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HomeMy WebLinkAboutREP FC 053 2019/09/17 2018-2020 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE DATE: September 17, 2019 Re: Comm. No. 472/Res. No. 304-19 PLACE: Council Chambers Kailua-Kona, Hawaii TIME: 9:35 p.m. Council Chair and Members Hawaii County Council Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred Resolution No. 304-19, reports as follows: Resolution No. 304-19, transmitted by Finance Director Deanna S. Sako, via Communication 472 dated September 3, 2019, authorizes the payment of funds of a later fiscal year and of more than one fiscal year for a multi-year agreement for buses and drivers for the Mass Transit Agency. This resolution authorizes the Mayor to enter into a three-year agreement to operate the Hele-On Bus Fixed Route Transit Services. The selected contractor will provide drivers to operate county-owned buses for specified routes and provide their own buses and drivers to service the remaining routes. Mass Transit Administrator Brenda Carreira gave an overview of the request to operate the Hele-On Bus Fixed Route Transit Services. Ms. Carreira explained this was a Request For Proposal (RFP) initiated prior to Ms. Carreira coming on board. She stated this contract should have been started back in July of 2018 because the contract expired on June 30, 2018. It is now fourteen and one-half months later and a new contract has not been awarded. In December of 2018, Mass Transit put out a bid for an RFP, the process began and they were ready to award the contract when Ms. Carreira was informed a resolution needed to be done for a multi-year contract. The matter of having to have a resolution was never the nonnal route,but because they would be starting with a three-year contract with two one-year options, this would make it a multi-year contract. This resolution needs to be approved before entering into a contract. Council Member Herbert "Tim"Richards, III commented he was not comfortable approving a resolution that has no numbers attached to it. Mr. Richards realizes that the process needs to go forward in order to have the Mass Transit system fully functional, buses need to be employed; but approving a resolution for a multi-year contract with no monies attached to it, no financial side, he would not be able to support the request. He articulated that the Council, as a body, are charged with the financial oversight of the County, and further stated that he could not support this resolution without numbers attached, Ms. Carreira explained she is not looking for a blank check. The award she is looking for is within the budget that was been presented to the Council several months ago and was approved. She stated that because it is a sealed bid, it is confidential and is unable to say who put in the bid and for what amount. Ms. Carreira stated it is definitely within the budget, if not, they would have canceled the contract. FC Report No. 53 FC-53 Page 2 September 17,2019 I I Council Member Ashley Kierkiewicz, does not feel there is not enough information. She commented that she has been championing the accountability and transparency on the recovery side, especially in the recovery process. It all comes down to making an informed decision. There was a change order for a contract with Polynesian Adventures through the end of the year, and assumes once that closes out, Mass Transit would be able to obtain a contract with a new vendor. Ms. Carreira explained she would like to see the new contract on board before December. There are also other issues regarding this contract. Kona does not have a base yard so the contractor would be doing the Kona,North Kohala, and Ka`u routes with their own drivers and their own buses, although Mass Transit would oversee as the Hele-On Transit. Then as the County would get more buses, they would replace the contractor buses. Ms. Carreira is hoping that the four new buses will be completed in December then the buses would be brought over and people will need to be trained. The three hydrogen buses are on hold due to an issue that came up. Mass Transit has one electrical vehicle at the base yard but there are still infrastructure issues. Ms. Carreira stated if the current contractor would say no to an extension of the current contract, she would have to cancel twenty(20)routes on this island. She stated she has 10 to 12 buses up right now. Mass Transit is responsible for 33 routes and are renting 23 buses at any given time and really need 55 buses to cover all the routes. Ms. Kierkiewicz stated her big issue is that this is coming before the Council in its eleventh hour. Ms. Carreira explained that she did not know the resolution needed to be done and was concerned about getting it before the Council. Ms. Kierkiewicz commented she could not support this in its current 1 state. Council Chair Aaron Chung commented it is not the fault of Director Carreira, and said the responsibility rests with Corporation Counsel since they are the ones to ensure that all the is were crossed and is dotted. He pointed out that that Director Carreira recently came on board and was not fully aware of requirements. Mr. Chung stated he views this as a clash of philosophies or governmental principles and quoted in part Section 10-11 of the County Charter relating to contracts. He noted the question becomes whether the resolution is considered prior to the contract being awarded or after. Mr. Chung has seen it done a number of ways,but his personal preference is that the contract be awarded and then come before Council for approval and ratification because the Council would then at least know what the terms are. He noted his understanding of the department's concerns and perspective regarding jeopardizing the process but felt that Corporation Counsel would have to explain these things. Mr. Chung expressed his preference in getting more information and said he could not see entering into a contract of this magnitude without being provided more specifics. In that regard, Mr. Chung noted that Ms. David mentioned, given the situation, the possibility of going into Executive Session could be considered. Mr. Chung noted he would be agreeable to that because this body needs to get a better idea of what's going on. Although he believed the award could be made and then later approved by Council, however, he certainly didn't want to put this body at risk either, and that a good fallback position would be an Executive Session that Ms. David suggested. FC-53 Page 3 September 17,2019 Council Member Susan Lee Loy noted that in addition to Mr. Chung's comments, there is also the procurement process which she felt discussing all of these would be very helpful. Ms. Lee Loy made a motion to go into executive session to discuss with counsel the County's powers, duties, immunities, and liabilities pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 92-5, seconded by Council Member Karen Eoff. Council Member Tim Richards stated that moving into Executive Session was an excellent idea, given that the Council's involvement is on the back end of the process. Mr. Richards concluded that we would be better able to engage in fiscal oversight if we know what the numbers are. Prior to going into Executive Session, at the request of County Clerk Jon Henricks, Assistant Corporation Counsel Renee Schoen came before the Council and clarified that the discussion in Executive Session will center around the County Charter, Section 10-11, also the procurement process, and the existing procurement process that is now before the Mass Transit. Committee Chair David called a recess and proceeded into Executive Session. Upon reconvening following completion of Executive Session, Committee Chair David stated that based on the discussions in Executive Session on this matter, a roll call vote was taken. Mr. Henricks took a roll call vote on the motion to forward Resolution 304-19 to Council with a favorable recommendation. Your Committee is in accord with the purpose and intent of Resolution No. 304-19, and recommends its adoption. dmm AYES NOES ABS EX Respectfully submitted, CHUNG X DAVID X COMMITTEE ON FINANCE EOFF X KANEALI'l-KLEINFELDER KIERKIEWICZ X LEE LOY X POINDEXTER X MAIZE MEDEIROS DAVID, CHAIR RICHARDS X FC REPORT NO.: 53 VILLEGAS X ADOPTED: OCT 0 2 2019