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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-09-22Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes County of Hawaii September 22, 2016 CALL TO ORDER Corporation Counsel, William Brilhante called the meeting to order at 10:02 a.m. ROLL CALL Present: Amy Bircher, Alton Nosaka, Kris Hoke, Radford Hirai, Michael Akau, Ken Obenski William Brilhante, Corporation Counsel Tiffany Kai, Mass Transit Administrator Sari Kogasaka Cantor, Transit Assistant Absent: Wendy Davis (10:29 present) APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Bircher moved that agenda be approved, seconded the motion by Kris Hoke, and it carried unanimously. Agenda approved. APPROVAL OF MAY 31, 2016 MINUTES Comm. Obenski stated that several items on the minutes were not posted on the agenda. Further discussion on the matter after reviewing new applications. Commission went straight into New business. 10:54 Corporation Counsel, William Brilhante stated that the minutes from the previous meeting needs to be approved. Comm. Akau moved to approve the minutes, Commissioner Bircher seconded the motion, no further discussion, and it carried unanimously. PUBLIC STATEMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS: Chairman Nosaka made a motion to close the Public statement section, as seeing no individuals present who wished to speak, Comm. Hoke second motion. 6 ayes. Closed. VI. New Business A. Review taxicab application for NEW Certificate of Public Convenience & Necessity to operate in the County of Hawaii. Jesus Martin dba John Jess Taxi PO Box 597 Kealakekua, HI 96750 (1) Present. Comm. Hirai moved to approve application, Comm. Bircher seconded the motion. Application approved. 6 ayes. CH561 Christopher Artley dba Taxi Chris 74-1435 Hao Kuni St Kailua Kona, HI 96740 (2) Present. Comm. Obenski moved to approve applications, Comm. Hoke seconded the motion. Application approved. 6 ayes. CH562 CH563 David Sherwood dba Char’s Taxi Shuttle 646 Hualani St Hilo, HI 96720 (2) Present, Charlene Sherwood, co-owner of Char’s Taxi. Husband, David Sherwood, passed away 2 days ago. Motion to amend the application from joint ownership to single ownership and name change. Motion approved. Motion to approve applications for new taxi’s and do name change to existing taxis. Comm Bircher moved to approve changes and approve applications, Comm. Hoke seconded the motion. 6 ayes. CH564 CH565 Amended documents are required. Nicole A. Smith dba Pele Party Tours LLC 533 Hualani St Hilo, HI 96720 (1) Applicant not present. Applicant was informed of meeting. Motion to move application to bottom of agenda by Chairman Nosaka, seconded by Comm. Hoke. Approved to move to bottom of agenda. 6 ayes Rhoniel A. Arenas dba Kayden Taxi PO Box 123 Kailua Kona, HI 96745 (1) Present. Comm. Obenski moved to approve application, seconded by Comm. Hirai. Application approved. 6 ayes. CH566 Robert Battersby dba Roberts Taxi PO Box 2233 Kailua Kona, HI 96745 (1) Present. Confirmed with applicant regarding taxi’s name as there were conflicts with chosen name for taxi. Applicant confirmed that name on taxi will be Roberts Taxi. Comm. Hoke moved to approve application, seconded by Comm. Hirai. Application approved. 6 ayes. CH567. Application approved with amendment to reflect Roberts Taxi. Helen Lopez dba Makoa Taxi 74-5140 Iluna Place Kailua Kona, HI 96740 (1) Present. Comm. Hirai moved to approve application, seconded by Comm. Bircher. Application approved 6 ayes. CH568 B. Hearing on revocation of the following Certificate of Public Conveniences due to the discontinuance by the carrier of the business of transporting passengers as a common carrier of passengers operating upon and using the public highways for a period of thirty consecutive days or more or failure to renew his/her taxicab license for the year. CH504 EJ Taxi – Jonathan Rafol Not present. Letter on file requesting revocation due to insurance. License revoked. CH492 Mr. K’s Taxi – Gayne Kobayashi Not present. Verbal confirmation that taxi will not be renewed. License revoked. CH413 Queen’s Taxi – Rosario Justo Not present. Informed verbally by applicant he will not be renewing. License revoked. CH329 Ben’s Taxi – Vivencio Barrios Not present. Non-renewal of coverage from Insurance Company. License revoked. CH 281 Da Kine Taxi – Emerito Cabanas Not present. Letter on file. License revoked. CH 454 Bree’s Taxi – Wendy Miranda Not present. Unable to contact applicant. Certified mail returned and phone not in service, voicemail not set up, unable to leave message. License revoked. CH 460 Leo’s Taxi – Leo & Julie Sadoy Not present. Verbal confirmation that taxi will not be renewed. License revoked. CH500 Estee Taxi – Herminingildo Rafol Not present. Verbal confirmation that taxi will not be renewed. License revoked. CH 379 Aloha Taxi – Cody Bergfalk Not present. Unable to contact applicant. Mail returned. License revoked. CH 182 B Lee Jo’s Taxi – Jovy Lynn Jose Not present. Unable to contact applicant. Certified mail return & phone no longer in service. License revoked. CH 424 Don’s Taxi – Donald Snyder Not present. Verbal confirmation that taxi will not be renewed. License revoked. CH80/CH345 JW Taxi – Winston Labiano Not present. Certified mail returned. License revoked. CH 533 Hello Kitti taxi – Maile Madrona Comm. Davis requested to recuse herself due to avoid conflict of interest. Present. Issues regarding her social security card being stolen prevented her from securing all necessary documents. Will re-apply. License revoked. CH537 & Taxi – Ken Johnson Not present. Letter on file. License revoked. CH560 BH Taxi – Brandon Henson Present. Unable to secure all documentation for taxi license clearance. Will re-apply. License revoked. A. Review taxicab application for NEW Certificate of Public Convenience & Necessity to operate in the County of Hawaii. 4. Nicole A. Smith dba Pele Party Tours LLC 533 Hualani St Hilo, HI 96720 (1) Applicant still not present. Applicant was informed of meeting. New motion to defer application to next meeting. Motion to move application to next meeting by Chairman Nosaka, seconded by Comm. Hoke, approved. Approved. 7 ayes. Items to discuss that are out of order, not on agenda. INTERNAL DISCUSSION: Items that were previously discussed during the May 31, 2016 meeting. Function of the Transportation Commission. State mandates that each county provides an entity to regulate and issue taxi licenses. Any changes to this ruling would be at the State level. What are the Commissioners Powers and Duties. Place on the next agenda. Future of Taxi businesses in Hawaii. Having one direct system (independent company) that will have contact to all taxi companies to assist public. Function would be to assist with having information as to what taxi’s are readily available and schedule services, as many visitors do not have names & numbers of individual taxi companies. This would be something similar to Uber. Place this item on next agenda for further discussion. Regulating amount of taxi companies necessary to service Island. Further discussion. Transit Administrator’s Report Administrator Kai reported that the department has begun its Para-transit service, Hele-On Kakou, effective July 1, 2016. Currently there are 38 eligible riders, and as of September 4, the service provided a total of 169 trips. Majority of the users are on the West side (Kona). Many Kona riders have established prearranged services to accommodate their work schedules. Information is being provided to the public through outreach, public and private service agencies, community meetings, and on line via the web-site. Work continues on providing 6 additional bus shelters. In process of being constructed are shelters located at intersection of corner of Henry Street and Queen K highway, Laupahoehoe overpass, 2 in Kurtistown, Naalehu near the Elementary School, and Keaau near the new HMSA building. County Public Works department is assisting with the construction of three shelters and 3 shelters: 2 in Kurtistown by Kuaaina Street and Kurtistown Park and one in Laupahoehoe, are being out-sourced. The Uluwini bus shelter form is being poured this week, with construction to follow. For the 2016-17 fiscal year, our budget is 12 million, with additional grant funds in the amount of 1.4 M. These additional funds will be used for operations and capital. Capital funds are going to be used to purchase additional buses. Grants are coming from the Federal Transit Administration. The State Department of Transportation oversees the grants, they disperse in equal amounts to Hawaii and Maui Counties. Another available funding opportunity which the Hawaii County received was the Bus Facility grant in the amount of $360,000 which will be used to purchase a small bus. Question from Comm. Obenksi: Follow up regarding bus schedules. Schedules are posted in the main bus shelters. Unfortunately, majority of the time the schedules are torn down. When funding becomes available we will look into the plexiglass covers for the schedules. For now the drivers do carry the schedules for riders on the bus. Question from Comm Obenski to Transit Administrator: Reliabiltity of transportation. Previous complaints were that the driver did not show up for their shift. Every effort is made to find a relief driver, with proper protocol to follow, ex: hours worked and rest periods between shifts. Drivers are currently contracted. Question from Comm Obenski to Transit Administrator: During the previous two hurricanes, the Hele on bus was not providing services for people to go to work. In the mainland the buses still operate in blizzards. The decision ultimately came from the Mayor, which he did not make lightly. Safety of all was the utmost concern, and we would rather err on the side of caution. Primary message is to have the community to remain indoors and stay off the streets. Though the hurricane did not hit, decisions are made based on the latest available information from the National weather service. Services were back in operations as soon as the threat of the hurricane had passed . Question from Comm Obenski: Current website still not user friendly, bus destination signs not accurate to the area of travel. Transit Administrator to look into this. Next Meeting Next meeting tentatively scheduled for January 2017, in Hilo. Adjournment Motion to adjourn by Comm. Akau, seconded by Comm. Bircher. Meeting adjourned at 12:37 p.m.