HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2018-11-20 2016-2018 Hawaii County Council
53rd Session
West Hawaii Civic Center
74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
November 20, 2018
INVOCATION: Seminarian Ace Tui of St. Michael's Catholic Church gave the morning's
invocation.
CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawaii County Council was called to order at
ORDER: 9:13 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Karen Eoff, Acting
Chair.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Chair
Ms. Karen Eoff, Vice Chair
Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member (came in later)
Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member
Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member
Ms. Eileen O'Hara, Member
Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member
Absent & Excused: Ms. Jennifer Ruggles, Member
PLEDGE OF The Acting Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of
ALLEGIANCE: Allegiance.
(At this time, Ms. Lee Loy led the Council in the Pledge of
Allegiance.)
PETITIONS, The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
MEMORIALS, Petitions, Memorials, Certificates of Merit, and Expressions of Condolence.
CERTIFICATES
OF MERIT, AND (Note: At this time, Ms. Poindexter and Mr. Richards presented a Certificate of
EXPRESSIONS OF Merit to Sophia Cash for being the first to win four consecutive Big Island
CONDOLENCE: Interscholastic Federation Cross Country Championship titles.)
Recess: At 9:24 a.m., the Acting Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 9:26 a.m.
Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
STATEMENTS The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items.
PUBLIC ON
AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by
the Acting Chair:
Lee McIntosh: Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), in
opposition.
Abolghassem Abraham Comm. 1167, in opposition;
Sadegh: Comm. 1168, in opposition; and
Bill 213 (Comm. 1172), in support.
Thomas Fratinardo: Bill 213 (Comm. 1172), in support.
John R. Replogle: Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), in support.
(representing Windward
Planning Commission)
Steve Lopez: Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), in support.
Greg Mooers: Res. 730-18 (Comm. 1133), in support.
(representing Easley
Corporation)
Nancy Seifers: Res. 732-18 (Comm. 1137), in support.
Steve Hirakami: Res. 732-18 (Comm. 1137), in support.
McLean Eames: Res. 732-18 (Comm. 1137), in support; and
(representing Friends of Res. 746-18 (Comm. 1155), in support.
Pahoa Skate Park)
Michael Doolittle: Bill 213 (Comm. 1172), in support.
(representing Veterans
Advisory Committee)
Colonel Deb Lewis: Bill 213 (Comm. 1172), in support.
(representing Veterans Day
Parade and Veterans Advisory
Committee)
Mike Drutar: Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), in support.
(representing West Hawaii
Association of Realtors)
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Lono Lyman: Res. 732-18 (Comm. 1137), in support.
(representing Kapoho Land
Partnership)
Bobby Camara: Res. 732-18 (Comm. 1137), in support.
John Ordon: Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), in
(representing Leleiwi opposition.
Community Association)
Kathryn Kuhlman: Res. 732-18 (Comm. 1137), in support.
(representing Hawaiian
Shores Community Association)
Roger Guenette: Res. 732-18 (Comm. 1137), in support.
(representing Hawaiian
Shores Community Association)
Caryl Burns: Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), comment.
(See Comm. 739.391)
Charla Thompson: Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), in support.
Stefan Buchta: Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), in
opposition.
Debra Kalaluhi: Res. 732-18 (Comm. 1137), in support.
Harry Kim: Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), comment.
Lori Lyons: Res. 732-18 (Comm. 1137), in support.
Edward Lyons III: Res. 732-18 (Comm. 1137), in support.
Smiley Burrows: Res. 732-18 (Comm. 1137), in support.
Kekoa McClellan: Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), in
(representing The American opposition. (See Comm. 739.399)
Hotel& Lodging Association)
Ginny Vicario: Res. 732-18 (Comm. 1137), in support.
Robert Golden: Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), in support.
Jennifer Perry: Res. 732-18 (Comm. 1137), in support.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Janice Palma-Glenne: Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), in support.
Marissa Ashley: Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), in support.
(See Comm. 739.390)
Thom Gagne: Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), in
opposition.
Kendra Tidwell: Res. 746-18 (Comm. 1155), in support; and
(representing Virginia "Ginny" Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), in
Aste (Res. 746-18) and opposition.
Janelle Honer (Bill 108,
Draft 6))
Luana Jones: Res. 732-18 (Comm. 1137), in support.
Stephanie Donoho: Bill 108, Draft 6 (Comm. 739.386), in support.
(representing Kohala Coast
Resort Association)
Recess: At 11:08 a.m., the Acting Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 11:54 a.m.
APPROVAL The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
OF MINUTES: Approval of Minutes.
Vote on Approval of Mr. Richards moved to approve the Minutes of
Minutes: November 2, 2016. Seconded by Ms. David and carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Vote on Approval of Ms. David moved to approve the Minutes of October 17,
Minutes: 2018. Seconded by Ms. O'Hara and carried by the
(Approved) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
COMMUNI- The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
CATIONS: Communications.
Comm. 1167: NOMINATION OF PETE HENDRICKS TO THE SOUTH KOHALA
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE
From Mayor Harry Kim, dated October 30, 2018, submitting for the Council's
review and confirmation the above nomination.
Waived: PC
Requires Council
Confirmation by: December 13, 2018 (Section 134(1),
Hawaii County Charter)
Motion to Approve: Ms. Poindexter moved to confirm the appointment of
Pete Hendricks to the South Kohala Community
Development Plan Action Committee. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
(Council Members spoke in favor of Pete Hendricks' appointment.)
Vote on The motion to confirm the appointment of Pete Hendricks
Comm. 1167: to the South Kohala Community Development Plan Action
(Approved) Committee was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
Recess: At 12:03 p.m., the Acting Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 12:04 p.m.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Comm. 1168: NOMINATION OF DENBY TOCI TO THE POLICE COMMISSION
From Mayor Harry Kim, dated October 30, 2018, submitting for the Council's
review and confirmation the above nomination.
Waived: PSMTC
Requires Council
Confirmation by: December 13, 2018 (Section 134(1),
Hawaii County Charter)
Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to confirm the appointment of
Denby Toci to the Police Commission. Seconded by
Ms. Poindexter.
(Council Members spoke in favor of Denby Toci's appointment.)
Vote on The motion to confirm the appointment of Denby Toci to
Comm. 1168: the Police Commission was carried by the following voice
(Approved) vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
Change Order As directed by the Acting Chair and with no objection from the Council
of Business: Members, the following items were taken out of order:
Res. 750-18: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
OF ELECTROCARDIOGRAM (EKG) DEFIBRILLATORS AND
AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS (AEDS) FOR THE HAWAII
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a six-year lease agreement for 31 EKG
defibrillators and 53 AEDs at an estimated monthly cost of$12,072. The
equipment would become the property of the department or be traded in upon
completion of the terms of the lease.
Reference: Comm. 1159
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 750-18. Seconded by
Ms. Poindexter.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Council Members, do you have any questions or
comments?
MS. DAVID: Chair? You noted that, is that Mr. Melanio in Hilo?
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Yes.
MS. DAVID: Okay. A waiver was requested from Finance. So, I would like to
have Mr. Melanio give us a description of this funding.
(Note: At this time, Melanio Lorenzo, Accountant for the Hawaii Fire
Department, and Chris Honda, Acting Battalion Chief for the Emergency
Medical Services Bureau, came forward to address the members of the
Council.)
MR. LORENZO: Hi, good afternoon, Council Members. Melanio Lorenzo.
Finance accountant for the Fire Department. I'm going to hand over the mike to
Chris Honda, and he will talk about this program that we're wanting to
implement.
MR. HONDA: Good morning, Council. Chris Honda, Acting Battalion Chief
from the Emergency Medical Services Bureau. So, this program, what we're
doing is in hopes of changing out our EKGs (Electrocardiograms) and also AEDs,
which are our automated external defibrillators, which enhances our cardiac arrest
program and resuscitation efforts in the community. In the past four years, we
increased our savings from 4 to about almost 13 percent out there in the
community. About 21 people walked out of our hospitals last year that went into
cardiac arrest in the field.
With these new machines, it will allow us to be more proficient both on the front
and the back end as a user with these machines. And also, our fleet or our
equipment that are currently ZOLL products are reaching their end. An average
lifespan of an EKG/AED is recommended about seven years. Some of our
monitors out there are hitting 10, 11, almost in the 12'h year, and the newest ones
we have are hitting 7�h, 8fh year. Not only our EKGs that we carry on our
advanced life support ambulances throughout the island as well as our AEDs that
we use on our engines, utility vehicles, and our ocean safety on our beaches.
So, our goal is to change all of our equipment to this lease program, which again
will enhance our ability to, I guess, have cutting edge equipment which can
hopefully save lives. The equipment that we're getting or we hope to get is really
cutting edge. We did a head-to-head comparison over the past two years on pretty
much every aspect of monitors, the company, the service, and a big part from the
field users. And what we got is Physio came up way ahead on our point system
that we use to go down this route.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Of course, our field users are very important, what they do out there, and this
enhances what they do. But also on the administrative end from service from
parts to repair to a QI process, which allows us to see how well of a job our
personnel are doing out there. And the non-punitive way allows them to improve
on every case they go on with lifetime quick QI ability with telemetry, with
feedback of the cardiac arrest incident directly to our emails so we can see what
kind of quality of compressions that you're doing, rates and depths and things like
that.
And a big thing is that it allows us to transmit all of the EKGs from the scene
directly to our hospitals, which will allow bedside care to be more efficient. So,
when we have a patient who is having, say for example a heart attack, we can,
with the push of a button, we are able to push that EKG to the hospital, which
allows them to see what's going on at the scene and they can prepare at the
hospital to do our cardiac workups which is very important because time is
muscle in a cardiac event.
And they also have the ability to send that EKG to, for example, whether the
hospital's in Honolulu at Queen's Medical Center or at Schwab. So, they can get
authorization, get the medical services all lined up to expedite care of this patient
from our island to the infirmary care, which is the hospital, for treatments like
that.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Council Members, any further
comments? Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Chief, for that. Yeah, it's
great to upgrade. As usual, I have questions concerning funding. Is Deanna in
the room? Or do we have somebody from Finance?
MS. GOODENOW: No one's here from Finance.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. I'm curious how we're going to fund this, if it's
coming out of the current budget or if it's coming from someplace else.
MR. LORENZO: Councilman Richards, this is Melanio Lorenzo again. This is
being funded through a contract with the State Department of Health through our
EMS (Emergency Medical Services) contract.
MR. RICHARDS: So, am I understanding that this will be reimbursed through
the Department of Health?
MR. LORENZO: Yes.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you for that. Any other questions or comments?
Okay, then, all in favor of approving Resolution 750-18, please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 750-18: The motion to adopt Res. 750-18 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
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)
First Reading: November 2, 2018
Vote on Bill 207: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 207 on second and final
(Adopted) reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
Return to Order The Acting Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business.
of Business:
ORDER OF The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions.
(Note: Res. 750-18 was taken up previously, out of order.)
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Res. 730-18: GRANTS A VARIANCE FROM CHAPTER 3, SECTION 3-11(a)(1)(B)
HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION AS AMENDED), TO
ALLOW A SIGN WITH AN AREA OF 32 SQUARE FEET AT 76-274 LAKO
STREET FRONTING KUAKINI HIGHWAY, TAX MAP KEY: 7-6-013:041
(ZONED "CV-10" DIRECTORY SIGN IN COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL
DISTRICT)
The Easley Corporation seeks a variance for an existing ground sign used to
indicate gasoline prices that exceeds the 24-square foot limitation.
Reference: Comm. 1133
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: PWPRC-52
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 730-18 and Public Works
and Parks and Recreation Committee Report No. 52.
Seconded by Mr. Richards.
MS. DAVID: Yes, Chair,just ask for your continued support of this, and I defer
to Mr. Richards.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. I know Mr. Mooers, I believe, is in the
Waimea office at this time, if there's any questions. But, yes, continue support.
Thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Any questions, Council Members?
Seeing none, all in favor, please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 730-18: The motion to adopt Res. 730-18 and Public Works and
(Adopted) Parks and Recreation Committee Report No. 52 was carried
by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay.
Change Order As directed by the Acting Chair and with no objection from the Council
of Business: Members, the following item was taken out of order:
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Bill 200: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 04-110 WHICH RECLASSIFIED LANDS FROM
(Draft 2) 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. 1098.2
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff(B/R)
First Reading: November 2, 2018
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to pass Bill 200, Draft 2, on second
and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter.
MR. RICHARDS: Chair?
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Richards.
Point of Personal MR. RICHARDS: Personal privilege. Yeah, I just wanted to say that I recused
Privilege: myself from voting on this one previously. And I would like to do that as well at
this reading, as I am a board of director on a sister company, though I would like
to participate in the conversation if that's okay with my colleagues.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, I don't see any objection, so we'll go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you, Chair.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Smith, would you like to come forward or,
Mr. Richards, did you have further comments?
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah. Happily, we have Mr. Smith here. Thanks, Riley, for
coming forward. This is a project, and I've been working on it for quite some
time. I'll let Riley fill in and then I'll jump in at the end.
(Note: At this time, Riley Smith came forward to address the members of
the Council.)
MR. SMITH: Thank you, Councilman Richards and Chair and Council Members.
Thank you for moving this forward through the County Council. As we've
discussed in the past, we've tried for a number of years to be able to build some
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
infrastructure and also provide some commercial lot opportunities in
West Hawaii, and we've been stymied by the construction cost and other funding
restrictions.
One of the real benefits of this project, as I've discussed with all of you, is being
able to utilize the new traffic signal on Queen Ka`ahumanu Highway that
connects through our properties and will also provide a link to Kaloko Light
Industrial. And for all of you that may shop at some of the big box stores in the
Kaloko area, provides another safer means of access and egress from that area.
So, we appreciate your support, and we're happy to be able to move forward after
we get the approval today. Thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Go ahead, Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thank you, and thanks, Riley. This is the right direction
for this piece of land. It's the right direction for Kona; local family, good
company. And so, I just ask for my colleagues' support.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Any other questions or comments?
Seeing none, then, all in favor of approving Bill 200, Draft 2, at second reading
please say "aye."
Vote on Bill 200: The motion to pass Bill 200, Draft 2, on second and final
Draft 2 reading was carried by the following voice vote:
(Adopted)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David,
Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, and
Acting Chair Eoff—6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: Council Member Richards — 1.
MR. SMITH: Thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, now, Council Members, I had a brief discussion
with Mr. Chung, and it looks like maybe we want to just go through the agenda.
I'm not sure if we want to take Bill 108 out of order or just plow away. Okay,
we'll just start back from the top, then.
Return to Order The Acting Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business.
of Business:
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Res. 732-18: URGES THE COUNTY OF HAWAII TO MAKE RECOVERING THOSE
SECTIONS OF COUNTY HIGHWAY 132 THAT WERE INUNDATED WITH
LAVA FROM THE MAY 3, 2018 VOLCANIC ERUPTION A TOP PRIORITY
IN PUNA'S RECOVERY EFFORTS, AND COMMENCE PLANNING THE
FUNDING AND ROUTING OF A REPLACEMENT ROAD AND
IMMEDIATE IMPLEMENTATION OF ALTERNATIVE ROUTES TO
ACCOMMODATE RESIDENTS OF AFFECTED COMMUNITIES
Requests that the County Administration prioritize the realignment of
Government Beach Road and opening of the Railroad right-of-way to
Kahala Street and/or Kehau Boulevard as a means to alleviate some of the
negative impacts of the 2018 volcanic eruption.
Reference: Comm. 1137
Intr. by: Ms. O'Hara
Approve: PWPRC-53
(Note: Comm. 1137.37, from Council Member Eileen O'Hara, dated
November 14, 2018, transmitting a Letter to the Editor of the Hawaii Tribune
Herald from John Lockwood, was circulated.)
Motion to Approve: Ms. O'Hara moved to adopt Res. 732-18 and Public Works
and Parks and Recreation Committee Report No. 53.
Seconded by Ms. David.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, go ahead now.
MS. O'HARA: Okay. We heard a lot of testimony when this was heard at the
Committee level. We heard a little bit today as well in support of this resolution.
And as all the speakers seemed to come to the same conclusion, the only real way
to resolve all problems that we have with access and commercial truck traffic,
etc., is the recovery of Highway 132.
I did submit for your consideration a letter that was sent to me by the retired
scientist from Volcano, John Lockwood. It is Communication 1137.37.
Basically, he provides his technical expertise about recovering roads that have
been flowed over by lava, and it pretty much echoes what we heard from
Mr. Lyman, Lono Lyman, who testified earlier today who was also a Planning
Director in the 1980s here at the County of Hawaii. So, it is possible to go over.
We're doing that with 137. It may be a more temporary approach, but it will get
us a road faster than if we try and completely engineer down to the original grade.
That's a huge process and expensive and may not be doable for some years to
come. But what is doable is going over.
So, we're having continued talks with all the parties involved, all the landowners.
The Perrys were here. They own a good chunk of mid-Kapoho. Mr. Lyman was
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
here. We've had discussions with Jao. I have had discussions with
Marissa Harman of KSBE (Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate), Kamehameha
Schools, about potential access through railroad should we need to just bring in
equipment for doing work, `cause the government beach road cannot
accommodate large dozers. But I intend or have a scheduled meeting tomorrow
with the asset manager from KSBE for the State from Honolulu, and we will be
speaking at 9 a.m. about whether there's any opportunity for a more long-term
approach or use of that section of railroad that is under their jurisdiction,
Railroad Avenue.
So, there's been progress. There's been meetings in my office with parties from
Kapoho and Ron Whitmore from R&D (Department of Research and
Development). So, I'm very happy that this resolution has sparked a lot of
interest. And getting the wheels turning, that's what I feel this resolution was
intended to do, and it feels like it's starting to do that.
I did, however, thanks to Ms. Lee Loy, find an embarrassing typo on the last page
where I have, I'll take the credit for it, misspelled Ms. Sako's name. She is not
Diana. She is Deanna. And so, I would like to make that floor amendment to
change the misspelling of Ms. Sako's name on the last page. My assistant is
preparing that floor amendment right now.
MR. HENRICKS: That can be done without a memo since it's a typographical
error. So, you can make that motion basically as you just did.
Motion to Amend: MS. O'HARA: I just made a motion, then, to change to the proper spelling of
Deanna. Okay?
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Is there a second?
MR. RICHARDS: Second.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Moved by Ms. O'Hara, seconded by Mr. Richards to
correct the typographical error in the spelling of Director Deanna Sako. Any
discussion? All in favor, say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Res. 732-18 by correcting the
Amend: misspelling of Deanna Sako's name on the last page of the
(Approved) resolution was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff–7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: You'll prepare, then, the Draft 2. Make it into a Draft 2.
MS. O'HARA: Yes. I just ask for your support on this. Other members might
want to discuss or refine their comments. So, thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any other—well, first of all, let me just check with the
Clerk. Because it's just a typographical correction, we can move forward? Okay.
Is there any other discussion? Seeing none, then, we'll go ahead and take a vote
on approving Resolution 732-18, as amended, to correct the typo. All in favor,
please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 732-18: The motion to adopt Res. 732-18, as amended to Draft 2,
Draft 2 and Public Works and Parks and Recreation Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 53 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff–7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles – 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: The resolution is adopted. Okay, very good.
Res. 739-18: CREATES THREE WATER SAFETY OFFICER II POSITIONS FOR THE
HAWAII FIRE DEPARTMENT
Requests to establish three Water Safety Officer II positions based on an increase
in the number of beach patrons at Hapuna Beach Park, to ensure the ongoing
safety of visitors and lifeguards. These positions would be funded through a State
grant.
Reference: Comm. 1146
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-152
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
(Note: The following were circulated:
Comm. 739.385, from Council Member Eileen O'Hara, dated November 16,
2018, transmitting a response from Planning Director Michael Yee to a request
for information by Ms. O'Hara;
Comm. 739.387, from Council Member Karen Eoff, dated November 15, 2018,
transmitting a proposed amendment to Bill 108, Draft 6; and
Comm. 739.388, from Council Member Eileen O'Hara, dated November 15,
2018, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 108, Draft 6.)
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 739-18 and Finance
Committee Report No. 152. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Comments, Ms. David.
MS. DAVID: Yes, I just would like your continued support as this was approved
in Committee. Thank you.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Any other comments? Seeing none, all in
favor please say "aye.
Vote on Res. 739-18: The motion to adopt Res. 739-18 and Finance Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 152 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 739-18 is adopted.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Res. 746-18: 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 ARTS
AND SCIENCE CENTER TO ASSIST WITH TWO COMMUNITY
PROGRAMS AT THE GINNY ASTE SKATE PARK TO TAKE PLACE BY
JUNE 30, 2019
Transfers $2,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 4); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 1155
Intr. by: Ms. O'Hara
Motion to Approve: Ms. O'Hara moved to adopt Res. 746-18. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any comments?
MS. O'HARA: No, we had some testimony on this, and I just ask for your
support.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. All in favor,please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 746-18: The motion to adopt Res. 746-18 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Motion carries.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Res. 747-18: 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
HILO-HAMAKUA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION TO
ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATED TO THE SAKADA DAY
CELEBRATION 2018
Transfers $1,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 8); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Hawaii County Resource Center account.
Reference: Comm. 1156
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff
(Note: Comm. 1156.1, from Council Member Karen Eoff, dated November 19,
2018, transmitting a corrected Contingency Relief Funds Request form, was
circulated.)
Motion to Approve: Ms. Poindexter moved to adopt Res. 747-18. Seconded by
Ms. David.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: This is my CRF (Contingency Relief Funds) to help
celebrate the Sakada Day Celebration, and I'm very happy to have been able to do
this. One thing, Council Members, I just want to bring to your attention is
Communication 1156.1, which transmits a corrected version of the CRF form.
I'm told I don't have to make an amendment to the resolution but just to replace
this CRF. There was, I think, an error in the account number, the transmittal
(inaudible). So, any other discussion, Council Members? Seeing none, all in
favor please say "aye."
MR. CHUNG: I have a similar resolution coming up right after this, and I've
been reminded by my aide, like, three times today that I have to ask for the waiver
of the five-day hold. So, I don't know when that comes up but just wanted to
bring that up.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Do we do it separately for each of the resos? Or I can ?
Okay. So, I'll finish the vote on this. I'll ask for the waiver, and we'll do the
same on yours. Okay, then, all in favor please say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Vote on Res. 747-18: The motion to adopt Res. 747-18 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 747-18 is approved. I'd like to ask for a
motion to waive the five-day holdover so we can transmit this as fast as possible.
Vote on Motion to Ms. Poindexter moved to suspend Council Rule 15 to
Suspend Council waive the five-day hold for reconsideration. Seconded by
Rules: Ms. David and carried by the following vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
Res. 749-18: 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
HILO-HAMAKUA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION TO
ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATED TO THE SAKADA DAY
CELEBRATION 2018
Transfers $500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 2); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Hawaii County Resource Center account.
Reference: Comm. 1158
Intr. by: Mr. Chung
(Note: Comm. 1158.1, from Council Member Aaron S. Y. Chung, dated
November 19, 2018, transmitting a corrected Contingency Relief Funds Request
form, was circulated.)
Motion to Approve: Mr. Chung moved to adopt Res. 749-18. Seconded by
Ms. David.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Mr. Chung.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
MR. CHUNG: Just ask for your support.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: And he has also a communication to correct the CRF,
which is 1158.1. Okay, all in favor please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 749-18: The motion to adopt Res. 749-18 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
Vote on Motion to Mr. Chung moved to suspend Council Rule 15 to waive the
Suspend Council five-day hold for reconsideration. Seconded by
Rules: Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
Res. 751-18: 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'S WELLNESS FAIR, "START THE NEW YEAR
RIGHT," FOR THE SENIORS OF HAMAKUA
Transfers $3,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 1); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Elderly Activities Division Recreation Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 1160
Intr. by: Ms. Poindexter
Motion to Approve: Ms. Poindexter moved to adopt Res. 751-18. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Do you have a comment, Ms. Poindexter?
MS. POINDEXTER: I think the reso is self-explanatory. So, I just ask for your
support.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. All in favor, please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 751-18: The motion to adopt Res. 751-18 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 751 is adopted.
Res. 754-18: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN
AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF HAWAII, PURSUANT TO HAWAII
REVISED STATUTES SECTION 46-7, TO ACCEPT THE TRANSFER OF
MONEYS FOR SUPPLEMENTAL DISASTER RESPONSE
Funds in the amount of$10 million would be used to provide immediate relief
necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of residents in the lower Puna
area and for relocation planning for residents and agricultural enterprises
adversely impacted by the volcanic eruption.
Reference: Comm. 1171
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 754-18. Seconded by
Ms. Poindexter.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Ms. David.
MS. DAVID: Yes, Chair, thank you. I believe, is Director Sako in our Hilo
office? Yes, she is; I see her coming. The department requested that this matter
be waived because of the time limitations on this. Director Sako, thank you.
Could you please explain the resolution?
(Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MS. SAKO: Thank you for waiving this. We really do appreciate it.
Deanna Sako, Director of Finance. So, we previously have received $12 million
from the Governor's Office to help support the recovery from the lava. As the
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
first 12 million was actually more for emergency response, and now this
10 million is to help more with the recovery process, which is a little bit different.
So, we ask for your support to accept this additional 10 million.
MS. DAVID: Thank you very much. I yield.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Very good news. Ms. Lee Loy has a question.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. Ms. Sako, I'm reading the cover letter, that's
why, and it says, ". . . by appropriating this $10 million grant." So, I just want to
understand if this is an early Christmas present of$10 million, or we're going to
have to pay this back. Could you expand a little bit on that?
MS. SAKO: No. The intention is we're not supposed to have to pay it back.
They have a list of items they plan on spending it for, including some studies and
different things related to the recovery process and how they move forward down
in that Puna area.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Deanna, for that. Is there a way we can get a copy of
the list of what's been identified for the use of this money and ?
MS. SAKO: I can tell you what some of them are. There's no, like, real formal
list yet. But they do have some, like, temporary housing sites, relocations on
housing including additional Section 8 vouchers, and then some studies for
economic impact relocation types of studies like that. And the biggest one being
the relocation options on planning kind of study.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Deanna. I yield.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you. Ms. O'Hara.
MS. O'HARA: In following up on that question and information, Deanna, I'm
hearing studies but I'm not hearing any direct expenditures, say, on road recovery
or establishing lava viewing sites with that 10 million.
MS. SAKO: Right, I mean, lava viewing sites would not be included. That's not
necessarily disaster related. But road recovery, FEMA (Federal Emergency
Management Agency) would be picking up most of the cost for that. I mean, the
road was damaged, and therefore, our recourse would be through FEMA.
MS. O'HARA: So, would any of this 10 million be used for our portion? `Cause,
FEMA doesn't cover a hundred percent.
MS. SAKO: Right now, the agreement is more worded towards relocation and
housing. But there's definitely other opportunities for funding so to speak.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
MS. O'HARA: Okay, so this 10 million is basically spoken for in terms of
housing. And the other 12 million
MS. SAKO: The way it'sgo ahead.
MS. O'HARA: Oh, okay. We received initially the 12 million. You said that
was for the emergency management part of it, the response.
MS. SAKO: Yes.
MS. O'HARA: Did we expend all of that 12 million by the way?
MS. SAKO: No, we have not spent it all. But the way it was worded, we
continue to spend it on emergency response type of things;public safety, those
types of issues. And then, this version adds on to that rental housing assistance
and relocation planning for residents and agricultural enterprises.
MS. O'HARA: Agriculture what?
MS. SAKO: Enterprises adversely impacted by the volcanic eruption.
MS. O'HARA: And how will that 10 million be spent? Because, they get crop
insurance, I'm sorry. Do we give out grants? What are we doing here?
MS. SAKO: No. I think they're looking more at how can we recover the whole,
what's the right word, the whole economic impact from that.
MS. O'HARA: Road recovery would help. I hate to get back to it. I still
would
MS. SAKO: Yeah, I know. I wasn't allowed to look at the agreement before it
was written. I'm sorry.
MS. O'HARA: That's okay. Of the 12 million, how much is still unexpended,
the original 12 million for emergency response?
MS. SAKO: Roughly four, I think.
MS. O'HARA: Roughly four?
MS. SAKO: Yes.
MS. O'HARA: Okay. So, we still are holding on to that 4 million, and then this
is a new 10 million for moving on to the recovery phase.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
MS. SAKO: Yes.
MS. O'HARA: And it's largely being directed at relocation vouchers, Section 8
vouchers and studies.
MS. SAKO: Yes.
MS. O'HARA: Okay. I'm just concerned `cause road recovery is a very high
priority for the district right now, and I'm hoping that we have our share of those
expenditures `cause we'll get FEMA money but that's only 75 percent. And even
if it's done through Highways, that's 80 percent. So, we'll need to have our share
as well. Okay, thanks.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Any other questions? Mr. Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Deanna, it's me, Aaron.
MS. SAKO: Hello.
MR. CHUNG: These monies are basically coming from the Governor's Office,
right?
MS. SAKO: Yes, they are.
MR. CHUNG: Are we going to be asking the Legislature for any money? Or is
this ?
MS. SAKO: No. I think the Legislature ask is more the long-term recovery. Roy
should probably or Diane should probably be here. But, like, once we determine
where to relocate people if we're going to build an additional community, then the
ask would be to the Legislature at that point.
MR. CHUNG: I'm just talking about the emergency aspects of all of this, not the
$800-million figure that we keep on seeing. How much more in terms of
emergency relief and response are we going to be asking for? Or is this it?
MS. SAKO: I will ask them and get back to you on that.
MR. CHUNG: Yeah, `cause we have to prepare `cause Legislature is
MS. SAKO: Coming up very soon, yes.
MR. CHUNG: Right, thank you.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Any other comments or
questions? Seeing none, then, thank you very much for transmitting this so that
we can move forward with disaster recovery, and maybe it is an early Christmas
gift for us. All in favor, please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 754-18: The motion to adopt Res. 754-18 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Resolution 754 is approved.
Change Order As directed by the Acting Chair and with no objection from the Council
of Business: Members, the following item was taken out of order:
Bill 212: 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 State Grants —Lava Disaster Recovery Relief—
State account ($10,000,000); and appropriates the same to the Lava Disaster
Recovery Relief—State account. Funds would be used to provide immediate
relief necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of residents in the lower
Puna area and for relocation planning for residents and agricultural enterprises
adversely impacted by the volcanic eruption.
Reference: Comm. 1171
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 212 on first reading.
Seconded by Mr. Richards.
MS. DAVID: Yes, and this is the companion to the resolution we just approved.
So, I just ask for your support.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay. No additional comments, so I'll take the vote. All
in favor, please say "aye."
Page 25
Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Vote on Bill 212: The motion to pass Bill 212 on first reading was carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Bill 212 will move to second reading.
Return to Order The Acting Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business.
of Business:
BILLS FOR The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
ORDINANCES Bills for Ordinances (First Reading).
(FIRST READING):
(Note: Bill 212 was taken up previously, out of order.)
Bill 204: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 06-47, WHICH RECLASSIFIED LANDS FROM
SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (RS-10) TO GENERAL COMMERCIAL
(CG-10) AT WAIAKEA, SOUTH HILO, HAWAII, COVERED BY TAX MAP
KEYS: 2-2-028:030, 032 AND 033
(Applicant: Janice Oshiro) (Area: 28,002 square feet)
The Windward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for
this amendment to request a five-year time extension to complete construction
and an administrative time extension that could provide for an additional five
years to complete construction, to allow for the conversion of two existing single-
family dwellings into office spaces. The property is located approximately
163 feet northeast of the intersection of Kilauea Avenue and Lanikaula Street.
Reference: Comm. 1135
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff(B/R)
Approve: PC-76
Motion to Approve: Ms. Poindexter moved to pass Bill 204 on first reading and
adopt Planning Committee Report No. 76. Seconded by
Ms. David.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: I just ask for your support. I don't think there were too
many questions in the Committee level either. So, all in favor please say "aye."
Page 26
Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Vote on Bill 204: The motion to pass Bill 204 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Planning Committee Report No. 76 was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Bill 204 will move to second reading.
Bill 213: AMENDS CHAPTER 15, ARTICLE 7, SECTION 15-64 OF THE HAWAII
COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO THE
VETERANS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Expands the scope of the powers and duties of the Veterans Advisory Committee
by allowing it to initiate discussions and make recommendations on veterans-
related issues and concerns without a prior request by the Mayor or the Council.
Reference: Comm. 1172
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff
Waived: PWPRC
Motion to Approve: Ms. Poindexter moved to pass Bill 213 on first reading.
Seconded by Ms. David.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: I introduced this bill at the request of the Veterans
Advisory Commission who was requested by the Mayor and approved by the
Mayor to expand their powers and duties. So, as you heard from testifiers that
they could include other issues that relate to veterans and not just be limited to
issues relating to the cemeteries. So, I was happy to do this. And the reason it
was waived is because the chairperson would like to start off the new year with
these expanded duties because he has a lot of things planned. So, I ask for your
support. Are there any other questions or comments? Seeing none, all in favor
please say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Vote on Bill 213: The motion to pass Bill 213 on first reading was carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Bill 213 will move to second reading.
Change Order As directed by the Acting Chair and with no objection from the Council
of Business: Members, the following items were taken out of order:
Bill 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)
First Reading: November 2, 2018
Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire
membership to amend, pursuant to
Section 10-6(e), Hawai`i County Charter
Vote on Bill 201: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 201 on second and final
(Adopted) reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Bill 201 is adopted.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
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)
First Reading: November 2, 2018
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 second and final
reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Any comments or questions? Seeing none, then, I just
urge us to continue to support this. All in favor, please say "aye."
Vote on Bill 202: The motion to pass Bill 202 on second and final reading
(Adopted) was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Bill 202 is adopted.
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)
First Reading: November 2, 2018
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 206 on second and final
reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter.
MS. DAVID: I just ask for your continued support.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Okay, thank you. Any other comments? Seeing none, all
in favor please say "aye."
Vote on Bill 206: The motion to pass Bill 206 on second and final reading
(Adopted) was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and
Acting Chair Eoff—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. EOFF: Bill 206 is adopted.
Return to Order The Acting Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business.
of Business:
ORDER OF The Acting Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
THE DAY Order of the Day (Second or Final Reading).
(SECOND OR
FINAL READING): (Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.)
Bill 108: AMENDS CHAPTER 25, ARTICLE 1, ARTICLE 2, ARTICLE 4, AND
(Draft 6) 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. This ordinance would take effect on April 1, 2019.
Reference: Comm. 739.386
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff and Mr. Kanuha
First Reading: November 2, 2018
Relinquish Chair: At this time, Acting Chair Eoff relinquished the chair to
Chair Poindexter.
Motion to Approve: Ms. Eoff moved to pass Bill 108, Draft 6, on second and
final reading. Seconded by Ms. David.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member Eoff.
MS. EOFF: Thank you. I'm going to take this first opportunity just to thank all
of the people that have worked so hard to help shepherd Bill 108 through this
process over the last, probably almost, two years but very much of the last, about,
year. And we have heard input and had input and comments from the
Administration, the Council, and the public. Both the Windward and Leeward
Planning Commissions have given us positive recommendations to adopt Bill 108
with suggested changes that we have included and incorporated.
Although it's been a very long process, I believe we've come to a point where
we've set up a very fair and balanced approach to provide visitors the opportunity
to stay in this type of vacation rental while also, at the same time, preserving our
residential neighborhoods and housing for the people who live and work on the
island.
I want to give a special thanks to our former Councilman Dru Kanuha who has
been elected to the Senate and, therefore, can no longer serve as a Councilman.
He and I co-sponsored Bill 108. And his passion and commitment to work
together on it and make sure we could adopt a fair and balanced piece of
legislation has been invaluable to the whole process. He is optimistic that we will
be able to move forward and pass Bill 108 today even in his absence.
And as had been stated in numerous public testimonies, we are the only County in
the State that hasn't yet adopted a program or a Zoning Code category for this
type of commercial use of residential property. And so, I think over this last year
and a half, we've really worked to build consensus not only among the Council
Members but among different stakeholders to make sure that we don't completely
upset any economic opportunities that we have across the island. And at the same
time, we do what we were intending to do, which would be to amend the Zoning
Code to include a category for short-term vacation rentals and where their use is
appropriate.
So, at this time, I'd like to call the Planning staff up. So, this is a second and final
reading, and we've been through numerous drafts. There's been a couple of
things pointed out to us over the last weeks since the first reading. It's very
minor, the suggested amendment that I have, and that would be contained in
Communication 739.387. This doesn't change anything substantially in the bill.
It's more of a jurisdictional issue that the Planning Department had wanted to put
in the bill because it helped clarify a State statute. But in doing so, it kind of
overstepped our boundaries within County ordinance to take up a role that is
given to the Planning Commission.
Motion to Amend: Ms. Eoff moved to amend Bill 108, Draft 6, with the
contents of Comm. 739.387. Seconded by Ms. David.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
CHR. POINDEXTER: Council Member Eoff
MS. EOFF: Thank you. Deputy Director Arai, would you like to further expound
on what I've explained or ?
(Note: At this time, Planning Deputy Director Daryn Arai came forward
to address the members of the Council.)
MR. ARAI: Good afternoon. Daryn Arai, Deputy Planning Director.
Director Michael Yee is in the house. Unfortunately, he is attending to a quick
meeting and will be joining us very shortly. If you're speaking directly to the
proposed amendment in Communication 739.387, you are correct. I mean,
basically, when you go through the Zoning Code, you do not see a lot of
references back to State law simply because through local legislation you
shouldn't be directing State legislation. Our goal is to basically align our
processes with what authorities are provided to the counties under State law. So,
that's primarily the reason.
The intentions were good, but in respect to the hierarchy, I think it's inappropriate
to put such language in the County Code. And Director Yee has arrived.
(Note: At this time, Planning Director Michael Yee came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MS. EOFF: Director Yee, we were just explaining why we were requesting,
through this amendment, to remove the reference to special permits in the
ag district, which is the jurisdiction of the Planning Commission. So, I guess I'll
yield to any other questions on this amendment to my fellow colleagues.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, are there any other questions on
Communication 739.387? Council Member O'Hara.
MS. O'HARA: Because we cannot communicate due to Sunshine Law, Ms. Eoff
and I have submitted the same amendment. And I did have meetings with
Mr. Arai and Ms. Self the Monday after our last Friday Council meeting. And
that was the measure that I was happy to see removed. And I would just like to
point out, and we had a long discussion about this, what is the jurisdiction of the
Commission. And while State law has prohibitions that are around the June 41h
1976, issuance of State Land Use agricultural classification, it is still within the
jurisdiction of the Planning Commission to make a decision on whether it's an
appropriate use of ag lands. And there's some language that we have in our ag
tourism ordinance and in State law relating to auxiliary or supportingI'm not
catching the right word; you probably have it, Mr. Arai—supporting activities that
help to support the agricultural endeavors that are taking place on a given land.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
So, in that respect, it really makes sense for the Commission to be calling the
shots on this and making those decisions. So, it's really the role of the Planning
Department to shepherd those applications through the Planning Commission.
And I say this because we've been trying, I have been trying to find a path
through to stand up new short-term vacation rentals subsequent to the date of
April 1, 2019, given that more than half of the units in my district were taken out
by lava, and we want to be able to replace. And the good news is most of my
district is agriculture.
So, I had asked the Planning Department for information on how many of the
subdivisions around the island, agricultural subdivisions, were created before
June 1976. And that came forward to us in a communication, if I can get
organized, that you all have in your pinkie file. And it's a list of Request No. 1,
all of the ag subdivisions on-island. And if you look at that listI'm sorry, I'm
not finding the communication number. Does anybody else have that one? Oh,
here it is. It's Communication 739.385, information from the Planning Director.
And I was really appreciative that they were able to get this to me fairly quickly.
And you'll see there's a long list in the Puna District, a smaller list in South Hilo,
only one in South Kohala, quite a few in North Kohala, uh, North Kona, excuse
me, and quite a few in South Kona, and a few in Ka`u.
I bring that to your attention because of how that whole potential for using this
special use permit process on State ag lands could play out. And those are the
subdivisions that, to the best of our knowledge at this point in time, were created
as agricultural subdivisions prior to that 1976 date.
We also have some other things that I requested information on because we have
what I would call conflicting land use classification, State land use classification
with County zoning. In some cases, we have County zoning of ag with State
Land Use urban, or we have County zoning RS, Residential Single-Family, on top
of State Land Use ag. Only the State Land Use ag lots can make use of the
special use permit,just so you understand how that works moving forward and the
ability to stand up any new short-term vacation rentals. So, I just wanted to
present that. And, Mr. Arai, if you have anything to add?
MR. ARAI: Thank you very much. The list that was provided, I want to
emphasize it's a listing of named subdivisions. It's not a pure representation that
there's more in Puna and less in Hamakua. Although that may be a matter of fact,
it's just that that's not how we build the list. It just names subdivisions.
There are many legacy lots that exist throughout the island that are not in the main
subdivisions that are not being identified. So, well, I do believe that from a pure
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
number-of-lots standpoint, lots designated for agricultural use, there are many of
them in the Puna District and probably a large number of them in Ka`u as well. I
just want to make it clear that the list that we provided does not mislead anyone.
MS. O'HARA: It's not exhaustive in other words. There's other lots.
MR. ARAI: Correct. And I think I said so as much in the letter.
MS. O'HARA: Right. No, it's just to give kind of a snapshot to kind of help
evaluate how the impact of this bill applies to each district.
MR. ARAI: And it does show you, taking that into account, it shows you the
opportunities that could exist, say, if someone applies for a special permit for a
short-term vacation rental.
MS. O'HARA: Thank you.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, any other discussion on Communication 739.387?
Seeing or hearing none, all those in favor with amending Bill 108, Draft 6, with
the contents of Communication 739.387 say "aye."
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 108, Draft 6, with the contents of
Amend: Comm. 739.387 was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Richards, and Chair Poindexter—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
Vote on Motion to Ms. Eoff moved to suspend Council Rule 24 to waive the
Suspend Council holdover for the substantive amendment of Bill 108,
Rules: Draft 6. Seconded by Ms. David and carried by the
(Approved) following vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Lee Loy,
O'Hara, Richards, and Chair Poindexter—7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: So, now we're able to speak to the main Bill 108, as
amended. Council Member Eoff
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
MS. EOFF: Okay, thank you. And I just wondered if Director Yee had anything
to add before moving on?
MR. YEE: Not at this point.
MS. EOFF: Okay. So, I think because a few people are still here that spoke
earlier, I would just like to take one moment to thank Kekoa for his work and his
working group. I know I spent a lot of time on the phone, too, with Kekoa. And
although we couldn't really adopt all of the suggested amendments, I mean, we
have certain laws in our County that prevents us from doing some of the things
that were suggested. And some of the things that were suggested don't match the
title of our bill, which is purely a Zoning Code amendment. But I appreciate the
input, and all of those are topics that we can continue to look at and discuss. This
is just our first layer of trying to enforce a new Zoning Code, and I think we have
a ways to go. So, it's a work in progress.
I think I was told, when I first became a Council Member, that bills are living,
breathing documents. We saw that in this process, and we'll see it as we go
forward. I think one of the other things that we can do is, during our rulemaking
process, we can address some of the details or concerns that have been brought
out in other testimony today. But, for the most part, I feel satisfied that we've
done all we can right now to come up with this draft and that we owe it to our
constituents and to ourselves, I think, to approve this today. So, I'll yield, and
thank you so much again.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. Any other discussion? Council Member O'Hara.
Motion to Further MS. O'HARA: Thank you, Chair. I think there is maybe just one little more
Amend: tweak that we can do today to make this a better bill to clarify some language that
was contained in Section E; Section 2, Section E. And that was the Director's
duties in the event of an emergency. I would like to introduce that language
under Communication 739.388.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Is that a motion?
MS. O'HARA: That is a motion to adopt 739.388 and understand that this
contains two things. We've already adopted one. So, it's just the second from the
second page 2.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. So, the motion is for Communication 739.388 to
amend Bill 108 with that. Do I have a second?
MS. EOFF: For the sake of discussion, and I know this might be awkward, but I
just want to second her motion. Because, I feel like we've tried to build
consensus all the way through, and we're just on the verge of being able to maybe
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
get unanimous support here for our bill. And if we can hear from the Director and
the Deputy Director and maybe our attorney. If adding this language is any
hardship or concern, then I think we should have that discussion.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, yeah. We have a motion by Council
Member Eileen O'Hara, seconded by Council Member Eoff, to amend Bill 108,
as amended already, with Communication 739.388. Discussion? Council
Member O'Hara.
MS. O'HARA: Thank you. Yeah, I'm only moving on the second part, which is
"E,"because we've already adopted the first part through Ms. Eoffs amendment.
And this came from a meeting I had directly after our last Council meeting and
from communications that have been received by many constituents. There's
been a lot of opposition to this bill. But some people had some meaningful
comments about this particular section in that having it say a significant number
wasn't a good quantitative marker, so came up with at least 20 percent.
The other thing that came out in discussion at our last meeting, Mr. Chung
pointed out that it didn't read, for him to understand it, it didn't read a natural, or
declared emergency extended beyond the emergency declaration period. So, we
wanted to add language so that it's clear that it's for purposes of the economic
recovery thereafter.
So, those are the basic changes that were made in the Director's duties in event of
an emergency just to give it a little more teeth, strengthen it a little bit, and clarify
areas that people felt confused about. So, that's what the amendment to "E"
provides. I did receive concurrence from the Deputy, but he can speak for the
department on this if he would like.
MR. ARAI: Thank you. Yeah, we did have a meeting. I did have a meeting with
Council Member O'Hara regarding this particular passage, although there have
been some modifications. In a nutshell, though, I think it does provide a certain
amount of clarity in the sense that it kind of focuses the attention of the Director
on economic recovery as being the primary purpose for this particular passage
within the bill.
Of these, 20 percent I think is adequate. It's appropriate. I shouldn't say
"appropriate"because I'm not an economic specialist, but I think it's adequate
simply because the whole purpose of this bill is to have numbers, to know how
many units, short-term vacation rentals, are out there. And once you hit that
number of 20 percent loss, then it compels the Director to look at solutions for
economic recovery. So, all of that is fine, at least in my eyes. I'll have the
Director touch me or poke me if he thinks I said something wrong.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
As far as the following sections, I know we had some discussion on judicial
districts, and we wanted to make sure we understood what that means. Like, I
guess, like the district of Puna, the district of Hilo, the district of Kona. And
that's part of the question, whether judicial districts also goes down into those
subdistricts, like North Hilo and South Hilo. I'm not crystal clear on that, but I
think I get the purpose of this, that should there be a disaster in any one of those
districts then that's where you'll focus the attention towards economic recovery.
Further down, it speaks to ". . . the Director shall assess the economic impact of
such loss upon the affected district and initiate legislative and administrative
opportunities . . . ." That is a direct statement. It's saying the Director shall
assess such loss, economic loss, and initiate legislative and administrative
opportunities. That kind of gets in the way of why assess it in the first place if the
bill is compelling the Director to initiate legislative and administrative
opportunities. Normally, you'd assess first and then once—your assessment
determines whether you need to take action or not.
So, it's something I didn't see earlier in our discussion. I was kind of focusing
more on the economic part. But as discussions ensued then it sort of started
raising some questions. So, either we do the assessment and then respond to the
findings of that assessment, or we just launch into administrative and/or
legislative opportunities.
MS. O'HARA: I see this as kind of a linear path you're talking about. We do the
assessment first and then launch.
MR. ARAI: That is correct. But what happens if the assessment determines that
the economic impact is not significant enough to warrant legislative or
administrative action, but the bill is telling you that you have to do it regardless of
what your assessment finds? That seems to be the rub. So, personally, I like the
word, the original word "if deemed necessary" because that's why you do an
assessment. That's why you do a study. So, it's just something I offer. That's
just something we kind of saw.
MS. O'HARA: Okay.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Are you yielding at this time? You still have the floor.
MS. O'HARA: I am thinking.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay.
MS. O'HARA: For one thing, let's just clear up the judicial district. This is
something that was pointed out by our Legislative Reference Bureau, and it is the
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
way we refer to North Hilo, South Hilo, Puna, Ka`u. Those are our judicial
districts, separate from Council districts or Senate districts or other things. They
remain stable in other words. So, that's what a judicial district is.
I feel that this needs to be a direct statement and that there needs to be action by
the Director should an assessment show economic impact, negative economic
impact. But I don't want to get caught in some kind of crossfire in terms of tying
your hands one way or the other. It's meant to make it, make that action
deliberate and follow from the economic losses that have been assessed.
So, I guess my read is a little different than yours. I don't know. The other
Council Members might have some ideas about that. I don't know. But,
personally, I don't see how that really conflicts. It's a directive, and it is to do an
action that's either legislative or administrative if such economic impact has been
felt in a judicial district. It is the Director's duties in the event of an emergency.
So, we have to kind of remember that this is collected under an emergency
situation.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, thank you. Council Member Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair, and thanks, Councilwoman O'Hara, for
raising the concern. I listened very carefully, and I understand what Deputy Arai
said concerning the rub. I think I like having the importance of economic impact
coming forward, but I can understand what the Deputy has stated in this and, or
by the Director. And though I like that perspective, I don't want to put us into a
death spiral, I don't know if it's the right word, but the conflict that's going
forward.
And so, though I like the intent, I'm having trouble supporting the amendment as
it's written listening to the Deputy concerning "if deemed necessary." I think we
have to, and good or bad, I think we have to have some faith in our leadership
and, thereby, in this situation the directorship to have some latitude to make some
decisions. `Cause, if we try to legislate everything, we're going to legislate so
much we'll do nothing. And I'm a little concerned about that. So, I love the
intent of the economic impact because we have to be very mindful of that. But as
written, I'm having trouble supporting this for the reasons I articulated. I yield.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you. Council Member Eof£
MS. EOFF: Thank you, and thanks for the discussion. That is why I seconded
the motion. But I believe that the language that we already had interjected into
this bill, that already gives the Director the discretion in the event of an
emergency to assess the impact. I think it was already a very open opportunity.
And of course, the economics would be part of that assessment. So, it seems
inherent in the original language that we already have in the bill, and I think that it
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
would be up to the community that was affected to work with the Director or
work with their action committees or groups of people to exactly help the Director
determine what directions he may need to take after a said emergency in that
judicial district.
So, I believe that without pinning it down so specifically here in the new
language, I think the original language would be sufficient to assure people that
there would be relief if the need was assessed, as it's directed to do here without
the amendment. And it already provides those opportunities.
So, if there's a way to just promote that opportunity, Ms. O'Hara, I think to your
constituents or people that you'll be sharing with afterwards, I believe—I've been
telling people that have called me about this particular part of the bill and the
opportunity for recovery in Puna. It's all about economic recovery. That's what
they're worried about. So, I have soothed their fears and been able to calm the
concerns just by explaining to them about what we already have in the bill under
"E."
So, I would think that if it's causing any heartburn to the department right now,
and it's just as easy to assure people that there is a section here that provides this
opportunity, that I think we should probably go with the original language. But I
appreciate the fact that we have the discussion. I think it puts it on record, too, for
legislative history of where we're going with this.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. Any other discussion on Communication 739.388?
Okay, so, Council Member O'Hara.
MS. O'HARA: I would tend to agree with Ms. Eoff except that there is some
very vague language in the original wording. "If deemed necessary," if that were
remaining in this clause, if that was not omitted, you wouldn't have no objections
with the way it's worded, Mr. Arai?
MR. ARAI: Sorry, could you repeat that again?
MS. O'HARA: If the phrase "if deemed necessary"was kept in the language, not
deleted as shown in this draft amendment, would you be okay with the language?
Over the original?
MR. ARAI: I believe it would function better. I mean, there is still the issue of
"initiate legislative and administrative opportunities." Maybe if it was "and/or."
You mentioned earlier during your statement that you didn't want hands tied,
whether yourself, your constituents. And the same thing goes with the Planning
Director. Things you put in the Code becomes law. And if it says, "and," "shall,"
then the Director is forced to do it whether it makes sense or not. And that's kind
of what I'm looking at.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
I like the "if deemed necessary," because it gives the Director the option based on
the information he gets during the economic assessment. But there is that one last
bit, the "and."
MS. O'HARA: Well, the "and" is in the original as it is right now.
MR. ARAI: Yeah, I get it, right. But then, now I see it in better context because
as I'm looking at the finer read.
MS. O'HARA: So, if it read, ". . . the Director shall assess the economic impact
of such loss upon the affected district and, if deemed necessary, initiate legislative
and/or administrative opportunities . . ."that would be the best of all worlds for
everybody here? I'm seeing a lot of yeses.
MR. ARAI: It sounds better to me.
MS. O'HARA: Okay. Because, I am concerned about the interpretation as
pointed out by Mr. Chung in our last discussion that this is only in effect during
an emergency disaster, a declared emergency disaster. So, that was the intent
upon adding the original language. I also had a lot of comments about the fact
that using the words "significant number" did not really quantify and give the
department and/or the Director some benchmark to react upon. And using the
terms "economic recovery" and "economic impact" does really focus the meaning
of this. So, I'm trying to find wording that I think everyone could agree on, and
I'm happy to step back and make another floor amendment if the Council would
be willing to allow that to happen.
MR. ARAI: And I should say, I mean, speaking toward Council Member Eoff, I
mean, when this passage, when we first discussed it and when it got included in
Bill 108, we knew where you were going. We knew what we had to do in case of
an emergency. That was clear to us. The fine tuning of this was simply to
address your continued concerns that it didn't go far enough, but we knew where
we had to be. So, as Council Member Eoff mentioned, the original bill, as soon as
I read it, I understood it. But if you need to take it further to provide that level
then that's the reason why we're going through this refinement process.
MS. O'HARA: Precisely. Because, we are an institution, and none of us will be
here forever. And your understanding of this language is not going to be exactly
the same as the person who steps into your shoes when you leave and so on and
so forth. So, we want very clear language that will be interpreted same-same by
everyone to the extent possible. And that's why I wanted to try and clarify this
piece a little bit. So, I'm going to ask the Chair if I can introduce
CHR. POINDEXTER: Introduce? Because, we're right now on your
communication.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Point of Order: MS. EOFF: Can I just have a point of order, too,just to ask ?
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, I have a point of order. Council Member Eoff
MS. EOFF: So, if Ms. O'Hara was to state it very clearly for the record, would
she be able to just re-put in "if deemed necessary"instead of lining it out?
Leaving that in and add the word"or" after "and/or"? Can we do that verbally,
Mr. Clerk?
MR. HENRICKS: A written proposed amendment may be amended verbally,
given circumstances that it's clear. Usually, it'sanyway, it's possible. It
depends upon what is being suggested.
MS. EOFF: Okay. I just wondered.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. So, Council Member Eoff, did you need further
clarification or can I go ?
MS. EOFF: No, that's it.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. So, right now, we're on Communication
No. 739.388. Okay. Is there something else or somebody wanting to make a
change on that? Or are we voting on this and then bringing up something else
later? Are we ready to move on 739.388? Okay, so, Council Member Eoff, do
you want to make a verbal ? Go aheadI mean, Council Member O'Hara
what did I say? Council Member O'Hara, go ahead. Are you making a verbal
floor amendment?
MS. O'HARA: I'm making a verbal floor amendment. I can have it made in
writing if you would like, if you'd be more comfortable with that.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. I'm going to take a brief recess right now,
five-minute recess.
Recess: At 1:26 p.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 1:31 p.m.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Right now, we are on Communication 739.388. Council
Member O'Hara, you were thinking of making a floor amendment to 739.388, or
are we moving forward as is? Council Member O'Hara.
Motion to Amend MS. O'HARA: Thank you for that. Yes, the floor amendment is to undelete "if
Comm. 739.388: deemed necessary." That is the extent of the floor amendment. So, the measure
will read, "Director duties in event of emergency. In the event of a declared
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
emergency, natural or man-made, and for the purposes of economic recovery
thereafter where at least 20 percent of nonconforming short-term vacation rentals
are permanently lost within any given judicial district, the Director shall assess
the economic impact of such loss upon the affected district and, if deemed
necessary, initiate legislative and administrative opportunities to restore such loss
in short-term vacation rental capacity within the district of origin."
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. That is how the floor amendment will read. I'm
going to ask our Clerk. Is that a motion to amend Communication 739.388?
MR. HENRICKS: It's a motion to amend the proposed amendment, and as I
understand it, the sole purpose of this motion to amend the proposed amendment
is to retain the words "if deemed necessary" and the comma that follows it.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, that is the motion. So, do I have a second?
MS. EOFF: I want to second, but then did you have a ?
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, so wait. Do we have a second?
MS. EOFF: Second.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. It's been moved by Council Member O'Hara,
seconded by Council Member Eoff Is there any
MS. EOFF: To put back"if deemed necessary."
CHR. POINDEXTER: Yes. And this amendment is to put back the word "if
deemed necessary," or words. Okay, is there any discussion on the amendment?
The amended proposed amendment? Okay. All those in favor of the floor
amendment to the proposed amendment Communication 739.388, all those in
favor say "aye."
Vote on Motion to The motion to verbally amend Comm. 739.388 by retaining
Amend the words "if deemed necessary" failed by the following
Comm. 739.388: roll call vote:
Failed
Ayes: Council Members Eoff and O'Hara—2.
Noes: Council Members Chung, David, Lee Loy,
Richards, and Chair Poindexter—5.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
CHR. POINDEXTER: The floor amendment fails. So, we're back to
Communication No. 739.388, and I think we had a lot of discussion on that. So,
are we ready to vote? I think we'd better do a roll call on this as well. Mr. Clerk.
MR. CHUNG: Wait.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Oh, go ahead, Council Member Chung.
MR. CHUNG: I'll just make one comment. There was reference made to me. I
know I made some comments the last go around. And Ms. O'Hara did
incorporate some of the words that I used, but really it was sort of out of context.
Because, what I was trying to do, what I suggested was to expand the
discretionary powers of the Director in these types of situations. But this one has
more of a limiting effect.
Now, if I had been given a little bit more notice about this, I might have been
inclined to try to tweak the words to make it more in line with what I had
suggested, but only if it would secure Ms. O'Hara's vote `cause she's consistently
voted "no" on this thing. And I really don't know that even if we were to vote for
this thing today, whether it would mean she would change her vote. I have no
idea. But I just wanted to make that statement since my name was mentioned in
regard to this amendment. Thank you.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you. Any other discussion? Council
Member Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you so much. And I was at the happiest place on
earth the last time a lot of these edits came forward. And so, I took a lot of time
to listen and review the Council meeting minutes. And if I might just offer, we
have a letter from OHA (Office of Hawaiian Affairs). We've heard a lot more
testimony about how we can continue to improve this bill. I'll be more than
happy to bring this particular section forward, but for right now, we don't even
have a framework. And if we keep working on these tiny little things, we're not
going to get anywhere. So, I'm not going to be supporting this amendment at this
time. I'd like to move forward because I think we could do a very good
comprehensive look not only down in the weeds, but the bigger overall
application of all of this. I yield.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, thank you. Council Member Eof£
MS. EOFF: Thank you. I'm going to agree with Ms. Lee Loy at this time,
especially without putting back that "if deemed necessary"part. I'm going to
oppose this amendment for now because I actually believe what Mr. Chung said is
correct. The opportunity given to the Director was more broad, and there's
nothing to prevent creative opportunities there. So, I think with this in as it is
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already, we're fine. And maybe later we can look if there seems to be a need, and
I'm up for that too. Like I said, I think bills are living, breathing documents and
they evolve over time. So, I'm going to not support Communication 739.388.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. Seeing no other discussion, Mr. Clerk, would you
do a roll call?
Vote on Motion to The motion to further amend Bill 108, Draft 6, with the
Further Amend: contents of Comm. 739.388 failed by the following roll call
Failed vote:
Ayes: Council Member O'Hara— 1.
Noes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Lee Loy,
Richards, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Communication 739.388 fails. We're back to Bill 108, as
amended with Communication 739.387. I know that Council Member Richards
had asked to speak earlier. So, Council Member Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. I want to echo a lot of what my colleagues
have said over the long arduous task of having 108 come forward. And I will
echo what Councilwoman Lee Loy has said about not getting stuck in the weeds,
to try and get something down. I do commend Councilwoman O'Hara for
bringing light to some areas that are going to need attention. And I'm very
mindful of that.
In further conversations with the Director, Planning Director Yee, some of the
things, it seems like every time we have a meeting and we turn over another rock,
there's some other facet that is very important. And we keep going, "Oh, yeah,
hadn't thought of that." When do we stop turning over rocks and actually make a
decision and come back and, once we have a framework, start amending it with
the framework?
And some of the things that the Director and I discussed, interesting. One of the
concerns that we have coming forth is we don't have enough long-term rental
because, theoretically, short-term rentals have taken it out of the rental pool. I
don't believe that's a categorical statement, and I don't think that we're going to
have suddenly a lot of long-term rental if we remove the short-term rental.
But there was a problem. We had some testimony from a homeowner down in the
Puna District. They've been a short-term rental for 20 years. But because of the
volcanic inundation, we all have this testimony, they decided to put it into a long-
term. But their concern is, "If I do that, and according to the way this bill is
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
written, does that mean I tried to help and I'm going to get nailed for helping and
not have my vacation rental?" I think we need to be mindful of that, and the
Director and I discussed this. In having that latitude that I think the Director and
Deputy need, we have to be mindful of that. And is it a level of trust? Sure. But
I think we have to be mindful going forward.
There's going to be things that we have yet to think of in this document that are
going to be very valid concerns. We've heard it back and forth, all over. And so,
Director, per our discussion, what I heard from you was, yes, you're going to look
at those situations. Is that what I heard? So, please.
MR. YEE: Yes. Michael Yee, Planning Director. Yes. I'm going on record and
saying that we certainly don't want to penalize folks that are trying to help in an
emergency situation where they're making their short-term rental available for
longer-term folks that are lava survivors, or it could be another emergency.
Again, we're passing the framework, and we're going to have to get into the
details of the department rules and procedures to be able to make sure we carve
that out to make sure it's okay.
Again, it's not who we're trying to penalize. So, I think the right place to address
that will be in the rules and procedures, and look for that to be able to clear the
way for folks that are making their units available right now for long-term rentals.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you for that. And so, keeping in the spirit of
what we're trying to accomplish is why, going forward, I want to support this,
recognizing we're going to have some issues. One thing I am concerned about is
we have an April 1st, 2019, start date. Are you going to be ready to deal with
that?
MR. YEE: Yes. At the last Council meeting, that was some of the extra time for
us to sit down and really hash out with the legislative aides and stuff to talk about
what was realistic, what was doable. And that certainly was, you know, in that
room was Daryn and some others that, you know, we balanced the need that's out
there right now to address this along with department workflow. And we feel like
it's quite doable to be able to prep the rules and procedures so as soon as April 1st
comes, we can roll that out into a public hearing. So, yes, we feel like we're
ready.
There's still some issues around staffing and stuff that we're going to have to deal
with, with HR (Department of Human Resources), but those are administrative
hurdles that I have to take with them anyway. So, what's new.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. So, hearing that and I realize, once again, we may end
up in a situation where we're going to have to tweak something, and we'll have to
do something and come back and look at that. So, I get that.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
Probably from the first meeting, one of the loudest things I heard was a bad
neighbor, a bad-neighbor policy. And if you read through all the testimony,
another threat is enforcement. We're going to have to be very mindful going
forward. And again, there's got to be some latitude so you can actually get
something crafted. But we have to be mindful of that.
Going forward, the short answer is, yes, I'm going to support this as it is. I still
have reservations because we've got some other issues we haven't quite worked
out. But if we do nothing, it's worse than trying to do something and coming
back and fixing it. And, as Councilwoman Lee Loy has stated, we're not pau yet.
We're going to have to get this, and we're going to have to do some recrafting
going forward. So, with that, I'll yield. Thank you.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, any other discussion? Council Member Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Yeah, I think I stated it the last time. I'm not really fond of
several aspects this bill. For one thing, the grandfather clause, I don't really like
that it runs with the land. I think we should have given more consideration to the
differences in the various districts. I think enforcement is going to be problematic
at some point. I really do. I would have preferred having an omnibus bill coming
up where we have all of the considerations placed together; for example, real
property tax considerations. But taken in total, I think the overriding thing for me
was putting the brakes on the proliferation or possible proliferation of these
vacation rentals going into residential neighborhoods.
So, having said that, I really want to congratulate and thank Ms. Eoff and our
former colleague Mr. Kanuha and the Planning Department and Amy and Daryn
and Mike and all of us guys. You guys have worked really hard on all of this, and
it certainly deserves my vote. So, I'm going to be voting for it today. Thank you.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Thank you. Any other discussion? Council
Member David.
MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair. No, that's fine. I defer to Mr. Chung because I
think he just took the words out of my mouth, anyway. But I really want to say
thank you to Ms. Eoff and our former Council Member Dru Kanuha. I've
watched them over the last year put their heart and soul in trying to find an
equitable and fair way of crafting this very complicated issue to address the
concerns.
And what I really want to note is that all the e-mails that we've been getting, and
I'm sure we've all gotten them, and there are, like Mr. Richards says, so many
different opinions and pros and cons that are coming towards us from the
community. And I think we had to just reassure them that although it doesn't
satisfy everybody's needs, I think we've got to start somewhere. And that's one
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
thing I really believe because, in any kind of process, it's not set in stone. So,
when we create legislation, our job, when we create legislation, it's not the fact
that we know that it's going to be the cure-all for everything. It's not. It never is.
But the Legislative Branch has the opportunity to correct it down the line, modify
it so that it does meet the needs of the community.
So, in that respect, I want to also thank the constituents that we have been in
contact with. And I'm very sorry that we can't appease everyone, but we will
continue to support what your efforts are in the rulemaking process. Because, I
think that's very important. I've also advised them that they should really get
involved in that process too because, in that manner, all their concerns can
probably be sometimes at least listened to.
So, I'm going to support this. And thank you, Ms. Eoff and Mr. Kanuha and
Council Members, for this very, I don't know what to call it. This exercise has
been stressful but very heartfelt. It's just hard to describe. So, I just appreciate all
of our constituents who bore this burden with us, and we hope to make them at
least appeased in some way. Right? So, thank you, everybody, and especially the
department and Corp. Counsel and then the staff, of course. So, that's it. Mahalo
and thank you for this journey.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. Thank you. Any other discussion? Okay. So, I'm
going to have Council Member Richards, then I'll go to Council Member O'Hara
and I'm going to let Council Member Eoff close since this is her bill. Go ahead,
Council Member Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Just in the same light of what we discussed
and the latitude, one of the things that have been very strong coming forward, and
Councilwoman O'Hara has been championing that, is that we have businesses in
the greater Puna area that got wiped out, and we need to be sure we are mindful of
latitude as they try to reestablish. It wasn't their fault they went out of business
because of the volcano. So, when it comes to rulemaking, I'm going to ask that
that is taken very carefully and considered very carefully. Director, I'm getting
you on the record saying "yes." Correct?
MR. YEE: On record saying "yes."
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. Council Member O'Hara.
MS. O'HARA: I'm glad we're at the end of the process. I will not be supporting
because I have not favored the grandfathering basis of this bill from the
beginning. It is not how the other counties do it regardless of what I was told
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
initially that we had to do it this way because of State law. And also, I was told
that we had no idea how many short-term vacation rentals are out there; we do
and that information can be acquired.
So, making those assumptions kind of set this bill going down the path that it has
gone with the grandfathering basis. And it does not affect all districts equally
because of the types of ways that our Zoning Code has been applied through the
last 50 or 60 years differently in districts. And it has a particularly negative
impact on the district I represent. So, it's really hard for me to support this
especially since about 95 percent of the testimony coming through my e-mail,
anyway, opposes this.
So, I'm not into going into the weeds. I may be one of the only other members
besides Karen and Mr. Kanuha who spent a lot of time. I came forward with
something like 15 amendments and 1 action. I don't know if it's Draft 3, 4. I
kind of lost track. We're on, what, Draft 7 now? Ms. Lee Loy has offered a
couple of amendments. But it's a lot of work to dive in there and do those
amendments and meet with you guys and get the concurrence. I thought I had the
concurrence today, for instance. But it's a hard bill to really sink your teeth into
and do that hard work.
The devil is in the details, and there are some things in this bill that I'm afraid will
not serve the community well. There's some things that are great about it. I fully
agree that we need to protect the community. I was totally for a registration
system. And I want to remind us all that we began here, and this I do agree with
Mr. Chung, we began here thinking about real property tax revenues and creating
a class for short-term vacation rentals. And an omnibus bill that would have
brought all that together would have been great, but that's not what we pursued.
And so, I kind of feel it went off in a different direction than the original
intention, but it's hard to garner all of these different objectives into one bill.
I appreciate all the work that everybody's put into it, all the meetings that I've had
outside of the Council meetings, all of the meetings I've had with constituents.
It's been extensive and a lot of work to do work on this bill. But at this point, as
written, I cannot support it. So, that's what I have to say. Thank you very much.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, Council Member Eof£ Go ahead and take us
home.
MS. EOFF: Thank you. I just want to thank a couple more people because this
and first of all, I'd like to thank all of you, my colleagues, for sticking with this
and trying to help make it the best that we can and for your comments today and
your support. I really appreciate that.
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20,2018
I wanted to just acknowledge. Nancy Pisicchio's been sitting here all day. And
actually early on, Roy Takemoto and Nancy were the ones that put some of the
initial groundwork into this bill and the framework. A lot has changed, I know.
And actually, at first, they wanted to combine it with the tax code amendment as
well. But given my experience on the Council, it seems like we could only
address, kind of, so much at a time. I know that will be coming forward, and I'll
be pursuing that as well. But at this point, it's just the Zoning Code amendment,
and it was difficult enough to get through that, I think.
But I just want to acknowledge Roy and Nancy for their hard work, and
Leslie Chow in our Legislative Research Branch and Jon and everybody that kind
of took all the time. I mean, we've hada lot more has gone on behind the
scenes that people will probably never know as far as conferencing and speaking
with each other as well as constituents. So, I'm just very glad we're here at our
last Council meeting of doing business and we get a chance to adopt something
that's really meaningful for the County.
Like Mr. Chung said, the original impetus, and I know Mr. Kanuha, if he was here
today, this is what he would be focusing on is that we need to preserve our
residential neighborhoods. And although we've gotten off on tangents because of
people's perceived economic situations, I think we have to remember that we
needed to put a cap on it. We needed to start somewhere and assess what we have
and understand or build this framework for going forward. So, I'm very
appreciative, and I'm ready to vote.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay, Mr. Clerk, let's do a roll call on this. Thank you.
Vote on Bill 108: The motion to pass Bill 108, Draft 6, as amended to
Draft 7 Draft 7, on second and final reading was carried by the
(Adopted) following roll call vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff,
Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Poindexter—6.
Noes: Council Member O'Hara— 1.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles — 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. Bill 108, as amended, is adopted. Thank you.
REPORTS: The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Reports.
(There were none.)
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Hawaii County Council-53 November 20. 2018
REFERRALS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Referrals
EXECUTIVE for Executive Session.
SESSION:
(There were none.)
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 1:56 p.m., Ms. O'Hara moved to adjourn the
MENT: meeting. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Lee Loy,
O'Hara. Richards. and Chair Poindexter— 7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Ruggles— 1.
Excused: None.
Council Approval: JAN 0 9 2019
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