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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-03-02 HCHA Approved MinutesMeeting of the HAWAII COUNTY HOUSING AGENCY Hilo, Hawaii March 2, 2021 Agency Members Present Absent and Excused Maile Medeiros David Aaron S. Y. Chung (by video from Kona) Holeka Goro Inaba (by video from Kona) Matt Kanealii-Kleinfelder Ashley L. Kierkiewicz Heather L. Kimball Susan "Sue" L. K. Lee Loy Herbert M. "Tim" Richards III, DVM Rebecca Villegas (by video from Kona) Housing Staff Members Present Susan Kunz Jennifer Kualii County of Hawaii Staff Members Present Jeanette Aiello Douglas Le Zendo Kern Corporation Counsel Members of the Public Malia Hall (by Zoom) Via Zoom Kunz: Good morning everyone, welcome to the Hawaii County Housing Agency, my name is Susan Kunz and I am the Housing Administrator for the Office of Housing and Community Development and I am going to be presiding over the Housing Agency meeting until we get a chairperson in place today. So present at this meeting out in Kona is Maile David, Holeka Inaba and Rebecca Villegas. In Hilo, we have Ashley Kierkiewicz, Heather Kimball, Tim Richards and Sue Lee Loy and Matt Kanealii-Kleinfelder and Aaron is absent today okay. So today is March 2nd, 2021 the time is 9:02, we are holding this Housing Agency Meeting at the Hilo Council Chambers at the Hawaii County Building and in the West Hawaii Civic Center. Pursuant to Governor Ige's Proclamation in order to minimize physical contact and maximize social distancing, these meetings will not be open to the public. So I would like to call this meeting to order. I want to entertain statements from the public on agenda items, there are no public HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 testifiers so I am closing the Public Testimony at this time. And in order to facilitate this meeting going forward, I would like to bypass the approval of the minutes and go straight to the New Business if that's okay? First item of new business is Appointment of a Chair. Lee Loy: Sure, Ms. Director. Kunz: Yes. Lee Loy: I would like to open a nomination for the director of the Chair of the Housing Committee. Kunz: Great. May I please have a motion. Lee Loy: That was the motion. Kunz: That was the motion, okay. Richards: Second. Kunz: Tim Richards second. Lee Loy: Ms. Director? Kunz: Yes. Lee Loy: I'll like to nominate Ashley Kierkiewicz as the Chair for our Housing Agency, Committee, I'm sorry. Richards: Second. Kunz: Do I ask for any more nominations at this time? Ok, hearing none, is there any discussion? Lee Loy: Chair, if I could close the nominations and then we can precede on to the vote. Kunz: Okay, great. All in favor of approving Ashley Kierkiewicz as the Chair of the Hawai `i County Housing Agency, please say aye. Those not in favor say no. Do I need to do that? Okay, so there are eight aye votes, one absent. So I will turn the meeting over to the Chair. Kierkiewicz: Thank you Administrator Kunz. Let the record reflect that I am continuing the meeting as Chair of Housing Agency. At this time, I would like to Page 2 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 open nominations for the Appointment of a Vice -Chairperson person for the Housing Agency. Any nominations for Vice -Chair? Inaba: Motion to nominate Sue Lee Loy as Vice -Chair. Kierkiewicz: Thank you, do I have a second. Motion by Mr. Inaba, second by Ms. Kimball to appoint Ms. Lee Loy as Vice -Chairperson for Housing Agency. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor please say aye, any opposed, motion carries with eight aye votes, Mr. Chung is excused. Before we move on to the last item on our agenda for New Business, I would like to go back to item number 3 and get a motion to approve the Minutes from the November 5th, 2020 Housing Agency meeting. May I have the motion? Richards: So moved. Lee Loy: Second. Kierkiewicz: Motion by Mr. Richards, second by Ms. Lee Loy. Any discussion on the meeting minutes from November 5th, 2020? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye, any opposed? Motion carried with eight aye votes. Thank you. All right, moving on to New Business for today, Authority to Enter into a CDBG-DR Grant Agreement, the motion that I will be putting forward is for the County of Hawai `i to enter into an agreement with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for acceptance of a CDBG-DR grant related to the 2018 0auea eruption. Lee Loy: So moved. Kierkiewicz: Do I have a second? Richards: Second. Kierkiewicz: Motion by Ms. Lee Loy, second by Mr. Richards. Hi gentlemen, thank you for being here today. For the record, we have Planning Director Zendo Kern and Recovery Officer Douglas Le before us to provide us an update on where we are with this agreement and just because we have a couple of new members on the council, I did want to provide a little bit of context of why we are here. In November, Douglas and the prior Administration had come before us to discuss this agreement and also to present the CDBG-DR Action Plan which has been approved by HUD because we were in a moment of transition between administrations, the Housing Agency at the time, did want to give the incoming administration the ability review the agreement and the action plan before officially entering into the agreement and so did want to ask Director Kern for an update on where the administration stands with this Page 3 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 particular agreement and then get an update from Douglas on where we are with the mechanics of the agreement. With that, Director Kern you have the floor. Kern: Good Morning, I missed the vote on Chair, I'm assuming you're chairing? Morning Madam Chair, members of the Housing Committee. We've reviewed it, Douglas and I have been meeting frequently with the Mayor as well we're good with this, this is a critical milestone and we're going to move forward actually accepted grants, we can move forward with buy outs and the rest of it, we have the survey going out and gathering more data information, it's also a critical component for us to be able to move forward with the substantial amendment that I know we all talked about that's going to happen so it's really not a tremendous amount to it but there's a tremendous amount to it at the same time because it equates to a lot of other moving components but this is actually critical and we're in full support of it. Kierkiewicz: Thank you, Mr. Le? Le: Thank you Chair, Vice -Chair and members of the Housing Agency, pleasure to be here with Director Kern to provide and update on where we are with this Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery and one of the action items before you as an agency. As folks may know, other the past year the Department of U.S. Housing and Urban Development has allocated 83.8 million dollars in Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery funding for the 2018 Kauea eruption. At this point in time, we do have an approved Action Plan from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and that was approved in October of 2020. That Action Plan which went through public comment period I think really has been looked at and discussed very broadly within the community in terms of how the programs that are proposed to serve the community but also what else we have to do to really help our community recover. The priority project is a voluntary housing buyout program that would serve primary homes, second homes, and also undeveloped lands in that rank priority order but would also prioritize serving low and moderate income households before serving non -low and moderate income households and that specific provision that HUD applies to its grants for disaster recovery. Really the motion before you all today is to authorize the County to enter into a grant agreement so we can begin to receive the funds. Why this is really critical as Director Kern mention is that it enables us to stand up the buyout program which we have been working diligently to do over the last several month since we were last before the Housing Agency, we hear weekly from folks who are really looking for that to start so they can start to rebuild not only their housing situation but for many people their financial lives following this incredibly disruptive natural disaster and the grant agreement also enable us to explore a substantial amendment to the Action Plan which is currently Page 4 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 approved. There's really two things we're achieving with this amendment, the first one is that the amendment will help us to receive an additional 23 million dollars that HUD has allocated to the County to continue to support its recovery through the Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery. Receiving the funds just triggers the amendment, right, cause we're adding money and reprogramming those funds but it's also an opportunity to look at what other solutions in addition to the buyout makes sense with the available resources for recovery. In terms of core policy that have really had to drive where we focus on solutions, HUD requires that we look at housing solutions first and foremost before any grantee from 2018 or 2019 can allocate projects, allocate funding to projects that would otherwise be eligible like infrastructure or economic development so we're taking a really hard look at what our housing need is. There is a lot of data that we looked at from federal sources and what not to really understand our housing need and there's still a gap so as long as there's a gap and right now after factoring the 83 million from HUD there's still just under a 160 million dollar gap in terms of specifically housing need. The one that we're working to understand more deeply is insurance pay outs, right, cause that would really start to tip the scale in terms of what remains in terms of housing need and really the substantial amendment to the Action Plan it will capture that, right, one of the key questions that we made sure to include in the recently launched 0auea housing survey, just last Thursday, was actually asking folks about their level of their insurance coverage both regular homeowner and as well as whether there was any volcanic activity, eruption coverage and if they got a pay out and how much cause that is quantative data that we will confirm once folks apply for buyout programs but for the planning purposes and articulating the data to HUD it's really going to be a very valuable piece of information while we also look at verifying other issues and really that will inform what additional housing solutions or other types of projects can be developed through this process of the amendment. We're on a timeline to do this Action Plan amendment, this amendment is due to HUD because of the additional 23 million dollars by July of 2021 so what this means is that in addition to standing the buyout program over the next weeks and months, we also have to work on the amendment concurrently and so we really hope that between the survey, the folks who kind of register or partake in kind of applying for the buyout program, that will be also data that we can use in terms of reflecting what this amendment says and what it shows. Prior to submission to HUD for initial review, there will be a 30 -day public comment period we anticipate that to be in and around the month of June 2021 so that gives us some time to prepare the amendment, do the public comment period, reflect any updates or changes to the draft Action Plan amendment as a result of the public comment period and still make it in time for HUD review in early July so you know one of the really exciting things about federal funding is that there is a lot of mechanics and a lot of spinning plates but I think that's why, you know, we work real closely together including with the Office of Housing and Community Page 5 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 Development to keep all those plates spinning until we can be pau and we can just focus on the program implementation and so I'm happy to answer any questions you folks have and also we really seek your support in terms of authorizing the County to enter into this grant agreement. Kierkiewicz: Thank you Mr. Le I appreciate the overview. Any questions here in Hilo? Ms. Lee Loy? Lee Loy: Thank you Chair. I'm not sure Douglas, if this is for Douglas or for Zendo, thank you for being here both of you, reading through the grant agreement there's an appendix as it relates to funding, it's Appendix A, and it's a table and it notes the 2019 disaster funds and it specifically calls out Hawaii County and has allocations 66 million, unmet needs 16 million total allocation 83 million but then there's this big six hundred, or five hundred eighty-three million, and I'm trying to understand cause I'm incredibly grateful for all the money that we are getting and I'm just trying to understand do we try and we have numbers who sit on our NECO committee who could lean into our federal partners on how, it's a big number. Le: This column on the right that you see in the table of the grant agreement, you know, where very briefly describes what is a complicated policy issue is the minimum that must be spent in what HUD calls the most impacted distressed area, right, and so often times, say, not in our situation, a jurisdiction, say, large state, right, will receive two billion dollars in CDBG Disaster Recovery funds, they prioritize how much of that total grant award must be spent in the most impacted and distressed area and that kind of prioritized those funds for that area, even if the provision of those grants funds were projects and services outside of the most impacted distressed area is where the balance of the funds are. In our situation, for the County of Hawai `i, the situation is flipped, right, and so between the two grants that came from the two congressional appropriations, our total allocation is less than what must be spent in the mid earn according to HUD, so I think advocacy and partnership with our congressional delegation is always really key, that actually has helped us get to where we are today, you know, there is a moment in time when even the amount or the scale of recovery funding was unclear but if I put on my math hat, the two congressional allocations towards these disasters in 2017 and 2018 have been spoken for within that large pie, right, that has been split among all of us as jurisdictions who experience disasters then. Even the additional 23 million dollars, what will be essentially a second supplemental amount that our congressional delegation was really critical in securing but also would be helpful is actually the result of splitting up the rest of the pie, right, and so after we receive the 83 million and everyone else receives theirs, there was some amount left essentially because between October 1 It of 2019 and December 311t of 2019 HUD held a couple hundred millions dollars just in case there were couple more Page 6 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 disasters, right, nationally, thankfully the nation didn't experience any that were federally declared and so, you know, most of us class of grantees received the CDBG mitigation funds, in our case 6.8 million, out of that unallocated funds, right, but we were unique among our peers and that we also received additional disaster recovery grant, so that kind of led to the 23 million and really it was really the product of the partnership of with the congressional delegation but also the reality that one of the key indicators for how HUD allocates the CDBG Disaster Recovery funds is based on damages whether that be individual damages, FEMA assessment for public infrastructure that was damaged or destroyed and as many of us are aware even that side was incredibly roller coasterish in terms of us working with FEMA as a federal partner to understand what our total damage estimates were. Lee Loy: Thank you for that fantastic explanation and Kauai is also included in this list so even for Mr. Richards and Ms. Kimball just reaching out to our partners over in Kauai and Kauai County and letting them know, you know, we need to work more collectively to grab some of this money off the table, 2019 they had a flood, we had lava and this next cycle, I mean, everybody's in CARES, you know, so this money will really be critical for us to springboard a little forward an close that gap. I just had one other note, on page 16, and I think this is more of a staffing question, the section starts with specific conditions, insert base on risk tool, I think it was like a prompt, am I reading that correctly or does that prompt belong there? Le: Are you speaking about page 16? Lee Loy: Yes. Specific conditions, insert based on Risk Tool. Kierkiewicz: She's referring to the title. Is that supposed to be there or is that a mistake? Le: I believe that is part of the HUD template for its tool, I don't those five words have any specific bearing on our ability to administer the program. Lee Loy: Thank you, thank you so much I really appreciate the time, Chair, I yield. Kierkiewicz: Thank you, any other questions? Mr. Kanealii-Kleinfelder you have the floor. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: Thank you ma'am. Morning guys, thank you for being here. Just couple questions for you, I'm looking over the General Terms and Conditions for the grant agreement, looks like we can use up to five percent for administrative fees and costs, is that correct? Page 7 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 Le: That is correct, that's standard for this grant program. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: And then, does that include the 66 million plus the 23? Le: So for this grant agreements before us today, it would be five percent of the total 83.8 million dollars, once we are able to receive and administer the 23 million dollars that's an additional five percent of that and, you know, our federal partner at Housing and Urban Development basically allowed grantees to cross share so when we're looking at the total of how much of 107 million dollars we'll be administering, five percent of that towards administrative costs. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: Okay, that up too, yeah? Le: Up too, yeah. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: Which comes out to about five million dollars, four and a half million dollars and then do we a need for four hundred million dollars as far as administrative costs for something like this? Le: Sure, so, for this Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery, there is a six year timeline to spend the funds, most jurisdictions around the country of the past 20, 30 years of the program had challenges spending within the allotted time, if you look at the 4.2 or 4.5 million dollars and spread over six years, its roughly around 70,000 dollars a year and for operating costs like personnel and the 34.1 percent overhead for employee benefits that the County kind of puts in, I think, there's definitely a need for that, I will, I think it's also helpful to clarify also though that the, in terms of staffing and capacity to administer the program, that five percent really covers what one can call the back office folks, right, so administrative and compliance and accounting, what can be used to cover staffing on the program side, for example, a housing counselor to actually work with households and process applications actually could be charged to the program funds and so that's why I think the important point that you raised of the up to five percent is really key because, you know, we need to manage our resources really effectively but that ability to cover overhead cost through administrative functions and any staff capacity that are focused on program delivery I think will be helpful in terms of us managing the funds effectively. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: It helps us too cause we may not have to funds it from our budget, yeah, we can use these funds to cover what we're doing. Page 8 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 Le: Yeah, I mean, I think, in terms of resources available to the County for Disaster Recovery, we have an overall approach of self -funding this operation through these recovery grants to the greatest extent possible. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: And I notice that also includes program income, can you briefly explain program income. Le: Sure. So at this point and time with the programs that we've proposed, the voluntary buyout program as well as the housing relocation services, program income is not necessarily in the mix, however, it could be in the future, right, and so, program income is a concept that cuts across all HUD programs, I think a really clear example is, say any kind of HUD program provides a 40 thousand dollar housing rehab loan, right, repayment is over 30 years, so HUD provides us with those resources to be able to provide the capital to that household, they repay us over that time and the principal and interest payments over the 30 years can be reprogrammed as income, that must be tracked and must be put back towards basic mission oriented grant eligible kind of activities. And so the folks at OHCD could deal with this on daily basis, but that's how program income works, essentially its expenditure on the grant, revenue return through grant activities to be reallocated towards advancing the program mission in a way that's eligible for the grant funds. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: So I mean that looks like it can cover, you know, leases of land if the County were to purchase say a large piece of, that was lost during the eruption and we leased that land back out, if that was to happen. Le: That's correct. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: Okay, I also noticed their requirement, not a want but a requirement for a public website and who's in charge of that? Le: Yes, that's a requirement across the whole disaster recovery program, our team is responsible for that, we look to use our current website: recovery. hawaiicounty.aov, where we've been putting information up about the recovery process but as really this program gets off the ground, there's really two pieces that we think are important to put up but also HUD requires us to put up, public basic information regarding all the program details, contracts awarded under these funds, our policies and procedures that we will be using to administer these funds and projects, but I think what people really care about, the second piece is, information for folks who want to partake in the programs, yeah, whether it be a checklists to prepare your application, you know, a short video to walk through the process, a flyer about the program, you know, that's also really important that we put that information up so people have access to it before they consider or take the action to sign up. Page 9 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 Kanealii-Kleinfelder: Okay, thank you. And then just touching back on the program income again, it looks like I'm just breaking this down, there's one section on page 10 that talks about the program income, the grantee, that's the County of Hawai `i, correct, may transfer program income to its annual CDBG program before close out of the grant that generated the program income, and then we can transfer that, looks like out of the DR side and back into the regular CDBG, is that correct? Le: You know honestly, the specific mechanics of how these provisions are put in, we haven't quite thought through yet because we haven't been planning for program income, so, you know, from my experience we generally do not blend our CDBG that OHCD manages and these disaster recovery dollars but, you know, you called something that we will kind of take a hard look at in terms of what this will actually mean on an accounting and annual grant close out bases. But generally, I think, it's my understanding that these funds aren't blended. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: Yeah, that was my thought too but then I noticed that, you know, they can be dropped back into the CDBG, it looks like or at least the five percent of the program income can, which is an interesting tie but at the end of the close out of the grant that generated the program income, I just thought that was an interesting note. Le: It is, let me dig into it, make sure I fully understand the mechanics how it works and practice as well. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: And then flood insurance, is that applied to all of Puna or is that just applied to what was lost during the eruption? Le: So in terms of these projects that are currently being proposed, the buyout program and the relocation services, flood insurance were based on the flood insurance rate maps so even though the eruption clearly changed our topography and our land, the maps that existed prior to May 3rd 2018 still remain quote, unquote in effect. For us, there's really kind of two considerations, for many disasters flooding is the destructive impact, right, whether it be homes or infrastructures being washed away, if any of the infrastructures being rebuilt with federal funds than flood basically there's requirements to carry flood insurance but also any reconstruction must mitigate against flood risk based on the, you know, where you fall in or out of the flood maps. For this disaster, was not a flood related one and so we don't need to think about elevating homes, you know, three feet above the base line elevation. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: That's why I asked. Page 10 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 Le: But what is important though is that, those flood insurance rate maps are still in effect so essentially if we were to take any action or buy out on a voluntary bases a property that is in the flood plain that's still in effect even if it may be the land itself may be 70 feet higher than it once was, we have to document basically the status of that property within the flood plain or not, an so, it's more on the paperwork side and it's something that gets processed internally, just like how when you buy a home there's a disclosure around where you are in the flood plain as well or not. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: What is the most current flood map that we've adopted? Kern: I don't, that's a good question. They're updated at different time, I'm not sure for Puna, I'd imagine it's been awhile. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: Yeah, I think so, I wanna say it's like 2006, 1 know we had the FEMA study in 2006 but I don't know if they actually adopted that plan. Le: We can look into but I think it was probably in like the 2014 to 2016 range that the effective flood insurance rate maps were adopted but that's just my cobweb memory about when I looked into it. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: Okay, thank you very much gentlemen, well done, thank you for doing this, appreciate it, thank you for being here and ladies too, sorry. I yield, Chair. Kierkiewicz: Thank you. Checking in with Kona. Any questions for Mr. Le or Director Kern? David: Not at this time. Thank you, Chair. Kierkiewicz: Thank you. Ms. Kimball, you have the floor. Kimball: Thank you. A couple of quick questions and this is because I've never been through this before, so, the administration of this grant is that, all of it going to fall under Planning or, is Finance going to be part of, are they going to have some responsibility as well? Le: We faced this question early on, right, this is the largest grant, close second the COVID funds we received last year that the County's administered. The Recovery Team, which is kind of within the Planning Department administratively tied with Planning will be responsible for administering this grant program but Finance has been very involved from the get go and will continue to be involved, it's a model not that different from the way the County administers other types of grants where the department administering the grant receiving Page 11 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 the funds is kind of like that first line of defense in terms of program compliance and insuring that everything we're reporting and monitoring is happening but then the Comptroller, the Finance Director and Deputy work really closely to ensure that when it comes to single audit, grant close out, we've done our jobs, right, but also they can accurately reflect the financial accountability and transparency measures, right, that are part of our fiscal life as a County and Finance has been a close partner from the very beginning, in order to really even achieve that milestone of an approved action plan, we submitted a robust set of policies and procedures related to financial management and grant compliance that was structured off of the County's current day to day financial policies and procedures and our systems and then we layered on any additional requirements that we will need to fulfill for these specific grant funds an so a lot of times I look at the 30, 31 pages here, on page 16 that are specific to us and Finance and our team have been working with HUD to ensure that we can comply with all these things since essentially since January 2020 which has helped us get to this point. Kimball: The next question I had was around public engagement and I know that the presentation that was done late last year that was one of the comments that came up was that the level of public engagement was not sufficient, what are you looking at in terms of going forward to improve public engagement, I did look at your survey, I thought I was very well done so good job, do you have any preliminary results in terms on how folks responding pretty well? Please share that. Le: Yeah, I worked on surveys a really good piece of it, you know, between now and when we do prepare that final action plan draft in July, you know, if we weren't facing what we're facing currently with COVID there would probably be more public meetings and what not so we're thinking what is possible beyond the 30 -day public comment period but different ways of engagement, right, including as we've had to do in the past year and half, one on ones with individuals or property owners or folks who are interested in the program but also meeting with kind of who is the folks in the community. I'm really happy to report that you know since we released our survey on Thursday we've received 171 responses as of 9:00 this morning, I think it's really testament to people's interest in what's happening here and how, what the County does including the buyout program but not limited to the buyout program is critical to their lives and their futures, you know we took a very intentional approach around asking peoples, what peoples' future plans are but intentional around being a check all that apply, right, we don't expect that everyone has a clear picture between the choices to return to their inundated property or to pursue the buyout, so all that being said though and I want to be cautious about the data cause you know there's still plenty folks who are out there who really going to take the opportunity to reply, you know, just under 80 percent of folks who've responded Page 12 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 so far, include a buyout as part of their recovery. I want to be clear that that includes people who only are looking for buyout as well as those who are considering a buyout in addition to possibly returning based on access to roads, ability to restore a farm, financial resources to do so, right, those are all things that we will [inaudible] out but among that, right, there's a diversity of voices, right, and we know that's a fact but we take it as one early indicator that there is strong interest in a buyout as a solution and I think our team receives calls and inquiries about it, I know the council members presenting the district also do as well. I also want to call out that we ask within that check all that apply question, whether you would like regain access and redevelop a home and also whether you would like to regain access and redevelop a farm, and those numbers are about 27 percent, right, and so very early read out but because you did ask we wanted to provide some indication of where we are five days into the process. We're excited about the early interest and I think once we close out the survey by March 26th which we encourage everyone to, who received it to respond too, property owners and impacted renters, we'd be happy to come back and brief the community about the findings but also this agency and the council. Kern: And just to add a little bit to that, I thought the survey component was really critical one for data collection really truly get the feel of what's going on out there and so while we mailed out the survey to everybody we're going to be doing PSAs, Public Service Announcements, we're got QR codes, you can call and somebody, staff will go through it with you, we're out there in Puna doing an event we'll have it there too, so really the concept around it was to make it as broad reaching as possible even to the point of, I heard it on the radio, didn't you have an effect, like you should probably check in to that and it's on the website so this I felt was just as far as public outreach was really, really critical, we didn't want people coming back and saying, survey?, what survey. We'll still have a few of those cause it's inevitable but really trying to put out there in all the ways, so from the DR Team as well as the Mayor's Office working on all these efforts together it's been, it's been really, really great. Kimball: Thank you for that, I think this is going to be a really interesting case study about communications and COVID times because you have a known number of people that should get this information and then ultimately you'll have a known number that respond within that timeframe and the mechanism by which they responded and I think that will be useful to all of us in terms of understanding how to do public communication and I do want to say, I appreciate, first of all that the statistics that you've given are probably, it should be taken with a heavy spoonful of salt not just a grain just because there's probably folks that are interested in the buyout that are gonna jump on this a little bit sooner than maybe the rest of the public so we'll take that with a grain of salt. I also just wanted to acknowledge that when we had the discussion about the survey in Council, we talked about being really careful about the Page 13 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 wording and the you guys did do that so I appreciate that you heard that and followed up on that. The last thing is just for my clarification, again, not having been through anything like before, what are the next steps, I mean, how is this committee engaged with you through the rest of this time period once we've gone ahead and approved this? Le: So following any authorization to enter into this grant agreement, you know, our charge is next, as a team to execute the grant agreement, you know, with the administration and to continue to work on the buyout program standing up in a matter of eight weeks or so and also to work on the amendment. I think given the level of interest in the deep level of engagement this agency has had in terms of our work and us kind of being hanai'd to OHCD in this respect through the agency, our next step could be kind of once we can discuss the content or any kind of the focus areas of the amendment to the action plan, I think talking within the community about it is important, I think we can also kind of brief this agency on the amendment as well, I want to be sensitive to the fact that kind of this agency can have a really important role in terms of kind of hearing an kind of providing feedback on potentially on what is being proposed, even if based on the mechanics of the funds, HUD has kind of quote, unquote, final approval on the action plan itself, right, so I think that's been, I think a really sensitive dynamic that is important for us to be mindful about but also take every opportunity to kind of let folks know that this is actually what we're proposing, this is what we heard a part of the public comment period, etc. A future action in front of this agency would be once again authorization to enter into a grant agreement for the additional 23, 8.8 million dollars in funds and I also believe to enter into an agreement for the Community Development Block Grant mitigation funds as well the 6.8, which is on a slightly different timeline, you know, that action plan deadline is October and that is a brand new action plan, it's not an amendment to the current one and so those are some of the touch points specific with this agency and I think like receiving all grants there will be touch points with the Council as well. Kimball: Thank you so much both for being here, I yield, Chair. Kierkiewicz: Thank you, anyone else? Mr. Kanealii-Kleinfelder? Kanealii-Kleinfelder: I just want to follow up on something on something that I said, so I was reading through the, in regards to the public input, but there's a section here, the grantee must notify HUD but is not required to seek public comment when it makes any plan amendment that is not substantial. HUD has to be notified five days before, we just have to post on our website so I just wanna clarify that and make that clear for everybody that there can be changes, unsubstantial changes made to the plan without public comment. Page 14 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 Le: Yeah, you've actually highlighted a really important point in terms on how these programs and funding operates. So for any grantee, HUD requires that we define what constitutes a substantial amendment and what's called a non - substantial amendment, they have some baseline rules but then they leave it to us to be clear that it's there. In the current approved action plan from October 2020, there is a section that defines what is a substantial amendment and what we've defined is in clear line in what HUD requires which is any movement of program funds, 10 percent or more of the total of the grant amount, so in our case if we were to move 8.3 million dollars or more that would require a substantial amendment, if we moved less than that it would not require a substantial amendment. Another, the second of the three is whether we change any criteria in terms program eligibility, that triggers a substantial amendment and then lastly, if we add or move any projects that also triggers a substantial amendment and so that kind of covers the substantial amendment territory, in terms of the non-essential amendment, it's everything not that but essentially HUD also is very incredibly keen on what constitutes an amendment so when we say that we have an approved action plan, if I feel like I gotta and change one adjective to another adjective or put a semicolon instead of a colon, that triggers an amendment, right, and so it gets down to that level, but within kind of the operation of the funding, non -substantial amendments as long as they don't fall under those three triggers, we, any grantee can pursue those amendment to the action plan. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: Okay, so up to, sorry, 8.3 million dollars less than, we can do that without any public comment. Le: Right, 10 percent of the grant. I think, well and really that's kind of the cut off, right, it doesn't mean that we don't take opportunities in terms of what is important and critical, folks understand and know even if it is moving less than ten percent of the total grant. For example, the housing relocation services currently budgeted for 1.6 million dollars, really important program, right, one of the two major projects we're lifting up, but clearly well under the threshold of the ten percent of the grant, right, and so if we were to change anything there, you now, I think it would behoove us to at least help people understand why did, even if HUD does not require us to enter into a specific 30 day public comment period. Kanealii-Kleinfelder: Okay, and then most importantly, reporting, this says, reporting, we don't have to, looks like we're required to do a quarterly and that goes directly to HUD but posted on our website as well? Le: That's correct. So HUD relies on their national on-line system for us to report our financial management information into it but then narrative reporting in terms of program activities and program outcomes are also part of that and so Page 15 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 it's a quarterly performance report, a QPR, that our staff will be managing the inputs to it every and then on a quarterly bases preparing within the system, the system put outs a pdf that's eight pages or 200 pages in some grantee's situations and we post that on our website to help provide that information for the public. Kanealii-Kleinfeler: Okay, thank you Doug. Kern: Something else we're Bong with the website, is we're trying to make it a good platform for information as far as even roads we're working on time deadlines and trying to make an interactive place so the public can be finding that information so more transparency, more just trying to, not that there's a lack of, but trying to be really engaged into the public so I think that will help as well. Kierkiewicz: Thank you gentlemen. Any other questions or comments from my colleagues? Ms Lee Loy? Lee Loy: I'm sorry, I just had one for Zendo, embedded in the language of this a compliance with the Stafford Act, the Stafford Act really drives a lot of our family codes and our construction codes so when we're looking at standing them up along with some of the other stuff, needs to be in compliance with FEMA and HIEMA so even with those flood insurance rate maps and some of the other stuff, it's all augmented very nicely through this Stafford Act and the language is contained within the agreement so just pointing to that, that there might be ways and tools just within that language and then with the overarching compliance that's embedded in the contract, that we have a lot of tools in the agreement as it is written. Kern: Thank you for that, we'll use it. Lee Loy: Thank you, Chair, I yield. Kierkiewicz: Thank you Ms. Lee Loy. Matt, thank you for brining up the QPRs, Douglas, I'm wondering if it's something you can file with the Council or Housing Agency on a quarterly basis? We don't always have to have a discussion, but I think it's great for it to be filed officially with our records. Le: Yes, I think it's achievable. Kierkiewicz: Great and you know it's really not lost on me how hard you and your team and the administrations have worked to get us to this point, I think November a lot of the conversations leading up to public discussion around the action plan were frustrating, contentious, not always productive and I think it's because there wasn't the best information out there from the prior Page 16 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 administration, for instance, there was this notion that was put out that this agency needed to approve the Action Plan but in further reviewing the Code, Chapter 2, Article 13, Section 2-66 to 68, it identifies what our purpose and mission and scope is and it really is this agency's job to review those agreements so that is what is what is before us, not the Action Plan, the agreements and I think having just settled that has been extremely helpful and then having time to further connect with community on this and articulate the importance, I get calls and emails and text messages weekly from constituents wondering when this program in going to roll out, they may not be the loudest out in the community but they are still part of our community and they are still looking for avenues to rebuild their lives and move forward on their recovery journeys so we have to activate this program. The newspaper said that you're looking at about an April 30th activation, is that correct? We're on track to do that? Any sooner than that? Le: Yes, sooner would be harder but we are on track to do that in terms of kind of being able to initiate the program. Kierkiewicz: Okay, which means we will have, in addition to data from the survey that's circulating in the community and a month's worth of information of the program rolling out, that will all help to inform the substantial amendment for how we pivot the 23.4 million dollars that's been allocated. Le: Yeah, that data will be really critical in terms on how we approach programing the 23 million dollars. Kierkiewicz: Are you open to exploring a different survey for community and I ask that because some constituents have called my office concerns that they aren't able to sort of contribute to the overall vision and planning for Puna because this survey was specifically around housing, which I get, I think we needed it in order to inform roll out of the program but are we going to be doing broader pulse check of community where they can decide, you know, what the further of Puna is like and maybe this is a question for the Director. Kern: Certainly it's something we can talk about and work now, not opposed to it at all, this is was a really critical path element to get to actually performing the buyout so as Douglas said, this was critical but yeah, we could be open to that cause I think that's a greater discussion on what the Puna community needs are, Pdhoa, etc. Kierkiewicz: Okay, that's really helpful. Great, you guys, again, great job and just to kind of elaborate on a question you had asked earlier what the next step is, so the agency moving this forward is critical, tomorrow at Council we've got a resolution and a bill related to this particular agreements that this body must, Page 17 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 not this body, because we're here with our non -legislative hat on, so with our councilmember hats we are going to be formally approving the resolution and entering into the agreement and at that point, Douglas, does the six year clock start ticking? Le: So the six year time line for the expenditure of these funds starts at the execution of this grant agreement, so tomorrow, you know, whatever the Council outcome may be, that six year timeline does not begin until both parties, the County and HUD, have signed the grant agreement. Kierkiewicz: Okay, got it. Thank you. I don't have any other questions or comments other than to say thank you for being inclusive, I've appreciated being able to connect with you and your team to weigh in on various aspects of this roll out so I hope we can continue to stay in touch on this. Anyone else? David: Anyway, before, it was a great discussion, I just wanted to thank Director Kern and Mr. Le for actually, totally explaining this complicated process, unprecedented situation that we, the County, has faced. Are we off line? Kierkiewicz: No, we're here. David: Okay, we can't see you anymore. That's okay, anyway, and that's what I wanted to say and that I really appreciate the fact that they've answered a lot of questions that was hanging out there in my mind because this is like never before and I think they've paved the way very efficiently to see how we can build something to this extent. So I really appreciate the department's work on this and also appreciate your handling of this matter, Chair Kierkiewicz, so on that note I just wanted to say mahalo. I yield. Kern: Madam Chair, if I may, real quickly? Kierkiewicz: You have the floor. Kern: Thank you, I want to say that the Disaster Recovery Team has been great, I think we really need to appreciate the wealth of knowledge that Douglas brings and the prior experience, I've really, I'll say last time but synergy, is the word that I'm feeling with the new administration and with kind of the unique perspective that I may bring in my style coupled with Douglas and lava recovery, I feel like we're just really getting a lot of momentum, things are moving in a really positive manner and it's really exciting so this is certainly a team effort and again synergy would be my word, it's nice to be feeling that. Thank you all for your support. Page 18 of 19 HCHA meeting March 2, 2021 Kierkiewicz: Thank you for not just talking action but actually taking action. I would be remissive if I didn't specifically call out and thank Patty Pinto, who has done a phenomenal job with April, the Americore Vista, and putting the printed version of the survey together as well as the online tool. Thank you for removing barriers to access in sending out the printed version, having an available online but also putting a number down for people to call if they are just not in a position to be able to complete any of those versions, so thank you and I think the success we are seeing with the responses so far is really testament for us looking at a number of vehicles to get this out, so thank you. Alright, we have a motion on the floor for the County of Hawai `i to enter into an agreement with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for Disaster Relief funds related to the 2018 Klauea Eruption, all in favor please say aye, any opposed? Motion carries with eight ayes votes, Mr. Chung is excused. Thank you gentlemen. May I have a motion to adjourn? Lee Loy: Moved. Richards: Second. Kierkiewicz: Motion by Ms. Lee Loy, second by Mr. Richards, all in favor please say aye, any opposed? Motion carries, we are adjourned at 9:56 am. Thank you. Kern: Thank you guys so much. Meeting adjourned at 9:56 a.m. Page 19 of 19