HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2018-11-02 2016-2018 Hawaii County Council
52nd Session
Hawaii County Building
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawaii
November 2, 2018
INVOCATION: Pastor Eric Anderson of the Church of the Holy Cross gave the morning's
invocation.
CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawaii County Council was called to order at
ORDER: 9:04 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Chair.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Chair
Ms. Karen Eoff, Vice Chair
Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member
Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member
Mr. Dru Mamo Kanuha, Member
Ms. Eileen O'Hara, Member (came in later)
Absent & Excused: Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member
Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member
Ms. Jennifer Ruggles, Member
PLEDGE OF The Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of Allegiance.
ALLEGIANCE:
(At this time, Mr. Kanuha led the Council in the Pledge of
Allegiance.)
Relinquish Chair: At this time, Chair Poindexter relinquished the chair to Acting Chair Eoff
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 (Note: At this time, Ms. Poindexter presented a Certificate of Merit to Assistant
EXPRESSIONS OF Police Chief Marshall Kanehailua for his years of service and his retirement from
CONDOLENCE: the Hawaii County Police Department.)
Recess: At 9:12 a.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 9:15 a.m.
Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Relinquish Chair: At this time, Acting Chair Eoff relinquished the chair to Chair Poindexter.
STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Statements
FROM THE from the Public on Agenda Items.
PUBLIC ON
AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by
the Chair:
Steve Lopez: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in support.
Wanda Carey: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in support.
Allan Kroll: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), comment.
Leilani Bronson-Crelly: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
opposition. (See Comm. 739.356)
Robert Colden: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
opposition.
Kelly Davis: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
opposition.
Shane Nelsen: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), comment.
(representing Office of
Hawaiian Affairs)
Charla Thompson: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in support.
Lucretia Worster: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
opposition. (See Comm. 739.382)
Kathleen McGilvray: Res. 736-18 (Comm. 1143), in support; and
(representing YWCA of Res. 737-18 (Comm. 1144), in support.
Hawaii Island)
Janelle Honer: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
(representing Josanna's opposition.
Organic Garden)
Tara Frazier: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), comment.
Lorna Larsen-Jeyte: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
opposition.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Abolghassem Abraham PSMTC-13 (Comm. 1129), comment; and
Sadegh: Bill 190 (Comm. 1075), comment.
Ira Ono: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
(representing Experience opposition. (See Comm. 739.357)
Volcano Hawaii)
Lisa King: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), comment.
Richard Ingram: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), comment.
Janice Palma-Glenne: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in support.
Jeana Jones: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
(representing Hawaii Life opposition.
Real Estate Brokers)
Kris Burmeister: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
opposition.
Gail W. Armand: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
opposition.
Stephanie Donoho: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in support.
(representing Kohala Coast (See Comm. 739.365)
Resort Association)
Deb Kimball: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
(representing Casa Tortuga) opposition.
Lynn Blanchette: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
opposition.
Joy Dillon: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), comment.
(representing Hawaii Island (See Comm. 739.363)
Realtors)
Dick Hall: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
opposition.
Kale Gumapac: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
(representing Aha Kanaka opposition; and
Moku O Keawe) a statement on all other resolutions.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Dane duPont: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
(representing Hawaii Tracker) opposition.
Sara Steiner: Res. 736-18 (Comm. 1143), in support;
Res. 737-18 (Comm. 1144), in support;
Res. 742-18 (Comm. 1149), in support;
Res. 743-18 (Comm. 1150), in support;
Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), comment;
Bill 206 (Comm. 1149), in support; and
Bill 207 (Comm. 1150), in support.
Susan Barrackman: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
(representing Sweet Retreat) opposition.
Dana Butler: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
opposition.
Sarah Moon: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
(representing Leleiwi opposition.
Community Association)
Jordan Sonner: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in
opposition.
Jack D. Miller: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), comment.
(representing Aloha House
Hawaii)
Judi Steinman: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), comment.
Axol Kratel: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), in support.
Kekoa McClellan: Bill 108, Draft 5 (Comm. 739.349), comment.
(representing American Hotel
and Lodging Association)
Recess: At 11:19 a.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 11:34 a.m.
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:
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Bill 200: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 04-110 WHICH RECLASSIFIED LANDS FROM
OPEN (0) TO INDUSTRIAL-COMMERCIAL MIXED (MCX-20) AND
GENERAL INDUSTRIAL (MG-la) AT HONOKOHAU IST AND 2ND, NORTH
KONA, HAWAII, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 7-4-008:013 AND 030
(Applicant: West Hawaii Business Park, LLQ (Area: 196.63 acres)
The Leeward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for
this amendment to Condition K(Roadway Improvements). The amendment
would increase the acreage of land that may be developed, from 10 acres to
48.4 acres, before the construction of Kamanu Street is required.
Reference: Comm. 1098
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff(B/R)
Approve: PC-75
(Note: Comm. 1098.1, from Council Member Karen Eoff dated October 29,
2018, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 200, was circulated.)
Motion to Approve: Ms. Eoff moved to pass Bill 200 on first reading and adopt
Planning Committee Report No. 75. Seconded by
Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member Eoff
MS. EOFF: We discussed this in Committee. There's no real concern here, but
there's an amendment that I need to introduce. It was basically a typo that we
need to fix.
Motion to Amend: Ms. Eoff moved to amend Bill 200 with the contents of
Comm. 1098.1. Seconded by Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member Eoff
MS. EOFF: I guess I would like to call up the applicant and the consultant just to
explain this correction. It was on their request that we do this.
(Note: At this time, Riley Smith, president of Lanihau Properties, and
William Moore of William L. Moore Planning came forward to address
the members of the Council.)
CHR. POINDEXTER: If you could state your name for the record.
MR. SMITH: Good morning, Council Chair Poindexter and members of the
County Council. Thank you very much for adjusting the order of this. I believe
that
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
CHR. POINDEXTER: You can state your name.
MR. SMITH: Oh, I'm sorry. Riley Smith. I'm the president of Lanihau
Properties, and with me is our consultant, Bill Moore of William L. Moore
Planning. We're here to respond to any questions. I think Councilman Eoff has
mentioned the addition of the word"require" that, I think, in the wording that
came to Council was overlooked. And so, I think that grammatically it works
better with the addition of that word.
MS. EOFF: The language is a little bit longer than that. It says that the project
impacts shall be implemented in a manner that meets with the approval of the
Planning Director.
MR. SMITH: If possible, if we could have a copy of that just to make sure we're
looking at the same things.
CHR. POINDEXTER: I can give them mine. That's fine. Oh, here, they got
one. Thank you.
MS. EOFF: It says in "G," it says
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member Eoff.
MS. EOFF: ". . .in consultation with the Department of Public Works and the
State Department of Transportation, if warranted by a significant change in
circumstances or if required by the Department of Public Works during the design
and review of construction plans for future road segments." And then further
down—and some of it was just a bit of a cleanup to state it properly.
MR. SMITH: The applicant's fine.
MS. EOFF: The Planning Director's not here right now, but
MR. SMITH: Yeah, the applicant is fine with those changes, and we had thought
they were included in the original version. Basically, what happened is we
worked with the State Department of Transportation and its staff on a lot of the
verbiage that was included. And what happened is the Department of
Transportation Director did not give us the letter. So, that's why we included the
language about we will consult with the State Department of Transportation and
agree with what they eventually provide to us in writing.
MS. EOFF: So, would you be okay with us adopting this amendment and
changing it to a Draft 2 for the final reading?
MR. SMITH: Yes.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
MS. EOFF: Okay. And then, Council Members, are there any more questions of
the applicant? Then we'll go aheadoh, I'm ready to take a vote.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. Are there any other questions or discussion on
Bill 200? Hearing or seeing none
MS. EOFF: On the amendment.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Oh, on the amendment, sorry. On the amendment,
Communication 1098.1. The amendment is what we're voting on. All those in
favor, say "aye."
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 200 with the contents of
Amend: Comm. 1098.1 was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Now, we're at the main motion, as amended. So,
Bill 200, as amended with the contents of Communication 1098.1. Council
Member Eoff
MS. EOFF: I'd like to go ahead and urge us to adopt Bill 200, as amended.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Any other questions? Discussion? Hearing or seeing
none, all those in favor of Bill 200, as amended, say "aye."
Vote on Bill 200: The motion to pass Bill 200, as amended to Draft 2, on first
Draft 2 reading and adopt Planning Committee Report No. 75 was
(Approved) carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you very much. Bill 200 moves to second reading.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Res. 743-18: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN
AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF
DEFENSE, HAWAII EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, AND THE
COUNTY OF HAWAII CIVIL DEFENSE AGENCY
Federally-derived funds in the amount of$114,750 would be used by the Civil
Defense Agency to support the County's Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan Update.
Reference: Comm. 1150
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 743-18. Seconded by
Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member David.
MS. DAVID: Yes, thank you. We have Barry ?
MR. PERIATT: Barry Periatt.
MS. DAVID: Periatt from Civil Defense. You can go ahead now, Mr. Periatt.
Thank you.
(Note: At this time, Staff Officer Barry Periatt, Civil Defense Agency,
came forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. PERIATT: This, ah, of course we have to get permission within our
agreement with the State. The Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan is required to be
updated every five years.
MS. DAVID: I see.
MR. PERIATT: And so, this money goes towards all the studies that go into the
hazards that impact the County. The County is required to provide a $38,250
match with this particular grant. We do have that available in our budget.
MS. DAVID: Okay, great. Before I yield, I just want to make a note that we do
have a companion bill that we would address later on. So, thank you for that, and
I'll yield for now.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. Council Member O'Hara.
MS. O'HARA: Thank you. And thank you for coming before us. You
mentioned this has to be done every five years?
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
MR. PERIATT: That's correct, ma'am.
MS. O'HARA: So, our last Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan was 2013?
MR. PERIATT: 2015.
MS. O'HARA: 2015, okay. So, we're moving ahead a little bit, yeah.
MR. PERIATT: It's due to be submitted in 2020. That's when it's due to FEMA
(Federal Emergency Management Agency). And so, it's a yearlong process to go
through all the studies and revise the plan and then be able to submit it. So, that's
why the resolution's coming. So, 2019 is when all the work's going to be done on
the bill, or this plan to be submitted in 2020.
MS. O'HARA: Right. So, the work was done in 2014 on the previous plan then.
MR. PERIATT: That's correct, ma'am.
MS. O'HARA: And we were under lava threat at the time.
MR. PERIATT: There was the flow in Pahoa at that time, yes, ma'am.
MS. O'HARA: Okay, so this addressed lava inundation problems and lava
threats.
MR. PERIATT: If you read the plan, it does not. It simply addressed vog.
MS. O'HARA: Oh, dear. This was why I was asking. So, in the upcoming plan,
are we going to be addressing the threat of volcanic eruptions?
MR. PERIATT: That is the intent, ma'am. It is a Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan.
I can't speak to why it wasn't included in previous plans. I wasn't involved in
those, but I do know that will be included in this plan, this revision.
MS. O'HARA: Thank you, that it will be included. And it is available to the
public?
MR. PERIATT: Yes, ma'am. The plan is available. It's posted in, what is it, the
Laserfiche. So, it's available to the public, ma'am.
MS. O'HARA: Okay. These were some questions that came to me through
constituents that read this item on the agenda, and they were very concerned given
what we have been experiencing in Puna in the emergency response to the
volcanic eruption, and the fact that we didn't really have a game plan clearly
identified. And, hopefully, this will remedy that.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
MR. PERIATT: That's the intent, yes.
MS. O'HARA: Okay, thank you.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member Eoff Oh, did you haveoh, no? Okay.
Any other discussion? Seeing or hearing none, all those in flavor of
Resolution 743 say "aye."
Vote on Res. 743-18: The motion to adopt Res. 743-18 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Resolution 743 is approved.
Bill 207: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 18-68, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2019
Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants —Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan
Upgrade—Federal account ($114,750); and appropriates the same to the
Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan Upgrade—Federal account. Funds would be used
by the Civil Defense Agency to support the County's Multi-Hazard Mitigation
Plan Update.
Reference: Comm. 1150
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 207 on first reading.
Seconded by Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member David.
MS. DAVID: Yes, thank you, Chair. This is the companion to the reso., so I just
ask for your support.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Any other discussion? Okay, seeing or hearing none, all
those in favor say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Vote on Bill 207: The motion to pass Bill 207 on first reading was carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
Bill 191: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 18-68, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2019
Increases revenues in the Federal Grants —State Homeland Security Program
Fiscal Year 2018 account ($120,000); and appropriates the same to the State
Homeland Security Program Fiscal Year 2018 account, for a total appropriation of
$720,000. Funds would be used for retrofitting hurricane shelters and key County
facilities, providing upgrades to the emergency operations center, to continue
coordination and collaboration with the island's community, and to provide
Community Emergency Response Team training.
Reference: Comm. 1076
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
First Reading: October 17, 2018
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 191 on second and final
reading. Seconded by Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member David.
MS. DAVID: Yes,just asking for your continued support on this one. It passed
out of Council.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, any other discussion? Seeing or hearing none, all
those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Bill 191: The motion to pass Bill 191 on second and final reading
(Adopted) was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
CHR. POINDEXTER: Bill 191 is approved.
Res. 742-18: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN
AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL, PURSUANT TO HAWAII REVISED STATUTES
SECTION 46-7, FOR A GRANT TO THE OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTING
ATTORNEY
Federally-derived funds in the amount of$280,498 would be used by the Office
of the Prosecuting Attorney for its Sex Assault Kit Initiative Reviews of Cold
Case and Domestic Violence Incidents Project.
Reference: Comm. 1149
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 742-18. Seconded by
Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member David.
MS. DAVID: Yes, thank you, Chair. We have Prosecutor Dale Ross in Kona.
They requested that this matter be waived to Council out of Finance because
there's a time constraint on getting these funds. So, Prosecutor Ross, could you
explain to us,just in a few words, the purpose of this grant?
(Note: At this time, First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Dale Ross came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
MS. ROSS: Thank you. Good morning.
MS. DAVID: Good morning.
MS. ROSS: This is Dale Ross, First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney. The SAKI
(Sex Assault Kit Initiative) initiative was started with the Legislature funding
neighbor islands to go ahead and test 197 kits for the Big Island. And we learned
a few months ago that there were some extra monies on the Federal SAKI grant
that was supposed to be funding the Honolulu backlog.
So, with these extra funds, which are only available through the end of
September, the Federal Fiscal Year 2019. With surplus funds from that grant,
we've been tentatively approved to go ahead and use that to do an assessment of
all of our backlog kits, 197 kits, with an experienced investigator and prosecutor.
There is a time limit by which we must use these funds.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
The second part of the project will involve hiring interns for the purpose of
looking at our domestic violence cases to do a better job at identifying the
high-risk domestic violence cases.
MS. DAVID: Thank you very much, First Deputy Ross. And if there's any other
questions, I will yield. Before I do that, I just note that there's a companion
Bill 206 for this resolution. Thank you. I yield.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, any other discussion? Seeing or hearing none, all
those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Res. 742-18: The motion to adopt Res. 742-18 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Resolution 742 is approved.
Bill 206: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 18-68, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2019
Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants —Sex Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI)
Reviews of Cold Case and Domestic Violence Incidents Project account
($280,498); and appropriates the same to the SAKI Reviews of Cold Case and
Domestic Violence Incidents Project account. Funds would be used by the Office
of the Prosecuting Attorney.
Reference: Comm. 1149
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 206 on first reading.
Seconded by Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member David.
MS. DAVID: Yes, thank you. I just ask for your support based on the testimony
from Prosecutor Ross in Kona. I yield.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. Seeing no other discussion, all those in favor say
Ic aye.
Vote on Bill 206: The motion to pass Bill 206 on first reading was carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Bill 206 moves forward to second reading.
Bill 190: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 18-68, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2019
Increases revenues in the Federal Grants —Housing Choice Voucher Program
account ($53,293); and appropriates the same to the Voucher Rental Subsidies
account for a total appropriation of$18,948,293. Funds would be used for Housing
Assistance Payment subsidies.
Reference: Comm. 1075
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
First Reading: October 17, 2018
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 190 on second and final
reading. Seconded by Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member David.
MS. DAVID: Yes, this was approved out of Committee and first reading. So,
unless Council Members have questions for Mr. Gyotoku, I would just ask for
your continued support.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, any other discussion or questions? Seeing or
hearing none, all those in favor say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Vote on Bill 190: The motion to pass Bill 190 on second and final reading
(Adopted) was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
Res. 741-18: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN
AGREEMENT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII, HAWAII
COMMUNITY COLLEGE, PURSUANT TO HAWAII REVISED STATUTES
SECTION 46-7, FOR A WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY
ACT (WIOA) GRANT
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into an agreement with the university to support the
Adult and Dislocated Workers Program by providing training to increase
employment, retention, earnings, skills, and literacy.
Reference: Comm. 1148
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 741-18. Seconded by
Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member David.
MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair. Also this, due to time sensitivity, a waiver from
Finance was requested. So, Mr. Gyotoku, could you please give us a briefing on
this one? Mahalo.
(Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Neil Gyotoku came forward
to address the members of the Council.)
MR. GYOTOKU: Neil Gyotoku, Housing Administrator. This contract we've
negotiated with the Hawaii Community College is to run our adult and dislocated
program under the WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act)program.
It brings in $473,000, which we need to spend by June 301h of next year, 2019. It
provides training and education to dislocated workers who have lost their jobs or
have been unemployed for a substantially long time. I hope that you'll permit the
Mayor to execute this agreement. We've worked very hard to get this done.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you. Go ahead, Ms. David. You still have the
floor.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
MS. DAVID: Oh, no, I think I—thank you, Mr. Gyotoku. I yield, and this is
islandwide, right?
MR. GYOTOKU: Yes. I have some short notes. From July 1st, 2017, to June 30,
2018, we've helped 112 adults and 49 dislocated workers. We've also done rapid
response sessions for Jack's Tours, Kalani Honua, and also for the lava flow. We
did three rapid response sessions where we signed up people who have been
dislocated, lost their jobs, and to try to provide them with training or education so
they can find new jobs.
We also had a job fair last month where we had over 400 clients and about
75 employers at the tennis stadium. So, that was a huge success.
MS. DAVID: Cool. So, this money will actually go to benefit the dislocated
workers from Puna due to the volcano, continued.
MR. GYOTOKU: It's not, I mean, yes.
MS. DAVID: Continued?
MR. GYOTOKU: Yes.
MS. DAVID: Okay.
MR. GYOTOKU: And it also helps the other people
MS. DAVID: Right.
MR. GYOTOKU: We just got word that Bubba Gump is closing. So, we're
going to be doing a rapid response, hopefully, with their workers like that to try to
assist.
MS. DAVID: Okay, great. Thank you very much. I yield.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Any other discussion or questions? Seeing or hearing
none, all those in favor say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Vote on Res. 741-18: The motion to adopt Res. 741-18 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
MR. GYOTOKU: Thank you.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you. So, that resolution is approved.
Bill 108: AMENDS CHAPTER 25, ARTICLE 1, ARTICLE 2, ARTICLE 4, AND
(Draft 5) ARTICLE 5, OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS
AMENDED), RELATING TO SHORT-TERM VACATION RENTALS
Defines where short-term vacation rentals would be allowed, establishes
regulations for their use, and provides a way for an owner or operator to obtain a
nonconforming use certificate that would allow them to operate in a
non-permitted district.
Reference: Comm. 739.349
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff and Mr. Kanuha
Approve: PC-74
(Note: The following proposed amendments to Bill 108, Draft 5, were circulated:
Comm. 739.350, from Council Member Eileen O'Hara dated October 30, 2018;
Comm. 739.351, from Council Members Karen Eoff and Dru Mamo Kanuha
dated October 31, 2018;
Comm. 739.352, from Council Members Karen Eoff and Dru Mamo Kanuha
dated November 2, 2018; and
Comm. 739.353, from Council Member Eileen O'Hara dated November 2, 2018.)
Motion to Approve: Ms. Eoff moved to pass Bill 108, Draft 5, on first reading
and adopt Planning Committee Report No. 74. Seconded
by Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Go ahead, Council Member Eoff
MS. EOFF: Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Before we go into discussion
on Bill 108, I would like to introduce a very procedural amendment so that if and
whatever time Bill 108 would be adopted, this would need to be done. So, it's not
a substantial change to any of the structure of the bill. It just clarifies, well, let me
move to amend first.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Motion to Amend: Ms. Eoff moved to amend Bill 108, Draft 5, with the
contents of Comm. 739.351. Seconded by Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member Eoff
MS. EOFF: Okay, so what came to our attention was that the bill had stated all
up until now that registration would be required within 180 days, which is six
months, after the adoption of this ordinance. However, it had come to our
attention that we wouldn't be able to do that. We won't be able to register any
non-conforming use certificate or registration of a vacation rental until after rules
of procedure have been adopted. It's a part of a requirement of our Code. So, the
Planning Department will have to adopt rules of procedure, and that is also a
public process, before we can even begin the 180-day clock to start ticking.
So, I believe I've explained that correctly. If Planning has any different take on
that, you can come up to the table right now. But for now, I would just like to
take care of that procedural change here.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay.
MS. EOFF: So, I'm just advocating that we do that so we can continue
discussions.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, thank you. And I would ask that, I guess, maybe
Planning already come to sit at the table just in case we do start to have questions.
Okay, at this time we're on Communication 739.351. Any other discussion?
Council Member Kanuha.
MR. KANUHA: Thank you, Madam Chair. And just for clarity purposes, I
mean, I'm in support of this. But for everybody involved, how long is this
process going to take formulating rules, going through a public hearing? Just so
we can kind of have an approximate timeline for the public to know, if this bill
does go through, how long does that process take?
(Note: At this time, Deputy Planning Director Daryn Arai came forward
to address the members of the Council.)
MR. ARAI: Daryn Arai, Deputy Planning Director. Good afternoon. We started
looking at crafting some rules, but I understand, depending on the complexities of
it, it's months easily. And I wouldn't hazard to guess that it could go anywhere to
four, five, maybe even six months, depending on some of the comments that we
may receive by the public. We will probably do at least two public meetings, East
and West Hawaii, and receive the comments and then try to craft the bill.
Because, understanding thatI mean, craft the rules. Because, the rules will have
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
to explicitly lay out the process and all the requirements. So, as you can imagine,
it's going to be a constant adjustment, no different than how Bill 108 has gone
through its own processes.
MR. KANUHA: Thank you. And that's why I think it's necessary to put this
amendment into the bill, so that you don't have the 180 days to figure out all the
rules and all the people who could possibly be registering at the same time.
That'd be crazy. But that's assuming this bill passes. But for now, I think it's
incumbent on us to put this inside as an amendment.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, thank you. Council Member O'Hara.
MS. O'HARA: Regarding the setting of the rules, you've just stated that you
intend to have at least one public meeting eastside and one on the westside. I just
want to point out that we've been hearing this bill since, when did it first come to
Council? March? How many hearings have we had? We're in Draft 5, and
we're just finally getting to final reads at Council. And there are many people out
in the public that are just now learning about this bill. So, I'm a little concerned if
we're only going to have one public meeting east/west, maybe not sufficient?
And also, if, at those meetings, you get substantial feedback that is going to
involve altering your proposed rules, would you not then take it back out for
another public hearing? In order to get good rules and a good process, I think
we're looking at probably, I hate to say it, more like a year. So, I just want to be
realistic for the public and really think it through. Because, I don't know that we
want it rushed. So, I'm just asking.
MR. ARAI: Which explains why I said "at least." I'm also realistic, at least try
to be. Granted each time you make an adjustment to the rules doesn't mean you
take it back out. Because, we're not obligated to sort of, like, get the seal of
approval at any one given meeting. But we should, you're right, conduct enough
meetings to make sure that some of the adjustments and revisions that we do
make and provisions we do provide have had the necessary type of input and
amount of input that we can get from the community. So, it could easily result in
multiple meetings beyond just one on each side of the island.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, thank you. Council Member David.
MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair. I just have a question as far as—the bill states
the ordinance shall take effect upon approval. But given what you just said,
although it states that the process for rule implement or creating rules, that this
will take effect upon that happening first, right? You can't implement this with
this bill until you have rules. So, this bill says this ordinance shall take effect
upon approval. So, does that have any—does that mean anything, considering
you guys have got to do rules first or no?
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
MR. ARAI: Exactly what section did it say ?
MS. DAVID: It's the last line of the bill. It says, "This ordinance shall take
effect upon approval." And I'm hearing that, basically, this cannot be
implemented until all the rule changes are created and completed. So, does this
have any—this, not contradiction but, how does that work?
MR. ARAI: Well, the confusion lies maybe in that Section 15 talks about "goes
into effect upon its approval."
MS. DAVID: Right.
MR. ARAI: But where it talks about the 180 days from adoption of rules is
actually in the definition. So, maybe to clarify, maybe grabbing the amendment
that's in the definition and putting it in Section 15 so it's
MS. DAVID: Included in that so it's kind of clear thatI don't—that's why I'm
asking.
MR. ARAI: To me, that's an easy solution, I guess.
MS. DAVID: Okay.
MR. ARAI: So, that's something maybe we can consider.
MS. DAVID: Just for clarification purposes, is it something that's understood
even if it says it's upon approval, it's a given that we have to wait till the rules are
made?
(Note: At this time, Deputy Corporation Counsel Amy Self came forward
to address the members of the Council.)
MS. DAVID: Aloha, Corp. Counsel Self.
MS. SELF: Aloha. Deputy Corporation Counsel Amy Self. Since this is being
amended, it should state that the language that's in the amendment should be
stated in Section 15 because this does affect the date of approval. I think that was
probably an oversight, but it definitely should be included in Section 15. That
takes effect within 180 days of the department's adoption of rules
MS. DAVID: Adoption of rules or something to that effect, right?
MS. SELF: Yes. That's what I would do.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
MS. DAVID: Okay. Then I'll just leave that out there. That's my question. And
so, thank you for clarifying that. Aloha. I yield.
MS. EOFF: Question.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, questions for Amy Self? I know Council—okay,
you have a question for Amy Self?
MS. EOFF: He can go first.
CHR. POINDEXTER: No, but his is not for Amy Self
MS. EOFF: Oh, mines is. So, I think the clarification needs to be there's two
things going on in the bill. One is, if the ordinance goes into effect upon
adoption, I would think that was referring to when you would have to already
have a vacation rental in existence. Because, the bill states that to get a
non-conforming use certificate, prior use has to show that you were in existence
prior to adoption of the bill. So, I didn't think that part was intended to be
changed. I just thought the time for registering it or applying for the
non-conforming use certificate would start 180 days after adoption of the rules.
That was my understanding of what the amendment was supposed to be doing.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Do we need to take a short recess?
MS. SELF: Yes.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. So, let me take a five-minute recess.
Recess: At 12:10 p.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 12:29 p.m.
CHR. POINDEXTER: I think it was Council Member David, you still had the
floor unless you're going to yield at this time.
MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair. And actually, I was just waiting for the
response to my inquiry. So, who's answering the question?
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, so do you want to repeat? I think Council
Member David, her question was still on that line item at the end before we took a
break. So, now she's back if somebody wants to just give her a brief overview of
what happened.
MS. DAVID: Thank you.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
(Note: At this time, Planning Director Michael Yee came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MR. YEE: Michael Yee, Planning Director. I think in the discussions during the
recess we realized that we probably have to make a change to the bill around
having the entire bill triggered by 180 days or some date that we choose after the
passing of the bill so it triggers everything down the road and not just one section.
The intent was to kind of, like, trigger, like you had to be doing your use as of this
passing of the bill, but then other things wouldn't occur 180—and that became
complex. I think, right now, the Clerk is trying to figure it out.
MS. DAVID: Thank you so much. That really helps me out a lot. So, thank you,
Director. All right, now I yield.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Before I give Council Member Eoff a chance, I know that
Council Member Chung still needed to make a statement. So, Council
Member Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Are we still on this motion?
CHR. POINDEXTER: We're still on the amendment.
MR. CHUNG: What's going to happen now?
CHR. POINDEXTER: Well, okay, can I maybe let Council Member Eoff
explain? Council Member Eoff.
MS. EOFF: I think it would be best if we withdrew this amendment and take it
off the table and let Planning figure out how's the best way to implement the
change.
MR. CHUNG: Before that happens, could I just ask a question?
CHR. POINDEXTER: Go ahead, Council Member Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Why would it have been triggered by rules of practice and
procedure? What kinds of rules of practice and procedure were you guys
contemplating?
MR. YEE: The rules and practice and procedures would be addressing the entire
application process, enforcement, details down to what kind of submittals you
would need to provide—trying to think what else. But clearly things that, if the
bill passed today and we tried to enforce, we wouldn't be able to. We wouldn't
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
be able to take in a registration right now and tell folks what they have to turn in.
We wouldn't know, if we got a complaint from somebody, how to go about
processing it.
MR. CHUNG: Well, why couldn't that all be built into this bill instead of going
through the rule-making process?
MR. YEE: In earlier testimony, I had said to pass the bill first. Once we know
the intent of the bill then we can create the rules and procedure around it to match
the intent of the bill.
MR. CHUNG: Okay.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, Council Member O'Hara.
MS. O'HARA: I understand we're asking to withdraw this at this point. Is that
my understanding?
CHR. POINDEXTER: Yes.
MS. O'HARA: Okay. `Cause, I had an amendment to Section 15. So now, I'm
kind of in limbo because I don't know what your intentions are. We're still kind
of in the dark here.
CHR. POINDEXTER: So, we're going toI think Council Member Eoff was
wanting to withdraw it and then table this until they can come back to us. But,
Council Member Eoff, do you want to ?
MS. EOFF: That was correct.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. So, are you withdrawing it at this point right now,
your communication?
MS. EOFF: Yes.
Withdraw Motion CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. So, let the record show that Communication
to Amend: No. 739.351 is withdrawn.
So now, we're back to the main Bill 108, Draft 5. Council Member Eoff
MS. EOFF: If you don't mind, Madam Chair, I think we should just take time to
table this and see what we can come back with.
CHR. POINDEXTER: So, you want to make a motion?
Page 23
Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
MS. EOFF: Yes.
Vote on Motion to Ms. Eoff moved to table Bill 108, Draft 5, to the end of the
Table: agenda or when the Planning Department comes back with
(Approved) a revised amendment, whichever occurs first. Seconded by
Ms. David and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Bill 108, Draft 5, is now tabled.
Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business.
of Business:
APPROVAL The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Approval
OF MINUTES: of Minutes.
Vote on Approval of Ms. David moved to approve the Minutes of October 18,
Minutes: 2016. Seconded by Mr. Kanuha and carried by the
(Approved) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
Vote on Approval of Ms. David moved to approve the Minutes of October 3,
Minutes: 2018. Seconded by Ms. O'Hara and carried by the
(Approved) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
Page 24
Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
CATIONS: Communications.
(There were none.)
ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of
RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions.
(Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.)
Res. 726-18: AWARDS A PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL
RESOURCES PRESERVATION MAINTENANCE STEWARDSHIP GRANT
TO NA MAMO O KAWA
Approves a grant of$62,658 to Na Mamo O Kawa, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization, to protect,preserve, and restore the Kawa properties (Tax Map Key:
9-5-016:006 & 025; and 9-5-017:005 & 007), pursuant to Section 10-16 of the
Hawaii County Charter.
Reference: Comm. 1123
Intr. by: Ms. David
Approve: FC-149
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 726-18 and Finance
Committee Report No. 149. Seconded by Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member David.
MS. DAVID: Yes, I just would ask for your continued support. Mahalo.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, all those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Res. 726-18: The motion to adopt Res. 726-18 and Finance Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 149 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Resolution 726-18 is approved.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Res. 733-18: APPROVES LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS FOR INCLUSION IN THE
2019 HAWAII STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES LEGISLATIVE
PACKAGE
Includes two proposals submitted by the City and County of Honolulu, five by the
County of Kauai, and one submitted by the Hawaii State Association of
Counties on behalf of Hawaii County.
Reference: Comm. 1140
Intr. by: Mr. Kanuha
Waived: GREDC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kanuha moved to adopt Res. 733-18. Seconded by
Ms. David.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member Kanuha.
MR. KANUHA: Thank you, Madam Chair. These proposals were provided for
by all the counties that wanted to have proposals submitted by HSAC (Hawai`i
State Association of Counties). As you see, one of the proposals is from Hawaii
County. Of course, the ongoing effort to provide lifeguards at Kua Bay is an
important one, and thank you, Council Member Eoff, for submitting that. And
also, thank you, Madam Chair, for approving of the waiver to Council. I know
our timeline for HSAC was coming really close, and we wanted to get this
proposal supported by Hawaii County so that it can be submitted on behalf of
HSAC and help lobby for the rest of the counties. But if you have any specific
questions on any of these, please let me know and I can try to help explain things.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, any other questions? Discussion? Hearing or
seeing none, all those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Res. 733-18: The motion to adopt Res. 733-18 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Resolution 733-18 is approved.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Res. 734-18: 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 SUPPORT THE 2018 SURFERS HEALING CAMP
AT RICHARDSON OCEAN PARK AND/OR OTHER BEACH PARKS IN
COUNCIL DISTRICT 3
Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Recreation Division Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 1141
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy
Motion to Approve: Mr. Chung moved to adopt Res. 734-18. Seconded by
Ms. Eoff.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Is there any discussion? Go ahead, Council
Member Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Ms. Lee Loy said that this is very important.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. And I know that earlier we had Kalani here, and
unfortunately, he's not here that we could bring him up. But any other
discussion? Seeing or hearing none, all those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Res. 734-18: The motion to adopt Res. 734-18 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
Page 27
Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Res. 735-18: 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 SUPPORT ITS RECREATIONAL PROGRAMS AND
ACTIVITIES AT RICHARDSON OCEAN PARK AND/OR OTHER BEACH
PARKS IN COUNCIL DISTRICT 3
Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Recreation Division Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 1142
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy
Vote on Res. 735-18: Mr. Chung moved to adopt Res. 735-18. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Eoff and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Resolution 735-18 is approved.
Res. 736-18: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO YWCA OF
HAWAII ISLAND TO REPAIR ITS FORENSIC CAMERA USED FOR ITS
SEXUAL ASSAULT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM
Transfers $1,334 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 7); and credits to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Other
Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 1143
Intr. by: Mr. Kanuha
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kanuha moved to adopt Res. 736-18. Seconded by
Ms. David.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member Kanuha.
MR. KANUHA: Thank you, Madam Chair. I just ask for your support. We
heard the testimony earlier about the desperate need to fix the camera. So, happy
to support this.
Page 28
Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. Any other discussion? Seeing or hearing none, all
those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Res. 736-18: The motion to adopt Res. 736-18 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
Res. 737-18: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO YWCA OF
HAWAII ISLAND TO REPAIR ITS FORENSIC CAMERA USED FOR ITS
SEXUAL ASSAULT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM
Transfers $1,334 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 6); and credits to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Other
Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 1144
Intr. by: Ms. David
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 737-18. Seconded by
Ms. O'Hara.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member David.
MS. DAVID: Yes, I just would ask for your support. Thank you.
CHR. POINDEXTER: All those in favor, say "aye."
Vote on Res. 737-18: The motion to adopt Res. 737-18 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Resolution 737-18 is approved.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Res. 738-18: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO REIMBURSE THE DEPARTMENT OF
PARKS AND RECREATION FOR EXPENSES RELATING TO THE
HALLOWEEN FAMILY FUN NIGHT IN NORTH KOHALA
Transfers $500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 9); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Recreation Division Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 1145
Intr. by: Mr. Richards
Vote on Res. 738-18: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 738-18. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Eoff and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Resolution 738-18 is approved.
Res. 744-18: 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
COUNCIL TO ASSIST THE KONA SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION
DISTRICT WITH EXPENSES FOR EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS
Transfers $1,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 7); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Agriculture Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 1151
Intr. by: Mr. Kanuha
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kanuha moved to adopt Res. 744-18. Seconded by
Ms. David.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member Kanuha.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
MR. KANUHA: Thank you. This money, we've done this before. It's used to
help support the Kona Soil and Water Conservation District as they put out
brochures and educational materials to the public. So, this goes for that, and I ask
for your support.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you. Any other discussion or questions? Seeing or
hearing none, all those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Res. 744-18: The motion to adopt Res. 744-18 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Resolution 744-18 is approved.
Res. 745-18: 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 AAUW
KONA EDUCATIONAL FUND TO ASSIST WITH THE 2018 GIRLS
EXPLORING MATH AND SCIENCE EVENT IN WEST HAWAII
Transfers $1,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 7); and credits to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Other
Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 1152
Intr. by: Mr. Kanuha
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kanuha moved to adopt Res. 745-18. Seconded by
Ms. David.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member Kanuha.
MR. KANUHA: Again, this is something I supported year in and year out. A
thousand dollars goes a long way to help with these girls that go to this program
for math and science. It's very helpful and you talk to a lot of the children that go
to this program, and they really love it. So, happy to support their program.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you. Seeing or hearing no other questions or
discussion, all those in favor say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Vote on Res. 745-18: The motion to adopt Res. 745-18 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Resolution 745-18 is approved.
BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Bills for
ORDINANCES Ordinances (First Reading).
(FIRST READING):
(Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.)
Bill 201: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 18-69, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC
IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2018 TO JUNE 30, 2019
Adds the Parks and Recreation Island Wide Tennis Facilities Installation and
Improvements —Private project for $100,000 to the Capital Budget. Funds for
this project shall be provided from Private Contributions, from the United States
Tennis Association.
Reference: Comm. 1125
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-150
Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire
membership to amend, pursuant to
Section 10-6(e), Hawai`i County Charter
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 201 on first reading and
adopt Finance Committee Report No. 150. Seconded by
Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member David.
MS. DAVID: Yes,just ask for your continued support.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Any other discussion? Seeingoh, Council
Member Eoff
MS. EOFF: I don't think we have two-thirds here.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
MS. DAVID: It's just to amend. Do we need to
CHR. POINDEXTER: Yeah, we needoh, is Aaron out of the building?
MS. EOFF: So, we can amend it, but we can't vote on it?
CHR. POINDEXTER: No, we cannot
MS. DAVID: No, we can just vote to amend.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Yeah.
MS. DAVID: We're not amending.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Yeah, we have to wait. We don't have to wait, right,
because we're not amending?
MS. DAVID: We're not amending.
MS. GOODENOW: This amends an existing item.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Oh, okay. So, all those in favor of Bill 201 say "aye."
Vote on Bill 201: The motion to pass Bill 201 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 150 was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Bill 201 moves forward to second reading.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Bill 202: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 18-69, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC
IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2018 TO JUNE 30, 2019
Adds the Parks and Recreation Kealakehe Regional Park Master Plan—Fair Share
project for $162,000 to the Capital Budget. Funds for this project shall be
provided from Fair Share Contributions.
Reference: Comm. 1126
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-151
Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire
membership to amend, pursuant to
Section 10-6(e), Hawai`i County Charter
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 202 on first reading and
adopt Finance Committee Report No. 151. Seconded by
Ms. Eoff.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member David.
MS. EOFF: Thank you. I just want to urge support for this. We heard testimony
in Committee. Plans have been in the works for many years. We need to move it
along, and I was very thankful that we were able to find this money in the fair
share in order to have enough money to start the EA (Environmental Assessment)
and I think it's called a PER (Preliminary Engineering Report). So, thank you.
CHR. POINDEXTER: And just for the minutes and recordkeeping, that was
Council Member Eoff, because I had called on Council Member David. So, once
they hear all that, they may recognize your voice or not, so I just wanted to make
that clear that that was Council Member Eoff Any other discussion? Seeing or
hearing none, all those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Bill 202: The motion to pass Bill 202 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 151 was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Bill 202 moves forward to second reading.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
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 189: AMENDS THE STATE LAND USE BOUNDARIES MAPS FOR THE COUNTY
OF HAWAII BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT CLASSIFICATION FROM THE
AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT TO THE URBAN DISTRICT AT WAIAKEA,
SOUTH HILO, HAWAII TAX MAP KEYS: 2-4-001:177, 185, AND 186
(Applicant: Hawaii Island Community Development Corporation)
(Area: approximately 9.379 acres)
The Windward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for
this amendment for the Mohouli Heights Senior Neighborhood Project, which
seeks to provide affordable housing and other related senior services in South
Hilo. The properties are located 608 feet west of the intersection of Mohouli
Street and Komohana Street.
Reference: Comm. 1064
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff(B/R)
First Reading: October 17, 2018
Vote on Bill 189: Ms. Eoff moved to pass Bill 189 on second and final
(Adopted) reading. Seconded by Ms. David and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Bill 189 is approved.
Bill 203: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 18-68, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2019
Increases revenues in the Federal Grants —Sexual Assault Nurse Coordinator
account ($623); and appropriates the same to the Sexual Assault Nurse
Coordinator account. Funds would be used to improve the County's response and
victim services involving crimes against women.
Reference: Comm. 1128
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
First Reading: October 17, 2018
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 203 on second and final
reading. Seconded by Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member David.
MS. DAVID: Just ask for your continued support. Thank you.
CHR. POINDEXTER: All those in favor, say "aye."
Vote on Bill 203: The motion to pass Bill 203 on second and final reading
(Adopted) was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Bill 203 is approved.
REPORTS: The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Reports.
PSMTC-13 NOMINATION OF JOAN OBRA TO THE POLICE COMMISSION
(Comm. 1129):
Requires Council
Confirmation by: November 11, 2018 (Section 13-4(1),
Hawaii County Charter)
Vote on PSMTC-13: Ms. David moved to adopt Public Safety and Mass Transit
(Adopted) Committee Report No. 13. Seconded by Mr. Kanuha and
carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: That report is filed.
REFERRALS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Referrals
EXECUTIVE for Executive Session.
SESSION:
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Comm. 1134: CLAIM AGAINST THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I/DEBBIE N. JITCHAKU
From Deputy Corporation Counsel D. Kaena Horowitz, dated October 2, 2018,
requesting an attorney-client confidential discussion to consult with the Council
on a claim and complaint submitted by Attorney Robert Marx for Debbie N.
Jitchaku.
Motion to Close Ms. Eoff moved to close file on Comm. 1134. Seconded
File: by Ms. David.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member Eoff
MS. EOFF: Do we want to hear from Mr. Kamelamela first before I make a
motion for executive session? You have a request.
(Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Joseph Kamelamela came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. KAMELAMELA: Joseph Kamelamela, Corporation Counsel. So, if it's
clear, whatever we sent to each one of you as to what we're recommending, you
may not need to go into executive session.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. Does anyone feel that we need to go into executive
session, or are we ready to vote on this item? Okay, we're ready to vote on this
item regarding Communication 1134. Now, do we need a motion to approve
MR. KANUHA: Concur with the recommendation.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Concur with the recommendation?
Vote on Motion to Ms. Eoff moved to concur with the recommendation of
Concur: Corporation Counsel regarding Comm. 1134. Seconded by
(Approved) Mr. Kanuha and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Vote on Motion to The motion to close file on Comm. 1134 was carried by the
Close File: following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: We've filed Communication 1134. Now, I don't see the
Planning Department here. I'm just wondering do we want to bring this back on
the table and take it into recess till the next meeting? I don't think that we're
going to be ready, or we don't want to rush them. So, I would say bring this back
onto the table and then I'm going to call it into recess. Go ahead.
Vote on Motion to Ms. Eoff moved to remove Bill 108, Draft 5, from the
Remove from Table: table. Seconded by Ms. David and carried by the following
(Approved) voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff,
Kanuha, and Chair Poindexter—5.
Noes: Council Member O'Hara— 1.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: So, we have Bill 108, Draft 5, back on the table. Our next
meeting is—when is our next Council meeting, please?
MR. MAEDA: November 20'h in Kona.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. I'm putting this into recess until November 20'h in
Kona at our Council meeting. So, this Bill 108, Draft 5, is now in recess. Now,
can I have a motion to adjourn?
Motion to Adjourn: Ms. David moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by
Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. It's been moved by Council Member David,
seconded by Council Member Kanuha to adjourn. All those in—wait, I'm going
to hold off on this adjournment `cause I see Jon walking in with a confused face.
But, um—okay, I'm going to recess for three minutes.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
Recess: At 12:58 p.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 1:01 p.m.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member David, can you withdraw your motion
to
Withdraw Motion MS. DAVID: I withdraw the motion to adjourn.
to Adjourn:
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. At this time, I'm going to take a recess, and we're
going to come back at 2:30 and see if we are able to have the Planning
Department back here to address Bill 108, Draft 5. So, we'll give them up until
2:30 and then we'll decide where we'll go from there. So, we are in recess till
2:30.
Recess: At 1:01 p.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 2:39 p.m.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Right now, we are on Bill 108, Draft 5, our discussion.
Council Member Eoff, you'll have the floor.
MS. EOFF: Okay. Thank you, everybody, for bearing with us and working so
hard today to come up with a revised amendment. Thank you, Ms. David, for
pointing out the potential for a problem in the original communication.
Motion to Amend: Ms. Eoff moved to amend Bill 108, Draft 5, with the
contents of Comm. 739.352. Seconded by Mr. Kanuha.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member Eoff
MS. EOFF: Because we were in kind of a dilemma of a chicken-and-an-egg
situation, because we can't really adopt rules until we know what's in the
ordinance and there will be some time taken to adopt rules, so we have some
language here that only changes one section of the bill, which is the final
statement of the bill. And it would say, "This ordinance shall take effect on
April 1st, 2019,"rather than how I had "upon approval." It would take effect on
April 1, 2019, which would give everybody a chance to draft the rules, go out to
the public and then there would still be about a six-month period from that point
on for people to get registered and go through the process of receiving a non-
conforming use certificate. And I'd like to ask the Director or Deputy Director to
chime in. I think I've explained it but I may not have completely.
(Note: At this time, Planning Director Michael Yee came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
MR. YEE: So, to clarify, the effective date would be April 1st. That would give
us time to draft the rules and procedures, to be ready as soon as it was April 1st to
be able to roll out to public meetings in April and adopt as quickly as possible.
The window that the clock would start ticking on the effective date for this is
180 days for registration on that April 1st. Okay.
MS. EOFF: And in other words, all of the provisions would take effect.
MR. YEE: All the provisions would take effect April 1st, but also that includes
the 180 days so people would then have another six months, not quite October 1st
in terms of registering.
MS. EOFF: Okay. And are there any other questions?
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, does anyone else have any questions? Council
Member O'Hara.
MS. O'HARA: Was there a reason for the selection of that date? I mean it is
April Fool's Day.
MR. YEE: I think March 1st was too early and May 1st was too late. And
April 1st fell on a Monday. I didn't choose it for that day.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. Any other discussion on that communication?
Council Member David.
MS. DAVID: Yes, I just want to say thank you, everybody, for working on that,
clarifying the question that I had, and thank you for the amendment.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Any other discussion on the communication? Seeing or
hearing none, we're voting on Communication 739.352, the amendment to
Bill 108, Draft 5. All those in favor, say "aye."
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 108, Draft 5, with the contents of
Amend: Comm. 739.352 was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
CHR. POINDEXTER: Now, we are on the main bill as amended. So, Bill 108,
Draft 5, as amended with the contents of 739.352. I'll give it back to Council
Member Eoff first.
MS. EOFF: So, unfortunately, most of the testifiers that were here earlier today
have left. And it has been very difficult to get the correct information out there.
And it's to no fault of anybody. I mean, Dru and I have tried super hard to meet
with groups of people. I've gone out to luncheons with realtors, luncheons with
management companies. The newspaper has gotten the story pretty much
accurate every time. It's just that people start to catch on later and later.
But the other problem was that some, I guess I can say, platform companies just
took it upon themselves to just send out a lot of misinformation, which got people
concerned and thought the bill was doing things it wasn't doing, and it was very
hard to correct that kind of misinformation. So, I was so frustrated because
people were saying statements today that I really wanted to interact with them and
say, "Part of what you said I think we can say is accurate, but the other part was
completely not going to affect you and your situation doesn't even fall under the
provisions of the bill." I just wanted to be reassuring to the testifiers who seemed
like they had a lot of fear about what may affect them, and I wasn't able to `cause
we don't deliberate with the testifiers, and they're not here now.
So, I'm just hoping that by us talking about it a little bit more, we can clear up
things once again and I'm sure there's going to have to be a more concerted effort
to keep encouraging people to look at the true facts. It's a complicated bill, and I
don't think the County has taken on a Zoning Code amendment with this much
impact in a long time. So, I just appreciate all the work that's gone into it. It's
taken up most of this year for the Council and then the planning commissions.
And you folks, I know it's been sort of a priority focus. So, I just wanted to put
that out there.
I was so encouraged that after the work that the Council had done over the first
few months that the two planning commissions both came back with favorable
recommendations, as well as some suggested changes. And you folks also had
some recommendations for changes, which we pretty much have incorporated
into Draft 5 and we voted on that last time. So, that's what we're looking at here
today although it's now amended potentially to a Draft 6.
One thing I am going to restate,just so that if people are listening they can be
clear about this, that Bill 108 was in no way intended to completely do away with
vacation rentals. We understand that there is a need for such a use, and visitors do
love to stay in those kinds of places. Like Ms. Donoho had said earlier, it's not
something that anybody is really against. But we are the only County that doesn't
have any regulation, no way to determine how many we have, where they are.
And not only that, but the State has noted that we are the only County in the State
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
that they cannot depend on for any reliable data or information-gathering to see if
people are contributing to their GET (General Excise Tax) and TAT (Transient
Accommodations Tax).
So, what I believe Bill 108 does is attempt to regulate,just enough—it's not really
overly cumbersome compared to even other counties in our State or other counties
in the nation or cities in the nation. So, I think we've taken a very fair and well-
balanced approach to not do away with vacation rentals but to make sure that we
also do not continuously into the future impact residential use, which is expected
in neighborhoods. And where those uses aren't compatible, we have built into
this bill ways to not only calm neighbors, because there will be good-neighbor
policies built in.
And so, there's some recourse in neighborhoods because we are considering
grandfathering in all current existing vacation rentals, which is quite a task that
we'll undergo. But it was the fairest and, according to our County Code, the most
legal way to move forward. Because, now we're going to regulate something that
we have never regulated in the past. We haven't even defined a"short-term
vacation rental" as opposed to a"long-term vacation rental" in our Zoning Code.
So, we have permitted uses of dwelling units defined very well in the Zoning
Code. A dwelling unit can be used for a family or up to five unrelated people.
And so, for now, that's pretty much all we have. We're going to go forward with
a bill that is now going to define "an additional use" in the Zoning Code, and we
had to state where it would be permitted in the future and where it would be
restricted.
However, the caveat is that those who will be operating prior toand that would
be this April 1st, 2019, date—would be able to be eligible for a non-conforming
use certificate, which would allow them to continue as long as they can prove that
they have been legally operating, meaning they have paid GET, TAT, they have
license and that their house is a permitted dwelling unit. And that's pretty much
why a lot of people today were concerned that they were hosting people in their
house to help pay for their mortgage. Well, they can continue.
There's nothing in this bill that will prevent anyone from hosting a guest or
drawing people to their homes who are tourists that, or even another little cottage
on their land or even if it's their primary residence, meaning they live there half
the year. They can still use it for a vacation rental when they're not there. And I
think someone spoke to that. I was taking notes, but I don't know where I put
them right now, but on the testifiers' concerns. But I think I pretty much can
address them all anyways because it's the same concerns that I've heard over and
over, and I've tried to give proper information out and I have. I'm sure some
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
people now understand the bill better than they did when they called me or met
with me but there's still a lot of people out there that don't really understand
everything. So, that's why I'm kind of reiterating it now.
Some of the people testified that this was their business, and I believe it is. They
put a lot of investment into it, and they also would like to be able to sell their
property in the future. And they thought that the bill will prevent them from
having a vacation rental in that house if they sell it to a new owner. And
somebody in the rainforest for the wedding thing talked about that.
CHR. POINDEXTER: You can continue. I'm going to give you leeway.
MS. EOFF: Okay. I can finish pretty quick.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you.
MS. EOFF: Okay. But she was wrong. So, actually, our law in our County Code
articulates the fact that, once a non-conforming use certificate is granted, that will
run with the property. So, in other words, they could sell that property to a new
owner. As long as that new owner continues the use into a short-term vacation
rental, they can reapply year after year. The only time that use would cease
would be if somebody did not register it the following year. So, I wanted to clear
that up. I think that was somehow misstated today, too.
And so, let's see, I think I'll wrap it up and give the floor over to Dru. But before
I do that, I just want to say that we have worked on this. We won't get everybody
on board. We do have a provision built in that allows the Director to work with
the people in Puna or other disaster-related areas, could be Volcano as well, to
determine if going forward after this is adopted that that's something that we can
do administratively or legislatively to increase their economic inventory,
economic recovery.
And I have trust that the Planning Director will sit down with these communities.
And I think we can do that through the CDP (Community Development Plan)
action committees or through other kinds of groups that are formed and see what
it is that community wants. And there's an opportunity for, after we pass this bill
and lay out this is basically just a framework. This is like setting a policy,
setting the parameters. And it doesn't mean that it's a forever, no more, no
stop-gap, nothing. It's like we just need something to go from and then next year,
given that provision, we can focus on the people in Puna and Volcano who were
here today concerned, and at least either quell their concerns or allow some
discussion on how to go forward to increase the opportunity for visitors to stay in
those areas.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
So, I'm really comfortable with moving this today to second reading. I know that
not all of our members are here, but the two that are absent have been supportive
in the past. And so, I just think all this work needs to be materialized now so that
we can then go to our next steps, which maybe you guys can focus on a little bit,
too, later. But I think I'd like to yield.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. Thank you very much. Council Member Kanuha.
MR. KANUHA: Thank you, Madam Chair. And again, mahalo to all of the
testifiers that testified earlier that aren't here for testifying. We're always trying
to clear up people's or our communities' reaction towards this bill, that we're
trying to get rid of vacation rentals, and that's not the case. We put a lot of
provisions in here to grandfather in a lot of these vacation rentals, and a way that
people can still continue to do vacation rentals all over the island if they own their
house and want to share their room. And so, those provisions are set inside this
bill that makes it possible for a continued use of vacation rentals.
We understand that there is a need for these accessory type of needs for our
visitors that don't want to stay in hotels. That's great. We have these places all
around the island that offer unique opportunities and unique places for our visitors
to go. And that's the type of experience that we want to offer to our visitors and
our kama`aina from this island and from the rest of the islands to experience. So,
I think we've done a pretty good job in making sure that this bill covers all those
aspects.
I know it's going to be absolutely impossible to satisfy every single person in
every single community that short-term vacation rentals touch. Impossible. But I
think we've worked through this over the year with as many people as possible at
the table. This wasn't a rushed situation. We really did take our time here on the
Council, went through both planning commissions, through I don't know how
many hours of phone calls and meetings with the Planning Department and
everybody else and then community members.
And truly, I'm obviously here to advocate for this bill and the regulation needed
for short-term vacation rentals on this island. But I'm also here to listen to our
other members that do have certain concerns. And I wish all of our members
were here today, but we're stuck again with a situation where we don't have
everybody here. It's tough. This bill will affect the entire island, and we are
missing three parts of that today. So, it's hard to—that's a hard part.
But I will continue to advocate for this and do want to thank everybody who has
contributed so much to this, and those that will continue to testify and continue to
give us unique situations that they experience within their neighborhoods,
whether they're next to a short-term vacation rental or they own a short-term
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
vacation rental. There's all these unique experiences. We're just trying to say
where this business is allowed, where we want it to proliferate, and where we
think it shouldn't be.
So, I just gave my general statement, and I definitely want to hear from our other
members about this bill. And then, really, I hope it can move forward at least to
second reading, and go from there. I'm definitely open to questions. But that's
my mana`o.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you. Council Member O'Hara.
MS. O'HARA: Thank you for that mana`o, and thank you, Ms. Eoff, for your
clarifications on certain things. The grandfathering piece is not well-understood.
It's not explicit in the bill anywhere. So, people will wonder about that because
they may not be familiar with zoning change as we are applying this bill and that
it goes with the land. However, I don't think we can dismiss all the concerns that
we have heard as misunderstandings. I really don't.
We received lots of testimony in the last two meetings; the previous meeting
expressly from the district of Puna, and not just my District 4 but also District 5,
which unfortunately our representative is not here so I am getting all of those calls
and emails as well. Today, we heard overwhelmingly about the negative impacts
on the Puna District from oral testimony, and we received written testimony. I
quantified it. We had 24 that were opposed to Bill 108, 3 neutrals, and 1 for.
So, it has been the experience, and I don't think we can just throw those all off as,
"Oh, they don't understand the bill." A lot of these people do understand the bill,
and they testified to scenarios that I'm very familiar with, `cause I get the calls
every day, and that is we don't have residential single-family dwelling zoning
hardly at all in Puna. We're 96 percent agriculture. Whether it's appropriate or
not, doesn't matter. That's what we have.
And people are doing ag on land, and they will have a small cottage that they're
using as a short-term vacation rental and they may live on next-door property.
They may live down the road. They may live a few miles away. But I'm hearing
this all the time. And in my situation in Puna, where we have lost approximately,
and this is from the property management firms, at least 400 short-term vacation
rentals out of an inventory that was less than a thousand in the entire district. We
have lost close to half of our inventory.
And allowing the return of some of that is essential to the economic recovery of
my district. We've heard it over and over again. The jobs. People were earning
25-$40 an hour. Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, house cleaners, caterers, those
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jobs are gone right now. Now, everybody that is still in the industry is working at
least half or less of the time that they used to. And it'll take years for this to
recover.
Right now, you may not be aware of it but there's no new permits being given out
in Puna. That's not in the emergency declaration. If we go try to get a permit out
of the Building Department, they will tell you that you cannot get one right now.
Insurance moratorium is in place. All you can get is HPIA; that's Hawaii
Property Insurance Association. And they are allowed to charge 10 percent or
something like that of the average commercial rate. So, it's pricey.
It will take years because people have lost so much of their assets, their resources.
Their financial resources were eaten up and either they lost their home or they had
to move out of their home for an extended period of time, which was very costly.
We heard from people yesterday who are having to fly into their homes at the cost
of$900 or whatever. It's eating into the pocketbooks of people in Puna. So, they
don't have the resources to rebuild right away. And houses are, after all, a big-
ticket asset. It's not something that you can just put on your credit card.
So, Puna needs time to recover its visitor accommodations. I appreciate that we
have the emergency clause. I wrote it, put it in there, negotiated it with the
Planning Department. But it's not enough because a special use permit is a kind
of long-term process. It costs money, and it requires an investment on the part of
the person attempting to do that. And we also have language in here now saying
that special use permits cannot be applied. Now, I understand that's only on ag
lands formed after 1976, but it doesn't specifically state that in the bill. But still
yet, that disqualifies a lot of properties in Puna from ever again resuming any kind
of visitor accommodation. This just does not work for us in the situation that
we're in right now. It is an economic death for Puna.
So, if I could just continue? I have an amendment, which was just dropped on
your desk. I think I got the right one. Communication No. 739.353, which I
would like to submit for discussion. Move to submit Communication
No. 739.353, which presents a change in Section 15.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. So, there's a motion on the floor to amend
Bill 105, Draft 5, with the contents of Communication No. 739.353. Is there a
second?
MS. O'HARA: Please. Someone, please—thank you.
Motion to Further Ms. O'Hara moved to further amend Bill 108, Draft 5, with
Amend: the contents of Comm. 739.353. Seconded by Mr. Chung.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member O'Hara.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
MS. O'HARA: Thank you, and thank you, Mr. Chung, for giving a second.
There seems to be a solidarity in this bill that I do not quite understand. I did not
want to make this a partisan bill by district. But the economic impact on my
district is significantly different than it is on others. And I have to recognize that.
And I'm sorry that we cannot consider doing an economic impact analysis
because one doesn't usually pass such broad-reaching public policy without doing
that type of analysis. But I've already discussed, and I'm not getting anywhere
with that discussion. So, the only way that I can see to allow Puna to participate
under this regulatory regime is to give them time to recover now and then they
can participate knowing this is the future.
We don't have the kind of problems that I've heard of from the other districts: the
party houses. I don't get those kinds of calls. We haven't gotten those kinds of
testimonies from Puna residents. It's not as common a situation because we have
larger lots because we're not small residential. We're small ag. There are
problems, I'm sure, but we haven't the experience that they had out in Kekaha or
over in Kailua-Kona.
And we're trying to write a bill that applies to every district equally, but it
doesn't. It doesn't treat Puna the same as it treats the other districts. And that has
to do with land use decisions made 50 or 60 years ago, and they aren't serving us
very well now. And the fact that we just had a major emergency event, natural
emergency event in the district of Puna. So, I ask for the forgiveness for the Puna
District. This will allow us a chance to recover and get on the same page with the
rest of the districts in application of this bill. Thank you.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, any other discussion regarding this
communication? Council Member Chung.
MR. CHUNG: I guess we've got to ask Corp. Counsel what her opinion is
regarding the legality of this provision.
(Note: At this time, Deputy Corporation Counsel Amy Self came forward
to address the members of the Council.)
MS. SELF: Deputy Corporation Counsel Amy Self. The problem with this
amendment is that zoning applies countywide. And if you look at the State law
that allows the County to use zoning as a planning tool, it has to be done under the
framework of a long-range comprehensive plan, which is our General Plan. So,
you cannot pick out just one district to eliminate from the Zoning Code that
applies countywide. That would be the problem I would have with the
amendment.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member Chung, you still have the floor. Okay.
Council Member Eoff and then I'll go to Council Member O'Hara.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
MS. EOFF: Thank you. Yes, I understand what you're saying about that. I still
believe that—and I think Ms. O'Hara might have quoted me wrong earlier
because I did hear comments that weren't misunderstandings but were valid
comments, too. I think I stated that when I was talking. But some of the
problems with this amendment, which you've just stated, I felt could be corrected
in a different manner. Because, next year, you're going to have an opportunity,
even before this would go into effect, to sit down with the Planning Director and
the attorneys and whomever else can look at either a General Plan amendment or
a new districtwide zoning overlay.
I mean, I've already come up against this in my mind from the very beginning of
working on the bill to see what could be done. It wasn't so much because I didn't
know the lava was coming down at the time, it was more about Volcano.
Because, I did feel that Volcano is a place where we attract tourists, and there
isn't, like was stated earlier today, there aren't too many places to stay. So, even
before the lava event, I was already thinking about how in the future can we
increase the opportunities for either lodges or home-sharing or vacation rentals in
an area like Volcano.
So, that's not a new thought, but I was sort of confident that that is something that
the Planning Department will look at with groups of people, with individuals,
with ourselves to see. Because, we do know this is a growing industry, and there
are good jobs associated. But I just wanted to take a moment to say that's why I
did support Ms. O'Hara's amendment earlier and I do have—it would take some
time and some effort. But like we all know, it's going to take a while for Puna to
recover and for tourists to be coming back into the area, too. Same with Volcano.
I have another side to this where I feel that the current operators are worried that
the $250 or the $500 registration fee was a hardship for people in Puna because
they have no business right now. So, it sort of seems like how can you say one
thing and the other? It's, like, first we need to restore the businesses to the current
operators who will qualify for non-conforming use certificates. They'll be able to
get their businesses back up to where it was and keep their people employed and
all of that. And, in the meantime, look at ways to increase the density, if that is
something the people of Puna want or if that can be done in various legal ways
that don't compromise our Zoning Code, as you just stated. So, I'm not against
Ms. O'Hara's attempts to do what Puna wants in the future. That she can be a
part of that is a good thing. She understands where we're at. So, she could be a
big asset in that regard. So, I don't think I can support the amendment given what
you've explained. And I think there are other mechanisms we've built in to deal
with the
MS. SELF: If I may respond to that? Right now, and I totally agree, right now is
an excellent opportunity to do just that. Because, they are in the process of
making amendments to the General Plan. And there's a Hawaii Supreme Court
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
case that says that the zoning has to be consistent with the General Plan. So,
that's your starting point since there is going to be—you are going to need time to
recover in Puna. Right now is the perfect opportunity to designate areas of that
district that you would want to have the designation of resort or resort node. And
Daryn can probably, or the Planning Director, could probably speak to that.
I'm not involved right now with the process of amending the General Plan, but
that would be the first step, in my opinion, would be to designate the areas that
you want in that district to be resort so that they don't even have to have the non-
conforming certificate. They would be allowed to have the short-term vacation
rentals in those areas.
MS. EOFF: And in the meantime,just to re-emphasize that all those current
operators would be able to continue in the meantime
MS. SELF: Yes.
MS. EOFF: And to provide the place for visitors.
MS. SELF: Exactly.
MS. EOFF: And the ones that did have vacation rentals and were covered by lava
or lost to lava or for whatever reason, it's going to take them a while, too, if that's
the business they want to go back to, to find land or to build a house. I mean,
right now it seems to me like, I know we're talking about short-term rentals, but it
seems like the focus is to afford long-term rentals to people in Puna. There's
people who don't have anywhere to live still or who had to move out of the area.
But other people may want to be able to move back to the area, and we should
focus on being able to rent or buy or buy land for a long-term rental. `Cause, we
still have a community of residents as well. It's a balancing act. I understand all
of this. And believe me, I've thought through it long and hard. I still agree with
the focus. But as far as the amendment, I don't think this is the way to
accomplish the goal.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you. Council Member David.
MS. DAVID: Yes. Just a clarification from what I'm hearing. Ms. Self, you said
that to accomplish what Ms. O'Hara's proposed amendment is asking would be
better accomplished through the General Plan amendment process, right?
MS. SELF: Correct.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
MS. DAVID: Okay. That makes sense to me because, I think, through a General
Plan amendment, and also the General Plan amendment process will be taken into
consideration on the CDPs for the area.
MS. SELF: Yes.
MS. DAVID: And in that sense, then, you have a global sort of vision of
accomplishing what I'm hearing she wants for the entire area. So, if you
implement those concerns and those ideas to help Puna through the General Plan
amendment, incorporate the CDP process, you have time. You have a year to do
all of that. To me, that makes sense instead of combining two processes, which is
exempting an area which you said pretty much we're unable to do. This seems
like a cleaner way of handling a huge problem or a huge complicated issue like
this.
Thank you for that explanation. Because, I think what Puna needs, because they
are different, is either a General Plan amendment to re-designate certain areas so
that they can do what they want to do down there because they are different and
special. So, okay, thank you. And in that sense, there is one more reading for this
anyway. So, at this point, I am going to actually support, not support this
proposed amendment based on the explanations that you just gave. So, thank you
very much. I yield.
MS. SELF: The other thing, too, to just respond. I was just asking Daryn, the
CDP action committees will be able to comment on any kind of General Plan
amendments. So, that's another opportunity for the community itself to be
involved in that process.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you.
MS. DAVID: Thank you.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member O'Hara.
MS. O'HARA: Thank you. Ms. Self, you said that a single district cannot be
excluded from a zoning action. Is that correct?
MS. SELF: That's correct, under the Zoning Code.
MS. O'HARA: And this amendment doesn't exclude; it just defers. It grants a
grace period of five years. That's not excluding this district. It will come under
this regulatory regime. It's just giving it a grace period.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
MS. SELF: But I don't know how you'd apply it. It's going to be very difficult
to apply that because the Zoning Code applies to the entire County. It's part of an
overall planning process. So
MS. O'HARA: How is it going to be difficult? Every parcel on this island has a
TMK identification number, a tax map key identification number. We know
which districts are in Puna by those identification numbers.
MS. SELF: But I don't know that that is going to accomplish what you want in
the end because there's no resort area in Puna. I thought the whole issue was to
try and get areas where you can have those.
MS. O'HARA: Not if you understand the Puna District and how it's zoned. Puna
is not really set up to have resort districts. We have large non-conforming
subdivisions, which is where most of our short-term vacation rentals have been
located that have now been terminated. And as I said earlier, we weren't having
exceptions or complaints about that. So, it is not something you can go into a
one-acre ag subdivision and create a hotel-resort area. You can't do that through
the General Plan. It's not realistic. Theoretically, it sounds good to talk about it
in those terms. It sounds good to say that this can be resolved in the General Plan.
The update started in 2015. I was presented with the update in 2016. We still
haven't gotten there. And so, the speed at which this planning process occurs
hampers the recovery of Puna. What I'm asking for in this amendment is not an
exemption for Puna but a grace period for Puna. They're different things. And I
think that needs to be understood. If I need different language to state, "grace
period," I'd be happy to change the language. But that's what we're asking for
here, for a reasonable amount of time in a grace period and keep the regulatory
regime the same, not changing that in any way. So, it's just about the
implementation date in that particular district, which I can't understand how that
would be difficult to apply because of the way we are set up with our tax map
keys and zoning.
MS. SELF: Well, without the Code in front of me, I would have to—this is the
first time I'm seeing this. So, I'll have to
MS. O'HARA: I just wrote it because you guys just wrote yours, and I'm sorry.
We're doing this
MS. SELF: I didn't write anything.
MS. O'HARA: Well, no. Oh, I'm sorry. The amendment that just got changed
that we took the two-hour break for. So, I had to revise this. But my amendment
was already submitted as of yesterday or the day before.
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MS. SELF: I would have to be able to think about this a little more before giving
a definite, I mean, I think it's going to be a nightmare for the Planning
Department.
MS. O'HARA: You keep saying that, and I'm wondering why. It means a whole
lot less non-conforming use certificates because Puna's going to be the primary
place they come in from, also residential. Yeah. We'll give the Planning
Department some time to get their feet on the ground with this whole
implementation of this bill and then they can come in and apply it in Puna.
(Note: At this time, Deputy Planning Director Daryn Arai came forward
to address the members of the Council.)
MR. ARAI: Allow me to make a few comments. Daryn Arai, Planning
Department. And again, I understand the intent and the reasons behind the
amendment. Implementing this bill is going to be difficult overall. If the
numbers hold true, some people talk of anywhere from 5,000 to 8,000 units, right,
out there? It's a lot to manage and keep track of. I can't speak to the legality of
deferring something, but the way I look at it, it's an exception. And granted you
can do exceptions when there's a state of emergency, but those exceptions are
usually provided for by a moratorium, I'm sorry, like an emergency proclamation,
like what the Mayor has been issuing.
To build an exception, not an exclusion, an exception to the law, it rings to me
like, and you probably heard me say this before, where I don't understand how
State land use law can allow ag tourism overnight accommodations to only that
County that has three islands and everybody else is excluded. That is an
exception. So, whenever I see an exception to the law, it always makes me pause
for a little bit,just because the way I've looked at the law is there's a reason why
it's called the State land use law. There's a reason why it's the County Zoning
Code. It applies islandwide. And when I see exceptions, there's a sense of
unfairness that's already built in. And you may think, obviously the disaster has
created unique circumstances, there should be another vehicle to provide that
exception but don't build it into the law. I guess that's where I fall.
MS. O'HARA: I appreciate that argument, Daryn. But there's a difference
between an exception to the law and an exception in the law. We have an
exception in State law that allows Maui to have overnight accommodations. We
can work on extending that State law so that it applies to the Big Island, and I've
already provided the language to both representatives and senators in the State
Legislature to work on that. I find that law particularly odd in its wording, and I
think it should be population-based, which is what I'm trying to do.
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
But still yet, there is a difference between exception to the law and exception in
the law. This is not creating any exceptions for Puna. It's creating a grace period.
And that's the difference. And you will be pretty well occupied for the next
couple of years with the registrations that are coming in.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you. Council Member Eoff
MS. EOFF: Question. So, do you have any other ideas or thoughts on how,
rather than put it into the law because of the problems that we're discussing now,
that you could use that other statement in the bill regarding having the Director
use some legislative or administrative authority to work with the community? But
what I'm hearing Ms. O'Hara saying is that what would have to happen, or what
may happen in the next five years is lots will be bought in Puna or homes will be
bought and turned into vacation rentals. So, it kind of seems like something that
needs further discussion anyway, like how you would allow that to happen, even
if there was a special remedy that didn't need a General Plan amendment possibly
if you could use this provision in the bill.
But I don't know what the thoughts would be on that, but I just instinctively feel
that's how to accomplish it, is through that provision in the bill because I
understand the issue with putting this amendment here. Is that something we can
talk to or we just need to trust or have it be a community-driven initiative or—?
How can we reassure people who may want to rebuild a vacation-rental business
that there may be an opportunity? `Cause, I mean, it seems like it would be a long
process by the time somebody can afford to do it anyways. But if they've lost
theirs, `cause I think what—and in the meantime, I'm still concerned that we need
to talk to a lot of people in the community because there may be places in Puna
where neighborhoods do not want vacation rentals, too. I mean, we still have to
think about preserving neighborhoods for neighbors.
So,just keeping it open any longer, I mean, it is something that's been
proliferating very fast. So, it feels to me like there needs to be a lot of community
input and thought behind where or how you proliferate this use.
MS. SELF: Just to get back to what the previous question from Council
Member O'Hara was now that I've had some time to think about it. The County
Code, the Zoning Code in particular, the way that it is set up is it's supposed to be
applied equally. So, that's the problem I think I'm having with this, is that I
guarantee you we're going to have calls from people who are not in Puna who are
going to say, "Well, how come they get this long time, and we don't?" And that's
going to happen.
And the same thing with zoning violations, where the reason it's complaint-driven
is so that we aren't applying the law unequally. So, we're applying it equally to,
also—in other words, we're not going out and trying to nail a particular person for
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
a zoning violation. They get complaints, they go out and investigate. So, in this
case, you're actually putting in an exception clause so that it's not going to allow
the Planning Department to apply the Zoning Code equally across the County.
MS. O'HARA: I'm sorry, but I don't follow that.
MS. SELF: Well, zoning laws actually
CHR. POINDEXTER: Before I go to you, Eileen, can I go to Council
Member Chung? Thank you.
MR. CHUNG: Thanks. I don't particularly dislike this, the intent of the
amendment, but I'm going to be voting against it. Puna is a big judicial district,
okay. There's only certain areas that have really been affected by this, and maybe
not so much even Volcano because it didn't lose too many vacation-rental
properties. But that's not the case with the Pahoa area `cause you've got
Vacationland and the Kapoho beach lots, and that probably comprised the bulls of
the short-term vacation rentals in that area—maybe not, I don't know but a lot
of them.
And what happens here is, during that five years, we're not going to be able—and
first of all, I think five years is kind of arbitrary because we really don't know if
they need five years, right, to recover. And during that time, we're not going to
be able to keep track of the vacation rentals that are coming up in that area
because they're going to be carved out of the requirements of this bill. So, I've
got to vote"no." I like the intent. I mean, I know what it's intended to do and it's
a well-intended measure, but I'm going to be voting "no." Thanks.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, Council Member O'Hara.
MS. O'HARA: I really wish everyone understood the full impact of this event.
There's almost 20 percent of the homes in the Volcano Village that were damaged
by the constant earthquakes. So, it wasn't just lava inundation that this volcanic
eruption caused. They applied for FEMA money, and a lot of them are still
waiting. So, there's been damage throughout the Puna District, especially in the
areas that were primarily our visitor industry.
I don't think thatI thought of three years, initially. I thought, "Oh, five years,
way too long. It is arbitrary." But then when I think about how slow government
works and how long it takes to recover—somebody said seven years, in an earlier
discussion, is about the time that it takes to recover. And there seems to be just
this general disregard for what is actually happening in Puna in terms of the
economic impacts. This district is dying, and this is like the final death blow. If
you guys want to pull that one, fine. It's really quite sad. And there's kind of a
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
disregard going on here. I have basically heard the Director of our Planning
Department say in public meetings that the best thing to do for Puna is to move
people out. And that's not really what Puna wants. They want to stay in Puna.
So, I understand that we have some issues down there, but we need to rebuild.
We need to come back with our visitor industry. And I say that, Mr. Yee, in the
context of an event that happened long before the eruption. DLNR (Department
of Land and Natural Resources) had a meeting, and the question was asked. And
Mr. Yee said that the best thing to do for the traffic problems in Puna was to let
people sit in traffic for two hours in the morning and then maybe they would
reconsider where they live. And I really thought Mr. Yee was joking, so I went
up to him and said that and he said, no, that wasn't his joke.
So, I'm concerned that we don't have better strategies for dealing with Puna than
what we're currently throwing at them. And the legislative relief is long and
tedious. It could take us two years to change State law. It could take us three,
four. We may never succeed. So, there is no guarantee in legislative relief at all,
and that's what the emergency clause allows. Because, the other part of that
emergency clause was for special use permits, and we now have another clause
that excludes special use permits. And we may be debating over whether the ag
lot was formed before '76 or after '76. We can clarify that, but it's become quite
confusing.
And so,just to make it easier, I just thought a grace period would be the best way
to apply this regulation to Puna. It will come under this regulatory regime. It's
just a grace period. And if we need to shorten it to three years, I'd be absolutely
okay with that. I don't know that that's time enough for recovery.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, thank you. Director, you wanted to ?
MR. YEE: Yes,just a quick comment. I'm not going to debate what was said in
a different setting in a different context. But I also don't want the comment to
taint all the hard work, all the conversations, all the discussions, all the
deliberations about this subject, which was vacation rental. So, there's kind of an
idea that somehow I'm biased against Puna, and somehow that's being reflected
into this bill. This bill is not about me but about what a group of us crafted
together.
MS. O'HARA: I appreciate that, Mr. Yee.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Just to address what was said by Ms. O'Hara, yeah. We
understand that a lot of homes and possibly vacation rentals in the Volcano area
were damaged, but they weren't inundated by lava. They can be repaired, right,
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
and still avail themselves of, or fall within parameters of this bill. And I think it's
not correct to say that because—well, I don't know who else is going to vote for
or against this amendment—but because we're not voting for this particular
amendment, we're ignorant to the plight of the people in lower Puna and maybe
even in Volcano. I mean, I just don't think that this is the correct mechanism, and
that's why I'm going to be voting against it.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, are we going to be ready to vote, or we're still
going toCouncil Member O'Hara.
MS. O'HARA: Sounds to me like you're all against it. So, I guess we're ready to
vote, but I just want to say I had tried to come up with a different alternative. I
tried very hard in the natural emergency clause that I put in, and I got kicked
back. I couldn't make it effective enough to address the situation in Puna. And I
started on that clause before this event. And then, this event made it so crystal
clear how this impacts Puna.
We don't have a housing shortage in Puna. I know the County has spent a lot of
time, and we're having a housing fair on the 17'h. We've got empty houses all
over the subdivisions in Puna, and we've got lots of buildable lots. Please
understand that. And the people who had short-term vacation rentals did the right
thing during the eruption, and they turned them into long-term rentals. A lot of
people did that. And they're now moving out of that situation because the people
have found more permanent homes. There is housing available in Puna. What
the event did was drive up prices. That's what it did.
But we are not having the same kind of problems that initiated this bill if you stop
and you look at why are we doing this. Over a year ago, we talked about doing
something to be able to establish a real property tax class for short-term vacation
rentals. I actually wanted to do a task force at that point. The Real Property Tax
Office decided to do one on its own, the Mayor's task force. I see everybody is
punching their phones. Great. We should just vote.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. So, yeah, and those kinds of comments of
punching phones or whatever, sometimes they're getting a message from upstairs
about something that we're talking about. So, I guess leaving the room is the
same thing. Anyway, I'm going to stop all conversation, and I'm going to have
now, as the Chair, have a say. And I believe that the right vehicle is the General
Plan through the CDP Action Committee. The Community Development Action
Committee, that's where the community should engage and that's where the
General Plan can be addressed at that point. And that is, to me, the correct
vehicle. So, at this time, I'm going to take a vote on Communication
No. 739.353. All those in favor, say "aye."
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Vote on Motion to The motion to further amend Bill 108, Draft 5, with the
Further Amend: contents of Comm. 739.353 failed by the following voice
Failed vote:
Ayes: Council Member O'Hara— 1.
Noes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff,
Kanuha, and Chair Poindexter—5.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Communication 739.353 fails. We're back to the main
bill, Bill 108, Draft 5. Any comments on that? Or we should take a vote or
okay, Council Member Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Yeah. I haven't really weighed in too much on this matter, and I
was absent the last time we took this up; I think it was at Committee. And this is
one of those really complex bills, right? It kind of incorporates a lot of different
concepts, public policy, economics, and all of these other things. It's something
where, for me, I have to just sit. I cannot even have my family around. I've just
got to sit and really think about it. I can't have any noise, and just really give it
some thought. And it's not a perfect bill. Nobody ever said it was a perfect bill.
Could it be stronger? Of course it could be stronger.
What I don't like about it is there's that grandfather clause. There's even the
whole concept of it running with the land. I'd rather it be more of a license. But I
understand that there are some practical considerations involved in all of that too.
And despite what Ms. O'Hara may think about us and our views of the Puna
District, I certainly am of the belief that we should be trying to address those
people, that district. They've been adversely impacted, and it's wreaking havoc
on their economic wellbeing, that's for sure.
And I think if we've learned anything on this, working with the County, it's that
one size doesn't fit all, I think our County more than any other. If there's any
way that we can carve out some relief for them administratively possibly, I'd like
to see that done. There is a provision in this draft that provides for situations
where you have a declared emergency. But once that emergency is lifted, it still
doesn't mean that there aren't lingering effects from the time that the emergency
was declared. So, I don't know how useful that provision is going to be.
I'd like to have, actually, the Director be given more latitude in recognizing
unusual situations and being able to address them administratively. Maybe we
can do that in subsequent readings of this. I kind of showed my hand. There
probably will be a subsequent reading. But when I really look at this thing in
total, if we didn't vote in favor of—if I don't vote in favor of this, it's really going
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
to mean that I have a disregard for zoning concepts and, really, the concepts of
building neighborhoods because I don't want this thing to proliferate in residential
areas unless the communities themselves believe that's the way to go.
And maybe this is a way of pressing into action our CDP committees. They can
take a look at that thing and see what fits in various areas in their districts. But
I'm going to be voting in favor of this today. Thank you.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Any other discussion? Council Member David.
MS. DAVID: Yes, thank you. I appreciate the discussions, and I appreciate the
departments and what they've said today. And what I'm hearing, and especially
what Mr. Chung said just now, is that everyone sitting up here is trying to find,
and it's our job, to find the most balanced piece of law that will not affect any one
person. It has to be equal, and it has to be equitable for the entire island. I get
that, and that's why I'm such a believer in the process. And that's why I believe
the CDP and the General Plan process is something that can help.
And so, my only comment is I support this bill and the intent. And I really would
like to just tell the general public that, while we sit here and try to find a solution,
I really am disappointed that we as a body in some of these situations are made to
look like we don't care. Because, it's not that we don't care. And I find that very
disturbing when I'm being cast like I don't care about the people of Puna, and
what we're doing here will hurt them. I think we're more professional than that,
and I think we're all trying to work for the same thing. And I'm just disturbed
about the reactions fromI know you're fighting for your community, and we all
do that. But we don't do it at the expense of other Council Members.
Because, I'm getting, you know, we all get mail because of what we try to make
decisions on, and be equal and fair. But when the dust settles, then we who do not
support it are made to look like we don't care. And that's all I'm saying. I do
care. I've got generations of my family from this island. I do care. So, that's all
I want to say. And I support this bill, and I thank everybody for their comments
and for working hard on this. I'm sorry. I mean, I take a lot, but I'm just really
this disturbs me, that we are not bad people. We're just trying to find a solution.
So, I yield.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you. Council Member Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Sorry. Go ahead.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Oh. Council Member O'Hara.
MS. O'HARA: This is never to insinuate that anyone up here is a bad person.
We have our different viewpoints on this bill. It's a regulatory regime, and I was
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trying to express how we started down this path over a year ago. And it was
about setting a real property tax class. It was also about communities and
ensuring that it doesn't have a negative impact on community.
We also need to know where our visitors are. In the case of emergencies like
we've had in Puna, we need to know if there's 75 people at short-term vacation
rentals at the top of Wright Road, eight miles from nowhere. We need to know
for our emergency responders. So, there's all good reasons to have a regulatory
regime on short-term vacation rentals. I was always for that. But I also have to
recognize that my district is zoned differently than others. There's some of the
same similar zonings in Maile David's districts but not much. It is different than
the other districts, with the massive non-conforming agricultural subdivisions.
And that's what we're stuck with.
So, the impact of this bill is different. It's not the same. It's not like we're trying
to make it equitable across the island. We can't because of what was done in the
past. So, this is harm to my district. And I really am sorry that we have to move
forward with this bill. I cannot in any way support it.
And I'm sorry if people were coming down on other Council Members for not
recognizing the impact on Puna. I'm sorry if that's happening. I get that on other
bills that I support that maybe you don't. It's just the nature of governing, and it
does not mean that anybody is a bad person or doesn't care. It's just that we see
this through different lenses, and this is harmful to my district. We don't need
this type of regulatory regime at this time. And I can't it will hit on April 1`—
April Fool's Day—the day after Harry extends his last emergency declaration,
`cause he has said he's going to do so through the end of March. And that's when
this will hit.
At that point, maybe people can `doze their own land and get the lava off Maybe
things will be different. Maybe there'll be insurance back. Maybe by then, by
then, but it will be too late "by then." And that's all I was asking for, is as grace
period. So, I'm sorry that it didn't apply in your viewpoints, but it's all I can do
for my district. I already tried. I wrote the emergency clause, and it isn't perfect.
But I couldn't get it any tighter or better. I tried. Daryn and I met for hours
trying to get that flushed out. But it doesn't work. So, it's really harmful for my
district. Sorry, guys. That's all I've got to say. I will be voting "no."
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, Council Member Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Yeah, thanks. Yeah, there's one area. I just wanted to mention
one area where I probably disagree with the rest of the folks who are going to be
voting in favor of this, as well as the Administration and possibly Corp. Counsel.
I still think there is a way, I kind of alluded to it, that we can do stuff
administratively, especially when exigent circumstances exist. Now, I don't
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Hawaii County Council-52 November 2,2018
know what Ms. O'Hara is talking about, what piece of legislation or what
amendment she was talking about, but maybe you've just got to try a little harder.
There might be a way.
MS. O'HARA: (Inaudible).
MR. CHUNG: I didn't see it today.
MS. EOFF: It was a few readings ago.
MR. CHUNG: No, but that's when it's a declared emergency.
MS. EOFF: Yeah, I wanted to clarify, oh, sorry.
MR. CHUNG: Yeah, I don't think that's going to do it for this one because the
emergency is going to cease to exist at some point. But really, the aftereffects of
the emergency are what we have to address. And just intuitively when I look at it,
I think everyone would agree the reason why the businesses in Pahoa are doing
really poorly, right, or hurting is because there are no tourists and no vacation
rentals. They're all wiped out. It's not because of the residents losing their
homes because they were absorbed in other places in Puna. It's those vacation
rentals.
So, I agree with Ms. O'Hara in many regards, but at the same time, can that kind
of vibe be restored in Puna now that all of those beautiful beach lots are gone? I
don't know. It's all speculative already. But at the same time, maybe if we can
think of something to give them a chance, yeah, I'd be all ears on that one.
But I just wanted to say that. It might be viewed as a special law but whatever we
can do, and it doesn't have to be for Puna. It can be for any place. I mean, almost
like what you guys have here in Draft 5, relating to declared emergency. It
doesn't specifically relate to Puna. It could be anywhere else. Might be Hilo for
all we know, within a few months or something, or Kona or Ka`u. But just to
give you guys because you guys can fast-track things instead of having to come
here to the Council and then have to vote over several readings. If we can vest
that responsibility in the Administration, we could really do some stuff, I think.
Thanks.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you. Okay, I'm going to just haveKaren, you do
the closing, and I'm going to end discussion already, I think, `cause we're going
over and over and we can spend hours more on this. Go ahead, Council
Member Eoff
MS. EOFF: I do agree with looking carefully at this potential for recovery in the
event of a declared emergency. My question, I guess,just before I close would
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just be if the proclamation is pau, does that mean you can't continue discussion
that may have been started during the declaration of the emergency? I didn't read
it like that. I think Ms. O'Hara had some concern about that but I felt like, once
it's a declared emergency, you would startat the bottom of page 3, "Director
duties in event of emergency."
MR. ARAI: Daryn Arai. The way I interpret this passage is that once an
emergency is declared then the Director shall assess. It doesn't mean everything
has to be fixed or resolved within the period of the declaration. It's just saying
that if there is an emergency that's significant enough that it warrants a
declaration by the Mayor or someone, the Governor, then the Director shall
assess.
MS. EOFF: That's how I
MR. ARAI: If the process takes one year, so be it. But it's basically to put the
Director's eyeballs on this, saying, "We have an issue. We have a problem. Look
into it. Try to see if we can find solutions." That's all it says.
MS. EOFF: That's reassuring. So, thank you for saying that. I really don't have
too much more to add. I'm grateful to hear that we can pass this on to second
reading. And who knows. The next two weeks, we're still open to more
discussion, and we'll have more Council Members here. So, I would really love
to see this go to second reading today, and I feel glad that it will. And I thank
everybody for all their patience and attention to this.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Now, we see two more lights on. Okay. Can I say that,
don't take five minutes each on doing this. Just say what we've got to say, but
Council Member Chung and then I'll go to Council Member O'Hara.
MR. CHUNG: I just wanted to say that I don't read it that way. I read it that, in
the event of a declared emergency. So, during that period of the declared
emergency, that's when these things can happen. But I'm saying, but the
possibility is after the emergency is over, there still are lingering effects that still
could trigger, might manifest itself after the emergency and which would still, or
which should still trigger some action from the department. I think we're all on
the same page, but I'm just saying I read this a little differently. So, all we've got
to do is just change the language a little more to make sure that whenever or if an
emergency has been declared and sometime thereafter, as long as there was an
emergency that was declared. Even after the emergency has ceased to exist, you
still can do things. Because, this is an economic matter, really.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. Mr. Yee, did you want to respond?
MR. YEE: Yeah. I commit to working on that language for the second reading.
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MR. CHUNG: Okay. That's all.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you. Okay, Council Member O'Hara.
MS. O'HARA: Okay, thank you. Having written that original language with the
help of Daryn Arai, maybe the word "aftermath" needs to be put in there
somewhere. But I have had many comments, and we've had written comments
and we had comments today about that clause. And they wanted it to be more
quantified. In other words, it just says "a significant number of the industry."
Should it say 20 percent of the industry or 30 percent? These are some of the
commentsI'm just expressing this if we're going to work on the wording—that
were made by the testifiers. And again, special use permits can be applied to ag
lots that were formed before 1976 for the use of short-term vacation rentals.
MS. SELF: If it's on a lot that was created prior to 1976, they wouldn't need a
special permit. If it's already existing
MS. O'HARA: No, I'm talking about "new"because we're talking about new
here.
MS. SELF: It's okay because the statute says single-family dwellings constructed
on lots created after, or before 1976.
MS. O'HARA: So, someone could conceivably come in and get a special use or
ask for a special use permit to establish a short-term vacation rental on an ag lot
that was established prior to 1976 if this emergency had occurred.
MS. SELF: They would not need a special permit because it's a single-family
dwell—the State law distinguishes between a single-family dwelling and a farm
dwelling. So, after 1976, the State law changed to where it has to be a farm
dwelling. So, we're saying that prior to 1976, they can, up until the effective
date
MS. O'HARA: That's my point. Up until the effective date. That's what I'm
trying to explain, Amy.
MS. SELF: They can create
MS. O'HARA: After the effective date. I'm talking about after the effective date.
MS. SELF: Oh.
MS. O'HARA: We're talking about an aftermath of an emergency that is going
to take years to recover. That's what I was trying to get across. Sorry. Yeah,
aftermath.
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MR. ARAI: Can I take a whack at it? Okay.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Yeah. Just work on it. Okay, so, I'm going to end
discussion and close. I think it was a great discussion. And I think maybe some
things can be put in the rules. I heard Council Member Chung, maybe I'm wrong,
saying "at the discretion of the Planning Director." So, I know a lot of things
could happen in the rules as well. So, I look forward to more discussion on this.
So, let's take a vote. On Bill 108, Draft 5, all those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Bill 108: The motion to pass Bill 108, Draft 5, as amended to
Draft 6 Draft 6, on first reading and adopt Planning Committee
(Approved) Report No. 74 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff,
Kanuha, and Chair Poindexter—5.
Noes: Council Member O'Hara— 1.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: So, Bill 108, Draft 5, moves to second reading.
OTHER The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Other
BUSINESS: Business.
(There were none.)
ANNOUNCE- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
MENTS: Announcements.
(There were none.)
ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 3:57 p.m., Ms. David moved to adjourn the
MENT: meeting. Seconded by Mr. Kanuha and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha,
O'Hara, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Lee Loy, Richards, and
Ruggles —3.
Excused: None.
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CHR. POINDEXTER: Meeting is adjourned.
Council Approval:
DEC 192018
COUN ' CLERK
SM/dg
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