HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2019-11-06 2018-2020 Hawaii County Council
251h Session
Hawaii County Building
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawaii
November 6, 2019
INVOCATION: Dr. Robin Takahashi of New Hope Christian Fellowship gave the morning's
invocation.
CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawaii County Council was called to order at
ORDER: 9:01 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Chair.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Chair
Ms. Karen Eoff, Vice Chair
Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member
Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member
Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member
Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member
Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member
Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member
Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member
PLEDGE OF The Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of Allegiance.
ALLEGIANCE:
(At this time, Ms. Villegas led the Council in the Pledge of
Allegiance.)
PETITIONS, The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Petitions,
MEMORIALS, Memorials, Certificates of Merit, and Expressions of Condolence.
CERTIFICATES
OF MERIT, AND (There were none.)
EXPRESSIONS OF
CONDOLENCE:
STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Statements
FROM THE from the Public on Agenda Items.
PUBLIC ON
AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by
the Chair:
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Iris Gil Viacrusis: Res. 356-19 (Comm. 537);
Res. 360-19 (Comm. 542); and
Res. 361-19 (Comm. 544), in support.
Marjorie David: Res. 356-19 (Comm. 537);
Res. 360-19 (Comm. 542); and
Res. 361-19 (Comm. 544), in support.
Rene Siracusa: Res. 350-19 (Comm. 526);
Res. 373-19 (Comm. 570); and
Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
Leila Lealoha: Res. 373-19 (Comm. 570), comment.
Craig A. Downs: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
Marlene Johnson: Res. 378-19 (Comm. 575), in support.
(representing Civil Air Patrol)
Aiden Alvarez: Res. 378-19 (Comm. 575), in support.
(representing Civil Air Patrol)
Sharon Willeford: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
J. Adam Sadler: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
Lisa Andrews: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
Edward C. Mawkmain: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
Announcement: (At this time, Chair Chung asked that Council Member Lee Loy
introduce students that were in attendance from Ka `Umeke K5'eo
Public Charter School.)
Cory Harden: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
Abolghassem Abraham Sadegh: Res. 355-19 (Comm. 536);
Res. 382-19 (Comm. 579);
Bill 106, Draft 2 (Comm. 522.2); and
Bill 112 (Comm. 556), in opposition.
Thong Teng Neo: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in opposition.
(representing the Hawaii
Tropical Flower Council)
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Jonathan Tanouye: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in opposition.
(representing Orchid Growers
of Hawaii)
Colonel Deb Lewis: Res. 381-19 (Comm. 579), in support.
Rachel Solemsaas: Res. 355-19 (Comm. 536); and
(representing Vibrant Hawaii) Res. 358-19 (Comm. 538), in support.
Kalani Kahalioumi: Res. 367-19 (Comm. 564); and
(representing Surfers Res. 369-19 (Comm. 566), in support.
Healing Hawaii)
Sandy Schuffler: Res. 366-19 (Comm. 563), in support.
(representing Surfer's
Healing Hawaii)
Leah Gouker: Res. 359-19 (Comm. 541), in support.
(representing Pahoa High
and Intermediate Schools)
Colehour Bondera: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
Geoffrey Last: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
Rachel Leyva: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in opposition.
Announcement: (At this time, Chair Chung asked that Council Member Lee Loy
introduce additional students that were in attendance from
Ka `Umeke K5'eo Public Charter School.)
Abel Simeona Lui: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
Kittrena Morgan: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
Dwight Vicente: Comm. 312.4;
Res. 356-19 (Comm. 356);
Res. 380-19 (Comm. 577); and
Bill 101 (Comm. 489), comment.
Gordon Inouye: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in opposition.
(representing Pacific Floral
Exchange and Hawaii Floriculture
And Nursery Association)
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Lorie Smith-Farrell: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
Shannon Matson: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
Ken Togawa: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in opposition.
Jurahame A. Leyva: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in opposition.
Cherie Griffore: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
Scott Ruedy: Res. 364-19 (Comm. 544);
(representing Surfers Res. 364-19 (Comm. 561);
Healing Hawaii) Res. 365-19 (Comm. 562);
Res. 366-19 (Comm. 563);
Res. 367-19 (Comm. 564);
Res. 368-19 (Comm. 565); and
Res. 369-19 (Comm. 566), in support.
Emely Salmo: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
Autumn Ness: Bill 101 (Comm. 489), in support.
(representing Beyond (See Comm. 489.414)
Pesticides)
Recess: At 11 a.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 11:11 a.m.
APPROVAL The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Approval
OF MINUTES: of Minutes.
Vote on Approval Ms. Eoff moved to approve the Minutes of October 2,
of Minutes: 2019. Seconded by Ms. David and carried by the following
(Approved) voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Poindexter,
Richards, Villegas, and Chair Chung—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Lee Loy— 1.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Vote on Approval Ms. David moved to approve the Minutes of October 16,
of Minutes: 2019. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and carried by the
(Approved) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Poindexter,
Richards, Villegas, and Chair Chung—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Lee Loy— 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: We're going to take one matter out of order so that we can get
one of our valuable employees back to work, and that is Resolution 371-19.
Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the
of Business: following items were taken out of order:
Res. 371-19: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT FOR AIR CONDITIONING REPAIRS AT
THE HAWAII FIRE DEPARTMENT'S KAILUA FIRE STATION
Transfers $1,780 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 8); and credits to the Hawaii Fire Department, Fire Protection
Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 568
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff
Motion to Approve: Ms. Eoff moved to adopt Res. 371-19. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion?
MS. EOFF: Since you're here, would you please introduce yourself? And thank
you again for bringing this to our attention, but if you could give us just a little bit
of a background.
(Note: At this time, Assistant Fire Chief Robert Perreira came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MR. PERREIRA: Good morning, Council. Assistant Fire Chief Robert Perreira,
in charge of Support Services. I'm here to, obviously number one,just thank you
guys for your support. As you guys heard yesterday from Chief Rosario, our
department does have a very tight budget, especially when it comes to items that
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
are outside of salaries and wages, such as repairs and replacement of equipment,
and just like this ask with the a/c (air conditioning) unit.
Our Kailua Fire Station, that houses our EMS (Emergency Medical Services) and
our firetruck out there. Half of their station's a/c unit is down. There's two
systems there, and so the total cost of it was over $3,500. And thank you to
Ms. Eoff and Ms. Villegas for stepping up and supporting the department with the
donation of, or the transfer of funds, I should say, from your guys' accounts.
Thank you very much. Our team appreciates it.
MS. EOFF: Thank you, and we appreciate you too. And I think this is a perfect
use of why we have our Council contingency funds. Mahalo. I ask for
everybody's support.
CHR. CHUNG: Anyone else? Okay. If not, we have a motion on the floor. All
those in favor, signify by saying "aye."
Vote on Res. 371-19: The motion to adopt Res. 371-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried. Thank you, Chief.
MR. PERREIRA: Thank you, Council.
CHR. CHUNG: Oh, you have another one? Well, same thing. Okay, why don't
you sit there? Which one? Okay, yeah, go ahead. Resolution 370-19.
Res. 370-19: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATED
TO THE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM AT THE KAILUA FIRE STATION
Transfers $1,780 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 7); and credits to the Hawaii Fire Department, Fire Protection
Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 567
Intr. by: Ms. Villegas
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Motion to Approve: Ms. Villegas moved to adopt Res. 370-19. Seconded by
Ms. David.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion? Ms. Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: I want to personally say thank you for all that you guys do.
And I also want to recognize the humility that the ask came through because so
many things have come to Council regarding the Fire Department and funding
and whatnot. I was super grateful that one of the firemen that I happen to know
that's a friend of mine just mentioned it.
And having just endured the hottest summer in history and being in the
Kailua-Kona fire station right there on the west side where it is extremely hot, and
we're asking so much of that fire station. I believe it's the busiest station on
island a lot of times. But I'm extremely grateful to be able to cool that down and
keep our hardworking and long-serving firemen, to be able to contribute with
Councilperson Eoff So, thank you for all you guys do, and hopefully, this will
get up and running and cool it down.
MR. PERREIRA: Yes, thank you. On behalf of the Chief and our department,
thank you very much. And just so you know, it's the second busiest station on the
island.
MS. VILLEGAS: Oh, second busiest, okay.
MR. PERREIRA: Yeah. Central is the busiest.
CHR. CHUNG: I was kind of wondering about that.
MS. VILLEGAS: Maybe it's the hottest?
CHR. CHUNG: There you go.
MS. DAVID: Or it has been.
MR. PERREIRA: It currently is until it gets fixed. So, the parts are being
shipped in.
MS. VILLEGAS: Fantastic.
MR. PERREIRA: So, it will get done shortly. And thank you. Again, thank you
guys very much for stepping up and supporting our department. We appreciate it.
Thank you.
MS. VILLEGAS: We appreciate you. I yield.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, we have a motion on the floor. All those in favor, signify
by saying "aye."
Vote on Res. 370-19: The motion to adopt Res. 370-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried. Okay, let's go to Communications.
Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business.
of Business:
COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
CATIONS: Communications.
Comm. 312.4: REPORT OF ATTENDANCE OF COUNCIL MEMBERS
KANEALII-KLEINFELDER, KIERKIEWICZ, AND LEE LOY AT THE
YOUR VOICE—OUR COMMUNITY CIVIC ENGAGEMENT WORKSHOP,
PURSUANT TO HAWAII REVISED STATUTES SECTION 92-2.5(e)
From Council Member Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, dated September 30, 2019.
Motion to Close Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to close file on
File: Comm. 312.4. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion?
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: If I can, Chair?
CHR. CHUNG: Yes.
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Sue, Ashley, and I went to a meeting at the
UH (University of Hawai`i), and it was put on by the League of Women Voters.
And it was a workshop on how to become more active in politics and in
government, and then also how to run for office in government. And it was put
on by Heather Kimball. Had some other Council Members from Maui there,
Keoni Rawlins being one of them. And it was just a neat event that we got to
participate in. So, I'm just reporting that there were three of us there at once.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, very good. Anyone else? If not, we have a motion on the
floor. All those in favor, say "aye."
Vote on The motion to close file on Comm. 312.4 was carried by
Comm. 312.4: the following voice vote:
Filed
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, and
Chair Chung—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of
RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions.
Res. 349-19: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE OF
A FORKLIFT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
MANAGEMENT
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement with an
approximate monthly cost of$1,005. The County would own the equipment at the
end of the lease.
Reference: Comm. 525
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-71
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 349-19 and Finance
Committee Report No. 71. Seconded by Ms. Eof£
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion?
MS. DAVID: Chair,just to note that this resolution passed out of Committee
favorably. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah, okay. No further discussion, all those in favor say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Vote on Res. 349-19: The motion to adopt Res. 349-19 and Finance Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 71 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, and
Chair Chung—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 350-19: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN
AGREEMENT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII
Provides $14,322 from the Department of Research and Development to the
University of Hawaii to fund its International Workshop on Angiostrongylus and
Angiostrongyliasis program. Funds would be used to conduct educational
outreach to researchers, clinicians, and the general public on the organisms that
cause Rat Lung Worm Disease.
Reference: Comm. 526
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-72
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 350-19 and Finance
Committee Report No. 72. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Discussion?
MS. DAVID: Just ask for your continued support.
CHR. CHUNG: Yes, Mr. Richards?
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, this is something that came before us last year, funding
for the research. I'm just curious; is the State Department of Health chipping in
on this? This is a big deal for us countywide, statewide. And I was just
wondering, is anybody from R&D (Research and Development) here? I'm going
to support this. This is the right thing to do. I was just curious `cause we've got
to come up with some answers for that. Thanks, I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. No further discussion, all those in favor say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Vote on Res. 350-19: The motion to adopt Res. 350-19 and Finance Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 72 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung–9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 351-19: APPROVES THE NOMINATION OF MASON K. CHOCK, KAUAI COUNTY
COUNCIL MEMBER, TO THE WESTERN INTERSTATE REGION BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
Reference: Comm. 527
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz (B/R)
Negative: GREDC-1 (Due to a vote of 4-ayes,
3-noes, 2-absent)
MR. BROWN: May I make a note, please, Chair?
CHR. CHUNG: Yes.
MR. BROWN: Looks like there was a negative recommendation moved to the
Council due to a vote of only four "ayes," three "noes," and two were absent at
the time.
Motion to Approve: Ms. Poindexter moved to adopt Res. 351-19. Seconded by
Ms. David.
CHR. CHUNG: Discussion? Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thank you, Chair. I am very puzzled by this piece of
legislation, resolution. In our County—and, Val, you and I have discussed this, as
I have with Ashley—in our State, we have four counties. And for our national
representation on the NACo (National Association of Counties) Board and,
specifically, the western region, which is the Western Interstate Region or WIR.
We have four seats: two at the NACo Board and two at the WIR. We have four
counties and four seats, and so each County should have one seat. It makes
logical sense. This is what we came to last June.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
I agreed to take the WIR seat at the time, as I was appointed to vice-chair a
committee. Subsequent to that, I received a presidential appointment though I
still sit in the WIR seat. I'm puzzled why we would even consider taking the
WIR seat out of our County and moving it to someplace else. I've checked with
Kauai, and Kauai is not pushing for this. This is not what they're interested in
doing. It would appear this is coming out of Maui, which is puzzling. And more
importantly, we're discussing our County politics and taking care of our County.
Now, whether or not I continue to sit in the WIR seat is immaterial. The point is
the seat belongs with our County to have that representation for our County going
forward. And no one knows our issues better than our people. And so when this
come upagain, I'm puzzled by it because I know Kauai is not supportive of
this. Mason and I are pretty good friends. We get along fine. This isn't about
that. This is about what's fair and equitable and taking care of our County. So,
like I said, I'm puzzled that this was brought up, as we're trying to take care of
our County. So with that, I yield at this point.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Poindexter.
MS. POINDEXTER: Tim, I will support you if you feel you want to stay on the
WIR, but let me just make—you weren't here at the last meeting when I spoke.
The WIR, yeah, we're appointed by each County, but we always vote as a block.
So, when we represent, we represent us as a State. We represent all our, you
know, `cause you have two seats; WIR—you have the counties, and you have
only two seats at the County. So, some counties, if we're saying we're only
representing ourselves, then some counties are left out, right? So, we go up there
knowing that we're representing our State and representing all of the counties.
And that's why, I think, at HSAC (Hawai`i State Association of Counties) when
we all get together as counties, we always try to get a WIR report, a status update
on what's going on. And at HSAC, everybody can give feedback.
And then again about Kauai not supporting that, and correct me if I'm wrong,
Ashley, but it was Kauai who made that motion to put that on, and you guys all
voted it through to present it. I mean, when I read theno, what's before us right
now—it was Kaua`i's representative that made that motion at HSAC to do that,
whether Maui's definitely supporting it now or how they supported it. Because,
how it works at HSAC is the four counties have to agree, vote it through, in order
for it to pass to come to all of our counties to review it. If Ashley didn't vote for
it, it would be a moot point; it wouldn't have come before us. But I think, Ashley,
during your conversations whether you wanted to just get our feedback on it, but I
know when I read, I thought I read that it was Ross who brought that forward.
And then, that's how it got here. So, I just wanted to correct that.
And at Kauai, when we were at discussions when I was there on the Board, I
know they were fighting for it too. But then, remember, they ended up taking a
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
NACo seat, so you agreed to take a WIR seat. So, I understand that. I understand
where you're coming from. And getting the presidential appointment, we're
fortunate enough to get that.
My only thing is it's not about a position, what County has it. It's who can
represent us as a block for all of Hawaii Island, I mean, Hawaii as a State,
rather, not just Hawaii Island. And I know you could represent us well, and I
think you just came back from WIR, if I'm not mistaken. If you don't feel that is
much of a burden for you, I don't mind supporting you. Discussions came up;
you weren't here to talk about that. And all of your appointments; you and I are
both chairs for committees and vice chairs at the NACo level too. So, if you
could just assure us, and as well as taking it back to HSAC, that it's not only
about Hawaii Island that you sit there. You sit there because we're concerned
about our State as a whole. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, well, anyway this is very simple. She just said that if you
want to keep the seat, which is viced by—your alternate is
Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder?
MR. RICHARDS: Yes.
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah. So, she just said that if you want to keep it status quo,
then she's going to support. Is that it?
MR. RICHARDS: That's it. It's best for our County, and paradoxically, I was
the only guy from Hawaii at WIR last week.
MR. CHUNG: Okay, very good.
MS. POINDEXTER: I just want to make sure that it's not just our County you're
representing.
MR. RICHARDS: Oh, no, no, no.
MS. POINDEXTER: It's all of the counties at the table at HSAC when you are
there.
MR. RICHARDS: Absolutely.
MS. POINDEXTER: Thank you.
CHR. POINDEXTER: Okay. So, we have a motion on the floor. Oh, go ahead,
Karen.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
MS. EOFF: Thank you. So, yeah, I just wanted Mr. Richards to know that the
discussion at the last meeting just was really confusing, `cause we had a slate
before us that a lot of us who had watched the way HSAC's Executive Committee
has worked over the years, we figured was the approved slate of the Executive
Committee talked out and voted unanimously through. So, it was hard for us to
understand why, now, there's
MR. RICHARDS: Hard for me to understand too.
MS. EOFF: So, let's just say that maybe the message back to the HSAC
Executive Committee is let's get it together, what's going to come before all the
councils is the unanimous decision by the board. Then, I read the reso
(resolution) that Maui sent, and it contradicted what we're hearing today, which
said that you had willingly stepped away from that position. So, yeah, I guess the
main thing is that what comes to us from HSAC should be sort of set, not set in
stone `cause we have the opportunity to go against it, but it just seemed like it was
broadly supported through all the representatives of the HSAC Executive
Committee.
MR. RICHARDS: Chair, a quick comment.
CHR. CHUNG: How quick?
MR. RICHARDS: Very.
CHR. CHUNG: Go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, I'm puzzled by the whole thing, too, `cause this was all
arranged and figured out in June. So, that's why I was puzzled, and no one talked
to me. So, anyway, but take care of our County, take care of our State. That's
what the charge is.
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I hate to belabor this, Chair, but thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Go ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I assumed the delegate position in July. This motion came
before us as an Executive Committee, and being new there, I wanted to honor the
will of this body and my colleague Mr. Richards. And so, I had been in
communication with him to let him know this was coming down the pipeline.
What I wasn't aware of was how my colleagues were going to respond to this
resolution. In no way was I trying to take it away from you, Mr. Richards. I think
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
you are doing a fantastic job representing us on NACo and WIR and really getting
not just Hawaii County, but the State of Hawaii out there into the national realm.
And so, I apologize if there are any hurt feelings by this, but I just wanted to get
the mana`o of the group and bring this forward. And it seems to me, in
subsequent discussions by the Executive Committee and even Council
Member Chock, who was at one of our meetings a couple of meetings ago, that if
you want to keep it, it's yours. And I think that we should keep it here in Hawaii
County, and you should continue to serve because you have been representing us
so well.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. And while I think it's very clear that this is all confusing,
I think we know where this is going now. So, we have a motion on the floor to
approve Resolution 351-19. All those in favor, say "aye."
Vote on Res. 351-19: The motion to adopt Res. 351-19 failed by the following
Failed voice vote:
Ayes: None.
Noes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: This resolution is defeated. Okay, let's go to Resolution 352-19,
and let's bring this home in half an hour.
Res. 352-19: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
FOR A MAILING-SYSTEM MACHINE FOR THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY
CLERK, SUPPORT SERVICES DIVISION
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement with an
approximate monthly cost of$611.
Reference: Comm. 528
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-73
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 352-19 and Finance
Committee Report No. 73. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion?
Page 15
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
MS. DAVID: Your continued support, I ask for. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: All those in favor, say "aye."
Vote on Res. 352-19: The motion to adopt Res. 352-19 and Finance Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 73 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried with nine "ayes."
Res. 355-19: 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 HAWAII
ALLIANCE FOR COMMUNITY-BASED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR
REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES RELATING TO VIBRANT
HAWAII ISLAND
Transfers $3,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 5); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Business Development account.
Reference: Comm. 536
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 355-19.
Seconded by Ms. David.
CHR. CHUNG: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, discussion?
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: I'd just like to ask for your continued
support.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. All those in favor, say "aye."
Page 16
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Vote on Res. 355-19: The motion to adopt Res. 355-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried with nine "ayes."
Res. 356-19: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO BIG ISLAND
RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL FOR
HAWAII ISLAND'S 2019 SAKADA DAY CELEBRATION
Transfers $2,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 4); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Business Development account.
Reference: Comm. 537
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 356-19. Seconded
by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Discussion?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I just want to thank Iris Viacrusis and
Marjorie David for coming out today to support the resolution and for all of their
work to plan this event. It means a lot to me because my great-grandfather
Pelajio Carenio, he was a sakada that worked the Ola`a sugar plantation. And
then I also found out that he was one of the leaders that organized within the
Filipino contingency. So, it's great to know, yeah.
CHR. CHUNG: All right, terrific. Okay, we have a motion on the floor. All
those in favor, signify by saying "aye."
Page 17
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Vote on Res. 356-19: The motion to adopt Res. 356-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried with nine "ayes."
Res. 357-19: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF FUNDS TO BE
USED TOWARDS TRAVEL AND OTHER EXPENSES INCURRED FROM
COUNCIL MEMBER REBECCA VILLEGAS' ATTENDANCE AT A
CLIMATE SUMMIT AND CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK CITY
Accepts a monetary donation of$1,500 from Clean Energy Group, Inc.
Reference: Comm. 540
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 357-19. Seconded by
Ms. Villegas.
CHR. CHUNG: Discussion?
MS. DAVID: I just want to make a note that this was waived out of Finance
because it is a donation, and then thank the organization for paying for
Ms. Villegas to attend this summit. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, all right. Ms. Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: I also want to thank the organization for their contribution and
the opportunity to attend the United Nations General Assembly and Climate
Week meetings in New City this past September. Yeah, it was an incredible
honor. I learned a lot. I got to represent the Big Island at a Climate Strong
Islands Dialogue and attend with other representatives from the State of Hawaii
representing their islands. Yeah, mahalo.
CHR. CHUNG: Good and congratulations. Okay, all those in favor say "aye."
Page 18
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Vote on Res. 357-19: The motion to adopt Res. 357-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "aye."
Res. 358-19: 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 HAWAII
ALLIANCE FOR COMMUNITY-BASED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR
A REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES RELATED TO THE VIBRANT
HAWAII ISLAND SUMMIT
Transfers $7,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Business Development account.
Reference: Comm. 538
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 358-19. Seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: I ask for support.
CHR. CHUNG: All those in favor, say "aye."
Vote on Res. 358-19: The motion to adopt Res. 358-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Page 19
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "ayes."
Res. 359-19: 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 PAHOA
SCHOOLS SUPPORT FOUNDATION TO ASSIST WITH REESTABLISHING
CULTURAL ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES AT PAHOA HIGH AND
INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL
Transfers $1,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 4); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public
Programs account.
Reference: Comm. 541
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 359-19. Seconded
by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Discussion?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Just asking for support.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. Any further discussion? There being none, all those in
favor say "aye."
Vote on Res. 359-19: The motion to adopt Res. 359-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "ayes."
Page 20
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Res. 360-19: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO BIG ISLAND
RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL FOR THE
SAKADA DAY CELEBRATION 2019
Transfers $3,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 1); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Business Development account.
Reference: Comm. 542
Intr. by: Ms. Poindexter
Motion to Approve: Ms. Poindexter moved to adopt Res. 360-19. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Discussion?
MS. POINDEXTER: I'm going to have a little bit more than three words.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, go ahead.
MS. POINDEXTER: I just want to say, like Council Member Kierkiewicz, my
grandfather was a sakada, and he came to Hawaii Island and worked on the
Pacific Sugar Mill, which is by Waipi`o Valley. So, it's important to perpetuate
our cultural heritage here in Hawaii, and for the younger generation who is
coming here from the Philippines to know why they are able to enjoy what we
have today. It was because of the hard work of our ancestors and the sacrifices
that they made. So, I ask for your support. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Thank you. Anyone else? And that was an important message,
so deserving of more than two words, yeah. Okay, all those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Res. 360-19: The motion to adopt Res. 360-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "aye" votes.
Page 21
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Res. 361-19: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE
BIG ISLAND RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT
COUNCIL FOR THE 2019 SAKADA DAY CELEBRATION
Transfers $1,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 6); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Business Development account.
Reference: Comm. 544
Intr. by: Ms. David
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 361-19. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion?
MS. DAVID: Thank you, and I just would ask for your support. And I don't
think that my grandfather came, but he did stow away. My great-grandma sent
him to Hawaii, and he stowed away on one of those ships to Honolulu when he
was 14 and then started to work in the plantations in Kohala before he moved to
Kona to be a coffee farmer for all of his life. So, yes.
CHR. CHUNG: Interesting. Interesting story.
MS. DAVID: And I think we're all family. So, I ask for your support and thank
you.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, all those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Res. 361-19: The motion to adopt Res. 361-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "aye" votes.
Page 22
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Res. 364-19: 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 AUTISM
SOCIETY OF HAWAII TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATED TO THE
11THANNUAL SURFERS HEALING HAWAII EVENT IN HILO
Transfers $400 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 6); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 561
Intr. by: Ms. David
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 364-19. Seconded by
Ms. Eoff.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. David.
MS. DAVID: Yes, I just wanted to thank Kalani this morning and also Scott.
Thank you for giving us that brief history of how important this program is and
your involvement in it. Mahalo. I ask for your support. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. We have a motion on the floor. All those in favor, say
LC "
aye.
Vote on Res. 364-19: The motion to adopt Res. 364-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried with nine "aye" votes.
Page 23
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Res. 365-19: 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 AUTISM
SOCIETY OF HAWAII TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATED TO THE
11THANNUAL SURFERS HEALING HAWAII EVENT IN HILO
Transfers $400 from the Clerk-Council Services –Contingency Relief account
(Council District 8); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 562
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff
Motion to Approve: Ms. Eoff moved to adopt Res. 365-19. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Discussion?
MS. EOFF: Really nothing more to add except for to thank all of our—I think
there's six of us on this particular agenda supporting this event. So, it shows a lot
of support from the Council. Thank you to all the people involved in the
organization and the help from all the surfers on the west side and the east side of
the island for taking these kids out.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. We have a motion on the floor. All those in favor, say
LC "
aye.
Vote on Res. 365-19: The motion to adopt Res. 365-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung–9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried with nine "ayes."
Page 24
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Res. 366-19: 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 AUTISM
SOCIETY OF HAWAII FOR THE 11THANNUAL SURFERS HEALING
HAWAII SURF CAMP AT RICHARDSON OCEAN PARK
Transfers $750 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 5); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 563
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 366-19.
Seconded by Ms. Eoff
CHR. CHUNG: Matt?
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: I just wanted to mention that the lady who
came in earlier, I forget her name but I've seen her multiple times at Richardson's
but I haven't seen her with her son in a long time. I didn't know he passed away.
So, yeah, I'm glad to support this program, and I didn't know that she was
involved. So, I'm very happy to be a part of that.
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah, that was a touching story. Okay, anyone else? If not, we
have a motion on the floor. All those in favor, signify by saying "aye."
Vote on Res. 366-19: The motion to adopt Res. 366-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair Chung—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member David— 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried with eight "aye"votes. Ms. David is excused.
Page 25
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Res. 367-19: 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 AUTISM
SOCIETY OF HAWAII FOR THE 11THANNUAL SURFERS HEALING
HAWAII EVENT AT RICHARDSON OCEAN PARK
Transfers $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. 564
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 367-19. Seconded
by Ms. Eoff.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I want to thank Kalani for all of his
hard work in helping to organize this event. And for the woman who came to
testify, Sandy Schuffler, Council Member Lee Loy and I were visibly moved by
that. And I actually remember Sandy and her son when, many moons ago, I
worked at O'Keefe Bakery. And so, really enjoyed them coming in and having
scones and sandwiches together. So, it was sad to hear that her son had passed,
but it's nice that her son was a recipient of this program and I'm really excited. I
can't wait to paddle out with some of these kids in November. So, it's nice to see
the rest of my colleagues supporting this really wonderful event. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Thank you. Okay, we have a motion on the floor. All those in
favor, signify by saying "aye."
Vote on Res. 367-19: The motion to adopt Res. 367-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair Chung—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member David— 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: The motion is carried with eight "aye"votes. Ms. David is
excused.
Page 26
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Res. 368-19: 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 AUTISM
SOCIETY OF HAWAII TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATED TO THE
11THANNUAL SURFERS HEALING HAWAII EVENT
Transfers $600 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 565
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 368-19. Seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. Like Val, we have some special kids. So,
this one is real easy for me to give. But keeping it short, I really do thank
everyone for supporting this program and Kalani for helping.
CHR. CHUNG: One of the outer site's mics is on. Thank you. Go ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. So, yeah, thank you to the rest of my colleagues for
supporting this special program. But since we are trying to keep it brief, I wrote a
haiku:
For special children
It is an honor to give
Asking for support.
CHR. CHUNG: Very nice. Okay, we have a motion on the floor. All those in
favor, say "aye."
Vote on Res. 368-19: The motion to adopt Res. 368-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Page 27
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "ayes."
Res. 369-19: 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 AUTISM
SOCIETY OF HAWAII TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATED TO THE
11THANNUAL SURFERS HEALING HAWAII EVENT
Transfers $400 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 7); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 566
Intr. by: Ms. Villegas
Motion to Approve: Ms. Villegas moved to adopt Res. 369-19. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: Just a quick comment. Not only am I super grateful for the
service that this event and this organization provides for special children and
adults in our community, but I'm also really grateful for, for years surfers kind of
got a bad rap as being kind of flaky or not really involved or the rebels. And I
think that it's so powerful now that we are recognizing as a community, society,
and humanity the healing quality of being in the water and riding on the waves
and that it's being a really healthy and safe place to take other people who may
have special challenges or needs and providing a sense of purpose.
And Surfers Healing flies a number of people that I grew up surfing with around
the country to serve communities all over on different coastlines. And so, I'm just
particularly grateful for this elevation of surfing as a healing practice and how it
can positively affect communities everywhere, and those who have been surfing
for a long time being able to share that with others. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: All those in favor, say "aye."
Page 28
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Vote on Res. 369-19: The motion to adopt Res. 369-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 372-19: 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
WEST HAWAII VETERANS CEMETERY DEVELOPMENT AND
EXPANSION ASSOCIATION, INC., FOR ITS REFORESTATION PROJECT
AT THE WEST HAWAII VETERANS CEMETERY-PU`U HO`OMAHA O NA
PO`E KOA O HAWAII KOMOHANA
Transfers $4,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 8); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 569
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff
Motion to Approve: Ms. Eoff moved to adopt Res. 372-19. Seconded by
Ms. David.
CHR. CHUNG: Discussion?
MS. EOFF: I'd just like to thank Dr. Richard Stevens. He's been involved in this
reforestation project for a number of years. And the West Hawaii Veterans
Cemetery actually has, I think it's called "shrine status,"but anyways, it's a big
project and it's beautiful and I'm happy to help. And our cemeteries are under
Parks and Rec. (Recreation), and there's not too many actual facilities in my
district, but this is one of them. So, I'd like to ask for your support.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, it's been moved and seconded. All those in favor, say
Ic aye.
Page 29
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Vote on Res. 372-19: The motion to adopt Res. 372-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "ayes."
Res. 373-19: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO MALAMA
O PUNA TO PURCHASE UNIFORMS AND EQUIPMENT FOR THE PAHOA
PUEOS
Transfers $4,455 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 5); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 570
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 373-19.
Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. CHUNG: Matt?
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Something I tried to do last year. Being
new, I had my issues with the CRF (Contingency Relief Fund)process. This year
we figured it out and actually were able to donate uniforms and equipment for the
Pahoa Pueos, which I'm very proud to do. I appreciate your support.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, all those in favor say "aye."
Page 30
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Vote on Res. 373-19: The motion to adopt Res. 373-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "ayes."
Res. 374-19: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HUA O
LAHUI FOR THE QUEEN KAPI`OLANI CANOE PROJECT
Transfers $750 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 5); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 571
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 374-19.
Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Matt again.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: For this project, I am asking for your
continued support.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. All those in favor, say "aye."
Vote on Res. 374-19: The motion to adopt Res. 374-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "ayes."
Res. 375-19: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HUA O
LAHUI FOR EXPENSES RELATED TO CREATING A REPLICA OF A
CANOE GIFTED TO THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BY
QUEEN KAPI`OLANI IN 1887
Transfers $1,000 from the Clerk-Council Services –Contingency Relief account
(Council District 9); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Tourism Promotion account.
Reference: Comm. 572
Intr. by: Mr. Richards
Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to adopt Res. 375-19. Seconded by
Ms. David.
CHR. CHUNG: Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: It's a kind of cool project. Reading through the historyI'm
sure everybody has—look forward to it and ask for your support.
CHR. CHUNG: It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor, say "aye."
Vote on Res. 375-19: The motion to adopt Res. 375-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung–9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried with nine "ayes."
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Res. 376-19: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HUA O
LAHUI TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATED TO THE
QUEEN KAPI`OLANI CANOE PROJECT
Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Tourism Promotion account.
Reference: Comm. 573
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 376-19. Seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Asking for your continued support.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. All those in favor, say "aye."
Vote on Res. 376-19: The motion to adopt Res. 376-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 377-19: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HAWAIIAN
PARADISE PARK NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF
EXPENSES RELATING TO HOSTING THE 2019 NATIONAL NIGHT OUT
Transfers $1,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 3); and credits to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Other
Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 574
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 377-19. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. I actually want to thank Ms. Kierkiewicz.
Her, her staff, and some of my staff stood up this program for the very first time
here in Hawaii County. So, really, my congratulations to Ms. Kierkiewicz for
putting on such a wonderful program. The turnout was phenomenal, and we look
forward to doing it again next year.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, if I may?
CHR. CHUNG: Yes, Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. This is an excellent event. This was the first
inaugural event, National Night Out, for our County, and it was great to see the
community step up. Judi Houle from Puna Neighborhood Watch really took this
by the reins, and so I'm glad it was a community-driven government-supported
event. And we had many officers, firefighters, Civil Defense. Lots of keiki and
family there. And so, I think this is going to grow year after year, and I'm hoping
that we can have something like this in various communities all around the island.
And I want to give a special mahalo to my Legislative Aide, Christine Kahikina,
`cause she is who introduced me to this idea, and she had worked on numerous
National Night Out events across the Mainland. So, thank you. Thank you,
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, we have a motion on the floor—oh,
Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair, for recognizing that. I
just wanted to say thank you to my staff as well for being there. It wasn't
mentioned by Ms. Lee Loy, but my staff was there. And unfortunately, we got
stuck in Kona for a very long meeting and couldn't attend, although I was
supposed to be in the dunk tank. So, I apologize for not being there `cause I was
actually looking forward to getting dunked. And I was trying to get the Mayor
out there to get dunked too, but it didn't work out. So, thank you though, Ashley,
`cause I know you were one of the main drivers of that. So, mahalo.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, we have a motion on the floor. All those in favor, say
Ic aye.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Vote on Res. 377-19: The motion to adopt Res. 377-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "ayes."
Res. 378-19: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PURCHASE WREATHS FOR THE
WEST HAWAII VETERANS CEMETERY-PU`U HO`OMAHA O NA PO`E
KOA O HAWAII KOMOHANA FOR THE NATIONAL WREATHS ACROSS
AMERICA DAY
Transfers $5,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 8); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 575
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff
Motion to Approve: Ms. Eoff moved to adopt Res. 378-19. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Eoff
MS. EOFF: Yes, quickly. I think I've been supporting this from the first
opportunity I had, and it's just a beautiful ceremony. Aiden described it pretty
well earlier of all the benefits of recognizing our veterans. And it's another
opportunity to hear stories and to participate in something that's held
simultaneously in the whole nation, and all the cemeteries have wreaths placed on
all the graves at the same time. I don't know if anyone can attend, but it's just
sort of something beautiful to witness as we place wreaths on all the graves and
also on all of the columbarium at the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery. So, thank
you for your support.
CHR. CHUNG: And I've got to say, though, Ms. Eoff, you have been a
consistent champion for that West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery. So,
congratulations and thanks to you.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
MS. EOFF: I never really realized how important it is to credit the veterans for
what they've sacrificed. It's very moving every time I go there, so I'm pretty
committed.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, we have a motion on the floor. All those in favor, say
Ic aye.
Vote on Res. 378-19: The motion to adopt Res. 378-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried with nine "ayes."
Res. 379-19: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO GOING
HOME HAWAII FOR ITS 2019 PU`UHONUA WELLNESS CAREER,
TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION PATHWAY NETWORK PROGRAM
Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 2); and credits to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Other
Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 576
Intr. by: Mr. Chung
Vote on Res. 379-19: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 379-19. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried with nine "ayes."
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Res. 380-19: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HAWAII
COUNTY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL FOR THE JAPANESE
COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION OF HAWAII'S 2019 BUNKA NO HI
PROGRAM
Transfers $1,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 2); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public
Programs account.
Reference: Comm. 577
Intr. by: Mr. Chung
Vote on Res. 380-19: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 380-19. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine ayes.
Res. 381-19: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE
BIG ISLAND RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT
COUNCIL TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATED TO THE 2019 HAWAII
ISLAND VETERANS DAY PARADE
Transfers $500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 2); and credits to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Other
Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 578
Intr. by: Mr. Chung
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Vote on Res. 381-19: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 381-19. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "ayes."
Res. 382-19: 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 "START THE NEW YEAR RIGHT," WELLNESS FAIR FOR
THE SENIORS OF HAMAKUA
Transfers $5,000 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. 579
Intr. by: Ms. Poindexter
Motion to Approve: Ms. Poindexter moved to adopt Res. 382-19. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Poindexter.
MS. POINDEXTER: It's self-explanatory. I just ask for your support.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, all those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Res. 382-19: The motion to adopt Res. 382-19 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Page 38
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "ayes."
BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Bills for
ORDINANCES Ordinances (First Reading).
(FIRST READING):
Bill 101: AMENDS CHAPTER 14, HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS
AMENDED), BY ADDING A NEW ARTICLE 24, RELATING TO HERBICIDE
USE
Prohibits the use of certain herbicides on County owned or maintained parks and
alongside County roads, bikeways, sidewalks, trails, drainageways, and
waterways; and creates a transition committee to research and develop alternative
methods of vegetation management. The ban will take effect on January 1, 2024.
Reference: Comm. 489
Intr. by: Ms. Villegas
Approve: AWEEMC-10
(Note: Comm. 489.336, from Council Member Rebecca Villegas dated
November 4, 2019, transmitting testimony from Autumn Ness, was circulated.
Comm. 489.337, from Council Member Rebecca Villegas dated November 5,
2019, transmitting a proposed amendment to Bill 101, was also circulated.)
Motion to Approve: Ms. Villegas moved to pass Bill 101 on first reading and
adopt Agriculture, Water, Energy and Environmental
Management Committee Report No. 10. Seconded by
Ms. Poindexter.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Villegas, go ahead.
MS. VILLEGAS: Sure. If I could also call Autumn Ness back up. I know she
has some other information to share with us. Bur first off, I just wanted to touch
on and acknowledge that in the last couple of days, more prominent opposition to
the bill has been coming in in emails, as the other members of this body will have
seen. However, I do want to point out that those that actually listed reasons why
they opposed the bill, predominantly most of them were related to a
misunderstanding that this bill somehow impacted what kinds of products they
could use on their private property. Whether or not that'd be agricultural lands or
ranch lands, or one was even having to do with native forest in Volcano National
Parks, which is National Park land.
One of the other things—and then, of course for farmers as well, this bill does not
in any way prohibit the products that they could use. One of the issuesI also
want to point out that we added and changed some of the terminology to include
and address the issues that the Big Island Invasive Species organization had
Page 39
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
pointed out. One of them being to specifically add an amendment that gives,
excuse me as I get it right here, an exemption for direct into the trunk or onto the
cut stump of a targeted invasive species, like an incision-point injection or cut-
stump application of certain herbicides which is relevant specifically to albizia,
excuse me.
And one of the other issues that kept coming up that I noticed were people's
concerns about little fire ants. So, I went ahead and pulled up the BIISC
(Big Island Invasive Species Committee) website, as well as the Hawaii Ant Lab,
and went through each and every one of their recommended products that's
utilized for specifically treating fire ants and none of the chemicals, the active
ingredients in those products, including Amdro, Siesta, Maxforce. The
predominant active ingredients are a number of chemicals called, I'll say just
quickly: hydramethylnon, metaflumizone, indoxacarb, and a couple of others.
None of those are listed in this bill as prohibited chemicals. Those are more of a
pesticide than an herbicide. So, I just wanted to point that out that this bill in no
way affects that way that BIISC and community members will be able to address
challenges when dealing with fire ants.
Let's see. Then, I wanted to go ahead and ask Autumnoh, one other thing I just
want to mention is there was a small spelling error in the schedule of prohibited
herbicides. We'll be changing Triclopyt to Triclopyr. The "t"will be
transitioning to an "r." So, we will be making that amendment. And with that,
Autumn, I would ask for some of your input as an advice. After getting the
recommendations from BIISC in our last meeting, we've talked extensively on
how to incorporate those changes and make sure that we are covering and
supporting our organizations which are working so hard on the invasive species.
(Note: At this time, Autumn Ness of Beyond Pesticides came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MS. NESS: I touched a little bit on it during my testimony, but I did spend, like I
said, a lot of time with
MS. VILLEGAS: One second, Autumn. My apologies.
Page 40
Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Vote on Motion Ms. Villegas moved to amend Bill 101 with the contents of
to Amend: Comm. 489.337. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and carried
(Approved) by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried. Back to the main motion.
MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, now we're back to the main motion. Go ahead,
Autumn.
MS. NESS: Yeah, so, it's just comments on the amendments mostly. I wanted to
be sure before we put an amendment in here, and I spent a lot of time with
invasive plant removal and reforestation organizations. And that seems to be the
main way. Especially, I heard Albizia being mentioned a lot. Cut-stump
application and incision-point injection is really the go-to. And for me and to
achieve the goals that we're looking at, that seems really fair.
And it's also a really big part of the larger conversation about invasive species
management and herbicides. I hear a lot that herbicides are an important tool in
the management of invasive plants. And that is true to a point. It's not an all or
nothing approach, though. It has worked for us repeatedly in the short term, but
we can do better than just thinking short term and reactionary for a long time.
Actually, we have to do better because we relied on cheap chemicals before and
this is where we are. We are here with a chemical habit and a bigger problem
with invasives.
But working with people who work with invasive species on long-term plans,
what I really learned over the last couple of months is that if you go into an area
and dump herbicides indiscriminately, you will kill everything, including the
invasive species. You will also kill whatever little endemic or native plant life is
there. You will kill the organisms that are in the soil that allow that good plant
life to thrive, and the invasives will come back even thicker, more resistant, and
stronger. So, as part of a long-term plan, herbicide use is important. But we've
never had to do that before `cause we've just been spraying reactionarily.
So, I feel this bill with the exemptions inside really will kind of motivate
everybody, our County workers included, to think more long term about how we
don't have to go back to these big exhaustive areas and keep dumping herbicides
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
on them anymore. So, it's a solution for everybody, I feel like. That's all I have
to say right now unless there's any specific questions. Shall I go?
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah.
MS. NESS: Okay.
CHR. CHUNG: And it might actually be the district that you represent because I
recall Mr. Kanuha saying a winner one time on the floor. We won't go any
further than that. Anyway, back to business. Okay, any further discussion?
Ms. Eoff.
MS. EOFF: I just wanted to add a comment based on a few of the testimonies
that wish that we could implement this quicker or sooner. Actually, the
implementation is upon approval. It's just that there is this transitioning period,
but that doesn't meant that we won't start to transition to some better products.
And we need that time to find out what will be working best here and explore all
of—that's what this committee is about—not this committee, but the one that will
be established through the ordinance is to discuss what the alternatives will be.
And some of the other concerns were voiced that some of the alternatives might
be just as dangerous or more dangerous than the current herbicides that we use.
But that, I don't think, would be our goal, and I'm sure that the wisdom of the
next couple of years will bring forward a solution that won't also be detrimental
or hopefully won't damage the soils or anything else that we were raising
concerns about.
But I think this is our opportunity to take a step forward, and I think it's been
done in a respectful manner towards all of the departments and agencies that will
be involved. And so, I still and even more wholeheartedly will support this, given
the changes in the amendment that we just approved. So, mahalo, Ms. Villegas.
CHR. CHUNG: Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. First of all, Rebecca, thanks for
highlighting the concern. I do not support this bill, and let me explain why. I
believe that this is a conversation about safety and about responsible use of
products coming forward. And I'm coming from the agricultural side. It's no
secret that I come from agriculture.
And you heard a lot of testimony today from people from agriculture, and their
concern is stepping stones. And this is a very commonly used legislative tactic, I
guess I'll say, that by doing something, it justifies going forward to do something
else. It's approved in one area, so thereby, we're going to take a step forward.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
And I empathize with the people in agriculture because we've got a monumentous
task ahead of us.
In our County, we are striving for food source reliance, and the only way we can
get there is if we have good strong agriculture. I can speak with authority on
agriculture. People don't overuse chemicals. That's not what gets done in
agriculture. Can't afford it. That's not why it's done. Our biggest problems are
actually in the households `cause we misuse a lot of chemicals, both pesticides
and herbicides, in households. And there's a lot of stuff
So, digging into this, I went back and looked. And in this room or I seriously
doubt anyone in this room can speak to whether or not glyphosate is a carcinogen
or not. It's been listed by IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer),
and there's a lot of swirling concern about IARC. IARC is not a scientific
community. It is a review board. They do some good things, but there's a lot of
questions as far as it revolves around glyphosate.
Our DOA (Department of Agriculture) submitted testimony of their concerns on
carte blanche removing the use of herbicides. It was also stated that DOE
(Department of Education) doesn't use them, and that's not true. They have
stopped using glyphosate, but they're still using other herbicides. There's been a
lot of work done. The University of Massachusetts did a very long report. It's
about 250 pages on alternative herbicide management. It's pretty interesting
reading. It's long reading. But again, there's no silver bullet.
And more to our point, I was looking closely to us. Ventura County in October,
last month, 2019, they did a project. And they were looking at if we did not use
herbicides, how would it affect us, how would it cost us. And I don't disagree
that misuse of chemicals is a wrong thing `cause I agree we have to be safe. And
we've evolved, and we've learned over time. But the highlight, what we're
talking about is that we can do almost anything as long as we have the resources
to do it. And we can hand-pull weeds all down the highways; that is possible, but
there's a cost to it.
As we sit here on the Council, I am very mindful of what we need to do. We need
to protect the public, though we have to be fiscally minded as we go forward or
we're not going to be able to do that. And Ventura County, it's an interesting
report. Right now, they're spending about a million dollars to do their
management of weeds, herbicide management. If they don't use it, they're
projecting, and they're just doing mowing, they're projecting it's going to go up
tenfold. And it's possible to do it, but again that impacts that. And so, from a
cost perspective, we have to be mindful of that. I don't disagree on the safety.
And I am bothered by some of the statements that some of these other chemicals
that we would use in place are safe `cause they're not. They have their own
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
shortcomings. Case in point, in organic farming they use copper sulfate—very
toxic, but it's approved for organic farming. And you have to dress up pretty
heavily to apply it appropriately.
My point on all of this stuff is that I think we need to have control. I think we
need to be mindful. But I am very leery of taking all of the ability to use any of
these things going forward to help take care of our County, our community, and
then it could be used to go forward. And this is where my concern comes from.
All of us that are against the bill are not paid by outside entities. This is where I
come from, from agriculture. And we have evolved greatly in agriculture. Back
in the day, the things that we used in agriculture, actually in our society was far
more toxic. We keep making advancements. Again, my concern is if we remove
all the ability to use any of these things going forward, we are going to be
shortsighted as far as getting things handled.
So, some of the things we could've, should've done, again, comes to the invasive
species. And I do appreciate, Rebecca, some of the work done on that. We do
need to have those tools, and I'm glad that is exempt. But going forward, I'm
concerned that this would flop over into the agriculture sector, and we're not
going to be able to get it done. We need those tools to help manage that going
forward, and so that's why I can't support the bill as written. I think it's the right
direction as far as safety. And a lot of times, people have been affected by some
of these chemicals. And I'm guilty of it too; didn't use the proper safety gear.
And that, I think, has to be highlighted going forward, that when we do things, we
have to use the proper safety gear, without question.
But again, categorically wiping out the ability for the County to use any
herbicides I think is going to be very concerning. I do have a concern. I see both
Parks and Rec. and Public Works are here, and I'd like to have their input and
insight on that. And, Chair, I don't know how to do that. Do we call them up?
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah, of course.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Could we have Public Works and Parks and Rec. come
up, please?
(Note: At this time, Parks and Recreation Director Roxcie Waltjen,
Deputy Director Maurice Messina, and Public Works Director
David Yamamoto came forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. RICHARDS: Aloha, David. Thanks for being here. Aloha, Rox and Moe.
Just start on the left. David, I'm sure you've seen the bill, and I don't know if
you've seen the amendments or not that have been put forth. Your department
has a lot of roadways to take care of, and I appreciate the concern that's coming
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
forth concerning the use of herbicides. I'm not for carte blanche use. I'm for
very appropriate use. But can you comment? What is your opinion about how
this will impact you?
MR. YAMAMOTO: We're not exactly sure, although just looking at the
situation it'll probably require that we hire more people and more equipment to do
grass-cutting instead of herbiciding. So, we are preparing to hire a consultant to
help us identify equipment manpower, and also alternative materials and
alternative herbicides that we might be able to use in place of glyphosate and
some of the other chemicals that we might be using.
MR. RICHARDS: Do you have any guess as far as what it might cost as far as
your budget going forward?
MR. YAMAMOTO: No idea. I know we tried a pilot project on applying
Avenger and some of these other products, but they wereI wasn't involved with
the pilot project, but they were shown to be not as effective as Roundup and more
expensive. So, that in itself, the replacements are more expensive than Roundup,
which doesn't necessarily mean it's prohibitive but it will come at a cost.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, thanks. And, Roxcie, Maurice?
MS. WALTJEN: Right now at Parks and Recreation, what we were trying to do
is establish a working document where we know exactly how much we are doing
with regards to maintenance. So, we've divided two categories. We have sites,
which means an area where we may have a ballpark or ballparks, swimming pool,
gyms, those kinds of thing, and beaches with pavilions and things like that. And
then we have facilities. So, each individual component of that site. So, right now
we have about 183 sites that we maintain where we utilize various types of weed
control. We use different types of things, okay.
If we were to physically staff, and I mean keep the people there—'cause right
now, what we do is we have about two to three people who go site to site. So,
they'll have anywhere between six and seven parks or sites that they'll go to, and
they'll do the maintenance. To pull weeds and maintain it in the manner and have
it presented in the manner that it is today, we would have to hire approximately
two to three stationary park caretakers that would be stationed at that site, which
would bring us up to about 400 new employees. And you're looking at about 36
to $39,000 a year in salaries. That's not even counting any of the supervisors or
the extra trucks or the extra equipment or anything else that we're going to need.
MR. RICHARDS: Thanks, Rox. Again, it sounds like I'm harping on the
financial sideI'm not. It's not just about finances. It's about safety. But I'm
concerned if we, as we come into the budget season, if we choose to go down this
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path, that we are going to have to recognize that in the budgets coming forward.
And that means we're going to have to find funding to get this done.
And again, I'm concerned about this spillover. As you heard people from
agriculture talking about it, they don't overuse chemicals `cause it costs too much.
They use them judiciously, and I'm concerned that our County will put it in a
place where we won't have the ability to use something if we need to use it for
whatever the case may be. I've had this conversation with some of our
legislators. I don't want to put words in their mouths because they're not here to
say them. But a complete ban, I think, is not the right way to go. I do agree with
working on scheduling down a reduction, having a plan going forward. Having it
integrated, I guess you'd call it. Sort of like an integrated pest plan, and do a
review of that going forward.
But even the California Invasive Plant Council was concerned that when Ventura
County was looking at this, that they said you don't want to remove everything
out. You want to be sure that there's still enough quivers, or excuse me, enough
arrows in the quiver to be sure you're still able to take care of problems. So with
that, like I said, Rebecca, I can't support this as written. I do like the direction of
it `cause it highlights the safety, and we need to be very conscious of that.
Playgrounds, I think Parks and Rec. are already doing that. We keep those away
from the specific areas. But I have concern for our future if we make a
categorical statement on that. So with that, Chair, I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Poindexter.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, so, I have a question for DPW (Department of Public
Works). There's a lot of areas where you have the guardrails. Because you talk
aboutI want to disagree with both Parks and Rec. and DPW when you say
you've got to hire more people. I don't think so. I think if you change the way
we do things. So, where there's guardrails, you have a lot of the guinea grass
growing. They come; they spray them, okay. You can barely see the guardrail.
And then it's all brown, right? And it becomes a fire hazard. Right?
You guys, we talked about this before. Either putting mats under the guardrails or
asphalt in an area where those grasses wouldn't grow. Correct? Okay. So, if you
would do that, don't you think that would take away some of the responsibilities
from the workers who are already currently working? Because they don't have to
go spray over there. They don't have to go weed whack the dry grass, which they
don't anyway. We wouldn't have fire hazards, right? Correct? And then I could
go back to eating gulch food.
Growing up, I ate bananas, guavas, avocados, papayas—everything from the
gulch. We would leave in the morning, not come home till the evening for dinner
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because we could have our food on the roadside. Right now, cannot. Nobody is
trusting that herbicide or Roundup is sprayed. I've seen it done where the
avocado trees and the avocado fruits are right there in `0`6kala. Going up the
road, it's all sprayed. So, we cannot eat them.
So, when we talk about—I've got this handout about if we're going to feed
10 billion people by 2050, stop spraying Roundup on our areas where we can
have the free food. I mean, growing up in the plantation time, we were poor.
Right? I never knew we were poor. We were happy. We had our own gardens. I
remember fertilizing, grabbing shovels of chicken poop, manure from the chicken
coops, fertilize. We had goats. Sometimes, some of the Filipino neighbors would
steal our goats, but that's okay.
So, when we talk about self-sustainability or being self-reliant, we were. And we
didn't use all that because we wouldn't end up eating our food, right, if we would
be poisoning that. I don't think we could. So, when we talk about hiring more
people, I don't think so.
Parks. A lot of bleacher areas in the parks, right? A lot of grass grow under
there. Got to poison all the time. That's where people sit. Kids play. They go
under the bleachers. You cannot stop that. Right? But the Honoka`a Friends of
the Park have come up with solutions of putting rubber mats under there so grass
doesn't grow. Right? So, you eliminate the work for the current maintenance
people. So, here we're using tools to cut down on the labor.
And when we talk about the cost, even if we're going to increase costs on maybe
some equipment, I'd rather increase the cost there than taking a life or even just
having medical. Do you know how much it costs, the medical bills because ofI
had a relative who was accidentally sprayed right by a playground area, and still
managing with some health conditions. The cost of the healthcare for that person,
not to mention the liability for our County. So, I know that there are ways, yeah,
if we move in this direction, to use some tools for our parks and for our roadsides
that will eliminate a lot of the maintenance costs.
So, I disagree with the first initial statements. I am definitely supporting this. It
doesn't affect the private. And yeah, I understand that some of the fear that this
may later affect them or whatever, but, hey, what if it brings some good resolve or
resolutions to doing things healthier and better and cheaper for them? Right?
MS. WALTJEN: I don't disagree, Councilwoman Poindexter. But I do have a
question with regards to the golf course.
MS. POINDEXTER: Okay, so I'll yield
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
MS. WALTJEN: Because, we've checked with the different islands. And even
Maui, where they're going, like, 100 percent, they said, "Absolutely not at the
golf course." And that's a big one, okay.
MS. POINDEXTER: So, I'll yield at this time so that maybe Rebecca can bring
up, I don't know, your expert person. Thanks.
MS. VILLEGAS: All right. Thank you for being up here, members of the
Department of Public Works and Parks and Rec. And I guess I want to first point
out when this was originally brought to Committee, both Council Members
Tim Richards and Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder were not in attendance. So, I'm just
trying to remember that they didn't have the benefit of the presentations that were
brought forward during that meeting, many of them addressing some of the issues
that you're speaking of, Mr. Richards. And also, the information that I met with
the heads of the departments prior to this legislation and talked with them and did
receive support. I also met with the Mayor and had his support for this
legislation.
So, I did try to follow in alignment with what I felt would be a more pono way to
bring a change in legislation by also bringing in experts like Autumn Ness and
other experts from Maui and other organizations who have already transitioned
and have worked with other municipalities that have transitioned. So, instead of
bringing a bill that would say you have to stop what you're doing but not provide
support in that transition period, we are doing the opposite and we are bringing
the support.
It also was part of the presentation from Beyond Pesticides, a commitment to stay
within the budget, that this will not and cannot exceed the current budget
parameters for what has currently been allocated to these departments. I also
want to point out that, unfortunately and tragically, our County workers are not
utilizing these herbicides correctly. I have a photo from right on the highway by
my house: A gentleman with the respirator around his neck. No safety gear on
him at all. It's windy, side of the road, no signs.
So, this concept that we can or would be able to direct and require our County
staff to apply these chemicals appropriately, I'm sorry. In my mind, that privilege
has been lost because it hasn't been done. It's been proven to be false. Providing
other opportunities for them to be able to work safer, I think, is part of our
imperative. Especially, I appreciate the fiscal-mindedness here, but the cost of the
lawsuits and the potential liability for the County of Hawaii, if or when
somebody who works for the County who sprays or utilizes these herbicides gets
sick, would be dire.
I also want to point out that, predominantly, the testimony from community
members in support of Bill 101 is from constituents and not those that represent or
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are fiscally tied to chemical companies. I wanted to call up Autumn Ness, if I
could, again.
MS. WALTJEN: Can Maurice ask you a question?
MS. VILLEGAS: Sure.
MR. MESSINA: So, this isMaurice Messina, Deputy Director of Parks and
Rec. This is dealing specifically with No. 4, Section 14-145(a)(2), establishing
and maintaining a countywide record system. What is your thoughts on that?
What type of system? Which department would it fall under? Who would
maintain this system?
MS. VILLEGAS: I'm sorry. Can you say the number again really fast?
MR. MESSINA: I'm sorry. No. 4, Section 14-145(a)(2). It's under "Use of
herbicides during transition." "Establishing and maintaining a countywide record
system to document the County's use of herbicide usage . . . ."
MS. VILLEGAS: Isn't that already a requirement?
MR. MESSINA: Well, so now you're talking about the County's use of
herbicide, "prohibited and otherwise, the use of other methods, effectiveness of
the various choices, and associated costs."
MS. VILLEGAS: I guess my question would be, aren't you already monitoring
that? And if not, that would be something that would fall under the responsibility
of the vegetation management transition committee as we put these together. And
I would also defer to some of the experts who have utilized and worked with this
transition in other municipalities.
MR. MESSINA: So, I guess my question is, are you talking about a centralized
database?
MS. VILLEGAS: Well, essentially, that's part of what the Committee will be
determining, and there are only two departments, really, that utilize these
herbicides that this really affects predominantly: DPW and Parks and Rec. In
speaking to Environmental Management, the amount that they use is so minor that
Bill Kucharski didn't even really deem it necessary to participate as deeply in it
`cause they were like, "Okay, so we don't use that. We'll use something else."
And I also would be open to what you guys would recommend or suggest, or what
is going to be feasible for your department, in that capacity. That definitely is
open for how to do that.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
MR. MESSINA: I would like to also state for the record that, listening to some of
the testimony today about our workers dumping pesticides, our workers' overuse
of pesticides, since 2015 our department has reduced our vegetation control by
42.5 percent in our budget. We do not dump pesticides anywhere. We're very
cognizant of how we use herbicides. And all of our guys, from our Parks
Maintenance Manager on down, have all been trained on proper use of pesticides,
how to do it. And if anyone sees any of our park workers without appropriate
PPE(Personal Protective Equipment), let us know because I have not been aware
of that, and we'll retrain where we need to retrain.
We also do understand where this is going and how the writing may be on the
wall that this will come into effect. And we're not saying that this is not
something we want to do. We all want all of our workers to be safe. But the
dumping of pesticides and that nomenclature, that is not what we do in Parks and
Recreation. I can guarantee you that. We don't dump pesticides anywhere.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Maurice. I appreciate those comments. And to
clarify, I have not seen anybody from Parks and Rec. misuse or spray in a
capacity that was not within the confines. Unfortunately, it has been on
highways. And so
MS. WALTJEN: You also need to be cognizant that some of the roads are not
County roads.
MS. VILLEGAS: I also understand that.
MS. WALTJEN: They may be State highways and State roads, okay.
MS. VILLEGAS: All right. And with that, I would love to ask for Autumn to
come back up, if I could. Hi. Welcome back to the hot seat. Quick question for
you. About the memo (memorandum) from the Department of Education and that
ban. I think it was stated up here or something, contrary to what
MS. NESS: Yes. Sorry, to clarify, I was at the hearing and involved in that really
intimately. And it was all herbicides, effective immediately. I can send the
Committee the memo. I have it right here. But it even included clarification on
how to dispose of all herbicides properly, immediately. And there shouldn't be
any even on campus, let alone being used. I can forward it to the testimony email;
is that right? Okay. For your reference. Okay.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Also, wanted to ask about the Maui Golf Course.
MS. NESS: Yeah, so, that's news to me. So, there's the administrative branch,
and there's the legislative branch. We've been working with the parks
department on the four pilot sites, which does not include their golf course. And
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
those are the ones that Beyond Pesticides trained them on and are still organic.
There is also a bill similar to this one, separate from that, moving—well, it's
waiting for a hearing in committee at the Maui County Council. And in that bill,
which you all are familiar, it hasn't passed yet but there is a proposed transition
period.
They're doing it in three phases. The first phase is their least manicured park and
public space areas, and least problematic roadways. And their second phase is the
more manicured parks and their more problematic roadways and their non-playing
areas of the golf course. And their third phase is everything else, which includes
really mostly the playing areas of the golf course. So, that will be up for
discussion. But if the law passes, then we're going to figure this out. But I do
know the golf course guy, Todd, really well. And they have started, not entirely
because of this conversation, transitioning a lot of their turf to seashore paspalum
because it requires less
CHR. CHUNG: Wait. You know what? I appreciate what you're saying, but I
think the real experts on this matter would be our Parks and Recreation
MS. NESS: Oh, yeah, I'm just talking about Maui's parks bill only.
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah, okay. Seashore paspalum is not going to work at the Hilo
Municipal Golf Course.
MS. NESS: Okay, great. Sorry, I just wanted to offer comment on Maui's bill
itself.
MS. VILLEGAS: And I guess, lastly, before I let others have their opportunity to
interject, one of the other things that you presented in your first presentation,
which unfortunately Mr. Richards wasn't here for,was in relation to the budget
and how Beyond Pesticides offers to work with the County and the different
departments and their commitment from a budgetary and fiscal standpoint. If you
could just touch on that for me.
MS. NESS: Sure. I'm glad you asked. That's really why I have the job that I do
and why Beyond Pesticides does the work that it does. I made a little note
because you're right. The Director said if we were to stop using herbicides and
continue to maintain our properties in the manner that we do today, we would
have to hire 40 more people. And she's right. 400, sorry. "In the manner that we
do today" is the key. So, before we do any of these trainings, I was involved in
the whole Maui thing. To begin with, we do pre-training, expectations,
interviews, needs assessments. We look really intimately at the Maui Parks
Department's budget—where they're spending what kind of money, what kind of
equipment they have on hand—and we just there. And we roll things out slowly.
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So, the first wave of recommendations was to buy an aerator machine. I wish I
had the turf report with me. It's like a recipe book. And in the turf report that
Beyond Pesticides made for the Parks Department, it calculated how much money
they're spending on water soluble fertilizer for these four sites every year, and
converted that into how much compost they could afford for that same amount of
money, whether it's available locally or imported. They did some calculations on
how much manpower they used for aeration and how much they could buy a
larger aeration machine for.
And all that put togetherI'm trying to make things short—are summed up to a
change in practices. Instead of spraying, they're now aerating and top-dressing
with compost these same fields. And the entire way they do things is different,
and that's what kept the costs down. There was an upfront cost increase because
of these machines, but I've been through the budget process with the department
over the last couple of years and they haven't had a large increase in budget.
The other thing I'll say—because that's parks and I know that highways is a very
different animalvoluntarily, the Maui Highways Division of the DOT
(Department of Transportation), his name was Steve Rogers, a few years agoI
want to say in, like, 2014 or 2015 he decided that he was going to quit using
herbicides on the State highways. And now, he's cold turkey. Because, he was
getting complaints and actually got cited by the DOA for his crew applying
herbicides in a way that's not compliant with the law.
So, he went and got some Avenger. He got samples sent and some other
products. And again, if he would have just swapped out his use of Roundup for
Avenger, his cost would have gone through the roof. But that's not what he did.
He found a couple of new mowing machines that allowed him to mechanically
treat weeds. He prioritized which stretches of highways actually needed to be
taken care of and which stretches of highways they were just doing it because
spraying Roundup is cheap. And in doing so, he was able to come in under
budget. For two years, they didn't spray any herbicides on our State highways in
Maui. And we helped him tell the community that there's a reason certain
stretches of these highways have weeds on them right now because they're
catching up. And after those two years, things were fine. And then he retired,
and we got a guy in that didn't want to think like that anymore; we're not quite
back to square one. But it can be done is my point.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, anyway.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Autumn. I really appreciate your clarification on
those topics and matters. And hopefully, we're catching everybody up to speed
that didn't get to be here on the massive hours and hours of testimony also that
occurred when this came before Committee from concerned community members
who were in support of this bill passing and agreed that it is time. And with the
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
correct support, we do have the capability, along with the responsibility, as a
County.
People can decide what kinds of products they want to use on their private land
and in their homes and on their bodies. But as a government responsible for the
areas that we caretake that are the public spaces, I feel like the community has
spoken and asked for us to transition the ways that we care for those spaces and
have them not include potentially harmful herbicides and chemicals, and that the
benefit of that transition far outweighs some of the challenges we may face. And
learning to do thingsactually, remembering how to do things with the prior
wisdom of those who come before us. So with that, I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay,just some clarification on the seashore paspalum because
Maile asked me. I'm no expert on it, but it's a type of grass that's used primarily
on the resort side, west side, yeah. And these things are resistant. They can be
used in close proximity to salt water, yeah. And that's why you have Maui,
Kauai close, you know, their municipal golf courses. I don't know if Waiehu is
still in operation, but it's close to the ocean. And that's why you don't need
selective poisoning on this thing `cause you can throw the saltwater on it and it's
going to kill the weeds, yeah. So, it's perfect for things down by the beach but
not up here where I think they use zoysia, if I'm not too sure. But anyway,
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. If I could call back up representatives
from Public Works and Parks and Rec. Karen, you co-introduced the vacation-
rental bill, right? How many iterations did that go through? Six, right? Okay,
Draft 7, okay. So, seven iterations of the vacation-rental bill. We had a
presentation from Public Works last night, and we worked till about 8:30, 8:45?
Very long day. And then we get a copy of these amendments to Bill 101 this
morning. So, not really a lot of time to go through it.
Directors, did you guys get copies of the amendments to the bill?
MR. YAMAMOTO: No, I haven't.
MS. WALTJEN: No, we did not receive copies.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. I thought so because I sent them to Moe and alerted
you folks of this meeting. Because, I wanted to make sure that the folks that we
are asking to lift up this heavy work are aware and are supportive of this. So,
after our Council meeting mid-October, I reached out to Jason Mattos, Parks
Maintenance for our entire island, and I said, "Jason, can you arrange a ride-along
for me throughout the Puna District? Right? Very few guys managing parks the
size of Oahu—in an area the size of Oahu.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
I want to thank, formally, Lloyd Aranaydo for spending his day with me, taking
me around and meeting with all of the folks that do a really good job to take care
of our parks and beaches. One of the things he pointed out to me at the Pahoa
park, for instance, was a Friends of the Park agreement that Parks has with a local
nonprofit. And he pointed out all these natives trees throughout the park, and he
said, "You see all the ones that have these little fluorescent plastic things tied onto
them, that is what this organization is supposed to be taking care of in terms of
mitigating invasive species." Looked like these trees hadn't been touched in at
least a couple of years.
And what he pointed out to me is oftentimes we have these really excited well-
meaning members of the public enter these Friends of the Park agreements with
Parks and Rec., super gung-ho for the first couple of months, and then they
dribble off Or they do things that may not necessarily be conducive to the park.
And maintenance folks, caretakers, they want to respect the public volunteering
time to create better public spaces, but oftentimes it's an additional burden to
them to take care of things that the public thought would be a good idea.
Ran some quick numbers, right. Director Waltjen, you pointed out if we were to
transition with this vegetation management plan, as it's kind of been alluded to in
this bill, if we had to hire 400 new folks at $39,000 a year 5.6 million we
don't have enough Fund Balance to cover that. And I'm not saying I don't
support this; I fully do. But in looking at how the vacation-rental bill, seven
iterations all in Committee, right?
Rules—and this is something interesting Director Yee said: He wished they had
crafted the rules as they were articulating the ordinance. And so, I would like to
see the rules on how all of this will play out because if we were to pass this today,
one more reading this month, you have one month-ish until this transition plan
takes effect. It says January 2020 right here, which is the transition.
It's not clear to me. It's certainly not clear to the departments how we are going
to move forward with implementing this bill in a responsible manner. Nobody
here is questioning that we want to transition away from herbicides. We want to
make sure that anything we do, we are doing so that it's successful. We're getting
a lot of flak from community about how the vacation-rental ordinance has been
implemented. Planning Department is doing its best to implement the will of the
Council. And so if this is going to be the will of the Council, I'm kind of
expecting the introducer of the bill to work a little bit harder with the
departments—not just the heads, right?
I called Jason Mattos and Neil Azevedo this morning. They still haven't heard
from you, Council Member Villegas. They're wondering what the status of the
bill is. They had no idea that amendments were made. And so, I think it's nice
that we are leaning in and working with departments, but I want to make sure that
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
we are working hand in hand with the boots on the ground who are going to get
this done. Have you gone on a ride-along with your park caretaker? I had. I
made sure that it was a priority of mine to understand what our staff is having to
go through. Anyway, I yield my time.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, anybody else? Yeah, Matt, go ahead.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Aaron taught me this early on, that we have
to vote on what's in front of us and not on what could be, should be or what could
be in 20 years or 5 years. So, that's where I'm coming from `cause I was taught
that, and that makes sense. I would like some clarification on the connection
between glyphosate and neonicotinoids which is regarding bees, which is an
interesting thing because you're on the bee committee. So, I'd like to know a
little bit more about the relationship between using products like Roundup and the
effect on bees, which we found to be a very important topic earlier this year.
Autumn, do you have any information on that? Could you share a little bit with
me, please?
MS. NESS: To be clear, I am not a scientist. So, I'm going to give you some
very layman's information. You can say neonics.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you.
MS. NESS: Neonicotinoids. But people just affectionately refer to them as
neonics. Neonics is actually an insecticide. So, it's a different class of chemical
altogether. It targets the nervous system of insects. I'll leave it at that because
that's as far as myso, there are a lot of conversations about public agencies
using neonics on public areas, for example, State parks and wildlife refuges and
stuff like that. This bill, for the purpose of this discussion, does not cover that
because glyphosate is an herbicide and targets plants alone.
We can talk about habitat destruction and how that affects bees and other
pollinators. If bees and pollinators rely on certain plants for their survival and we
are poisoning those plants, and then the insects and birds that interact with those
plants do uptake those toxins in certain ways. That is the conversation. But the
neonics and the glyphosate problems are separate.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So, there's no effect on bee populations
from Roundup at all, or you're not aware of any?
MS. NESS: I can't speak to that personally. I'm above my paygrade right now.
But I will say that habitat destruction through herbicide use is a problem with all
pollinators, including bees.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Just that I was looking earlier while
we were talking about it, and I found some recent studies-2018—that they're
finding that it kills—the intestinal microbiome found in the intestines of bees is
affected by some of the chemicals in Roundup. So, being that we have recently
discovered and want to protect bees on this island, it may be in our best interest to
know and learn a little bit more about that before we jump on the, "Let's kill it."
Also, I'm just going to say that a number of countries and counties have already
done this. It's not the first time that we're looking at this. We're also not the first
ones to do it. But again, what's in front of us is to ban it at the County level and
then have a process of adopting and implementing this plan. It does not affect the
orchid growing society `cause it's private use unless you're selling it to the
County. It may not affect you. And I don't want it to affect the businesses that
we have, especially in my district. I heard the name Kurtistown, Tanoue's. I put
solar on your house. I want to take care of you guys, but I also know that in order
to protect our kids, protects our environment, that we are shifting as a race, and
globally, we're starting to shift.
Should you be worried? Maybe. But again, that's not in front of us. We're
talking about a County ban, not a complete statewide ban, on pesticides or
herbicides. So, I think that's where we need to be clear on what we're voting on
today. With that, I'm going to support this bill, and I just want everyone
remember that this is what we're voting on and not anything else.
Tim, I wanted to ask you, was it University of Washington, what we were talking
about yesterday?
MR. RICHARDS: It was 12 hours that we were talking specifically on
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Was it Washington State?
MR. RICHARDS: Go Cougs (Cougars).
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Because I found a study by the University of
Washington that corelated use of exposure to, sorry, glyphosate exposure to non-
Hodgkin's lymphoma by 41 percent. It was a separate study that came out
recently. I thought that was funny `because we were talking about Washington
yesterday.
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, those were the Huskies.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Not the cougars.
MR. RICHARDS: Chair?
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MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I yield. I think it's a good discussion. It's
good to have this back and forth. Ashley, you've got some good points, but we
need to move forward with something and just keep in mind that what's in front
of us is about a process to get started with just the County, not the entire State.
CHR. CHUNG: Yes, Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Do I have the floor now, Chair?
CHR. CHUNG: Yes.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you. Matt, to your point, we're talking about
that. We're talking about the safety and the exposure, without question. That's
why we're talking about the personal protection apparatuses to take care of people
spraying appropriately. And again, the intent of the bill I support. But I can't
support the bill as written because, as I've stated previously, there's some pukas
in it as far as when it comes to handling things.
To the bees, I can't actually I'm not an expert in apiary science, but in talking to
some of the people who are, that question did come up. And it actually had to
do—there's more of a concern with the virus. But again, I'm not an expert on
that. Because, I'm very concerned about that going forward. We need the bees.
Val, I really like what you said about the stuff going underneath the bleachers and
guardrails and all that, and that's in this report. So, I'm going to share that report
with you. It's really cool. And that's why I really like the more comprehensive
look. It's a report, like I said, out of the University of Massachusetts, herbicide
alternative research. And it's a massive undertaking. I really like that because I
like that idea. I like the steps towards cutting down.
My issue with this is a categorical ban completely. And I fear we're going to end
up deeply regretting that `cause we're going to end up in a situation where we
don't have the ability to deal with something appropriately. Case in point,
senecio madagascariensis, the dreaded yellow flower. And that one, had we gone
after it aggressively—it's an invasive species—we could've dealt better with it.
At a County level, if we can't deal with that, that's going to be a problem. And
that's where I see—like I said, it's a paintbrush one-size-fits-all, and I don't think
that's the case. I think we have to be more mindful of that.
I do appreciate the fact that we are making the right steps in the right directions to
deal with the right things and make it safer for everyone involved. But again, a
categorical removal of all herbicides—and again, we're not talking pesticides;
we're talking herbicides here. By doing so, I fear we're going to put our County
in a bad situation. And I'm all for if we need to have some way of furthering the
conversation, having some sort of registry, whatever the case may be. If that's
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how we need to handle it, I'm fine with that. In my lifetime, I've seen a
substantial reduction in the use of chemicals, and we're all in the right direction.
What I don't want to do is hamstring us while we are making the right steps
forward.
Rebecca, I love the intent. I love the direction. But I cannot support it as written
because it leaves too much wide open, and it does potentially impact agriculture
going forward and that's a concern. So with that, Chair, I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. David.
MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, everyone, for the discussion `cause
I think this is really important, especially for our farmers and our ag (agricultural)
ranchers and also for the department. I take to heart what Parks and Ree's
Director had said about theoh, no, it was you. It was Moe, mentioning what
kind of monitoring that's going to have to take place. And I also remember the
words of a testifier that said he supports this bill, but some of the words that are
used could be tweaked in order to—he said the use of words "harmful chemicals"
might not be the appropriate word. And I was going to ask him what word would
be a more general—would you know? Were you here when he said that? I
wanted to ask him what he meant by that.
MS. NESS: You could just replace it with herbicides, substances. I mean, a
chemical is a chemical. And the ones that are harmful, you add "harmful" there
as a qualifier. Personally, as someone who works on legislation, I don't see the
problem with it. But if that is an issue, I don't see an issue with replacing that
word with something like "herbicides."
MS. DAVID: To be more specific and not as general as "chemicals." That
tweaked my interest when he mentioned that because he was supportive of the bill
as a whole in his testimony. My, not concern, but my issue with this is, given all
the testimony about how it would affect our nurseries, etcetera, and our farms
I'm a farmer, and I use, not Roundup, I use Honcho and stuff on our farms
because we have to. And so, the fact that this only applies to the County, I can
support that because I think we need to take a step.
And I can appreciate Ms. Kierkiewicz' comments about making sure that you do
everything beforehand. But as I read this bill, there is—and it goes to Parks and
Ree's concerns it does allow that the members of this committee will have the
opportunity within this four-year implementation period, I believe, to come back
and share with us what you guys found. Whether there is a better alternative, how
much it will cost. Right now, we're just kind of reaching for "ifs" and "what ifs"
and stuff So, I see that the bill does provide some provisions that would address,
I think, some of Ms. Kierkiewicz' concerns because if we pass this, it's not a done
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deal. It allows this thing to evolve to address, I think, a lot of even the
opposition's concerns.
And I don't see that this would be the step to ban totally. I see the total ban not
being our jurisdiction at all. That does not concern, or it's not the County's
jurisdiction. That has to come from a higher Federal level. So, what we're trying
to do here is to create some method that we start somewhere. And I think we're
not interfering with anyone's choice, my free choice. If it affected me and my
coffee farm, then definitely, I would not support this because that's my right to
use what I choose and follow the directions so that it doesn't harm me. But when
we represent our constituents of this island, and we have to be mindful of their
safety in all aspects, it's really hard. This is a difficult thing to do, but we've got
to start somewhere is what I'm thinking, no.
And so, I'm looking at this. I think there's some really good, what do they call
that, provisions in here that we can move this and work very carefully along the
way to find a good solution. And I don't see this as a total ban. Most of us, I'm
not going to be here when this thing ends. So, it'll be up to the next group of
Council Members to make that determination and see how we can protect our
farmers, ranchers, and our people and especially our kids that use our parks and
facilities. So, that's my reason.
I support this, and I really—for my district, I will definitely work with you folks.
I know you folks are going to be included in this working group, and I believe
that you guys have the frontline for any suggestions on how to make this work.
And so, I appreciate you folks. Even you, Director Yamamoto. You're very
quiet, but I'm offering that to you too. Because, I think there's some good
suggestions on taking care of our roads and stuff, and your department has always
been very helpful and responsive when I've called. So, in doing what you can
with what you have. So, given that, I will be supporting this, and I really feel that
this is a step in the right direction. It's not the answer for everything right now.
And thank you, Ms. Villegas. And on that, I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Eoff, did you have your light on?
MS. EOFF: I did have a question.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, go ahead.
MS. EOFF: So, with something like this, the department doesn't need to create
rules like the Planning Department did with regards to the Zoning Code
amendment. Is that right? I mean, you would just be part of this committee that
then develops policy, trains, right? So, it's sort of not a good comparison in that
way. And I believe that maybe it's not really Ms. Villegas's responsibility to
reach out to all the different people who manage parks at this point. That seems
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like the discussion that would take place over the next few years as we transition;
what their responsibility will be and how they're supposed to handle it based on
your leadership.
MR. MESSINA: Right. So, we would continue our relationship that we've
already started with Autumn. So, we've identified four parks on the island:
Waikoloa park, Pahoa park, Hilo Soccer Field No. 4, and the football field at
Old A's (Airport)in Kona. They want to do the soil testing to see what it would
take to maintain these facilities without herbicides. So, that's our first step. And
then the next step is using these guys to come in and start to train our folks on
ways to do it without the use of herbicides. So, that's the first step.
As far as the transition, we feel that it's going to be a longer transition. And right
now, we're operating off a status-quo budget, so we would need some extra
funding, whether it's for equipment or for more training than what they would
give us, bringing in the loads of compost or other materials. But yeah, we've
already started the conversation. We've already made the commitment that we're
going to continue the conversation with Autumn and these guys.
MS. EOFF: Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. I'm going to be supporting this. I really think it's
not ripe. I think there's a lot more work to go into this, but I'm going to follow
the lead of Ms. David. We've got to start somewhere. I think what's rather
disappointing is the lack of engagement with the Parks Department and Public
Works. I just reached out to the Water Department. Nobody talked to them, and
they actually manage some of our County rights-of-way. And so, we don't even
know how we're going to impact their budget. But if we're going to start
somewhere, we're going to start somewhere and we're going to have to figure out
where the knots are and get them untangled.
We could have kept this in Committee to have Mr. Richards bring in a lot of his
expertise, and then even work more carefully with Parks and Public Works. But
that being said, I think if you really wanted to take a dull axe to get herbicides out
of the departments and have no usage, is to cut the whole budget. That would
have been a nice dull axe, and it would have been done.
I did want to ask Moe real quick, though. The parks that you folks have
identified, why those parks? Because, we have different parks at different
elevations. And so, I'm just wondering if we could get a different sampling of
something maybe further up mauka where the weeds grow more fast or
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MR. MESSINA: Right. So, when we made this determination, we sat down with
our whole team to make the determination. For instance, Hilo Soccer Field No. 4,
it's a bowl. It holds a lot of water. So, how do we take care of a field that holds a
lot of water? The football field at Old A's, very dry. It's hard to keep the grass
growing there. It turns brown very quickly. So, how do we, you know, what
beneficials do we put into the soil to keep it green? Waikoloa. Waikoloa, right
now, is as hard as this table. So, what do we do to go out there and recondition
the soil to get it a softer,playable condition?
The Pahoa fields. Since we're working with FEMA (Federal Emergency
Management Agency) to redo those fields, we would like to understand what
those fields consist of so when we go back and re-sod them, make sure we're
putting the right sod, the right grass to keep them green and maintained. Because
before the fields became a shelter, they were getting into a harder condition as
well. So, we identified four of the fields that we are having some of the most
difficulties with right now. So, that's why we identified those four.
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, maybe we can give some consideration to our mauka
parks too. But I do have a large concern with the golf course becauseRoxcie
knows—we get plenty users at our golf course, and this bill covers that too. But
we're not providing any exceptions for that either. So, I'm right back to this
could use some more work. It's too bad that the author just didn't take more time
to work with the departments and how it would be applied. But I will be
supporting it. We're going to find some problems later on, and it will be
interesting to see what our budget looks like coming forward and who's actually
going to pull the trigger on getting the resources to the various departments that
need it. I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Val.
MS. POINDEXTER: No disrespect to the other Council Members, but I've got to
stand up for Councilwoman Villegas `cause I think she did her homework. We
met with department heads. Whenever I work—I mean, I just was talking with
DPW this morning about a road in Honoka`a. I didn't call Neil right away
because I knew I had a bigger problem and I needed to go to the head. And I
would hope that the department heads speak to their division heads. That
happens, right? Right. So, why would we go meet with—on issues like this, you
go to the department head. You meet with the department head. You meet with
the Mayor. You hit all the right things, Council Member Villegas. I want to give
you credit for that.
And this, it's not only now, something fresh that we're talking about. We have
been talking about this for years on previous councils. We have been beating this
over the head for how long? When is it going to start? We keep dancing around
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it, yeah, but nobody wants to take the lead on it. It's a yes or no. We're going to
do it; we're not going to do it. We've got to take a take a stand somewhere.
We heard Kristine Kubat yesterday about the waste and getting rid of the plastics
and blah, blah, blah. How creative things have become. And now that Walmart
is really kind of going away from Styrofoam and now selling these products that
are better for our `Hina. This is the start. We cannot keep bashing each other
because we want to start making excuses on why we shouldn't or should or
whatever. Let's just stick to the facts that we want to stick to and decide yes or
no. Simple. We've just got to stop bashing each other. I think we just can stand
on what we believe in, and it's all good. Right? You want to do it; you don't
want to do it. We each have a vote, and that's democracy. That's a good thing.
The other thing I want to say is, whoever brought guinea grass to this island, yeah,
should pay for all this cost because if we look at our problems and the cost to our
County, or even the State
MS. LEE LOY: Criminal.
MS. POINDEXTER: Right. You see on the highways, it's right. We're broke
because of guinea grass. It's like the opioid crisis, right? People sewing the
pharmacy people: "Give us money to deal with what you did to us." I'd hate to
go look it up because I don't know who really brought it in. It might be tied to
Mr. Richards and his agriculture thing.
MR. RICHARDS: Whoa.
MS. POINDEXTER: I don't know. But anyway
MR. RICHARDS: Didn't you say you're not going to bash?
MS. POINDEXTER: I'm joking, though.
MR. RICHARDS: Oh, okay.
MS. POINDEXTER: So, I am supporting it. Whether we do or not, we can
always agree to disagree, and I just want to keep it at a healthy discussion. But
thank you. And I'll yield at this time. Thank you, Chair, for giving me this
opportunity.
CHR. CHUNG: Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Just a couple of quick things. I've puzzled
on this, and I don't think anybody has the answer, but we are worried about the
climate. We are worried about our carbon footprint. And we are going to be
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ramping up our fossil fuel consumption by increasing our mowing. That's a
concern I have going forward. And I don't know if someone has an answer on
that. That's an interesting question. Like I said, I think this is a good direction.
But once again, I can't support it as written because we're talking about
agriculture. And one of the biggest problems with agriculture is we don't have
people that understand it in our representation. And so thereby, we pass
legislation that is not good for agriculture.
And so, looking to our future, if we're truly concerned about it, we need to put
more work in the bill. And like I said, I like the intention. I like the direction. I
like some of the things that Val has said. I like some of the stuff except for the
part about guinea grass. But to the point, one of the reasons I agreed to get into
politics was to speak for agriculture `cause agriculture doesn't have a voice. And
I don't see this as a good direction, making a carte blanche categorical denial of
the use going forward, because I fear it will impact agriculture and agricultural
success going into the future. So as written, I cannot support. I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. Yes.
MS. VILLEGAS: I just have a quick answer on that for Mr. Richards about the
potential use of more fossil fuels. However, what's being spoken about in a lot of
different circles and is really exciting as a fundamental truth is that, actually, our
earth and our soils are actually one of the largest carbon reuptake mechanisms.
So, by getting our soils back to being healthy and rejuvenating the biomes that
exist within that soil, bringing our soils back to life actually holds one of the
greatest potentials for carbon sequestration as a planet. So, it behooves us to
bring our soils back into a healthier state of being.
And I'm confident also that in doing so, the potential carbon usage through
mowers or whatnot actually will eventually diminish because, as the biomes get
healthier and the right species are planted, then you need less herbicides as well as
less fertilizers. So, you end up with a healthier ecosystem, and we end up with a
carbon sequestration mechanism that is invaluable to the planet at this time.
CHR. CHUNG: Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: That concerns agriculture, and that's what agriculture is doing
right now. And that works, actually, quite well. We've been doing it very
successfully for decades. The point is what we're talking about is managing the
little things that our counties have. And I don't disagree with you that the healthy
climate and healthy soils and healthy plants do all that. And that's what
agriculture does. My concern is if we take out the ability to help agriculture. And
so like I said, going forward, the concern is the stepping stone going forward.
And like I said, I'm concerned about our County. I yield.
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CHR. CHUNG: Anyone else? Anybody else? Okay, I'm just going to make a
few comments. I'm actually going to direct this towards Ms. Villegas, and I
certainly don't want this to be misinterpreted as being a mean-spirited criticism,
but it is a criticism nonetheless.
Let me share a story with you. Before the three of you guys came on board,
Ms. Poindexter and I co-introduced a resolution asking for a peaceful resolution
in the North Korean, right? But you know as well as I do, Ms. Poindexter, I wrote
every single word of that resolution. And the impetus for that was from actually a
person from her district, Koohan Paik, who had emailed both of us. And that's
why we had co-introduced it. But the fact remains I wrote every single word in
that resolution, and I was able to defend every single word. Ms. Paik-Mander
actually wanted different language, and I said, "No, I'm not doing that. I'm
putting it in my own words, and I'm using all the recitals that I think are relevant
to this discussion."
What troubled me the last time—and I'm still going to be supporting this bill,
though—was when, you know, I could not understand the list of herbicides that
were included in the bill. And when I asked the author, again no offense, she
directed the question to a guy named Blake who had, I guess, been involved in
authoring the bill. In situations like this, we've got to really take ownership, and
we've got to be able to explain every single aspect of what we are introducing,
unless it's done at the behest of the Administration or something like that. It's
only my personal feeling. That's why I had some consternation with regard to
this matter.
I said I would like more clarification; Autumn came up. She offered some
clarification today but not to my satisfaction yet. As I was going home after that
first discussion, I thought what I would be satisfied with would be a more general
type of description,just "herbicides." The County knows what herbicides are.
Right? We're directing this towards our own County. I don't think we have to
get too clever by making an exhaustive list of things that we don't even know.
Right? I've got to know what I'm signing off on before I give my stamp of
approvalI mean, I'd like to know. I'm giving deference. I'm taking a leap of
faith here, but I would like to see it be more general. If it were for the overall
public, which of course I would be against and I think it would be illegal, then
you would have to make specifications. But we're directing our own County
departments, two, maybe three at the most, they know what herbicides are.
Right? Let's not get too clever. But that's just my thought.
I'm glad that Ms. Villegas included, now, the one exemption as it relates to
invasive species. That's important. But from now until it gets to the final
reading, I need more information on the effects it's going to have on the golf
course. Because, golf courses, greens in particular, are going to need selective
poisoning or you're going to have weeds all over the place. And I don't care what
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kind of volunteer effort you have, it's just not going to work. And I did say one
of the reasons why I'm willing to support this is it's going to give rise to more
volunteerism, particularly as it relates to the Parks and Recreation Department.
I don't know about the Public Works Department. That's going to be rough.
Adopt-A-Highway goes only so far. But when you've got to clean streambeds
and stuff, well, that raises different questions too, you know, shooting glyphosate
in streams. But those are things we're going to have to look at. But I really think
with Parks and Recreation, it's going to be manageable. I really do. You will
have a lot of groups stepping up. And they're going to be going there with their
weed eaters and whatever and sitting down and picking weeds. It might actually
be nice, quite frankly.
But at the same time, now, you have members of the industry, private people, who
are coming up and are very concerned about this, `causeI'm just putting myself
in their shoes—they don't want this thing to become the precursor of a total ban
on herbicides. And well, hey, some of you guys tried to do it with GMOs
(Genetically Modified Organisms), and that was before I came on. And I stated,
publicly, that thing is going to be struck down as being illegal; it's preempted by
other laws, whether it be State or Federal. And sure enough, that's what
happened. And that's the same thing that's going to happen with this if we try to
go further.
But because it's only related to our operations, I've got no problem with that right
now. But I would like to see this thing become a little bit more tightened up
before it hits final reading. And I'm hoping that there will be some exemption
carved out for the golf coursehopefully, anyway. I mean, I'm not making that a
condition, but I'm really concerned about that because that's going to wreak
havoc. Because if we're not going to carve out an exemption for the golf course,
our own public golf course, then I think we have—don't we have, now, a subsidy
program for other golf courses? Private golf courses? Then, what we're going to
have to do is, fair is fair. Anybody who avails themselves of that subsidy is also,
they have to be prohibited from using herbicides as well. Fair is fair, right? And
we can control that. But I'm still thinking it would be best if we carve out an
exemption. I'm not asking for much. Right?
Anyway, that's all. Anyone else? If not, we have a motion on the floor.
MR. BROWN: Excuse me, Mr. Chair?
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah.
Amend MR. BROWN: Just to be abundantly clear, can we go over the amendment that
Comm. 489.337: was made? Just for the record, if we could maybe spell out the spelling or
whatever needs to be clarified. If we could just do that for the record, please?
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CHR. CHUNG: Oh, okay, yeah.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. The amendment will need to be made. It's part of
the schedule of prohibited herbicides on page 9 of the communication. A
chemical
CHR. CHUNG: Wait, where?
MS. VILLEGAS: Communication No. 489.337. You'll see the chart on the top
of the page. And in the right-hand column, it's the fourth box up on the right. It's
actually the third word, "Triclopyt."
CHR. CHUNG: Where? That's on the one, two, three, four, five, the sixth on the
left?
MS. EOFF: Up from the bottom.
CHR. CHUNG: Oh, up from the bottom.
MS. VILLEGAS: I said up from the bottom.
CHR. CHUNG: Who does that, up from the bottom?
MS. VILLEGAS: It's the fourth one up from the bottom.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, so what again?
MS. VILLEGAS: Triclopyr. It says "Triclopyt." So, the "t"will need to be
amended to be an "r."
CHR. CHUNG: Oh, I thought all of the changes were going to be incorporated
into this. That's the only one, though?
MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah. That's what I was saying.
CHR. CHUNG: Oh, okay. I think that can be viewed as a friendly, right? Yeah,
okay.
MR. BROWN: I don't [sic] think we can do that from the floor. We don't need a
new printout or anything.
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah.
MS. VILLEGAS: Great. Thank you.
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CHR. CHUNG: Okay, all right.
MR. BROWN: Thank you. So, we can go back to the roll call.
CHR. CHUNG: Roll call, let's go.
MR. BROWN: So, on the main motion to pass Bill 101 on first reading, as
amended.
Vote on Bill 101: The motion to pass Bill 101, as amended to Draft 2, on first
Draft 2 reading and adopt Agriculture, Water, Energy and
(Approved) Environmental Management Committee Report No. 10 was
carried by the following roll call vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy,
Poindexter, Villegas, and Chair Chung—8.
Noes: Council Member Richards — 1.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Thanks, you guys. I appreciate it. Okay, we only have a few
more items, so let's go. Okay, let's take a really short recess.
Recess: At 1:34 p.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 1:49 p.m.
Bill 106: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 19-74, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC
(Draft 2) IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2019 TO JUNE 30, 2020
Reappropriates lapsed fuel tax funds from past fiscal years by establishing the
following program appropriations to the Capital Budget: North Kona Engineering
Project ($13,847.15); Roadway Projects (Engineering) ($5,253,455.15); Bridge
Inspection, Repair and Replacement Program (Engineering) ($1,764,363.84); and
Local Road Improvements (Highways) ($1,343,254.62), for a total of
$8,374,920.76.
Reference: Comm. 522.2
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-74
Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire
membership to amend, pursuant to
Section 10-6(e), Hawai`i County Charter
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(Note: Comm. 522.3, from Public Works Director David Yamamoto dated
October 23, 2019, transmitting the 2019-2020 highway maintenance road
resurfacing project list, was circulated.)
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 106, Draft 2, on first reading
and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 74. Seconded by
Ms. Eoff.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion? Yes, Ms. Lee Loy,
MS. LEE LOY: Mr. Yamamoto, I'm hoping I'm pointing to the right
Communication—Communication 522.3. The last time we had you here, we
asked a lot of questions. But we also asked for a priority of projects that could be
paid with the money. I'm guessing that's what this communication is. Is that
accurate, Mr. Yamamoto?
(Note: At this time, Public Works Director David Yamamoto came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. YAMAMOTO: I'm not sure what you're referring to, but I do have the title
of that spreadsheet that I forwarded. It's "DPW Highway Maintenance Road
Resurfacing Projects for Fiscal Year 2019-20."
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Yamamoto. For the rest of my colleagues, it's
contained in Communication 522.3. It might have been in your folder yesterday.
because, I wanted to give my colleagues an opportunity. The department kind of
prioritized the list of roads for Puna, South Hilo, North Hilo, Hamakua,
North Kohala, South Kohala, and kind of identified miles of roadways that they
would be paving. And while my colleagues are looking at that, Mr. Yamamoto, I
know you identified road resurfacing, but can some of the money also be used for
drywells? Like putting in drywells?
MR. YAMAMOTO: I think so, but I'll have to check to be sure.
MS. LEE LOY: Some of the roads in my district are flooding, and I'm thinking
about the old industrial area. When it rains hard, it just floods really bad. So, I
was just wondering if some of the monies could also be used for putting in
extra
MR. YAMAMOTO: I think not this particularI think there's the other fuel tax
money that goes to Engineering's side that is for road improvements as well.
MS. LEE LOY: And do we have, like, have we developed a similar list, a priority
list of areas that we're going to be using monies to put in drywells? Has that been
identified?
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
MR. YAMAMOTO: I'm not sure. I'd have to check with our Engineering
Division on what they're doing in as far as a drywell program and/or installing
additional drywells.
MS. LEE LOY: Great.
MR. YAMAMOTO: I know I do see around just in Hilo areas that need some
drywells.
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, maybe we can put our heads together and take a look at
that. And again, using some of the monies that we have, and then kind of walk it
back to the rest of my colleagues if they have other roadways that they'd like to
see improved with drywell opportunities, then we could actually, using the same
matrix and priority list, we could do the same. Chair, thank you. I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. Ms. Poindexter.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, and I just want to put it on here for the record `cause
I know, at one time, Plumeria Street in Honoka`a was on a list. It got taken off
We have extra money now. I'm just finding out that they took it off the list this
morning—that was my conversation with you this morning. And I just want to
put it on the record that it's a main thoroughfare, getting off Highway 19 into
Honoka`a to healthcare facilities, especially the emergency room, our elderly care
facilities, Waipi`o Valley. So, you have hundreds of vehicles turning onto
Plumeria Street, which has not been paved or repaved for years. People are
crossing the line, avoiding potholes. It's a horrible road.
With these extra monies, we need to take care of those kinds of roads; the main
thoroughfare. So, I'm putting that on the record. We're going to have a meeting.
And I'm going to be calling the Hamakua community because we did promise
them that it was on the list, and we did not tell them, `By the way, we took it
back, and we're not going to do that road that is in so bad shape." So, I'll just
leave it at that. We'll have a meeting. I just wanted to state that for the record.
Even if you guys turned it into STIP (Statewide Transportation Improvement
Program) or whatever. Even if it's a STIP road, you have somebody—if
somebody gets killed, then will you do it? You know what I mean? "Oh, not
STIP money, so we cannot do it." You've got to fix what needs to be fixed.
MR. YAMAMOTO: Just let me explain one thing. It was taken off the list for
highway maintenance to do for a variety of reasons. One, it is a route recognized
by Federal Highways, but also when Allan and I was out in Honoka`a to attend
that meeting, we drove down Plumeria Road and noted that there were several
areas where the base of the pavement was failing. So, we decided to take it off of
the highway maintenance list of roads to just resurface, and we turned it over to
the Engineering Division to design the reconstruction of the areas that are failing.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
MS. POINDEXTER: Well, when I talked to you, we're not going to have it for a
while. So, all
MR. YAMAMOTO: Well, we have to design it first and then identify funds.
MS. POINDEXTER: Right. For now, we've got to do some paving there. But
I'll talk to you about that after because this has been neglected for years, okay.
Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Thanks, Director. Okay, I'm a little
confused on our list of roads for improvement. We were asked for input; we've
given input. And I see on this Communication 522.3, the roads don't match with
the roads that we had put on the list. We got a couple of lists. And I know, when
I talked to you previously, you had talked about waiting for the report, I think
working with the State. And you have an analysis coming forth, and it should be
here imminently.
So, where are we with all that? Because, there's one road, specifically
Paniolo Drive in Waikoloa Village, that is supposed to be on the hitlist for
imminent, but it's not on this list. So, can you just catch us up, please?
MR. YAMAMOTO: Yeah, we're anticipating the Mandli program that identifies
the various roads and grades them as priority work related in March of next year.
In the meantime, this list that I have was provided by the Highway Maintenance
Division based on the methods that they were using to identify roads that require
resurfacing.
Paniolo Drive is on our list of roads to resurface as well. And like many of the
other roads, there's areas that the road pavement is failing. And we would rather
reconstruct these areas that are failing prior to putting on a resurface, being that
it'll prolong the life of the road. If you just resurface over areas that the pavement
base is failing, it's going to reduce the longevity of the road, and eventually, we'll
have to resurface it again and/or reconstruct the areas that are failing. So, we
prefer to reconstruct the areas that are failing, prior to doing a resurface.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, so, and I do remember that. That explanation was
actually shared with us by Donald Smith when we were talking probably a year-
and-a-half ago, no, maybe two years. I know my Paniolo Drive in
Waikoloa Village is on a list, but I don't see it on this list. And so
MR. YAMAMOTO: Yeah, `cause the cost of reconstructing and doing, maybe,
just even resurfacing Paniolo Drive would probably exceed the amount that you
have currently available for the district.
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MR. RICHARDS: Okay, so, but I was told that it was going to be coming forth
within this next year.
MR. YAMAMOTO: I'm not sure about when it was promised, but we do have it
on the STIP list to be next year I think. It's on the STIP List, I believe.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. So, can you check into that and get back to me, please?
MR. YAMAMOTO: Yeah, I'll check.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, so this is specifically for reappropriation of the
8 million, correct?
MR. YAMAMOTO: Yes.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay.
MR. YAMAMOTO: And we tried to identify roads that, like I said, the
Highway Division thought were worthy of being resurfaced. And while some
areas we didn't quite match the funds available, we're going to go back and make
sure that we have identified enough roads for the amount of funds. And you can
also see some places where we have more roads that we want to resurface than
funds available. So, there is that. We have more funds available in respect to the
number of resurfacing projects. We're going to add some roads there, as
identified either by the input from Council as well as our own workforce.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you. I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Matt.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Good afternoon, Mr. Yamamoto. How are
you doing?
MR. YAMAMOTO: Okay.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. You asked us for our
comments, and I can see that some of the ones I put on my list are on there;
Road 8, South Kulani Shoulders. So, thank you. And I see that Puna got a fairly
good share of the dollars, so I'm happy `cause we're a fairly big district. I don't
know how everyone else feels about that, but I'm very happy. My only concern is
Laukapu Street is not in my district. There's one in Volcano. It's
Laukapu Avenue. And Laukapu is in Hilo. So, that is not actually an upper-Puna
street, I believe. One, two, three, four, five—five down. I could be wrong, but I
just don't think that's in my district.
MR. YAMAMOTO: Okay, we'll check.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I mean, if it's not, I'll take something else in
its place. That would be wonderful.
MR. YAMAMOTO: Well, we already have more work than we have money. If
you look, the cost estimate of doing all these roads in the Puna District is
1.5 million, and we only have 1.14 million with the reappropriation of this bill.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Luckily for you, Deanna just found
$11 million in the budget in the General Fund. So, if you need more money, I'm
sure we could help you get that money over to DPW for some better roads in our
districts.
MR. YAMAMOTO: Maybe Plumeria.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I think we, as a body, will be happy to help.
Thank you, David. I appreciate it.
CHR. CHUNG: Did you leave your light on or ?
MR. RICHARDS: No. I've got another quick one.
MR. CHUNG: Okay.
MS. DAVID: Me too, but later.
CHR. CHUNG: You go.
MS. DAVID: I have a quick question, Director Yamamoto. I'm learning. Road
resurfacing and road reconstruction are two different animals, right?
MR. YAMAMOTO: Yes.
MS. DAVID: Okay. And off the top of your head, how many reconstruction
projects do you think you know of for this whole island? And if you don't know
off the top, then I can call you later. I'm just wondering in my district,
reconstruction is a more costly and time-consuming work. So, I'm just curious if
there's roads in my district that's tagged for reconstruction and not resurfacing.
MR. YAMAMOTO: I think we'll have a better idea once we get the Mandli
without having to actually drive out there. We had the opportunity to drive out to
Honoka`a and actually look at the road and know that these roads that are failing,
that just a resurfacing would be a
MS. DAVID: Waste of money.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
MR. YAMAMOTO: Well, it would not go as far `cause we would have to redo it
again sooner than we would have otherwise.
MS. DAVID: Yeah, okay. Well, I'll check with you later as far as my district on
reconstruction. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Director, is it my understanding also that this list is
amendable?
MR. YAMAMOTO: Yes.
MR. RICHARDS: So, if we see something, we can massage and come talk story
then, huh?
MR. YAMAMOTO: Yeah. We will probably maybe argue with you on which
road is more important to do, but we'll put in our two cents too on why we feel
strongly on the roads that might have been selected.
MR. RICHARDS: Well, as you're probably aware, we're used to arguing up
here. So, I propose that we arm wrestle and we go from there, okay? All right,
thank you. I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. Matt.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I just noticed, Stainback Highway is on
here? That has the potential of opening up a lot of movement from upper Puna to
the Pana`ewa stretch.
MR. YAMAMOTO: Actually, I think the part of Stainback that is actually under
County jurisdiction is rather short. It goes up into the University Ag
(Agricultural) Experiment Station up there, which is only like about a mile and a
quarter or so, I think. It goes just slightly past the zoo, and from there after that,
it's all State jurisdiction.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Is the State portion the portion that's, like,
really skinny with no shoulders?
MR. YAMAMOTO: Probably.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Wow, interesting. And that's the same road
that doesn't have a good merging lane onto the highway, too, when it meets?
MR. YAMAMOTO: yeah.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's so interesting. It would be so nice if
we had a nicer access. It would be so nice to have the State coming in to fix that
and make it better.
MR. YAMAMOTO: I don't think the
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I yield, thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Eoff
MS. EOFF: Director, in North Kona, you have Hualalai Road. It looks like a
pretty big project. Which portion of Hualalai Road is that? Do you know?
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I think it would be the lower section, I
believe.
MS. EOFF: Like from, say, Kuakini Highway, would it be up or down?
MR. YAMAMOTO: I'll go and check, and I can give you more clarification
from where to where we intend to do the work.
MS. EOFF: Okay.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. We have a motion on the floor, all those in favor say
Ic aye.
Vote on Bill 106: The motion to pass Bill 106, Draft 2, on first reading and
Draft 2 adopt Finance Committee Report No. 74 was carried by the
(Approved) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "aye" votes.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Bill 107: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 19-74, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC
IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2019 TO JUNE 30, 2020
Adds the Public Works Kino`ole Street Shoulder Improvements project for
$6.7 million to the Capital Budget. Funds for this project shall be provided from
General Obligation Bonds, Capital Projects Fund–Fund Balance and/or Other
Sources.
Reference: Comm. 523
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-75
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 107 on first reading and
adopt Finance Committee Report No. 75. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Discussion? There being none, all those in
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Sorry, Aaron.
CHR. CHUNG: No, go ahead.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: How long has this been in the works, the
Kino`ole Street shoulder improvements? I was looking at that amount. I mean,
that could do so much. I was figuring out how do I do that for me.
Kino`ole Street shoulder improvements, how long have you been working on
that?
(Note: At this time, Public Works Director David Yamamoto came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. YAMAMOTO: We just started. Actually, it started with just that small
section from Kawili Street toward Lono, or Lanikaula where the shoulder ends
and there's no sidewalk, and it gets constricted. Before we resurface it, we
wanted to create the bike path and the walkable streets and stuff like that.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: How long ago did this process start? This
just came up and we're just going to do it, or it started a while ago?
MR. YAMAMOTO: Yeah, it's been on people's minds being that it's—and even
this other one, Kawili Street. That's the same. It's to provide the sidewalks and
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
bike paths that connect the university to the community and to the lower campus
and upper campus. That's what we're trying to accomplishing here.
The price tag seems kind of high. But I think they were trying to, for
Kino`ole Street, I think they were going to take it all the way down to, like,
Puainako kind of stuff, but which we might scale it back to just trying to address
the area immediately around the university.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Sorry. So, how long ago did it start?
MR. YAMAMOTO: Well, I mean, I started looking at that, knowing that we
have that Kino`ole Street on the STIP list to resurface. So, we kind of put it on
the burner to try and get that done prior to, being that the STIP funds cannot be
used to increase capacity and/or improving the shoulders and stuff like that. So,
we would have to accomplish that work on our own prior to resurfacing.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Not how long to get it done. When did it
start? Like, when did this process start to get this money appropriated for this
project?
MR. YAMAMOTO: Just recently. When we recognized that—it's been on our
radar to get done. It's just that we stepped it up now. Being that we know we're
going to resurface the road, we wanted to make the continuity of the roadway so
that when we do the resurfacing with the Federal Highway funding, we can catch
it all one time and have it complete rather than, again,just having that shoulder
that's incomplete and unfinished.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, anyone else? If not, we have a motion on the floor. All
those in favor, say "aye."
Vote on Bill 107: The motion to pass Bill 107 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 75 was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung–9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Bill 108: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 19-74, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC
IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2019 TO JUNE 30, 2020
Adds the Public Works Kawili Street Shoulder Improvements project for
$4.45 million to the Capital Budget. Funds for this project shall be provided from
General Obligation Bonds, Capital Projects Fund—Fund Balance and/or Other
Sources.
Reference: Comm. 524
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-76
Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire
membership to amend, pursuant to
Section 10-6(e), Hawai`i County Charter
Vote on Bill 108: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 108 on first reading and
(Approved) adopt Finance Committee Report No. 76. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "ayes."
Bill 110: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 19-73, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2020
Increases revenues in the Contribution from Private Source account ($1,500); and
appropriates the same to the Clerk-Council Services Other Current Expenses
account. Funds would be used for travel and other expenses incurred from
Council Member Rebecca Villegas' attendance at a climate summit and
conference in New York City.
Reference: Comm. 540
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 110 on first reading.
Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion?
MS. DAVID: I just want to mention that this is the companion to Resolution 357.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, we have a motion on the floor. All those in favor, say
Ic aye.
Vote on Bill 110: The motion to pass Bill 110 on first reading was carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Bill 112: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 19-73, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2020
Increases revenues in the Federal Grants —Substance Abuse Prevention
Coordination account ($110,000); and appropriates the same to the Substance
Abuse Prevention Coordination account, bringing the total appropriation to
$260,000. Funds would be used by the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney for
salary and program expenses.
Reference: Comm. 556
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 112 on first reading.
Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion?
MS. DAVID: Chair, I just want to make a note that they requested a waiver out
of Finance to expedite receipt of funds, and I ask for your support.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. We have a motion on the floor. All those in favor, say
Ic aye.
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Vote on Bill 112: The motion to pass Bill 112 on first reading was carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of
THE DAY the Day (Second or Final Reading).
(SECOND OR
FINAL READING):
Bill 100: AMENDS CHAPTER 2, ARTICLE 4, OF THE HAWAII COUNTY
CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY ADDING A NEW
SECTION RELATING TO AN ANNUAL REVENUE REPORT
Requires the Finance Director to submit to the Council detailed information on
every fee, rate, or charge established by administrative rule, ordinance, or a
County board or commission on or before January 31 of each year.
Reference: Comm. 475
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder
First Reading: October 16, 2019
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 100 on
second and final reading. Seconded by Ms. David.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion?
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: I think we talked about this many times.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. No discussion, all those in favor say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-25 November 6,2019
Vote on Bill 100: The motion to pass Bill 100 on second and final reading
(Adopted) was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "ayes."
Bill 102: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 19-73, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2020
Appropriates revenues in the Miscellaneous Private Contributions account
($100,000); and appropriates the same to the Ho`owaiwai Financial
Empowerment—Private account. Funds would be used to provide free
one-on-one professional financial counseling and other related services and
resources to Hawaii County residents.
Reference: Comm. 495
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
First Reading: October 16, 2019
Vote on Bill 102: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 102 on second and final
(Adopted) reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, nine "ayes."
REPORTS: The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Reports.
(There were none.)
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Hawai`i County Council-25 November 6,2019
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.)
CHR. CHUNG: We've come to the end of our agenda. Can I have a motion to
adjourn?
ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 2:15 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the
MENT: meeting. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, this meeting is adjourned.
DEC 0 4 2019
Council Approval:
CO. TY CLERK
JH/dg
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