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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/27/2011 FINANCE/PARKS AND RECREATION/PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMS COMMITTEE Committee MeetingMINUTES FINANCE /PARKS & RECREATION / PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMS COMMITTEE April 27, 2011 A meeting of the Finance /Parks & Recreation /Public Works Programs Committee of the Council of the County of Kauai, State of Hawaii, was called to order by Councilmember Tim Bynum, Chair, at the Council Chambers, 3371-A Wilcox Road, Lihu'e, Kauai, on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, at 10:17 a.m., after which the following members answered the call of the roll: Honorable Tim Bynum Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura Honorable Mel Rapozo Honorable JoAnn A. Yukimura Honorable Dickie Chang, Ex-Officio Member Honorable Jay Furfaro, Ex-Officio Member There being no objections, the Chair recessed the meeting at 10:17 a.m The meeting reconvened at 10:40 a.m., and The Committee proceeded on its agenda items as shown in the following Committee Report which is incorporated herein by reference and as follows: C 2011-75 Communication (02/10/2011) from Council Chair Furfaro, requesting the Administration's presence to provide the Council with an update on the Kapaia Swinging Bridge Project. (This item was deferred.) Mr. Bynum: Mr. Dill. I'll suspend the rules and the floor is yours. There being no objections, the rules were suspended. LARRY DILL, County Engineer: Good Morning. For the record, Larry Dill, County Engineer. I have brought with me and I think it's being passed out now, as requested for the this morning, a reconciliation of appropriations and expenditures that have occurred so far for the Kapaia swinging bridge. If you note, original appropriation of $200,000 was made by the council in April of 2007. Subsequent to that, we had a couple of emergency procurements that took place to address emergency issues. The second line item, which I apologize under the notes is a blank, but it's the same as the one right below it. You may recall the 40 days of rainfall we had back then caused some problems to the Kapaia ford crossing. We had to go out and emergency procure some design services, and I understand that we used in-house forces to conduct the repairs to that Kapaia ford crossing. Due to the emergency nature of the work, this source of funding was used to take care of that work. The next line item there, after the Shigemura, Lau, Sakanas is Kai Hawaii. That is actually for the design of the Kapaia swinging bridge. That is the first stage 1 of work that was done by our consultant. We actually produced the drawings, the preliminary construction drawings for the project, which were distributed to you at an earlier meeting. The next two line items also were an emergency procurement situation, where the status of the Opaekaa and Puuop~e bridges required some emergency repair work be done in order to maintain them as open bridges to serve the public. So those both were taken again as an emergency procurement and used funds from this appropriation. The next line item there, we came back to you for another $40,000 in January of this year. That was done in recognition of what was needed to take care of our obligations to Kai Hawaii to ensure that we sufficient funds to address that work that was being done. The next two are Kai Hawaii, our consultant. One is a final payment for the design work on the Kapaia swinging bridge, and what is forthcoming is the payment for the work he did to prepare the preliminary engineering report that was also distributed to you. Obviously what is missing here and I apologize that this didn't happen is that we should have come back after the emergency procurements were done to make this appropriation whole again. So we have taken steps in the public works department with the fiscal folks' help to ensure that such an event in the future that we do come back for you for that sort of a thing. Having said that, I would be happy to take any questions. Council Chair Furfaro: May I just say one thing, Mr. Bynum? Mr. Bynum: Go ahead. Council Chair Furfaro: Mr. Dill, I appreciate your honesty about not coming back to the council and re-direct some of these emergency funds, which would have been the appropriate thing to do. Thank you for the open and honest communication. Thank you, Mr. Bynum. Mr. Bynum: Questions from other committee members? Mr. Rapozo: I had actually questions as far as going forward, not the financial part. And thank you as well. I was kind of surprised to see all of that money had been removed from the line but not replaced, but thank you for making that line whole. Because I think it sends a message to the community that it is a priority. When I looked at this, I'm thinking my gosh, we're not even looking that way, because it's apparently not a priority, so thank you. And I look forward to getting those moneys transferred back in. Going forward, I did attend the meeting with the community and I see a couple of community members here. I guess my question is regarding the restoration. Have we applied for any type of exceptions from the ADA requirements as of this date? Mr. Dill: We have not made a formal. request for that. We have done investigations.. 2 Mr. Rapozo: I understand. Let me just read this real quick, because I think it's important that the public understands, especially the people that are... have been fighting to restore this bridge for many years. And this is out of Historic Hawaii Foundation and the community did go for some advice, because they are not getting. any answers from us. All they are being told by us is that because of the historical significance, because of the designation, it's making it tougher. And I think that is a terrible statement to make to a community who worked hard to get it placed on the register. But anyway, this is what was related to some members of the community as well as myself. There are state level exceptions allowed for ADA compliance for historic structures listed on the register. Although the county will need to determine if the walking bridge qualifies by consulting with the state DCAB. An exception could lower the cost of the project by eliminating some of the ADA requirements and at the same time, preserve the original design of the bridge. The intent of the state's ADA exception is to provide flexibility in public projects in order to preserve the character defining features of the historic structure. The Kauai county preservation planner, Miles Hironaka, should be able to clarify this option further since the county recently received an ADA exception for the rehabilitation of the Historic Kauai County Building, which is currently under construction. So we know it can be done. And I guess what I'm asking is before we tell the community, hey, it's going to be $4 million and it's just...please explore the exceptions, all the available exceptions. We .should be doing that, not the community going out. That is all I'm asking. For 2007, the money has been in that account. Of course, we have tapped into it, but there's got to be...we need. to formally request the exception and not rely on phone calls and emails. Somebody needs to fill out... and I have a copy of that here, the application and this is it, and we haven't done this. Mr. Dill: That is correct. Mr. Rapozo: Then, can we do this? Mr. Dill: We have done some research that indicates... and I thank you for prompting that at the last meeting...that indicates as you say that there are opportunities due to the historic nature of the bridge that we may be able to be exempt from some of the ADA requirements. But we will...we have a meeting, as you know, planned with the community May 5th and then the follow-up with the council on May 11th. Once we establish our scope of work subsequent to those meetings, then I think that would be the appropriate time to move forward with the ADA request for exemptions. Mr. Rapozo: Okay. I would suggest somebody get in touch with Historic Hawaii Foundation. They actually provide direct services to preserve the structures. Direct assistance. I mean direct, not just...they will actually help us in getting that restoration done, getting the exceptions, and I think that is what the public deserves, and I think that is what we should give them. You know, we haven't even tried that, and yet I sat in the meeting, I was pretty discouraged, even though I didn't say anything at the meeting, because all I heard was, you know, because you folks went ahead and put it on the register, you know, you've created a bigger monster, and that's not true. It's not true, because there are exceptions that we apparently haven't even explored. That is all I ask. Mr. Dill: I appreciate your comments. There are some things and ADA may be able to exempt it, but there are other things that come into play when it's historic. So we'll have to address those. 3 Mr. Rapozo: Again, until I see some real efforts by the county with the state, with DCAB, I guess I'm not convinced that we're trying as hard as we say we are. That is all. Thanks. Mr. Bynum: Any questions or comments from Councilmembers? Councilmember Yukimura? Ms. Yukimura: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Dill for giving us the bigger calendar and for reminding us that we do have that meeting. You do have the meeting with the community on the 5th and I presume that is when you will be able to release the study and the modifications that maybe the county has done to .the study in terms of a path forward, or the options before the county. Mr. Dill: Yes. We are still awaiting some information, so I... That is the plan and I hope we'll be able to fulfill that at that meeting. Ms. Yukimura: Okay, and then to have a formal report back to the council the following week. Mr. Dill: Correct. Ms. Yukimura:. And I guess you hear and this is not the first time, the concern about exploring those exemptions and making sure we maximize our ability to get those exemptions. But I do understand about needing to be real clear about the scope of work before you apply. Okay, thank you. Mr. Bynum: Questions or comments from other committee members? If not, go ahead, Chair Furfaro. Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you, Mr. Bynum. I just want to make sure that we get this straight with the budget resubmittal. You have encroached on about $126,000 of money that the council put in the account for the Kapaia swinging bridge. The balance for the Kapaia swinging bridge should be $114,910, just quick arithmetic here. Okay? I want to make sure this gets corrected with the budget submittal on...we're going to get it on May 8. I want to thank Mr. Dill. This question was mine on the reconciliation, so let's set the record straight here. Thank you, Mr. Bynum. Mr. Bynum: So I have some questions, and I guess I need to get grounded, because I expected something different today. And I wasn't able to attend the community meeting, but we deferred this pending the community meeting. I thought whatever presentation you made to the community you might be making here today. You did make a presentation, is that correct? Mr. Dill: We originally met with the community already, excuse me, and did follow-up with the meeting with council a presentation with regards to the meeting. That did happen. Mr. Bynum: So then I will just make a comment that, you know, this has been an issue since 2007. That is a long time. But I have lots of questions about whether and under what circumstances we should proceed? I guess we just haven't gotten all of the information we need to make that determination. Is that correct? 4 Mr. Dill: That is correct. To very briefly recap, the cost estimate that came back with a preliminary engineering report estimated a cost of $4 million. Obviously that's a prohibitive cost, so we're looking at ways that we can shave that down to make it more reasonable. Mr. Bynum: So at this point the administration is not making a recommendation to this council about how to proceed? Mr. Dill: Not at this point? Mr. Bynum: They're saying we're doing more due diligence? Mr. Dill: Correct. Mr. Bynum: Because I think we do need to come up with a direction at some point. And you know, it might be that this is cost prohibitive and we're not going to move forward. It might be that the cost is large and we're not going to move forward now and we're going to defer it to a certain time. Or it might be full-steam ahead. But I think we need to continue dialogue on this until we come to that. And at some point will we get a recommendation from the administration? Mr. Dill: Yes. Mr. Bynum: So, and then I know part of this...well, I will make this a question. Part of this is a determination about what is the scope of the project-is it just a historical preservation and kind of a historic site, or is it a practical application to a transportation alternative in this area, right? Mr. Dill: That's correct. Mr. Bynum: And eventually we'll get the sense of what the costs of either of those is. And we'll get a recommendation and then we can decide whether where we want to fund that recommendation or not. Okay. I just wanted to get grounded on that. And I thought we might get more of a presentation today, but I will be patient and wait for it. So thank you very much. Any other questions before I call the meeting back to order? Councilmember Nakamura? Ms. Nakamura: Good morning. I wanted to ask you, because it's a historic structure, do we know if there are grant funds available for rehab? Mr. Dill: Councilmember Nakamura, there may be grant funding available out there. We have not determined at this phase particularly and a large part of that is because until we are able to nail down the scope a little better, it's difficult to apply for the grant fundings that might be out there, but we will pursue that. Ms. Nakamura: It would be great if we could, you know, leverage any of our county fund. I guess the corresponding request is, if we identify potential sources of grant funds, whose role is it in the county to go after such funds? Mr. Dill: I'll have to get back to you on that. I don't know. 5 Ms. Nakamura: I think not only with the swinging bridge, but other community-based projects that have a sort of a CIP component to it, I think that we need to really take a close look at that. Thank you. Mr. Kuali`i: Chair Bynum? Mr. Bynum: Yes, Councilmember Kuali`i. Mr. Kuali`i: Piggybacking on what Councilmember Nakamura said, I think it would be important to have a community partner. So working with the community as far as who is stepping forward and saying we want to save this bridge. I am hoping I can be at the May 5th community meeting. I share Councilmember Rapozo's concerns that we be mindful of the community's reaction to some of the things we might put out, like the $4 million and even Chair Bynum's statement about cost-prohibitive. I don't think we should discourage the community until we have real figures and real numbers and that we've pursued all options, grants, of course, you know. I'm a community organizer and grants play a critical role in what projects and advantages we bring to our different communities, and that is why, you know, the county may not be able to be the lead on the grant, but maybe a community partner could. So I'm looking forward to finding out a lot more and making sure that the county is doing its part to have all the information and to honor the wishes and motivations of the community. I'm curious, too, as to what role, if any, the Immaculate Conception Church, which is right there and the primary user, probably, of the bridge. I know historically, for sure. Thank you. Mr. Bynum: Chair Furfaro? Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you, Mr. Bynum. Larry, I want to bring to your attention the uncertainty about grant writers. This council has provided over the years that I have been on the council as many as six grant writers to the administration. I know as we go through this budget cycle, they have merged at least two of them. They used to be shared grant writers. For example, we used to have agrant-writer for police, fire and civil defense. That position has been changed, and those are at the discretion of the administration, but it's exactly where you should pursue this question, because your department should be able to go to one of these people for assistance in pursuing grant money. And I am giving you round numbers. I know we have lost as many as two, recently, but I know at one time we had the opportunity for at least six. Those are your sources to answer Councilmember Nakamura's questions. You should be aware of who do you go to in an effort to push a grant-write essential? Who has been assigned now to public works? Mr. Dill: Alright, thank you. I will pursue that. Council Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Bynum. Mr. Bynum: Any other questions? If not, thank you very much. I'll call the meeting back to order. Any discussion? Any members of the public that would like to speak to this matter? Mr. Taylor? KEN TAYLOR: Chair and members of council, my name is Ken Taylor. I appreciate some of the questions that were asked today, and I, again, would just say that it's really sad to see these kinds of little projects that are so important to the community for many ways and reasons, but for them to drag on for 6 so long. It's really a sad commentary on the way we do business in this county, and we see this time after time after time, and if it was just once in a while, that could be understood, but it seems to be more frequent than not, and that is a shame. And from the standpoint of whatever it ends up costing, there are two important aspects of these kinds of projects and one is the benefit to the community to be able to move about. I mean that was why it was put there in the first place, without having to get out on the road and take your life in your hands today. But the other thing is because it is a historical activity and a project. These kinds of projects are very important from the tourist standpoint. And when we sit here and we realize that tourism is our single biggest generator of jobs and income on the island, any time you can do something to restore a historical activity is very important. And communities .all over the world spend millions and millions on renovating old buildings, structures, these kinds of things, and for one purpose, it's to draw the tourists. And I don't think it's any different here and I know things are economically tough times, but we have to realize that some things are important to figure out how to get done. And I really appreciate the emphasis that was put on looking for grants. I think we hear about grants out there all the .time and my question has often been are we really going after all of the grants that we should be going after? That should be one whole activity of one or two people in the county that are constantly, constantly digging. for every nickel that is available. And so T do appreciate those, questions, and some of the other questions that. were asked today. And I hope we see this come to a final project in the very near future. Thank you. Mr. Bynum: Any questions for Mr. Taylor? If not, thank you very much. Anyone else like to comment on this agenda item? Seeing none, I will call the meeting back to order. The meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Mr. Bynum: Any discussion? Mr. Rapozo: I got some discussion. Mr. Bynum: Okay. Councilmember Rapozo. Mr. Rapozo: And this is more for the benefit of the Councilmembers that weren't here back in `07. I think as Mr. Dill said they are going to get all their information and come back to council to find out what council wants to do. I think council made it real clear back in 1007 in April when they allocated $200,000. They made another statement in January of `11, when they gave another $40,000. I think it's quite clear what the council wanted to do. In fact, if some of you remember, after we allocated the money, we were presented with a beautiful PowerPoint about how it was going to get done. It's in your files. If any of you want to go take a look at it, it explained exactly what was going to be done. And then it fell to the wayside and we started taking money out of the account to go do other bridges and other work and never got reimbursed. As far as Mr. Kuali`i's question about the getting community involved, they have gone over and above, they formed a nonprofit, the Kapaia Foundation. That's the partner that we need to partner with. They have put this bridge on the historical register at the request or at the suggestion of the county back then, because they were told, and I know because I attended some of those meetings, they were told that if we could get this on the historical register, we would qualify for exemptions. They did that at their own expense and at their own time. And now we've come... what is it, six years 7 now? Five years? And now they're told, you guys went put it on the register, so we cannot help you, because it's going to be $4 million. And then you hear from the historical people, the people that do this for a living that's saying, hey, because you did that, you qualify for some exemptions, go get it. I understand there are some legal concerns. I understand there's some legal issues, but I don't feel we have done our share. Yesterday I met with parks and public works on a resolution that's going to come up next week regarding a bike path. They want that passed next week. Hey, I want the administration to put the same effort in that project in this project. That's all I'm asking. Don't just pretend these people don't exist. Don't just wait until the bridge falls into the stream, which is... It's very close. And then it will be real easy, right? The decision will be easy because there's nothing to restore. That bridge, and I don't want to get all emotional here, but that bridge means so much for so many people, so many people. But that can wait. That's the frustration. That is the frustration, because we were here. We were told it was going to get done and then it kind of fell away for other projects, which I won't name. I am just asking let's get it done. It's not going to cost $4 million. Please, don't give us that. We ain't trying to create a monument that's going to allow two- way traffic and electric and motorized wheelchairs. We not talking about that. We talking about restoring a bridge as a historical monument, that's what we're talking about. We're not talking about creating a new bikeway to Hanama`ulu from Lihu`e. We not talking about that. The community is asking for this county to take care of their bridge. It's our bridge. It is our bridge. And again, I am hoping this will get deferred, because this needs to be deferred. This needs to stay on this agenda until we get more answers. I'm going to ask that this be deferred, but I guess it's at the mercy of the committee. That's all I have, Mr. Chair. Thank you for giving me the time. As you can see I'm frustrated. I can imagine how the community feels. If the council is given the run-around, I can imagine how you guys feel. So appreciate you coming, and hopefully we'll get this thing done sooner than later. Thanks. Mr. Bynum: Councilmember Yukimura. Ms. Yukimura: I want to, like Councilmember Rapozo, really acknowledge the community, because they have been the staying power on this, and they are a really viable community group to work with, in answer to Councilmember's Kuali`i's concerns. So the county is lucky that we have a community group that is well-organized and very dedicated. I know that the administration has taken time and it's been very frustrating. I think there is a real desire to figure out this problem. It's just been taking so long that you begin to doubt whether it is a sincere desire. But I think the actions taken are good. I would alter the vision a little bit from restoring a bridge as an historical monument. I'm hopeful that the bridge can actually be a working bridge that allows for foot traffic and pedestrian alternative to the very dangerous highway. I think that would be a wonderful win-win and wonderful way of practical use of a wonderful, historical site and structure that can continue to be used for very important community purposes. So I think there is a really great potential for this to be a wonderful project, and I hope that we can really keep at it and make it work into that. It's not going to be easy. There are many challenges about it, but we have met challenges before, as a community, and I think we can do it here. Mr. Bynum: Any other members? If not, I made my own comments earlier. I share the frustration that this has been here that long and we owe it to the community to come up with a direction, a recommendation you know? 8 I think it's no secret that there is some sentiment we should not proceed from some members of the administration, but that is why I asked them, are you going to make a recommendation? Because they should say yes or no, and that is a proper way to kind of put it back in our lap and decide if there is a direction to take. So my only question about a deferral, I agree we should defer, but whether... I didn't ask...I don't know if they .are still here, but how much time they needed to come back and give us more information. Ms. Yukimura: Well, we know that they are committed to coming back on the 11th with the feasibility report back to us. Or actually maybe it's called "the preliminary engineering report." So that...I mean I'm...that commitment was made a month ago, and I'm expecting that that will be kept. First with a meeting with the community on the 5th and then with a report to the council on the 11tH. Mr. Bynum: So I would entertain a motion for deferral... unless there is no other discussion? Mr. Rapozo: Just before that, and I'll make the motion. I think the 11th is fine, because they'll have an opportunity to speak to the community. But also, I want to make sure that they are prepared with attempts or their efforts to seek any kind of exemptions, exceptions, any kind of communications they have had with the state, with DCAB and historical societies, because.... I know what the report will say. I mean I think they told us, it's going to cost $4 million. But I want to know what are their efforts, and really, like you said, Mr. Bynum, I agree, say yes or no. Say yes or no, because don't keep the community and this council hanging and creating all these obstacles than rather than try work around the obstacles. Let's just try to get it done. I think it's clear. Like I said, back in 07 we sent the message, it was clear. I think the community has waited this long expending that bridge to be fixed. And although I agree with Councilmember Yukimura that it should be a practical, working bridge, I agree, I think long term yes. But to get the bridge restored now the quickest way possible so it doesn't fall in the stream I think is more of a priority. And I think that is what the community asking for, save it before it falls and then we can work down the road as far as making it part of your transportation plan. But for right now we got to preserve that. I don't think the people...maybe the administration, maybe they don't understand the cultural significance of the bridge. Maybe they don't. I don't know. I do. A lot of people do, and I think we need to take heed to their concerns, because it is, it is a big part of so many people's lives here. We take care of all the other ones, let's give Kapaia the same respect that they deserve. Thanks. Mr. Bynum: Anything else? Mr. Rapozo: If not, I will make the motion to defer to May 11th. Mr. Kuali`i: Second. Upon motion duly made by Councilmember Rapozo, seconded by Councilmember Kuali`i, and unanimously carried, C 2011-75 was deferred. Mr. Bynum: None opposed, motion carries. We're going to take a ten-minute caption break before we move to the next item. There being no objections, the Chair recessed the meeting at 11:12 a.m. The meeting was called back to order at 11:29 a.m., and proceeded as follows: 9 CR-FPP 2011-02 on FPP 2011-01 Communication (04/20/2011) from FPP Chair Bynum, requesting Committee agenda time to discuss the County's financial condition as it relates to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). (Received for the record) There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:24 p.m. Resp~tfull~ubmitted, Aida Okasal~i v Le~islatirr~~Services Aide APPROVED at the Committee Meeting held on May 11, 2011: _... Tim Byn ai Finance /Parks & Recreation Public Works Programs Committee 10 Item Date Amount Councii appropriation 04/18/07 200,000.00 .Shigemura, Lau, Sakanas 08/16/07 (3,663.22) Shigemura, Lau, Sakanas 06/09/08 (4,536.43) Kai Hawaii 12/15/08 (16,581.60) Cushnie Construction 06/29/09 (90,844.00) Cushnie Construction 06/29/09 (8,917.00) Council. appropriation 01/04/11 40,000.00 Kai Hawaii 03/18/11 (11,054.40) Kai Hawaii forthcoming (89,254.00) Balance Notes 200,OOO.OD Kapaia Swinging Bridge 196,336.78 191,800.35 Emergency design Kapaia ford crossing 175,218.75 Design Kapaia Swinging Bridge 84,374.75 .Emergency structural rehab of Opaekaa and Puuopae 75,457.75 Emergency structural rehab of Opaekaa and Puuopae 115,457.75 Kapaia Swinging Bridge 104,403.35 Design Kapaia Swinging Bridge 15,149.35 Kapaia Swinging Bridge Preliminary Eng Report C E~ivvr~i .D @!~ ~'2~-2AN ~ 02o t! -~