HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/27/2012 Regular Council Meeting COUNCIL MEETING
JUNE 27, 2012
The Council Meeting of the Council of the County of Kaua`i was called to
order by the Council Chair at the Council Chambers, 4396 Rice Street, Room 201,
Lihu`e, Kaua`i, on Wednesday, June 27, 2012 at 8:38 a.m., after which the 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
Honorable Jay Furfaro
APPROVAL OF AGENDA.
Mr. Chang moved for approval of the agenda as circulated, seconded by
Mr. Kuali`i, and unanimously carried.
MINUTES of the following meetings of the Council:
Minutes of the March 28, 2012 Council Meeting
Minutes of the May 23, 2012, Council Meeting
Mr. Chang moved to approve the Minutes as circulated, seconded by
Mr. Kuali`i, and unanimously carried.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
ALFRED B. CASTILLO, County Attorney: Good morning, Council Chair,
Councilmembers, Al Castillo, County Attorney. For your consideration the matter
at hand is ES-558 on page six (6).
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
ES-558 Pursuant to HRS section 92-4, 92-5(a)(2), 92-5(a)(4) and 92-
5(a)(8), and Kaua'i County Charter section 3.07(e), the Office of the County
Attorney, on behalf of the Council, requests an executive session to allow the
Council to consult with the County Attorney concerning the County Auditor's Audit
of Fuel Costs, Consumption and Management; the referral of the audit to specified
external parties, and related matters. This 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. This executive session is
also to consider the hire, evaluation, dismissal, or discipline of an officer or
employee or of charges brought against the officer or employee, where consideration
of matters affecting privacy will be involved; provided that if the individual
concerned requests an open meeting, an open meeting shall be held.
The meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows:
COUNCIL MEETING 2 JUNE 27, 2012
Chair Furfaro: I am looking for a motion on this item and a second so
that we can go into Executive Session.
Mr. Rapozo moved to convene in Executive Session based on 92-5(a)(2) which
is to consider the hiring of, evaluation, dismissal, and so forth, and for that
purpose only, seconded by Mr. Kuali`i.
Mr. Rapozo: Mr. Chair, I realize that the posting is to get an Executive
Session to consult with the Attorney, but the last sentence also says this Executive
Session is also to consider, and because of and I am sure that everybody was able to
read the confidential memo that came from the Office of the Auditor, I do not
believe that we are able to discuss this matter with the County Attorney's Office
simply because of their involvement in the case. They did represent the people of
interest of persons of interest; therefore, I believe there is a conflict as stated as well
in the memo from the Auditor's Office. I would ask that this Executive Session be
limited to 92-5(a)(2) so that we can get into Executive Session to discuss these
reports with the Office of the Auditor and the investigator's office, Mr. Minkin.
Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Further discussion? Mr. Bynum.
Mr. Bynum: I am going to support the ES as stated not with these
restrictions.
Chair Furfaro: Any other discussion? Vice Chair Yukimura.
Ms. Yukimura: I think we need to get clarification on what we are voting
on.
Chair Furfaro: I am going to recognize the County Attorney.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Mr. Castillo: Council Chair and Councilmembers, realizing the extent
of the investigation and the participation of myself and Amy Esaki, although there
is really no legal conflict that requires both of us to be out, that is the reason why I
have asked Marc Guyot to be the Deputy County Attorney that is to guide the
Council in this matter. Myself nor Amy Esaki, the First Deputy, will participate.
Chair Furfaro: Any questions of the County Attorney?
Ms. Yukimura: Is this a matter that has to be cleared with the
Disciplinary Counsel? This is a Chinese walls kind of thing?
Mr. Castillo: Yes it is and if you feel at this point in time that I should
be calling the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, I will. In terms of what I know
regarding the investigation and how we have guided the various departments, it is
my understanding right now that there is no legal prohibition for a conflict. I put
both of those statements out for you to consider.
Ms. Yukimura: I am thinking that it might be safer because what if you
find out later that it is not a proper thing.
Mr. Castillo: I will do that. I am not privy to any communication that
the County Auditor has forwarded to the Council.
COUNCIL MEETING 3 JUNE 27, 2012
Chair Furfaro: Mr. Castillo, my assumption, if we recessed than you are
going to make a query?
Mr. Castillo: Yes, I will.
Ms. Yukimura: Now, if you are not privy to the contents of the memo, how
are you going to explain to the Disciplinary Counsel what this is about?
Mr. Castillo: I know what this Executive Session is about, I am not
privy to the memo of course; however, Councilmember Rapozo has raised an issue
and my report to the ODC would be objectively what he has stated here on the floor
this morning.
Ms. Yukimura: Okay, thank you.
Mr. Rapozo: Mr. Chair?
Chair Furfaro: Mr. Rapozo, you have the floor.
Mr. Rapozo: I would suggest that our Office make the call to ODC,
Mr. Morimoto and that would be — then the memo can be discussed in detail. That
would be my suggestion. We would get the proper response based on the
information which is of serious concern to me and I am not sure, maybe not to
everyone else but if you read the memo it is quite clear that the County Attorney's
Office did play an active role in the investigation as far as representing the parties
that are being investigated. Ms. Yukimura makes a very good point that if we find
out later that we messed up, then it is a problem. Let us get it done before, have
our staff call ODC utilizing the information and actually even possibly faxing it over
to get a ruling that I think would serve this Council the best.
Chair Furfaro: To the County Attorney, may I excuse you and call Peter
Morimoto up?
Peter, would you have any problem with fulfilling the request that you make
that call referencing the context in the communication from the Auditor on behalf of
the Council?
PETER MORIMOTO, Council's Legal Analyst: I can do that. I am not sure
how ODC would treat a call. I could call ODC but my impression is that they
normally field calls from Attorneys who are checking on conflicts involving their
own situations but I can make the call to see how they would treat it.
Chair Furfaro: Okay, so that might be our first step before we go any
further and I recognize anybody else, I think on behalf of the Council, we would
probably want to do that through you. Mr. Rapozo.
Mr. Rapozo: Mr. Morimoto, is it possible for you and the County
Attorney to make the call?
Mr. Morimoto: Sure.
Mr. Rapozo: We have a nice expensive phone in that room that can go
on speaker and the two (2) of you could be present. You could be available as a
COUNCIL MEETING 4 JUNE 27, 2012
resource person for the County Attorney to discuss any and all matters that should
they have questions on. I think that might work as well.
Chair Furfaro: That is a very nice approach.
Ms. Nakamura: I have a question for the County Attorney.
Mr. Castillo: Councilmember Nakamura, good morning.
Ms. Nakamura: Good morning. I was just wondering if the individuals
who we will be discussing have given us expressed permission to go into Executive
Session and not have it in open session.
Mr. Castillo: I will make that call, yes.
Ms. Nakamura: Thank you. Just because that is what is required by law.
Mr. Castillo: Yes, I will make that call.
Chair Furfaro: So, at the same recess you will make that query?
Mr. Castillo: Yes.
Chair Furfaro: Mr. Bynum, you have the floor.
Mr. Bynum: I just want to point out that when we go into Executive
Session the entire matter is part of a record that is kept. It is common for all the
years I have been on the County for the County Attorney presides over an office — a
group of attorneys. It is common for them to represent different elements of the
County that has been our standard of practice for many years. The maneuvering
about what we talk about and how keeps us from having a rich and full discussion
of the issues. I am happy with the way that this is posted with the guidance from
my attorney and I think we should go into Executive Session, it is all recorded if
something improper happens and it is all down there in the record. I think for a
number of matter recently it is important that we do not delay for long periods of
time and it is important that we have an open broad discussion of the issues and
posting it under several areas allows for that. I want to go on record to say that this
seems proper to me and if there is something improper, we have a public record and
we should not constrain ourselves from having an open dialog about issues.
Mr. Castillo: Councilmember Bynum to your point, that is the very
reason why I asked Marc Guyot to be here because he has had no part in any of this
and that keeps his part and I do not know if"clean" is the correct term. I do know
that Mr. Minkin is here and he will be here only up to a certain period of time and I
believe it is 10:30 so that may cut into his ability to give this body appropriate
information. I will make the call as one of the Councilmembers has suggested and
we will see where we go from there. I am just hoping that there is someone there at
the Office of Disciplinary Counsel that will be able to take the call.
Mr. Rapozo: I have one last question. Al, is it appropriate based on the
posting — on the second part of the posting again citing the section that I made the
motion on 92-5(a)(2), do you think it is appropriate? I believe it is but for this body
to meet in Executive Session with Mr. Minkin while you and our staff make that
call? At least we will get the briefing on the report and once that matter with ODC
COUNCIL MEETING 5 JUNE 27, 2012
is resolved and if in fact they are going to say it is okay, then we can have the
Attorney's Office come in. 92-5(a)(2) is not — that is one section that does not
require the presence of the County Attorney, it is for us to discuss personnel issues.
Mr. Castillo: I have read basically in clearing the specific language and
the specific HRS sections regarding this Executive Session in all of the sections I
believe that it is necessary for this body because of the Sunshine Law which allows
the Executive Session to occur, the guidance of your legal counsel is important. Mr.
Minkin is here because he is a resource, and I am going according to the recent
judgment or by Chief Judge Valenciano, David Minkin will be here as a resource
person should you have any questions. One (1), two (2) and three (3) — the reason
why all of them require the presence of the County Attorney or the Deputy County
Attorney is to make sure that the Council stays within the parameters of the
Executive Session as promulgated by the statutes.
Mr. Rapozo: You are saying that one (1), two (2), and three (3) requires
the presence of the County Attorney?
Mr. Castillo: I am saying that in this case because of — it is just to
make sure that you stay within the guidelines of the Executive Session.
Mr. Rapozo: I think we can manage that. Item four (4) is the only
section that requires the County Attorney.
Mr. Castillo: And you asked for opinion and I gave you my opinion.
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Mr. Rapozo: Right and so my question was is it possible on the 92-5 for
this body to meet without an attorney present under subsection (a)(2)?
Mr. Castillo: And I say in an abundance of caution it is... I cannot
anticipate... we have to make sure that you stay within the guidelines so that you
do not violate the purpose of the Executive Session.
Mr. Rapozo: So the answer is no?
Mr. Castillo: Yes.
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as
follows:
Chair Furfaro: Mr. Castillo, I will take the followin g roll — am going I oin to
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excuse you and I would ask you to follow through on the request with the presence
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of Mr. Morimoto to make the calls over to Honolulu. For the body, I want to let you
know I want to move forward on some other parts of the agenda for today, for
example, the consent calendar and then as necessary go into recess until those calls
are completed.
There being no one present to provide public testimony on any agenda item, the
meeting proceeded as follows:
CONSENT CALENDAR:
C 2012-193 Communication (06/05/2012) from the Chief, Engineering
Division, Department of Public Works, transmitting for Council approval, a
COUNCIL MEETING 6 JUNE 27, 2012
Resolution repealing an existing school bus stop on Nonou Road and establishing a
new school bus stop in the vicinity of 4846 Nonou Road, as requested by Mr. Joshua
F. Rapanot, with concurrence from the Department of Education Bus
Transportation Services: Mr. Kuali`i moved to receive C 2012-193 for the record,
seconded by Mr. Chang, and unanimously carried.
C 2012-194 Communication (06/05/2012) from the Chief, Engineering
Division, Department of Public Works, transmitting for Council approval, a
Resolution establishing a school zone and 15 MPH speed limit for the entire lengths
of Mahimahi Road, Malolo Road, Malolo Place, and a portion of Weke Road, Hanalei
District, as requested by Mr. Ke`ala Pavao Bartolini and Aloha School: Mr. Kuali`i
moved to receive C 2012-194 for the record, seconded by Mr. Chang, and
unanimously carried.
There being no objections, the Council recessed at 8:55 a.m.
The Council reconvened at 9:07 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
Chair Furfaro: Mr. Clerk, what I would like to do is take care of some of
our business for the day. I would like to go through claims then to legal documents
if we could and then I would like to take a couple of Resolutions and then if we need
to go into recess again, we will do so.
There being no objections, all claims were taken out of order.
CLAIMS:
C 2012-198 Communication (06/04/2012) from the Deputy County Clerk,
transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by True Blue, Inc., dba
Kaua`i Beach Boys, S. Kamal Salibi, President, for loss of revenue, pursuant
to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kaua`i: Mr. Kuali`i moved to refer
C 2012-198 to the County Attorney's Office for disposition and/or report back to the
Council, seconded by Mr. Chang, and unanimously carried.
C 2012-199 Communication (06/04/2012) from the Deputy County Clerk,
transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Chris Link for property
damages, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kauai. Mr. Kuali`i
moved to refer C 2012-199 to the County Attorney's Office for disposition and/or
report back to the Council, seconded by Mr. Chang, and unanimously carried.
C 2012-200 Communication (06/05/2012) from the Deputy County Clerk,
transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kauai by Helen Cameron
for medical bills, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kauai:
Mr. Kuali`i moved to refer C 2012-200 to the County Attorney's s Office for disposition
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and/or report back an epo t bac to the Council, seconded by Mr. Chang, and unanimously
carried.
C 2012-201 Communication (06/06/2012) from the Deputy County Clerk,
transmitting a claim filed against the County of
Kaua`i by Ean Holdings LLC., for
damage to their vehicle, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kauai:
Mr. Kuali`i moved to refer C 2012-201 to the County Attorney's Office for disposition
and/or report back to the Council, seconded by Mr. Chang, and unanimously
carried.
COUNCIL MEETING 7 JUNE 27, 2012
C 2012-202 Communication (06/12/2012) from the Deputy County Clerk,
transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Karen Ramos, for
damages to her vehicle, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kaua`i:
Mr. Kuali`i moved to refer C 2012-202 to the County Attorney's Office for disposition
and/or report back to the Council, seconded by Mr. Chang, and unanimously
carried.
C 2012-203 Communication (06/15/2012) from the County Clerk,
transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Janis Mardonada, for
damages to her vehicle, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kauai:
Mr. Kuali`i moved to refer C 2012-203 to the County Attorney's Office for disposition
and/or report back to the Council, seconded by Mr. Chang, and unanimously
carried.
There being no objections, Legal Documents were taken out or order.
LEGAL DOCUMENT:
C 2012-204 Communication (06/06/2012) from the Director, Parks &
Recreation Department, recommending Council approval of the following (See also
C 2011-106 for purchase agreement for land acquisition approved by the Council on
April 7, 2011):
• Warranty Deed by Masakatsu Katsura, Trustee of the
Masakatsu Katsura Revocable Trust, and Mieko Katsura,
Trustee of the Mieko Katsura Revocable Trust, conveying to
the County Lots F-2 and G-2, Niulani Tract (First Addition),
Waipouli, Kawaihau, Kaua`i (TMK: (4) 4-3-09:42), for use
as
part of the L date-Ka a a Shared-Use Path
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utility easement that will be executed directly between the
Katsura Trusts and Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative.
Mr. Bynum moved to approve C 2012-204, seconded by Mr. Chang, and
unanimously carried.
C 2012-205 Communication (06/18/2012) from Kamuela Cobb Adams,
Housing Director, recommending Council approval of the following:
• Grant of Easement by the County of Kaua`i and Paanau
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Village Partners LP conveying Easement E-1, Koloa, Kaua`i,
Hawaii, to Kauai Island Utility Cooperative for utility
ur oses for Paanau Village e Phase 2.p g
Mr. Kuali`i moved to approve C 2012-205, seconded by Ms. Yukimura, and
unanimously carried.
RESOLUTIONS:
Resolution No. 2012-47, RESOLUTION AMENDING RESOLUTION
NO. 166 (1975) DELETING AND ESTABLISHING SCHOOL BUS STOP ON
NONOU ROAD, WAILUA HOUSELOTS, KAWAIHAU DISTRICT: Mr. Bynum
moved to adopt Resolution No. 2012-47, seconded by Mr. Kuali`i, and carried by the
following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Bynum, Chang, Kuali`i, Nakamura, Rapozo
Yukimura, Furfaro TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL — 0,
COUNCIL MEETING 8 JUNE 27, 2012
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
Resolution No. 2012-48, RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A SCHOOL ZONE
AND 15 MPH SPEED LIMIT FOR THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF MAHIMAHI
ROAD, MALOLO ROAD, MALOLO PLACE, AND A PORTION OF WEKE ROAD,
HANALEI DISTRICT, COUNTY OF KAUAI: Ms. Yukimura moved to adopt
Resolution No. 2012-48, seconded by Mr. Kuali`i, and carried by the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Bynum, Chang, Kuali`i, Nakamura, Rapozo
Yukimura, Furfaro TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
There being no objections, the Council recessed at 9:12 a.m.
The Council reconvened at 9:28 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
There being no objections, C 2012-181 was taken out of order.
C 2012-181 Communication (05/07/2012) from the Director of Finance,
transmitting for Council information the following reports:
(1) County of Kaua`i Bond Summary of General Long—Term
Debt Amount Outstanding as of July 01, 2011;
(2) County of Kaua`i Bond Supplemental Summary of General
Long—Term Debt Amount Outstanding as of June 30, 2012;
Excluded County of Kaua`i Bond Supplemental Summary of
Long—Term Debt Amount Outstanding as of June 30, 2012:
CFD No. 2008-1 (Kukui`ula Development Project) Special
Tax Bonds, Series 2012, sold April 25, 2012.
Mr. Rapozo moved to receive C 2012-181 for the record, seconded by Mr. Kuali`i.
Chair Furfaro: Mr. Rezentes, thank you for coming over. I am going to
give you the floor.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
WALLY REZENTES: Good morning, Chair and Councilmembers. I want
to apologize and ask if we could take C 2012-181 late in the agenda, the Treasurer
was supposed to handle that item for me. I was prepared to speak on the next item
C 2012-196. I thought he was on his way here after being contacted and I will g y g w 1 try to
contact him as soon as I am finished.
Chair Furfaro: Wall y, I am going to be very honest with you, I dismissed
many people who wanted to talk about 196 and the heiau itself and now you are
suggesting that we go to 196?
Mr. Rezentes: I just talked to them downstairs and I think they are
ready to come up here as well.
COUNCIL MEETING 9 JUNE 27, 2012
Chair Furfaro: Let me make a general announcement for those that are
here, this item agenda for the project is in fact for the facility district item, those
that want to testify on the item may have up to six (6) minutes to testify on the
item. It is not to initiate a presentation. Go right ahead, Mr. Rezentes.
The meeting was called back to order and, there being no objections, C 2012-196
was taken out of order.
C 2012-196 Communication (06/19/2012) from the Council Chair, requesting
the Administration's presence to discuss the Kukui`ula Community Facilities
District (CFD) Bond as it relates to the sale of the bonds, the disbursement of bond
proceeds, and the allocation and funding process for the designated County projects
identified to be funded — Kaneiolouma Heiau Complex, Parking for Po`ipu Beach
Park, and Koloa-Po`ipu Complete Streets Initiative: Mr. Rapozo moved to receive
C 2012-196 for the record, and seconded by Mr. Kuali`i.
Chair Furfaro: Mr. Rezentes, what I am going to do is I am going to allow
people in the audience to give testimony. I do hope in the meantime that we are
able to recognize the location of Mr. Spanski, our Treasurer, so that we can move
into the other item.
I would like to give an announcement before we start. For those of you in
the audience, and I believe Mr. Rupert Rowe being the Po`o for the heiau complex, I
want to make sure ou understand the agenda item for today is the financial
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package that allows you in our rules to have six (6) minutes of a presentation. If
Mr. Rowe's time expires and he can pass the other presentation on to somebody
else's time, I can handle it that way. Those are our rules to sticking to the agenda
item. If the agenda item today was solely the development restoration and long-
term management of the complex, then that would be the agenda item and that
much time would be allowed. The agenda item today is about the distribution of
the CFD fund, and as I mentioned to you folks, if someone wanted to take the next
set of six (6) minutes from Mr. Rupert Rowe, I will allow that, but Rupert, the
agenda item is dealing with the financial parts. You have the floor, sir.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
RUPERT ROWE, President and Po`o: My name is Rupert Rowe, I am the
Po`o of Kaneiolouma. I have my presentation on why we need the financial support
from the CFD fund. This is Kaneiolouma and it has been buried for a very long
time. Kaneiolouma is sacred to the Hawaiian culture and an important historical
landmark that we can have for the future and economical base. Everything lies
right here what you folks are all looking at.
These are the idol sites and house sites in this complex. This is how the
water came down on the other side, this is the system looking at it from a different
angle. This is an ancient village fully intact and never was destroyed by man in any
way, only by cattle. These are some of the features that are in there, that is a bowl
on the bottom right and an idol on the inside with altars around the site. This is
Kaneiolouma, on the right hand side there is a portion that the State transferred
over to the County to be part of Kaneiolouma. This is what we are looking at right
now, the blue or purple is the State portion, the bottom half is Nukumoi, it is still
part of— should be a part of the site. These are the people that came in from the
County — George, Lenny and Imai. This is Kam School 2010 that came there and
their mission was to learn of their culture and of their past and these are the
COUNCIL MEETING 10 JUNE 27, 2012
students. These are the volunteer hours that were given in the last two (2) years
there. This is Kam School again.
This is how it used to look in 2008 and that is what it is in 2007. This is our
Master Plan that we gave the Administration, the Park Director, the County
Attorney, and the County Council — our Master Plan. This is the goals that we have
there. You will understand when you look at another area shot what I am trying to
get my point across.
This is the man who brought the past to the future, his name is Henry
Kekahuna. He is the only archeologist in Hawai`i I believe was able to reconstruct
culture sites that was never there. I call him an architect of archeology, Mr. Henry
Kekahuna. No other person has that gift that he had.
These are some of the things that are at stake right now and I will let you
folks go through it.
All what you have here is on the PowerPoint — things that were distributed to
you. You folks will have a full copy of this PowerPoint. These are the high priority
right now: we need to secure the wall on the outside, that is why I am here talking
about the fund and how important it is on our economical — it is a pay back from
day one (1) when we started in there; whatever takes place on the culture end, it
will all profit by learning from our past and understanding our future.
This is the security wall that goes around. The last house on the right hand
side is Cammie Matsumoto and it will go down along the highway, and the Park
signage, we will have it over there — (inaudible) 0 Kaneiolouma and then it will
come all the way down to the bottom. The flooding in the area, the Army Corps of
Engineers worked it out with Lenny, so I cannot speak for what happened with
Lenny and the Army Corps of Engineers but I spent a day and a half with them.
This property right here is zoned Open, Public, and Culture. I guess in the
planning process we really never looked at the future of Po`ipu Park but the
development on the top end, and not understanding the problems that would be
created on the bottom end, this parcel right here is a key to the site. There are
idols, taro patches, and other things that are important. I believe that as time will
go forward I think we can have the landowner work with the County and work with
the people of Kaua`i. This is the mason crew that is working at Nalolokai. The
head of the this crew is Kaleke Flores, he is our culture mason. There are ways for
us to get grants on the inside from the federal government on a culture based
restoration where you have to prove that you are a native Hawaiian to go for these
particular grants and be qualified on dry stack.
These are the phases that we are in right now. It is a seven (7) year project
but can be completed in five (5) years. This is the security wall on the outside, the
wall on the inside — that is just a factor that I had to put up the time and everything
to apply for the grant and that is the figures I came up with. Nukumoi property, I
cannot speak for the value of that property. Surveying — I wanted to have some
people from the outside give us a three (3) dimension.
Chair Furfaro: Excuse me, Mr. Rowe, that is the time that we have set
for you. Do you have someone else that can come up or do you want to summarize?
Mr. Rowe: I am almost done.
COUNCIL MEETING 11 JUNE 27, 2012
Chair Furfaro: Go ahead.
Mr. Rowe: This is what is there for things that need to be (inaudible)
and there is a lot of hurricane debris in that area that we never took out. This is
how the organization operates with all agencies on the outside even the State. This
is our principle projects that we have right here. "The Past becomes the Future,
and the Future becomes the Present." Mahalo and malama to all of you. That is
Kaneiolouma.
Chair Furfaro: Mahalo very much. Hold on Rupert, there may be
questions for you. Members? I will start with Mr. Rapozo.
Mr. Rapozo: Thank you, Rupert, excellent presentation. I have a
couple of questions and I thank all of you for participating in that project. I think
this is going to be a fabulous project for the island and visitors as well. Slide
number twenty-one (21), your rock wall repair, you mentioned County work service
as far as... what does that relate to? The picture with all the masons.
Mr. Rowe: That is the surveying of the place. We had somebody that
we wanted to bring in to give us a three (3) dimensional surveying.
Mr. Rapozo: Is that County? Did County help you with that?
Mr. Rowe: No, no. The outside wall, the County is going to — I think
we can on the expense of this whole thing that is taking place in this area, it can be
done all in-house I believe — we have the equipment and manpower to do what we
need to do.
Mr. Rapozo: My only other question was on the Nukumoi purchase —
where are we on that as far as... is that something that we are actively moving
towards?
Mr. Rowe: Right now we had the Land Trust that went over there
and they had a little conversation but I have to get back and talk to them. The
landowner was very surprised that we were interested in buying the property and
they understand.
Mr. Rapozo: In a good way or a bad way?
Mr. Rowe: A negotiable way.
Mr. Rapozo: Okay, that is good. That is a good way. Thank you, that
is all I have Mr. Chair.
Chair Furfaro: Vice Chair Yukimura, you have the floor.
Ms. Yukimura: Thank you for a beautiful and well presented PowerPoint,
Rupert. I know this has been your dream for a long time and it is exciting to see it
unfold. I do not have any questions at this time but I just want to thank you for
your leadership and all the others who have been working with you.
Mr. Rowe: Thank you. All I wanted to say is I wish we were a little
earlier because I was the guest speaker at Washington Place this afternoon with
COUNCIL MEETING 12 JUNE 27, 2012
Nainoa Thompson, Sam Kaai, and Mililani Dewitt and myself but time is a factor
but this presentation to me was more important than my presence to bring
Kaneiolouma to the rest of the world. I just wanted to let you know, this heiau has
been shown in California on the news channel and the helicopter tour companies
bring their guess to fly over the sites, so just letting you folks know how important
it is to put this security wall up.
Mr. Chang: Rupert, good morning and thank you and everyone for
coming. I wanted to ask you a question. I think everyone here toured your heiau,
what kind of big, heavy hurricane debris do you have?
Mr. Rowe: We have all the nurses' headquarters that were along the
beach and all the concrete slabs that was in the park that they had at the edge, but
somehow they pushed it all the way to the County property. I heard before that the
reason they did that is because the County has more money to pick it up. The only
way I could expose that and put everybody on the same playing field, you have to
malama and you have to open and show what is there and who put it there. We
know who put it there but this is not the time to be discussing who put it there.
Mr. Chang: Okay. My second question is to your cover page, the
aerial of the heiau. The first time I went to visit, there was a lot of water in there
and I did not realize that the water was all leftover runoff from the flood. Is that
correct?
Mr. Rowe: Yes. See what has happened over the years, the
development in this particular area has never figured out the drainage because
there is no river that goes into the ocean from this particular area. It all emptied in
front of the Waiohai, that was the natural drain of that whole place and that is why
the Hawaiians had all the fish ponds and everything that went down to the
Sheraton Hotel. But not really understanding the impact in the future, we filled all
the fishponds up and now we have a problem. I think it can be worked out.
Mr. Chang: The second time that I went — because you wanted to
clear out the pond, there was like — to me it looked like nice grass but I guess that
might have been invasive but I also remember that there were different species of
birds. Were they native?
Mr. Rowe: Okay...
Chair Furfaro: Rupert, before you respond to that, members, I do want to
caution you the agenda item today is the funding. There will be another opportunity
for us to continue to get updates about the kokua from the group, the stewardship of
this area but today's agenda item is about the funding.
Mr. Chang: I understand.
Chair Furfaro: If you want to hold the response to that that is fine.
Mr. Chang: When you look at the pictures there are different phases
of when most of us saw it, so that was that but I understand. Rupert, thank you.
Ms. Nakamura: Thank you very much for the tour, it was a year ago — we
all got a chance to take a look at the site. My question is with respect to the
COUNCIL MEETING 13 JUNE 27, 2012
funding. Your request to the County, is that for the security wall, the seven hundred
six thousand dollars and that is what you will be asking for?
Mr. Rowe: Yes or if it is possible more — whatever needs to go into
the project.
Ms. Nakamura: Okay.
Mr. Rowe: I believe this is a one shot for us down there so that we
can be out of the way and have the other community projects go forward too.
Ms. Nakamura: Okay.
Mr. Rowe: But my last time in front of you folks in here, you folks
asked me if I had a master plan, so that is what I came back to present to all of you,
the master plan.
Ms. Nakamura: It is great to see the progress that you have made in that
short time.
Mr. Rowe: Thank you.
Mr. Kuali`i: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Aloha and mahalo to you and
everyone who has done so much already in restoring our heiau Kaneiolouma. In
slide twelve (12) where you show what the heiau looked like in December 2008 and
then again in September of 2011, it really shows tremendous progress. The area
that was uncovered and that is exposed now and we can see the foundation and the
walls that is like tripled in size perhaps. I would imagine that involved a lot of
volunteers and volunteer hours and so in a sense of looking at the funding are you
tracking that and utilizing that as leverage and in kind to go after federal and state
and other grants. I would imagine — I know HTA has a grant program to promote
culture and heritage and I would imagine there are several sources because this is
really important work that you are doing and that in addition to any county funding
and any State funding there is funding out there with grants. I would hope that
you are tracking all of those volunteers.
Mr. Rowe: I am working pretty close with Office of Economic
Development, with George and Nalani, and I have a person that writes our grant,
we are all in tune for the next phase on the inside which is a whole different thing.
Right now we are talking about the security on the outside.
Mr. Kuali`i: You know by the pictures you can show that many hours
of blood and sweat and work went into that, so clearly keep track of that and use i
y it
p
to go after grants as in-kind leverage. The other thing as far as the need for money,
you mentioned that Lenny worked it out with the Army Corps of Engineers, the
flooding issue.
Mr. Rowe: Yes.
Mr. Kuali`i: I would imagine that potentially that could be a big ticket
item too as far as whatever ve repairs or whatever alterations to the terrain and it
might require some help from the Council too as far as whatever land use
development is happening mauka of the area, but I just wanted to bring to your
attention that get more information from Lenny and make sure that this is being
COUNCIL MEETING 14 JUNE 27, 2012
handled and that if you identified the need for further funding that you let us know
how we can help out with that too. Potentially, that could be a big problem and you
do not want the flooding to destroy all the good work that has already been done or
to set you back.
Mr. Rowe: I just want to comment on that 2008 picture. We were in
there from 1998 so what you see in the 2008 was not possible to see back then, it
was totally covered right across.
Chair Furfaro: Sir, first of all I want to say how we are all very thankful
for your group and support in taking stewardship here, but we have as I mentioned
to my nephew earlier, I did not think we were going to get to this item until about
10:30 and I just wanted to make this announcement to you because we are pending
from 8:30 this morning an Executive Session of which we have Attorneys and we
have investigators here that are due to depart us by 10:30. I am sharing this with
you at this point to the rest of you that are here, it is my intention to go into an
Executive Session. We have gotten your overview. Everyone, I would encourage
you if you are here to give testimony, to give us some sign up but today's item is not
only about the cultural significance but in fact it is about the funding allocation,
that is the posted agenda item. I wanted to apologize, I wanted to make sure that
we became maa to what is going on but we have to go to another business item here
and we will be taking this short Executive Session — well it will be certainly after
10:30 but we will be doing this Executive Session. For those of you in the audience,
can I see how many of you are here to actually give testimony on the complex?
Okay. I want to say to you, sir, thank you very much but please be patient with us,
we have to take another agenda item. Members, I would like to recess from this
item. To all of you, mahalo for being here very much. Mr. Spanski, if you can stay
close to the building I would appreciate it. The members of our staff have in fact
spoken to members of the Office of Information Practices this morning and our
posting also covers considerations of personnel matters that do not require the
presence of legal counsel is the information we have right now. We did not do a roll
call vote to go into Executive Session and I would like to ask the staff to go directly
to Executive Chambers.
Mr. Bynum: May I have the motion read back to me?
Chair Furfaro: Sure.
Mr. Watanabe: The last motion on the floor was made by Councilmember
Rapozo. It was to take the 92-5(a)(2) and convene into Executive Session on that
item and we had a second.
Chair Furfaro: Mr. Bynum.
Mr. Bynum: I have a question for the County Attorney please. Were
you able to speak to ODC?
Mr. Castillo: Yes, and for the record, Al Castillo, County Attorney. Yes,
I did and although Mr. Morimoto was there, he was asked to leave, because it was a
discussion between myself and the person at ODC.
Mr. Bynum: I have two (2) questions.
Mr. Castillo: Go ahead.
COUNCIL MEETING 15 JUNE 27, 2012
Mr. Bynum: Are you comfortable with us going into the session under
the parameters stated by the motion?
Mr. Castillo: Yes. Two (2) things, yes, I am but I would like to caution
the Councilmembers. Number one (1), just keep in mind what is the purpose of the
Executive Session that if legal matters come up then that is where the County
Attorney's Office will be necessary. The second thing is to keep the integrity of the
Executive Sessions sound. Please stay within the parameters of the agenda item
and in terms of... okay, I am sorry, that is my answer to you.
Mr. Bynum: To my first question.
Mr. Castillo: Yes.
Mr. Bynum: And so would ODC have been okay with us going into
session as posted?
Mr. Castillo: I did not ask "as posted." My only question or concern was
the conflict issue and primarily even if, and this is a balancing test or analysis, even
if the Deputy County Attorney in this case was not privy to any information and
was clearly kept away from the subject matter, it was advised that the County
Attorney's Office here, in using the Klattenhoff case where the subject matter was
the Attorney General and in conflict matters, the fact that the Attorney General's
Office is large with separate divisions, in a case like that, they ruled that there was
not a conflict sufficient enough to not have both attorneys from the Attorney
General's Office in that case. The comparison to Kaua`i is different because we only
have ten (10) attorneys, we do not have different departments. We need to set up a
policy which the guidelines of that policy has been — I have received a copy of the
guidelines, we just did it a few minutes ago, and we will be coming up with
guidelines regarding conflict of interest for this small County which will be vetted
out with the Council at a later date.
Mr. Bynum: So we will go into this Executive Session to be briefed by
our consultant, but there will be no County Attorneys present?
Mr. Castillo: That is correct.
Mr. Bynum: And who is going to represent my interest? Or who is
going to provide guidance to me as a Councilmember?
Mr. Castillo: Well you do have a legal analyst onboard. In terms of if it
involves a legal question, then you would be able to ask for a recess and get
guidance thereafter, but not within the Executive Session that is guided within the
parameters as suggested by Councilmember Rapozo.
Mr. Bynum: Thank you.
Mr. Castillo: You are welcome.
Chair Furfaro: Vice Chair Yukimura.
Ms. Yukimura: So if we want legal counsel, who do we ask for? Do we
have to get special — appoint Special Counsel?
COUNCIL MEETING 16 JUNE 27, 2012
Mr. Castillo: That is a hard question. In this case it has been
suggested that it would be more prudent because of the subject matter to get
Special Counsel. I guess what I am saying is if that comes about then we got to
cross that bridge because of the subject matter of this agenda item.
Ms. Yukimura: I can see possibly us being briefed; if legal questions come
up, we put on the agenda the appointment of Special Counsel.
Mr. Castillo: Yes.
Ms. Yukimura: Okay. Thank you.
Chair Furfaro: Any other questions before I do a roll call vote?
The meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows:
The motion to convene in executive session for ES-558 restricted to 92-5(a)(2) was
then put, and carried by the following vote:
FOR CONVENING IN EXECUTIVE SESSION: Bynum, Chang, Kuali`i,
Nakamura, Rapozo, Yukimura, Furfaro TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST CONVENING IN EXECUTIVE SESSION: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
There being no objections, the Council recessed at 10:06 a.m.
The Council reconvened at 11:20 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
C 2012-195 Communication (06/05/2012) from Councilmember Nakamura,
requesting the presence of Mr. Alan Tang, CEO & President, Olomana Loomis ISC,
to provide an update on the feasibility study for the Community Digital Media
Center: Mr. Chang moved to receive C 2012-195 for the record, seconded by
Mr. Kuali`i.
Ms. Nakamura: Thank you, Chair, for putting this on the agenda. This
current budget includes funding to do a feasibility study and the funds were put in
the Office of Economic Development budget. There was a contract with the Kaua`i
Economic Development Board to undertake this study. Today, we are going to get
the presentation from the consultant, Mr. Alan Tang from Honolulu, who will be
describing the results of the feasibility study. Before we bring him up, I would like
to call the Office of Economic Development, George Costa, to provide an overview.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
GEORGE COSTA, DIRECTOR FOR THE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT: Before I call upon Mr. Alan Tang, I just wanted to
acknowledge the work of Councilwoman Nakamura in working with various
organizations and agencies. For the Office of Economic Development this fiscal year
we have several business plans and feasibility studies that we are conducting, and
this is in conjunction with our Kaua`i Economic Plan, the Comprehensive Economic
Development Strategy or commonly known as CEDS, and one of the many projects
that we are working on is looking at the feasibility of a digital media center for the
island of Kauai. We have several programs that are being conducted by the island
COUNCIL MEETING 17 JUNE 27, 2012
— Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School with Kevin Matsunaga is one program that
comes to mind, and there are many others. With this feasibility study, we really
want to see if this is something that we can take to the rest of the Kaua`i
community and benefit all of us, especially our young students that want to enter
this field. Again, without further ado, I would like to call upon Mr. Alan Tang.
ALAN TANG, CEO & President, Olomana Loomis ISC: Thank you once
again for inviting me to make a presentation on this feasibility study. A few
months ago, I was given the commission to take a look at the feasibility and liability
of such a facility on Kaua`i. There were three (3) basic questions that we needed to
explore: is there a need for a digital media facility on Kaua`i, how will it benefit the
community and what are the features of such a facility.
I want to make mention that this concept is not entirely new; it is actually
being done in many different communities. It is important to see how this
community will be able to support it and how it can be reciprocated as a benefit to
all of the residents as well as some people that come and visit here.
I will jump straight into our findings and conclusions and it is very, very
clear from the beginning and even when we went into it there is a substantial
interest from the community both from the academic, arts and cultural, and digital
media communities. I want to make mention that I had interviewed twenty
separate individuals from various communities, including the Department of
Education, independent schools, the Community College, as well as other folks that
are involved in digital media as well as the Performing Arts.
We also concluded that there is a considerable potential impact on the
workforce and micro-economic development for the island. There is a lot of talent
here; I think it is very well known to the Council as well as the community here how
the Middle Schools and High Schools have performed really, really well, especially
in statewide competitions in terms of what they have produced. We applaud for
what is happening right now on the island. In interviews with them, we were told
that such a facility would be welcome, and you will hear me say this throughout this
whole presentation, that this facility does not replace anything; the purpose is to
complement and supplement what exists on the island, amplify and elevate what
we already have. There needs to be a central facility to develop and distribute
digital content. We say central only because of the economy of scale and how we
need to put it together, but part of the discovery in this process is that certain
communities might find it hard to move to other communities, so a central facility is
going to be important. There might be an opportunity where we can develop
satellites to the different communities to minimize the need to travel to the central
facility is possible. This would actually require us having point-to-point broadband
connections which we think is very feasible. We can set up satellites and
partnership with existing facilities or communities that would welcome and
embrace that. There is also a need for an incubator resource to facilitate micro-
enterprise development. This can impact film making and film production, but it
can broaden beyond that commercial sector, and we thought of individual residents
and would-be entrepreneurs that would be able to participate in a program like this.
The digital technology is basically what we are facilitating. What we are
building here — it is a facility and we are going to equip it with state of the art tools
but as you all know, a building is just a building and equipment is just equipment.
The core essence of this facility is really connection. It is ability to bring people
together as a hub to exchange knowledge and information and so we have a whole
COUNCIL MEETING 18 JUNE 27, 2012
cadre of people from the Arts and Culture, Videographers, Entrepreneurs, Students
— especially, those that are interested in Robotics, and App Developers. I want to
make mention that when we started this study, the intention was to look at digital
media but as we got into it, it became very clear that it is not only limited to video
production but also to include anything to do with technology especially when there
is a strong interest and support for it that includes the development of robotics as
well as those that are interested in software development. In addition to that, as
we got more into this, we also realized that it is not only limited to technology but
also to engage very strong component in this community and that is the arts and
culture. There are an exceptional amount of talent on this island, and I think
having the facility which allows them to do performances as well to have those
performances recorded and documented for archive purposes or actually for
commercial purposes, there are not such facilities that exist right now. I think some
of the schools have excellent facilities but they are not necessarily designed for
commercial, they are designed for education. Such a facility would actually
complement what already exists and supplement what is not. We would have
performances, filming studio, extensive workshops, and actually it will include
classes to help in terms of the business media and creation. We can do video
conferencing within the island, within the State, as well as to be able to connect to
the rest of the world and definitely to have tools in classrooms so that we can do
computer labs and do the extensive training from there.
I want to give you a vision of what this facility could look like. Our
recommendation comes from our conversations with the folks from this community
as well as a study of other centers around the Country. In this case, this would be
the best practice on how we can implement something like this. There is clearly a
need for a large hall and we would like to make that a multi-purpose hall. This hall
would be able to serve a multitude of different activities within it. We need to have
secluded edit bays, and audio recording rooms, computer lab, meeting rooms, office
space and classrooms for workshops, seminars and video conferencing. I also want
to make a point that where it is lacking on this island is to actually push the
professional level in terms of the equipment that we have, but not only that, like I
said earlier a building is a building and a machine is a machine but what it comes
down to it is the mentoring and the classes that we can conduct the programs that
we can put together that would really be able to benefit the community. A large
multipurpose room can be set up in a way where we actually can do filming and
recording and large enough where we can have a high enough ceiling, enough room
for backdrop that we can actually do multiple set up. Likewise the same room can
be reconfigured with the right type of equipment to set up as a large conference hall
where we can actually do a projection, presentation and if it is set up in a slightly
different manner, we can actually entertain performances that can be held as a
performance itself or something that can be created for recording. When we
examined some of the best practices, we took four (4) examples, one from New York
City, one from Chicago, one from Seattle, as well as one from San Diego, and this is
very common in terms of the large space utilization that they have done.
Beyond the large space, we also wanted to create situations where we do have
the computer labs with state of the art equipment and equipment that will be
updated both in hardware and software to stay current and also to have clusters.
Again, this is not just a one way communication but to be able to encourage the
community and participants to be able to have an exchange of ideas and meeting
rooms and gathering places as well as business counseling. In examination, we
realized that it is not just the creation of content but also the ability to stay within
guidelines in terms of copyright laws as well as to have the right kind of oversight
COUNCIL MEETING 19 JUNE 27, 2012
to get a product into the commercial realm. We would actually seek a partner that
would be able to provide that business counseling.
As well as the state of the art camera equipment that can be used both onsite
as well as can be checked out and used remotely. State of the art video editing
equipment, as well as audio soundboards, and also a space that we can have
robotics in terms of the development of such technology, as well as an arena where
we can host different competitions as the need arise.
Underscoring all of this is really a need for high speed broadband point to
point within the island, as well as the ability to go out off island which we basically
need not only Statewide but the rest of the Country. What we discovered is that
there is adequate fibre already connected on the island, but what the problem is it is
extremely expensive. So to create a hub to where we can actually invite the
community to be able to use it at a fractional cost would actually enable it and the
timing of this actually works very well. As you are aware the Governor has
initiated his own broadband initiative to be completed by 2018(inaudible) going up
and down, this actually piggybacks on that development and it would be marvelous
if you can see Kaua`i be — the community that leads the rest of the State in that. I
think that is very possible.
To recap some of the features that some of the possible workshops that they
conducted in such a facility would be in the area of video, audio production,
technical lighting, post-production, graphic design, web design, visual effects &
animation, mobile app development, screenwriting, robotic, production business,
and small business counseling. This represents actually a pretty broad and diverse
offering of classes. I think when we get into the business planning phase, we would
need to be able to focus and prioritize, but when we take a look at this whole cadre,
it actually provides a very comprehensive resource to anybody that wants to get into
the business, even if they are not into digital media, even mature industries can
benefit from this such as the hospitality.
I wanted to give a quick background into why this timing is good right now.
We took some statistics from the Hawai`i Tourism Authority; they indicate that
there is actually progress — it is not rocket speed but the economy seems to be doing
well, it is better than the rest of the Country. In the industry we actually took a
report from the Department of Business and Economic Development and Tourism
and took a look at some of the statistics that is happening. What you see here is on
the island on Kauai, this is not the Statewide portion of it, but this is purely on
Kaua`i where computer and digital media consumption and utilization is actually up
seventy-five percent, this is the 2002-2008 period. Specific to Kaua`i, we actually
took a report from Hoike and in the 2010 report these percentages over the six (6)
year period in 2004-2010 and it was pretty encouraging, the internet users are up
two hundred forty-nine percent, editing reservations using the data base up eighty-
nine percent, and the use that comes through the facility is a hundred and ninety
percent, and understanding that the use many of them already have access to the
school environment but yet found the need to be able to use outside facility. As I
mentioned before we actually examined a number of different communities in
Chicago, New York, and Seattle and my point of that is that Seattle is actually only
focused on Native culture and content, but they are also thriving really well. I also
wanted to throw in a little tidbit about another city and comparing to Riverside,
California, and how their development had been impacted by not just the media
center but the investment in arts innovation and cultural.
COUNCIL MEETING 20 JUNE 27, 2012
I thought it would be important on some of the sustainable features of some
of the other media centers. New York City, Seattle, San Diego, Chicago, we have
two (2) that is fairly large and two (2) that is small. We have two (2) at least in
2010 numbers have posted a positive and two (2) that posted a negative. The point
that I want to make out to you in this budget analysis is that take a look at the
compensation and the contractors line, they are fairly significant size, seventy-one
percent to sixty-four percent, and the reason why I want to point this out, it is
actually an element where we can — this facility can contribute towards the
economy of the island. A large percentage of this is not just for the compensation of
the staff of the facility but to pay out the consultants to contractors and to actually
fund some micro-enterprise development in those communities itself. The revenue
generated is actually going back into the community and so in terms of the number
of jobs, this facility depending on the final shape and form could generate anywhere
from two (2) to eight (8) people but it can touch in the case of New York City over
two hundred plus a year in terms of the ability to start a business and to have some
kind of income coming through this facility.
For this facility to be sustainable in serving the public interest the key
budget factor here is going to be his overhead, and as with any building, the
overhead is going to be lease rent. I wanted to put down in comparison here in New
York City, they have a fairly large facility, seventeen thousand six hundred square
feet, and the lease rent is only three percent. Even in Seattle it is eleven percent,
the dollar amount is fairly low, and when you look at it, my guess would be that it
would probably be paying only for the utilities going into it and not so much the
lease rent. We suggest very clearly that if you are going to embark on this project
that the facility should either — own the facility through capital funds that has been
donated or contributed or to be able to find a long lease that has a concession on its
lease rent. In any commercial property, you have to pass the cost along to the people
that participate and use it and then it is going to be somewhat cost prohibitive. We
did examine two (2) sites not necessarily as target sites, but just for comparison.
We took a look at the space that was a former Big Save, as well as the space that
was the former Borders. Big Save is fifteen thousand six hundred square feet and
the former Borders is eighteen thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine square feet.
Our recommendation to consider a facility of this nature, the minimum size we are
recommending is a minimum of ten thousand square feet, so those two (2) facilities
definitely fall into that category and with the ability to have extra space, we can
actually generate a lot more utilization on it.
Chair Furfaro: Is there an error on your spreadsheet?
Mr. Tang: Yes. There was a typo in there — the correct amount is
actually five hundred and eighty-four thousand. There was a...
Chair Furfaro: Because the net was three thousand...
Mr. Tang: You are absolutely right. That was actually a test, so
thank you for paying attention to that. Yes, there was an additional eight and that
is incorrect there. Thank you for pointing that out.
The point that I am making here is that I think in consideration of a facility
that serves the public, I think we need to carefully take a look at the overhead costs
that are involved. I did want to make a special mention of Riverside, I was actually
up in New York City a couple weeks ago in a Broadband Summit where they were
recognized as one of the examples of a developing city and the commitment to arts
COUNCIL MEETING 21 JUNE 27, 2012
innovation, that is how they branded themselves, and they were recognized because
of their broadband connection. That is the only key why I wanted to bring it up for
your consideration is that the benefit and essence of broadband connection cannot
be underestimated, especially for all of us here in the middle of the Pacific. It
allows us to connect to the rest of the world as well as connecting to each other.
Just as important to minimize our overhead, we need to make a strong commitment
to be able to provide high speed broadband connection to this facility. As I
mentioned before, facilities is just a building and it is just a lot of tools that we have
for equipment but it is going to come from our partnership with other members of
the community. Through all of the schools, through the Community College,
community-access media center, small business development center, arts and
culture community, and filmmakers and producers — in our assessment what this
concept we have had overwhelming support of this project that it would be in
collaboration and participation and usage and in my opinion it would only be
through that collaboration where this project be successful otherwise we would just
have a very fancy building.
In conclusion, our report will have seven (7) elements that the business plan
needs to put into consideration. The location selection, again, not only because of
the budget and cost, but because of the proximity to whether the residents would
use it, and also the consideration of satellite hubs. Again, our recommendation is to
partner up with existing organizations in the different communities versus setting
up something brand new. Number two (2), it is mission focus. I think this project
can be very popular with different interests, and in any project it is going to be
impossible to be everything to everyone, and so we would need to stay very focused
in terms of what we need to do and it could be incrementalized. In the first few
years, you can be focusing on a very select few priorities and then expand it over the
course of the year. The key is to raise the tide in terms of the consumption and
creation of the general media as well as innovation technology. I think everyone
agrees that we need to have sustainable revenue model. There can only be so much
that we can expect from government, whether it is County, State or Federal and
even charitable contributions. Our recommendation is that it could have a pretty
aggressive fee schedule and if you look at all the four (4) organizations that we
looked at the majority income actually comes from fee generation. I already
touched on this in terms of community partnerships. This is extremely important
and cannot exist outside of the community. It is here to serve the community but it
is going to require the community to support it for it to be successful. Leadership
and Management goes without saying but I will go ahead and say it anyway, there
needs to be a strong governance in how this facility will be managed and utilized
and it could be the hiring of a strong and well qualified curator to be able to keep
this vision going. Facility utilization we had many conversations as in most
buildings you can be utilizing it for sixty-eight hours a day but to maximize the
space depending on how the community groups in coming to it, some facilities
actually open up to twenty hours a day because some folks prefer to work in certain
hours. That would be able to maximize the investment in such a facility. Last and
certainly not least is the ability of capital investment to go into this project. Our
estimation, depending on the actual property selected, could be an investment of
eight hundred thousand to as much as two point three million dollars depending on
what needs to be built out, the condition of the facility, and the type of equipment
that we need. That is a considerable amount of investment and in my opinion it is
well worth it. If you take a look at — back to the numbers for New York City with a
two plus million dollar budget, over a million dollars are actually reinvested back
into the community through compensation and contracts as well as other fees that
they had put into the community.
COUNCIL MEETING 22 JUNE 27, 2012
That concludes my presentation. I was rushing a little bit but I want to make
sure I leave time for Q&As.
Ms. Nakamura: Thank you very much, Alan. We were very fortunate
through KEDB's work to find Alan because we had found out that he had done
consulting work in Honolulu for Olelo, so he is very familiar with the subject matter
for this feasibility study. Councilmembers, do you have any questions for Mr. Tang?
Mr. Chang: Thank you and welcome back Mr. Tang, and I am glad
that you stressed that you were a little in a rush because I said this guy can speak
really fast.
Mr. Tang: Honolulu, that is why.
Mr. Chang: But I could understand everything that you said. First of
all, Councilmember Nakamura, thank you for bringing over Mr. Tang again and I
am very impressed because as we all know the Olelo Studio burnt down and we
were able to see in depth how that thing was able to — the studio was able to
rebuild, so congratulations. I wanted to ask you, I know you talked to a lot of the
people in the community but have you talked to some of the leaders of the Filipino
community because — do you know that they are trying to do a Filipino Community
Cultural Center?
Mr. Tang: No, we have not talked to that sector of the community.
But we do realize that there are a number of considerations out in the community
right now. I would say if we get into the business planning phase of this that this
process should be more inclusive than exclusive. One of the basis for the success of
this project would be the partnerships with the different communities and the more
we have at the table, I think the more likely this will be successful. I would highly
recommend that in the business planning phase of it, that it be entertained.
Mr. Chang: I would recommend that you chat with them too because
their vision is a place for all and I think everybody is open to ideas because it is very
exciting. Do you see — we have a lot of conferences and conventions on Kaua`i, so on
the high end side, do we see ourselves renting out some of the facilities perhaps to
offset fees because I am thinking if it was ten thousand square feet, for example,
one of the questions I was going to ask you but you may have answered it — is it
open six days a week, is it open seven days a week? I think everybody over here
knows the price of what we pay for the kilowatt and for electricity, and so I am just
thinking in consideration how do we — have we figured out some ways if there is
rental — obviously it is going to be for the whole community but are there charges
that are tacked on to using the facilities or how does that work?
Mr. Tang: That is a very good question. Fee income/rental income is
actually what we recommend and that is what we see in all of the community — the
media centers throughout the country. There are lots of wonderful facilities in the
hotels there, we certainly do not want to compete with them, but as I said before we
would love to complement them and supplement. If anybody is looking for a facility
that requires our type of technology behind it, we would certainly entertain it and
we would certainly welcome the fees that go into that. When it comes to the actual
development of the governance of this facility, it is to serve the people and I think
that there needs to be a prioritization of the public benefit before we consider the
commercial aspect of it. I do not think that this is going to be a facility that is going
COUNCIL MEETING 23 JUNE 27, 2012
to be exclusively for public benefit only, I think it is going to be when you do the
commercial part of it, it is going to benefit the public anyway. So the long answer
to your question, yes, there is going to be a fee. We are recommending a fee
structure to it and it should be able to accommodate any interested group coming to
use it.
Mr. Chang: I am just thinking that there are so many movies that
have been filmed here and so many potential movies that will come there after that
I obviously would like to see a lot of the post production like when the field is out
tapes or as you say satellite communication so that work can be going on and even
burning the midnight oil when you got some deadlines but at least it is not being
sent off. Like you mentioned the economic impact, we would all like to try to keep it
on location, on campus, if you will, at a facility as such. It is very interesting and I
would really like to reach out because we are going to start from ground up or
through your lead, we may have as well make it the best that it can so people will
know that it can all be done here.
Mr. Tang: That is a very important comment, this project was not
intended to be a fully film production studio but it certainly have elements
especially in those situations where if the productions are being filmed on Kaua`i
and they need to do something right away, our recommendation is to actually have
professional grade both in facility as well as equipment. If those production
companies want to do certain things here quickly, they will probably end up doing
some other work elsewhere that they do traditionally but for them to have access to
such a facility, I think would be a huge benefit.
Mr. Chang: Last, I want to say it is because the industry has changed
so much now that a lot of things can be done here so why not do it here instead of
sending it off. It will get done in a few hours versus a few hours versus in few days
or weeks.
Mr. Tang: Again, that is a very insightful comment and as
technology progresses, it is getting smaller and smaller, ou can do actually a lot of
Y Y
professional grade stuff right on the laptop but what we want to do is to provide the
facility the broadband connection. Again, this is just a tool but to be able to
facilitate that both right here if they needed to do something quickly, to be able to
ship it off and upload it to Los Angles or whatever it is, that we have this facility
accessible. When I mentioned twenty hours a day, again, this comes down to the
business planning aspect of it and for those occasions, it could be twenty-four hours
if the production companies are willing to pay the charge for that.
Mr. Chang: Thank you.
Mr. Bynum: Thank you for the presentation and I just have a few
questions and first is on your models is all large metropolitan areas — were there
any models for smaller communities. I recognize we are a unique community in
many ways but these are large metropolitan examples that you are giving us.
Mr. Tang: A very good point and the reason why I chose this is
because they are examples of success and what we want to do is plan after — it is
more of an inspirational plan. I have personally been involved in certain
community projects in Honolulu, in China Town, and so again I think in those
situations try to model after them, I think they are trying to model after these
examples that are set. In the business plan portion of this, this is just a feasibility
COUNCIL MEETING 24 JUNE 27, 2012
study, in the business plan portion of it this is where we need to get into the details
of the dollars and of the budgets and what we are able to generate, that is when we
will actually propose the fee schedule to make sure that is sustainable.
Mr. Bynum: Right. You mentioned schools and others... you have kids
working on this —was there a lot of dialog with KCC and...
Mr. Tang: Yes.
Mr. Bynum: Would they be customers of this facility?
Mr. Tang: They would be our partners. We would love for them to
be our partners.
Mr. Bynum: Ten thousand square feet is a lot of space, so your
feasibility is that there would be enough revenue generating use of this facility for it
to be sustainable?
Mr. Tang: Yes. That is a critical mass that we need to project. If the
space is too small, that puts a cramp into the quality of the product we are able to
offer the public, especially if you want to bridge the professional level of it. That is
not to say that ending smaller would not work, but I think it would be an increasing
challenge. The spaces that we looked at are exactly fifty percent larger than that
which now allows us to do even more. One of the aspects that when we started
looking at a larger space is the need for a performing arts center, and in one of the
projects I did in Honolulu, we were looking at the mini performing arts center,
maybe about a seventy-five to a hundred people in the audience capacity. That
would be small but if it allows for us to be able to accommodate two hundred and
two hundred fifty, three hundred people, now it becomes a real performing arts
space, so that might attract a different flow of traffic. Having a larger space
actually allows us to be able to up a critical mass in terms of what we are able to
generate and ability to bring people together at this hub.
Mr. Bynum: It seems like this would be a good KCC University project
and maybe if the County was involved in this, it would be overlap but I will keep an
open mind.
Ms. Yukimura: Thank you for an excellent and exciting report. My first
question was on the economy of scale. So you are saying that the business plan will
look at how we would have a successful facility based on our economies of scale.
What kind of governance organizational format are you looking at or is that to be
determined?
Mr. Tang: That is to be determined. Our recommendation is that
this needs to be a separate private non-profit entity only because he can set up his
own agenda and mission if you will. That is not to say that working with existing
g Y Y g g
private/non-profit rofit would not work but we have to subscribe to their mission unless
are willing their they a g to change g r bylaws. In doing so, we can set up our own
g p
governance and actually having representatives from different groups, schools, the
community college, as well as performing arts to have a say how this facility ty would
serve their communities.
Ms. Yukimura: Can you explain more about the broadband opportunities
in conjunction with the Governor and just the state of broadband here on Kauai.
COUNCIL MEETING 25 JUNE 27, 2012
Mr. Tang: I definitely cannot speak on behalf of the governor, but I
did meet with Sonny Bhagowalia a few weeks ago and talked about the progress
that he is making. There are certain considerations...
Ms. Yukimura: Sonny is?
Mr. Tang: He is the Chief Information Officer with the State.
Ms. Yukimura: Okay.
Mr. Tang: And the broadband initiative is under his jurisdiction. It
is moving forward, the intention is to actually accomplish one gigabit up and down—
upload and download by the year 2018. To be able to make that happen is going to
be collaboration between the residents, the businesses that would likely buy into
this high speed, as well as the providers. On this island, the infrastructure is
actually in place but the ability to connect to it requires some capital cost, as well as
the broadband service itself is fairly costly. It makes it prohibitive for a small
business or even an individual to be able to afford that. Our concept is to actually
put it into a facility where it is a hub and people can buy into a fraction of it and be
able to participate in the use of broadband.
Ms. Yukimura: Excuse my ignorance, but how is the broadband
infrastructure in place right now, who owns and controls it?
Mr. Tang: We spoke with Time Warner and they actually have that
capability, and so the next step, if this project were to move forward is actually to
have discussions with them to see what can be done in terms of this service.
Ms. Yukimura: On the issue of jobs, and that was slide twenty (20), you
said that there would be two (2) to eight (8) people in terms of running the facility
but that there was two hundred thousand...
Mr. Tang: Two wo hundred consultants...
Ms. Yukimura: In New York...
Mr. Tang: Right.
Ms. Yukimura: Can you explain that?
Mr. Tang: You can have some employees to run the facilities, but
because this facility actually serves a broad and diverse subject matter, they can
actually hire contracted people to come and talk — for example, when we talk about
business counseling, that person does not need to be on staff, they can hire a
consultant to come in and do that. Likewise for certain technical expertise when it
comes to animation or such therefore we can actually — it will not come under
salaries and payroll but it will come under contract employees.
Ms. Yukimura: I see, you are saying — well in New York there are two
hundred plus contractors or that kind of support?
Mr. Tang: Right and actually in all of the examples, there is a
significant amount of it that is actually put out into contract hire which is actually a
COUNCIL MEETING 26 JUNE 27, 2012
wonderful model because the fees generated from the facility again goes back to
paying the community to participate.
Ms. Yukimura: Thank you.
Chair Furfaro: Mr. Tang, thank you very much. Can I just ask a few
questions about your presentation so I get a good picture in my mind? I was
surprised your photographs reflected wooden floors, tile floors, and so forth. Is that
wooden floors, tile floors...
Mr. Tang: Right.
Chair Furfaro: If that is reflected in Y our cost estimates then that is a bit
week on the acoustics portion.
Mr. very Tang: That is a good observation. I would mention that
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those are stock photos and not actual illustrations, so they are picked from
whatever is available. The actual materials that are going to be used in the
construction will actually need to be factored into the actual business planning
portion of it. That will be extremely critical not only in the cost structure but in the
technical requirements of the facility because of the sound quality and so on.
Chair Furfaro: It is unfortunate for us when we used our civic center and
so forth everybody understands how bad the acoustics are because sound bounces
all over the place and we hear echoing. I did not see that in your piece.
Mr. Tang: Absolutely.
Chair Furfaro: It needs to be worked into the cost estimates.
Mr. Tang: Absolutely and actually any facility that we make, it
would probably need to be smart wired so that — again, this is not a facility for now
but hopefully that will be a catalyst for future projects moving forward.
Chair Furfaro: I have some hotel background that deals with putting in
T1 lines for national conferences and so forth. Those have to be considerations. I
also want to know, you are talking ten thousand square feet for us? That still only
makes it about the fifth smallest meeting space on the island. How did you arrive
at that number as the recommendation for us?
Mr. Tang: We recommend that as the minimum amount.
Chair Furfaro: Minimum amount. Okay.
Mr. Tang: Moving forward to see what space is available, whether it
is for acquisition or for lease, that would be the minimum space required. As we
actually looked into it, we found an overwhelming need in the performing arts
communities so if you would actually have a much larger space, I think we can
serve both the technology as well as the performing arts community.
Chair Furfaro: Are you familiar with Akaku on Maui?
Mr. Tang: Yes I am.
COUNCIL MEETING 27 JUNE 27, 2012
Chair Furfaro: Were you involved with their designs? They are the
counterpart of Hoike.
Mr. Tang: No I was not involved with Akaku. I was involved with
Olelo community media on O`ahu.
Chair Furfaro: Thank you very much.
Ms. Nakamura: There is a lot of overlap with the performing arts space
needs and the Council did approve funding to look at a multiuse facility that is also
going on as we speak. Funding went to Kaua`i Planning and Action Alliance to do
some basic visioning with all the different stakeholders in the performing arts,
visual arts community, cultural groups as well. I just wanted to state for the record
that there is some overlap and we are encouraging Alan to meet with Diane
Zachary so that the processes are coordinated.
Mr. Kuali`i: Aloha and mahalo for your work and mahalo for coming
today and reporting — bringing us this information. My questions have already
been asked but I would say that your examples of New York City, Seattle and
Chicago — so it shows revenues and expenses, are all the revenue fees collected?
Mr. Tang: No. A portion of it comes from government grants or
contracts and a portion comes from fundraising...
Mr. Kuali`i: Do you have a sense of what portion is a percentage?
Mr. Tang: Yes, I do. If you like I can quote it to you off the top right
now. For New York, ten percent of it comes from government, thirty-three comes
from charitable giving. For Seattle, it is thirteen percent on the government and
eighteen percent on the charitable giving. San Diego is twenty-nine percent on the
government and thirty-seven on the charitable. In Chicago, it is only four percent
on the government and eighty-two percent charitable — they are heavily supported
by the community. But again, it shows some diversity of models available out there.
Mr. Kuali`i: I am just curious as to what portion would be paid by the
fees and then the non-profit owner/operator would still have to go work with the
community and go after different grants and different donations if you will.
Perhaps even starting with land to begin with...
Mr. Tang: Right.
Mr. Kuali`i: ...and building the facility to begin with. Then the fees
would have to be affordable if you will and if the demand is high enough to carry
that portion which you say they are, but I do not necessarily see a survey or figures
on the feasibility and what makes it actually feasible. I mean it is exciting but I
think that breakdown is important to sort of understand the numbers a little more.
Mr. Tang: You are absolutely right. I think in any recommendation
in such a project like this, it is definitely would put higher consideration on fee
generated to support the facility versus grants and charitable giving. As we all
know it is tough times but if the service is in demand and needed in the community
then that is a way to generate a revenue stream.
COUNCIL MEETING 28 JUNE 27, 2012
Mr. Kuali`i: You made a statement that there is an overwhelming
need in the arts community and so that is for a smaller facility that can hold up to
two hundred and fifty people as opposed to our — we have the Kauai Performing
Arts at the College.
Mr. Tang: The assessment was not done on the Performing Arts and
Culture community in terms of a Performing Arts Center. The assessment was if
we build this center and put performing arts component to that, would you support
that, and it was an overwhelming yes. I do want to make it clear that this does not
become a Performing Arts Center, it may be a stepping stone towards that, and I
think it is important to understand that because building a center does not mean
that the people will be ready for it, but maybe this is a catalyst that can encourage
the level of participation in the community so that when a large Performing Arts
Center is built then the readiness of the community to participate in it will be there.
This will be the bridge to where the Performing Arts - I think further exploration in
the business plan portion of it I think will be really helpful.
Mr. Kuali`i: I definitely agree and I look forward to more information.
Ms. Yukimura: In the figures that you gave with respect to government
and charity income, do we assume that the rest are fees?
Mr. Tang: Yes.
Ms. Yukimura: What was the New York City charity?
Mr. Tang: It is ten percent in terms of government and thirty-three
percent of charitable donations.
Ms. Nakamura: I am assuming that the breakdown will be in the final
feasibility study.
Mr. Tang: Yes, it will be.
Ms. Nakamura: Thank you very much, Alan. Do you have any final
comments?
Mr. Tang: My only comment is that it has been wonderful process in
talking with the community. Everybody has been very supportive of this. The few
concerns that were thrown out for consideration was not against the project but
really in the best interest of the project how to make it successful. That alone is
very encouraging. I think in any project especially of this size, the success as I
mentioned before as it serves the community has to be supported by the community.
I am very positive of what this can do.
Ms. Nakamura: Thank you for your efforts to really reach out and include
everyone in this discussion. Would anyone like to testify?
LONNIE SYKOS: Good afternoon, for the record, Lonnie Sykos. Very
exciting opportunity that the County finds itself with. Having lived on Maui for
twenty-five years, I was attending Maui Community College around 2000, late 90's,
and the Community College was building a multi-media center to provide
commercial quality national television, national video, music, movie editing, the
whole everything you need to get a degree in college and move forward. It was
COUNCIL MEETING 29 JUNE 27, 2012
hooked up to the super computer system by T1 lines which did not allow access the
directly to the super computer although if you were willing to pay for it, you could.
It did allow access to the pipeline that went to the rest of the world, which was like
this big compared to the commercial pipeline that was that big through some deal
with DOD. The pipeline for here arrives at Barking Sands somewhere. There is a
pipeline that is this big that goes to DOD that they do not use all of. It might be
possible to avoid some of the expense of having to purchase into that size conduit
through a collaboration with DOD. I would encourage this County to go to Maui
and see what has been the actual real live outcome of having this facility for
probably ten years or fifteen years now that it has been open. I do not have any
idea I have not kept track of that. Everybody was excited, and as an incubator, I
hope that it has worked well because all the people that have ideas that require this
pipeline to get to the world or to get access to the rest of the world that does the
same type of thing. The community would greatly benefit from having a pipeline; it
is just how do we do it affordably and how do we do it smartly? My next observation
is I only get to see what I watch on tv or when I come to these meetings and see and
thus I am well aware that there are lots that go on that I am not aware of. Just
generically this project is part of the County Economic Development plan. My
question is not the plan for this activity but the County's plan for Economic
Development. Where is it and where is it specifically for how this project ties into
the big picture?
Chair Furfaro: Lonnie, I will get you a copy of the plan that was
presented to us in the budget format. I will get that out to you.
Mr. Sykos: Okay. My next observation is that this project and
projects like it that provide the opportunity for business incubation, I watched the
Council's Meeting I believe on the 6th where there was a presentation from the
contractor involved in the commercial kitchen operation. Having been the
beneficiary of Maui County's very successful collaboration with the rest of the world
to create business opportunities, I became a very successful tropical flower farmer
because of the County's involvement and enabling me to become successful not
anything at all to do with my personal business. I was given access to things that I
did not know exists or I knew existed and I did not have access to and that is what
ensured my success. This collaboration although it is separate from the kitchen
shares the exact same activity that it does not matter what your product or service
is, setting up the business is exactly the same until you have the business structure,
it does not matter what your service is, and it is irrelevant. Your business as a
business has to be able to be successful. That is what I hope to see clearly explained
in all of these economic development ventures. What is the metric that we
measure? Is it successful and successful is based on how many people come out of
the end of the process with a long term money making business that eventually
hires employees or generates competitors or businesses?
Ms. Nakamura: That is the exact outcome on all of these projects, is to
diversify Kaua`i's economy.
Mr. Sykos: Which I hope to see a great or have myself to have a
greater understanding, not to say it does not exist, that all of these things are being
tied together, that they are not discrete from each other.
Ms. Nakamura: Thank you, Lonnie. Would anyone else like to testify at
this time?
COUNCIL MEETING 30 JUNE 27, 2012
LARRY DESOTO: I have twenty-five years in Hollywood as the union board
member, as a sound mixer, as a department head and I have done a few productions
here on Kaua`i. My reason for coming here today is for you to realize the drawing
card as Dickie said when he was talking for the motion picture industry even for
small television to have a facility where they can come and do ancillary work on
their projects as they go along. As far back as — with me — "6 days, 7 nights" there
were a lot of times we were running around trying to find places for stuff. Where
can we do this voice over, where can we get an insert stage, and nothing on the
island is soundproof or up to snuff for what the industry needs. What Alan was
talking about having professional standard equipment makes it a big drawing card
for the motion picture and television industry which generate one, two, six, ten
million dollars of revenue for the island. I think having something with that
availability to the motion picture industry who can pay the big bucks and know it is
here, it is an inducement to say "good we do not have to go to Honolulu — we can
come away from Honolulu, we do not have to do everything there and wait three
days for something to go to LA and come back," they can broadband it or do it here.
Whether they use their own tech people, they are still paying for facilities time
which is not cheap. I think from that point of view, it is really something the
community needs as an inducement for the big bucks.
Mr. Rapozo: I have a question and the only reason I am going to ask
you is because you are from the industry. I have often thought about this when all
the discussions on O`ahu about building sets and stages, is it a profit center or can it
become a profit center because I do not see anybody opening these things up,
private companies?
Mr. DeSoto: Well, they just did in Maui.
Mr. Rapozo: Recently?
Mr. DeSoto: Yes, recently. You mean opening it up here?
Mr. Rapozo: Or on O`ahu. It is always the government offering these
big incentives or big facilities, and do not take this in the wrong way, I am just
curious — is it really a profit center because I do not see private...
Mr. DeSoto: Build it and they will come.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes, I know but they tried it on O`ahu.
Mr. DeSoto: It is working. They had to build an extra stage on O`ahu.
O`ahu has more demand than they have stage space. My personal feeling is if we
took the old Charlie Brown Lumber up on Kawaihau, it would be an ideal three
stage facility and I know Disney was even interested in it when with Lilo and Stitch
or I forget what movie it was but they were seriously thinking about that as a
purchase to have an island hold because they felt that could be a continuation of
production.
Mr. Rapozo: I agree. I have actually helped with the "6 days, 7 nights"
believe it or not, not as a producer or anything like that. I always thought it always
seems like the island would be the perfect setting and the facilities for a hug e sound
stage or...
COUNCIL MEETING 31 JUNE 27, 2012
Mr. DeSoto: Maui just built these huge stages within the past year
and a half and they are busy. O`ahu built an extra stage to keep up with their
demand too. If we have the capability, there are all the other logistics of course that
are involved in enticing somebody to come — transportation, housing and so forth
but when you can at least give them the technical abilities, that is a start and they
can make the other things happen. We avoid anything other than beautiful
locations.
Mr. Rapozo: Thank you.
Mr. Chang: Larry, thank you for coming. I think this might be your
first time in the Chambers.
Mr. DeSoto: I have been here as an observer before.
Mr. Chang: Thank you for testifying because I do not know where we
get money, that is the whole thing but I believe in the build it and they will come
aspect. Having a world class facility will in my opinion bring over a lot of different
conferences, it can even be a field trip for kids, statewide or just different
opportunities. The "6 days and 7 nights" was twenty years ago and it changed so
much right now that I think so much people would just be — I am kind of excited
about the place and it is just unfortunate because if it was already here then we
would be able to see the action going. Do you have any ideas for funding sources?
Mr. DeSoto: I was talking with Alan when you folks were in Executive
Session. I was the general manager at KKCR for a couple of years and it was a
consent thing of going out to the public and trying to find the high rollers and get
that money. What has worked on Maui, a lot of their funding came from one
producer, one writer who I cannot even think of his name — he funded a lot of the
stages on Maui but my first comment was — actually I do not want to start
mentioning actors names that live on island but those are the kind of people to
contribute because they are allowed to stay home. A friend of mine who used to live
here, Jim Shay, who is a very successful music video producer and he has been up
for music video of the year about three times in the Country music business, moved
from here because he was not able to get... it was not the permitting process, it was
just cooperation to do Vince Gill and a couple other people's projects here and he
moved back to Nashville. He would have been the kind of person that would find
you some money kind of thing because he would want to stay home and that is what
I am talking about. The people in the industry that live here that do have an
extremely high disposable income would love to do a charitable thing here and there
for these kinds of things.
Mr. Chang: This gentleman that you were chatting with, does he still
own his house here?
Mr. DeSoto: They sold about three or four years ago because he had to
keep going back to the mainland to do all his work.
Mr. Chang: When you make references to stages — you said Maui built
stages, what is the description of stage?
Mr. DeSoto: It is a sound stage which is soundproof, it is probably
sixty by a hundred which is not something necessarily you need to have here, you
can do a lot of shooting if they — it really depends on the requirements of the picture
COUNCIL MEETING 32 JUNE 27, 2012
and how much they want to do here and how much is going to be more economically
feasible for them to do a sound stage in LA. What happens here on productions is
rewrites and things change — we can do it now because we have the actors here. If
they can get the actor here on the rewrite or whatever to redo, they do not have to
worry about setting up for that when they get back to LA and finding that actor who
is off on another picture or something like that. It makes all these kinds of things
accessible and readily available when they are in and on the spot situation.
Mr. Chang: That on the spot situation, if the director or producer all
of a sudden need to get something happen, you can just say "wait a minute, we got
it right here on Kauai".
Mr. DeSoto: Yes. I remember when that Ben Stiller movie was here...
Tropic Thunder was here and two of the actors were doing voice over for a cartoon
or something, which we had to run around and try and find as close as we could to a
soundproof studio to do it, and you could not get all the variables to make it a
hundred percent perfect. It was done but not with the confidence that you can give
by saying "yes, we got the facility to do it." That makes it easier for so many
people. These two actors had to get their deadline to do their other thing and yet
they are stuck on a picture that is running months over.
Mr. Chang: Thank you for sharing that because I think it enlightens
us for other possibilities because if it is going to happen, it may as well be world
class.
Mr. DeSoto: It certainly will help to draw pictures to come here who
back off because they have no place to go other than like I said they have beautiful
locations but they cannot get a lot of their other work done.
Chair Furfaro: Just on a side note, Nadine, the Ben Stiller movie brought
fifty-seven million dollars to Kaua`i according to this economic development report.
BILL ARAKAKI: I am the Complex Area Superintendent of the
Department of Education for Kauai. Chair Furfaro and Councilmember
Nakamura, I come up here because I want to support this effort fully. As you know
I cannot provide funding for a project like this but I think in our business, I am here
to provide you the human resource of our students. At this point today, this week,
we have over eighty to a hundred students at Chiefess Kamakahelei for media
camp. Students from Maui, Big Island and Chiefess Kamakahelei — their media
class and the teachers are there also. To update you, for Kaua`i, as far as the state
of the art media center, we have the three high schools involved, Kapa`a, Waimea
and Kaua`i High. We also have the three middle schools involved, Chiefess of
course, Mr. Yamagata at Waimea Canyon, and now we have Mr. (inaudible) at
Kapa'a Middle School will be starting a new media class there. Our elementary
schools have media programs there and through the support of KEDB, many of the
teachers have provided resources for equipment. Our students are being trained
and are able to demonstrate the skills that may someday if they continue and the
next step is this center here. They will have careers for them, they will go off to
college, and they will learn more, but to keep the interest in this field is crucial for
us because once they leave our school system and looking for their ambition and
talents related to the media area would really benefit them. And you also know
that we have a KPAC program which is our performing arts. It is in the middle
schools and high school. We practice at any site, we are at different locations on our
campuses, and it would be great to have a state of the art facility for them to even
COUNCIL MEETING 33 JUNE 27, 2012
be there during the — they do it in the afternoon, it is a class — a credit. To have a
site to do this professional type of productions so we are at the level as far as the
children, the students learning and being able to understand the whole process in
the many fields that this media area can provide for them. With the interest and
number of teachers, I think if all of our schools are involved we will have many
students, many human resources out there that will be looking for careers in the
future and also wanting to stay on island. Would it not be nice to see a production
and we do not need to go to New York City? Our KPAC performances had been — a
lot of people do pay and that is how they sustain the part-time teachers to provide
the tutoring. For us, it is sustainable because we have the families, they are very
interested, and the public that do support programs like this. I fully support it and
if any of my teachers can support somehow with the use of the facility and provide
an expertise in what they do, we will do so. Thank you.
Ms. Nakamura: Would anyone else like to testify?
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order.
Ms. Yukimura: Thank you so much for spearheading this. I just
wondered if Mr. Tang had any comments on the Maui facility if he knows about it?
Okay. I think that was a good suggestion from Lonnie to go take a look.
Chair Furfaro: Thank you, Councilmember Nakamura, for running this
segment which is in your Committee.
The motion to receive C 2012-195 for the record was then put, and unanimously
carried.
There being no objections, the Council recessed at 12:29 p.m.
The Council reconvened at 1:46 p.m., and proceeded as follows:
C 2012-196 Communication (06/19/2012) from the Council Chair,
requesting the Administration's presence to discuss the Kukui`ula Community
Facilities District (CFD) Bond as it relates to the sale of the bonds, the
disbursement of bond proceeds, and the allocation and funding process for the
designated County projects identified to be funded — Kaneiolouma Heiau Complex,
Parking for Po`ipu Beach Park, and Koloa-Po`ipu Complete Streets Initiative:
Mr. Rapozo moved to receive C 2012-196 for the record, seconded by Mr. Kuali`i.
Chair Furfaro: Wally, if I could ask you to give us a summary basically
on the process of handling these moneys that will be available to the County based
on the sale of the bonds and the intent of the allocation on these projects by the
Administration.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
WALLACE REZENTES, Director of Finance: As you know, Councilmembers,
we did execute Communities Facilities District with Kukui`ula, and the proceeds of
the CFD bonds in part went to the benefit of the County of Kauai, in particular, it
would go towards the area of Koloa-Po`ipu. As a result of the Resolution and
Ordinance that the Council passed, fifteen percent of the net proceeds of the bond
sale that was executed would go toward the benefit of that area — the Koloa-Po`ipu
area. That fifteen percent amount totaled one million four hundred seventy-one
COUNCIL MEETING 34 JUNE 27, 2012
thousand seven hundred and eleven dollars, and in the County Council Resolution
2012-25, there were three projects that was indentified for the funds to be
earmarked. The first one being the restoration/rehabilitation and reconstruction of
the Kaneiolouma Heiau Complex within the Po`ipu Beach mauka preserve. The
second would be the public parking improvements at the Koloa Beach Park. The
third project indentified was the Koloa-Po`ipu Complete Streets Initiative. Based on
the testimony of Mr. Rowe earlier today, he is seeking funding through the County
of approximately seven hundred thousand for the exterior wall for the Heiau. The
County of Kaua`i, I believe through the Office of Economic Development, will be
shortly working on a grant to be processed and administered through them, working
with George Costa and Nalani Brun. As a result of what the Council had approved,
the one-point-seven-one million was deposited in a trust account with the Bank of
New York Mellon and the money is there earning interest until we are able to pull
it out to grant out or to contract out for the projects that are identified. The
mechanics of the one-point-four-seven-one, after discussion with our bond Counsel,
Brian Hirai, we basically need to set up within the CIP fund a section for the CFD
projects. The Department of Finance will be working on that mechanism and we
intend to submit it to the Council by next week for Council approval.
The other two projects named, I think there were some discussion earlier this
morning, the Po`ipu Beach Park improvements is being worked on right now with
the Parks Department in partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers. The Army
Corps of Engineers is developing some of the design and permitting aspects of the
project, and once that is complete, we hope to be able to go out for the actual
construction portion of the bid. We are also hoping there may be ways in which
some of the moneys from the CFD could be leveraged with federal funds for actually
both of the projects. There may be as I understand future possibilities to partner
with the Corps of Engineers outside of the soft cost. That is pretty much where we
are at. I think the first one we are likely to be moving forward is the Kaneiolouma
Heiau, so we are hoping to again get that ordinance for your approval sometime
next week and then the grant process will follow thereafter. I know a number of us
have been working and have been in contact with Mr. Rowe and some of his team
members, and so we are hoping to work and expedite that process as much as we
can, and we hope that he too will be able to leverage some of the funds that we are
providing with other State and Federal grants. I think our award letter will help
him along those lines.
Chair Furfaro: Okay. Wally, let me just recap this real quick for myself.
The amount is one million four, seven, seventeen...
Mr. Rezentes: Four-seventy-one, seven, eleven and fifteen cents.
Chair Furfaro: And let me ask you it is now in a Trust account and it is
with Mellon Bank?
Mr. Rezentes: Yes.
Chair Furfaro: Could you give us any indication of what the interest rate
is being?
Mr. Rezentes: I am not sure... Fifteen basis points, it is a money market
account.
COUNCIL MEETING 35 JUNE 27, 2012
Chair Furfaro: Okay, money market account, thank you. The
Department of Finance will incur some cost here that we can expect to be netted out
of that?
Mr. Rezentes: No, not on this amount but we were able to...
Chair Furfaro: So, that is the net amount.
Mr. Rezentes: Yes. That is the net amount that can be contracted out or
granted out to the — as long as it is in that district.
Chair Furfaro: You are going to be asking for agenda time for us within a
week to summarize the Heiau Complex?
Mr. Rezentes: We are going to be submitting an ordinance to place the
CFD funds and projects as part of the CIP and then from there we are able to either
grant out the funds or contract out the funds when time is of— when we can move
forward on the construction or grant.
Chair Furfaro: The transfer of funds to the three potential projects will
be done by grant awards by Economic Development?
Mr. Rezentes: For Kaneiolouma.
Chair Furfaro: Yes. Okay. Questions for the County Finance Director?
Ms. Nakamura: For the parking at Po`ipu Beach Park and KOloa-Po`ipu
Complete Streets Initiative, do you have a sense of how much were those projects
and what will actually be done with those funds?
Mr. Rezentes: We do not yet. I know that the Parks Department is
managing the work that is being done for the parking lot project, and I think once
the Corps of Engineers is able to identify the scope, we are going to better able to
estimate the construction build out portion. It may come to being where we can
seek some Federal funds that can be matched with some of the County funds on
that project as well. Department of Public Works will be managing the complete
streets project and again we are hoping that we can leverage this money with other
Federal or State sources of funds.
Ms. Nakamura: Is there any bond requirements on the length of time we
Y q g
have to expect those funds?
Mr. Rezentes: Three years.
Ms. Nakamura: So that is not a lot of time.
Chair Furfaro: That does not seem like a lot of time so there is some
urgency.
Mr. Bynum: Is that three (3) year limit for encumbrance?
Mr. Rezentes: Yes, I believe it is encumbrance.
Mr. Bynum: And this will come to us just like a regular money bill.
COUNCIL MEETING 36 JUNE 27, 2012
Mr. Rezentes: What will happen — yes, we will set it up where we are
adding the projects in these amounts, the one-point-four-seven-one, as part of the
CIP budget.
Mr. Bynum: In the Po`ipu Beach Parking — part of the reason Army
Corps is involved — is the Army Corps involved because that is also going to help
address some of the drainage issues?
Mr. Rezentes: Yes it will.
Mr. Bynum: And we can get more details from Parks?
Mr. Rezentes: Yes.
Chair Furfaro: Anymore questions for the Finance Director? Wally,
thank you very much. There are two parts to this communication, are you going to
have the Treasurer join us on the long term debt?
Mr. Rezentes: The other communication? Yes.
Chair Furfaro: Thank you, Wally.
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as
follows:
The motion to receive C 2012-196 for the record was then put, and unanimously
carried.
C 2012-181 Communication (05/07/2012) from the Director of Finance,
transmitting for Council information the following reports:
(3) County of Kaua`i Bond Summary of General Long—Term
Debt Amount Outstanding as of July 01, 2011;
(4) County of Kaua`i Bond Supplemental Summary of General
Long—Term Debt Amount Outstanding as of June 30, 2012;
Excluded County of Kauai Bond Supplemental Summary of
Long—Term Debt Amount Outstanding as of June 30, 2012:
CFD No. 2008-1 (Kukui`ula Development Project) Special
Tax Bonds, Series 2012, sold April 25, 2012.
Mr. Rapozo moved to receive C 2012-181 for the record, seconded by Mr. Kuali`i.
DAVID SPANSKI, County Treasurer: Each time the County issues or
refinances bonds, we are to do this by law. It is broken up into two (2) parts. You
will see amounts outstanding as of July 1, 2011, and then the back four (4) sheets
will show you what the different one and what the principle payments are. These
numbers just show the principle amount now all in with interest. As of July 1,
2011, the County, counting Water, (inaudible) piece of housing revenue bond was
one hundred and ninety-four million forty-six thousand five hundred dollars. As of
June 30, 2012 which is in a couple of days, there was a sheet there that shows you
the ins and outs what happened. We issued Bonds on July 2012, 2011; we
refinanced the 2008 issue. So that is a top number to be 2011 series "A" and then
COUNCIL MEETING 37 JUNE 27, 2012
we refunded — the Bonds that we refunded was the 2001 "A" so the net result was
we started out the year at a hundred and ninety-four million. We ended the year at
a hundred and eighty-nine point seven million. You spent approximately three
point eight in debt service, and you save another five hundred and sixty-five
thousand in principle by refinancing — just the principle portion. Last year
refinancing, the 2011 refinancing average annual savings was two hundred and
seventy thousand.
Chair Furfaro: That is the annual, two hundred and seventy thousand?
Mr. Spanski: Right. That was for the last 2011 Series "A." Also, with
that we did the CFD and that is on the bottom of my second portion of the chart,
and I have it highlighted out there as excluded; that is not counted in the County
debt as far as a rating agency presentation or that we would have to put in any of
our prospective or official statements. That issue was for eleven million eight
hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars.
Chair Furfaro: That is on the last page, the eleven million?
Mr. Spanski: That is correct.
Chair Furfaro: Eleven, million, eight, seven, five. Questions for
Mr. Spanski?
Mr. Bynum: Dave, thank you for being here and thanks for all your
good work, I appreciate it. The total debt, this one, eighty-nine is the total County
debt including water, housing, all the entire...
Mr. Spanski: Right, all the County's... I do not want to call it General
Obligation but...
Mr. Bynum: Roughly, what amount is Water?
Mr. Spanski: Seventy-one million of that is Water.
Mr. Bynum: So a pretty big chunk of it.
Mr. Spanski: It is about thirty-eight percent.
Mr. Bynum: And I have heard this figure in the past; if you know it
offhand, what the County's ceiling is in terms of borrowing power?
COUNCIL MEETING 38 JUNE 27, 2012
Mr. Spanski: Fifteen percent of assessed value of real property, so at
the present time it is about two point two billion.
Mr. Bynum: So one, eighty-nine sounds like a very large figure, but
compared to many municipalities, that is a fairly low level of debt, is that correct.
Mr. Spanski: I do not know how you would justify that there is sixty-
seven thousand people. If you take twenty-two point two billion and divide it by
sixty-seven thousand people just for that principle, each person is going to owe
thirty-three thousand nine hundred and some bucks.
Mr. Bynum: I am talking about the one, eighty-nine.
Mr. Spanski: The one, eighty-nine breaks down to about forty-two
hundred per person.
Mr. Bynum: I am just saying, compared to municipalities across the
Country, that is a fairly low level of bar.
Mr. Spanski: That is correct.
Mr. Bynum: Thank you.
Chair Furfaro: The other number, if it was bigger, some of us would take
our canoe and paddle to another island.
Ms. Yukimura: What is the rule of thumb in terms of the danger line of
percentage of debt to assessed value?
Mr. Spanski: I think I guess it is what the people will bear - what is the
g p p
danger line. If our assessed value is fifteen g to point nine billion, and if we divide that
by sixty-seven thousand people, that is two hundred and twenty-six dollars, so that
is a strong per capita. I do not know where the danger zones, I do not know the
answer to that.
Ms. Yukimura: There is no standard recommendation to municipalities to
keep a debt below a certain...
COUNCIL MEETING 39 JUNE 27, 2012
Mr. Spanski: I am sure that the (inaudible) agencies have that number
but we have never approached that. We have always said we have a low debt
burden compared to our sides.
Ms. Yukimura: What is the percentages? Rounded off? Over two point
two billion?
Mr. Spanski: Two point two billion is what we will be able to
theoretically by State law fifteen percent of your (inaudible).
Ms. Yukimura: I am sorry?
Mr. Spanski: Fifteen percent.
Ms. Yukimura: Is two point two billion?
Mr. Spanski: Right. There is a little bit of dry erase — that is
approximate though. Well you got to take out what you have on appeal and so on
and so forth, so there is a little bit of movement there, but it is about two point two.
Ms. Yukimura: Okay, thank you.
Chair Furfaro: May I ask because this is a refinance, I did not go up to
the bond rating agencies but were there any comments —well thirty-eight percent of
our debt is due to Water. Do they have any comments?
Mr. Spanski: No, because they know it is backed by — it is called a
General Obligation reimbursable, and the Water Department is confident that they
are going to keep their rates maintained to cover their debt service.
Chair Furfaro: But there were no questions on the reimbursable as it
related to the Water Department's potential earning— there were no questions?
Mr. Spanski: No, there were no questions.
Ms. Nakamura: Thank you for your presentation here and providing all
this information. One quick question — when we refinance, what interest rate will
we be going from and to?
Mr. Spanski: In the prior one — in 2011 we went from four, fifty-three to
two point seven, nine or something like that, so the savings are all on the interest.
COUNCIL MEETING 40 JUNE 27, 2012
Chair Furfaro: Any additional questions for the Treasurer?
Mr. Kuali`i: Aloha and mahalo for your work. Could you repeat what
you said about the two point two billion, that was fifteen, one, five or fifty — "five"
"zero" of the assets? And what assets are you talking about?
Mr. Spanski: "A" "V" - assessed value of real property.
Mr. Kuali`i: That the County owns?
Mr. Spanski: That the County— for the tax...
Chair Furfaro: All the property on the County of Kauai.
Mr. Spanski: Not what the County owns but what real property
assesses...
Ms. Yukimura: Our tax base.
Mr. Spanski: ...the property to be worth. What you set the tax rates off
of.
Mr. Kuali`i: So money that we can collect to pay the debt?
Mr. Spanski: Correct.
Mr. Kuali`i: Okay. Thank you. One, five not five, zero.
Mr. Spanski: Yes. Fifteen percent of the assessed value.
Chair Furfaro: Additional questions for Mr. Spanski? Dave, I just want
to thank you for another successful trip and your summary here and thank you for
being available.
Mr. Spanski: And you will see the summary again next year.
COUNCIL MEETING 41 JUNE 27, 2012
Mr. Bynum: If I were to send you over a question — right now we have
a certain percentage of— fifteen is our max—we are probably less than one, right?
Mr. Spanski: Right.
Mr. Bynum: If I ask you to do a comparative to the other four
Counties, would that be something simple for you to do?
Mr. Spanski: Sure.
Mr. Bynum: Okay, thank you.
Chair Furfaro: So, watch for that request to be coming over.
The meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows:
Ms. Nakamura: I just wanted to respond that we do have a report from
City and County of Honolulu who did that analysis and I can share a copy.
Chair Furfaro: We will still send that communication over to you. Is
there anyone in the audience that wants to testify on this item before I call for the
vote?
The motion to receive C 2012-181 for the record was then put, and unanimously
carried.
C 2012-170 Communication (05/17/2012) from Councilmember Yukimura,
requesting Council approval of her request that the Board of Ethics conduct an
investigation of whether violations of the Code of Ethics have occurred in connection
with the creation and operation of the P.O.H.A.K.U. Program and related matters:
Ms. Yukimura moved to approve C 2012-170, seconded by Mr. Bynum.
Chair Furfaro: Is there anyone that would like to give testimony on this
item? Discussion, members?
Ms. Yukimura: The issues have come up during our proceedings and
through other public record. This is just a way of asking for an investigation which
is under the jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission to do or not to do. Basically, it
asks them to look at this and find out if there are any ethical violations.
Chair Furfaro: Any further discussion before I call for the vote?
Mr. Kuali`i: Mr. Chair, thank you. I think this is premature and I
want to state that I asked the staff to do a quick check for me on this sort of action
where the Council as a body makes a request to the Board of Ethics for an
investigation on a matter with regard to any part of the Administration. Staff could
not find anything for the last ten years. I think this is an unprecedented move and
I think it is premature. The internal mechanism to determine if there is any
impropriety is in mode and I think we should not be jumping the gun for whatever
motivation. I do not think it is prudent or necessary at this time.
Mr. Rapozo: I am under the impression that this matter has already
been forwarded to the Board of Ethics. I would agree that it is duplicative and
COUNCIL MEETING 42 JUNE 27, 2012
unnecessary for this body because it is already being addressed in that capacity. I
will not be
supporting the request.
Mr. Bynum: When this was last before the Council, the Prosecutor said
yes you should refer this to the Board of Ethics.
Ms. Yukimura: The Prosecutor?
Mr. Bynum: Yes. It is on public record. I had hoped that we would
vote on this without a lengthy discussion. I would like to read the statement I have
prepared and got approved by the County Attorney. On April 11, 2012, the Council
met in Executive Session on matters that included the P.O.H.A.K.U. Program. An
Executive Session was posted on a briefing related to P.O.H.A.K.U. on April 18,
2012. On April 18, Deputy County Attorney Mona Clark responding to members'
questions in open session. Ms. Clark indicated that the information was time
sensitive stated, quote, I think that it is important the Council has as much
information as possible, as soon as possible. Councilmember Yukimura asked if
there were possible liabilities for the County that could increase if additional time
went by. The answer was yes. In spite of this, the majority of the Council voted to
delay the discussion for two weeks. On May 2, 2012, a briefing was finally held;
however, no action was taken. I have concerns, among them the use of the County
address as the address for the registered agent of a private business. The fact that
the P.O.H.A.K.U. Program dot coin website directs payment to a private business
and the Council has not been provided with a copy of any contract with that
business, the Prosecutor has refused to answer questions from the Council related
to the P.O.H.A.K.U. Program until the Council provides her Special Counsel for
legal representation. Subsequently, we heard that the P.O.H.A.K.U. Program had
stopped operating; however, Ms. Iseri-Carvalho said, Tuesday, May 15 on the
Council floor, quote, our office can internally run the P.O.H.A.K.U. Program which
we will continue to do almost immediately. As of yet no one is looking into the
possible — that I am aware of— the possible Charter violations. After what in my
opinion there was too much delay, the posting for this body to take appropriate
action is before us today. I had prepared these weeks ago, but it is still before us.
County officials take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, the
Constitution of the State of Hawai`i, and the Kauai County Charter. I have been
told by all the County Attorneys that have held office since I have become a
Councilmember that when a question regarding potential violation of the Charter is
raised, the Council has a duty to see that an appropriate inquiry is held. The Board
of Ethics is an appropriate body for such an inquiry, so my support for this motion is
obvious because in my opinion it is our duty to do that. I think this should have
been done on April 11 and certainly no later than April 18 because we have a
responsibility to see that an appropriate inquiry is done. I had this statement
approved by the County Attorney in advance, and I had to edit out portions,
portions specifically that said that the procurement issues were being investigated
by the Administration. Although I was not present, other Councilmembers made
that statement that the procurement issues were being investigated by the
Administration. Those are separate from the potential for ethics questions. I still
feel that it is this body's responsibility to forward this and we should vote on this
resolution today and get it out of our place to where it belongs at the Board of
Ethics.
Ms. Yukimura: I would like to say something.
COUNCIL MEETING 43 JUNE 27, 2012
Chair Furfaro: And I would like to say something as well. Could I have
the County Attorney up? Mona, I just want to make sure some of the process — are
we now in a position that the Prosecuting Attorney has legal counsel?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
MONA CLARK, Deputy County Attorney: Yes.
Chair Furfaro: That is confirmed that is all I wanted to know.
Ms. Yukimura: The Council plays a very important oversight function
and I think it is our responsibility to stand for the highest standards of ethics, and if
there are possible violations, I think it is appropriate for us to refer it to the Ethics
Board, which is, under the Charter, the Board that is supposed to investigate the
possible violations. I do not think it is of any matter that there has not been a
referral in the past, because I think this Council is paying a lot more attention to
ethics than ever before. Just because it did not happen in the past does not mean
that it should not have happened in the past. There are issues that we dealt with at
the very beginning of our term that were raised in terms of possible violations that
were not addressed by previous Councils. I think it sends a statement to the
community that we are in favor of having our Charter upheld as law, and we are
not making any statement as to whether or not there is a violation, we are just
handing it over saying please investigate. There might be some violations and it is
important that our Charter not be violated.
Chair Furfaro: I want to call for a vote here, but if Councilmember
Nakamura wants the floor, go right ahead.
Ms. Nakamura: I have a question for the County Attorney. Mona, I just
have a question about whether there are any investigations currently going on with
respect to this issue?
Ms. Clark: I cannot comment on anything that is before the Board of
Ethics, all I can tell you though, is that...
Ms. Nakamura: Not before the Board of Ethics. Are there any
investigations relating to the creation and operation of the P.O.H.A.K.U. Program
that are being investigated in the State of Hawai`i?
Ms. Clark: I really cannot go into any confidential communications,
but I will respond in the sense that procurement is a separate issue from ethical
violations. There are different avenues for different investigations.
Ms. Nakamura: Councilmember Bynum mentioned the procurement
investigation or issues and investigations, so my question is — is there an
investigation going on with respect to the procurement? I will tell you why this is
important to me, because of previous discussions we had about, and I realize it is
some people believe it is two separate things, two separate matters. In previous
discussions, there was a concern raised that there should not... it sometimes
hampers an investigation if there are two simultaneous investigations going on. I
just want some assurance that it is not going to be a problem.
COUNCIL MEETING 44 JUNE 27, 2012
Ms. Clark: I think the issue that needs to be addressed is what needs
to be investigated, and I think concerns about duplication of effort, potentially
hampering investigations...
Ms. Nakamura: Not duplication, but that one would conflict with the
other if there are two going on at the same time.
Ms. Clark: I do not see the issue you see in that sense.
Mr. Castillo: Good afternoon, County Attorney, Al Castillo. In terms of
and the way that I can answer your question without breaching any confidential
information is that what is on the agenda today is separate and apart from, and will
not interfere with, any investigation on the Charter side. This one here — what is
on the agenda focuses on any ethical or Charter concerns.
Chair Furfaro: I want to do a roll call vote.
The meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows:
Mr. Rapozo: Mr. Chair, I just want the public statements made today
basically inferred that we did not take our obligation or duty to uphold the Charter.
I want to make it clear that this has been on the Executive Session agenda
numerous times and we have discussed this numerous times. Mr. Bynum read his
statement today and that was a statement read prior by Ms. Yukimura at a prior
meeting. It is the same statement. That matters have all been addressed. We all
sat in the same Executive Session which obviously I cannot discuss, but we all know
what was said in Executive Session pertaining to the ethics issue. Again, it is
difficult to express my concerns because I cannot disclose what we talked about in
Executive Session but we all know what we all talked about in Executive Session,
every one of us. I will just say that this is a duplication of effort because this matter
as far as I am concerned is being addressed, and with that I want to make it clear to
the public that this has not been delayed or I have not — I do not think that any of
us has failed in our duty and obligation to uphold the Charter. We are trying to do
the right thing and that is why we had so many Executive Sessions on this matter.
Chair Furfaro: I would like to call for the vote.
The motion to approve C 2012-170 was then put, and carried by the following vote:
FOR APPROVAL: Bynum, Chang, Nakamura, Yukimura
Furfaro TOTAL — 5,
AGAINST APPROVAL: Kuali`i, Rapozo TOTAL— 2,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
There being no objections, Resolution No. 2012-22, Draft 1, was taken out of order.
Resolution No. 2012-22, Draft 1, RESOLUTION PROPOSING A CHARTER
AMENDMENT RELATING TO DEFINITIONS OF "SHALL," "MUST," AND
"MAY": Ms. Yukimura moved to approve Resolution No. 2012-22, Draft 1, seconded
by Mr. Chang.
COUNCIL MEETING 45 JUNE 27, 2012
Mr. Kuali`i: Mr. Chair, I have an amendment that staff is circulating
now. The original change that we were looking at was a blanket statement, and so
how we were taking it further was to single out portions of the Charter that had a
date specific deadline and coming up with consequences. The two that stood out the
most was the March 15 deadline. In both cases, March 15 for the submittal of the
budget and for the submittal of the Salaries Commission Resolution. I personally
still support the original language that makes the blanket statement, but to
strengthen that as I believe is necessary because of the County Attorney's
statements with regards to consequences, I have and staff has helped me put in
language here specifically for consequences. In Section 19.02 with regards to the
proposed annual budget ordinance, we have the added language that says the
Council may. After the language that says March 15 is the deadline for the Mayor
to submit the annual budget to the Council, it says the Council may accept the
proposed annual budget from the Mayor after March 15 upon an affirmative vote of
at least 2/3 of its membership. If the proposed annual budget is submitted after
March 15 and the Council does not accept it, then the previous year's annual budget
shall be considered the proposed annual budget. It sets out what happens if it is
late and what happens if the Council does not accept it as being late, so something
else is in place so we do not have a fiscal crisis and no budget or zero budget. That
is pretty clear. The second one which is the very next section with regards to the
Salary Commission and their submission of the Salary Resolution that comes once a
year on the March 15 deadline, it states the Council may accept the Resolution from
the Salary Commission after March 15 also upon an affirmative vote of at least 2/3
of its membership. If the Resolution is submitted after March 15 and the Council
does not accept it, then the previous Resolution shall remain in effect, so again you
have a consequence, you have something in place so we are not left with nothing.
The prior year's resolution that puts salaries in effect would mean those — the
salary caps in effect, would mean that those salary caps would remain in effect.
Ms. Yukimura: I really appreciate Councilmember Kuali`i's narrowing
down a list "shall" and "may," so instead of applying to the whole Charter, it is
really applying to the two provisions of the budget that have perplexed us in terms
of implementation. I just realize that I think we maybe need a slight wording
change to say that it is not that the Council may accept an annual budget from the
Mayor after March 15 because usually we do accept it at a Council Meeting after
March 15. Maybe what we want to say is the Council may accept the annual budget
proposed by the Mayor after March 15... or may accept — because we want to talk
about the budget being sent to the Council after March 15 rather than us accepting
it or the Council accepting it after March 15, because I think we always accept the
budget after March 15 procedurally. It comes to our office but we do not have a
Council Meeting on March 15 to accept it. Do you see what I am saying? It is a
technical thing but it is sort of important.
Chair Furfaro: We receive it at Council Services on or about March 15,
but it is not agendaed until such time after, is your point.
Ms. Yukimura: Right. So we are always accepting it after March 15, and
then this one says we would now need a 2/3 vote. Even if the budget comes on
March 15 but we accept it after March 15, then we need a 2/3 vote. That is how it is
written right now I think. I am not changing the basic proposal, I am just saying
that to implement what I think you are proposing, we may need some wording
change. It is about a budget that is submitted to us after March 15, it is not about
when we accept — follow? So maybe if we have other business, we can work on the
amendment.
COUNCIL MEETING 46 JUNE 27, 2012
Chair Furfaro: Before we go any further, I also want to thank
Councilmember Kuali`i. We had discussion in the past, this is the kind of contract
terminology I am familiar with in working with owners that there is a consequence;
if you do not submit to the ownership on the appropriate time then the
consequences —last year's budget goes into effect. It gives it some narrowing.
Mr. Bynum: Maybe I am out to lunch but I am totally confused here.
The agenda item is 2012-22 right — "shall" and "may."
Ms. Yukimura: Yes.
Mr. Bynum: Is this amendment related to a different Charter
proposal?
Mr. Kuali`i: It is the entire Charter of"shall" and "must."
Ms. Yukimura: Oh but...
Mr. Bynum: The amendment says 2012-23 related to the annual
budget ordinance process. The agenda item is "shall" and "may," so I am confused.
Ms. Yukimura: Right. We need to amend the shall...
Chair Furfaro: I think it is a good time to take a recess.
There being no objections, the Council recessed at 2:35 p.m.
The Council reconvened at 2:59 p.m., and proceeded as follows:
Chair Furfaro: I would like to give Councilmember Kuali`i the floor.
Mr. Kuali`i: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair after further
discussions with the County Clerk and the County Attorney, I have come to the
realization that this not actually the right vehicle for these two amendments. The
Resolution before us is addressing the language in the definition section, so in our
attempt at the last couple of meetings and the discussions and with the County
Attorney, as well addressing some of Vice Chair Yukimura's concerns, what staff
and I did was do the analysis of the Charter. When we found these specific areas
now to address that and put in the consequences, it ends up being in other sections
of the Charter. I think I am glad to share this with the Council, I think it is good
changes for the future for the Charter. But we are actually not able to do it at this
time because the vehicle does not exist, and this Resolution before us is only
addressing the definitions. I am withdrawing this amendment at this time, and I
am still happy that I had shared it and that the work is there for the future.
Chair Furfaro: I also want to compliment you on the work, but after the
consultation as you indicated, it will be a future item. The amendment as
circulated was not moved and circulated and not in existence. We are back to the
original Resolution which is 2012-22.
COUNCIL MEETING 47 JUNE 27, 2012
Mr. Rapozo: I am looking at 2012-22, Draft 1 which has an underlined
section on the second page. Is that an amendment that is going to be introduced
today or is that what is existing in the Resolution? It is clear that it is going to
relate only to dates or deadlines to take action, so that narrows it from the original
quite a bit. The original one was very broad, this one here limits it now to only the
"must" and "shall" that relates to dates or deadlines to take actions will be affected.
Ms. Yukimura: Chair?
Chair Furfaro: Go ahead.
Ms. Yukimura: I think though if we apply it to every date that is in the
Charter, we are going to run into the same problem that Councilmember Kuali`i has
been trying to get us out of, which is you might have a place where "shall" is "shall"
and they do not meet the "shall" but there are no consequences or explanation for
what happens if the right dates are not met. For example, if the budget was
proposed by or sent over by the — submitted by the Mayor on March 17, we would
probably say "alright let us take it up and go with it," but if it is submitted on
May 17, we would not. For all these dates, and we do not even know what all the
dates are in the Charter, it would be really problematic. We would have to kind of
go to every date and see what it means and see what the consequences are if we
make "shall" a "shall" and figure it out. We are already seeing that just with one
deadline alone, we have so many problems for making it work well. I think it is
pretty dangerous to pass this Resolution as is.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
GLENN MICKENS: Thank you, Jay. For the record Glenn Mickens. I
have a short testimony regarding this "shall" and "must;" you have a copy of it and
let me read it for the record. I agree that a Charter amendment needs to be made to
clarify that "shall" and "must" are mandatory and not discretionary. I also believe
that this body should have the power by a majority vote to overturn the decision
that "shall" and "must" dictate as in the case of the Salary Commission's ruling
passed the March 15 deadline which we were talking about for the budget
correcting the huge inversion in salaries of the police, which is what I believe this
whole thing is about. One might say that if the Salary Commission had properly
done their jobs then the March 15 date would have been met, but these are
voluntary citizens who have agreed to donate their time for free and can be excused
for making mistakes. You heard the Chair of the Commission testify that he
thought the deadline date was in May and not in March. Just because the due date
was missed by the Commission and later they wanted to rectify this important
salary inversion issue, I believe that this Council should have the right to vote on
such an important matter which strongly impact the lives of our police officers. If a
jury convicts a person of murder but DNA evidence later proves a person to be
innocent, the latter will obviously trump the decision of the jury. In the democratic
society, the jury is supposed to be the ultimate decision making body, but where we
now have DNA as an even more factual answer, the jury verdict can and should be
overturned. I think that I have made the proper connection between the "shall"
and "must" and the jury and DNA but if not, I believe that you follow my line of
thought. I suppose that one could even make a case that our director of boards and
commissions did not properly inform these volunteers, but that would start a finger
pointing process and no one wants to go there. Simply allowing this Council the
right to rule on any matter that may be contentious for me is the way to go. I think
you have been bringing that up already — this body, you people have the right to go
COUNCIL MEETING 48 JUNE 27, 2012
ahead and override something like this is an important matter. If I am wrong, tell
me.
Chair Furfaro: I will share with you right now we are going to have other
discussions on your questions from other Councilmembers.
Mr. Bynum: Glenn, I am sorry, I am confused by your testimony.
Mr. Mickens: Yes.
Mr. Bynum: You are supporting the Resolution as it is?
Mr. Mickens: Yes.
Mr. Bynum: But you also want us to accept the Resolution that came
after March 15 for the Police and Fire?
Mr. Mickens: Only an exceptional case, Tim, as I pointed out with the
DNA...
Mr. Bynum: Okay. You answered my question and I do not want to be
redundant, but did you read the opinion that we released about "shall" and "may"?
Mr. Mickens: The latest opinion?
Mr. Bynum: The opinion we released months ago to the public that I...
Mr. Mickens: Is that the one you got there now?
Mr. Bynum: The one that cites the Hawai`i State Supreme Court and
all of the times that they have ruled on this "shall" and "may" question.
Mr. Mickens: Well I agree with you a hundred percent when you
brought up about the Supreme Court. They may rule completely counter to what
we are saying here; however, we are jumping the gun, let us go ahead and pass this
thing and protect the Police Department and then if it comes up, let us go ahead
and — if somebody does protest the ruling and takes it to the Supreme Court, as you
said lawyers are lawyers and they can interpret this anyway they feel like.
Mr. Bynum: I will ask one last question. Why would we pass a
Charter amendment inconsistent with Hawai`i State Supreme Court ruling?
Mr. Mickens: But there are exceptions, are they're not?
Mr. Bynum: Not if we pass this.
Mr. Mickens: But you are saying that the Supreme Court is going to
overrule it.
Mr. Bynum: Okay. Enough said. Thank you.
Chair Furfaro: Is there anyone else that wants to give testimony on this
item?
COUNCIL MEETING 49 JUNE 27, 2012
Mr. Kuali`i: Chair, I actually had a question for the Attorney.
Chair Furfaro: The County Attorney?
Mr. Kuali`i: Yes. I think that the Attorney that worked most with us
on this was Deputy Mona Clark, but maybe one of them could answer as well. I just
had to state that — my concern for coming up with the amendments had to do with
the representation — what I learned from the County Attorney is that even with the
word "shall" and even with a deadline and where it appears that you got to meet
that deadline that they did not have to meet the deadline that they did not have to
actually meet that deadline if there was no consequence saying what if— so if you do
not, what happens? My attempt to and we specified this to include dates or
deadlines was that I would still support this and then go further because — I guess
my question is — with this language just as it is, this simple one sentence, the terms
"must" and "shall" as they relate to dates or deadlines to take action are mandatory,
the term "may" is permissive. Even with this specific language according to State
law and other opinions and everything that we have been hearing about and
learning about in the last year or so, does this create a problem where if the Mayor
did not submit the budget by March 15, we would not be allowed to accept that
budget by Charter, and we would be with no budget, if this passed as written. Or is
it because there is no consequence that we still can accept it or it is really not a
"shall" deadline, it is okay if you are little bit past the deadline?
Mr. Castillo: For the record, Al Castillo, County Attorney.
Councilmember Kuali`i, you do have a loaded question there because I certainly
agree with Councilmember Yukimura regarding how the wording of the Resolution
is right now, in terms... because it does not particularly cure all of the concerns that
the Council has indentified in the past regarding this subject matter. The second
thing is, I would have to look at the budget ordinance and the Charter exactly when
it talks about March 15, so I am not real clear for the consequence is what his
failure to have it over by March 15. I do not want to speculate and say my reading
of this is this right now but — so... I would not be able to answer that particular
question right now but March 15 is March 15.
Mr. Kuali`i: So you cannot address the term consequences whether
there is a consequence or not because I think that is what we were led to believe
from your office that if it does not have a consequence, it is not really mandatory.
Mr. Castillo: No, no and maybe you are misinterpreting the whole
thing and just because... first you look at the primary black and white wording, but
if there is a consequence attached to it, then it further clarifies what the "shall" is
whether or not the "shall" is mandatory or the "shall" is directory.
Chair Furfaro: Thank you, Al.
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as
follows:
COUNCIL MEETING 50 JUNE 27, 2012
Mr. Bynum: I have said plenty about this subject on the record, I will
not go through all of it, but when we make changes to the Charter, it is our
fundamental document. We need to do that thinking about all of the implications of
that under a variety of circumstances. On the public record, last year the Salary
Commission sent us a resolution after March 15 that was requested — was a result
of a request by the Mayor and people opposed that felt very strongly about this
March 15 deadline. Now we are here a year later and the Salary Commission is
sending us something after March 15 that the same people who were opposed to
taking it last year, support it this year. I keep asking the public, Glenn and anyone
else, to please read the opinion that was sent to us because the Supreme Court of
our State has ruled on this. There is kind of a standard practice so I do not believe
that there is a problem and I do not think we should likely put Charter changes
before the public when based on this year's current issue. I have asked previously,
have we looked at all of the implications of each "shall" and each date? The answer
is no, and now today we came up with some concerns, and so as much as people do
not understand it, I am not going to support putting this before the voters. It is a
relatively complicated subject matter and I am not convinced that there is a
problem.
Mr. Kuali`i: I just want to make a statement about my vote. I am
going to support this and the reason is because it is the right thing and it is the
principle and I accepted all the legal determination and I do think we have further
work to do in the future, but I do not think language as we passed would do
anything more than emphasize that the Administration and whoever following the
Charter should make all the deadlines. The average person in the (inaudible)
believes that "shall" and "must" is mandatory and should be done. I am just going
to support this now as a principle and as a citizen, or otherwise I will work to put
this forward for further clarifications on the date specific items in the future.
Mr. Rapozo: The consequence of not meeting the deadline should this
pass would be the violation of the Charter. I think that is what is important and the
violation of the Charter, any section in the Charter, is a misdemeanor, so I find it
really difficult to believe that that deadline would be missed knowing that the
consequence is a misdemeanor in the Court. I do understand that there may be a
concern if he does not submit the budget or if the Salary Commission does not
submit the resolution, but I believe the only way that we will straighten this up is
through this language, so I will be supporting the Resolution.
The motion to adopt Resolution No. 2012-22, Draft 1, was then put, and carried by
the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Chang, Kuali`i, Rapozo TOTAL — 3,
AGAINST ADOPTION: Bynum, Nakamura, Yukimura, Furfaro TOTAL— 4,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
Resolution No. 2012-42, RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE
ACQUISITION OF THE FEE SIMPLE INTEREST IN LANDS REQUIRED FOR
PUBLIC USE, TO WIT: THE PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE PATH WHICH
CONSTITUTES PART OF PUBLIC PARK SYSTEM, SITUATE AT WAIPOULI,
DISTRICT OF KAWAIHAU, COUNTY OF KAUAI, HAWAI`I, AND
DETERMINING AND DECLARING THE NECESSITY OF THE ACQUISITION
THEREOF BY EMINENT DOMAIN: Mr. Bynum moved to adopt Resolution
No. 2012-42, seconded by Mr. Chang, and carried by the following vote:
COUNCIL MEETING 51 JUNE 27, 2012
FOR ADOPTION: Bynum, Chang, Kuali`i, Nakamura, Rapozo
Yukimura, Furfaro TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Mr. Castillo: Council Chair, on the Executive Session matters, I will
read all of them. I seek your guidance, Council Chair?
Chair Furfaro: Okay, go ahead.
Mr. Castillo: For the record, Al Castillo, County Attorney, Council
Chair, Councilmembers the next matter for your consideration is ES-553, ES-554,
ES-555, ES-556 and ES-557.
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
ES-553 Pursuant to HRS sections 92-4, 92-5(a)(4), and Kaua'i County
Charter section 3.07(e), 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 regarding the claim against the County by Kaua'i Akinaka & Associates,
Ltd, filed on May 14, 2012, and previously on the Council's agenda as C 2012-189,
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. (See also C 2012-189 on the June 13,
2012 Council Agenda)
ES-554 Pursuant to HRS sections 92-4, 92-5(a)(4), and Kaua'i County
Charter section 3.07(e), 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 regarding the claim against the County by Waste Management of Hawai'i,
filed on May 17, 2012, and previously on the Council's agenda as C 2012-191, 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. (See also C 2012-191 on the June 13, 2012 Council
Agenda)
ES-555 Pursuant to HRS sections 92-4, 92-5(a)(4), and Kaua'i County
Charter section 3.07(e), 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 regarding the claim against the County by Waste Management of Hawai'i,
filed on May 24, 2012, and previously on the Council's agenda as C 2012-192, 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. (See also C 2012-192 on the June 13, 2012 Council
Agenda.)
ES-556 Pursuant to HRS sections 92-4, 92-5(a)(4), and section 3.07(e) of
the Kaua'i County Charter, the Office of the County Attorney requests an executive
session with the Council to provide the Council with a briefing on the retention of
COUNCIL MEETING 52 JUNE 27, 2012
special counsel to provide legal counsel for the County regarding development of the
landfill 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.
ES-557 Pursuant to Hawai'i Revised Statutes Sections 92-4, 92-5(a)(4),
and Kaua'i County Charter Section 3.07(E), the Office of the County Attorney, on
behalf of the Council, requests an executive session for Council to consult with the
County Attorney regarding the Council's release of the County Attorney's written
legal opinion dated June 18, 2012, regarding the establishment of Council Advisory
Committees pursuant to Council Rule No. 4 and related matters. This briefing and
consultation involves the 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. Bynum moved to convene in executive session for ES-553, ES-554, ES-555,
ES-556 and ES-557, seconded by Mr. Chang, and carried by the following vote:
FOR CONVENING IN EXECUTIVE SESSION: Bynum, Chang,
Kuali`i, Nakamura, Rapozo, Yukimura, Furfaro TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST CONVENING IN EXECUTIVE SESSION:None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
There being no objections, the Council recessed at 3:23 p.m.
The Council reconvened at 5:06 p.m., and proceeded as follows:
C 2012-197 Request (06/18/2012) from the Office of the County Attorney
for authorization to expend funds up to $125,000.00 to retain special counsel to
provide legal counsel for the County regarding development of the landfill and
related matters: Mr. Bynum moved to approve C 2012-197, seconded by Mr. Chang.
Ms. Yukimura: Mr. Chair, I would like to ask just about the amount if I
might?
Chair Furfaro: Sure. Who do you want that question posed to?
Ms. Yukimura: To Larry, please.
Chair Furfaro: Mr. Dill, could you please come up?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Ms. Yukimura: There is a concern that you may not really need all that
hundred and twenty-five thousand and that contracting for all of that might be too
much, so my question is can you — well we either would approve only say seventy-
five thousand and you come back, or the other option is to approve a hundred and
COUNCIL MEETING 53 JUNE 27, 2012
twenty-five thousand with the understanding that you would contract for less than
that and have the option to amend the contract if you need more money.
LARRY DILL, County Engineer: For the record, Larry Dill, County
Engineer. I would be comfortable with either option that the Council is comfortable
with.
Chair Furfaro: Vice Chair, if you want to put that in some kind of a
framework.
Ms. Yukimura: Well I can either amend to make it seventy-five thousand
now, or to approve a hundred and twenty-five with the understanding that it will
not be fully contracted in one amount, but I would like to hear some discussion first
from Councilmembers.
Mr. Rapozo: I do not need the County Attorney to come up, but as I
have seen numerous Special Counsel contracts, I am under the impression that it is
billed on the monthly basis and it is not contracted out in the total amount. I am
expecting that this contract would be no different. That in fact every month the
attorney would bill the County — Mr. Castillo, your office, whoever is overseeing the
contract would verify hours and cost, and then approve the release of the funds, but
these funds sit in the Special Counsel fund right?
Mr. Castillo: Yes.
Mr. Rapozo: So we are just approving an amount.
Mr. Castillo: Yes.
Mr. Rapozo: But it will be billed on a monthly basis, invoiced by the
contract right?
Mr. Castillo: Yes, and I believe since Mauna Kea is on this project as
some of our special projects, he does a great job in going through the billing.
Mr. Rapozo: That is what I believe happened and I did not see this one
being any different. I am prepared to vote for the full amount.
Ms. Yukimura: The only other advantage for us to approve just seventy-
five thousand would be that we would get a status report and we would get to see
the money has been used.
Chair Furfaro: We could do that on approving a hundred and twenty-five
and having quarterly status reports. I would hope that is where we are at.
Ms. Yukimura: Okay.
Ms. Nakamura: Based on the numbers that are presented and some of the
work that is already done, that we are only going to be doing like the tail end of the
landfill siting study and so forth, I would feel comfortable with the seventy-five
thousand. We could always add to the contract amount and this is going to be
seventeen to twenty-one so it is another — it is a fairly long process ahead. I would
feel comfortable with the seventy-five.
COUNCIL MEETING 54 JUNE 27, 2012
Chair Furfaro: I just wanted to make sure everybody understands, if that
is the motion and that motion passes, that means they have to come back for
money. Okay, I will not be supporting that myself, but I understand what your
motion would be.
Mr. Bynum: I want us to approve something today because this was
originally here in March at fifty thousand and we did not have the votes to pass it.
Part of that rationale was let us see what the total cost is, now we have a estimate
of that. If the Council wants them to come back after seventy-five, I am okay as long
as we pass something out today. This is something that we all are going to watch
very closely — the Attorneys, the Public Works people, and everyone of these
Councilmembers.
Chair Furfaro: And I think that is exactly my point, if we approve the
hundred and twenty-five and they are required to come back quarterly, I confirm
your observation that we are all going to be watching this very closely.
The meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows:
Ms. Yukimura moved amend C 2012-197 to seventy-five thousand, seconded by Ms.
Nakamura.
Mr. Rapozo: My only concern was looking at the hourly rates and not
being able to discuss what we had discussed in Executive Session, but knowing just
as my personal knowledge that the hourly rates for these types of Attorneys are
relatively high. I know we saw a conservative estimate of the hourly rate, but even
if you looked at the contract that we had referenced, it was substantially higher.
That is my concern with the seventy-five thousand dollars. If that is the only thing
we can get passed today, so be it, but I believe that the hourly rate and the thing is
in something like this as important as this, I would not want to go with the cheap
guy on the block and then pay more later. I want to make sure you folks have the
resources that we can get the best attorney we can get to provide the services we
need, and I do not want you guys to be thinking seventy-five thousand... I do not
want to go back to Council and ask for more money. I am not one that likes to
spend money but in this case, because of the seriousness of this project and the fact
that it is time sensitive, I do not want you to be limited to quality because the
Council is concerned about money. That is only my concern. I am looking four
hundred dollars an hour, probably four, fifty an hour is more in the ballpark — the
research that I have done and at seventy-five thousand, that does not give you in
my opinion enough to get through this project.
Mr. Bynum: I am prepared to vote for one, twenty-five but out of
deference to members who feel it is important, I am going to vote on the amendment
and see how it goes.
Chair Furfaro: I, myself would support the one, twenty-five. I would
have preferred to do that but I am not going to stop to get you some money, but I do
not want to be a Chicago Cubs fan because they have not have won a World Series
for a hundred and three years because they pay low end stuff and won a world's
championship. No Cub's fan vote here.
Mr. Kuali`i: I just have a process question.
Chair Furfaro: Surely.
{
COUNCIL MEETING 55 JUNE 27, 2012
Mr. Kuali`i: Mr. Chair, if the amendment is to change the amount
from a hundred and twenty-five thousand to seventy-five thousand, it actually just
changes the motion all together and if we vote on the lesser amount first and we do
not have five votes for the lesser amount and then we vote on the higher amount,
and we have even less votes for that, we are going to end up with nothing. Should
we not vote for the higher amount first.
Chair Furfaro: I think that is what I am saying but I am just cautioning
everybody to realize that last Coach for the Cubs is now with Cincinnati. The
motion on the floor was made by Vice Chair Yukimura, seconded by Ms. Nakamura,
it is to approve seventy-five.
Mr. Chang: I hear what Councilmember Kuali`i said, should we not
start off with the one, twenty-five?
Chair Furfaro: No.
The motion to amend C 2012-197 to seventy-five thousand dollars was then put and
carried by the following vote:
FOR AMENDMENT: Bynum, Chang, Kuali`i, Nakamura,
Rapozo, Yukimura, Furfaro TOTAL — 7,
AGAINST AMENDMENT: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
The motion to approve C 2012-197 as amended was then put, and carried by the
following vote:
FOR APPROVAL: Bynum, Chang, Kuali`i, Nakamura,
Rapozo, Yukimura, Furfaro TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST APPROVAL: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
ADJOURNMENT.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:18 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
RICKY WATANABE
County Clerk
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