HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/19/2011 Regular Council MeetingCOUNCIL MEETING
October 19, 2011
The Council Meeting of the Council of the County of Kauai
order by Council Chair Furfaro at the Council Chambers, 4396
Suite 201, Lihu`e, Kauai, on Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 9:05
following members answered the call of the roll:
Honorable Tim Bynum
Honorable Dickie Chang
Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i
Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura
Honorable Mel Rapozo
Honorable JoAnn A. Yukimura (Excused at 10 a.m.)
Honorable Jay Furfaro, Council Chair
APPROVAL OF AGENDA.
was called to
Rice Street,
a.m., and the
Mr. Chang moved to approve the agenda as circulated, seconded by
Mr. Bynum, and unanimously carried.
MINUTES of the following meetings of the Council:
Special Council Meeting of September 7, 2011
Public Hearing of October 5, 2011 re: Bills Nos. 2412, 2413, 2414 and 2415
Mr. Chang to approve the minutes as circulated, seconded by Ms. Yukimura,
and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Furfaro: Mr. Clerk, I would like to go to the Special Order of
the Day, which is a follow -up in our rules item 5(e). I would like to have that item
read, if I could please.
There being no objections, the Special Order of the Day, C 2011 -286, was taken out
of order.
SPECIAL ORDER OF THE DAY:
C 2011 -286 Request (09/27/2011) from the Office of the County Attorney for
authorization to expend funds up to $75,000.00 to retain special counsel to
represent the County of Kauai in County of Kauai vs. Michael Guard Sheehan, et
al., Civil No. 11 -1 -0098 (Condemnation), Fifth Circuit Court, and related matters:
Mr. Bynum moved to approve C 2011 -286, seconded by Mr. Chang.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you. We have a motion to approve and a
second. For those of you in the audience, this is a reappearing item from previous
weeks and in Rule 5(e) we did not get to the five required votes along with having
an absent member on that day. So rather than revisit that testimony, for those that
wish to speak, I'm going to limit you to three minutes to speak on this item. Is
there anyone in the audience that would like to speak on this item? Mr. Mickens.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
COUNCIL MEETING - 2 - October 19, 2011
GLENN MICKENS: Thank you, Jay. Jay, do I understand this, right
now is this the Consent Calendar?
Council Chair Furfaro: No.
Mr. Mickens: Oh, okay.
Council Chair Furfaro: This is an item that was carried over into today's
meeting, which we are addressing first because it's called the Special Order of the
Day.
Mr. Mickens: Okay.
Council Chair Furfaro: We'll be to the Consent Calendar next.
Mr. Mickens: Okay, thank you.
Council Chair Furfaro: Is there anyone in the audience that wishes to
speak on this item? Mr. Sheehan, did you wish to speak?
MICHAEL SHEEHAN: No thank you, sir.
Council Chair Furfaro: Okay. Is there anyone here from the
administration that wishes to speak?
MAUNA YEA TRASK, Deputy County Attorney: Aloha, Chair,
Councilmembers. I believe Gary Heu may be outside. He may want to speak right
now. For the record, deputy county attorney, Mauna Kea Trask.
Council Chair Furfaro: Well then he needs to be in the room if he wishes to
speak.
Mr. Trask: Mr. Castillo went to go get him. (Inaudible.)
Council Chair Furfaro: As I said earlier, I've called for testimony. I saw no
hands in the audience. No one is wishing to speak, but the county attorney has
advised me Mr. Heu would like to speak. There were no speakers. I made the offer.
Mr. Heu?
GARY HEU, Managing Director: Good morning, Chair Furfaro and Members
of the County Council. For the record, my name is Gary Heu, Managing Director.
Thank you for allowing me this time to testify on behalf of the administration.
We're here today to take an important step forward in the process of expanding one
of the most treasured natural assets. The expansion of Black Pot Park in Hanalei is
a high priority for the Mayor. I believe it's a high priority for this council and it
certainly is a high priority for our community, especially the residents of Hanalei.
When discussions began in 2009 with property owner Mr. Sheehan, we were hopeful
that we could come to friendly terms on the purchase of the parcels in question.
Since 2009, the County of Kauai has made numerous attempts to negotiate with
Mr. Sheehan regarding the purchase of his property. Our discussions began in 2009
and unfortunately we have been unable to reach an agreement. In an effort to
arrive at a fair purchase price, the county in October of 2010 had the fee simple
value of the agreed upon portions of the boatyard property appraised and the county
has offered to purchase the property from Mr. Sheehan for the appraised price of
$5.89 million. It should be noted that Mr. Sheehan was offered the opportunity to
perform his own appraisal. Mr. Sheehan has never made the county a counter offer
COUNCIL MEETING - 3 - October 19, 2011
for his property even though he stated he would. The county has in fact encouraged
him to submit a counter offer, but he has never responded. At this point
Mr. Sheehan has not provided the county with any additional information regarding
the subject property, but in fact has increased the commercial activity on his
property even after his permits have been revoked by the planning commission of
the County of Kauai and affirmed by the Fifth Circuit Court. Therefore, the county
believes that it is now prudent to take the matter before the Circuit Court Judge of
the Fifth Circuit, who will legally and properly decide the appropriate value of
Mr. Sheehan's property. We feel that it is in the best interest of the community to
aggressively pursue the acquisition of this property. We feel that we have placed a
reasonable offer based on a fair and impartial appraisal on the table. We feel that
we have allowed ample time for Mr. Sheehan to respond to our request for
additional information. We respectfully ask the council to approve this funding
request so that we can move forward with the acquisition in a fair and impartial
arena, namely, the Fifth Circuit Court. Thank you.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you, Mr. Heu. Members, are there any
questions of Mr. Heu? Mr. Rapozo.
Mr. Rapozo: I have a question. Well, I guess I can ask it to Gary
and if maybe Mauna Kea can answer. What is the expected cost of the
condemnation process? I mean you're asking for $75,000. That obviously is not
enough. What do you ... I'm sure you folks have done an assessment of the process.
What is the... and a ballpark figure is fine. What is the estimated cost from the
start to finish on a condemnation proceeding?
Mr. Trask: For the record, Deputy County Attorney Mauna
Kea Trask, on behalf of the county attorney's office. I'm not aware of a figure
that ... and I don't want to guess if it would be beyond $75,000 and the reason why is
because in a condemnation proceeding there's two issues. It's clearly stated in
HRS 101. It's public purpose, which the resolution that was passed by this council
this past January identifies it as park expansion, and the second is price. "Just
compensation" is the term of art and we have an appraisal. Like Gary said, we
believe that it's accurate. We have full faith in it and beyond that I've never done a
condemnation proceeding, so I wouldn't know.
Mr. Rapozo: Has the county ever done a contested
condemnation?
Mr. Trask: The county has done condemnations. I don't know
what you would mean by contested.
Mr. Rapozo: Well, unfriendly, where it went to court. We've
done condemnations of properties that the landowner was willing to give up. Have
we ever done one where the landowner was not willing? Have we reviewed ... I just
need a number, something, I mean whether it's another case in Hawaii. I do know
that $75,000 will not cover.
Mr. Trask: Well, I can't answer that. I don't know.
Mr. Rapozo: We have not done that analysis?
Mr. Trask: I haven't said...I don't know. It may have been
done, but I'm not aware of it. I've been working on negotiations.
COUNCIL MEETING - 4 - October 19, 2011
Mr. Rapozo: Is somebody aware of it, Mr. Heu? Is anybody in
our county aware of how much ... what we're looking at? I mean we're being asked to
engage in a process. I kind of would like to know what we're looking at before we
vote.
ALFRED B. CASTILLO, JR., County Attorney: Councilmember Rapozo, good
morning.
Mr. Rapozo: Good morning.
Mr. Castillo: This chair is ... I know I'm short, but this chair is
really down at the bottom. I'm not trying to hide, okay.
Mr. Rapozo: You can adjust it.
Mr. Castillo: And if I stand I would be too tall and then the
camera won't be able to ... but, you know, I know that you are being fiscally prudent
and your concern about the cost and so are we. In doing prosecutorial work, private
practice, the cost of litigation is always a concern and a consideration, especially for
the county. And that's why when I took office here with the county, we tried not to
utilize special counsel as much as we could and we've saved this county over
$2 million by doing that. What you're asking us basically is how can we predict the
future. I cannot tell you what the cost will be, but I can tell you that we will do
everything that we possibly can to pursue this matter in a professional way, in a
responsible way. So the answer to your question is really, yes, you're right, $75,000
to start with and we will always keep in mind that we are spending the taxpayers'
money. If we can't get this case resolved within a month or two after the start of
the court proceedings, we will be open to settlement conferences, how many it takes.
But it will be guided by a fair and impartial party, which would be legally and
properly done by, in this case would be Judge Valenciano. I don't know if that
answers your question, but I cannot predict the future.
Mr. Rapozo: It doesn't answer the question, but I accept your
response. I don't know. I didn't get my answer is what I'm saying, but I understand
what you're saying and...
Mr. Castillo: But we will keep you and the council informed
every step of the way in whatever efforts we take and if you would like to provide us
input, then we will receive your input and see if it works.
Mr. Rapozo: Thank you.
Council Chair Furfaro: Vice Chair Yukimura.
Ms. Yukimura: Mr. Castillo, to a certain extent there isn't an
answer because it will depend in part on the cooperation, to what extent the
landowner is cooperative and how contentious the process is, right?
Mr. Castillo: Absolutely and that is where we cannot predict. I
know how my conduct will be and how the attorneys of the county attorney's office
will be. We'll be always as professional and as respectful as we can. How things
will occur in the future, again, we cannot predict.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you.
Mr. Castillo: You're welcome.
COUNCIL MEETING - 5 - October 19, 2011
Council Chair Furfaro: Are there any additional questions for the county
attorney or the deputy county attorney? Seeing none, are there any additional
questions for Mr. Heu? Seeing none, members, I'm going to call our meeting back to
order since the offer for testimony has gone twice.
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as
follows:
Council Chair Furfaro: Mr. Bynum, we'll recognize you, then Mr. Rapozo.
Mr. Bynum: I want to thank the administration for coming here
and making a statement today because they're in a position to say things that some
councilmembers cannot. What I know I can say is that the county attorney's office
has kept the council fully informed every step of the way. Mauna Kea Trask has
done an outstanding job, I think, representing the county with integrity and
thoughtfulness. So I believe that the county has taken all of the appropriate steps
and this is a long involved process that has involved court cases already, but it's
clearly in our public's best interest to acquire the land at Black Pot for public use
from now and into the future. So supporting this is the right thing to do and I will
be.
Council Chair Furfaro: Mr. Rapozo.
Mr. Rapozo: Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I appreciate the
explanation of the county attorney's office, but I guess for me I will not sign a blank
check. I'm not going to do that. I've been in the legal. industry. I'm not an attorney,
but I've worked with attorneys for a long time and I have never spoken to an
attorney, whether it was a case I was working or working with a client that had an
attorney that the attorney could not give an estimate, a ballpark figure. I mean
that's just ... how much is an assault case? Depending, it could be higher or lower,
but you can look at about $2500 to $3,000. How about a DUI? It could be anywhere
from $3,000 to $5,000. How about if I want to go out and sue someone for
unlaw ... whatever, termination or injury or whatever? Well, these cases cost money.
It could start off at $30,000, get up to $60,000 and it could go either way. I mean
I've never been told we cannot answer that question and yet we're being asked to
sign the check. I'm not going to do that at this point.
In January when the resolution for condemnation came up, my vote was
contingent on the fact that we were told that we were not going to be... the
administration was not going to be requesting special counsel funds. That was the
basis of my vote. Back in January, had I been told, hey, we'll be back later for
special counsel money I would not have supported the resolution. My vote in the
January resolution to start the process, if you remember correctly and I think I
provided the minutes and if not, I can, what we were told at that time was that they
were involved in informal discussions. That's what we were told. Hey, we have
been involved in informal discussions.
Today we hear, well, we've been in active negotiations since 2009. But yet we
were told that the resolution was required to begin negotiations. So if it started in
2009, then I have to believe that we didn't really need the resolution, but we got the
resolution to formally start negotiations. That was in January and it's been a few
months. Everybody's entitled to their opinion and yes, we cannot divulge what's in
executive session, but I would disagree with Mr. Bynum that in fact I believe
negotiations have been active.
COUNCIL MEETING - 6 - October 19, 2011
I think there have been some issues, but that's something that can be
resolved in a more inexpensive way than hiring a condemnation attorney. I don't
know what it will cost, but I can tell you that in just speaking to different personal
friends of mine on Oahu that are attorneys —I work with a lot of them in my
private business —that it's not uncommon for condemnations to be in the six and
even seven figure range. I don't know what this one will be and that's why I was
hoping to get some kind of ballpark figure because I would much rather see the six
figure or seven figure number be applied to the purchase of the land, than be hung
up in some attorney's fees. I am willing to support funding an attempt to mediate
this, to get a negotiator, a professional negotiator versus a $400 an hour or $300 an
hour attorney. I think we could save a lot of money if in fact we went through a real
productive mediation or negotiation. I'm willing to allow that to continue for a
reasonable time. And if in fact we cannot reach an agreement or settlement in that
time, then I'll definitely support going forward with the active condemnation. But I
hate to be tied up in court and having taxpayer dollars going to attorney's fees as
opposed to the purchase of the land. I don't want anything more than to get that
land. I want that land. I think it's a good purchase. And I think that we need to
explore the most inexpensive route at first. It's not a time sensitive issue. In my
opinion, I think 30 days of negotiation or mediation, 45 days or whatever it takes,
and if we cannot come to an agreement at that point, then I say yes, let's move
forward. But I think that to jump to this process right now not knowing what it's
going to cost the taxpayers because who's to say that the legal fees may come out
more than or add an additional $1 million or $2 million to the cost of the land. I
don't even know that. None of us know that from what we just heard. So I'm not
going to be supporting the money for that purpose. Like I said, I would definitely
entertain a discussion on mediation to pursue that because I believe that is where
our taxpayers' dollars should be in the purchase of land and not tied up in legal
fees. I will not be supporting the money today. Thank you.
Ms. Yukimura: Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know I was the one
who in the last meeting moved to amend to allow the moneys to be used for
mediation. And I'm not making that motion today because I think mediation can be
part of the court process and thus be part of the moneys that we're appropriating
here today. I don't know very intimately the process of condemnation, but I think
Judge Valenciano, in his wisdom, if he feels that it will help the parties come to a
fair and quick resolution would have that option. As far as cost to the taxpayers, I
remember talking to a member ... I think he was a director of the Trust for Public
Lands, which is the granddaddy, nonprofit that for 40 years across the nation has
been acquiring land for public purposes and he said, don't ever think that land is too
expensive to buy because, he said, in another 20 years you will think it was so
cheap. And if you look back at all the possibilities we could have bought many
years ago when we thought it was too expensive, we would know that the value for
the people of this island is untold. And so if we have to spend some money now, we
need to do it. And Black Pot is a beloved wahi pana?
Council Chair Furfaro: Wahi pana.
Ms. Yukimura: Beloved sacred place that serves so many people in
so many ways, from surfing to keiki to fishing off the pier to visitors and residents,
elderly and everybody in- between. So this is a project we have to keep perspective
on. This is something that can be a legacy from all of us to the people of Kauai.
And so I think we need to move ahead and trust that the county attorney's office
and the administration will move as they have promised professionally, fairly, trust
that the landowner will see the opportunity to do his part to leave a legacy as well
and be fairly compensated and then have this for the people of Kauai in perpetuity.
COUNCIL MEETING - 7 - October 19, 2011
Mr. Chang: Thank you, Chairman. One of my main questions
and something that I recall, I had the opportunity to go out to the north shore on
several occasions within the past two weeks, 10 days or so, and talking to different
community people within the north shore and having an opportunity to walk and
tour and reminisce the Black Pot, Hanalei area itself. But you know, I think the
question has been spending the money and we always think about spending the
taxpayers' money, which $75,000 is a lot of money. But I can tell you the one thing
I remember. When I first got on the council in 2008, I remember having many
attorneys, many acting attorneys, many attorneys coming perhaps once or twice or
three times a week from Honolulu. Several of our acting attorneys were actually
acting out of Honolulu and the one thing that I remember when our attorney came
onboard, he clearly mentioned to the council and to the people that he was going to
keep as much of our legal business inside, in other words do the best to stay away
from special counsel. So I had an opportunity to check with the office and our
county attorney Castillo mentioned that the county saved approximately $2 million
also on outside special counsel since March of 2009. So in 2009 roughly
approximately $3,000 and $70,000 which may have been spent on outside counsel
was saved for us, in 2010 approximately $132,000, and in 2011 about
$1.489 million. So I know that our county attorneys have been doing their best to
keep the business in- house, if you will, and staying away from outside special
counsel.
Specialization in condemnation is something that I think is very detail
oriented and I do believe we need specialty attorneys to handle. But when you go
out into the community and you see what Hanalei Bay is all about, I mean many
people as we lived on the island of Kauai always knew that it was a problem. It
was the wild, wild west. It turned a lot of brothers against brothers, sisters against
sisters, families against families. And when I think way back when and I think
about an outstanding job on Saturdays and Sundays that our very own attorney
Mauna Kea Trask has been doing not only because of his family, because of his
roots, because of the community, he might have been two years old when all of this
stuff was happening. And 30 years later, he's now responsible for doing what I
believe he knows what he's doing and I need to trust our attorney's office because
we've all asked a lot of questions and I believe that we need to move on. Like I
mentioned I've talked to different people and different bodies. You talk about the
north shore community, there's different people with different opinions, but I do
believe at this point everybody is ready to move forward. And so I believe and I am
going to vote on supporting the $75,000, but I do believe in my heart of hearts my
county attorney and the staff are ready, versed and I believe that they know what
the problems are and they want to resolve it as quickly and responsibly and
hopefully as nicely as it can be done. So I'm going to be supporting, I think, the
vision, the Holo Holo 2020 vision, and I think the vision of the north shore. I
believe the people have spoken. And so I think it's time for us to move on and get
this process going and ho`oponopono, move forward and I think this will be the best
for all of Kauai. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Kuali`i: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Since our last meeting I
was able to meet with two community leaders from Hanalei and also with the
county attorney's office. And my concern over the good attempt at negotiations was
addressed and I still share some of Councilmember Rapozo's concerns with regards
to the cost. And I still was hopeful that there could be something regarding dispute
resolution and maybe that's still possible. But based on the new information that I
have received, I am prepared to support with reservations. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you, Mr. Kuali`i.
COUNCIL MEETING - 8 - October 19, 2011
Ms. Nakamura: Yes, I will be supporting this resolution today. I
did share some concerns about the process, to understand the condemnation process
and how the final value is settled, and my understanding now is that that occurs
during a settlement conference with the judge or whoever he or she assigns. And
that the valuation can occur at that level and I'm comfortable with that.
I believe that Councilman Rapozo's question about what's a typical range
for... and not holding you to a specific cost, but what's a typical range for a
condemnation procedure, I think, is valid. And I would hope that that gets
addressed and even if...I think we should have an idea of what that upper limit
might be.
So I believe that the recreational needs on the north shore warrant our
forward movement on this. Any weekend you go out there, it is an overcrowded
park. The need for expansion is so evident. So I will be supporting this measure.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Does anybody wishes to speak a second
time before I speak? Mr. Rapozo.
Mr. Rapozo: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to make it clear that
my position is not to not move forward. I never said that I didn't want to move
forward. In fact I think I said that, in fact I know I said that I wanted to move
forward. I'm saying that we should move forward in a fiscally responsible manner.
That's what I'm saying. I am not saying not to move forward. I have never
disputed the fact that we should expand Black Pot. I never said that.
This isn't about the qualifications of the county attorney's office either. It has
nothing to do with that. It's obvious that this is something that is outside of their
reach and they're asking for special assistance. I don't oppose that at some point,
but right now, my point is simply and I think I would ask all of you
councilmembers, and it's obviously too late now, that maybe you should try to
explore what the cost of condemnation is because it's not as simple as two things:
public use and appraisal. We're talking about public use, yes. We'll definitely win
that argument in court. It's the appraisal; it's the value. This specific property is
tied up in court. There's some appeals. There are some issues that are tied to this
land deal that is not like the little patch of land for the bike path in Kapa`a. This is
a different animal and I would suggest, again, it's too late now, but I just wish some
of you may have talked to some attorneys about condemnation costs because I think
you would be very surprised at what these things cost. It's not just as simple as
going down the road to an appraiser and say, hey, appraise my land; you appraise
the land and then let's come to an agreement. It's a little more entailed and
detailed and a little bit more conflicting than that. So, I can count. It'll move
forward. I just hope that it can be done in a very, very reasonably priced manner,
but I don't think it will. Thank you.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Anyone wants to speak a second time
before I speak and call for the vote? Mr. Bynum.
Mr. Bynum: Reluctantly, but I just want to talk turkey. I've
been on this council and seen Mr. Sheehan come with his attorney, make lots of
promises, make lots of threats, get really assertive and strong, and all of us, I think,
have said, table an offer, let's negotiate. But the administration said here today,
which is fact, that Sheehan has failed to table a counter offer. It takes two to tango.
When you have a discussion, somebody has to talk back, and we all have seen the
escalation of commercial activity occurring there at Black Pot in violation of the
law, I believe. The permits were revoked and that was upheld by the Circuit Court.
COUNCIL MEETING - 9 - October 19, 2011
Why would you continue to just thumb your nose at the law? So the administration
said it's time to move aggressively in a forum that is appropriate for this kind of
matter, where the decisions are made impartially and that's where we're headed.
So thank you.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Second time.
Mr. Kuali`i: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just one basic point and I
think it's in some ways it could be looked at as a matter of basic math and if our
county appraisal is basically $6 million and if Mr. Sheehan —and I don't know if this
is true —but say he wasn't willing to take anything less than $10 million. The
difference there is $4 million. If the cost of litigation condemnation can be even a
million dollars, then we would still in the end save $3 million. Thank you.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you. I'm going to speak now and then I'm
going to call for the vote. I do want to say, Hanalei is one of those very, very special
places on Kauai and quite frankly in the State of Hawaii. There's the mouth of the
river at Kiki`ula that references the red water that comes down, the spring that
comes down from Hanalei Valley. There is ... I'm going to say the legend of Henry
Tai Hook "Uncle Kalani," and his fishing nets drying out as we all went to the stew
pot and enjoyed sometimes beef stew, sometimes palu. It's just a matter of fact.
The ridgeline above the river mouth at Hulilani. I mean it references tumbling
from heaven. There has been some good dialogue at the council table with
Mr. Sheehan in items that include the possibility of even further expansion. I
remember he said that back in 2009 in front of the council and obviously in the
spirit of Grandpa Captain Henry Gomes and Uncle Kalani Tai Hook and many
others, it is really a special place for the island of Kauai, the north shore families. I
have a lot of confidence in the courts at reaching a fair and reasonable negotiation
in the settlement dispute conference. And this is land for public use. Some of you
know I have a nephew that's a judge. I have nephews that are attorneys. And I do
expect that we could spend a substantial amount of money going forward, if it
doesn't get handled appropriately. But I have a huge amount of confidence in the
court. And the whole process here as we've talked with Mr. Sheehan, there was
even some talk of possibly extending some land acquisition that could actually lead
to an access through Ching Ma Leong Store, what is today the Trader. Mike has
been very good about saying there could be other options. But I think at this time it
is time to go to the courts and certainly see what we can, with the court's assistance,
purchase for public use. And so I will be supporting this money allocation today for
legal counsel. And on that note, I'm going to ask if we can take a vote.
The motion to approve C 2011 -286 was then put, and carried by the following
vote:
FOR APPROVAL: Bynum, Chang, Kuali`i, Nakamura, TOTAL — 6,
Yukimura, Furfaro
AGAINST APPROVAL: Rapozo TOTAL —1,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you, everyone, for getting us to this point. I
really hope all of the activities within the court go fair and reasonable for everyone.
And on that note, we're going to take a break. Vice Chair Yukimura has an excused
absence. She'll be traveling. So members, we'll be back in 10 minutes.
There being no objections, the meeting was recessed at 9:40 a.m.
The meeting was called back to order at 10 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
COUNCIL MEETING -10- October 19, 2011
Council Chair Furfaro: Aloha. To the public, I do want to report that at
10 o'clock, Vice Chair Yukimura has an excused absence. She will be traveling for
the next three days and she will not be joining us for the rest of the meeting. I also
would like to go to the Consent Calendar portion of today's agenda. I'd like to start
from there. We have five particular communications that are dealing with the
Consent Calendar. Per our new rules, if there is anyone in the audience that would
like to speak on any of these items now because of time constraints and so forth,
you're more than welcome to. And Glenn, you do know that if this item comes up
again today, you will not have an opportunity. Go ahead. I said five items, there's
six.
Vice Chair Yukimura was noted as excused.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
GLENN MICKENS: Six. So that I understand this right, can I pick off
2412 and 2413 off the agenda? That's permissible?
Council Chair Furfaro: Yes, you may. What numbers are those again,
please?
Mr. Mickens: 2412 and 2413, those two bills. You got them, I
think, in communication and it's on second reading, both. I didn't know whether,
you know there's a public hearing at 1 o'clock, I think. So I didn't know when those
would come up, but they may come up before, but I'll say it now anyway, okay.
Council Chair Furfaro: Are you pulling for the Cardinals?
Mr. Mickens: Yes, National League. (Inaudible.)
Council Chair Furfaro: Go ahead.
Mr. Mickens: (Inaudible) yes. I was pulling for Milwaukee, one of
my ballplayers...
Council Chair Furfaro: You're losing your three minutes. I just needed to
know if you're pulling for the Cardinals. I knew you were a National League guy.
Go ahead.
Mr. Mickens: Yeah, thank you. Before I start this, I just want to
thank BC for his years. He's not here, but BC for his years of service to this council,
to the public, for all he's done. He's been a good friend. I thought he did an
outstanding job of keeping all you people on camera, doing an unbelievable job. He
and Jay Robertson, both. So I just wanted to ... I hope one day maybe that you guys
will be able to honor BC as he's deserving of it.
Let me read this. You have a copy of my testimony, again.
Mr. Chang: Excuse me, before you thank Tony LaRussa, can
you state your name for the record, please?
Mr. Mickens: Oh yeah, Glenn Mickens for the record. Thank you,
Dickie. In our previous council meeting on October 5, in our committee meeting on
October 12, I expressed my opinion to you members of what these bills were about.
Even though Chair Furfaro was good enough to give me a lesson in Hawaiian
COUNCIL MEETING - 11 - October 19, 2011
language and culture, which I appreciated, I still maintain that the purpose of these
two bills was to mitigate the issue we have with the homeless people who are the
major problem in the area as defined in the bills. I'm not in any way being
judgmental or offensive towards these people as they need help, all 536 of them, as I
believe you made mention, Jay, which I believe was the number that Jay gave me.
Many of them are sick, physically or mentally, in need of doctor's care. Many have
other needs, but whatever those needs are, we cannot just ignore them and expect
that the problem will disappear. It is refreshing to see that the Veterans
Administration's Homeless Veterans Outreach Program has identified 25 more
homeless vets here on Kauai and is giving them help, as the Garden Island just had
the article on the front page. I think it was two days ago. And even though these
two bills do address a big problem around the Historic County Building, which I do
agree with you, Jay, it would seem prudent to get the core of this problem by solving
not only those of the homeless vets, but all of the homeless people on Kauai. So
that basically is my question... my statement and again, Jay, I appreciate your
introducing these two bills. I understand what they were about and everything, but
I think the big, big problem now has to be addressed to find out what we're going to
do with these people. That's all. That's a gigantic problem. I know there's probably
a certain element of these people that want to live on the beach. Maybe you never
are going to be able to get them into a shelter or whatever. But I think the mass of
them, I think something has to be done. Anyway, that's it. Thank you, Jay.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Did you want to testify on another
item?
Mr. Mickens: No, just those two 12 and 13. They were kind of, as
I told Tim, I think they were interrelated, okay?
Council Chair Furfaro: Okay.
Mr. Mickens: Thank you very much.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like to
speak on the Consent Calendar at this time? No? Okay, thank you very much.
Mr. Clerk?
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as
follows:
Mr. Watanabe: Okay, we have six items that are on the Consent
Calendar for receipt, on page 1 and the top of page 2.
CONSENT CALENDAR:
C 2011 -287 Statement of the Condition of the Treasury as of August 12,
2011: Mr. Rapozo moved to receive C 2011 -287 for the record, seconded by
Mr. Chang, and unanimously carried.
C 2011 -288 Communication (09/23/2011) from the County Engineer,
transmitting for Council consideration a traffic resolution to establish a 15 mile per
hour speed limit within the Kekaha Residential Lots Unit 4 — Subdivision, Waimea
District, County of Kauai: Mr. Rapozo moved to receive C 2011 -288 for the record,
seconded by Mr. Chang, and unanimously carried.
COUNCIL MEETING -12- October 19, 2011
C 2011 -289 Communication (09/23/2011) from the County Engineer,
transmitting for Council consideration, a traffic resolution to establish stop signs
and stop lines within Kekaha Residential Lots Unit — 4 Subdivision, Waimea
District, County of Kauai: Mr. Rapozo moved to receive C 2011 -289 for the record,
seconded by Mr. Chang, and unanimously carried.
C 2011 -290 Communication (09/26/2011) from the Interim Planning
Director, transmitting for Council consideration, the Planning Commission's
recommendation to amend Chapter 8, Article 7, of the Kauai County Code 1987, as
amended, to clarify permitting requirements regarding farm worker housing:
Mr. Rapozo moved to receive C 2011 -290 for the record, seconded by Mr. Chang, and
unanimously carried.
C 2011 -291 Communication (09/26/2011) from the Interim Director of
Planning, transmitting for Council consideration, the Planning Commission's
recommendation to amend Chapter 8 of the Kauai County Code, as amended, to
establish an imposition of civil fine authority for the County of Kauai Planning
Department: Mr. Rapozo moved to receive C 2011 -291 for the record, seconded by
Mr. Chang, and unanimously carried.
C 2011 -292 Communication (10/10/2011) from Councilmember Nakamura,
transmitting for Council consideration, amendments to Chapter 8, Kauai County
Code 1987, relating to the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (CZO), to exclude bus
stops, bus shelters and public multi -use paths from land coverage calculation by
amending the definition of "Land Coverage" and adding a new definition for "Public
Shared Use Path" in Section 8 -1.5 of the CZO: Mr. Rapozo moved to receive
C 2011 -291 for the record, seconded by Mr. Chang, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you very much. We have completed the
Special Order of the Day. Can we go to communications?
COMMUNICATIONS:
C 2011 -293 Communication (09/26/2011) from the County Engineer,
requesting Council approval to (1) apply for and receive support (including
engineering and construction labor and equipment) from the Department of Defense
Civil - Military Innovative Readiness Training Program and (2) the associated
Release and Hold Harmless Agreement, to construct the Kawaihau Spur elevated
boardwalk section of the Lydgate- Kapa`a Bike /Pedestrian Path: Mr. Chang moved
to approve C 2011 -293, seconded by Mr. Bynum.
Council Chair Furfaro: Is there anyone in the audience that wishes to
speak on this item? If not, the meeting is called back to order. Mr. Bynum.
Mr. Bynum: Yeah, I just want to say something about this
because I think it has a lot of positive things. A number of years ago before I was
on the council, members of the community in Kawaihau, including the folks at
Mahelona and at the elementary school and other community citizens up there
expressed happiness that they had a walking path that was installed 15 or 20 years
ago, but expressing very serious concern about the safety of pedestrians coming
down from the Kawaihau area. As a result of those advocacies from the community,
a spur of the multi -use or shared use path is going to go up Kawaihau starting up
the Kawaihau Road and then going up the canyon and connecting at Gore Park and
Mahelona. When the administration got bids for this portion of the path, they
thought the costs were high and they were looking for more creative alternatives
and did outreach to this military program, the Innovative Readiness Training
COUNCIL MEETING -13- October 19, 2011
Program, which is part of the U.S. military that does engineering and to keep their
skills up and ready, they go into the field around the country and help communities
with projects. So this is basically having volunteers from the military come here,
reduce our costs, build perhaps a more innovative and more user friendly segment.
So I want to commend the administration for being creative and being frugal about
the use of our dollars and coming up with this creative proposal. I had the
opportunity to go with the military guys that came here when they were scoping out
this project and apparently we've been selected and I think that it's a really positive
thing. So I just wanted to make those comments so people understood what this
was about. Thank you.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Go right ahead, Councilwoman
Nakamura.
Ms. Nakamura: I, too, want to commend the administration, Doug
Haigh, for taking the leadership to pursue this partnership. I think that there's a
huge need to connect the upper Kawaihau area with the shared bike path and just
historic Kapa`a Town area. And this spur helps to do that. So I think ... I'm glad to
see that it's moving along.
Council Chair Furfaro: Mr. Kuali`i.
Mr. Kuali`i: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to echo
Councilmember Nakamura's comments and say that the entire neighborhoods up
above Kapa`a High School and Elementary School is the largest concentration of our
citizens. And having them have a safe option and way to get down to Kapa`a Town
is very important and pretty much long overdue. So the faster we get it done, the
better.
Council Chair Furfaro: Any other comments?
The motion to approve C 2011 -293 was then put, and unanimously carried.
C 2011 -294 Request (10/13/2011) from the Office of the County Attorney for
authorization to expend additional funds up to $15,000.00 to enable special
counsel's continued representation in Michael G. Sheehan vs. County of Kauai, et
al., Civil No. 10 -1 -0161 (Agency Appeal), Fifth Circuit Court, currently being
appealed by Mr. Sheehan under Intermediate Court of Appeals
No. CRAP -11- 0000601, and related matters.
Mr. Rapozo: Mr. Chair?
Council Chair Furfaro: Mr. Rapozo.
Mr. Rapozo: I notice we have an executive session posting on
this item. I have no idea what this item is about and I would hope that we could at
least get the briefing.
Council Chair Furfaro: And then move this to the end of the agenda.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes. I don't know what and maybe some
councilmember are aware. I'm not and I would definitely want the briefing on this
agency appeal.
Council Chair Furfaro: Can we make that...
COUNCIL MEETING -14- October 19, 2011
Mr. Watanabe: Yes, we'll move this to the end of the calendar.
CLAIMS:
C 2011 -295 Communication (09/27/2011) from then County Clerk Peter A.
Nakamura, transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kauai by Rona C.
Sakai for damage to her personal property, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of
the County of Kauai: Mr. Rapozo moved to refer C 2011 -295 to the County
Attorney's Office for disposition and/or report back to the Council, seconded by
Mr. Kuali`i, and unanimously carried.
C 2011 -296 Communication (10/0512011) from then County Clerk Peter A.
Nakamura, transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kauai by Eric Rita for
financial loss, and emotional and psychological distress, pursuant to Section 23.06,
Charter of the County of Kauai.
Council Chair Furfaro: Mr. Rapozo, you have the floor.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes, I had been contacted by the claimant who had
wished to testify on this matter and in fact sent them a text message. I didn't
realize we were going to go so fast through the agenda. He is on his way and would
ask that we wait until he has his testimony before we take action.
Council Chair Furfaro: I think the clerk's office just told me he may be
here, he may be outside and I've asked them to check on that.
If I could have a moment of personal privilege for a moment while we're
waiting here, I wanted to share with you folks a great quote by Mark Twain where
he said, "If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed. If you do read the
newspaper, you are misinformed." So I want to cover a couple items here. First of
all, The Garden Island today has a misprint. It talks about waste diversion in the
resolution, 70% by the year 2013. The resolution was 2023. So that's one item I
wanted to cover.
The second item I wanted to talk for a moment while we're waiting to first of
all also congratulate our new Interim County Clerk. His service for the county for
22 years was a discussion of an interview yesterday. So I'd like to recognize our
Interim County Clerk, Mr. Ricky Watanabe.
I would also like to clarify two items in the article. First of all,
Mr. Watanabe, public information, he was brought onboard at 107335, which is
about $8,200 under the previous position held. So I wanted to let you know that
and that is equal to 10 other division heads in the county. Now the reason we didn't
disclose that yesterday is we came across kind of a technical glitch that we wanted
to get some clarity from the county attorney's office. Rick is leaving a position as
the county administrator and we wanted to make sure that if he was the interim
county clerk for a period of time, at what time could he not bridge his past position,
in other words to be able to go back without losing any seniority and that was the
question for the county attorney. We have clarity today that he can be transferred
out to an appointed position for one year without finding himself jeopardizing any of
his past earnings. So when we were interviewed yesterday, there was no clarity, I
think, to understanding ... we were waiting to see the legal terminology about him
being able to bridge his past position. So it is for one year.
COUNCIL MEETING -15- October 19, 2011
And also, I do want to let you know that the county clerk's posting did
reference a preferred college degree. The article said there was no requirement and
also attached, but it wasn't picked up by the reporter yesterday, was a complete job
description that was prepared in August of last year. And I also want to share that
the County of Kauai since August of last year... I'm sorry, August of this year, is the
only county that actually has a posted public job description for the clerk's position.
So I just wanted to get some clarity and of course on the headlines today, it is
diversion by 2023. So thank you for the quote, Mark Twain. And we'll see if that
gentleman has come into the ... is he coming in?
There being no objections, the meeting was recessed at 10:17 a.m.
The meeting was called back to order at 10:25 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Furfaro: Mr. Clerk, I'd like to call the meeting back to order.
Just to summarize again. We did refer 2011 -295 to the county attorney. We are
now on Claim 2011 -296 and we have the individual who filed the claim against the
County of Kauai, Eric Rita, here along with Eric's attorney, I believe. Am I correct,
Eric? Okay and so I want to pose a question before I come up and have you folks
speak. And I would like to make sure I have the county attorney's attention when I
make this statement. Members, I'm going to see what Mr. Rita, along with his
attorney, would like to share with us in a presentation. Then I'm going to ask that
we hold questions until I ask the county attorney at what point does Mr. Rita waive
any of his rights. So I would like us to be attentive in his presentation with his
attorney and then I will pose a question to the county attorney before we start any
Q &A. Could you read 2011 -296 for me, Mr. Clerk?
C 2011 -296 Communication (10/05/2011) from then County Clerk Peter A.
Nakamura, transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kauai by Eric Rita for
financial loss, and emotional and psychological distress, pursuant to Section 23.06,
Charter of the County of Kauai.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Mr. Rita, I'm assuming you're here
because you wish to address this item with your attorney? Okay, would you bring
an extra chair up so that Mr. Rita can sit with his attorney here? Mr. Rita, when
you come up to the microphone, you need to introduce yourself as well as your
attorney needs to introduce herself. And I hope you heard me clearly that we'll
listen to your testimony, but then I'll pose a question to the Kauai county attorney.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
ERIC RITA: Hi, my name is Eric Rita. My attorney is
June Ikemoto.
Council Chair Furfaro: June?
JUNE IKEMOTO, Attorney: June Ikemoto, good morning, Chair Furfaro.
Council Chair Furfaro: You're going to need to introduce yourself. Thank
you for doing that, Eric, but she can introduce herself.
Ms. Ikemoto: Good morning, Chairman Furfaro and Members of
the Council. I'm here presenting this matter to the council.
(Inaudible.)
COUNCIL MEETING -16- October 19, 2011
Ms. Ikemoto:
Council Chair Furfaro:
Oh, I'm June Ikemoto, attorney.
You go right ahead, June.
Ms. Ikemoto: Okay, attorney for Eric Rita. What I'm here for is
it's my understanding that we have submitted a claim. My client has already
waived his right to confidentiality with respect to any personnel matters by filing
his claim, and therefore, we have submitted the claim to the county. It's my
understanding that Mr. Castillo has not had an opportunity to review the matter.
Council Chair Furfaro: Probably because this council body has not referred
it to his office yet. But we did receive from Peter Nakamura this agenda item for
now. And so if your client, and I'm to understand he has waived his rights, if you'd
like to make a statement here, I will be glad to accept it. But before we go to any
Q &A, I would prefer to have Mr. Castillo up to advise the council. Is there any
advice that the county attorney would... excuse me.
So Mr. Castillo, if you could introduce yourself again and you did hear that
Eric Rita and his attorney have said that they have waived their rights.
ALFRED B. CASTILLO, County Attorney: Yes, Council Chair,
Councilmembers, good morning, Al Castillo, county attorney. And basically the
proper procedure here would be for the council to entertain and rule on this agenda
item 296 and then refer it to our office, and once we've had the opportunity to
review the case file and also enter into discussions with Ms. Ikemoto, then I think
we could come back and brief the council regarding this case. So, I believe it is, at
this point in time, premature and in terms of advising this council, this case, I don't
know where it's going in terms of the courts, but I have worked with Ms. Ikemoto
for many, many years. We worked together at the prosecutor's office. But I just
want to say that this is premature for the council to be asking questions regarding
this claim. I would advise not to do that. Let us look at the claim, discuss this
matter with opposing counsel and then if we need to come back to this body, we will
and advise the council. Thank you.
Council Chair Furfaro: Okay, I just want to clarify. You are intending
then to meet with Ms. Ikemoto?
Mr. Castillo: Yes, once I know more about the case. As far as I'm
concerned, if the case can be settled out of court, then to save the county money,
then we'll do that. I will definitely have discussions with Ms. Ikemoto and even
though there is a claim and Mr. Rita is waiving the confidentiality, this really is
also an employment matter and should be treated with sensitivity. Thank you.
Council Chair Furfaro: Okay, I've only heard from you, Mr. Castillo, that
you're advising the council not to ask any questions, but I didn't hear you say that
you had any problems if they wanted to give testimony.
Mr. Castillo: Whatever testimony Mr. Rita wants to give with
the advice of his attorney is no problem with me.
Council Chair Furfaro: Okay, well what I'm going to do is I'm going to take
a five- minute recess since you seem to be ... first opportunity to talk to his legal
advisor and let them talk this over before we actually bring them back up to the
stand. They may decide to pursue your offer to be meeting with them.
Mr. Castillo: Okay, thank you.
COUNCIL MEETING -17- October 19, 2011
Council Chair Furfaro
Is that fine with you?
Ms. Ikemoto:
Council Chair Furfaro:
So we're going to take a five - minute recess, June.
That's fine.
Okay.
There being no objections, the meeting was recessed at 10:31 a.m.
The meeting was called back to order at 10:37 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Furfaro: So I'm going to call the meeting back to order.
June, Eric.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Ms. Ikemoto: Thank you, Chairman Furfaro. Upon discussion
with Mr. Castillo, what we'll do right now is rest on the submission of our claim and
we'll be meeting with the county attorneys.
Council Chair Furfaro: Okay. Well, thank you for meeting with them,
Mr. Castillo. Eric, you have your representation that will meet with the county
attorney. Thank you both for coming down today.
Mr. Rita: Thank you guys.
Ms. Ikemoto: Thank you.
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as
follows:
Mr. Rapozo moved to refer C 2011 -296 to the County Attorney's Office for
disposition and/or report back to the Council, seconded by Mr. Bynum, and
unanimously carried.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
A report (No. CR -HTE 2011 -02) submitted by the Housing /Transportation /
Energy Conservation & Efficiency Committee, recommending that the following be
received for the record:
"HTE 2011 -01 Communication (9/30/2011) from Committee Chair
Yukimura, requesting the presence of Desiree Vea, Community Services
Specialist, Hawaiian Community Assets (HCA) organization, to provide an
update and overview of the many services and programs offered by HCA,"
Mr. Bynum moved for approval of the report, seconded by Mr. Rapozo, unanimously
carried.
A report (No. CR -EDR 2011 -06) submitted by the Economic Development &
Renewable Energy Strategies Committee, recommending that the following be
received for the record:
COUNCIL MEETING -18- October 19, 2011
"EDR 2011 -03 Communication (9/9/2011) from Council Chair
Furfaro, requesting the Administration's presence to discuss Bill No. 2415,
relating to Real Property Tax Exemptions for Commercial Alternative Energy
Facilities,"
Mr. Kuali`i moved for approval of the report, seconded by Mr. Bynum, and
unanimously carried.
A report (No. CR -EDR 2011 -07) submitted by the Economic Development &
Renewable Energy Strategies Committee, recommending that the following be
received for the record on second and final reading:
"Bill No. 2414 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND
ORDINANCE NO. B- 2011 -732, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE
OPERATING BUDGET OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI, STATE OF HAWAII
FOR THE FISCAL YEARJULY 1, 2011 THROUGH JUNE 20, 2012 BY
REVISING THE SURPLUS AND APPROPRIATIONS ESTIMATED IN THE
GENERAL FUND ($5,600.00- Office of the County Clerk),"
Ms. Nakamura moved for approval of the report, seconded by Mr. Rapozo, and
unanimously carried. (See later for Bill No. 2414)
A report (No. CR -PSE 2011 -09) submitted by the Public Safety &
Environmental Services Committee, recommending that the following be approved
as amended:
"Resolution No. 2011 -73, RESOLUTION TO ADOPT THE
PRINCIPLES OF ZERO WASTE AS THE WASTE MANAGEMENT POLICY
FOR THE COUNTY OF KAUA`I,"
Ms. Nakamura moved for approval of the report, seconded by Mr. Kuali`i.
Council Chair Furfaro: Anyone in the audience wanting to speak? Come
right up, Ken.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
KEN TAYLOR: Chair and Members of the Council, my name is
Ken Taylor. My comment really is that in these issues, the last three reports,
where they're being primarily just approved and it's my understanding they're
primarily just reports from each of those committees, that they should be included
in the consent calendar, not listed as individual items. That's all I have to say.
Thank you.
Council Chair Furfaro: Ken, we'll check on that feedback, but I also want
to thank you today for also pointing out that under the current schedule we should
also list a time for public testimony for those 18 minutes. Thank you very much.
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as
follows:
Council Chair Furfaro: Any further discussion? If not all those in favor,
signify by saying aye.
The motion for approval of Committee Report No. CR -PSE 2011 -09 was then put,
and unanimously carried. (See later for Resolution No. 2011 -73, Draft 1)
COUNCIL MEETING _19- October 19, 2011
A report (No. CR -FPP 2011 -10) submitted by the Finance /Parks &
Recreation/Public Works Programs Committee, recommending approval of the
following on second and final reading:
"Bill No. 2412 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH A
NEW ARTICLE 20, CHAPTER 22, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS
AMENDED, RELATING TO UNLAWFUL CONSUMPTION, POSSESSION
OR CONTROL OF INTOXICATING LIQUOR WITHIN PARKING LOTS
AND GROUNDS ADJACENT TO THE HISTORIC COUNTY BUILDING,
COUNTY ANNEX AND L1HU`E CIVIC CENTER,"
Mr. Rapozo moved for approval of the report, seconded by Mr. Kuali`i, and
unanimously carried. (See later for Bill No. 2412)
A report (No. CR -FPP 2011 -11) submitted by the Finance /Parks &
Recreation/Public Works Programs Committee, recommending approval of the
following on second and final reading:
"Bill No. 2413 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH A
NEW ARTICLE 21, CHAPTER 22, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS
AMENDED, RELATING TO URINATING OR DEFECATING IN PUBLIC
AREAS ADJACENT TO THE HISTORIC COUNTY BUILDING, COUNTY
ANNEX AND LIHU'E CIVIC CENTER,"
Mr. Rapozo moved for approval of the report, seconded by Mr. Kuali`i, and
unanimously carried. (See later for bill No. 2413)
RESOLUTIONS:
Resolution No. 2011 -73, Draft 1, RESOLUTION TO ADOPT THE
PRINCIPLES OF ZERO WASTE AS THE WASTE MANAGEMENT POLICY FOR
THE COUNTY OF KAUAI: Mr. Rapozo moved to adopt Resolution No. 2011 -71,
Draft 1, seconded by Mr. Kuali`i.
Council Chair Furfaro: Is there anyone in the audience that would like to
speak on this resolution? Come right up.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
PAT GEGEN: Thank you, Chair, thank you, Council, for this
opportunity to testify before you today. My name is Pat Gegen. I am here
representing myself and also Zero Waste Kauai as Chair of Zero Waste. I would
like to acknowledge the wisdom of the administration and the council in moving the
Island of Kauai in a more sustainable manner with the introduction and hopefully
a unanimous vote approving the Zero Waste Resolution before you today. Zero
waste is a philosophy which tries to minimize the amount of resources being lost for
further use by being buried or burned. It has taken the well -known three R's to the
maximum level, reducing the amount of waste resources that are generated, reusing
resources as much as possible before their useful life comes to an end, and recycling
those resources that we can to the maximum amount possible. Zero waste is a
process of increasing all of our awareness to our habits of consumption and the
impacts that that consumption has on our community and our environment. I look
forward to all of us increasing our awareness of zero waste principles and
philosophy as we move ahead trying to tackle the difficult issues around resource
recovery and solid waste. As you are deliberating your decision today regarding
COUNCIL MEETING -20- October 19, 2011
this resolution, I would like to just finish my brief testimony with a few statistics
about one of the easiest and fastest methods of reducing our waste going into the
landfill, that being recycling and some of the positive impacts it can have. This is
from the World Watch Institute 2009, a study that says that the aluminum industry
is one of the most energy intensive in the world, accounting for 3% of global
electricity used just to make aluminum. Producing aluminum from recycled sources
only uses 5% to 10% of the energy needed to make virgin aluminum. So a very large
savings just on the energy use and it avoids the toxic mining waste associated with
mining. So obviously a very strong case to try to recycle as much as we can, saving
our energy, less waste with the toxic mining activities, that type of stuff.
The next one, approximately 18 million barrels of crude oil equivalent were
consumed in 2005 to replace the 2 million tons of PET bottles that were wasted
instead of recycled. PET bottles are those like the water bottles that you drink out
of, the soda bottles. So 18 million barrels of crude oil just in that one year went into
make those bottles for us and that's a potential loss. We can save a whole lot more
if we reduce our consumption by using reusable types of containers drinking our
great Kauai water and it's much cheaper also.
Just two more little tidbits. The next one is reducing, recycling, zero waste,
good for the economy. The United States hosts 56,061 recycle and reuse
establishments that employ approximately 1.1 million people. They generate an
annual payroll of $37 billion and they gross $236 billion in annual revenues.
Economic Modeling estimated that nearly 1.4 million jobs are maintained in
support businesses because of the recycling and reuse industry. That is from a
study by R.W. Beck done in 2000.
Mr. Watanabe: Three minutes, Mr. Chair.
Council Chair Furfaro: Go right ahead.
Mr. Gegen: Thank you very much. And the last little tidbit I
want to do is something that's very timely with what we've got going on here in the
county this weekend and that is that in 2009 some 53 million tons of electronic
waste was generated worldwide, 53 million tons, and unfortunately only about 13%
of that was recycled. A lot of that electronic waste does have some pretty nasty
toxic type materials in there to make the computer boards, things like that, and as I
said, it's timely because this Friday and Saturday, the County of Kauai is hosting
their E- recycling out at Vidinha Stadium. So if you've got any old computers... I've
got a printer that got fried when we had a power surge at our house. It's been
sitting in my laundry room for about four months. So you know where I'll be on
Saturday, getting rid of that and making sure it's taken care of. So with that, I
applaud you for bringing this resolution to the front and I do hope for its passage.
Thank you very much.
Council Chair Furfaro: Let's see if there's any questions.
Mr. Rapozo: I have a question.
Council Chair Furfaro: Go right ahead.
Mr. Rapozo: Where's the E- recycling event?
Mr. Gegen: The E- recycling event, I believe, is at Vidinha
Stadium from 8 until 5 o'clock, both Friday and Saturday. Friday, it's for
businesses and Saturday is for regular consumers, households.
COUNCIL MEETING -21- October 19, 2011
Mr. Rapozo: Interesting, right during the Kapa`a High/Waimea
High football game. That should be interesting.
Mr. Gegen: Well, they tried to make it easy so they can drop
their stuff off before they go to the game. I wish it was that kind of coordination.
Mr. Rapozo: Thank you.
Mr. Gegen: Thank you.
Council Chair Furfaro: Pat, let me ask you a question. Did you have
something, Mr. Chang?
Mr. Chang: I was just going to ask Pat, at the beginning of the
year a bunch of zero waste supporters up at Ma-lama Kauai, I guess they call it
ground zero now in Kilauea. We met Eric Lombardi. He stated that Zero Waste is
really a journey to create awareness. Can you just let the viewing public realize
and just to emphasize that zero waste is really the responsibility and the thought
process of trying to get there. I think he mentioned we'll never be zero waste, but
we would want to ... but can you explain in the words of Eric Lombardi because he is
pretty well known in that...
Mr. Gegen: Yup, Eric is well known and has done a lot of work
throughout the country doing that. Zero Waste really is a path, it's a process and as
I mentioned in my testimony, we've got a lot of things to learn. One of the easiest
things to do to reduce our waste and try to re... get to that 70% goal by 2023 is by
recycling everything we can. The only problem with recycling is we've already used
something. So the key is what can we do to keep from consuming things or buying
things that are ultimately going to end up in the waste. The example that I gave of
the PET bottles. If I can fill one of these up and I don't have to go to the store or
grab a water bottle in plastic, I've reduced the amount of waste automatically by
that, which is the best thing. So what we do is we're just trying to increase our
awareness to pay attention to the things that we're doing. Again, the E- recycling
this weekend, it's making sure that a product that has potential toxic implications
for going into a landfill is going back. Some of those items are being reused, some of
them are being reclaimed. The metals in there, they will get and use again, which
is much better than having to go and mine them all over again and spend the
energy doing that. So it's really just looking at our habits and what we're doing.
For instance when I go shopping, like most Kauaians, I go to Costco. I like buying
things in bulk. One of the things I pay attention to, though, is how is it packaged.
For instance, all the apples come over in those clam shells to protect them. I
understand the need for that so you've got one of two options. (1) You can either go
to a store, buy apples one by one, put them in your bag and not have to worry about
having that clam shell or (2) take a look at that package you're buying, that package
from Costco with the apples is recyclable. So at least it's going to have another life.
That's better than buying something that's packaged in something that ultimately
goes to the landfill and can't be reused. So it's really just looking at, as I said, our
consumerism, our behaviors and saying, okay, when I'm done with this, what's
going to happen? Is it something that I can pass on to Dickie because he can use it?
Is it something that I can take to a thrift store? Is it something that is recyclable so
at least I'm reclaiming some? Or is it something that's going to end up in the
landfill? And where we can, avoid those things are ultimately going to the landfill.
And another great example is the plastic bag reduction act with the single use
plastic bags. Getting rid of those, that's one source of material that is no longer
going into our landfill. Single use is not the best use. It can be reused once in a
COUNCIL MEETING -22- October 19, 2011
while and some people did a good job of that. But ultimately after three years,
where does it end up? Because there is no good recycling facility for that type of
stuff. I hope that gives you a little bit of an idea of the path we're looking at.
Mr. Chang: Thank you.
Mr. Gegen: Thank you.
Mr. Chang: Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Furfaro: Pat, let me ask you. You're a board member of Zero
Waste?
Mr. Gegen: Yes, I am.
Council Chair Furfaro: And are you a board member of Apollo Kauai?
Mr. Gegen: Yes.
Council Chair Furfaro: Okay. Let me ask, have we ever received testimony
specifically on a MRF from your organizations, whether they are a sorted ... you
want us to pursue a sorted MRF or what they call a dirty MRF where the sorting is
done there? Has your organizations submitted testimony specifically on the MRF?
Mr. Gegen: Other than just in general support of the MRF, I
don't believe so and I'm not even sure what testimony might have been. But I can
tell you speaking for Zero Waste, we are definitely for the development as soon as
possible of a MRF on this island. Long -term you would look, as you mentioned,
towards the dirty MRF because it is the simplest to do the curbside single cart
recycling. So that is the direction that ultimately we would want to head. But until
then, whatever we can do to start capturing more of those recyclables would
definitely be appreciated.
Council Chair Furfaro: Okay, thank you.
Mr. Gegen: Thank you.
Council Chair Furfaro: Members, any other questions? If not, thank you
very much, Pat.
Mr. Gegen: Thank you.
Council Chair Furfaro: Is there anymore testimony there? Glenn, then
Ken.
GLENN MICKENS: For the record, Glenn Mickens. Thank you, Jay. I
just wondered what thought process went into Zero Waste organization by our new
garbage pick -up thingies, automated pick up things. They give us 96- gallon
containers. What incentive, by giving us 96- gallon containers, is it actually doing to
get people to stop dumping everything? Our family uses maybe every two weeks
one 32- gallon container. So instead of saying, we'll give you the choice, I
understand those automated things can be adjusted to pick up other than a big
96- gallon thing.
Council Chair Furfaro: That's right.
COUNCIL MEETING -23- October 19, 2011
Mr. Mickens: Yeah, that is true.
Council Chair Furfaro: That's what I understand.
Mr. Mickens: Yeah, so why not say, we'll give you an incentive.
We're going to charge you $2 if you only do one, $4 if you have two or the 96 -thing or
$6 that they're charging now for the other ones. They've never had any incentive or
to recycle your stuff. I think there's going to be a lot more people now that are just
going to say, oh, hey, let's just dump everything in here. We have a huge 96- gallon,
they're charging me $6 more to either pick up or $6 more for the transfer station at
this stage of the game. So the incentive hasn't been there. I believe JoAnn told me
that they checked this out on Maui and the Maui community, they didn't want the
96- gallon. I don't know if they've got the 96 -gallon things over there or not. Maybe
you can refresh me on that. But, again, the incentive to not dispose of stuff and fill
up these landfills or to get to zero waste, which is really good.
Council Chair Furfaro: Let me turn the floor over to Mr. Bynum. I think
he has some things he wants to share with you.
Mr. Mickens: Thank you.
Mr. Bynum: I think those are good questions, Glenn, and so I
want a chance to respond to them because this council, we've been on this for a
number of years. The ultimate plan is a 3 -can system: one can for mixed
recyclables. So that plastic clam shell he was talking about, the cardboard my
tomatoes come in, the cardboard box the cereal comes in can all go into a mixed
recyclables container. That's going to reduce the overall disposal, right? And we go
to that system and that's where we require the MRF in order to make it as
convenient as possible for the consumer to recycle. They can put their newspapers
in there, their tin cans, their bottles, and then the MRF sorts them, binds them and
sells them. They're a commodity. And then eventually we will have a can for green
waste. So green waste gets mulched, recycled, perhaps eventually into soil
amendments and so that will be... So when we get to that stage, then we will have
small cans for disposal because we won't need to dispose as much. And then that's
where the pay -as- you -throw can come in that hey, if you have a small can, you pay
the minimum fee. If you choose to dispose more, fine, but you have to pay for it. So
we're in this process and the administration is making sure that those 96- gallon
cans, we can change the lid to a blue color and say now this is for recycling. So the
ultimate goal is to have those options and we're in a process that gets us there.
Mr. Mickens: But where is the administration on this, Tim?
What... who... we've been waiting... we've been hearing about this MRF for four or
five years and it's still not even built.
Mr. Bynum: A lot of us would like to have seen the MRF fit the
timetable which would mean it would be coming online this year. So we're already
behind the timetable. But our Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan is a very
ambitious rollout and has timelines which we are going to be really pressed to meet.
And so I believe the administration and the council are kind of all onboard about
how we're proceeding forward now. Some of the earlier concerns or differences of
opinion we had, I think were ironed out. I wish they would have been ironed out
sooner, but I believe the administration is moving aggressively in that direction now
and I think we're all on the same page, pretty much.
Mr. Mickens: In Lihu`e they tried out the recyclable program, I
understand, then they did away with that, right?
COUNCIL MEETING -24- October 19, 2011
Mr. Bynum: This council said that it was a little premature that
we didn't have the facility to process the recyclables.
Mr. Mickens: Without the MRF.
Mr. Bynum: (Inaudible) all want to bring that back, not just in
Lihu`e, but islandwide as quickly as possible.
Mr. Mickens: Yeah, because that was a page out of the
mainland's book, right?
Council Chair Furfaro: I'm going to have to tell you, Mr. Bynum has to
pose you a question (inaudible).
Mr. Bynum: I'm done.
Council Chair Furfaro: Any other questions for Mr. Mickens?
Mr. Mickens: Thank you, Jay.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you, Glenn. Ken?
KEN TAYLOR: Chair, Councilmembers, my name is Ken Taylor. I
want to first thank Pat for his presentation and Glenn for the questions he asked
because they are very important and what's before you today is not only for the
betterment of the island here today, but much more so important for future
generations and I think because of that, it's imperative that you move forward with
approving this resolution and get us working in that direction. I know there has
been this work, as Tim has said, and it is moving slower than all of us would like to
see. It's the way things go sometimes. But I think the thing that troubles me most
about where the administration has been when they tied the MRF in with the
potential of a new landfill is a real problem. And I think it should be separated and
we should move forward as quickly as possible with that option itself because we
need it and we need it now. Thank you.
Council Chair Furfaro: Let's see if there's any questions, Ken. Any
questions for Ken? No. Thank you, Ken. Is there anyone else that wishes to speak
on this resolution? If not, I call this meeting back to order.
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as
follows:
Council Chair Furfaro: Members, any further discussion? I believe we had
an amendment by Mr. Kuali`i.
Mr. Kuali`i: Yes, Mr. Chair. My amendment is actully a simple
one. It's a matter of semantics and language clean -up. So it's been circulated and I
move to amend as circulated.
Mr. Rapozo:
Second.
Mr. Kuah'i moved to amend Resolution No. 2011 -73, Draft 1, as shown in the
Floor Amendment attached hereto (Attachment No. 1), seconded by
Mr. Rapozo.
COUNCIL MEETING -25- October 19, 2011
Mr. Kuali`i: On the second page of the amendment in the
second to the last `Be it further resolved...," simply it's deleting the word "Council."
So in the whereases just above that, it talks about zero waste principles and Kauai
County's commitment. And then when it talks about "Kaua`i County shall follow
the concepts of Zero Waste Management" and in the final "Be it finally resolved," it
says, "the Kauai County Council joins Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho Jr. and his
administration." So in all other areas of the resolution, it basically talks about the
county as a whole moving in this direction and supporting zero waste. So that one
"Be it further resolved..." just to remove "Council" and have it the "Kaua`i County
hereby adopts a diversion goal of 70% by 2023."
Council Chair Furfaro: Understood, very good. Did we have a second on
this amendment? We did? Okay. Any further discussion? If not, let's vote on this
floor amendment to the Zero Waste Resolution. All those in favor of this
amendment, signify by saying aye.
The motion to amend Resolution No. 2011 -73, Draft 1, as shown in the Floor
Amendment attached hereto (Attachment No. 1), was then put, and
unanimously carried.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you very much. Now we're on to the main
resolution. Mr. Bynum, you have the floor.
Mr. Bynum: I'm very happy to support this resolution. We've
gone through a process and Councilmember Nakamura made some amendments at
council that improved the resolution and there was concurrence with the
administration. It's great to have a zero waste community group on this island
keeping us honest, keeping us on our toes and advocating for the proper methods for
disposal of our `opala. It's going to take a while, but as I said in my comments with
Mr. Mickens, I believe that we're all on the same path right now. Some of the
earlier disagreements, which were not about the goal, they were about how and the
timetable and when. I believe that we're all on the same page now. We have
Donald Fujimoto, Troy Tanigawa and Allison Fraley who have their work cut out
for them to meet the ambitious goals that the council has adopted in concert with
the administration. And so this is ... we're on our way Kauai. The automated
collection is part of that. The large cans will be there for now, but when we get
mixed use recycling and composting, the size of that disposal can will get smaller.
So thank you very much.
Council Chair Furfaro: Any further discussion before I call for the vote?
Councilwoman Nakamura.
Ms. Nakamura: Yes, I'm very happy to support the floor
amendment and the resolution. I think this is a positive direction for this island
and I think one comment I'd make and I thank Pat and Glenn and Ken for bringing
this up about the coordination with the MRF, the material recovery facility. And
while Councilmember Bynum may feel we are on the same page, I personally feel
that I need to get more information about the direction and the timetable because
things have changed in terms of timelines specifically and I've requested an update
from the administration so that we can understand where... sort of how this is going
to be rolled out and what timeframe and so that we're all on the same page. I don't
feel that I'm on the same page maybe because I don't feel I understand the direction
and timeline that they're going to proceed on. So, I just wanted to make that
comment. And I believe that for me that briefing is important.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Mr. Rapozo.
COUNCIL MEETING -26- October 19, 2011
Mr. Rapozo: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll be supporting the
resolution because I believe that it is a wonderful philosophy, one that we have to
accept and adopt. I do want to emphasize this is a philosophy. It's really just that.
A resolution is simply a policy statement. It really has no power of law. The
administration will do what they feel is proper. I do want to, on the record, state
my ... I do have a problem with the second whereas where it talks about landfills and
incinerators. I have to tell you that there are many jurisdictions in this country
that practice very good recycling programs and yet have landfills and incinerators.
It is possible to have both and in fact our Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan
states waste -to- energy as one of the solutions. So I don't want to ... I'm not going to
throw the baby out with the bath water. I'm going to support the resolution because
I believe the zero waste philosophy is the right direction to go into. In one of the
amendments, I think, that Councilmember Nakamura brought in is we cannot lose
sight of the economic, social and environmental cost as well. That all has to be
addressed. It's not the ends justify the means type of thing. We have to make sure
we look at everything and I really appreciate that amendment because if that
amendment had not been in there, I would not have supported the resolution. So I
believe it's a start.
I would agree with Councilmember Nakamura that I don't know if we're on
the same page. I really don't know what the page looks like right now. I don't think
anybody does. But next week we'll start with an update of the landfill situation.
That'll be here at the committee meeting and we will start with that. And that will
be followed up with updates on the various other parts of the environmental
services of this county and hopefully within the next six months we'll have a better
idea of the direction that we're heading as well as implementing the zero waste
philosophy into the direction that this county is taking. So I'm actually kind of
excited that we can start moving in an organized structured effort and hopefully in
the very near future we'll see some improvements to our solid waste issues. Thank
you very much, Mr. Chair.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you, Mr. Rapozo. (Inaudible) Mr. KuaTi,
you have the floor.
Mr. Kuali`i: Thank you, Mr. Chair. In Pat Gegen's testimony
earlier he talked about recycling being the easiest way to follow the Zero Waste
Resolution and policy that we're following. I just wanted to make comments along
the lines that we need to move quickly as a county and that if a county- operated
MRF is far out in the distance, if the big talk about the new landfill and the
recovery center and all that grand stuff that could happen in Kapaia is something
that's going to take more than five years, ten years, we cannot just gradually get to
that point. We need stuff in place now. And the elimination of the pilot curbside
recycling program was very unfortunate. I've been hearing from constituents,
disappointment. I'm sure the administration is hearing as well and I think that we
need to do what we can to get going on this right away and not only be thinking
about five or ten years down the road. But if there's a way to reinstitute curbside
recycling ASAP also because as far as the landfill goes, the more recycling we do,
the more we're diverting from putting into the landfill. So I just really hope that
there's ways that we can move quickly on this. Mahalo.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you. (Inaudible.) It's a long process to get us
this far and it's going to continue to be a long process. I still think that my visit in
California to a dirty MRF helped me understand it better and I think there are
COUNCIL MEETING -27- October 19, 2011
advantages where the products actually get sorted at the site. But we'll hopefully
hear from Zero Waste and Apollo Kauai on their beliefs. But on that note,
Mr. Clerk, I believe this is a roll call vote.
The motion to adopt Resolution No. 2011 -73, Draft 1, as amended, was then
put, and carried by the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Bynum, Chang, Kuah'i, Nakamura, Rapozo, TOTAL — 6,
Furfaro
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Yukimura TOTAL —1.
Resolution No. 2011 -74, RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A SPEED LIMIT
WITHIN THE KEKAHA RESIDENTIAL LOTS UNIT -4 SUBDIVISION WAIMEA
DISTRICT, COUNTY OF KAUAI: Mr. Bynum moved to adopt Resolution
No. 2011 -74, seconded by Mr. Rapozo, and carried by the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Bynum, Chang, Kuali`i, Nakamura, Rapozo, TOTAL — 6,
Furfaro
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Yukimura TOTAL —1.
Resolution No. 2011 -75, RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING STOP SIGNS AND
STOP LINES WITHIN THE KEKAHA RESIDENTIAL LOTS UNIT -4
SUBDIVISION WAIMEA DISTRICT, COUNTY OF KAUAI: Mr. Rapozo moved to
adopt Resolution No. 2011 -75, seconded by Mr. Kuali`i, and carried by the following
vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Bynum, Chang, Kuali`i, Nakamura, Rapozo, TOTAL — 6,
Furfaro
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Yukimura TOTAL —1.
BILLS FOR FIRST READING:
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2420) — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND
CHAPTER 8, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, RELATING TO THE
COMPREHENSIVE ZONING ORDINANCE (Clarifying farm worker housing
permitting requirements): Mr. Kuali`i moved for passage of Proposed Draft Bill
(No. 2420) on first reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon
be scheduled for November 16, 2011, and that it thereafter be referred to the
Planning Committee, seconded by Mr. Rapozo, and carried by the following vote:
FOR PASSAGE: Bynum, Chang, Kuali`i, Nakamura, Rapozo, TOTAL — 6,
Furfaro
AGAINST PASSAGE: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Yukimura TOTAL —1.
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2421) — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING
CHAPTER 8, ARTICLE 24 OF THE KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS
AMENDED, FOR THE IMPOSITION OF CIVIL FINE AUTHORITY FOR THE
COUNTY OF KAUAI PLANNING DEPARTMENT: Mr. Kuali`i moved for passage
of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2421) on first reading, that is be ordered to print, that a
public hearing thereon be scheduled for November 16, 2011, and that it thereafter
be referred to the Planning Committee, seconded by Mr. Rapozo, and carried by the
following vote:
COUNCIL MEETING -28- October 19, 2011
FOR PASSAGE: Bynum, Chang, Kuali`i, Nakamura, Rapozo,
Furfaro
AGAINST PASSAGE: None
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Yukimura
TOTAL — 6,
TOTAL — 0,
TOTAL —1.
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2422) — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND
CHAPTER 8, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE
COMPREHENSIVE ZONING ORDINANCE (Excluding bus stops, bus shelters and
public multi -use paths from land coverage calculation): Mr. Kuali`i moved to refer
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2422) to the Planning Commission for recommendation,
seconded by Mr. Rapozo, and unanimously carried.
BILLS FOR SECOND READING:
Bill No. 2412 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH A NEW
ARTICLE 20, CHAPTER 22, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED,
RELATING TO UNLAWFUL CONSUMPTION, POSSESSION OR CONTROL OF
INTOXICATING LIQUOR WITHIN PARKING LOTS AND GROUNDS
ADJACENT TO THE HISTORIC COUNTY BUILDING, COUNTY ANNEX AND
LIHU`E CIVIC CENTER: Mr. Rapozo moved to adopt Bill No. 2412 on second and
final reading, and that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval, seconded by
Mr. Bynum.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Anyone in the audience wish to testify?
Seeing no one? Members, this is a roll call vote. Yes?
Mr. Chang: Just a question.
Council Chair Furfaro: Sure.
Mr. Chang: Thank you, Chairman. You know I support both
bills wholeheartedly, but I had a question and a concern. I'm wondering how do we
let the general public know that a law was passed when many of these members
may not be privy to media or ... I don't know how that we go and communicate this to
those that may be within our historic areas here because when enforced I don't
know if anybody has a second chance or is there a warning process or ... I'm just
concerned that many people may not be reading the paper or watching the news or
what have you. So I just had a concern regarding that.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Mr. Rapozo.
Mr. Rapozo: I would expect that signs would be created and
posted on the park. Obviously if they have no notice and no warning, there would
be no prosecution. So I would ask, Mr. Chair, that we send over a communication to
the sign makers and should this bill be signed into law by the mayor that the signs
will have to be posted with proper notice to the members of the public.
Council Chair Furfaro: I agree and that is the right vehicle, and I so have
noted to speak to the deputy clerk to pursue this bill when signed off on to institute
the appropriate graphics and signage. Okay, any further discussion? This is a roll
call vote.
COUNCIL MEETING -29- October 19, 2011
The motion to adopt Bill No. 2412 on second and final reading was then put,
and carried by the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Bynum, Chang, Kuali`i, Nakamura, Rapozo, TOTAL — 6,
Furfaro
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Yukimura TOTAL —1.
Bill No. 2413 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH A NEW
ARTICLE 21, CHAPTER 22, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED,
RELATING TO URINATING OR DEFECATING IN PUBLIC AREAS ADJACENT
TO THE HISTORIC COUNTY BUILDING, COUNTY ANNEX AND LIHU`E CIVIC
CENTER: Mr. Rapozo moved to adopt Bill No. 2413 on second and final reading,
and that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval, seconded by Mr. Chang.
Council Chair Furfaro: Is there anyone in the audience that wishes to
speak on this? The rules are suspended.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
KEN TAYLOR: Chair and Members of the Council, my name is Ken
Taylor. The question that comes to mind right now (inaudible) listening to this bill
being read, does this mean that it's okay to do these things in other areas? I mean
you're pointing out the fact that it can't be done by law when this is passed, but it
sort of indicates that well, you can't do it here, but it's okay to go down the street
and do it beside the Salvation Army building or in that alleyway. And I think it
should read that it's not permissible anyplace on the island, not just here at the
county building or in this area. But it just rings sort of strange that once this bill is
put in place, it sort of implicates that, well, you can't do it there, but it's okay to do
it over there. Thank you.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you, Ken. Anyone else wishes to speak? If
not, we're back to the meeting again.
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as
follows:
Council Chair Furfaro: This area is designated within the historic district.
This area here is a historic district. It's not per se a park and one of our ultimate
goals is within this capitol complex, we do want to get some public facilities built.
Currently they do use the public restrooms that are in the building. The issue,
obviously, there's no access on weekends. On that note, long -term plans of getting
landscaping back in, getting picnic tables back in, getting restrooms put into the
capitol complex, which includes the state building and the old court house as well as
the historic building and the annex. That's the long -term plan. Any further
discussion? If not, this is a roll call vote, please.
The motion to adopt Bill No. 2413 on second and final reading was then put,
and carried by the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Bynum, Chang, Kuali`i, Nakamura, Rapozo, TOTAL — 6,
Furfaro
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Yukimura TOTAL —1.
COUNCIL MEETING -30- October 19, 2011
Bill No. 2414 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND ORDINANCE
NO. B- 2011 -732, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE OPERATING BUDGET OF
THE COUNTY OF KAUAI, STATE OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2011 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2012 BY REVISING THE SURPLUS AND
APPROPRIATIONS ESTIMATED IN THE GENERAL FUND ($5,600.00 — Office of
the County Clerk): Mr. Bynum moved to receive Bill No. 2414, seconded by
Ms. Nakamura, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Furfaro: Now, I'd like to have the county attorney up.
Mr. Castillo, we have an item on the agenda that's still open, but it is the wish of
the body to go in for a briefing on the executive session and then come back to
address that item.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
ALFRED B. CASTILLO, JR., County Attorney: Council Chair,
Councilmembers, Al Castillo, county attorney. I'm wondering, we have two agenda
items, ES -507 and ES -508. Shall I withdraw my ... what's proper here, Council
Chair? Shall I withdraw my request for ES -507 and just ask for ES -508?
Mr. Rapozo: Mr. Chair, if I could?
Council Chair Furfaro: Go right ahead.
Mr. Rapozo: I would make a motion to just receive 507. I think
that would be proper action versus a withdrawal.
Council Chair Furfaro: And then go to 508.
Mr. Rapozo: Correct.
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as
follows:
ES -507 Pursuant to HRS sections 92 -4, 92- 5(a)(4), and section 3.07(e) of
the Kauai County Charter, the Office of the County Attorney, on behalf of the
Council, requests an executive session with the Council to provide the Council with
a briefing on the retention of special counsel to represent the County of Kauai in
County of Kauai vs. Michael Guard Sheehan, et al., Civil No. 11 -1 -0098
(Condemnation), Fifth Circuit Court, and related matters. The briefing and
consultation involves consideration of the powers, duties, privileges, immunities,
and/or liabilities of the Council and the County as they relate to this agenda item:
Mr. Rapozo moved to receive ES -507 for the record, seconded by Ms. Nakamura,
and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you, now we're on 508. For the county
attorney, could you read the item?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Mr. Castillo: Thank you, Council Chair, and thank you,
Councilmember Rapozo, for clearing that up for us.
COUNCIL MEETING -31- October 19, 2011
ES -508 Pursuant to HRS sections 92 -4, 92- 5(a)(4), and section 3.07(e) of
the Kauai County Charter, the Office of the County Attorney requests an executive
session with the Council to provide the Council with a briefing and consultation on
Michael G. Sheehan vs. County of Kauai, et al., Civil No. 10 -1 -0161 (Agency
Appeal), Fifth Circuit Court, currently being appealed by Mr. Sheehan under
Intermediate Court of Appeals No. CAAP -11- 0000601, and related matters. The
briefing and consultation involves consideration of the powers, duties, privileges,
immunities, and/or liabilities of the Council and the County as they relate to this
agenda item.
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as
follows:
Mr. Rapozo moved to convene in executive session for ES -508, seconded by
Mr. Bynum.
Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Anyone in the audience want to speak
on this item? Seeing no one. Members, I want a roll call vote to go into executive
session. That's a new standard I'd like to have. Could you call a roll call for
executive session?
The motion to convene in executive session for ES -508 was then put, and
carried by the following vote:
FOR CONVENING IN EXECUTIVE SESSION: Bynum, Chang, TOTAL — 6,
Kuali`i, Nakamura, Rapozo, Furfaro
AGAINST CONVENING IN EXECUTIVE SESSION: None TOTAL - 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Yukimura TOTAL —1.
Council Chair Furfaro: We're going to go into executive session in
10 minutes, at 11:30 a.m., and then I do want to remind everybody at 1 :30 p.m. we
do have posted public hearings on and Glenn, if you want to come back for the
public hearing versus watch the Cardinals, that's your choice.
There being no objections, the meeting was recessed at 11:20 a.m.
The meeting was called back to order at 11:45 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
C 2011 -294 Request (10/13/2011) from the Office of the County Attorney for
authorization to expend additional funds up to $15,000.00 to enable special
counsel's continued representation in Michael G. Sheehan vs. County of Kauai, et
al., Civil No. 10 -1 -0161 (Agency Appeal), Fifth Circuit Court, currently being
appealed by Mr. Sheehan under Intermediate Court of Appeals
No. CAAP -11- 0000601, and related matters: Mr. Bynum moved to approve
C 2011 -294, seconded by Mr. Chang, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Furfaro: I believe that concludes our morning session and
we are going to take a lunch break and be back for three public hearings. I believe
all of those public hearings are in Mr. Bynum's committee and I also will share with
you folks I may be doing a sick call for the rest of the day and we have five people to
listen to the public hearing. I'm just a bit under the weather. We are adjourned.
COUNCIL MEETING -32- October 19, 2011
ADJOURNMENT.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:46 a.m.
tteyY
/wa Deputy County
ATTACHMENT NO. 1
October 19, 2011
FLOOR AMENDMENT
Resolution No. 2011 -73, Draft 1, Relating to the Principles of Zero Waste as the
Waste Management Policy for the County of Kauai
Introduced By: KipuKai Kuali`i, Councilmember
Amend Resolution No. 2011 -73 as follows:
"WHEREAS, the volumes of solid waste generated by both residents and
businesses in Kauai County are increasing while our landfill capacity is rapidly
decreasing; and
WHEREAS, the placement of materials in waste disposal facilities, such as
landfills and incinerators, can waste natural resources, transfer liabilities to future
generations, and be cost prohibitive; and
WHEREAS, waste diversion technologies and strategies have improved over the
past decade resulting in the significant reduction in the cost of recycling; and
WHEREAS, the increasing cost of oil coupled with the continuing growth in
worldwide consumption of our natural resources has created strong, stable markets
for recovered materials; and
WHEREAS, conserving natural resources and reducing the demand for the
energy required for the production of consumable products is of primary importance
both locally and worldwide; and
WHEREAS, Zero Waste Management has been recognized nationally and
worldwide as an economically viable, sustainable system to manage our discarded
products and materials while protecting and preserving the environment; and
WHEREAS, the Ahupua'a system that was passed from Kupuna to Keiki for
generations and utilized throughout the Hawaiian Islands from Makaa to Makai
included Zero Waste Principles and continues as a guide for making sustainable
decisions today; and
WHEREAS, a resource - management -based economy will create and sustain
diverse employment opportunities, creating useful products and services; and
WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii diversion goal for each county was 50% in 2000,
and the County of Kauai diversion rate was 25% in 2005, and the County of Kauai
adopted its 2009 Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan that projected a
diversion rate of 35% for 2013; and
WHEREAS, the Zero Waste Principles promote the highest and best use of
materials to eliminate waste and pollution by emphasizing a closed -loop system of
production and consumption, moving in logical increments toward the goal of zero
waste through the core principles of:
ATTACHMENT NO. 1
Improving "downstream" reuse /recycle of end -of -life products and
materials to ensure their highest and best use;
Pursuing "upstream" re- design strategies to reduce the volume and
toxicity of discarded products and materials, and promote low - impact or
reduced - consumption lifestyles;
Fostering and supporting the use of discarded products and materials to
stimulate and drive local economic and workforce development; and
WHEREAS, adopting a goal of zero waste disposal and pursuing Zero Waste
Principles is consistent with, and an explicit validation of, Kauai County's
commitment to island -wide sustainability; and
WHEREAS, strategies to reach Zero Waste can help achieve the over - arching
goal of each generation, leaving a reduced ecological footprint on the Earth; now,
therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI, STATE
OF HAWAII, that through its legislation, policies and actions, Kauai County shall
follow the concepts of Zero Waste management to the greatest extent possible, and
after deliberate consideration of the economic, social and environmental costs, the
Council and the Administration will take steps to incorporate the Zero Waste
principles into the implementation of the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Kauai County [Council] hereby adopts
a diversion goal of 70% by 2023.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the Kauai County Council joins Mayor
Bernard P. Carvalho Jr. and his Administration to call on all county employees, all
branches and levels of government, all residents, visitors, businesses, and the
community to follow the concepts of Zero Waste, and take the necessary steps to
incorporate the Zero Waste principles into their daily lives at home, at work and
throughout the County of Kaua`i."
(Material to be deleted is bracketed.)
V: \CS OFFICE FILES \AMENDMENTS \2010 -12 term \Reso. 2011-73,10-19-2011, intro by kk, gg, il.doc