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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-01-08 HCHA Approved MinutesTRANSCRIPT Meeting ofthe HAWAI`ICOUNTY HOUSING AGENCY Hilo, Hawai`i January 8, 2013 Agency Members Present Absent and Excused JYoshimoto Karen Eoff Dru Mamo Kanuha Zendo Kern Greggor Ilagan Val Poindexter Margaret Wille Brenda Ford Dennis “Fresh” Onishi arrived at 9:28a.m.) Staff Members Present Members ofthe Public Stephen Arnett None Susan Akiyama Sharon Hirota Noel Fujimoto AmySelf Nadine Pomroy Mr. Yoshimoto: Okay Good Morning everyone this isthe Hawai`i County Council Committee onHousing, hold ononesecond here, thtodayisJanuary8, itsapproximately 9:06we’rehere at the Hilo Council Chambers Iwould like tobegin the meeting by calling the meeting toorder and introduce the council members that are present this morning tomyfar right Mr. Ilagan next to himMr. Kern next tohimMr. Kanuha our vice chair Miss Eoff to myfar left Ms. Wille followed byMissPoindexter and Miss Ford andI’mJYoshimoto, morning everyone, aloha. Iwould also like tolet the public and council members know that Ijust received amemo from Mr. Onishi andI’llread itasit states here regarding hisattendance totoday’smeeting, this istoinform youthat due toaserious plumbing emergency inmyhome which requires myimmediate attention, Imaynotbeable toattend this morning’smeeting duetothe nature ofthis emergency I’m notsure how long itwill take toresolve this matter, however, I’llmake every effort toattend the meeting inatimely matter. Iapologize forany inconvenience this may cause. Okay, we’re going tostart by taking statements from the public onitems on theagenda. Idon’tsee anytestifiers here inHilo, why don’t wecheck with our various sites, whydon’twestart with Ka’u, 2121hnhp1 Ka’ucan you here us? No, okay Ka’u’sdown, Mike? Pahoa? Howwe doing in Pahoa? Mike: Good morning Mr. Chair wedonot have anytestifiers for the Housing committee this morning. JYoshimoto: Good morning, thank youforletting usknow, over in Kona, how wedoing inKona? Good morning, Mr. Chair, we have notestifiers inKona. JYoshimoto: Okay, thank you, and inWaimea, good morning, we have any testifiers in Waimea? Good morning, Mr. Chair, wehave no testifiers this morning. J. Yoshimoto: Okay, thank you. Okay, wewill move onto the next item ontheagenda which isapproval ofminutes from October 16th, 2012. May Ihave amotion? Mr. Kern: motion toapprove minutes Mr. Kanuha: Second J. Yoshimoto: Okay, anydiscussion onthemotion toapprove the minutes? Hearing none. Weneed the clerk orsomeone here. Hold onone second. Well ifnotIthink we’reall going tosayaye, so anyway, all those in favor of approving theminutes say aye Council members: aye J. Yoshimoto: any oppose? Okay, soit’sunanimous, okay, onto newbusiness, wehave theelection ofthe Chairperson ofthe Housing Committee, may Ihave amotion to appoint someone as Chair of the Housing Committee. Mr. Kern? Mr. Kern: Mr. Chair, I’dlike tonominate and appoint Greggor Ilagan tochair the Housing committee. Ms. Ford: second J. Yoshimoto: Okay, any discussion onthat appointment? Mr. Ilagan did youlike tostart off bysaying anything? No, any discussion on the motion? Miss, no, Miss Wille? Ms. Wille: Okay, Ijust want tosay Ithink we all have great confidence inGreggor andI’mglad tohave him heading upthis committee and know that hewill dosoin avery farsided way and deliberate and Iappreciate him. Thank you. Bye bye. J. Yoshimoto: Okay, thank you, Miss Wille, any other Mr. Ilagan go ahead. Mr. Ilagan: Ido want tosaysomething andI’mlooking forward toworking with Steve Arnett and theCounty Housing Agency, I gotto meet yourstaff andlooks like we’regoing tobeworking really well together andthank you forthe nomination and thank you. J. Yoshimoto: Thank you, Mr. Ilagan, okay, any other discussion? If not, allthose infavor say aye. Councilmembers: aye J. Yoshimoto: any opposition? No, the vote isunanimous with Mr. Onishi ofcourse, excused. Okay, Mr. Ilagan. 2121hnhp2 Mr. Ilagan: Well atthis time the chair would like toentertain amotion for theelection or nomination for theoffice ofvice chair of the housing committee. Mr. Kern: Mr. Chair Mr. Ilagan: Mr. Kern Mr. Kern: I’dlike to nominate aKaren Eoff to vice chair of the housing committee, ifshe’saso willing? Ms. Poindexter: second Mr. Ilagan: it has been moved and second that Council member Dennis “ Fresh” Onishi hasbeen nominated totheoffice ofvice chair. Ms. Ford: Karen Eoff Mr. Kern: was itsuppose to beFresh? Mr. Ilagan: no, fresh. Canwetake another nomination? Please? Mr. Kern: yeah, I’dlike towithdraw mynomination onthefact that Iwas confused. Mr. Ilagan: could weplease have amotion for? Ms. Ford: Point of order sir? Mr. Chairman? Wecannominate anybody wechoose and then we vote onwho wewant so, ifMiss Eoff wants iswilling tobethe vice chair ofthat committee then the nomination from Mr. Zendo Kernshould stand. Perhaps you could askMiss Eoff ifshe’swilling to serve inthat capacity? Mr. Ilagan: Council member Karen Eoff would yoube willing to serve in that capacity? Miss Eoff: Yes Iwould, however, isthat okay? Miss Ford: Point oforder, excuse me, itsjust anomination, the vote isstill going totake place soIwould respectfully ask that Mr. Kern renominate MissEoff andgetasecond onthat since he withdrew hismotion. Mr. Ilagan: Could wetake arecess for five minutes? Thank you. The chair would like to entertain amotion fortheelection or nomination for the office of vice chair of thehousing agency. Mr. Kern: Mr. Chair Mr. Ilagan: Mr. Kern Mr. Kern: allright, atthis time Iwant tohold and keep my motion withdrawn and move to nominate Dennis “Fresh” Onishi to chair of the housing committee. Ms. Eoff: second Mr. Ilagan: has been moved by Mr. Kern andsecond byMs. Karen andthat nomination for Dennis Fresh Onishi totheoffice of vice chair, isthere any discussion? Ms. Ford: wait, Iwould like tomake anomination as well. Mr. Ilagan: Ms. Ford Ms. Ford: Iwould like tonominate Miss Eoff to the position of vice chair of the housing agency. second 2121hnhp3 second that J. Yoshimoto Point oforder, Mr. Chairman, Ijust think we only can address one nomination atatime, soIguess fordiscussion purposes you knowwe could discuss options before wetake a vote, but when we take avote Ithink we need totake yeah one nomination atatime. Ms. Ford, Ithink you andIare probably on thesame page interms of addressing the parliamentary procedures so. Ms. Ford: I’llwithdraw mynomination atthis time. J. Yoshimoto: yeah butanyway for discussion purposes youcan mention other possibilities ifyou want to. Mr. Ilagan: atthis time is there any discussion? None. Ms. Eoff: excuse me, Mr. Chair, yeah I’malittle bit uncomfortable because Iknow wehad discussed this atour previous organization meeting and cause Mr. Onishi is not here I’dhate tooverstep what was expected totake place. Mr. Ilagan: Thank you, Ms. Eoff, right nowthe motion isonthe floor that Dennis “Fresh” Onishi hasbeennominated for the office ofthevice chair ofthe housing agency and isthere any discussion? Ms. Ford: Yes Mr. Ilagan: Ms. Ford Ms. Ford: Thank you Iwill notbe supporting this nomination, I’vehad some difficulty with Mr. Onishi for four years inhis position aschair and itstarted upagain within the first four hours ofthis term and Idonot appreciate having somebody be thechairperson who cannot deal fairly with all ofus, so therefore Iwill not be supporting this. Thank you. Mr. Ilagan: Anyone else? Ms. Wille: Margaret Wille, andIthink Fresh hassome great ideas but he’snot always present inWest Hawaii and Ireally want someone there that this isthere very top priority behere andwe really have urgent issues ontheWest side and Iwould like tosee representative from that side, Iwould be happy to postpone this towhen Mr. Onishi ispresent andcan bepart of this but inhis absence and nothearing otherwise Iwill support Karen, Miss Eoff. Iwill support another candidate. Mr. Ilagan: Currently Ms. Wille: CanImove topostpone? Till call ofthe chair when Mr. Onishi ispresent. Ms. Ford: second Mr. Ilagan: Ok, well there isamotion topostpone the nomination and second byMs. Ford. Any discussion? Ms. Poindexter: yeah, Iagree that weshould postpone that till Fresh, unfortunately, hehadan emergency that came upthis morning and Ithink itwould be best ifhewas present tobe 2121hnhp4 able tocontinue this soI’magreeing with postponing ittothe call of thechair. Mr. Ilagan: anyone else? J. Yoshimoto real quickly Mr. Chair, yeah Ithink that’sagood idea, you know and you’rehere today Mr. Chairman so Ithink we’llbe fine for today, so whenever ifhedoes manage toshow uptoday then wecan address itlater on, on the agenda so motion topostpone tothe call of the chair Ithink isfine. Mr. Ilagan: ok, miss clerk, let’shave arole vote? MissClerk: Mr. Eoff? Ms. Eoff: aye MissClerk: Ms. Ford: Ms. Ford: aye MissClerk: Mr. Kanuha Mr. Kanuha: aye MissClerk: Ms. Poindexter Ms. Poindexter: aye MissClerk: Ms. Wille Ms. Wille: aye MissClerk: Mr. Yoshimoto Mr. Yoshimoto: aye MissClerk: Mr. Kern Mr. Kern: aye MissClerk: Chair youhave seven ayes, ohI’msorry chair Ilagan Mr. Ilagan: aye MissClerk: Chair, you have eight ayes Mr. Ilagan: Okay, lets continue under thenew business, wehave Mr. Arnett, Steve Arnett director ofthe housing agency to provide uswith anoverview ofhis office, Mr. Arnett please come forward andintroduce some members of your staff. Mr. Arnett: Thank you chair Ilagan, members ofthehousing agency and county council thank you forhaving us. We hope to have along amiable relationship with all ofyouand anything that you need orand want we hope tobeable toprovide toyou asquickly aspossible soplease donot ever hesitate toaskus to help because wecertainly want tobefore Ibegin Iwould like to introduce my staff, present this morning is Susan Akiyama my assistant administrator, wehave Noel Fujimoto who isthe division head for Grants Management, Sharon Hirota, who isour division head for Existing Housing, and our secretary isNadine Pomroy, whoisalso with us today and didall of the secretarial work, Nadine would you stand? And also our Corporation Counsel representative, Amy Self. So without further ado, Iwould like tojump into the manual that we’veprovided everybody today, the format that I’dlike to run through is asfollows, I’lldo an overview and then Iwould like tointroduce each ofour division heads who will dotheir ownindividual overview of their 2121hnhp5 individual sections, I’dlike tostart off bysaying that the funding for thehousing office ofhousing andcommunity development istypically been funded the percentages areninety three percent federal funding and seven percent from County. So almost all ofour funding comes from some sort offederal grant through the admin fees that wegetas aresult ofthe grants that we receive, I’dlike todirect your attention ifIcould to page three ofthemanual thatwe’veprovided you folks, I’m sorry page two, the financial data that’sinclusive inpage two first of all letmejust start with staffing, wehave approximately fifty one employees inour division, we’re actually short acouple right now because ofpeople that have left we actually had one ofouremployees past away acouple of weeks ago, Herbert Hayama, Idon’tknow ifany ofyouknew Herbert but hewas the former building division chief for many many years andavery valuable asset tousbecause ofthe knowledge that he had sowe’rereally sad toseehim past away butnonetheless, we have approximately fifty onepeople positions that we have inour department if you take alook at ourbudget ourcommunity development division hasreceived a huge amount ofmoney over the past several years most ofitin federal grants and that money has been used primarily for the construction ofthe low income housing and transitional housing that wehave inKona called UluWini, the homes ofUlu Wini not KaHale oUlu Wini we’vecalled that originally the Kaloko Housing Program because wereally didn’thave aname for itat thetime and Elizabeth Lee whoisthe kupuna from that particular ahapua’awas given the honor of naming itand that was what she came upwith. Sowe’veactually hadafederal neighborhood stabilization grant wecallthat theNSPgrant, we’veactually had two actually atotal of three the first one is forfive point sixmillion the second was for four million and then our late senator Inouye wasable toget usaspecial purpose grant offour hundred andseventy five thousand and we’vehad County monies that areinplace ofthat of approximately ten million dollars while we’reon that particular subject I’dlike toflip topage three if Icould please and have you note that inthenew grants approved andreceived we also received another five point seven and four point two seven five inthe neighborhood stabilization program grants one and rounds one andthree, neighborhood stabilization pretty much has disappeared off the federal radar screen sowe don’tanticipate anymore money from those two programs unfortunately, but we’ve been very fortunate in that money that was notspent byother counties sometimes come back tousbecause thefunding agency of thestate that receives themoney andthen doles it out tothe counties iscalled the HHFDC Hawaii Housing and Finance 2121hnhp6 Development Corporation, andweat OHCD have an excellent relationship with that entity and asaresult ofthem knowing that weifwesay wecanspend the money wespend the money and sothat they have been reprogrammed money that other counties cannot spend andgive ittousand wespend itasquickly aswe possibly can soitsbeen agood relationship that wehave with them. Wealso, onthat samepage, pagethree wealso receive annually two loans ortwo grants that comefrom thefederal government oneiscalled the CDBG grant which stands for Community Development Block Grant andthat the amount ofthat grant varies fromyear toyear. Inourlastfiscal yearwe received about two point nine million weanticipate and this year the grant amount wasreduced bythe federal government by about fifteen percent sowereceived about two point five nine five for this current fiscal year inaddition, theother grant that ishanded down bythefederal government iscalled theHOME grant, HHFDC isthere inhabitable wisdom decided asometime ago that instead ofdividing upthe grants and getting each county andby each county I’mreferring tothethree minor counties that would beKauai, Maui, and the Big Island instead ofdolling outthe money asthey had inthe past which would meaneach county would getaspecific amount of the three million dollars they decided that each county would take turns ingetting the full amount asit turns out Hawai’iCounty was first upsolast year wegot thefull amount ofthe three million dollars but this year wegetnothing next year weget nothing and then the following year assuming that the HOME grants are still available from the federal government we’llgetthe full funding amount again sowehadand that amount isthree million and ifyoutake alook onpage three thesecond column two point nine five zero ofthat three million isthe amount that must bedolled outto nonprofits andsowewere only allowed to keep fifty thousand inthe form ofadmin fees which goes topay for salaries and wages. Yes. Ms. Ford: Excuse me, Mr. Chair, mayIbe allowed to ask questions as wego forward? Mr. Ilagan: Ms. Ford, letMr. Arnett finish hispresentation and then we’llask questions after. Mr. Arnett: Okay, thank you, the divisions that wehave atOHCD areseveral wehave the administrative services division which isheaded upbyour assistant administrator we have the construction managements division which isheaded uptemporarily byagentlemen by the name ofChris Fujiuchi he’sinatemporary position atthemoment, those ofyou whowere onthe council prior tothis particular council remember Jeremy McComber who wasin who wasthe division head atthat time andhe’sleft us andnow works for HOPE services. Wealso have Grants Management 2121hnhp7 andwe have existing housing sothose are the divisions that we have split upour department into, also apart ofOHCD iswe have aloan program wehave actually two loan programs one is called RERP which isthe if Imay. Ms. Ford: page two Mr. Ilagan: Excuse me, Ijust wanted tonote that council member Dennis Fresh Onishi is here tomy left. Thank you. Mr. Arnett: the residential emergency repair program and the NAHASDA program also are two loan programs that give loans to lowincome individuals onthe Big Island, the NAHASDA program unfortunately isbeen funded with verylittle money inthepast couple of years somost ofthefunding for lowincome individuals forrental repair I’msorry not rental repair but home repairs isthrough ourRERP program theresidential emergency repair program and ifyouknow any individuals inyour districts who need repairs totheir home there are income qualifications that are necessary inorder which todo sobut that program isavailable. And last but not least before Iget into having our division heads come and speak is wework very closely with HICDC which stands for the Hawaii Island Community Development Corporation andHICDC isheaded byagentlemen by the name ofKeith Kato andKeith does alot ofreally interesting things with thefunding that hegets self help housing ifyou’re familiar with self help ifyou’re not letme explain alittle bit what happens with selfhelp housing. Typically what happens isHICDC will buy attractive land that more than likely isalready entitled itmay have asmany asten or twelve lots that they buyIthink the maximum isthirteen and theminimum isten sothey would then find ten tothirteen qualified families who would then band together andwork on everyone’shouse until itsall completed typically those house design’sare thesame soeverybody has thesame exact house design and layout but long story short isthat everyone is required towork oneveryone’shouse until thefinal one isdone so nobody gets to move into their house until everybody’shouse is fully completed. That’sself help. That particular model is ithas worked quite well and Iwent to agrand opening ofaself help housing that was completed inKohala and tosee the light onthe families faces whowere about tomove into those homes was just overjoyed and heartwarming for me tobe there and be a part ofit. The secondary phase that HICDC does isthey also do rental housing same kind offunding they take thefunding and will buy alotand put uprental housing typically its for low income seniors and the most recent one I’vedone isinMiss Wille’s district inNorth Kohala called Ainakea Senior Housing andthere about toembark on another one inshort order butlong story short isthey dorental housing for low income individuals 2121hnhp8 aswell asself help soatthis point I’mgoing toask Susan Akiyama tocome forward andgive usheroverview on Administrative services and then we’ll proceed with other division heads and since Chris Fujiuchi isout ill today Iwill take the role ofgiving alittle discussion onconstruction management but if Susan will come forward. SusanAkiyama: Good Morning, soreal quickly before Igo forward Iwanted you totake alook atthe binder that you have infront ofyou. You’llnotice that we’vetabbed several sections in there and we’renot going togothrough thewhole thing today butthere’sasection onourapproved organizational chart, you’ll find acopy of our current budget, ourgoals and objections by division, information about well there’sanannual report that wassubmitted that’salso there, information about thehousing agency and theworkforce investment board that we’re responsible for, we’llgoover that inourprogram section. Towards the backyou’llseeOHCD Rules that arein there, there are websites that youcan go tothat will give youadditional information about the programs the federal programs that you’ll hear about today andinternet websites for additional information butofcourse you’realways welcome togive usa call and you know ifyou have special questions that you might have even after today. Okay, sogoing back topagethree and this section isthe section that we’repretty much going to cover for you today soonpage three administrative services division isthedivision that Iamresponsible for ithouses our accounting, ourclerical branch, and ourtechnology services branch and these branches orstaff provides support services to theentire office and inaddition tooverseeing this division I also work with Steve and helpSteve onspecial projects and general oversight ofthe office activities. SoI’mgoing to pass itback toSteve andhe isgoing to goover the community development division section. SteveArnett: Thank youSusan, weasyoucan see inyour binder wehave three different branches inourcommunity development division. Onebranch istheplanning branch, thesecond oneis thedevelopment branch andthe third one isthehousing program, inthe planning branch its primarily has todo with the affordable housing piece each and every developer isrequired to come up with ifyou are abrand new sub divider thechapter eleven ofthe county code requires that twenty percent ofany newhomes that come online inasubdivision beaffordable homes for hopefully local residents to buyand move into of course we also have problems with the howmuch isreally called affordable but nonetheless we’ll deal with that atanother point. Asfar asthe planning branch isalso concern is wehave oneofthe members ofourstaff isthefair housing officer, so ifthere 2121hnhp9 arecomplaints regarding rentals that have todowith fair housing issues, Alan Rudo ofour office isthe fair housing officer for theCounty hewould come outand investigate and write areport there are various levels ofState andCounty agencies that may ormay not beinvolved ifforsome reason or other the particular complainant didn’tlike thereport that our fair housing officer hadissued they could conceivably goto the State level andhave theState also investigate and last but not least could even gotothefederal government and have HUD investigate andwe’veactually had thathappen onmywatch but fortunately Ican honestly say that everybody came back with the original agreeing with ouroriginal report even thought the complainant didn’tso. The projects the development branch basically isconstruction and inthedevelopment branch wehave built quite afew structures during the Kenoi administration and I’mhappy tosay that with the push from the administration it’s been quite anice accomplishment for Mayor Kenoi and OHCD we started off with ahomeless shelter in Kona inthe old industrial area and that’scalled theWestHawaii Emergency Facility that particular building was started right atthe beginning oftheKenoi Administration ithouses thirty one single individuals typically its sixteen males and fifteen females with aresident night manager it’slocated in the old theside oftheold waste water treatment plant inKailua Kona andit isforafternoon andevening only. Itisclosed during theday soifyou are ahomeless individual youare not allowed tobethere during the dayunless ofcourse you’revery very sick but it’sprimarily for safety of homeless individuals men andwomen notfamilies whoneed aplace safe place tolay there head and ifyouhaven’tseen that facility andwould like atour ofitwe’dbehappy togive you atour ofit. Iremember very vividly awhen wehad the grand opening ofthat particular facility our late senator Inouye came and took anicelittle tour and Iwalked with himinto the one andonly unit that we hadfurnished atthe time, hewalked inhelooked around he turned aback andhe looked at meandhesaid, wow, this is really nice! AndIthought tomyself wow that’sahuge compliment, sowe also agree that it’svery nice soif you or anyof you areinterested in touring any one ofour facilities why please just speak upand we’dbehappy toarrange that for you. Inaddition, totheWest Hawaii emergency facility apart of that RFPwas aremodel of abuilding that was originally there that wasbuilt byStanford Carr which wasoriginally and still continues tobecalled the friendly place. The friendly place is now operated by Hope services and provides an opportunity for the homeless individuals to do their laundry, to take ashower, to have aplace to store their things inalocker 2121hnhp10 where they canput alock on itthey even sometimes serve meals useto bethat they serve breakfast every morning and actually serve lunch every day and they had many oftheir religious churches come inand actually doanevening meal subsequent to that we’vehadsome problems with individuals whohavebeen attending the friendly place and some ofthose services have been curtailed due toIdon’twant tosay violence but arguments that have taken place there we’veactually even had the police come unfortunately and alsoaresult of reduction instaff from Hope services butat some point and time wehope tohave a little more security and maybe get some ofthose services restored. Another construction program that wehave completed isthe homes ofUlu Wini asI’vementioned before, there are forty that were built and occupied. Ofthe forty, Ibelieve eight are designated fortransitional families and these bythe way are forfamilies notforindividuals sothis isfor people whohave children that transitional means that youpay only a nominal amount for rent themaximum stay fortransitional families istwoyears after atwo yearperiod oftime hopefully we’vegot some kind oftraining for theheads ofhouseholds so that they can actually dosome kind ofgainful employment and move from thetransitional housing intolow income housing and there are clearly income limits for thepeople wholive inthe homes ofUlu Wini typically isthirty to fifty percent ofthe average median income which means that you’reonthe very low endof the income strata, under construction on that same particular site are thirty six additional units which wehope will come online atthe endof March thedue date forthat particular construction isMarch the twentieth and mylast consultation with our construction manager isthat we’reontime andon budget and that’spretty much been the mantra that has been laid down bythe housing administrator who comes from private sector and realizes that sometimes governmental jobs get outof hand andso wejust decided heyearly onontimeon budget ifit canbedone privately why cant itdone in government, itsnot anovel idea andits just something that we just said isgoing tohappen and ouradministration also pulls that same cord. Onthe same site we’vebuilt what’scalled our educational training facility. It’sasmall warehouse that will eventually house the Hawaii island food basket and also habitat for humanity those two non profit organizations probably doas much ormore forthe low income individuals intheCounty of Hawaii asanythat wehave. And Iwantyou tounderstand that itsnot free rent for those two entities they will bepaying rent maybe alittle bit less than market rate but nonetheless we atOHCD decided that without some kind of rent wewould not really have theability tomake repairs and maintenance onthat 2121hnhp11 building inthefuture somuch oftherents that wehave they will either gofor repairs orsome kind ofmaintenance but eventually into afund that will beusedfor future capital improvements ifthey become necessary. There isalso athird baythat will beused bythepolice department forstorage of either evidence items orconfiscated items that have been taken during the course ofsome kind ofcriminal investigation orwhat have you Idon’tknow exactly what allthere going toput in there but long story short isthat we’regoing tosave the police department about ahundred thousand dollars ayear by allowing them tohave this facility as their storage as opposed to having topayfor some kind ofacommercial storage some where else sothe police department ispretty happy about being able to have anopportunity to getaway from having tohave commercial storage for their items. The last piece ofthehomes ofUlu Wini isanother twenty units thefull maximum build out onthat particular eight acre parcel isninety sixunits with our second increment we’llhave seventy six completed and we will then need to complete twenty moretodothefull build out with the assistance and approval ofouradministration wehave approximately two million dollars inCIP funding which isbeen a run through the channels and hopefully will become available so that and that’sjust about enough weactually need slighted a little bit more than that tocomplete thetwenty units but hopefully inanother year we’ll have thefull build out the homes ofUlu Wini will becompletely constructed and we’llget several of ourhomeless families off the street and into actually very nice comfortable living situation and once again ifyou folks would like anopportunity towalk through any one ofthose units we’dbehappy to show you. They’revery very nice units they really are. The next piece inthedevelopment division istheKamakoa Nuiworkforce development workforce housing project inWaikoloa. Back innineteen ninety, eighty nine the County was given two hundred and seventy plus acres in Waikoloa asafulfillment ofaffordable housing piece for transcontinental development may nothave been that name atthe time but nonetheless that particular acreage satfallow for many many years until the Harry Kim administration decided that they were going to construct homes they did anRFP andeventually selected adeveloper named Unidev todothe construction and City Bank at thetime actually sent their president and CEO out andgave apresentation andwooed Mr. Kim tothe point where Unidev was selected as our construction manager of that particular project. Subsequent totheir selection we’verun into some disagreements and asyou are probably areall aware there is now alawsuit between the County ofHawaii and Unidev I’mnot going togointo thedetails ofthat that’snotmy 2121hnhp12 kuleana that’scorporation counsel butjust give you aheads up that weare inalawsuit and that actually hasbeen going on for acouple of years. During the process of the Kenoi administration taking over initially there was athere was two LLC’sthat were set uponewas anonprofit called HIHT andthe other was called WWH andthe WWH wasafor profit LLC HIHT was a nonprofit that actually held the title to the land. Idon’t really know quite what theramifications ofdoing so were but long story short ismyopinion isandIrepeat this ismy opinion only wasanattempt totry andmove away from having to payfor aprevailing wage which would meanhaving to pay for union workers and I’mgoing torepeat itone more time that’smy opinion, nonetheless, when theKenoi administration came on board wetook alook atHIHT and WWHand decided that wecould probably doabetter job ifwetook itin house soweclosed down HIHT andclosed down WWH and hadthe County I’msorry had theboard ofdirectors ofthose individual LLC’ssign the title to theproperty back over to the County ofHawaii andwe basically although those entities arestill inoperation today because ofthelawsuit they don’treally do anything atthis particular stage. Atone point and time HIHT was hemorrhaging money tothe tune ofabout thirty, twenty tothirty thousand dollars amonth and that hasall stopped and asIsaid we’ve taken that project inhouse wehave twoplanners inour Kona office that pretty much took that project over andmonitored it tothe point towhere itistoday andwhere itistoday isas follows, wehavefour model homes that are built and furnished onsite and those homes arebasically for people tocome inand see ifits something that they would like tobuy. Now these are homes that are for purchase wehave through theRFPprocess selected Aldridge and Associates asour sales team and they are currently in theprocess of marketing those homes. Our plan is tobuild four totenat atime totake advantage of the economies atscale bybuying materials inbulk anddoing IFB’s sothat local thedevelopers can build homes inquantity as opposed tooneatatime andthose homes will bebuilt only after people havesigned onthe bottom line and have put up money that will eventually willprobably benon refundable should they back out. Now the ultimate goal istocomplete the ninety one home sites that areavailable atKamakoa Nui and eventually have some revolving fund money that comes back to the County asaresult ofthefunding that wehave inplace andif you look atpage two you’ll seethat wehave over forty three million dollars in that particular project. Forty million plus came from government obligation bonds that were issued bythe County and another three million plus camefrom ourhousing agency fund that wehave had funds in forsome time. 2121hnhp13 Mr. Ilagan: Excuse meMr. Arnett Ijust want tobe mindful of thetime, youhave ten minutes for the rest ofyour presentation andIwant toopen ituptothe question for theother council members. Thank you. Mr. Arnett: Thank you, thank you, okay, with that I’llmove ona little bit, thefinal piece ofour program is the housing program branch and there iswhere wehave the RERP andthe NAHASDA Programs. Asyou can see there, wewere awarded a hundred and sixty seven thousand five hundred dollars from CDBG funding for ourloan program and asIsaid toyou earlier if any ofyou have anylow income individuals who live in your district that need repairs totheir homes please consult with usandhave anapplication sent toyoufor those individuals soit can be filled out andvetted tomake sure they qualify and ifso hopefully those loans can befunded to those particular individuals sowith that I’llconclude mydiscussion on construction management andI’llaskNoel Fujimoto if hewill come forward andgive you alittle overview on the Grants Management division andgofrom there. Thank you. NoelFujimoto: Thank you Steve, good morning everyone. Mr. Ilagan: morning Noel. NoelFujimoto: Just togobriefly over thegrants management division, Iwasactually promoted last month to head this division prior to that Iwasthe Ihelped administer the HOME program for theCounty sobasically weinthe grants management division there’sthree major grants the CDBGgrant the HOME grant and WIAgrant. I’llgoover the CDBG, theHOME grant, and some of the smaller grants andSusan will follow upwith explaining the WIA grant portion. Basically our division are responsible foradministering the federal grants that theCounty receives orouroffice receives. Andmainly these grants are primarily tohelplow tomoderate income people orfamilies right now the CDBG grant weget approximately twopoint five million ayear we’renot sure exactly how much we’re going to get this year because ofthe congress still isinsession and they haven’tdecided orcame up with afigure or come upwith a figure yet butwe anticipate about twoin ahalf million and basically our process for theCDBG Grants and theHOMEgrants arewe start inOctober wegoout topublic hearings and atthat time we publish anRFP also fororganization’sthat are interested inapplying forthe grants so wereceive the grants normally beginning part ofJanuary in fact, this year’sgrants will bethe applications will beinfact this Thursday isthe deadline tosubmit their applications soafter we getthe applications wereview rank all ofthese proposals and wemake a decision asfaraswhich grants orwhich proposals are going to beapproved. Sowehave upuntil then we come totheCounty 2121hnhp14 housing agency meeting andalso to the County Council for approval onthese projects which isourannual action plan and theannual action plan isdue toHUDinMay, Mayfifteenth so theprocess runsfrom about October toMay asfaras the HOME grant as Steve mentioned earlier theHOME grant isreceived by the State and passed through the neighbor island Counties and in thepast itwasdivided equally among the Counties we each got about amillion dollars apiece but last year they decided to change the allocation process and award the full three million to each county on arotation basis, so wegot ours lastyear, Kauai’sis inline to get thefull three million this year and Maui next year so next time we’ll be eligible toreceive HOME funds would bein the year two thousand fifteen. And initially ouroffice wasagainst thisnew method ofallocation because in ourCounty wehave projects every year that HICDC mainly have on line and they want toapply for HOME funds to helpthem with these projects so wefelt that wewanted to keep itthe same have itevery year plus itseasier toplanifweknow we’re going toget three million every year, one million every year andwe have theprojects lined up. Unfortunately, some ofthe other Counties were having ahard time spend the HOME funds and that’swhy theState decided tochange the way toallocate the funds. Onthe NSPgrants, this was actually an initiative president Obama started back intwo thousand and eight tohelp initiate and stimulate theeconomy andwewere fortunate enough toget over tenmillion oftheneighborhood stabilization program funds and this wasthe total of these funds were placed into our Ulu Wini project to help finance that project. Some of theother small grants wereceive SPGorSpecial purpose grants these are actually set aside orearmarked funds that congressional Hawaii congressional delegation havethe option to award these funds unfortunately congress put amoratorium on these funds backintwo thousand andten sowe’renot receiving anyright nowbut wegot agood chance onthese funds from the late senator Inouye’soffice hewas very instrumental inhaving these earmarked funds passed out tothe State ofHawaii andthe County ofHawaii. Lastly, the HPG orHousing Preservation grants program, this isactually administered byHCEOC Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council, we have some program income funds that isearmarked forthis program and weusually goout andRFP whenever wehave enough program income togetthis program going on again, soright nowthe HPG program the funding isfor this lastappropriation ifkind ofbeing used upsowe might have togo out foran RFP inthe future. Aside from that, theWIA istheother main grant and I’ll ask Susan to explain that to you. Thank you. 2121hnhp15 Mr. Ilagan: Thank you Noel and congratulations onyour promotion andMiss Akiyama, Ijust want tosay take five minutes todo your presentation and we’llopen ituptothe council members for questions. SusanAkiyama: Okay, allright, sotheWorkforce yahand we also have one more the existing housing division, Sharon Hirota, so I’mgoing to take oneminute. Mr. Ilagan: Ok SusanAkiyama: Sowecanpass the miconto her, the workforce investment actis adepartment oflabor federal grant that we receive this program wassigned into law back inninety eight so we’ve been running this program forafew years its basically an employment andtraining program three funding streams well actually four there is admin and admin pot ofmoney and wealso getmonies foradults, dislocated workers, which are people who arelaid off from their places ofwork through no fault oftheir ownand the last funding stream isforyouth. Fourteen ages fourteen totwenty one basically the law requires ustohave a board which oversees our budgets, ourcontracts, policy making forthe local area which iscalled theworkforce investment board there’sinformation about that board in your binder and there’salso ayouth council which ismandated bylawwhich oversees our youth programs. That’sit. Mr. Ilagan: Thank you. SusanAkiyama: Okay. I’llask Sharon tocome up. Mr. Arnett: Sharon Hirota is our division head for ourexisting housing which comprises ofsection eight subsidy rental and other programs. SharonHirota: Hi, good morning, soIhave couple minutes so I’lldothis asfast asIcan. Sothe existing housing division administers ourrental housing programs for theCounty ofHawaii oneof the more popular programs that weadminister isthe housing choice voucher, section eight program, morecommonly known here asCounty Housing and the program brings in about fourteen million dollars inhousing assistance andwe use that to service around nineteen hundred families island wide asmuch as wewould like tohelp everybody who has aneed there’sover sixthousand applicants currently onour programs waiting list andwe continue toaccept applications onadaily basis. And under those programs, theprogram wasdesigned tohelp low and moderate income with rental assistance, wehave about eight hundred landlords that participate inour program andonan average basis we pay alittle over amillion dollars out amonth into our landlords onbehalf oftheprogram andon behalf of the participants ofour program. Built into thesection eight program wealso have what wecall thefamily self sufficiency program which also individuals to have individualize case 2121hnhp16 management. Ourgoal istowork with them toconnect them to different resources out inthecommunity sothat they can eventually become self sufficient and nolonger need our services and thus wecan gohelp somebody else onthe waiting list. Wealso have the homeownership option program which allows eligible individuals who are inthe position topurchase, that instead ofrental assistance weprovide them with mortgage assistance andthus far we’vehad asof December 31, 2010, we’ve had four families who have become successful homeowners and recently we’veadded two more tothat list so, inaddition, my division also oversees ourKulaimano Elderly housing project, which isafifty unit, onebedroom project located inPepe’ekeo andwe also oversee the OuliEkahi Property which is athirty three unit three bedroom duplex units located inthe Kawaihae area and I’mdone. Mr. Ilagan: Thank youSharon. SharonHirota: Thanks. Mr. Ilagan: atthis time, doanycouncil members have any questions? Ms. Ford: yes Mr. Ilagan: Council member Ford? Ms. Ford: Thank you, Excuse me, Mr. Arnett, we took theKawaihae housing and allowed ittobe moved over tothePuna area. Could you give usalittle update, what isgoing onwith that project? Mr. Arnett: yes ma’am, Icertainly can Ms. Ford: and the name ofit too. Mr. Arnett: Ithink itsI’mnot exactly sure the name ofitat themoment butI’malmost certain its called Pahoa Kupuna Housing, aninstance what we had wasback innineteen ninety two asapart ofthere affordable piece Kohanaiki which was the subdivision atthe time decided that they wanted tofulfill there affordable housing piece before they did anything soOuli Ekahi that Ms. Hirota, Mrs. Hirota mentioned just acouple minutes ago wasbuilt byKohanaiki andto behonest with you they operated itfor the first twenty years and they actually gave itback tothe County last year, last December saying we’re done you know we’vesold our Kohanaiki property we really don’t have any need orrequirement tooperate Ouli anymore asa consequence youhave itbackthe sadpart was isthat itcame back with amortgage itwasabout fivehundred and twenty eight thousand dollars that were on top ofitbut Sharon Hirota our division manager was didawonderful job innegotiating with the State renegotiation of that loan with Zero interest, we’ve subsequently paidthat down about four hundred and seventy thousand but long story short isthat the transitional housing atKawaihae wasalso built by Kohanaiki that’swhere that all ties intogether, there weretwenty fourunits inKawaihae I 2121hnhp17 don’tknow ifyouever drove past but they were the yellow buildings that will look like ahovel inwhich they were hovels, they were about twelve feet bysixteen feet and families actually lived in those small squalet quarters. Twenty ofthose units were built tobe moved, moveable theother four were built slab ongray which meant they couldn’tbeused. I’mhappy to say that ninety percent ofthematerials inKawaihae transitional housing was recycled insomefashion. Doors andwindows were saved and used for Parks andRecreation and the twenty units that wewere actually able tomove went toPahoa and were given to theoffice ofsocial ministries for adollar sothe office of social ministries paid Kohanaiki adollar and werestored that property toitsnatural state after everything was taken off and recycled and whathave you. The reason that the overriding reason todismantle Kawaihae was the mandate from EPAthat subdivisions notbeongang cesspools that particular project hadgang cesspools and soapart ofthe deal wasthat wefill up thegang cesspools and move everything outofthere. So subsequent tothat those twenty units now sit inPahoa, Office ofSocial Ministries hasengaged theservices ofthe students at theUniversity of Hawaii Manoa architectural school they have drawn plans, wehave come to the council with aresolution for certain exemptions onthat particular property because its ag and thanks to the council approving the exemptions isnow usable forurban use the plan istotake ofthetwenty units moved, nineteen oreighteen will be put together and they’re going to bealmost like duplexes, sothe twelve bysixteen units arenow going tobecome abedroom, not awhole lot ofliving unit but only abedroom. Bedroom on each side andthere’sgoing to bea kitchen that will beacommunal kitchen that the two kupunas would use together, soactually have their own bedroom butthey have acommunal kitchen that they would use. Myunderstanding is that there’sgoing tobe atremendous amount ofcommunity effort put into that particular project even ourformer councilman Mr. Blas had volunteered tobeapart ofthat particular group. So tobehonest with youthere just now getting that particular project moving interms of construction and hopefully have itdone within the next sixtoeight months. Mr. Ilagan: Thank you, Mr. Arnett. Any other further questions? Ms. Poindexter: Onthe CDBG funding, is it still where community organizations the main thing that they’re501C3’scan apply for those that funding aslong asthey meet the criteria of HUD because doesn’tthat money come from HUD andyou meet the criteria ofHUD? Mr. Arnett: Yes itdoes, also apart oftheawardees, Noel touched onit toacertain degree, we have agroup that ranks andrates each application based upon there needs but wealso 2121hnhp18 file every five years anaction plan and also annually weneed itupdated annually our action plan andincluded in the action plan are high priority, medium priority, and low priority projects orprojects isnot theword Iwant to use, but Iguess priorities isabetter waytosay itanyway, long story short is theranks andrating system isbased upon high, medium, andlow soifyou, ifyour project fits into ourhigh priority item, your going toget ranked higher than somebody else that’sina lowor medium priority ifyou follow what Iamsaying, but the answer toyour question isyes, non-profits can apply andwould be included inthe awardee process or ranking rating process. Ms. Poindexter: Community organizations they don’thave tobe a community development corporation butthey could beacommunity association witha501C3 and main thing they meet the criteria of HUDwhat HUD’scriteria is? Mr. Arnett: Correct Ms. Poindexter: right? Okay, thanks. Mr. Ilagan: Council member Wille? Margaret Wille: Ijust want tofirst say how impressed Iam with howwell you getfederal funds, Iwould like tohave aseminar onhow you didthis and howwecan dothis inother sectors. I didwant toask, Ithink itwas onSharon’sbrought up about section eight that there were about sixthousand applicants of those six thousand Ijust wondered what portion of applicants do we serve? Are weserving or dowe anticipate serving? SharonHirota: soweprocess application based onthedate and time that they submit tous, sothose who are atthe top ofthe waitlist right now are those who applied inJanuary oftwo thousand and eight. Margaret Wille: In January oftwo thousand andeight. SharonHirota: yes Margaret Wille: Imean the one thing Ireally like about this program isthat there’safocus onself sufficiency andmoving people towards where there not just being provided housing but able todothat ontheir ownand Ireally believe in that not just give the fish but teach thefishing help people todothat and Iwonder interms ofthe balancing of the transitional housing, rental units, verses single family ownership Ihappen tobe really into maximizing the rental and transitional housing andnot amuch of anadvocate for providing single family homes individual so Idon’tknow how much youall have control over looking at that kind of where thefunds goorwhat the allocation isand what your priorities are inthatarea. Maybe that’sSteve. SteveArnett: I’malittle confuse, Areyoutalking about CDBG funding oryou’re talking about section eight funding. 2121hnhp19 Margaret Wille: I’mnot talking about section eight butjust generally interms ofgetting funding inwhere we’reallocating that towards such asthe single the some ofthe units that you have inKona orrental subsidy verses where building single family homes forsingle families. SteveArnett: Well ideally most ofour programs go tobenefit rental individuals whether its transitional orwhether itslow income. Margaret Wille: It does. SteveArnett: Ideally thegoal istomove people from transitional tolow income housing then from lowincome housing to market housing beit rental and thenultimately to homeownership ifatall possible. We do not subsidize homeownership in other words wedon’tgive people money fordown payments, nordowegive money for mortgage payments, sobutwe dowedotry toencourage youknow moving out ofthelower levels and moving upwith at all possible and if itmeans that we need todosome sort ofskilled training through programs that we have available youknow so beitbutour focus is primarily transitional andlow income rental assistance. Margaret Wille: okay, that’sgood andone last question, just in terms ofthe Ithink itwasSharon again brought this upabout nomaybe you did, money forrepairs forlow income people and that’ssomething that regardless ofthat their outside ofany of these programs right now they can apply for that? SteveArnett yes ma’am, andthe maximum loan amount istwenty five thousand, soifyou have anindividual alow income individual inyour district who say needs roof repair orneeds some massive plumbing, sorry Mr. Onishi didn’tmean to step on your toes, (LOL!!!) had need some plumbing repairs orwhat have you, you know certainly have them take anapplication and apply. Margaret Wille: solow income eligibility and I’vegotrepairs that are needed and they are willing todo iton aloan basis. SteveArnett: Yes, ma’amand Ibelieve that the percentage for the loan isthree percent. Margaret Wille: Okay, thank you. SteveArnett: You’rewelcome. Mr. Ilagan: Council member Dennis “Fresh” Onishi? Mr. Onishi: thank you Mr. Chair, this question might be for either Susan orNoel, Ijustwanted anupdate onthe lift van that was requested byelderly activities division, parks and rec administration you folks would have anything, what’shappening on that? Just tolet councilmember’s know the last year what I didis working with Susan when she wasaCDBG coordinator was that totry andget some funding with for tohelp parks andrec with the elderly activities division cause inWaimea there was this lift vanthat’sover twenty something years old and noone 2121hnhp20 really went andtried togetanew vehicle soworking with housing, working with parks andrec and also with the administration, wegot thefunding andmaybe Noel can kind of update everyone. NoelFujimoto: Yeswereceived thespecifications from parks and recs and we’rereviewing itand we’llbe submitting itback to parks and recsothat they can gooutand dothere procurement process. Mr. Onishi: and Ithink itslike what seventy onethousand dollars orsomething like that. NoelFujimoto: yeah, that’scorrect. Mr. Onishi: good, okay, andthenalso what Iwaslooking at hopefully in thefuture was trying to getonelift van forKona, because Kona islacking ofalift vantoo, they have avery old vanthere toosothat’swhat mynext plan was butthank youfor the update. NoelFujimoto: You’rewelcome. Mr. Onishi: and also just to let councilmember’sknow that you know Ireally miss Jeremy McComber because heisareally good man but nowIlook forward toworking with Chris Fujiuchi and oneof emone project isthat the Hilo Hongwanji theyhave a property just below Waiakea High School and what they wanted to do wasdoastudent homes student housing for theuniversity but because ofsome kind tax credits orthe affordable credits some thing went wrong soJeremy was working tosee howhecould help with the developer totryand solve thisproblem but heleft then the new person came inbut heleftso now hopefully Ican work with Chris on that one. So. SteveArnett: Well, Imust admit, Chris is only temporary Mr. Onishi: Well hopefully then Igot towork with him fast then. But yeah that’sjust some ofthe projects but also Idon’t maybe you folks can give anupdate toabout theCDBG because I think the federal government orthere was aproblem about the funding source and depending on what happens with thefiscal year orwith thefiscal cliff ofthe other socalled Idon’t know what itisthey looking at orwhatthey going be cutting that might become youknow onthe chopping blocks correct? SteveArnett: its true itcould beonthechopping block, we hope not but itcould. Yeah, that program has been very valuable tous and butwe’vebeen able tohelp alot ofnon profits alot ofreally really good things with that program sohopefully it stays in place. Mr. Onishi: yeah, just tolet councilmember’sknow that about twoyears ago when councilman Ikeda andmyself wentup Susan helped ustogettomeet theCDBG person upinWashington, DC andso wegottomeet with that person and wethanked them for alltheir services and wetold them that you know whatever we 2121hnhp21 canhelp out youknow tolet usknow, but that’swhat wedidup there. Thank you, thanks Susan. Mr. Ilagan: Thank you council member Onishi, any other further questions? If none, Ijust want tosay thank you Mr. Arnett for bringing your staff and giving usanoverview oftheHawaii County Housing Agency and Happy New Year. Mr. Arnett: thank youthere’sone thing that Iforgot, andI would like to mention before you guys leave and that is we did inWaikoloa wedid build apark there was atwelve acre piece that was designated for apark and we’ve constructed the park andwe built aregulation size soccer field and asoftball diamond andbaseball diamond for thekupuna and thekids to play onand inthe works and under construction aswespeak isa skateboard park there aswell now theskateboard park iscoming from private funding but nonetheless thepark itself is asoccer field, softball/baseball diamond comfort station parking lot and maybe even aeventually atsomepoint andtime acommunity center for Waikoloa, Waikoloa doesn’treally have acommunity center sothat would beareally valuable edition forthat particular community soIjust wanted toadd that that’sthe thing Iforgot. Mr. Ilagan: thank youMr. Arnett, thank you. Mr. Arnett: thank you allfor your patience andindulgence in listening to usdrawn onand hopefully itwas worthwhile. Mr. Ilagan: Atthis time, Iwill recognize amotion tonominate avice chair forthe Hawaii County Housing agency. Mr. Kern: point of order, Mr. Chair, Ithink themotion is pending right now and we’dbe into discussion right now, now that Mr. Onishi’sthere andifwecould I’dlike to start that out. J. Yoshimoto: just asapoint oforder youwould just need to call the item back tothefloor. Just say that we’re going to address the motion tonominate Mr. Onishi is, iswhere wewere at, and itwill become live. Mr. Ilagan: Iwill bring back the motion to the floor toaddress the nomination for the vice chair ofthe housing county agency. Mr. Kern: Mr. Chair Mr. Ilagan: Councilmember Kern Mr. Kern: Thank you, I’dlike toapologize to myfellow councilmember’sforthe confusion that Ihave caused this morning. I’dalso like toespecially apologize toMs. Eoff for putting you onthe spot, Ididn’tmean to dothat, Ididn’t remember correctly and Mr. Onishi myaction ofmaking that original motion was nothing against you oranything else itwas just pure confusion soI’dlike tobeable tomove onfrom that andIagain apologize forthat and Isupport Mr. Onishi forthe vice chair of this position. Thank you very much. 2121hnhp22 Mr. Ilagan: Can Igetasecond, discussion. Ms. Poindexter: Ifeel obligated because Ihad initially also agreed tothat to having when wespoke Idon’tfeel likeIwant togoback onmyword tooso Iwant tohonor that soI’mgoing to saythat I’mgoing tosupport Fresh Onishi. Thank you. Mr. Ilagan: anyone else? Councilmember Eoff? Karen Eoff: thank you Mr. Chair, yesIwanted to thank my fellow councilmember’sfortheir confidence andsupport inmebut at this time Itoosupport Mr. Onishi forvice chair and ifhehas any change of heart or does notwant theposition then Iwould consider itbut otherwise I’llsupport Mr. Onishi. Margaret Wille: Yes, Myone concern is just that West Hawaii be really well represented onthe housing issue andIwant toknow that Mr. Onishi or whoever that there really going to betaking acomprehensive look athousing on the west side and bea presence over there Imean otherwise its going tobetwo people from the east side and soI’mreally looking tothe west side being well represented notjust onindividual items but on the sort ofbig picture ofwhat dowedoabout housing and howdo we deal with that in terms ofwater howdowe deal with itallin terms ofthe overall development there aswell asin terms of transportation that may beall ofthehousing forthatarea should not be right there but that we ought to increase transportation so I’mjust asking forahigh level ofcommitment toMr. Onishi orwhoever does itand that Idohavealot of questions and concerns interms ofon thewest side. Thank you. Mr. Ilagan: Councilmember Onishi? Mr. Onishi: thank you Mr. Chair, just toanswer some ofMiss Wille’squestions isthat you know Ithink about ayear ortwo years ago Ithink Imet withSteve folks and with your staff about trying tosee how wecould adjust affordable percentage housing and tosee where wecould bring it down but the bottom line weneed tounderstand isthat whenthe housing project is done they gobythis percentage but then also theperson needs to qualify and that’swhere Ithink there’salot of problems maybe someone from your office can you know maybe answer tothat oradd tothat but the things lot oftimes weneed tohave like rental housing Ithink that would bemuch more feasible for certain areas because ofhow there’s notenough jobsandpeople arenot working and sothat’swhere Iworked with them tosee howwe could dothe adjustments onthat. Transportation wise like Imentioned before youknow Iworked ononeproject with them already with parks and rec andadministration about getting that lift vanfor Waimea, Honoka’a, Laupahoehoe but now like I said Iwanted tosee ifIcould get something down for Kona and tohelp out theseniors outthere. Andthat’swhat the bottom line is for youknow like CDBG you know Iguess its every 2121hnhp23 individual councilmember whatever projects you folks have in there you have to work with that nonprofit orworkwith that public private company totry and seehow they can get some CDBG funding from housing andthat’swhat I’vebeen always trying to work with and you know Ihad ameeting with the Hilo adult care, theHawaii Island Adult Care meeting with the CDBG group tofind outhow they canimprove there ratings because they didn’t qualify the last time. Sothat’ssome things but Ireally appreciate working under housing and working with Chairman Ilagan onthis. Thank you. Mr. Ilagan: Thank you councilmember Onishi, any further, councilmember Kern? Mr. Kern: Ijust like topoint out the fact that Ipersonally I don’tfeel that the vice chair or even the chair of the committee necessarily drives that onthe islandwide basis Ifeel that its uptous asindividual councilmember’stowork with our constituents asthe need for that onthis housing and soIfeel that the vice chair if thechair isn’table todothat thevice chair isgoing tolead themeeting their going tohelp the process of itbut again its uptousasindividual councilmember’stodowhat wecan for ourdistricts and the people oftheBig Island as awhole and work together todothat so Ms. Wille, Idon’tfeel that that’sthedriving force there, Ifeel like weare the driving force soI’llfinish we that. Thank you. Mr. Ilagan: Thank youcouncilmember’s’, Ms. Clerk can we dorole call? Ms. Clerk: Sure, Ms. Eoff? Ms. Eoff: aye Ms. Clerk: Ms. Ford? Ms. Ford: No Ms. Clerk: Mr. Kanuha? Mr. Kanuha: aye Ms. Clerk: Mr. Kern Mr. Kern: aye Ms. Clerk: Mr. Onishi? Mr. Onishi aye Ms. Clerk: Ms. Poindexter? Ms. Poindexter: aye Ms. Clerk: Ms. Wille? Ms. Wille aye Ms. Clerk: Mr. Yoshimoto? Mr. Yoshimoto: aye Ms. Clerk: Chair Ilagan? ChairIlagan: aye Ms. Clerk: Chair Ilagan you have eight ayes. 2121hnhp24 ChairIlagan: Thank you Ms. Clerk. Since there’snooldbusiness and may Ihave amotion toadjourn? somoved second ChairIlagan: all sayaye Councilmembers: aye, adjourn 2121hnhp25