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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2019/06/18 2018-2020Committee on Finance 13th Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokaloele Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii June 18, 2019 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at ORDER: 4:58 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Kona, by Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Vice Chair Ms. Karen Eoff, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Absent & Excused: Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung Member STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. The Chair called Eric Cockcroft, representing Kapoho Vacationland Community Association, who registered to comment on Communication 331, and came forward when called. CHR. DAVID: Council Members, could we justI know we have a presentation, and I'm really, really happy. Do you folks want to take the presentation first or just take the whole short agenda items and then leave Diane and Roy to have the rest of the afternoon? I knowI think we have a couple of people from the departments. I think we have Mike in Hilo. These other items were not—change orders. I'll just go through? MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, Chair, if CHR. DAVID: And then leave the MS. LEE LOY: The presentation for last. FC -13 June 18, 2019 CHR. DAVID: Last. Thank you. I think that's a goodsorry, just a few more minutes. Thank you. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. CHR. DAVID: Alright, Mr. Clerk, I'm sorry. Communication 10. 13, please. Comm. 10.13: REPORT OF CHANGE ORDERS AUTHORIZED: APRIL 16 — 30, 2019 From Finance Director Deanna Sako, dated May 21, 2019, transmitting the above report pursuant to Hawaii County Code Section 2-12.3. Vote on Comm. 10.13: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to close file on Filed Comm. 10.13. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung — 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, Communication 11.11. Comm. 11.11: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: MAY 1 — 15, 2019 From Controller Kay Oshiro, dated May 20, 2019. Motion to Close File: Mr. Richards moved to close file on Comm. 11.11. Seconded by Ms. Eof£ CHR. DAVID: Any discussion? MR. RICHARDS: Yes. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Richards. I believe we have Director Sako in Hilo. MR. RICHARDS: Yes, Director Sako, can you come to the table, please? (Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. SAKO: Good afternoon. Page 2 FC -13 June 18, 2019 MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thanks, Director Sako, for being up here. I had two questions concerning—had to do with Public Works and a transfer of fund from one district to another, concerning overtime. It looks like we transferred from North-South Kona to Ka`u, and then from North Hilo-Hamakua to North-South Kohala. My question for you isI understand we all, like you saidI think it was one of our testifier said it was a year to remember, maybe one to forget. I understand why we had the extra overtime, but how does that set for the rest of it? Are those other districts okay for their funding or are we going to end up at the year, or are we going to have some issues? MS. SAKO: No, I believe they're going to end up okay, which is why they chose those accounts to transfer out of. They were just trying to cover all the expenditures that we had so that then when we get the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) revenue, it will go back into the fund. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, this is $250,000 for Kona-Ka`u, and I think $45,000 or $50,000 for the other. So our budget is going to end okay for the year then, you're comfortable with that? MS. SAKO: Yes. This is all in the Highway Fund, yeah. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Thank you, Chair. I yield. MS. LEE LOY: Chair? CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Good morning, Deanna. Ha, ha, ha. MS. SAKO: Hi, I guess (laughter). MS. LEE LOY: I'm just looking at the General Fund. You have from Technical Services salary and wages to, I guess, it's Puna Police salary and wages? I was just wondering if that was related to our events in Puna, and if so MS. SAKO: No, I thinkoh, sorry. It may have started out that way, but Police is a little bit different in and of itself. So when we do the budget, we budget each of the vacant positions, but lots of times we have to train the recruits first, so they constantly are kind of moving S&W (Salary and Wages) around. But in this case, I think they did this initial transfer to cover Puna Police for the lava, but then afterwards we shifted it all to one of the disaster accounts so that they ended up the year okay. Page 31 FC -13 Vote on Comm. 11.11 Filed June 18, 2019 MS. LEE LOY: Great, because that'sI understand we got that $22 million from the Governor, and it was to be utilized for salary and wages as it relates to overtime costs for our first responders. So we're utilizing the money from the relief from the Governor's office? MS. SAKO: Yes, we are. MS. LEE LOY: Awesome. Thank you. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else, Council Members? No? Seeing none, all those in favor of filing Communication 11.11 please say "aye." The motion to close file on Comm. 11.11 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung — 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, can you move to Communication 321? Comm. 321: FUEL TAX REVENUE REPORT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019-2020 From Finance Director Deanna Sako, dated May 30, 2019, transmitting the above report in compliance with Resolution 212-17. Increased fuel tax rates effective July 1, 2019, from 19 cents per gallon to 23 cents per gallon, are projected to generate an additional $6,057,755, which will be primarily utilized for the Public Safety Disaster/Emergency fund, road paving, flood control, tree trimming and other road maintenance, traffic signal upgrades, striping for roadway projects, school safety projects, and mass transit. Motion to Close File: Mr. Richards moved to close file on Comm. 321. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. DAVID: I have a note that Director Yamamoto is in our Hilo Chambers in case anyone has questions. Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Director Yamamoto, I have a couple of questions, please. (Note: At this time, Public Works Director David Yamamoto came forward to address members of the Committee.) Page 4 FC -13 June 18, 2019 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you for joining us today. MR. YAMAMOTO: Good afternoon. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great to see you. Okay, Resolution 212-17 sort of articulates the need for a lot of these different factors to be included in a plan from your office as to how these fuel tax monies will be spent. So I see a breakdown, there's a matrix of the different funds. Emergency Fund, Road Paving, Signal Upgrades, et cetera, but I don't see the timeline for these projects, and I feel like that that's something missing. I see a lot of projects that have been identified for road resurfacing throughout the various districts of our island, so I'm just wondering how are you making the determination as to these being the priority roads and how is that money being allocated? What's the formula you're using to justify what roads get worked on? And then, there's a number of school safety projects. They're not listed in priority. But again, there's no timeline for work. So there's all this money in projects but I'm just not sure when it's going to happen. MR. YAMAMOTO: Yeah, and as far as for like traffic signaling and MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Director, I'm having a hard time hearing you. Can you scoot the mic closer to your mouth? Thank you. MR. YAMAMOTO: Yeah, we have a list of road paving projects that actually exceed the funds available, so that's how we're trying to budget, and then move these monies in the appropriate accounts to be able to accomplish what our funds can accomplish as well as what our crews can accomplish. For like signal upgrades, they have a plan already to upgrade the signal systems. It's just a matter of obtaining the funds and putting that planning in motion. Same with road striping. They have an inventory of roads that that they would like to restripe, that far exceeds the amount that our current crews can actually accomplish as well as what funds we have currently available. So as we break these things up, we're trying to break it up into bites that each of our divisions can accomplish, knowing that the number of projects that we have far exceeds the monies available. We are looking to distribute each of these amounts to the various districts in that formula that we had previously, where it goes by percentage of roads in the district. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. So we have a lot of projects on our wish list, not enough money. Is it going to be lottery system, where we sort of identifyI mean, how are we going to identify which takes more priority? Because I think Page 5 FC -13 June 18, 2019 constituents of these various districts will say that their roads are of highest priority. MR. YAMAMOTO: Correct. We're on the tail end of completing the Mandli Road Profiling Project that we started earlier this year, where we're inventorying our roads and the conditions of our roads. That will help better our ability to prioritize the roads based on the condition of the road. Up until now and what we're working off right now is based on previous studies or just field evaluation and reports by the public. But here moving forward, when we do get our Mandli data and the ability to prioritize our roads through that process, we'll shift to identify and work on projects based on the guidance given to us by this new software. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That's great, Director. I like hearing that our decisions are going based on data because that's very fair, that's very equitable. It's very transparent. It's something that we can ground our decision-making in. Did you share with us when we can expect that report, the condition of our roads? MR. YAMAMOTO: Yeah, I think they're almost done gathering the data. They left for a little while because they had another project to work on, but they came back and they're going to finish up, actually, gathering the data. But they started doing the evaluations. In fact, this week or next week we're going to have a meeting with them, and they were going to go over, you know, to make sure that the data presentation that they're going to make is in the format that we can use and need for our purpose. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: And how long has this project been underway? MR. YAMAMOTO: From earlier this year. We signed, I think, signed the contract about March or April, and so they started at the same time that the State DOT (Department of Transportation) had brought them in. That's why we tried rushing that contract, being that—we took advantage of they're being on island for the State DOT gathering of data and piggybacked on the State's—their mobilizing to our island for the State's purpose. They're starting to get the results and the evaluations of the roads completed, so we're going to start seeing some of what they have to present. Hopefully, by this summer or end of this summer we should be on our way to start being able to use this program. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you, Director. One more thing. So I'm going to go back to the fuel tax increase revenue utilization matrix that I have here. I'm looking at the projects. So we have a list of road resurfacing, but all the other uses: emergency fund, signal upgrades, striping, equipment, and other which I Page 6 FC -13 June 18, 2019 think includes school and mass transit, but where's all that other information? Is there going to be a follow-up report? MR. YAMAMOTO: I can gather that information and forward it to the Council. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, that way we can share it with the community. Because Resolution 212-17 calls for just a comprehensive plan, right, around how all of this money will be spent, so I just want to make sure that we're making good on—what prior Council felt in their wisdom was the best thing to do, to just keep the transparency and let the public know how we're using their dollars. Thank you, Director. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Council Members, any other questions? Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Mr. Yamamoto, I'm just thinking out loud. Just because we have this additional infusion from the fuel tax, I'm wondering if there's any thought being given to leverage this along with the agreement that we have with State Department of Transportation. I believe a few months back we put together a resolution in where we could do some shared costs. I appreciate how you folks have identified the roads, and as Ms. Kierkiewicz said, there's a lot of parity and fairness. But I'm also wondering if any thought has been given to leveraging this along with some of the other agreements that we have with State Department of Transportation. MR. YAMAMOTO: Yeah, that's a good question. We have been doing that in the past. Basically, the projects that are put in CIP (Capital Improvement Projects), from the fuel tax, is basically paying for—at times are used for the County's 20 percent share in obtaining the Federal Highway Aid, of 80 percent toward resurfacing and/or reconstructing our roadways. So, we intend to continue moving forward with utilizing these funds or these type of funds to leverage the funds that come available from the Federal Highway Aid Program. We recently had put in a CATEX (Categorical Exclusion) for a five-year plan with what we call the STIP (State Transportation Improvement Program) projects, and so we had earmarked to match these projects, possibly with these the fuel tax. MS. LEE LOY: That's wonderful, Mr. Yamamoto. Thank you. I want to make sure that we—you know, we have this money, and we know what it should be used for. But we also have other options and other opportunities, and I just want to make sure that we're really thinking outside the box and trying to do maybe creative financing for some of these roads and some of the other projects. With that, Chair, I yield. Thank you. Mr. Yamamoto, thank you. Page 7 FC -13 June 18, 2019 CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Mr. Yamamoto, I have just one question. On your road resurfacing projects that you list on page two of your report, is the Mandli mapping, is that to prioritize the condition of all other roads aside from those that are listed here on this island? What's the priority of this list that you have? Is it in its priority, where South Hilo is first, second down the line or is the Mandli survey have something to do with prioritizing which road projects get done first? Because I know some of them are pending right now, on this list. MR. YAMAMOTO: Correct. Basically, this particular list was prepared, what we call the old style, and didn't include the Mandli profiling. CHR. DAVID: Okay. MR. YAMAMOTO: It's based on reconnaissance and community concerns. CHR. DAVID: Okay, so how do you prioritize these? Which ones are going to get done first? I mean, is it in this order or for these that are not doing? MR. YAMAMOTO: No, not this order. They tend toHighways, you know, they did provide a schedule to us. It might change now, but they did provide a schedule where they intend to, you know, basically move the paver to so that they can do the resurfacing project. It all comes to scheduling. Because the baseyard has their own regular maintenance to accomplish, so they try to schedule the regular maintenance and a period where they can actually do the road resurfacing, where they need the additional manpower to be able to accomplish the resurfacing part of the work that they do. CHR. DAVID: Okay. MR. YAMAMOTO: So they basically CHR. DAVID: Perfect. No, no. So someone else is making that determination on where they move, from which road to the next, right? If you can MR. YAMAMOTO: Based on the priority that baseyard has and where they can fit it best into their schedule, you know, whether it would be weather or school is out, for a particular project, and stuff like that. CHR. DAVID: Okay. So we can just call that division, or that department, or call you to find out specific timelines for these projects that you have listed? MR. YAMAMOTO: Yeah, you can call our office. Page 8 FC -13 June 18, 2019 CHR. DAVID: Okay. Cool. Thank you. Alright, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, David. I noticed I don't have any streets on this list at all. I just wanted to say that. Thank you. MR. YAMAMOTO: It might be on the older list that they didn't complete yet. I know they had some. I've got to check. In upper Puna, that they didn't finish. I'll check. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, David. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Anyone else? Council Members, no? Oh, okay. Ms. Villegas, go ahead. MS. VILLEGAS: I just want to shout -out to Neil Azevedo and his team; and the Shave and Pave Project that's been happening in Holualoa, by the elementary school, providing safer access to schools for those parents and the children as well as for the town and community as a whole. Just really commend him on his levels of communication. He's been sending photos. It's been excellent. He's been wonderful to work with. The community is really grateful. And also, communicating where he'd be going next. So as constituents have reached out to me with questions, I've been able to communicate, well, not exact timelines, the background thought on timing. And so, just extremely grateful for that. Thank you. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else? And I think we all appreciate and thank Mr. Azevedo. Given that, all those in favor of filing Communication 321 please say "aye." Vote on Comm. 321: The motion to close file on Comm. 321 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Eoff, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David — 7. Noes: Committee Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder — 1. Absent: Committee Member Chung — 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Quickly, Order of Resolutions, Resolution 194-19. Change Order of As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, Business: the following items were taken out of order: Page 9 FC -13 June 18, 2019 Res. 194-19: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE OF TWO WALKING FLOOR REFUSE TRAILERS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement with an approximate monthly cost of $5,200. Motion to Approve: Vote on Res. 194-19 (Approved) Reference: Comm. 322 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Ms. Poindexter moved to recommend adoption of Res. 194-19. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. DAVID: I believe we have Mr. Mike Kaha from Solid Waste Division, Deputy Chief in Hilo, if we have any questions. But I believe the resolution is pretty self-explanatory. So, Council Members, do we have any questions for Mr. Kaha? Seeing none, alright, all those in favor of approving Resolution 194-19 please say "aye." The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 194-19 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung — 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, Resolution 195-19. Res. 195-19: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE OF TWO SEMI -TRACTORS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement with an approximate monthly cost of $8,000. Reference: Comm. 323 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to recommend adoption of Res. 195-19. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. Page 10 FC -13 June 18, 2019 CHR. DAVID: Any discussion? Seeing, none—Mr. Richards, would you like Mr. Kaha to come up? MR. RICHARDS: Please. CHR. DAVID: Oh, yes. Mr. Kaha, could you please come up to the table. Thank you. (Note: At this time, Deputy Solid Waste Division Chief Mike Kaha came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. KAHA: Good afternoon, Council Chair, Council Members. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thanks for being here. I think it's probably a question of the obvious. But these are the tractors that's going to be pulling the two trailers, is that correct? MR. KAHA: Yes. MR. RICHARDS: In reviewing this, it looks like it's for the eastside landfill, which we're going to be shutting shortly, and then what's the plans for these trucks? MR. KAHA: So actually, these trucks would be primarily for these trailers that's in the south district. We're doing some repairs to the Wai`ohinu baseyard, and that repair is going to be so that we can accommodate the transfer of the south community, their trash, to the West Hawaii landfill. We're really cognizant of the fact that we're going to be adding more trucks since now that's going to be the only landfill. We're looking at, possibly in the future, instead of traveling the Volcano and Glenwood transfer station through Hilo, and then repurposing that again to go through the Hamakua coast, it was better for us eventually have Volcano and Glenwood come through the less inhabited area, through the south area, and then use these larger 120 cubic yard trailers. And then, travelling only two trailers, larger capacity than what we have currently, which is 70 cubic yard trailers. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, so you're setting up for the shut -down and then transfer? MR. KAHA: Yes. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Thank you, Chair. I yield. Page 11 FC -13 June 18, 2019 CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards; and thank you, Mr. Kaha, for your patience of waiting there all afternoon. Alright, all those in favor of approving Resolution 195-19 and forwarding it to the Council with a positive recommendation please say "aye." Vote on Comm. 195-19: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 195-19 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung — 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: And just for the record, Resolution 194-19 we previously approved moved forward to Council with a positive recommendation, also. Mr. Clerk, Communication 331. Return to Order The Chair directed the Committee to the order of business. of Business: Comm. 331: REQUESTS A PRESENTATION BY THE HAWAII COUNTY RECOVERY TEAM REGARDING THE LAVA RECOVERY INTERIM STRATEGY AND THE SPENDING PLAN UPDATE From Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, dated June 10, 2019. Motion to Close File: Mr. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 331. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. DAVID: Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. You know, it's been a few months since the Recovery Team's principles, Diane Ley, Director of Research and Development, and Roy Takemoto from the Mayor's office, have come before the Council to provide some updates on where we are with recovery strategy and planning. I think this body had a lot of questions. We were critical of some of the numbers and wanted more justification. So looking for an update, and I'm hoping at some point you are able to address some of the questions that Mr. Cockcroft has brought forward as a representative of Vacationland Community Association. So, I'll yield the floor to you. Thank you for being here and for being so patient. (Note: At this time, Research and Development Director Diane Ley and Executive Assistant to the Mayor Roy Takemoto came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 12 FC -13 June 18, 2019 MS. LEY: Thank you all. I appreciate the opportunity, Chair and Council Members. My name is Diane Ley. I am the Director for the Department of Research and Development. I'm also the Kilauea Recovery Manager. MR. TAKEMOTO: Roy Takemoto, Mayor's office. MS. LEY: We really appreciate this opportunity to provide the County's monthly update on recovery efforts as indicated previously. We want to share today an interim strategy update with our new accomplishments related to recovery and an expenditure update. (Note: At this time, Ms. Ley provided a PowerPoint presentation regarding the Kilauea Eruption Recovery. For viewing of the subject presentation, please see the DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office. A hardcopy of the presentation is made a part of the record, see Comm. 331.1). MS. LEY: We're available for question and answer. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Ley and Mr. Takemoto. Council Members? Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thanks you guys for sticking around and for being here. I first just want to say thank you. Thank you for collaborating, for being so open with all this information. I know that Council Member Lee Loy and I have really enjoyed working with you as we craft this interim recovery strategy. So I'm really excited about what we'll be able to share with the community and the rest of this Council because I've kept in close touch with constituents and I want to make sure that this recovery strategy is reflective of community wants and needs. Let's just start with some good news, right? Work is happening on 132. That's very exciting. We have been able to leverage the monies with Bill 12 to help support some Kipuka folks; so, Mr. Cockcroft, that mechanism is available to you. I'm working with Nicolette Jervis and other folks to leverage those monies. A lot of work is happening, so thank you for doing that on top of your every day job. I want to thank you R&D (Research and Development) for your support of "Activate Puna." You know, we were able to accomplish a couple of murals for community, and my favorite is the one we did in collaboration with the schools. I don't know if I shared this with my colleagues, but it was a week long process in which a Puna -based artist, Kai Kaulukukui met with the students, and there were a lot of questions, and back and forth, and exposure to this potential of being a globally recognized artist. And I love that they were able to drive the elements of what was part of that mural. Page 13 FC -13 June 18, 2019 One student in particular—all of the questions were written down and submitted to the artist—that really stuck with me and touched my heart was, why are you painting this beautiful mural at our school? That child never felt that anyone of this level of influence was caring or investing in them; and so I want this recovery process to really feel like we wrapping this lei of aloha around our entire community, and that's going to be putting in the hard work to continuously engage our constituents to make sure that they're part of this process. I think we have a lot to learn from our past, in particular. I mean, we survived a couple of tsunamis, so I hope we take a look at sort the decision-making around that time and ensure that is something that we as a County and community consider when we think about the long-term plans for Puna. Let's see here, you mentioned the case management contracts. I was wondering what the timeframe for implementation was. I believe Sharon was here in March, same day that you gave your initial presentation. So just the status of procurement, because our understanding was that it was going to kick off this summer MS. LEY: So, I checked in today on the status of that. The County did issue a Request for Proposals. The proposals came in, and the Review Committee did review them. None of the applicants were selected, so we are going to back out for another round. It would not be appropriate for me to share much more than what I just shared, which is basically pretty much all I know. You know, it's disappointing, but we have to respect that process. It's called for in State law and rules. So, we'll go do this again. We're active on that. The case management information is going to be key to making decisions, so we know we need it sooner than later. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you for sharing, and I don't want to go down the rabbit hole any further. But I was wondering if there is an update you can provide us in terms of the merging of the various databases, because that is something that is separate from the actual case management contract. MR. TAKEMOTO: That is getting very close. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: What do you mean by "close?" It's so subjective. Like, tomorrow kind close? MR. TAKEMOTO: No. There's still some glaring discrepancies, like duplicates or addresses that don't match up. It's a very small percentage of the entire database, but it's still causing to question the reliability of some of the information. So, how close are we? I think we have a—we're able toprocurement is always something that trips you up, but were able to Page 14 FC -13 June 18, 2019 convince the consultant, Tetra Tech, on the value of the consultant we're using, Royce Jones, who is the guru of GIS (Geographical Information System) in the State, and who created our parcel data and Real Property Tax system and all that—how he joins to our GIS. Tetra Tech picked up Royce Jones; so that really expedites now how we're able to access his expertise to fix this data. That just happened. So, I think we are maybe a week or two away. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That's very close. That's great. And as soon as we are able to procure a case manager of this database, oh, correct me I'm wrong, potentially once we have recovery team manager in place, they can be the conduit that accepts information from constituents that aren't necessarily in any of the databases. I just want to make sure that there are opportunities for residents to say, "I need help now." Because their situation might have been where they've self -resolved; or six, nine months ago they didn't need help and now they do. So I just want to make sure there's ample opportunity for us to have these platforms, where people can say, "I need assistance," and that we then have a matrix that shows the various opportunities available to them, because everyone's situation is so unique. MS. LEY: If I may just elaborate a little bit on that? Again, recovery is complex. So on one hand we're moving forward with case management and database crosswalks, but on the other hand we have a very strong network of social service agencies who have not stood down since the response time. They're continuing to engage with families and serve those families to the best degree possible. We're also continuing efforts to stand up to various components, our options for the housing sector, and those include our nonprofits that are capable of building homes and things like that. So we're continuing to engage with them while government churns its way through these bigger chunks. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So since you brought up housing; Roy, are you able to provide some additional details around the pilot that you're looking to do? Because I fully believe in having a suite of options. Council Member Lee Loy and I, we've gone to the meetings about the Community Land Trust and it's brilliant. There are other ways that we can plug in various social situations that are happening, to really accelerate the pace in which we realize the Land Trust. I like the idea of revolving loans, and that we're considering—you know, are we going to help folks move back or relocate? So there are so many options on the table, and I'm wondering if you can just provide a little bit of detail around that or if we should have a presentation specifically on that? Because it's a lot of money, $10 million from the Governor is a lot of money to be expending on housing. I don't know if you want to share some details today, and we can have a follow-up conversation around that. Page 15 FC -13 June 18, 2019 MR. TAKEMOTO: I can just give you a flavor on some of the ideas that we're looking at. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MR. TAKEMOTO: So the revolving fund sounds like just one idea, but it's a source that can be used for multiple ideas that we hope to experiment with. So for rental, it can be used for rental subsidy; possibly a deposit assistance security, deposit assistance for a landlord who wants to construct an ohana dwelling and offer it to a lava survivor and needs a bridge loan or some type of loan for that. So those are the kind of ideas that the revolving loan is being looked into. Also, for the Community Land Trust, to get it going right away, this revolving loan could be used as a bridge loan. So instead of relying on a mortgage by the prospective buyer, the Community Land Trust entity can go ahead, have the prospective buyer select the home they want; but go ahead and finance it with this bridge loan, get the construction started, and then have the buyer take it out with financing that they can get later on. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, that's helpful. I think we'll have a more robust conversation in the future on this because it's a very important component when it comes to recovery. Just a few more questions, thank you. Farmers. I noticed there was $10,000 in technical assistance. If you could provide a little bit more detail around that? MS. LEY: Okay. That's basically been one-on-one assistance provided through an economic development specialist with the Kohala Center. So she has been, since the eruption started, reaching out to producers, particularly those that are not involved in any association that tends to bring resources to the table. So assisting them with reviewing their business plan, their strategies, where funds are available, applications. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Is this Silvan? Silvan Shawe? MS. LEY: No. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I like Silvan, by the way. We're working together on some ag stuff You know, I remember in Bill 12 that we had allocated $45,000 to support farmers. I do want to share with you that I've reached out to the Community Foundation, Diane Chadwick, and we're going to have a conversation. Because they have the Volcano Recovery Fund, so I'm wondering will they match us? And can we find other foundations and partners that have a mission to support our farmers to also match us? That way we can make those Page 16 FC -13 June 18, 2019 monies go a bit further, and potentially working with the Kohala Center to move that money out into the community. MS. LEY: Okay, so just briefly on that $45,000 for ag that was identified through Ordinance 19-22. So some of the conversation has been about—has focused on putting some more seed money back into the Kiva Loan Program, which is managed by the Kohala Center. That's a zero -interest loan program which offers loans up to $10,000. The loan needs to be matched with self-funded, oh I should say crowdsource funds, but that's a very good opportunity. However, the small dollar amount, you know, it doesn't get leveraged too far that way. We've been looking at that but haven't taken any action on it. The other one is to explore a farmer's market for the Pahoa area, or pop-up markets an opportunity. That was a concept that's been explored. And then the other one is the follow-on to the business refresh courses, and again, that interest in branding. If qualified organization were to host a series of branding workshops, and then those that are actually—can basically make a pitch or case for why they could use additional branding assistance. We could have a team of folks that go out and work one-on-one with a producer. Get a box label. Get a card that goes into that box that tells about the product, the farm, how to handle it, how to store it. Business cards. Even standing up a simple website for future marketing opportunities. So, those are some of MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I like all of that, Director, and I just hope that we consider putting more money aside for economic recovery. And maybe this is where the CDBG-DR (Community Block Grant – Disaster Relief) monies come in, because I like everything that you say, but $45,000 isn't really going to get us there. MS. LEY: Exactly, and I think that's why we haven't really taken action. So there's the Disaster Relief funds for the CDBG-DR. That there's an opportunity for economic initiatives in that. And then also, the Economic Development Administration has funding opportunities. Generally, those are for larger community-based projects. But these are all opportunities that we can lift up. That's part of what we'll accomplish through this Economic Development Recovery planning process, as well. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, just a few more questions. In terms of community engagement, do you have a pulse on where Bob is at with meeting with various homeowner associations and other big huis that exist throughout Puna? MS. LEY: So, reached out to over 1,000 individuals thus far, and so we just kind of moving that information forward. Again, we'll be incorporating that into some of the plans as well as scenario for your decision-making, moving forward. Page 17 FC -13 June 18, 2019 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I really liked the breakdown that you've provided, of the expenditures and where the money is coming from. I wonder if we can pair this with a timeline and the different deadlines for the pots of money. And then also, add to that, the timeline for the next stuff that you've articulated: the recovery initiatives, case management, pursue funding sources, refine expenditure plan, hire contractor, recovery positions. I think it's just really important that we spend money and also know, sort of in a calendar way when we need to hit those goals and spend that money by. And I think the software that you've showed Council Member Lee Loy and I and I found some money for you hopefully my colleagues see the importance of investing in systems, like this, where we'll be able to track projects; track money; collaborate inter -governmentally; County, State, Federal partners. But also, export this information out into reports: in visuals, where we can just get a quick glance as to how the monies are being spent. And that can easily be shared with community via uploads to the website, right? MS. LEY: Yes, we're definitely working towards that. We appreciate the support and interest that the Council Members have taken and their efforts to advocate on behalf of doing that. Again, some of these pieces are complex. You know, how do we tell the whole story but tell it in a simple enough manner that people can get that snapshot? We're working actively on it. We're not alone either. We've reached back to our consultants that do this work on a regular basis, to ask them for models from other communities, again so we can kind stand up those visual pieces as well as provide more detail for folks like yourselves. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: And then timelines? Sorry, I didn't hear anything about timelines. MS. LEY: Yes, that would include timelines, as well. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. And then you noted that the Pacific Disaster Center, their report is done, and that you were going to contextualize this into the recovery strategy. Is it possible for the Council to get some sort of update or copy of what's been transmitted to date, or is that going to be something that we'll review as part of the larger comprehensive strategy? MS. LEY: I haven't seen it yet or looked at it. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Oh, okay. MS. LEY: And again, I think part of theI just touched base with Ron Whitmore about it. Again, he said that it was completed in terms of at the Page 18 FC -13 June 18, 2019 track level and block level. It's not going to give you just the answers you want, that you can pull off the shelf and say this—you know, point to this or that. It's going to be more generalities. It will give you an idea what the community is about. So let us go back and do some review of that. Again, if we can contextualize it, so people understand that this is not an end-all product. It's part of the data that goes into making good decisions going forward. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah, and that pinning it on a timeline would be really helpful. MS. LEY: Okay. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So we know that we're getting various pieces of information, and at some point, they're all going to merge. MS. LEY: Right. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Like the recovery framework and the economic recovery plans. MS. LEY: Excuse me. Those should all come together. Towards the end of the year we should have a solid draft, and again, that can be looked at comprehensively. If there's additional questions, we'll go back and source more. We've got to move quickly on this, and we know that. We know we've been behind the gun. You know, it's taking too long. But frankly, the County didn't have resources. That's part of some of the effort we're doing to lay the groundwork for future disasters so that we will know what we need and be able to set aside some of those savings in our pocket so that we can stand these pieces up more quickly. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah, I mean, you're doing an amazing job. I appreciate knowing that by end of the year we're going to have a plan. There was really no framework for any of us to be operating on. I still say the State could be providing a little bit more assistance in terms of leadership on how we navigate this. But the rest of the State, all the counties are watching us; and when host HSAC (Hawai`i State Association of Counties) next year, we're going to be able to give a great presentation about how we stand up a recovery operation. Just saying. So I just want to get this correct, right? What you have been presenting to us and what we'll put forward in the resolution, the interim recovery strategy, the expenditures for that will be good for what? Six months, nine months, a year? I just want to make sure that there's a good transition between the interim, and then when we get a draft copy of the long-term comprehensive. Page 19 FC -13 June 18, 2019 MR. TAKEMOTO: The spending plan will cover all the funding sources that we anticipate to date. So it would project how the recovery plan will take that information and make changes as necessary. And what's in the recovery plan would supersede the spending plan in the interim recovery strategy. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, so that's helpful. Because when we pass a resolution and there's an articulation on how the monies will be spent, you're saying the recovery plan will trump that, and so decisions made through that plan will take precedence over what we originally thought was the best idea forward. But given that there's more information, better information, we can kind of fine tune that spending. Okay, I just want to make sure I'm getting this. It's been a long day. It's a lot of information, but this super good information. And I'm getting text messages, a lot of people are really happy about the level of detail, and your commitment, and your dedication to all of this. I'll just add a couple of things. I hope that with the near-term recovery, we can include some money for the Puna Strong grants. I think we have a lot of innovative individuals, very good ideas and communities. And I'd like to adopt maybe the elemental accelerator model, where we work with high -plan even. We have these monies available, and we throw out challenges to the community and say, "These are the issues, be resilient, solve them," and then they are able to take advantage of grant monies, and it's all part of that community engagement capacity building. You know, I'll just end with—and thank you, Chair, for all the latitude you've given me. I'll just end with that. I think we all love Puna. We all love our island. The Puna that we knew will always be in our hearts, and we can't bring it back. But this is an amazing opportunity to just reimagine and leap forward. So, thank you for your time. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. You know, me and Ms. Kierkiewicz have been working alongside with Roy and Diane, and really it has been a pleasure. The rumble has been great. I won't take up too much of your time. I was just really interested in the recovery standalone website, that soft launch and the timeline on that, just because see it as such a critical piece. One, so people can go get their own information, where we're not doing this, and then to some large degree, almost self -resolve, right? Because then they would be linked into who do I contact, what kind of application do I fill out, do I need to fill out an application, what source of funding is Page 20 FC -13 June 18, 2019 available. And those timelines are really important. I'm going to ask the hard question as far the soft launch, when we are going to go live? MS. LEY: Next week. We're circulating vigorously within the administration and asking folks to look at it on their desktop computer, on their tablets, and on their phones. Click on the links, make sure they're working, make sure that the forms that are there to fill out. And I will caveat that we don't have all the answers for everybody to type in, "I need $1 million to rebuild my home." but it will be—as we get more information or as we the County builds programs or we partner with people who can build—deliver programs, those can be added. It will be a living website. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Diane. I just really see that as an incredible tool. You know, regardless of where they are or what kind of time they have in their day, right? I mean, I can someone jumping on at 11:00 at night because that's the time that they have, so launching this website is really critical. And for the rest of my colleagues, me and Ms. Kierkiewicz had an opportunity to see a precursor to some of the timelines. I'm just really excited to see those Gantt charts come forward because I really think when we talk about utilizing public's money, our grant funds, and then keeping us on track, I think those Gantt charts are so incredibly useful, showing the critical path as far as what needs to happen. Holding all of us accountable but also just raising the flags that, "Hey, something's got to happen soon, and if not, what do we do?" So I'm really excited as far as what's going to be coming forward with the resolution. And then even the modification to our Code, I'm really excited about how that streamlines the vernacular for disaster for recovery across the State; here at the County, at the State, and then at the Federal Government. And Ms. Kierkiewicz is right, I think this should be a topic for discussion at our HSAC 2020 conference because the rest of the counties will definitely benefit from this and actually springboard forward, if there is a disaster of this kind of magnitude on their islands. So again, Roy and Diane, thank you so much. Chair, thank you. I know it's late, but I really appreciate the time again. CHR. DAVID: That's okay. Thank you. MS. LEE LOY: I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. You guys get the bad clean-up, right? I do appreciate—Diane, I really appreciate the fact that even at 6:30 on night and a Page 21 FC -13 June 18, 2019 long day you still have a sense of humor coming through this. So either you or like us, and just little bit—but anyway, appreciate that. Anyway, couple of questions. Again, comes back to the dollars and cents. We have in government, and you will know this better than I, there's all these pots of money that come in to us and then they go out. Some of them are specific on how they need to be spent, some are not as restricted. What I'm asking for is, we know have funding from the Governor, funding from the Legislature, impending funding from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and all that, do you have a quick spreadsheet? Not down to the dollar but down to the point such -and -such million so we know approximately how much we have spent going forward, and thereby how much we still have in reserve? Do you have something you can deliver to the Council? I realize it's a moving target. But is there something you can deliver to us, so we know approximately where we are? MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah, that's something that we're reconciling with Finance's records and incorporating it into the budget. In the resolution, the budget format will have an actuals column and how it relates to the budget. So there will be this month's actuals, cumulative actuals, balance on the budget. MR. RICHARDS: And that's going to be in the forthcoming resolution? MR. TAKEMOTO: The resolution we have this overall budget; and the subsequent reports, the monthly reports to you folks, would have the actuals compared to the budget. MR. RICHARDS: Because again, I'm very mindful of the request or the direction from the Legislature. We need to be mindful of that, and just knowing approximately where we are in the expenditures as we come forward. Some very good points have been brought up by my colleagues. I, too, am excited. I'm very happy that we're laying the groundwork, that hopefully we will never have to use again. I'm not going to be so pollyannic; I think that's not the deal. So we can expect that coming forth reasonably quickly then? Is that what I'm hearing? MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah, the resolution for the Internal Recovery Strategy will come first. The draft bill for the ordinance will take—maybe will lag about a couple of weeks behind that. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Okay, so imminent then as far as coming before us. Okay, shifting gears a little bit. The recovery of the economy, and we've talked about on numerous times, investment in that. I know we've received contributions from, I think, it's the Tourism Authority to advertise "Come back to Page 22 FC -13 June 18, 2019 the Big Island, we're still here." Where are we with that for funding? What resources have you determined to put forth to that? Tourism is a third of our economy for this land, and I'm concerned because of the hit we took last year, and the indicators are not real positive right now. What are we doing? Are you committing more resources? Where are with that? MS. LEY: We tentatively identified some resources in the recovery budget, and because you folks asked for more details we're going back and doing a comprehensive review, so we're in that process of doing that. That's one. The other piece—so that's a more near-term, because the visitor numbers are important on the near-term basis. The other piece is that R&D has an existing contract for marketing, and so we've been working closely with Ross Birch, with the Island of Hawaii Visitors Bureau. So that extends toI want to say that contract probably extends into July. Some time into July. And then, we've put a Request for Proposals (RFP) for visitor marketing and promotion. That RFP, no determinations had made on it. That's for next fiscal year. We've had a review committee look at those, and they've just scored—or ranked their recommendations yesterday. I have not received those. We anticipate being able to let another contract for that work, so that will be continuing work. And again, you know, as you mentioned, HTA (Hawai`i Tourism Authority) continues to do work. One of the things that we will be looking at very closely, not only with whoever we're continuing—you know, whoever we contract with for marketing and promotion as a County, but also in the recovery process we need to, as Ross had indicated before, rebrand this island. We had focused on the lava as a draw. While there's many, many more assets to this island, we can't rely on that easy when, if you will, that unique setting that we had. So we want to continue through this economic recovery planning process, we want to identify what are some of those opportunities, how do we lift that up, how do we share product and activities and experiences? And maybe some of those are not just on our public lands, our public beaches, our public parks and trails, but some of them may be on private property. So how do we incentivize that? How do we get people who are landowners to say, "Hey, I can do horseback riding, or I can do archery?" Whatever it is, you know, whatever it is. Again, you know, making sure that it's legal within the land use framework and other laws, and it's a safe activity. But how do we encourage those types of activities? So, we do have some proposals out there. More exploratory. We've received a couple of proposals this year for our request for proposals from entities that want to share the natural environment with visitors, and they want to partner with our Page 23 FC -13 June 18, 2019 tour companies to bring smaller groups of people to get out and explore; what are the plants, what are the birds, what are our unique features? So we'll continue to lift that up. If you have ideas, we're certainly open to that. We want to hear what's unique and what's worked in other places. You know, whether it's the farm -to -table concepts or, you know, whatever that is. We need to refocus and refresh. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, and I don't disagree. I think all the information we get across our desk. The Volcano National Park reported their visitor rate is down by 50 percent. We do need to look at other reasons, and there are a lot of reasons out there. So I might suggest, have a one -day get together with some of the other providers and just brainstorm and see if you can come up with something. Another question, concerning the—and again, more housekeeping. Highway 137 and temporary access, is there a timeline on that and is it going to connect to the Lighthouse Road? MR. TAKEMOTO: Okay, Highway 137. You mean the spur that would connect at four corners to give access to Vacationland? MR. RICHARDS: Yeah. MR. TAKEMOTO: I don't know what the timing is on that. That's totally dependent on completing Highway 132 first. Let's focus on that first, before we even think about 137 or extending to Cape Kumukahi. MR. RICHARDS: I would agree "finish one thing first," but we've got to talk about 137, too. And I appreciate everybody wants everything right now. I got it, and I understand we have to prioritize. Just again, putting it on the table because there are, I don't want to say demands, but there are needs. I want to be sure that we're thinking about those as we good forward. MR. TAKEMOTO: So those need to be costed out, as well. MS. LEY: Yes. MR. TAKEMOTO: There's responsibility here on how we use those funds. There's cost benefits, so that needs to be analyzed. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Alright. So with that, I think I will yield at this point. Thank you. I appreciate you guys being here. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? No? Well, then I must say it's been a long day, but I really appreciate your patience and being here with Page 24 FC -13 June 18, 2019 us all afternoon. Director Ley, Mr. Takemoto, thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz, for bringing this review before us. A lot of information. You folks are doing an awful lot of work, and we thank you for that. Council Members, all those in favor of filing Communication 331 please say Ic aye. Vote on Comm. 331: The motion to close file on Comm. 331 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair David — 6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung, Poindexter, and Villegas — 3. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Alright. Thank you. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. (Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.) BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) CHR. DAVID: To adjourn, all in favor please say "aye." ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 6:37 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Eoff and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair David — 6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung, Poindexter, and Villegas — 3. Excused: None. Page 25 FC -13 CHR DAVID We are adjourned. 6lahalo. Approved Ms Maile Ntedeiros David, Chair Finance Committee MDroa (Date) lune 18,'_019 Page 26