it’s brought back in August or January, we’re stuck with it just as it is. If we vote this down and bring forth a new bill that—well we’d have to work—and that’s why I like the idea, Council Members Chung’s idea of January, because it could give the Legislature some time to, whether it’s a special meeting or whatever, to adjust their Act, the bill for an Act, to include other expenses. Because once they do that, we can come forward with a new bill that would include all the other expenses like the two percent for private roads; you know, for our first responders, and to be used more than just for transportation, roads. But this bill, if we postpone this one, it will not give us that opportunity. So I like the idea of it being in January, but not postponing Bill 102, but killing this to allow for a new bill to come up that we can deal with in January once we work with the Legislature to include all of the expenses. So again postponing to August of January we’re just stuck with what we have, and not have the opportunity to put the other expenses in. So that’s my thoughts. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, Ms. Poindexter. Further comments? MS. SAKO: Madam Chair, sorry to interrupt, but can I just make a comment, please? ACTING CHR. EOFF: Go ahead, Ms. Sako. MS. SAKO: You know, unfortunately just the timing of everything, the Council hasn’t really had a chance to discuss the budget that was presented. A budget that was actually prepared right as the lava was starting. But bad time all the way around. But either way, I really support the postponement. If could just be to the call of the Chair or something, if we could just at least discuss the budget so that everyone has all the factors on the table, I think I would feel better. Once it’s postponed to January or killed, I feel like we don’t have any options. I think we need to leave all of the tools on the table right now. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Further discussion, Council members? MR. KANUHA: Madam Chair? ACTING CHR. EOFF: Madam Chair. I completely agree with Ms. Sako. Her deliberation on this. I was going to be supporting a postponement, whether Ms. O’Hara decided to do that or not. You know, based on everything, if I voted today it would be no, but I think the postponement leaves it open to possibilities of looking further into the budget and developing better ideas of how to move forward with what we’re proposing to do with Hawaiʻi County. So I’m in favor of a postponement to the call of the Chair, if that motion can me changed. Page 32 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any other comments? MR. RICHARDS: Chair, yeah. Richards, here. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: I too also support a postponement, and if Council Woman O’Hara wants to make that revision first then we can continue discussion, or I can have a quick discussion now. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. O’Hara. MS. OʼHARA: I think the will of the Council is to change the motion to the call of the Chair instead of a specific date, and I’m willing to do that. Withdraw Motion Ms. O’Hara announced the withdrawal of the motion to to Postpone: postpone Bill 102, Draft 2 as amended to August 22, 2018. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Motion to Postpone: Ms. O’Hara moved to postpone Bill 102, Draft 2 as amended to the call of the Chair. Seconded by Mr. Kanuha. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Is there some more discussion on that? MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. I support the intent of the postponement to have the discussion. I fear we are falling back into the same pit we fell into last year as far as silo legislation. I had a point of order put forth about me discussing possible future legislation, yet with all due respect, Council Chair Poindexter, you were discussing future legislation as well. I’m concerned that we’re kicking the can down the road and not addressing it. I think all the points are very, very valid, but we’ve got to get away from this legislating one thing with not any vision towards anything else and expect to come up with a good answer. We’ve got to put things together and put them in context with each other. If we don’t, we’re going to do the same thing we did last year, and that’s not the best thing for the County. So I will be supporting this postponement, because I think we’re going to be making some mistakes again. I yield at this time. MR. CHUNG: I have a comment. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Chung. Page 33 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 MR. CHUNG: I fully support this motion of course. But I wanted to add one proviso just for the record. It is at the call of the Chair, but you know, I would like that call to be conditioned on one thing if not others. That it could be triggered by a request by the Administration to bring it up again. Because I don’t want this mired into someplace where it’s only one person’s decision. Not saying I don’t trust the judgment of the Chair or any future chair, but I would like to have at least one trigger. If the Administration makes a request to have it come up, then it will be brought up again. That’s my proviso, my request. I don’t know if I have to make that as an amended motion. Mr. Clerk? ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, I don’t think we’ve ever done something like that, so I am going to defer to the Clerk. MR. HENRICKS: I think then we’re going to be on the novel motion that we had last time of postpone to the call of the Chair or a date certain sooner. If I understand Mr. Chung’s proposal, it would be the Chair’s decision, but the Chair would be compelled by the Administration if the Administration makes a request for it to come back. Or did Mr. Chung mean instead that the Chair would strongly consider a request? MR. CHUNG: Oh no. It’s conditioned, among other things. I mean, well not limited to. There could be other considerations. But that’s—you know, for example, it could be something, a request made by a Council Member, but I don’t want to put that in. But I think at the very least, since this is an Administration initiative, they should be afforded the opportunity to control its destiny at some point. MR. HENRICKS: I think then this is a difficult question. We haven’t had this before, but I think then practically speaking, it would be better to set a date certain than to say call of the Chair, but if then then that. It becomes difficult for us to know what to do, you know, as far as calendaring something. Then once the motion is made and voted on, we really don’t have an opportunity to go back and clarify and ask questions about whether that would constitute should we put something back on. That would be my concern. MR. CHUNG: Well how about this then? It’s deferred until a further request from the Administration is had to bring it up to the Council. Is the Clerk thinking, or—? MR. HENRICKS: I don’t know, was that a question as far as if that’s a valid motion? I suppose it could be if it were made, seconded and then discussed and voted upon. It’s certainly outside of our standard parliamentary procedure and not necessarily enumerated in our rules. But it would be the will of the Council I suppose at that point. If the motion was made, the motion was clear, it was seconded, deliberated and voted on. Page 34 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 MR. CHUNG: So would Ms. O’Hara have to withdraw her motion, or would I amend her motion, or what should I do? MR. HENRICKS: It’s best to have the motion withdrawn and a new motion made. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Chung, or Council Members, I believe I understood that the first date was August, which would also push us over the deadline of this st June 31 deadline, the first deadline in the Act. The second suggestion was to go to January 2019, further out. My concern is that, I’m not sure how Mr. Chung’s motion will end up, but that could possibly allow the Administration to consider this bill again before either of those two dates. MR. CHUNG: Well, okay. Do I still have the floor? ACTING CHR. EOFF: Yes. MR. CHUNG: Okay, then maybe if I could ask a question of the Chair. Just for the record, what would be a record for her? What would she consider as being something that would make her bring this back on the agenda again. ACTING CHR. EOFF: That’s directed to Chair Poindexter, correct? MR. CHUNG: Yes. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay. MS. POINDEXTER: Okay. Yeah, anytime somebody does a request like say anything to be put on the agenda, I’ve always considered it, and when it is of either a health or safety issue or time is of the essence and like in this case, an important decision that can affect our budget or things that are happening in the County, if the memo comes through and it’s strong enough, I definitely would put it on. MR. CHUNG: What do you mean “strong enough?” Can it just be a request? MS. POINDEXTER: If they’re talking about the need for—what their need, why the emergency to get it on, you know. MR. CHUNG: Well, it’s going to be an emergency situation, it’ll probably be just a request to the Chair to revisit or to open up discussions on this matter again. So I want to make—I have to be clear now on what we’re going to be facing, because I don’t think it’s going to be an emergency situation. It might be, but I don’t think this could ever rise to the level of being an emergency situation, because even if there were an emergency by which we could use these funds, Page 35 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 we’d still have to wait until the beginning of our fiscal year to get these funds in place. So I’m just wondering if we could extend the courtesy to one member or maybe several who sent a memo and requested that this be placed on the earliest agenda. Would that be sufficient? MS. POINDEXTER: They would have to express the need and why, you know. Time is of the essence, or why would they need to put it on the agenda. That would have to be addressed. I heard all the Council Members. You know, if you guys want to put it to a time certain, that is a guarantee for you guys, and not just the decision of the Chair. But I could bring it back sooner, like the other motion was made before, to the call of the Chair or a time certain. Because we could also, we could bring it back and you still could postpone it again. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, we could. MS. POINDEXTER: So bringing it to a time certain would be a guarantee. Thank you. MR. CHUNG: Okay. Again, I hate to be going back and forth. I hope that the Chair could have at least given some courtesy to the request of, you know, an individual Council Member, to bring this most important thing up absent any kind of emergency. But you know, I hate to go back and forth because this is kind of silly already, but I’m going to ask Ms. O’Hara maybe if she could make it the second meeting in January or something. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. David hasn’t spoken yet and she would like to interject. Is that alright? Or have you—? MR. CHUNG: I’m through. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay. Ms. David. MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair Eoff. I just wanted to make a comment one way or another on this proposed extension to the call of the Chair. I think for me to impose conditions on a right of the Council Chair or the Council Chair’s privileges and duties as Chair, I would not support conditional call of the Chair, because I think our rules and our procedures have always been that way. We’ve utilized call of the Chair for many purposes without requiring guarantees that the Chair would actually bring it forward. I think we have in this situation, whoever that Chair is going to be, whether it’s postponed to January or to the call of the Chair, the Chair sitting there has the privilege of making that decision. If there’s an important request coming from the Administration, I don’t see anybody denying that request just because it’s their personal preference. I think we all as legislators have to weigh the situation and Page 36 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 weigh what it poses to the community. And if your concerns materialize down the road, I believe that any one of us as Council Members can help out in getting it agendized. I just don’t see conditional call of the Chair, which has been used in our— Point of Order: MR. CHUNG: Madam Chair, point of order. ACTING CHR. EOFF: I’ll just let Ms. David finish her statement then I’ll— MR. CHUNG: A conditional, you know, call of the Chair condition on some event is not on the floor. It’s not on the table. MS. DAVID: Well that’s what we’re discussing, making sure that when the Administration, is what I’m hearing, the suggestion is that there be some sort of a guarantee that the Chair will actually put it on. MR. CHUNG: It’s not on the floor. MS. DAVID: Well— ACTING CHR. EOFF: I think he went back to—Mr. Chung, I’m sorry, are you— MR. CHUNG: If I made the motion, then it would be appropriate to make this discussion. I didn’t make the motion. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, you haven’t made that motion. MS. DAVID: Oh, I’m sorry, but you were discussing it. So I’m just making a comment regarding that issue that you raised and it’s just my position. MR. CHUNG: It’s moot. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay. Thank you. Then the motion my Ms. O’Hara is still on the table, right? MS. OʼHARA: Madam Chair, maker of the motion. May I have the floor? ACTING CHR. EOFF: Yes, Ms. O’Hara. MS. OʼHARA: Okay, thank you. I know the Council is very divided on this issue. It’s a divisive issue for the Council. I’m perplexed because we used a term called “to the call of the Chair.” There is no definition in Robert’s Rules of Order Page 37 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 for call of the Chair. It’s been described as kind of a loosey-goosey thing that we just adopted. I guess this is along with our novel ways of doing business maybe. But is there—is Mr. Kamelamela present in Kona? ACTING CHR. EOFF: Yes, he is. MS. OʼHARA: Could he give us an opinion on what we are holding to when we move to postpone something to the call of the Chair? Because it would be nice if this was clear to the public who may be listening to us and wondering what the hey are we arguing about. (Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Joseph Kamelamela came forward to address the members of the Council.) ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, Mr. Kamelamela has come to the table, so we’ll pose him the question. MR. KAMELAMELA: Joseph Kamelamela, Corp. Counsel. Anyway, I’ve been working with this County for quite a long time. What Mr. Chung is stating is, I think is novel, but generally, each term the Council sets its policies and rules, and it’s also my understanding since the beginning when I started, it’s the Chair’s prerogative. To do something different now, you know, I would disagree with setting conditions at this time. It’s something I would say a change in the rules, which I don’t see that coming. I can’t see doing that now. But still, as the County Clerk has said, it’s up to the Council to decide certain things. But the way the Council has been set up, you know, it’s been set up since I’ve been here it’s either at the call of the Chair or a time certain. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Kamelamela, I think right now Ms. O’Hara’s question was about that. Do we have a policy regarding to the call of the Chair, or are we bound to set a date certain. Can you give us an opinion about that? MR. KAMELAMELA: So that’s been the practice of this Council. You know, it’s either at the call of the Chair, or at a date certain. ACTING CHR. EOFF: So either of those two are appropriate? MR. KAMELAMELA: Yes. I was going to make another comment. If I think about it—oh yeah, so this is the other comment. Because I have dealt with, you know, many Chairs too, you know, usually there is a request made to the Chairs. I personally do not have any situations where I have seen that the Chair hasn’t considered certain things. We know too, these whatever documents haven’t been private, you know, a lot of that is public. So if people want to know whether the Chair had decided not to do something, then the public has the right to know of Page 38 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 that too, because I’ve seen communications dealing with that too. So to me, to ensure some kind of consistency, I think it’s important that we maintain the current process. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay. Ms. O’Hara. MS. OʼHARA: I don’t really feel I got an answer. I’m going to ask Mr. Kamelamela if it’s alright to call up Deputy Counsel J Yoshimoto to the Chair. So many of us are here in Hilo. Would that be okay, Mr. Kamelamela? MR. KAMELAMELA: So is J there? MS. OʼHARA: Yes, he’s here. MR. KAMELAMELA: So what question are you going to ask him? MS. OʼHARA: Well, I don’t really feel I got a direct answer to my question. You know me, Mr. Kamelamela at this point. I really like to have clear, indisputable responses. That really didn’t fill it for me. I’ve talked to J on the side here and I just wanted to see—and he’s also been a Council Chair—if he could provide more insight to the question. MR. KAMELAMELA: Yeah, I’m not too sure what the purpose of that is. Can you—? MS. OʼHARA: It’s to get an answer to the question. MR. KAMELAMELA: So what is your question? I think part of your question was, you know—excuse me. This is what I understand your question. You said the current practice is loosey-goosey. What I’m saying is no, there has been a process that has been established since I started. Part of the process was either to the call of the Chair or at a time certain. I don’t feel that’s loosey-goosey. So what’s your question? MS. OʼHARA: What does postpone to the call of the Chair actually mean? What are any and all conditions included in making said motion. Said motion is not described in say Robert’s Rules of Order. It’s not addressed in our Council Rules. We are using a term that may have been in use for years, decades, I’m not sure how long we’ve been using this, but it’s never been a motion that I have ever encountered. I’ve served on many boards, commissions in different organizations. I’ve never seen it used before I came to County Council. So I’m asking for clarification on what that motion actually means and is the Chair obligated to put an item on the agenda when she or he is requested to do so Page 39 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 by who, a Council person, the Administration, et cetera, et cetera. It does not explain what that means, and I’m just asking for a broader discussion so that the public can understand what we’re actually doing here. MR. KAMELAMELA: Well, I think before we have a broader discussion, is that we step back. I don’t mind you having a discussion with my deputies, if they’re going to say something different, but call of the Chair, even if it’s not—excuse me. Even if it’s not in Robert’s Rules of Order, but we know how the conduct of the County Council has been so far. MS. OʼHARA: I don’t know. I’ve been on the Council for 18 months. I’m sorry if you feel this is undermining your authority. Point of Order: MS. LEE LOY: Chair, point of order. Please. MS. OʼHARA: I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to do it anymore. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Excuse me. I can’t hear too well what happened because like three people were talking at once. Did somebody call a point of order? MS. LEE LOY: I did Chair, please. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. Lee Loy. Do you want to state your point of order? MS. LEE LOY: I did. It really has to do with the decorum of people talking over one another. If we could please get back to the courtesies of having a question asked and a response given, I think it would go a lot way to this conversation and having people make up their minds on where we go from here. So maybe even a brief recess might be in order. That’s what I’m asking, please. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you very much, Ms. Lee Loy. I think I agree with you. I’m going to ask for a brief recess. Some people are looking at rules, some people are just—and some of this might be the problem with videoconference. Sometimes maybe it’s hard to tell when someone’s stopped talking and the next person’s started. But I apologize that we’re talking over each other and we’ll try and stop doing that. But I’m going to just take a five-minute recess right now, or seven minute recess. Thank you. Recess: At 11:34 a.m., the Chair called for a recess. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 11:48 a.m. Page 40 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay. Thank you, Council Members. I’d like to call this meeting out of recess. And before we took recess, Ms. O’Hara did have the floor, and there’s still a motion on the floor to postpone Bill 102, Draft 2 as amended, to the call of the Chair. I believe that motion was made by Ms. O’Hara, and she has the floor. Okay. MS. OʼHARA: Alright. ACTING CHR. EOFF: And I guess just keep in mind with this videoconferencing sometimes there’s a delay in who’s hearing what and when. So just be cautious as you complete a statement and asking for a response so we don’t talk over each other. Thank you. MS. OʼHARA: Thank you for that, Chair. It’s difficult especially when someone pauses to think, and you’re not sure if they’re done or not. So anyway, I’m going to withdraw my motion at this point. Since it’s been voted on, how do I do that? ACTING CHR. EOFF: I don’t think we voted on that motion. We were discussing it. Withdraw motion At this time, Ms. O’Hara announced the withdrawal to Postpone: of the motion to postpone Bill 102, Draft 2 as amended, to the call of the Chair. MS. OʼHARA: Yes, I’m going to use the specific date motion. Vote on Motion Ms. O’Hara moved to postpone Bill 102, Draft 2 as to Postpone: amended, to the second Council meeting in January 2019. (Approved) Seconded by Mr. Chung and carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O’Hara, and Richards – 5. Noes: Council Members David, Poindexter, Ruggles, and Acting Chair Eoff – 4. Absent: None. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay. Motion carries. Thank you very much, Council Members, this matter is postponed to the second meeting, January 2019; second meeting of the Council. Page 41 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Okay. So I’d like to just check. Well, I have a note Ms. Sako is still in the chambers and she would like us to take up Bills 141, 142, 143 and 146. I believe if we do that, she can go back to work. Mr. Clerk, can you please read Bill 141. Bill 141: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 17-39, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2018, RELATING TO THE TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO THE PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION FUND Appropriates revenues in the Real Property Tax Interest account ($22,500); and appropriates the same to the following accounts: Transfer to Public Access/Open Space Preservation Fund ($20,000) and Transfer to Public Access/Open Space Preservation Maintenance Fund ($2,500). Real property tax interest revenues are expected to exceed the amount budgeted for Fiscal Year 2017-18, requiring additional revenues to be transferred into these funds in order to maintain compliance with County Charter mandated minimal appropriations to each fund. Reference: Comm. 912 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Waived: FC Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 141 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Is there any discussion? Ms. David. MS. DAVID: Yes, I believe the waiver was requested by the department to complete transfer of funds by a certain deadline required by our Charter. But if Council Members have any questions, I believe Ms. Sako is there in Hilo. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any questions Council? Seeing none, all in favor, say “aye.” (Vote on Bill 141) The motion to pass Bill 141 on first reading was carried by (Approved) 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 Chung – 1. Excused: None. Page 42 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 ACTING CHR. EOFF: Bill 141 passes first reading. Bill 142. Bill 142: AUTHORIZES THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING ALL OR A PORTION OF THE COSTS OF VARIOUS IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS; FIXES THE FORM, DENOMINATIONS, AND CERTAIN OTHER DETAILS OF SUCH BONDS AND PROVIDES FOR THEIR SALE TO THE PUBLIC; AND AUTHORIZES THE TAKING OF OTHER ACTIONS RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE AND SALE OF THE BONDS Authorizes the issuance of up to $10.2 million in general obligation bonds, which would be used for the Lono Kona Improvement District sewer project that will connect approximately 107 parcels to the County’s sewer system. Reference: Comm. 913 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Waived: FC Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 142 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Is there any discussion? MS. DAVID: Yes, Chair, this was also a time sensitive matter requested a waiver by the department. So if anyone has questions, I think Ms. Sako can answer them. Thanks. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Any comments, Council Members, questions? Mr. Kanuha did you—? MR. KANUHA: No, thank you, Madam Chair. Just ask for your support. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, Thank you. Okay, all in favor, please say “aye.” (Vote on Bill 142) The motion to pass Bill 142 on first reading was carried by (Approved) 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: Motion carries. So Bill 142 will go to second reading. Okay we go to Bill 143. Page 43 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Bill 143: 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 Increases the Environmental Management Lono Kona Improvement District – County project by $6.2 million, for a total appropriation of $11,898,000. Funds for this project shall be provided from General Obligation Bonds, Capital Projects Fund – Fund Balance and/or Other Sources. Funds would be used for construction. Reference: Comm. 914 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Waived: FC Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire membership to amend, pursuant to Section 10-6(e), Hawai‘i County Charter Vote on Bill 143: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 143 on first reading. (Approved) Seconded by Mr. Kanuha and 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: Motion carries. Bill 143 moves to second reading. There’s one more, Bill 146. Bill 146: AUTHORIZES THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING ALL OR A PORTION OF THE COSTS OF VARIOUS IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS; FIXES THE FORM, DENOMINATIONS, AND CERTAIN OTHER DETAILS OF SUCH BONDS AND PROVIDES FOR THEIR SALE TO THE PUBLIC; AND AUTHORIZES THE TAKING OF OTHER ACTIONS RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE AND SALE OF THE BONDS Authorizes the issuance of up to $30.5 million in general obligation bonds, which would be used for Department of Parks and Recreation Americans with Disabilities Act and other projects. Reference: Comm. 917 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Waived: FC Page 44 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 146 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. David. MS. DAVID: Yes, this is also a time sensitive matter and I ask for your support. Any questions, Ms. Sako will be able to answer. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Council Members, any questions? MR. KANUHA: Madam Chair? ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Kanuha. MR. KANUHA: Just real quickly, thank you. Fully in support of this. Deanna, real quickly. I know you said the debt service capacity, the percentage will be approximately 12.95 percent. That’s including the last bond, the Lono Kona one and this one? MS. SAKO: Yes, I did it together since we’re submitting at the same time. So it includes both of them. MR. KANUHA: Okay. Got ya. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any other questions, Council Members? Seeing none, all in favor, say “aye.” Vote on Bill 146: The motion to pass Bill 146 on first reading was carried by (Approved) 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: Bill 146 will go to second reading. Okay, I think we can go to the top of the agenda now. Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the Order of Business. of Business: Page 45 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions. (Note: Res. 604-18 was taken up previously, out of order.) ACTING CHR. EOFF: We’ll start with Resolution 589. Res. 589-18: ACCEPTS THE DEDICATION OF ROAD LOT A, IDENTIFIED AS TAX MAP ST KEYS: 7-5-004:013 AND 7-5-004:031, SITUATED AT KEOPU 1 AND ND MOEAUOA 2, DISTRICT OF NORTH KONA, ISLAND AND COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI, STATE OF HAWAIʻI FROM PRIME A. INVESTMENTS, LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY Dedicated to the County for public roadway purposes. Reference: Comm. 882 Intr. by: Ms. Ruggles (B/R) Approve: PWPRC-45 Vote on Res. 589-18: Ms. Ruggles moved to adopt Res. 589-18. Seconded by (Adopted) Ms. David and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O’Hara, Poindexter, Ruggles, and Acting Chair Eoff – 8. Noes: Council Member Richards – 1. Absent: None. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 589 is adopted. Resolution 590. Res. 590-18: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE OF REAL PROPERTY FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FIRE DEPARTMENT Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a new five-year agreement with an option for an additional five years with Kaneshiro & Sons Enterprise, Limited and Glenn Kaneshiro Partnership, to allow for the continued occupancy of warehouse space located at 1990 Kino‘ole Street, Hilo, with an approximate monthly cost of $4,958. Reference: Comm. 888 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Approve: FC-111 Page 46 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 590-18. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion? MS. DAVID: Yeah I believe this pretty much self-explanatory, but I believe I have a note that Mr. Ventura would be available. I’m not sure if he’s in Hilo, but if there’s any questions. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Are there any questions, Council Members? Seeing none, all in favor, please say “aye.” Vote on Res. 590-18: The motion to adopt Res. 590-18 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members David, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O’Hara, Poindexter, Ruggles, and Acting Chair Eoff – 7. Noes: Council Members Chung and Richards – 2. Absent: None. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 590 is adopted. Resolution 593. Res. 593-18: 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 WAIĀKEA HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATING TO WAIĀKEA HIGH SCHOOL’S ATHLETIC PROGRAMS Transfers $2,400 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account (Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 895 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy Vote on Res. 593-18: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 593-18. Seconded by (Adopted) Ms. O’Hara and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O’Hara, Poindexter, Ruggles, and Acting Chair Eoff – 8. Noes: Council Member Richards – 1. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 47 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 593 is adopted. Resolution 594. Res. 594-18: 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 TH COUNCIL FOR THE 34 ANNUAL QUIKSILVER/BIG ISLAND PRO-AM SURFING TRIALS Transfers $500 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account (Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 896 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy Vote on Res. 594-18: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 594-18. Seconded by (Adopted) Ms. O’Hara and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O’Hara, Poindexter, Ruggles, and Acting Chair Eoff – 8. Noes: Council Member Richards – 1. Absent: None. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 594 is adopted. Resolution 595. Res. 595-18: 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 KEAUKAHA SCHOOL FOUNDATION FOR ITS KEAUKAHA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRESCHOOL PROGRAM Transfers $957 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account (Council District 3); and credits to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 897 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy Page 48 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Vote on Res. 595-18: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 595-18. Seconded by (Adopted) Ms. O’Hara and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O’Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and Acting Chair Eoff – 8. Noes: Council Members Ruggles – 1. Absent: None. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 595 is adopted. Resolution 596. Res. 596-18: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO REPAIR THE ROOF AND GUTTERS OF THE EAST HAWAI‘I CULTURAL CENTER Transfers $2,500 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account (Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Parks Maintenance Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 898 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy Vote on Res. 596-18: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 596-18. Seconded by (Adopted) Mr. Richards and 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: Resolution 596 is adopted. Resolution 597. Page 49 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Res. 597-18: 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 MERRIE MONARCH FESTIVAL TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATED TO THE HŌKŪLE‘A CREW RECOGNITION AND RADIO PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS Transfers $6,043 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account (Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 899 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy Vote on Res. 597-18: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 597-18. Seconded by (Adopted) Ms. O’Hara and 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: Resolution 597 is adopted. Resolution 598. Res. 598-18: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT FOR PARK MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS AT VARIOUS FACILITIES IN COUNCIL DISTRICT 2 Transfers $31,500 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account (Council District 2); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Transfer to Capital Project Fund – General account. Reference: Comm. 900 Intr. by: Mr. Chung Motion to Approve: Mr. Chung moved to adopt Res. 598-18. Seconded by Ms. O’Hara. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any comments? MR. CHUNG: Yeah. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Chung. Page 50 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 MR. CHUNG: Thank you. This is the last of my contingency relief monies, and this is going to go for exercise equipment along the Bay Front Trails. This is going to be not unlike what you see up at Mauna Kea State Park. You know, I had wanted to actually have this as being part of a bond float where we could have done it island-wide, but we have not money. This would have greatly enhanced—and I think it’s going to greatly enhance the downtown experience, but I think this is something that, you know, should be part of an island-wide program. It would further the principles of Blue Zones, enhance our reputation as a place where people can come and recreate. I think it’s going to be a marvelous project, spearheaded by Roxie Waltjen of the Department of Parks and Recreation. Credit her. But again, I really wish we could have done this island wide. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Any comments, Council Members? Seeing none, all in favor, please say “aye.” Vote on Res. 598-18: The motion to adopt Res. 598-18 was carried by the (Adopted) 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: Resolution 598 is adopted. Resolution 599. Res. 599-18: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION TO PURCHASE AND INSTALL COMPUTERS AND WI-FI EQUIPMENT AT THE PĀHOA SENIOR CENTER Transfers $30,000 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account (Council District 5); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Equipment account. Reference: Comm. 901 Intr. by: Ms. Ruggles Motion to Approve: Ms. Ruggles moved to adopt Res. 599-18. Seconded by Ms. O’Hara. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. Ruggles, comment? Page 51 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 MS. RUGGLES: No, I think we’ve talked about this enough. I’m just really appreciative and grateful that I—and this is the last of my contingency funds as well. I’m grateful that I have this to cover this cost so that we can protect the Geothermal Fund for the community out there. Look forward to my colleagues’ continued support. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. All in favor, please say “aye.” Vote on Res. 599-18: The motion to adopt Res. 599-18 was carried by the (Adopted): 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. Res. 600-18: COMMITS TO FUNDING THE COST ITEMS AWARDED BY ARBITRATION TO HAWAI‘I GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION BARGAINING UNIT 14 AND EMPLOYEES EXCLUDED FROM BARGAINING UNIT 14 FOR THE CONTRACT PERIOD JULY 1, 2017, THROUGH JUNE 30, 2019 Cost items estimated at $347,793 are across-the-board increases, step movements, and one-time bonuses. Reference: Comm. 902 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Waived: FC Vote on Res. 600-18: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 600-18. Seconded by (Adopted) Ms. Poindexter and 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. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Bills for ORDINANCES: Ordinances (First Reading). (Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.) Page 52 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Bill 127 ADOPTS A PAY PLAN FOR PERSONS EMPLOYED BY THE COUNTY (Draft 2): OTHER THAN THOSE WHOSE PAY IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, DESIGNATES PAYROLL PERIODS, PAY DAYS, PRESCRIBES REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO OFFICIAL FIDELITY BONDS, AND REPEALS ORDINANCE NO. 17-36 AND ALL AMENDMENTS THERETO, SAID ORDINANCE TO BE KNOWN AS THE SALARY ORDINANCE OF 2018 Establishes rates of compensation for appointed employees in the Legislative Branch and the Office of Housing and Community Development, the County Physician, and Student Helpers and Senior Community Services Aids for various County agencies. Reference: Comm. 840.2 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Approve: FC-112 Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 127, Draft 2, on first reading and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 112. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. Motion to Amend: Ms. David moved to amend Bill 127, Draft 2, with the contents of Comm. 840.3. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Go ahead, Ms. David. MS. DAVID: Yes, thank you, Chair. This is a proposed amendment because following our discussions—and I want to thank Ms. O’Hara for bringing forth her amendment to this Salary Ordinance increasing by one step the LA’s (Council Legislative Assistants), and the Council Aides. So following that discussion, I was just wondering whether there were any other positions in our department that were maxed out. So there are. There were three other positions that have reached the maximum levels, and they are the EA-1 (Executive Assistant to the Chair), position that has been at this max level since 2008; the EA-2 (Deputy Executive Assistant to the Chair), has been maxed out since 2016; and the SA-1 (Special Assistant to the Chair), has been maxed out since 2012. So I really felt that—I think considering that the discussion says this is really not an increase but to provide a step movement for positions that have been maxed out for awhile. It just creates another level, like we discussed earlier, and an advantage for our staff in that position to advance another level. So I believe it’s an incentive to encourage their good work and to maintain a positive employee morale and self-worth. That’s important. And you know, so Page 53 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 therefore, I think I really, for the same reasons that we all supported the proposed amendment that Ms. O’Hara brought forward, I wanted to create a step level for these three positions, to be fair to everyone. In that sense, I just wanted to thank and remind our Clerk’s staff, which is Council Services, LRB (Legislative Research Branch), as well as these three positions that we’re proposing for their hard work, because they make everything we do happen in a timely manner, and they are very efficient and professional in the work that they do. So I would just ask my Council Members to support this step level amendment. I yield. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, Ms. David. Any other comments, Council Members? Ms. O’Hara. MS. OʼHARA: I didn’t know if you could see me or not. Thank you, Ms. David, for your thorough investigation on the rest of the positions covered in that salary block. I only focused on the direct Council positions, but I’m glad that you did a review and found that there were more that needed to be upgraded, and I totally support your action. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any other comments? Ms. Poindexter. MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, I just want to say that after the last vote at our last meeting, I did have a chance to work with the Clerk’s Office and with Deanna Sako with Finance to address our budget so that we could accommodate the step increases. I like the idea of the equitable going across the board checking that out. So I appreciate that. At this time, because we found some money and we adjusted our Clerk’s budget, I can support this. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Any other comments? Anyone in Hilo? No? Okay. Then all in favor of amending Bill 127, Draft 2, with the contents of Communication 840.3, please say “aye.” Vote on Amendment: The motion to amend Bill 127, Draft 2, with the contents of (Approved) Comm. 840.3, 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. Page 54 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 ACTING CHR. EOFF: Motion carries. And now the main motion would be to approve Bill 127, Draft 2, as amended. Is there any discussion on that? Seeing none, then all in favor, please say “aye.” Vote on Bill 127: The motion to pass Bill 127, Draft 2, as amended, on first (Draft 3): reading and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 112, was (Approved) 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: Motion carries. Bill 127, Draft 2, will be further amended and brought to second reading. Bill 136. Bill 136: 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 ($4,800); and appropriates the same to the Highway Maintenance Administration-Other Current Expenses account. Funds would be used by the Department of Public Works for the annual rental of a portable toilet to be located at Banyan Beach in Kona. Reference: Comm. 887 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Approve: FC-113 Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 136 on first reading and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 113. Seconded by Mr. Kanuha. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any discussion? MS. DAVID: I’ll defer to Mr. Kanuha. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Kanuha, did you want to say something? MR. KANUHA: No, we spoke about this earlier, but I just ask for your continued support in having this port-a-pottie at Banyans Beach Park to create a healthy environment for the adults, families and keiki that use this park on a daily. So mahalo for your continued support. Page 55 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. All in favor, please say “aye.” Vote on Bill 136: The motion to pass Bill 136 on first reading and adopt (Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 113 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: Motion carries and Bill 136 will go to second reading. Bill 137. Bill 137: 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 Coordinated Services account ($25,000); and appropriates the same to the Coordinated Services-Other Current Expenses account, for a total appropriation of $160,000. Funds would be used by the Department of Parks and Recreation to provide additional service to participants. Reference: Comm. 889 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Approve: FC-114 Vote on Bill 137: Ms. David moved pass Bill 137 on first reading and adopt (Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 114 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: Motion carries and Bill 137 will move to second reading. Bill 139. Page 56 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Bill 139: AMENDS CHAPTER 15, ARTICLE 9, SECTION 15-72 OF THE HAWAI‘I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY ADDING MO‘OHEAU PARK TO THE FARMERS MARKET FACILITY SCHEDULE Allows the Department of Parks and Recreation to work with qualified vendors to establish and operate a farmers market at Mo‘oheau Park. Reference: Comm. 903 Intr. by: Mr. Chung Waived: PWPRC Motion to Approve: Mr. Chung moved pass Bill 139 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Chung, is there additional comments? MR. CHUNG: Just a few. This doesn’t really merit a lot of discussion, but I think all of you know what the situation is with the Hilo Farmers Market. This is just a measure which would provide some options to either the County or someone else to have a legal farmers market at the Moʻoheau Park area, which would also include the bandstand, I believe. It’s not to say that this will happen, but it gives the option to the County to move ahead with something, because this is really a vital feature of our downtown community. It’s not going to be intended, my understanding from the Administration, it wouldn’t try to permanently replace the farmers market which is currently on Mamo Street, but it’s to provide additional options until such time as that Hilo Farmers Market can come in compliance with various laws. Now we have been in meetings with the operator of that market, and I can probably speak for him and the Administration, because it’s like a three-party thing, him, the Administration and now the Council being sucked into this thing, that it’s a cooperative effort. Everyone’s trying to move this thing ahead, we want to see the Hilo Farmer’s Market get up to speed and thrive. I think there is a plan. I just recently saw a plan with a timeline, and I think we’re all moving ahead working together. But this just, again, would provide and option to the County. I also want to let you guys know that there might be some problems here, because there’s football field there, and during football season, there are no other places for the football people to practice. This is one of the main venues. So that may pose a problem, but that’s something that the Parks and Recreation Department will have to deal with. Second, there’s also going to be a request—so there’s going to be an amendment to this bill when it gets to second and final reading to also include that grassy area on Ponahawai Street where you have coconut trees. We didn’t know what to describe it as, and we’ve been working with Roy Takemoto, but he’s been tied up Page 57 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 with this whole lava situation, so he’s having to attend to more important matters. That’s going to be coming, but I want to assure the people, especially those vendors now on Ponahawai who might be impacted by that, because you’re going to lose a lot of parking. It still has to be something that’s decided upon by the Parks and Recreation Director and they can work with that director if and when the time comes. Okay, thank you. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you, Mr. Chung. Any other comments? Seeing none, all in favor, please say “aye.” Vote on Bill 139: The motion to pass Bill 139 on first reading was carried (Approved) 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: Bill 139 will move to second reading. Bill 139. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of THE DAY the Day (Second or Final Reading). SECOND OR FINAL READING: (Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.) Bill 125: NAMES A COUNTY PARK WITHIN ALIʻI KAI SUBDIVISION, SITUATED AT TAX MAP KEY: 7-6-019:034, AND AMENDS CHAPTER 15, ARTICLE 8, SECTION 15-68.1 OF THE HAWAIʻI COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO THE PARKS AND RECREATIONAL FACILITY SCHEDULE Officially names Ali‘i Kai Park and adds it to the Parks and Recreational Facility Schedule. Reference: Comm. 818 Intr. by: Mr. Kanuha First Reading: April 25, 2018 Motion to Approve: Mr. Kanuha moved to pass Bill 125 on second and final reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Kanuha. Page 58 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 MR. KANUHA: Thank you, Madam Chair. And mahalo, Council Members for, again, the continued support for this and I’m glad we get to finally put it on the parks schedule as an official name. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Any questions, Council Members? Seeing none, all in favor, please say “aye.” Vote on Bill 125: The motion to pass Bill 125 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: Bill 125 is adopted. Bill 126. Bill 126: AMENDS CHAPTER 24, ARTICLE 10, DIVISION 3 OF THE HAWAI‘I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO BUS STOPS AND PUBLIC ROAD TAXI STANDS Amends Section 24-275, Schedule 23 (Bus Stop locations), Subsection (c), South Hilo, by removing an existing bus stop to allow for parallel on-street parking stalls along a portion of Hualālai Street. Reference: Comm. 830 Intr. by: Ms. Ruggles (B/R) First Reading: April 25, 2018 Vote on Bill 126: Ms. Ruggles moved to pass Bill 126 on second and final (Adopted) reading. Seconded by Ms. David and 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: Bill 126 is adopted. REPORTS: The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Reports. Page 59 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 PC-57 NOMINATION OF KATHARINE T. CANNON-EGER TO THE (Comm. 878): BANYAN DRIVE HAWAIʻI REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY Vote on PC-57: Ms. David moved to adopt Planning Committee Report (Adopted) No. 57. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and 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: Motion carries. Planning Committee Report Number 58. PC-58 NOMINATION OF GERALDINE BELL TO THE HAWAIʻI COUNTY (Comm. 884): CULTURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION Vote on PC-58: Ms. David moved to adopt Planning Committee Report (Adopted) No. 58. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and 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: Motion carries. Planning Committee Report Number 59. PC-59 NOMINATION OF DAVID DE LUZ, JR., TO THE WATER BOARD (Comm. 885): Requires Council Confirmation by: May 20, 2018 (Section 13-4(l), Hawaiʻi County Charter) Page 60 Hawai‘i County Council-37 May 9, 2018 Vote on PC-59: Ms. David moved to adopt Planning Committee Report (Adopted) No. 59. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and 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: Motion carries. Communication 886. PSMTC-10 NOMINATION OF DWAYNE T. MUKAI TO THE LIQUOR CONTROL (Comm. 886): ADJUDICATION BOARD Vote on PSMTC-10: Ms. David moved to adopt Public Safety and Mass Transit (Adopted) Committee Report No. 10. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and 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: Motion carries. Planning Committee Report Number 58. 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. ACTING CHR. EOFF: Can I have a motion to adjourn? But before I take a second on that, I’d just like to thank everybody for being here today, and wish Page 61 Hawaii County Council-37 May 9, 2018 everybody well in their travels today, and our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to all of the people in Puna and all those affected by the current lava flows. Be safe everybody. But I still need a second to adjourn. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 12:27 p.m., Ms. David moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and 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. This meeting is adjourned. JUN 1 9 2018 Council Approval: CO Y CLERK SM/ja Page 62