HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/30/2017 Department of Parks & Recreation Department of Parks & Recreation
Honorable Mason K. Chock
Honorable Derek S.K. Kawakami
Honorable Mel Rapozo (present at 9:•57 a.m.)
Honorable JoAnn A. Yukimura
Honorable Arryl Kaneshiro
Excused: Honorable Arthur Brun
Honorable Ross Kagawa
The Committee reconvened on March 30, 2017 at 9:02 a.m., and proceeded as
follows:
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Good morning. I would like to call back to order
the Budget & Finance Committee and Fiscal Year 2017-2018 Departmental Budget
Reviews. Please note that we do have a quorum. On schedule today we will hear from the
Department of Parks and Rec, including Wailua Golf Course. As we do each morning we
will take public testimony. Anyone in the audience wishing to testify? Seeing none we will
keep moving. For today we will take Parks Division in the following order and I think you
provided the order, Lenny, and we will follow the order you have. Administration and
Fiscal Planning and Development, Recreation, Parks Maintenance, Beautification,
Stadiums, Facility maintenance, Convention Hall, Wailua Golf Course and Improvement
and Maintenance Fund and with that Lenny, we will let you do any highlights and then we
will start with the Admin Budget.
LEONARD A. RAPOZO, Director of Parks & Recreation: Thank you, Finance
Chair. For the record, Lenny Rapozo, Director of Parks and Recreation. First of all, I would
like to acknowledge the department's Staff Chiefs that are here that make our department
run. They are down in the weeds of everything. So I would just like to acknowledge and
introduce by Deputy, Ian Costa, Chief of Planning and Development, William Trujillo, Golf
Course Maintenance, Craig Carney, Chief of Parks Maintenance and Beautification, Vince
Parongao and in the back, Fiscal Division, Lynn Kuboyama, and John Martin, he is here
because he is the coordinator for permits and park security. Mr. Eddie Sarita, a man who
needs no introduction, of Convention Hall. Cindy Duterte, she is the Chief of Recreation,
and my Facilities Maintenance guy had some personal things he needed to address and so
he could not be here, and that is Warren Koga. So the department is made up of
approximately eight (8) divisions. With that I will follow the budget instructions that were
delivered to us back in July, where I will go over three items, which is the budget request
for Fiscal 18, changes from Fiscal 17 through 18, and questions regarding the vacant
position listings and plans and status of recruitment. Then we can take individual
divisions as the Chair noted in that order, if there are any questions. You were provided a
document, budget presentation document, which was about 55 pages and I am sure with
everything else that you have to read, this was a priority reading material for the county.
Complete with graphs and pictures and accomplishments. So we can go by division as the
Chair has noted, and discuss the different divisions. So with that, our budget request for
Fiscal year 18 from the Fiscal Division overall we want to fully fund a dollar position for a
permits clerk, which would be about thirty thousand four hundred sixty-eight ($30,468) as
part of the vacancy review committee when the incumbent retired felt we could try and
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service the people, or the needs of the community, at the various neighborhood centers. But
mind you, at the time, the neighborhood centers were only...there are only four locations
that you could get permits from, which was in Hanapepe, Kalaheo, Kapa`a, and Kilauea.
They felt we could try and preserve a position by having permits being also being taken out
in Lihu`e, but what we found is that the amount of activity that is going on at the different
neighborhood centers especially in Lihu`e was such that it became an operational difficulty
in trying to manage programs, or running programs at the different neighborhood centers,
as well as doing permits. We were forced or we had at some places instituted hours of
permitting. But that also became...it was not working very well. So in this budget, we are
asking to refund that permits clerk. We have found that by reestablishing it during this
past summer, at the window at Pi`ikoi there has been a great increase or not increase, but a
noticeable activity there. As well, prior to having it done, our rangers in the park were
spending a lot of time dealing with issuing permits on-site, because it was not really
convenient and were not providing, I felt, the customer service. So this summer we
creatively got a Permits Clerk there. We scraped funding from different sources within our
department to run it from the summertime and currently until today. That is one "want."
The other ones are basically related to equipment, or vehicles that need to be purchased for
the rangers. These are to replace old and aged vehicles that have been passed over the last
couple of budgets. We were hoping to get that funded and being successful with that. For
recreation, we want to fully fund a Recreational Worker Position for the up-and-coming
Hanalei Old Courthouse Neighborhood Center that is currently going under renovations,
and we believe that it is necessary to have a worker there, to address the needs of the
community, recreational-wise and also to provide a place where we always talked about the
kids using Wai`oli Park and not having a place for restrooms. That will be made available,
although crossing the street will be a challenge. We recognize that, but the hours of the
Neighborhood Center will be slightly different from the other business hours, because we
want to also accommodate the kids that go across the park. So we are asking for that dollar-
funded position to be funded at thirty thousand four hundred sixty-eight ($30,468) salary
only, we want of course the benefits will be included. For facility maintenance, they have
eight (8) vehicles that are old. They need to be replaced. We are asking for those utility
pickup trucks to be replaced. They are spending a lot of time in the shop. They have also
been passed over previously, and we feel that it is appropriate for them to have those needs.
We also are requesting to have a forklift, with costs about forty thousand dollars ($40,000)
with an annual lease payment of nine thousand ($9,000) per year. The forklift will be used
at various baseyards, mainly in Lihu`e, where they need to move supplies, wood, metal,
those things for them in order for them to get their job done and with the help of park
maintenance, we can also move the forklift to different jobs, needed to do their work. Part
of facilities maintenance as you know when they came over is also the janitors or custodians
and what we want to do is because with the Hanalei Neighborhood Center Old Courthouse
coming online and we expect that to come online, it was previously scheduled for July, but
they ran into some problems, so we are looking for them to come in September. We are
going to need a janitor to clean the neighborhood center. So we are asking for a half time
position to be funded for full-time, and currently the half-time position cleans the Hanalei
police station by having that being funded full-time, it allows them to clean the police
station and the neighborhood center. Most neighborhood centers have a full-time custodial
person at the neighborhood center, but we feel that at the size of the neighborhood center at
Hanalei, we can get away with a half-time as opposed to asking for another full-time, so
that would cover both facilities. In other supplies, there is a fifty thousand dollar ($50,000)
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increase for the baseyard in Lihu`e that serves for the facility maintenance. We want to
provide restroom facilities that they do not have that we feel they need. The fifty thousand
dollars ($50,000) would be for purchasing the supplies and the work will be done in-house.
In the controlled assets there is a nineteen thousand dollar ($19,000) increase. Twelve
thousand dollars ($12,000) for lumber racks, and seven thousand dollars ($7,000) for
heavy-duty pallet racks and this would help to organize and better store these supplies that
is needed for the facility maintenance at the Lihu`e baseyard. The computer, we want to
also add that there is an increase in computer and peripheral supplies. The fifteen
thousand two hundred dollars ($15,200) that is for eight (8) computer stations to help with
the plumbers, electricians and the maintenance workers to be able to do their work as we
move forward into an asset management program. This would help us to perform needed
data entry to upkeep the program. And of course, collective bargaining when facilities
maintenance came over, for whatever reason, there was not a line item for collective
bargaining, which are would include for uniforms, safety apparel, PUC license. That is a
fourteen thousand seven hundred fifty dollars ($14,750) increase there. For park
maintenance, we are asking for you to consider replacing the 2005 six yard dump truck that
is on the list of equipment to be replaced on a lease basis and that we expect to cost around
two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000). Replace a Bobcat type of machine with
uni-loader, track uni-loader. We are asking to be allotted one hundred thousand
($100,000), but we did some preliminary work and that looks like to be in the range of
sixty-four thousand dollars ($64,000). But we do not know what the bids will come back
moving forward from here. We are also asking for mini excavator with a blade that would
help us to continue to help to dig waterlines, with the blade can help to level fields, as well
as parking lots. So those are our asks for the department. The changes as some of them
have been noted in the adds the changes from fiscal 17-18 overall our budget has been
decreased by five point seven percent (5.7%), our budget. Much of that can be attributed to
utility costs that have been decreased, and, as well as projects that have been completed
that are now taken out of the budget. But in replacing that, we did make note that these
asks that we have that have offset a lot of the decreases, but the overall decrease to our
budget is five point seven percent (5.7%). With respect to three (3) vacancies we can go over
that now, Chair, if you would like?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We will handle the vacancies in the budget
upswings and downswings in each division.
Mr. Rapozo: Okay. All right. So you want to start with...
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We will start with the Administration Division.
Mr. Rapozo: Okay. In administration there is a big increase
in operations and that is because in our structure for facility maintenance, the Facilities
Manager is structured under operations—I am sorry, administration. The Facilities Chief
in the Public Works structure, the Facilities Manager was above the Facilities Chief as it
was back then. Today the Facilities Chief is a division head and the Facilities Manager
continues to do maintenance work, large maintenance work. For instance the replacement
of the roofs over at the Civic Center, the air conditioning, police locks, those larger
maintenance projects that are not being handled or cannot be handled by Facility
Maintenance. Facility Maintenance will repair and maintain things within the county, but
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large repairs such as ongoing repairs to fire station doors, rollup doors and I had mentioned
facilities such as the Civic Center. We put him under us. So he works directly under the
Deputy. So the operations, you will see a significant increase from as a percentage eighteen
hundred seventy-seven percent (1877%). That is the reason for that. That would be the
upswing for that division. For our division.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Questions from the Members? Councilmember
Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you. Thanks, Lenny for a very good
report. The subject you just talked about you are referring to the Facilities Improvement
Manager line item?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: The EM5?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: And you said he is going to take care of the big
maintenance issues?
Mr. Rapozo: Correct.
Councilmember Yukimura: And who takes care...
Mr. Rapozo: Big maintenance meaning the contract. Things
that need to be contracted out for maintenance work.
Councilmember Yukimura: And because now you have, and I want to note it
was against a lot of Council concerns, but you now have all of the County facilities under
p arks.
Mr. Rapozo: Correct.
Councilmember Yukimura: And so who takes care of that?
Mr. Rapozo: So there is a Division Chief for the repair and
maintenance.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay.
Mr. Rapozo: For the larger maintenance Parks projects, the
larger maintenance projects, the Building Manager will do that. As I had mentioned just
recently, right before this, large maintenance projects such as Civic Center roof, your
contract to continuously... the elevator here at this building. The locks to your entryways
here. Projects that need to be contracted out that relates to maintenance. That is the
Facilities Manager's role.
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Councilmember Yukimura: And how was it organized when it was under
Buildings?
Mr. Rapozo: Under Buildings he was the supervisor, and
underneath him there was a section supervisor.
Councilmember Yukimura: So in Buildings I am not talking about the
position so much as the function.
Mr. Rapozo: Yeah.
Councilmember Yukimura: So in Buildings they did not divide it up as you
are with these large contracts and then these smaller maintenance? They had a different
organization?
Mr. Rapozo: No, it was like that.
Councilmember Yukimura: But they were...
Mr. Rapozo: But he is the one that also had to manage the
workforce in Buildings.
Councilmember Yukimura: So Facilities Improvement Manager does not
manage the workforce?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: And the position that manages the workforce is
exactly where? It is one of the divisions, which is Facilities Maintenance?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. And that is your Facilities Maintenance
Coordinator?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. And that person is taking care of all parks
and other County buildings and operations maintenance?
Mr. Rapozo: Repairs and maintenance, yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: So the janitorial staff, as well as repairs?
Mr. Rapozo: Correct.
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Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you. Can you send us a position
description of the facilities...the two positions?
Mr. Rapozo: Sure.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any other questions from Members? We can
move on. Any more questions for Administration? I have a question, there is a Grant-in-
Aid, how does that difference from the Ho`olokahi program?
Mr. Rapozo: In previous budgets that was described as
Special Projects, and this is where we are working with different...to provide the
community and our kids opportunities, such as UH football clinics, UH basketball we have
had in the past, UH golf, Western Kentucky Golf, rodeo clinics for our kids, basketball
clinics for our kids, would come under these special projects line item, including baseball.
To give our kids the opportunity to play against different people, and to provide the next-
level for our kids, and being seen. Recently in December, we had the senior bowl, which
was in its third year, and which this County has been involved in for the last three years.
By supporting something like that, it allows our kids to be seen by college coaches. This
year there were approximately 27 college coaches here on Kaua`i, so we brought the event
to Kaua`i. In the past we supported it off-island because if we can help support our kids, it
gives them a better chance to be seen and playing college ball. That is what that line item is
for. We were advised by Finance it would be a better fit if it was put under "Grant-in-Aid,"
and that is why it is in that line item as opposed to "Special Projects."
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. Any other questions from the Members on
the administration? Budget? The equipment rental line item fifteen thousand dollars
($15,000) oh, wait, thirteen thousand dollars ($13,000). What type of equipment are you
guys renting?
Mr. Rapozo: Copy machines for the whole department, the
large copy machine we have for the whole department.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura?
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you. The next line item on R&M Building
which is four hundred eighty-seven thousand dollars ($487,000). What was the figure
under when it was under Buildings?
Mr. Rapozo: A million dollars ($1,000,000).
Councilmember Yukimura: It was $1 million? And what accounts for the
reduction?
Mr. Rapozo: Different projects. That $1 million was for
projects that the Facilities Manager was overseeing replacing the air conditioning and
roofing repair at the Civic Center. Now that project has been completed, these are the new
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projects that he will be taking on for this year, as well as some of the needs that are going
to...for instance, the Police Department lost their heater. It is going to cost us almost fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000) just to buy it and replace it. So that is what that money will be
used for.
Councilmember Yukimura: It would be good and maybe you are already have
it in your accounting, to be able to see what costs there are as parks maintenance and what
costs there are as other county facilities maintenance? Are you folks keeping track that
way?
Mr. Rapozo: At this point, no. In the long-term for our Asset
Management Program, I believe those numbers will be able to be cost-out by jobs and we
could probably run those reports from there.
Councilmember Yukimura: And so actually, I see you have two line items.
You have R&M building and R&M equipment. And that is the one you are talking about,
the police? What did you say there?
Mr. Rapozo: That would fall under "equipment."
Councilmember Yukimura: So when you were talking about $1 million, that
was just R&M building or was it R&M building plus and R&M equipment?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Last year was $1.3 million for R&M building and
three hundred seventy thousand ($370,000) for R&M equipment.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you. $1.3 and what was it?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Three hundred seventy thousand dollars
($370,000).
Councilmember Yukimura: So that is still a considerable reduction in the
total, and that is just by nature of the project changes that have happened?
Mr. Rapozo: Correct.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any other questions on the Administration's
Budget? If not we will move on to Fiscal. Did you want to say a brief overview or that was
already taken care of?
Mr. Rapozo: That was already taken care of with the adds
and everything else.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Chock.
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Councilmember Chock: Lenny, what was the lease, the thirty-two
thousand dollars ($32,000) again?
Mr. Rapozo: That was attributed to hopefully the funding of
the replacement of vehicles that the rangers are using. We have about four (4) vehicles that
are listed as to be changed out from 2005. These are 2005 models that are need to be
replaced.
Councilmember Chock: So we are going to get replacements on all five of
the vehicles with lease budget?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes, and mind you, these vehicles have been up
for replacement the last three budgets and have been passed over.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura?
Councilmember Yukimura: So do you have a vehicle replacement plan?
Mr. Rapozo: No, that is done by the motor shop.
Councilmember Yukimura: That is done by?
Mr. Rapozo: The motor shop, motor pool shop...I am sorry,
the shop, the repair shop.
Councilmember Yukimura: So for your vehicles, that is in the motor pool?
Mr. Rapozo: All county equipment and vehicles come out of
the motor shop.
Councilmember Yukimura: So they are subject to the same criteria that
where repair expenses are exceeding so much, or they have been so many miles, or things
like that, right?
Mr. Rapozo: I believe so. But they provide us a list every
budget year of what is on the top.
Councilmember Yukimura: And so you are saying that these vehicles were
scheduled for replacement three or four years ago, but that because of budget constraints,
they were not replaced at that time.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any other questions for Fiscal? Councilmember
Chock?
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Councilmember Chock: So there are four here. So are we not going to
lease one more? Is that what is missing? I sorry, I thought you said five that is why.
Mr. Rapozo: No, four.
Councilmember Chock: Four, okay. So we will see the thirty-two
thousand ($32,000) over the next five years?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Lenny, the Building Clerk that you mentioned as
an add is in this division?
Mr. Rapozo: The permits clerk.
Councilmember Yukimura: The permits clerk, excuse me. So that is position?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: 1649.
Mr. Rapozo: 1649.
Councilmember Yukimura: So we have the other benefits and other salary
ancillary costs in the budget as well, right?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: And your analysis and your conclusions about
the need to refer the Building Clerk sound very well-thoughtout.
Mr. Rapozo: And in your narrative on page 8-9, it shows what
the numbers were.
Councilmember Yukimura: So good analysis, thank you for doing that. The
new plan is to keep the permits at Lihu`e. So what is the new arrangement?
Mr. Rapozo: The new plan is to go back to the old plan.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay.
Mr. Rapozo: Which we would have at the Pi`ikoi window, that
we had before.
Councilmember Yukimura: Right.
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Mr. Rapozo: Someone there Monday through Friday, you can
get a permit from 8-4. Although she starts at 7:45 and is done by 4:30.
Councilmember Yukimura: And no other place?
Mr. Rapozo: No, Kalaheo and Hanapepe will still be available
with limited hours and Kilauea and Kapa'a will still be with limited hours. This was a trial
to see if we could manage it and unless we try, we do not know.
Councilmember Yukimura: Right.
Mr. Rapozo: That is why I think in some instances to have a
dollar-funded position is better than trying to eliminate the position, and working with the
Mayor and the Vacancy Review Committee, this kind of shows why.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: I think that was a prime example of we are
trying to save on costs and we saw the reduction in service, and we heard about the
reduction in service. We had people that were unhappy, because they did not know where
they needed to get their permits. And you know, that is what happens. We demand cuts,
but we have to realize sometimes the service goes with it and this is an example of that. I
guess, we thought it was important enough to refund it and that is why it is back.
Councilmember Yukimura: For an analogy, it is like moving Postal Services
from the town core to the outlying areas of Lihu`e, and it does not work.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions for Fiscal? Do you have a
question, Councilmember Yukimura?
Councilmember Yukimura: No. Wait, yes. On the camping fees, have you
seen a significant increase, or are we going to talk about that during income, when we are
talking about...
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Camping fees, I would say income.
Mr. Rapozo: I would think income, because we can stay here
for a while.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. So when we are talking revenues we will
talk about camping fees.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Yes and to help the process, if we send the
question along earlier, it would help.
Mr. Rapozo: I think page 8 and 9 kind of gives a pretty good
overview of camping fees. Whether it is from the window? But it gives a snapshot from
when we started at the window, which was June, which is the high camping season,
summer, and to-date.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay, we will move on to Planning and
Development. Lenny, do you have any overview on Planning and Development?
Mr. Rapozo: There is not add or takeaways. You know
Planning and Development moves projects, so their budget is pretty consistent, with very
few, if any changes at all. If there are changes, it is mostly sending them to training,
sending them to conferences so they can get up-to-date with some of the industry standards
and trends that are happening. But this is the division that has transformed a lot of our
parks.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Yes that budget is pretty static. Any questions on
that? We will move on to Recreation. Any questions for Recreation?
Mr. Rapozo: To note for Recreation I had mentioned about the
funding the position for the Hanalei Neighborhood Old Courthouse Neighborhood Center.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Yes. Recreation, regular overtime increased. Is
there a reason for that overtime?
Mr. Rapozo: Just programs. Doing more programming. As
part of the coordinating of some of our special projects, that is coming out of the recreation
division. We re-described the position so that person, there is a continuity, with our
administration between the Mayor and myself with relationships to be able to establish the
different types of events that we have been having. We wanted to continue, as the Mayor
and I move on, we want that to continue. We wanted somebody actively involved to
continue these relationships and understand what it meant. So we re-described it and it
entailed some overtime when these events come up, in coordinating. As well as the new
event called pickleball. Pickleball is an incredible thing...we just had a tournament last
weekend, so there is some overtime incurred. When we do have these events, it may
require additional cleaning, so at the pickleball, at youth basketball, at our gyms, we asked
that the bathrooms be cleaned during the event as opposed to just a regular cleaning
Monday through Friday so that overtime gets billed to the division. (Inaudible)
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Can you explain the Grant-in-Aid for this? I get
that it is Child Family Services the decrease. What service that is?
Mr. Rapozo: Prior to me becoming the director, Child Family
Services and there are a couple others that were given Grant-in-Aid. In this particular
case, this Child and Family Services they have a similar summer enrichment program for
those who do not fall within the county guidelines of 6 years old. So it would be the pre-k
age. So the Mayor wants to also give those kids an opportunity, and those families the
opportunity to have a program such as summer enrichment and that is where that
Grant-in-Aid goes to. They running that program.
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Councilmember Chock: So it just goes to directly Child and Family
Services?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Please explain the consultant services officiating
youth and senior instructors.
Mr. Rapozo: So we have different programs, like currently
going on right now is youth basketball. They are looking for basketball officials. So that
goes out by contract. So that is a consultant service. Our Tai Chi and water Zumba classes,
any type of classes that need to be taught, especially for seniors, that is where those moneys
are appropriated from, that kind of stuff.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: So I think overall, and in recreation, you have
shown a decrease in electricity costs. Is that due to use reduction in usage or reduction in
the cost of oil at this time?
Mr. Rapozo: It is definitely not because of use reduction.
Councilmember Yukimura: It is use reduction?
Mr. Rapozo: No, it is definitely not.
Councilmember Yukimura: Not.
Mr. Rapozo: We are trying to accommodate all of the requests
and it is a challenge that the Division Chiefs are meeting. I think it is a combination of
both. Reduction in oil, and we are transforming our parks into better lighting fixtures such
as light emitting diode (LED).
Councilmember Yukimura: It would be interesting to know how much is due
to what, just because when electricity prices are actually...electric rate goes up again, we
are going to have to face that higher costs in our budget.
Mr. Rapozo: I think it would be nice to see if we can, and I
think we are able to, prior to changing out the fixtures. For instance we are going through a
transformation at Kalaheo Gym. Where we are putting LED lights. The difference is night
and day.
Councilmember Yukimura: In terms of consumption?
Mr. Rapozo: No, in terms of providing the lighting within the
gym.
Councilmember Yukimura: So better lighting?
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Mr. Rapozo: Better lighting. Better lighting than any gym on
this island I am going to say, because I referee on every gym on this island, but I am
anticipating because of the LED, we have a longer life span of the fixture itself, as well as a
reduction in our utility costs.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. May I continue? So you are not going
make your PowerPoint presentation?
Mr. Rapozo: You know, I would love to, but I want to stick to
the budget instructions. But I will have it for you, Councilmember Yukimura, I will leave
this disk here right here, and you guys can have it when you want it at your own leisure,
but we will not do that today. We will stick to the budget instructions.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
Mr. Rapozo: It is worthwhile to watch it, Councilmember
Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: I know that, it is the highlight of the budget
every year.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you for that and thank you for following
the instructions also. We really wanted to just try to tighten up the meetings and focus on
the numbers. It is always a pleasure to get a break in our budget to see the video, but I
appreciate that you provided a copy for us. Thank you.
Mr. Rapozo: Thank you.
Councilmember Yukimura: On page 35, where you talk about pools. This is
your budget narrative. You said public uses at Kapa'a and Waimea pools total forty-four
thousand (44,000). Is that users or uses?
Mr. Rapozo: Users.
Councilmember Yukimura: It is users.
Mr. Rapozo: I believe it is the amount of people that came to
use the pool.
Councilmember Yukimura: But it is one user using it several times?
Mr. Rapozo: Could be. It could be. It is not different users.
Councilmember Yukimura: So it is not amount of use possibly. I mean we
just honored Mokihana Aquatics and "Coach 0" and there was such wonderful discussion
about the swimming legends and the way swimming contributes to well-being.
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Mr. Rapozo: And honoring Coach 0 in his program needs as
well for Mokihana Aquatics.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions for Recreation? If not, we
are going to jump around a little bit based on the order that Lenny provided. We are going
to go to Parks Maintenance, and so Parks Maintenance is on page 232. Any questions
regarding Parks Maintenance?
Councilmember Yukimura: Facilities Maintenance right?
Mr. Rapozo: Park Maintenance.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: No, we are skipping to Parks Maintenance first.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We are going to go Parks Maintenance,
Beautification, Stadium, and then we will go back to Facilities.
Mr. Rapozo: Page 20.
Councilmember Yukimura: Of your narrative?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: In Parks Maintenance we saw significant
reduction in water costs.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any reason for that?
Mr. Rapozo: No. I do not know.
Councilmember Yukimura: You do not know? [Inaudible]
Mr. Rapozo: We just paid less.
Councilmember Yukimura: I do not think water rates have gone down.
Mr. Rapozo: No, they have not.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any questions from the Members?
Councilmember Yukimura?
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Councilmember Yukimura: Under challenges...Oh you are talking about the
...we see this year after year, the use of the private cellular telephones, and answering and
returning calls is mostly voluntary? This is, like, official business and they are on the job,
but because the phones are personal, they do not call back?
Mr. Rapozo: That is one challenge. We continue to work,
especially out in the North Shore, from the baseyard to Ha`ena and once we get to a certain
point it is hard to contact our people.
Councilmember Yukimura: Oh, yes, if it is because cell phones do not work
well, that is one thing, but the way it is written here "answering and returning calls is
mostly voluntary and inconsistent" it does not sound like it is due to...
Mr. Rapozo: Yes and it is amounts to if I need to get a hold of
someone out in that area, it is kind of tough. So we have some pockets of communication
gaps.
Councilmember Yukimura: So how do the other counties handle it?
Mr. Rapozo: The other counties I do not think have the same
type...well, in my discussions with the directors of other counties, and we talk briefly from
time to time, that is something that I have never posed as a question to one another. It is
something that we can talk about.
Councilmember Yukimura: It might be interesting and you have these
annual park conferences, do you not?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes, we have not had one in the last couple of
years, but there is one that will be taking place this year. That is kind of side bar stuff
when the directors go off on their own that we could talk about.
Councilmember Yukimura: You said when budget allows it the Parks
Department would like to see county-issued cell phones or a system of
truck-mounted/hand-held radios. Have you costed-out how much it would cost?
Mr. Rapozo: We have costed it out. The in-truck was almost
forty thousand dollars ($40,000). But we are looking now...
Councilmember Yukimura: A year?
Mr. Rapozo: No the installation costs but we are looking now
at possibly adding Wi-Fi to our parks. Working with the vendor and if we can Wi-Fi our
parks we can also provide communication to our workers at the parks.
Councilmember Yukimura: But this is still going on private cell phones?
Mr. Rapozo: Or we can purchase our own cell phones, yes.
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Councilmember Yukimura: Would you say that WiFi at parks has a higher
priority than Wi-Fi at other facilities?
Mr. Rapozo: I think our facilities here are all Wi-Fi.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, at this building.
Mr. Rapozo: And the other building.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Convention Hall.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Neighborhood Centers.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: I mean it seems like a comprehensive analysis
would be good, just to see which would be the top priorities.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes. But if we are moving forward in facility
maintenance to provide immediate or getting away from paper, and Wi-Fi, most of our
facilities as part of my discussion with how we are going to become more efficient and we
are jumping ahead, but if we can Wi-Fi, then our maintenance people can have iPads to do
their work there instantly to get work orders there on the job or at the facility. Pull up the
work order...what was really the problem there and do there. Our Park Rangers can go to
the facilities and right now John makes hard copy of permits.
Councilmember Yukimura: I saw that and I was going to bring that up when
we talk about...
Mr. Rapozo: So we want to move in that direction. So there
are a lot of gains to be made with Wi-Fi and we are looking at possibly charging for that
service, if you have it at Anini Beach Park. I do not know what the going rate is maybe
twenty dollars ($20) a day, unlimited services per camper and ten dollars ($10) a day after
that, something like that to help pay for the system. So it is more for County use, but we
want to provide that as a service at the beach parks.
Councilmember Yukimura: Well, I mean it is great you are thinking about
the public, as well as the internal county system of workers, and needs for the workforce.
But I am hoping since now facilities are all under you, you are thinking not just parks, but
you are thinking all county facilities and putting it through an analysis.
Mr. Rapozo: Convention Hall is Wi-Fi capable already.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. I mean I do not want to go over each facility
right now.
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Mr. Rapozo: So let us just say we know the facilities that have
Wi-Fi and the ones that we need to do.
Councilmember Yukimura: That is the kind of analysis I am looking for, that
I presume you would do.
Mr. Rapozo: We have that.
Councilmember Yukimura: You have that analysis?
Mr. Rapozo: We are talking about trying to Wi-Fi County
facilities. In order to do that, we already looked at where they are and they are not.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. So actually when you said you are
thinking about "Wi-Fiing" your parks, it is actually a broader scope than just parks. You
are looking at all county facilities?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: And you have prioritized?
Mr. Rapozo: But we are on Park Maintenance that is why I
was sticking to Park Maintenance.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. But it probably needs to be part of a bigger
picture, right?
Mr. Rapozo: It is. It is to Wi-Fi all facilities.
Councilmember Yukimura: And you have already done an analysis and you
have established priorities?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: So is it in writing?
Mr. Rapozo: No. It is talking to the vender. I have a list of
facilities. Yes, if that is what you are asking for, yes, I do have that.
Councilmember Yukimura: In priorities and with rationale about why you
are doing which ones and the costs of doing it?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes, I have that in writing.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay.
Mr. Rapozo: But no decisions have been made. I said we are
looking into doing that, yes.
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Councilmember Yukimura: I see, okay. It is good you are looking into it, and
it seems like what started this conversation was this piece about...
Mr. Rapozo: Communication.
Councilmember Yukimura: About reaching your staff. Okay. We will wait
for a proposal, maybe in the next budget or something, we will see, right? Because this is
moving towards a decision of some sort, I presume?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Go, no-go, or whatever? Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Other Services has a slight increase. I see it is
for one thousand two hundred sixty-eight coconut trees (1,268).
Mr. Rapozo: Okay.
Councilmember Chock: I know we have had in the past year issues with
Ironwoods as well and I was wondering if we have that accounted for in terms of
tree-trimming needs?
Mr. Rapozo: Our tree-trimming crew, (inaudible) is a
reflection of the North Shore has just gone down there and taken off...we call that a
"haircut"...gave those trees a haircut. They will be going back to address some other trees
that need to come out, but they have been down at Black Pot, and down at "Pavilions," that
whole stretch to take the weight off of the trunk. So they have done a haircut down there.
Councilmember Chock: Oh, okay.
Mr. Rapozo: They are working at other parks as well. You
know, when we initially did the tree analysis, we said we were about two-and-a-half years
backlogs with emergency work to prevent what you just alluded to now. Aside from that,
they are also being asked to do other things as they come out. But they have addressed that
down at the North Shore.
Councilmember Chock: I was thinking about also, Nawiliwili, Niumalu
has some.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Chock: So those are the ones we are still behind on?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
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Councilmember Chock: You had talked about...I know we have gotten an
arborist to map out...like inspect the trees and give us prioritization, do we have a report on
that?
Mr. Rapozo: Our previous Division Chief was an arborist and
when we looked at why we wanted to have a tree-trimming crew, we went through the
parks to see what needed to be done. We do not have an arborist by position. What we do
have is a great employee, willing to use his certification that he possesses outside of his
scope of work he was hired to perform. He is willing to help us in needs when we ask, "Hey
can you take a look at this tree?" Or, "What do you think about these trees?" So outside of
the scope of his work, he is willing to do it. And so that is how we have been operating with
the trees. Of course, he helps our tree-trimming crew to identify and properly trim the
difficult ones that needs to be trimmed to, to be made safe.
Councilmember Chock: What is position was that holds that arborist.
Mr. Rapozo: Irrigation Repair.
Councilmember Chock: Okay. Thank you, Chair.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: It is really great that we have this in-house
tree-trimming crew. What kind of training do they get for trimming trees?
Mr. Rapozo: How to properly use the saw. How to properly
use the lift, the bucket. How to trim a tree and not butcher it, and depending on certain
circumstances, our arborist helps to train them in properly trimming the trees.
Councilmember Yukimura: Do you have that as a training course or training
element? Or is it just kind of ad hoc on the job?
Mr. Rapozo: As far as training to proper use of the equipment
that comes out of HR?
Councilmember Yukimura: No...
Mr. Rapozo: But in terms of addressing a tree, properly, our
arborist helps out to properly instruct them.
Councilmember Yukimura: But there is no formal training?
Mr. Rapozo: When there is, we send them. We are working
with the Kaua`i Landscaping Association, and we are working with Office of Continuing
Education and Training (OCET) at Kaua`i Community College (KCC) to provide those
courses to enhance our training for the crew.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions? Councilmember
Yukimura?
Councilmember Yukimura: Your port-a-potties are your portable toilets I
guess they are covered on page 235, line-item budget. So you are showing a total of two
hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars ($265,000), is that correct?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: So we pay this much a year? Have we done an
analysis of where we might convert to permanent toilets where it is justified? I presume in
the long-run, the lifecycle costing might be cheaper in some cases.
Mr. Rapozo: Might be.
Councilmember Yukimura: Have done any analysis of that?
Mr. Rapozo: No. My concern is when we grew up, this is the
realities of our society today. There are places where did not have port-a-potties or
bathroom facilities, take Wailua Beach. We all swam at Wailua Beach and someone needed
to use the restroom, mom would say, "anyone need to go to the bathroom," and drove from
the beach to a bathroom and back. Today our community demands us to put port-a-potties
there because no one wants to drive to it. The impact is that we now pay two hundred
sixty-four thousand dollars ($264,000) to provide this convenience. If the direction of our
County working with you and us is to look at to build restrooms, not only are we providing
convenience for restrooms, maybe we are going save on the overall expenses of the rental.
But they are going to have maintenance costs involved and utility costs. I think that is the
question beyond whether or not we are saving just by building a restroom there?
Councilmember Yukimura: Absolutely. I think in some cases a portable toilet
is going to be the solution, the long term solution and in some cases it might not and I
wondered if you were doing an analysis and I guess the case that came to mind and I asked
about it before is the port-a-pottis that are on the Ke Ala Hele Makalae, right at the Kapa'a
Swimming Pool. You know, because maybe 50 feet away is the bathroom at the
Neighborhood Center, and I think you can even set it up, so you can close off the center and
make only the bathroom there available. It is already...there is already maintenance, and
it is already built. So I do not know how much and, in fact I would like to find out how much
it costs for that particular port-a-potty, if you could please submit that. But in that
situation, it seems like there is some way you could work out, so they could use the
bathrooms either at the swimming pool, which I think is a little bit more complicated, or at
the Neighborhood Center, where if the center is open, it would be available. Even when it
is not, if you can lock it up at night, so only the bathroom is accessible, it seems like that
might save us some money.
Mr. Rapozo: Possibly, the reason we initially put the
port-a-potty there, is because at one time there was none and people were allowed to use
the center is that there was an incident when we had the Summer Enrichment Program,
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and we have kids there and kids just go to the bathroom, and there was an undesirable
there and for the safety of our user and our kids, we put it out there, so that it provides
something readily available out there.
Councilmember Yukimura: Well, maybe you just...
Mr. Rapozo: So aside from the logistics that you just
mentioned and there is another reason why we put it there. If we can save the costs, we are
going, but there are other factors involved in everything that we do.
Councilmember Yukimura: Well I mean you could just put a port-a-potty
there during the summer program. I do not know all of the...because they still can come
into the center whether kids are there or not. So it is about management. I just wondered
whether...oh and the port-a-potties out here are under your jurisdiction, too? Is that in this
bill?
Mr. Rapozo: That is in that bill.
Councilmember Yukimura: So this is the whole port-a-potty bill for the whole
County, everything?
Mr. Rapozo: No, Fire has their own.
Councilmember Yukimura: Fire. What does Fire have port-a-potties for?
Mr. Rapozo: Ocean Safety.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. And that is places where there is no
bathroom...no public bathrooms where the lifeguards are?
Mr. Rapozo: I think you should ask the Fire Chief for that
one.
Councilmember Yukimura: I will. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions for Parks Maintenance?
Lenny, not to go back, but the coconut tree trimming, are we eventually going to try and
have our people do that trimming, or are the trees in too much of a difficult position that it
is better to contract it out?
Mr. Rapozo: Maybe we should look at Kona. There is a
decision by Kona, and that was back before we were even allowed to vote maybe. Well, it
was a mid-1990s decision. It was determined that coconut trees should by contracted-out
and traditional other kinds of trees should be done by public workers, unionized workers.
The amount of coconut trees is tremendous. Maybe at some point we may be able to get
caught-up with all our trees and that is something our people can do. But for the
immediate future, we do not have the resources or the time to do all of those.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. Councilmember Yukimura, do you have a
question?
Councilmember Yukimura: No, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: If there are no further questions for Parks
Maintenance, we will move on to Beautification.
Councilmember Yukimura: What page is your narrative, Lenny?
Mr. Rapozo: The narrative is all lumped into one (1), but the
graphs are on page 24. The narrative started on...
Councilmember Yukimura: Beautification?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes. It started on page 20 and ended on page 22.
Beautification's pictures on page 24.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We saw a slight increase in overtime. Can you
explain the increase and if there is anything that you are doing to try to manage overtime?
Mr. Rapozo: Sure. In trying to be fiscally creative, and I am
going to use Hardy Street as an example because we just started to pick that up. Last
budget, we came in and we asked for a position to take care of Hardy Street. During the
cost analysis, we looked at if we can come once a month and do Hardy Street, meaning we
are going buff the place out initially and then we come once a month, that is going to cost us
$12,000 for the year. To have a position with benefits, I think, was in excess of $30,000
salary, plus benefits. It provides Beautification a chance, because that is Monday through
Friday operation, eight (8) hours, it provides them a chance to make overtime if they want
to. So there is going to be a bump up in overtime because I am trying to be fiscally creative
in trying to minimize expense, but yet still meet the needs of new projects coming on. So
with respect to overtime in our Department to answer your question, in 2008, when I
became the Director, it took a year to see operations and to understand how we operate.
Some of the policies that we implemented to manage overtime, because I think you are
going to agree that we are not going to get rid of overtime. If somebody cannot work a
weekend shift, it has got to be filled with somebody. Usually, that person is going to get
overtime. People retire and people move on. Somebody has to pick up the slack, so we are
going to have overtime, but it is how to manage the overtime and some of the reoccurring
overtime. Some of the policies that we implemented, for instance, let us look at the
stadium. In the past during football games, you would see the Caretaker there all day. I
made the decision that during the Kaua`i Interscholastic Federation (KIF) games, we are
going to have a Caretaker there because we are looking at thousands of people there. In
case something should happen, somebody should be on-site to be able to respond to it.
During Pop Warner games, we are lucky if there are three hundred (300) or four hundred
(400) people there. So we should be able to treat that facility like the Convention Hall
where somebody opens up, use the facility, come back to close up, do some maintenance,
and then go. Those are the types of policies that I changed that we did when we came in to
try to manage overtime. So all overtime is approved by either myself or my Deputy, unless
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it reflects operations in the sense in this Division, somebody cannot come to work for
whatever reason, they have to send someone in and they have to get paid the overtime,
then the Division Head is able to just make those calls. It is the same thing with pools. We
only have x amount of pool guards. There are times for whatever reason, we have to close
pools or sometimes we have to pay overtime. So those come under my approval. To handle
overtime, it is really the approval of either myself or Ian. But that is how we manage it; we
changed some of the policies of the way we work. In the beginning, it was tough because
people were allowed to just do it and there was push-back, but we have been paid to
manage and so we manage it in that fashion. I can give you another example, one (1)
person could make as much as thirty (30) plus hours of overtime during the Kaua`i Hospice
just by having to open up and hanging around while they are doing whatever they are
doing. Well, if we are going to allow Kaua`i Hospice to come in, they should be responsible
enough that this is what your needs are, we give you the needs, and the person can leave
and only be on-duty when we feel it is necessary. So it is been on a case-by-case basis and
that is how our Department has been handling the overtime. I think overtime is inevitable,
but we have to try to manage it to keep it as minimum as allowable.
Council Chair Rapozo: I have a follow-up.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Chair Rapozo.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. So the bump that Committee Chair
Kaneshiro talked about, what is that attributed to?
Mr. Rapozo: The bump that we are anticipating is to beautify
Hardy Street. We are coming this Saturday with the full beautification crew, east and
west, to pound it out and get it to a level where we can come back once a month and not
necessarily having to trim, but at least once a month to pick out the invasive kind of plants
growing there as opposed to having a person there every day to do this.
Council Chair Rapozo: So last budget, you got the position?
Mr. Rapozo: A half-time position. We have not filled it.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Are you not planning on filling that?
Mr. Rapozo: No, we are planning on re-describing it to
address other needs in the County. I can go into that now or we can take that up when we
go through the positions.
Council Chair Rapozo: I do have a question on Position No. 1827, which
shows up in your Beautification. In the vacancy report, it shows up in Beautification, but
in the budget, it is showing up in Facilities Maintenance.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: What is the status on that one?
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Mr. Rapozo: That was the one that was given to us half-time
last year.
Council Chair Rapozo: That is not half-time. That is $38,000.
Mr. Rapozo: Okay, let me finish. That was given to us last
year half-time because Hardy Street was going to come in halfway through our budget.
Before filling it, like I just described what I thought would be a better solution budget-wise
and everything, we are moving this direction with Hardy Street. There are other needs on
the custodial side with Transportation and the Police Department. At the Police
Department, there are four (4) wings there, where three (3) wings we have full-time
employees, and the fourth wing, they somehow manage to clean it. At Transportation, you
have a four (4) hour person there, but it is a twenty (20) hour operation. So you have
someone that is cleaning 4:00 a.m. until 8:00 a.m., and then the facility does not get
attention until the next 4:00 a.m. So for sixteen (16) hours, people are using the restrooms,
using the facility, and when the person comes back the next morning, it is a mess.
Council Chair Rapozo: Does the public use that building?
Mr. Rapozo: No, but...
Council Chair Rapozo: Just the employees create the mess?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes. It is a twenty (20) hour operation.
Council Chair Rapozo: I understand.
Mr. Rapozo: People are going in and out. Then, on the Police
side, dispatch, which is twenty-four/seven (24/7) and Civil Defense does not have a
dedicated person for that wing. So taking that position that Council Chair Rapozo has
mentioned, we want to create an eight (8) hour, and that is what we initially were going to
talk about.
Councilmember Yukimura: What page is that on?
Council Chair Rapozo: I am trying to figure out, Position No. 1827, what
is it right now as we speak? Is it a Janitor?
Mr. Rapozo: It is a Groundskeeper.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is it a Janitor or a Groundskeeper?
Mr. Rapozo: It is a Groundskeeper.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay, but the budget reflects a Janitor in
Facilities Maintenance.
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Mr. Rapozo: That is the proposal for next year. It is still
vacant. So to address the needs, which I think is proper, we can have that person go and
dedicate their cleaning at Police and Civil Defense and then in the afternoon after they do
their four (4) hours there, in the afternoon, they give Transportation attention so that the
morning person and the people that are using the facilities will have a better facility.
Council Chair Rapozo: So Position No. 1827 was provided as a
Groundskeeper?
Mr. Rapozo: That was for Hardy Street.
Council Chair Rapozo: Last year for Hardy Street?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: And that has not been changed yet?
Mr. Rapozo: No.
Council Chair Rapozo: It is still a Groundskeeper today?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes, which is vacant.
Council Chair Rapozo: Right, and it has been vacant. According to this,
it has been vacant for one thousand five hundred (1,500) days. I do not know. You never
hired?
Mr. Rapozo: That was a dollar-funded Groundskeeper
position. When we had to make some cuts, I guess one thousand five hundred (1,500) days
ago and it was vacant, the eastside Beautification Crew was managing their work. So to
make our cut, I dollar-funded that position.
Council Chair Rapozo: So that is going to go away and that is going to
become a Janitor?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Next fiscal year?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: And you are saying you are going to have the
existing crew take care of Hardy Street?
Mr. Rapozo: We are going try and do it that way.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is that not what we have been doing?
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Mr. Rapozo: No.
Council Chair Rapozo: What have we been doing on Hardy Street?
Mr. Rapozo: The contract was just up, I want to say maybe
February.
Council Chair Rapozo: So since February, I have seen County people out
there.
Mr. Rapozo: Just last week, yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are you suggesting that we do not need a person
dedicated?
Mr. Rapozo: Council Chair Rapozo, I want to try this way. It
is going to save us some positions and save us some money. We are going to pay $12,000 in
overtime that I figured out or a little over $12,000, maybe $13,000. It was $12,000 and
some change, as opposed to Other Post-Employment Benefit (OPEB) and a full-time
position out there every day.
Council Chair Rapozo: Well, I just want to make sure that is
maintained. That is the bigger issue.
Mr. Rapozo: I do, too.
Council Chair Rapozo: $12,000. You are having these people coming
once a month?
Mr. Rapozo: Once a month.
Council Chair Rapozo: To clean up?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: And basically, just wait fiscal for the month, I
guess. Is that the plan?
Mr. Rapozo: That is the plan, to try and do it. If it does not,
like we just had the discussion about Pi`ikoi, if it does not work, then we have to try. But at
least, let us try and see if we can save some money here first.
Council Chair Rapozo: Well, it is not that you are saving the County
money. You are moving a position. It is not that you are saving the County money. The
position is not going to go away.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
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Council Chair Rapozo: You are not. Your plan is going to increase the
budget with the overtime costs.
Mr. Rapozo: It is going to increase the budget, but there is
still the needs of Transportation and Police. Rather than having two (2) positions, I am
asking just reallocating for one (1).
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. There are so much reallocations going on
and my head spins. Again, it is not clearly...we do not know until we find out. I think that
is the frustration, but I guess we will get through it at some point.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: I think reallocation was the tool that the Charter
anticipated. If it is used well, it is an important tool for the Administration. If it is abused,
then it is not the right process. Can you tell me what number it is in the budget and on
what page, the position?
Council Chair Rapozo: Page 227 on the bottom right.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Bottom right. Position No. 827?
Council Chair Rapozo: Position No. 1827.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you. I want to commend you for creative
thinking. $1,000 a month to maintain Hardy Street does not seem unreasonable. It is
important and it needs to happen, but it needs to happen in the most cost-effective way. I
am interested to see how it works.
Mr. Rapozo: Me, too.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions for
Beautification? If not...
Councilmember Yukimura: Wait, is that your Sprinkler System Repair
Worker in Beautification? You mentioned something in your narrative, I think, about that
position, right? That is a position that we have had for a while now?
Mr. Rapozo: I want to say about four (4) or five (5) years now.
Councilmember Yukimura: We have sprinkler systems islandwide that this
position takes care of?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: And one (1) worker is enough to do that? That is
pretty much his sole job? He just rotates around?
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Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: And this is a worker who has an arborist
background?
Mr. Rapozo: He has an arborist certificate.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. In the development of parks facilities, are
you including more and more sprinkler systems?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: So you are doing it because it is a cost-effective
way to address parks maintenance?
Mr. Rapozo: Parks Maintenance and also provides a better
experience for the user. Most ballfields today demand sprinklers to make the field
playable. In the past, they would have to drag it out manually with crawlers. They use
crawlers at the stadiums, and other parks, we are going use sprinkler systems. So that
allows for time and savings in maintenance and dragging...
Councilmember Yukimura: It is more cost-effective?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: I saw once, a water truck come here and water
some of the...it was not a park. It might just be beautification, but there is a sprinkler
system in the Hardy Street improvements, right?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: So that is what it saves. It saves the water truck
from coming and having to water all along the ground?
Mr. Rapozo: That water truck watering is just a recent thing
of this current Administration. This is the center of County government, so we are going to
try to make it nice.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes.
Mr. Rapozo: Even for him to wash down the roadways and
parking lots to make it look decent.
Councilmember Yukimura: I support that. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Chair Rapozo.
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Council Chair Rapozo: I was talking to Councilmember Yukimura a
while back about our front lawn in front of our building. It is not pretty, it is full of paka,
and the chickens are destroying it. I am hoping that at some point, we can re-sod that field
and put in some grass so the chickens cannot dig because it is not pretty at all.
Mr. Rapozo: About for our five (5) or six (6) budgets ago, I
asked for moneys to hire somebody to eradicate the chickens, and there are people out
there, but the problem was that I was told that, and maybe the policy of the Kauai Humane
Society has changed. When they took them there, they were going to charge us to take the
chickens there. I only have to pay to catch them, but I have to pay them to get rid of it.
The cost was kind of crazy. It was like $7 a chicken at the time. So then he was going to let
them loose someplace else on the island, but that is just going to move the problem
someplace. So we never pursued the contract. Until we can figure out what we do with the
chickens once we get them...
Council Chair Rapozo: I do not think we are going to get rid of the
chickens. It is a matter of putting grass on there that the chickens cannot dig. I do not
know.
Councilmember Yukimura: Is there grass?
Mr. Rapozo: I have Zoysia at my house. They dig the Zoysia
and they dig the Seashore Paspallum too.
Council Chair Rapozo: I do not know what to put on there, artificial turf,
maybe. I do not know. It is horrible. It is not even safe, to be honest, with the puha.
Councilmember Yukimura: It is dangerous.
Councilmember Chock: Chicken papaya.
Council Chair Rapozo: What? Chicken papaya, yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: What did he say?
Council Chair Rapozo: Chicken papaya. I heard they are really good to
eat.
Councilmember Yukimura: I have called them our emergency food supply.
Council Chair Rapozo: I do not know if we are ever going to get rid of
them. You can take these away and others will come. They will come back.
Mr. Rapozo: For a while, you folks had eradicated them
somehow because they were dying all over the place.
Council Chair Rapozo: It was not us.
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Mr. Rapozo: I do not know how you folks did it, but that was a
good measure.
Council Chair Rapozo: Oh, no, that is going to be in the paper, "Council
kills the chickens." Well, we never poisoned any chickens. I do not know what they did.
Mr. Rapozo: Eddie was calling us, "Hey, come over and pick
these up." Okay, we will come right over.
Council Chair Rapozo: Really? No, unless it is the staff. What are you
folks feeding those chickens? Whatever you folks were feeding them, let us make another
pot.
Councilmember Yukimura: Population follows food, and that is what is
happening.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions for
Beautification? If not, we will move on to Stadiums.
Councilmember Yukimura: What page is that?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We are on page 241.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: The budget was pretty static.
Council Chair Rapozo: The only change was the employee titles were
changed to the Bryan J. Baptiste (BJB) Sports Complex, I believe it is called?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: So they were Caretakers?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes, they are caretakers, but just being identified
to what the properly facility is at. Really, the only change in this budget was benefits.
Benefits went up twenty percent (20%), and I guess pay increases that went up one point
nine percent (1.9%).
Council Chair Rapozo: When you change the position from a Caretaker I
to a BJB Sports Complex, what...
Mr. Rapozo: You are a Park Caretaker.
Council Chair Rapozo: It is the same?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes, it is the Park Caretaker.
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Council Chair Rapozo: You are just assigning them to a specific location.
Mr. Rapozo: It is identifying the facility.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: The premium pay, temporary assignment, is that
a collective bargaining?
Mr. Rapozo: The what?
Councilmember Chock: The premium pay temporary assignment and
meals. Those were all...
Mr. Rapozo: Collective bargaining. After they work from a
certain time, they are entitled to certain other benefits.
Councilmember Chock: When does the meals kick in? It is a small
amount.
Mr. Rapozo: After 6:00 p.m.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Your electricity has gone down substantially, but
you are still asking for the same amount you got last year?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes. We added Vidinha Stadium baseball. That
is now a lighted field, so we anticipate there will be some increased costs there, which I
remember growing up, that was forty-four (44) years ago that the County promised us they
were going to get lights at the baseball field.
Councilmember Yukimura: I know it is been a long wait. I cannot complain
about that. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions for Stadiums?
Council Chair Rapozo: I am not sure if it is tied to Councilmember
Kagawa's question the other day about the batting cages. The fencing packages, one
hundred fifty (150) by four (4), is that just chain-link fencing?
Mr. Rapozo: Where are you looking?
Council Chair Rapozo: Your page 186.
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Mr. Rapozo: My page 186.
Council Chair Rapozo: On the bottom, the small equipment. At the very
bottom.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: The bottom page is 243.
Mr. Rapozo: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: At the very bottom.
Mr. Rapozo: It would be portable fencing for homerun fencing.
Council Chair Rapozo: Oh, I got it. Okay. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: It looks like it is not that big of an amount, but
you are at $4,000. Are you anticipating that you are going to need $9,000 this year?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes, we are. Depending on the run-date on this
was. Mine has a puka in it on my binder. I am not sure of the run-date was. We are
asking for the same amount.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions for Stadiums?
So we are going to jump back to Facilities Maintenance. Facilities Maintenance is on the
bottom of page 226 for us. I have a question. Electricity, water, and sewer, all went down.
Where did those numbers go?
Mr. Rapozo: For utilities, for whatever reason, when facilities
maintenance came over, they also gave me all their electricity bills for the whole County,
which I thought was inappropriate because we should be fixing and repairing. The utilities
cost should be reflected in another Division in Public Works, that was their responsibility,
to pay those needs. So that was put back in Public Works' budget.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay, got it.
Mr. Rapozo: And then the reduction in the operations got
transferred to Administration because the Facilities Managers programming needs was
also in here. So to be better accountable as to the different Divisions and what they are
spending, I moved that out.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: The lumber racks you have it on twice. Is that a
mistake?
Mr. Rapozo: It is probably a mistake.
March 30, 2017
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: You have lumber racks under "controlled assets"
and...
Mr. Rapozo: It is a mistake.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. "Other small equipment."
Mr. Rapozo: Oh, yes.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: So will you correct them in the supplement?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We skipped around a little bit. Lenny gave a
little different order, so we are following the order on this.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. I have a question.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Chair Rapozo.
Council Chair Rapozo: This would be on your page 174. It is the Other
Rentals. It says, "Equipment rentals needed in lieu of equipment purchase." What rentals?
Mr. Rapozo: It is mostly lifts.
Council Chair Rapozo: Lifts?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes, lifts. In the gyms (inaudible) here. We do a
lot of rentals for lifts to get to the place. Kaiakea Fire Station.
Council Chair Rapozo: How much are those lifts? How much do they
cost?
Mr. Rapozo: I forget. It is like about $300 to $400 every time
we use them.
Council Chair Rapozo: How much does it cost to purchase it?
Mr. Rapozo: I do not know. I have not done that.
Council Chair Rapozo: I am looking at $25,000 and is that majority for
the lifts?
Mr. Rapozo: Whatever Warren needs in equipment that we do
not have, that allows him to go and get it.
Council Chair Rapozo: And then page 176, lease. Is this all new
equipment and new vehicles?
March 30, 2017
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Mr. Rapozo: Yes. A little earlier when we went through the
lease, these were eight (8) utility trucks that were purchased in 2005. They have a lot of
problems. They have been in the shop a lot. They are on the shop's replacement list.
Council Chair Rapozo: So these trucks, where do they go?
Mr. Rapozo: Islandwide. This is the Plumber, Electrician,
and Maintenance Workers.
Council Chair Rapozo: And these eight (8) trucks will go where? To the
auction block?
Mr. Rapozo: Auction block.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: I am looking at your successes and achievements
on page 44. I want to commend all of you for achieving this. You say you have minimized
the backlog of outstanding work orders. Is this the backlog of Facilities Maintenance?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Do you know the extent of the reduction? How
do you measure a backlog, I guess is the question?
Mr. Rapozo: Whereas because now they are their own
Division and the attention is placed upon them, they respond to a work order at a minimum
of seven (7) days to ten (10) days maximum. They have done a lot of improvements, I think,
around the facilities if you walk around. So that number that is pending in the computer
has shrunk a lot, but just moving to attend. For instance, your elevator person was here
and they needed somebody to come and repair or tighten up a screw, and Eddie calls.
Luckily, we had somebody available and they came right away to attend to something like
that, as opposed to putting in a work order. I think the mindset is different. They now
have the attention that they deserve, and I think it is helped the County overall in
addressing the needs for repairs.
Councilmember Yukimura: It is commendable that you are measuring or you
have a policy that says every request we have or repair request that we have, we will
respond within seven (7) to ten (10) days. So that is something that you strive to meet?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: For everything, and you can say that this year,
you have achieved that goal?
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Mr. Rapozo: Yes. That is something that we started since
July 1st. In starting up this thing, that is where some of the attainable that we wanted to
reach.
Councilmember Yukimura: That was a goal this past year?
Mr. Rapozo: Since they came over since July 1st. They have
not been with me even a year yet.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay.
Mr. Rapozo: So those are some of the...
Councilmember Yukimura: And eventually you can move to reduce the
seven (7) to ten (10) days to maybe three (3) to five (5) or whatever?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: So related to that, you say you have completed a
park inspection for each park facility. I think you mentioned that in another meeting, and
you are creating a list of repairs and upgrades for each park. That is very commendable. Is
this being digitized or on a spreadsheet so that you are able to track it?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes, that is part of the William's whole
discussion about the asset management program for the parks. That was part of the
discussion that we had yesterday. It is going to be put into that.
Councilmember Yukimura: You have a consultant and when are you
planning to have your asset management plan pretty much complete and functional?
Mr. Rapozo: For the next part, as William described, within
the next two (2) months the contract is going to be signed. They put the needs of the park
into the database.
Councilmember Yukimura: Like we did with roads?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes, but for Facilities Maintenance what is
important when we included them in that visit, was to identify what projects to be done
in-house.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes.
Mr. Rapozo: And how quickly we could move through those
projects.
Councilmember Yukimura: Right. In any asset management, you are going
to have those projects you do in-house and those projects contracted out.
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Department of Parks & Recreation (mnaa)
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Mr. Rapozo: Right, but for these discussion purposes for
budgetary discussion purposes, we wanted to show as part of this park, we went out park to
park so that he could see as a Chief and identify projects that he could do or take care of
immediately.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, so that is something that you are doing prior
to having your asset management plan?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay, and eventually, all of this is going to be on
a major spreadsheet showing the assets?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Great. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Chair Rapozo.
Council Chair Rapozo: Last question, and it is about Position Nos. 1541
and 1856.
Mr. Rapozo: Position No. 1541?
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes.
Mr. Rapozo: And?
Council Chair Rapozo: Position No. 1856.
Mr. Rapozo: And Position No. 1856. Okay.
Council Chair Rapozo: What is the plan for those positions?
Mr. Rapozo: So Position No. 1856, in the industry, there is a
hard time in trying to get an electrician. It does not mean we do not need it. There is a
need. The electrician section in Facilities Maintenance is overworked and overtaxed. The
Electrical Unions have dominated this industry, and yet, they have cornered the market on
most electricians. There is a lot of work out there in the industry for electricians, so it is
hard to attract a new electrician. Within-house, there is a young man who took it upon
himself and went to Kaua`i Community College (KCC) and did the education part. Since
they came over last July, I drafted a training agreement, and I am meeting with the Unions
that this young man will complete four thousand (4,000) hours of work under a licensed
electrician, that he can become a licensed electrician himself, and therefore, he will become
a County Electrician. But right now, he occupies a Maintenance Worker position. I have
asked the Department of Human Resources (HR) to reverse it and make Position No. 1541
a Maintenance Worker position so we can hire for that because if he is taken away for that
position, the maintenance facility people can get help. Then, when this gentleman or this
March 30, 2017
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young man passes his test and he qualifies and becomes a licensed electrician, then we re-
describe his Maintenance Worker position to be an Electrician. For position No. 1856, we
continue to look for electricians, and if any of our staff put out the feelers because this looks
like the way the County is going to have to go out to get electricians because the way it is
now, the industry, as I mentioned, there is plenty of work out there and nobody wants to
come because of pay to become a County Electrician. But our needs are still there. We do
not have enough Electricians. I understand that they have a vacant position for the
Wastewater Electrician. They are asking us to help with their electrical needs. As much as
we want to, we are going to help them as best as we can, but we have so many other
electrical needs on our side for the other facilities. So they are going to run into the same
problem. It is trying to be creative in trying to get to where we want to get to and trying to
incentivize our employees that, "Hey, instead of being a Maintenance Worker, there is a
chance you could be an Electrical Repairman or Electrician." You have to take the classes
and get the education on your own, but it comes time for the practical part, we can help you
by placing you in our electrical area. This other one, what we want to do is re-describe it to
an Electrical Helper, Electrician Helper, and downgrade the position. Again, working with
HR. HR is really good to us in the sense that the requirements to be an Electrician is not
there, but you can be an Electrical Helper. But finding that right person who is going to
work his way to eventually become an Electrician. I am hoping I am not confusing
everybody.
Council Chair Rapozo: No, I was actually going to ask you if there is
another category or position like helper.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes. HR was the one that brought it up.
Council Chair Rapozo: Maybe I am just not familiar with the process,
but what would prevent this Council from changing the position?
Mr. Rapozo: Change it in what way?
Council Chair Rapozo: Let us say the Electronic Equipment Repairer is
vacant right now, right?
Mr. Rapozo: Right.
Council Chair Rapozo: There is no body in that position.
Mr. Rapozo: Right.
Council Chair Rapozo: What prevents the Council from changing that
position to an Electrician Helper or whatever it is called?
Mr. Rapozo: Is that Position No. 1541?
Council Chair Rapozo: Either one, it does not matter.
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Mr. Rapozo: What prevents it? I think that is an HR
question. I do not know.
Council Chair Rapozo: I do not need the answer now, but it would make
sense to me. I do not know what you call it, re-classifying them going down and back up,
but rather than just submitting the...I do not know. To me, it would seem simpler to just
change the position at the budget. There is nobody in the position.
Mr. Rapozo: I am not sure what the HR process is.
JANINE M.Z. RAPOZO, Director of Human Resources: Good morning,
Janine Rapozo, Director of Human Resources. During the budget process, you can certainly
change the position, but we will probably be doing it in the May supplemental.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. It just seems you can avoid a lot of work
for you, your Office, if it is anticipated we are going to change the position because I have
seen a few already that have been altered or changed. It would seem much more, I do not
know, transparent, if it just showed up and it was explained in the narrative that these are
the positions that are re-whatever. What did you call it?
Mr. Rapozo: Re-described.
Council Chair Rapozo: Re-described. It is so much easier than having
us try to track the vacancy report against the budget and seeing it is not.
Ms. Rapozo: Yes, because they will not necessarily be the
same because it was already reallocated in the new budget. I think in the Mayor's message,
he tried to capture those ones that were changed, which are the ones that went from dollar
funding to funding. I guess we will do that again during the May supplemental.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Thank you.
Councilmember Yukimura: I have a follow-up.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Is not this the difficulty, and this is for either of
you or both of you, the difficulty of filling the position that the salary is pretty low?
Mr. Rapozo: In this case for Electrician, my understanding is
yes.
Ms. Rapozo: It depends on the market. Right now, we would
have to look at whether or not that is something that is low. That is a statewide rating and
pricing for that particular position. So we would have to look at it whether or not we would
have to engage in shortage differentials based on the market at the time.
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Councilmember Yukimura: It says Electrician, Electrical Equipment
Repairer. Is that the official title?
Ms. Rapozo: I believe so, yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Electrician, and that is like an entry-level?
Ms. Rapozo: No, the Electrician Helper would be entry-level.
Councilmember Yukimura: I see. Okay. So this is the position that we need
and want?
Ms. Rapozo: Yes. A lot of times when it does vacate, you will
see in a lot of positions when we submit our report, that is will say "recruit at a lower level"
because this may have been an incumbent that worked their way up to the level, but then
now that we recruit, we really should go back down. In this case, they were trying to see if
they could already get a seasoned Electrician, which we cannot. So we are going to try to
move their way up kind of strategy.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. I think it is encouraging that we found
somebody in-house that wants to move up, and that we are facilitating that. We have one
(1) person that is in there right now, right?
Mr. Rapozo: We have two (2) Electricians right now.
Councilmember Yukimura: You have two (2) electricians.
Mr. Rapozo: And there is one (1)...
Councilmember Yukimura: Which is Position No. 1017 and?
Ms. Rapozo: To fill the Electrician.
Mr. Rapozo: Oh, you mean to fill or that is already on-board?
Councilmember Yukimura: Already on-board, you have one (1).
Mr. Rapozo: On-board we have two (2), and one (1) young
man who is in training. We have two (2) vacancies.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. I see here. Position No. 1540 is the Lead
Electrician.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: I see, and then you have one (1) other Equipment
Repairer Position, and it is the two (2) we are talking about that you are wanting to use to
help this young man move into a full position?
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Mr. Rapozo: Yes. I may add that he can do the work, but he
just needs the hours working under, as prescribed by law, before he can take the test.
Councilmember Yukimura: Is he working under the County Electrician?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions? If not, we are
going to move on.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, I do.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: In your budget narrative on page 44, you said
one (1) of the challenges is adapting to new software MPET.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: The challenge is to retrain and educate all of the
maintenance and janitorial staff.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: What is that?
Mr. Rapozo: It is the new software that we are using for the
asset management program.
Councilmember Yukimura: Is it already in operation?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes. We are training our staff first.
Councilmember Yukimura: And the janitorial people use this?
Mr. Rapozo: Eventually the whole County. When you want to
put in a work order, it will be through the MPET system as well as completing the work
orders.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, because janitorial staff is on front lines. So
if they see something broken or whatever, they are the ones that need to put in the request.
Mr. Rapozo: The Park Caretakers, District Supervisors,
people in Finance, and whoever is dedicated for a particular agency to put in work orders.
March 30, 2017
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But these are the people that are going to have to respond to the work orders that this
statement refers to.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay, good. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions? If not, we are
going to move on to Convention Hall. Convention Hall for us is on page 244. I have a
question. Convention Hall floor replacement, that money is coming out of where?
Mr. Rapozo: 209.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Oh, okay. The air conditioning for the
Convention Hall has already been budgeted and encumbered from the prior year?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes, in this current budget.
Councilmember Yukimura: I am sorry. Where is the Convention Hall
narrative?
Mr. Rapozo: It starts on page 13.
Councilmember Yukimura: I found it.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: In order to get the Convention Hall kitchen
certified, you only needed the stove hood vent or did you need more?
Mr. Rapozo: The hood vent.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Is that it?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes, in order to just use the stove, yes. There is
some back wall fire protection that has to be by the stove. It also has to be constructed, too.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: What is the advantage of making it a certified
kitchen?
Mr. Rapozo: It allows groups to book that as a certified
kitchen and go out and sell to the public.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay.
Mr. Rapozo: So if this Council wanted to do your fundraisers,
I think the Department of Health has allowed it. You can use it for prepping, but they have
allowed cooking at the Convention Hall. It is not certified because you cannot use the stove
because there is a hood vent, but you can use it for prepping because there is separate
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washing facility and a three (3) compartment sink that you can use. This will not only help
the users, but also the community that needed a place to do that work.
Councilmember Yukimura: Well, I remember that after Hurricane `Iniki, we
were not able to use the kitchen to feed, so the Southern Baptist Church brought in their
kitchen and installed it outside of the Convention Hall.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: So I am just wondering if it is related.
Mr. Rapozo: Eddie has done a good job by adding the wash
basin so you can at least use the kitchen to prep.
Councilmember Yukimura: And is the Convention Hall a designated shelter?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: It is, too, right?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: So presumably, if we needed to feed a lot of
people at that, Eddie is there...this certified kitchen would facilitate that?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes. I guess it depends because if you are going
to sell food, then you definitely need a certified kitchen. But if you are having a private
party, then that is not a requirement.
Councilmember Yukimura: Right. I think the Office of Economic
Development, Kaua`i Economic Development Board (KEDB), and KCC are developing
incubator kitchens where people can prepare food whether it is for commercial weddings, or
school lunches, or whatever. That is a different function from Convention Hall, so I just
wondered about the interface.
Council Chair Rapozo: I have a follow-up to that.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Chair Rapozo.
Council Chair Rapozo: So someone could basically rent the Convention
Hall and use the certified kitchen, to make products to go out and sell?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: I am going to assume that we are looking into
the rates that if we are going to be...
Mr. Rapozo: Charging.
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Council Chair Rapozo: Yes. If somebody is going to be using that facility
to generate revenue for their business, then I would assume they would come under a
different rate schedule.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: And not using the community center as a...I
think the models that the Economic Development people are looking at is going to have a
charge. So you are basically going to rent the kitchen, and I would assume that we would
follow similar model.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: So we do not steal that project from the people or
not gouge them to the point we do not get anybody because they can go there.
Mr. Rapozo: Our Parks & Recreation target is the community
organizations, youth groups, that are always looking for someplace to do a fundraiser and
they do not have that. I do not mean to go off-track, Committee Chair Kaneshiro, but the
scope of work for Hanapepe Stadium's new food booth has that in mind. The scope of work
for Bryan J. Baptiste concession has that same idea in mind, to help the youth groups out
there or the nonprofit organizations that need to fund to travel and all of that, to have a
place that the Director can sign off on it. The Department of Health has been really good
and lenient in recognizing that need, that although Vidinha Stadium was not built like a
certified kitchen, we are missing the separate handwashing facilities that is required and
that is something new. They have recognized that was the intent when it was built, so
groups are able to use the facility at football games where they are selling food, to sign off
to get a permit. The Convention Hall would be one of them that is recognized for prepping,
but not necessarily cooking. Lihu`e Neighborhood Center is the other one that has been
recognized.
Council Chair Rapozo: I am not suggesting that we charge those
nonprofits. My wife would like to make her fabulous brownies to go sell, then that, I think,
should come under a different rate schedule.
Mr. Rapozo: I am a sucker for brownies, so it does not need to
be in a certified kitchen. I will buy.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: I think given the popularity of use at the
Convention Hall, hopefully you are going to prioritize the fact that kitchen is used primarily
for gatherings, and you are not going to give a place that needs to prepare food, the first
priority that is going to preclude people from having use of the gathering space.
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Mr. Rapozo: That is one (1) issue, but the other side of it is
that we are providing use for fundraisers there whether they are political or private
fundraisers, whatever. At least in good faith, they can go to the Department of Health, and
the Department of Health, in good faith, can authorize the kitchen at the Convention Hall
as truly being a certified kitchen with the full range of functions that it needs to have so
that somebody can sell food. I understand your concern, but really, our point is to make it
compliant so that everybody involved in signing off can have a clear conscious in signing off.
Councilmember Yukimura: There is no objection to making it a certified
kitchen. All I am saying is it is going to then trigger a need to set some policies about use.
Mr. Rapozo: Thank you.
Councilmember Yukimura: The same reason why if you make things
acoustically well-thought out, you could increase the use capacity of your facility because
you have different options. So this links into a user fee update, are you planning on
updating user fees for the Convention Hall?
Mr. Rapozo: Are we going talk about that in Revenues?
Councilmember Yukimura: Is that when we talk about Revenues? Is that
coming up? Do you have plans?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: You can say if you have plans, and then when we
get to the Revenues section, you can give us more details on it.
Mr. Rapozo: We are in discussion.
Councilmember Yukimura: So nothing definite?
Mr. Rapozo: No. We are in discussion with that. All parties
involved are discussing it.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. The assisted listening devices, oh, it was
in 2002 that you first made them available, and now you are replacing them?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: It is a wonderful thing. My church has it, too, for
people who come to church services and have difficulty hearing. How do you publicize it?
Do people know that it is available?
Mr. Rapozo: When you come for a permit or a reservation
permit, Mr. Sarita makes it known.
Councilmember Yukimura: But how does the potential user get to know that
it is available?
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Mr. Rapozo: If I am holding the event, Eddie would inform me
and in my delivery to my audience that I am asking to come to the facility, it would be our
responsibility to list that.
Councilmember Yukimura: My question is, is it working? Do people who are
hard of hearing or have difficulty hearing, is that process of informing the permitee...is that
working so that people who need it know that it is available?
Mr. Rapozo: They have to put in the disclosure because it is a
public facility that hearing-impaired, right?
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay.
Mr. Rapozo: I am not aware of any complaints. I am not
aware of any lawsuits. I believe it is working.
Councilmember Yukimura: Most people will not bring lawsuits. They just
sometimes will not come to events if they do not know. I just wondered.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We are two (2) minutes away from a caption
break. So I think right now would be a perfect time.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We will take a ten (10) minute caption break and
come back.
There being no objections, the Committee recessed at 10:59 a.m.
The Committee reconvened at 11:10 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Welcome back. We will start where we left off.
We are still on Convention Hall. Councilmember Yukimura, you have some questions?
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: If not, Councilmember Chock has one (1).
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Go ahead, please.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you. Mr. Sarita, I know you mentioned
the leak at the Convention Hall, and you seemed to have taken care of that.
Mr. Rapozo: The leak?
Councilmember Chock: Yes, the leak in the roof.
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Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Chock: I did not see it in this year's request. I just
wanted to gauge the severity of it and when we expect to address it, if not this budget?
Mr. Rapozo: Of course, Eddie is working on replacing the air
conditioning that was already in process. Just the totality of the flooring, the repairs were
made and we feel the repairs are going to be okay for at least another year. So next year,
we are probably looking at coming in for the roof.
Councilmember Chock: For a permanent fix on that?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Chock: Okay. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: There is going to be a possible new bond float
this year with projects, and we are going to take that during the Department of Finance.
So those are projects that we have not gone out for the bond yet, so the ones we saw the last
couple of days were things that were bonded already. Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Actually, related to that, do you have the
ballpark figure for how much it will cost to fix the flat roof?
Mr. Rapozo: If my memory serves me correct, it was about
$450,000.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you. May I? I just want to really
highlight your narrative about the security camera surveillance and the vandalism that
was stopped by the use of it.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: So congratulations, and thank you, Eddie, your
staff, and to the Police Department. My question is, has the vandalism stopped?
Mr. Rapozo: So far, yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay.
Mr. Rapozo: We are waiting to see. The one window that was
always a target has not been the target for the last couple of months since it is been
replaced for the third time this year, but Eddie has taken to the surveillance. He can be a
consultant for you if you need any surveillance work to be done when he retires. He has
done a great job.
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Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, it was really good to hear the success story.
If I may go on? On the Creative Technology Center, this is the place to discuss it, or is this
coming up in the Office of Economic Development (OED)?
Mr. Rapozo: It is an Office of Economic Development project,
but Parks is involved because it is going to be placed at the Convention Center.
Councilmember Yukimura: Correct.
Mr. Rapozo: Adjacent to it. That is our involvement, to
provide the land and some tie-in to the Convention Hall.
Councilmember Yukimura: So the update here from Sue Kaneko says, "The
updated outlook for the facility will be Phase I, which has been right sized to eight
thousand five hundred (8,500) square feet and that this will serve as a focal point to bring
together offerings as well as provide physical infrastructure, space, and broadband for the
facility users." So I just wanted to understand that. Are you folks able to answer that, or
will we have a chance to ask that?
Mr. Rapozo: It is better as an OED project, so they might be
more appropriate. I can give them the heads-up to be prepared to answer extensively.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay, good. Thank you. Then, on your air
conditioning replacement project, is that going to allow to us have better control over air
conditioning? Because I know that a lot of times people in the exhibition hall are just
freezing.
Mr. Rapozo: It feels just perfect for me. It is a matter of
opinion, if it is freezing.
Councilmember Yukimura: Well, I think it was Jay Furfaro who told us once
about his air conditioning person, and he just kept raising it until there were complaints.
There is this range where it actually covers most everybody's comfort. So the question is
really...
Mr. Rapozo: With the latest technology, yes, we will have
better control of the thermostat that is involved with the air conditioning.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. I am going hold you folks to that.
Mr. Rapozo: Sure.
Councilmember Yukimura: Because I mean, I think people's comfort, if it
does not jeopardize another's comfort, should be the target.
Mr. Rapozo: So it is noted that he is looking to replace a
system that was circa 1970.
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Councilmember Yukimura: I have no objections to the replacement.
Mr. Rapozo: And the improvement would be air conditioning
the lobby as well, which has never been air conditioned.
Councilmember Yukimura: I have never noticed.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We can tell people to bring sweaters if they get
cold.
Mr. Rapozo: So somewhere between you and me, the
temperature, we are going somehow...
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. Do you think that is possible?
Mr. Rapozo: I like mine cool, sixty-nine (69) degrees constant.
Sixty-five (65) degrees would be better.
Councilmember Yukimura: As long as the sixty-nine (69) degrees is not
effectively sixty (60) degrees.
Councilmember Brun: I never heard anybody complain it is cold. Sorry,
but I never heard that before.
Mr. Rapozo: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Well, if it is too cold, you can always wear a
sweatshirt. If it is too hot, there is nothing you can do about it in that building. Are there
any further questions for Convention Hall?
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, parking.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Parking as a challenge?
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, and that is 16 on your narrative. There has
been talk when we did a parking audit for Lihu`e and Lee Steinmetz was in charge of it.
There was talk of using the Convention Hall parking for businesses in the area, and I
guess, if you can time it properly, it works. If there are no big events during the day, you
can use it for other purposes, but when you have the big events, then you need it. Are you
folks in conversation with Lee and others about their use or talk about using the
Convention Hall parking?
Mr. Rapozo: I did speak to Lee about that, and he would be
violating an Ordinance that this Council set back in 2009. The Peddlers and
Concessionaires Ordinance is clear that you cannot use a park facility for any commercial
activity.
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Councilmember Yukimura: Well, there is a question whether public parking
is commercial use.
Mr. Rapozo: If it is related to a commercial entity in which
they need to do business, yes. To be consistent, we asked the Hanalei boaters that they
cannot use County facilities for parking to facilitate their boating, neither can the surf
schools. We have taken that across the island. So there are some businesses, which is a
constant challenge, they try to use the Vidinha Stadium as a place to park their flatbeds,
their containers, and are still parking to facilitate business. With that in mind, when I
talked to Lee about that, I believe we would be a violation of the Peddlers and
Concessionaires Ordinance.
Councilmember Yukimura: One of the things to do, like we have done for
Lihu`e, is to change ordinances to facilitate bringing back of the Lihu`e Town Core. So if
there is a lot of parking space that is vacant during the day, how to maximize it to support
public purpose. I do not know the answer because when it is empty, otherwise, we build a
public parking structure at a huge cost and then we have other parking that is
underutilized.
Mr. Rapozo: I think what you also need to do because you
have this conception that during the day, the Convention Hall is not open, you have all of
this parking. But it is really not true, because the Boys & Girls Club is there and allow
them parking. In the afternoons from 3:00 p.m., you have Lihu`e baseball going on. We
allow them to use parking. We asked Elsie H. Wilcox Elementary School, but that has not
worked. You have about twenty-five (25) cars from Elsie H. Wilcox Elementary School, the
teachers that park there. We want to be nice to teachers because they use some of their
parking in the cafeteria area as a drop-off for kids. So they lose parking there. This notion
that, and I talked to Lee about it, that it is vacant, is not really true. Then during the day
when you have trainings and whatever else that goes on with the exhibition hall, there is
parking that is being used at the Convention Hall there. I think the Peddlers and
Concessionaires Ordinance recognizes that at such a facility, it is going to be difficult to
have businesses to allow parking there as well, or look at changing the ordinance.
Councilmember Yukimura: The problem time that is mentioned here,
because you are right. I see all of these mix of uses, but it is does not seem to be that much
of a problem during the day. But it is when the events occur and they tend to be from late
afternoon to the evening, right, and that is where the problems are really coming up.
Mr. Rapozo: It starts really around the morning when the
kids are being dropped off because parents do like to walk their grammar school kids to
their classrooms. Also in the afternoon, when people pick up their children. So there is a
lot of activity.
Councilmember Yukimura: Is it traffic or parking?
Mr. Rapozo: Both, people in and out. People that park and go
and get their kids, and other people that are just going to pick up. There is a lot of activity
going on. Now, if we take the stand that we want to open up parking and we do not allow
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that, then we are looking at possibly creating more traffic on Hardy Street that would allow
only two (2) authorized pickup points, which would be at the front of Elsie H. Wilcox
Elementary School and at the back at the cafeteria. I do not think we want to hinder the
traffic along Hardy Street. We want to try to help it. So we are going to continue to allow
that activity going on in our parking lot. Also, it goes on at the tennis courts where they
drop-off and pickup. So depending on where their children are located on the school, and
every year the activity is going to be pretty much the same. It is just a matter of kids
moving along.
Councilmember Yukimura: I think it just highlights the problem. If Lihu`e is
going to come back in terms of economic activity, then parking is going to become
increasingly an issue, and really, the real solution is a Kauai Bus shuttle that comes every
fifteen (15) minutes down Rice Street.
Mr. Rapozo: I think what Eddie did want to highlight in
this...I am sorry. Why do you not finish your thought? I am sorry.
Councilmember Yukimura: I mean, this discussion is just highlighting
upcoming events in terms of if our goal with the Transportation Investment Generating
Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant to bring back the town core. These issues are going to
come up, and you are highlighting them because you want solutions to them, right, even the
issue of the homeless.
Mr. Rapozo: I think what Eddie also wanted to highlight is
that some of the parking was taken away with the Hardy Street development.
Councilmember Yukimura: Is that so?
Mr. Rapozo: It was informal parking, but with the planters in
front of Dela Cruz Hall, across the street from Dela Cruz Hall, and the corner, you are
taking away stalls.
Councilmember Yukimura: I do not know what the net was, but maybe.
Mr. Rapozo: They took away stalls. You no longer can park
there. It was informal parking. It depends on the terminology, and I had this discussion
with Lee and that committee. It really is terminology. They could say they added parking.
They added four (4) more parking, but there was a lot of informal parking on Kaua`i that
goes on when you have grassy shoulders. Those were taken away and that has impacted to
Convention Hall. I think that is that we wanted to highlight.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions for Convention
Hall? If not, we are going move on to Wailua Golf Course.
Mr. Rapozo: Chair, Ian manages/oversees the complete
operation of the Wailua Golf Course. I am going to leave for him.
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IAN K. COSTA, Deputy Director of Parks & Recreation: Good morning, Ian
Costa, Deputy Director of Parks & Recreation. I think any increase in the budget is
primarily due to the wages and salaries. I did have a couple additions, but basically the
budget we submitted was neutral. A couple of things that were added, I added some money
for special events and those are for events such as the John Burns Tournament, State high
school golf championships, and the Junior World whereby we typically provide every year, a
tent for the kids to gather during those tournaments. These past few years, I have been
utilizing some of the special events moneys from Administration Division. This year, I
decided to move, put some of that directly into the Wailua Golf Course budget. Then, the
other was for supplies to implement the disc and soccer golf. As far as overtime, last year
there was a spike in overtime, and that was due to the year before we dollar-funded
half-time cashier position. So, much of that overtime was to cover for that half-time
position because the hours of the Wailua Golf Course is eleven (11) hours. So those half-
time cashier positions are critical for avoiding overtime from the registration office staff.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: The special events, what page was that on?
Mr. Costa: I have it as page 10 for the Wailua Golf Course
section. It is under...
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Oh, promotions, marketing, other services?
Mr. Costa: Yes.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. I had a question on the leases. The
second of five (5) year leases, we have replace two (2) greens mowers. In the past, the
amount might have been higher, or maybe not. I am looking at it wrong. Never mind. I
answered my own question.
Mr. Costa: The last two (2) we purchased were under the
national price list. So we did get a better deal.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: So it ended up less than what we originally
projected?
Mr. Costa: Right.
Mr. Rapozo: Sorry, for clarification, there is a listing that is
provided statewide for State and County governments that is a pre-established cost for
certain equipment.
Mr. Costa: Based on the national bid.
Mr. Rapozo: It is a national bid that is done, and we were able
to take advantage of that. They had the right type of equipment, the right brand that we
had, and Ian was able to take advantage of that to get these needed mowers at a discounted
rate.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. I did not write my notes good enough. I
know we had it last year at a way higher cost and this year it is way lower. So I guess that
is the price difference that we were able to see.
Mr. Costa: Yes, and typically, we like to give local vendors a
chance to compete. But in this case it was the machine that we already had, the brand we
already had, and the type of machine we already have, so we went with that.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. Are there any other questions for the
Wailua Golf Course? Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Are you planning to submit a new golf fee
schedule for adoption?
Mr. Costa: As you know, I prepared one.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes.
Mr. Costa: I believe the Administration will be presenting
those.
Councilmember Yukimura: So yes, you are?
Mr. Rapozo: I am sorry, Councilmember Yukimura, that is
part of the fee schedules that we are discussing that we are going to propose.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, I know, but you cannot tell me what you are
going to be proposing?
Mr. Rapozo: We are still in discussion as to what the
appropriate levels will be.
Councilmember Yukimura: We are in budget, so we need to know what the
revenues are going to be.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes. I understand you. I think we can take that
up with revenues.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Right now, the revenues are based off the current
rates, right?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
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Mr. Costa: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Well, I mean with what is it? A $1,200,000
subsidy from the General Fund can make a huge difference in the budget, so that is why I
am asking the question.
Mr. Costa: That is also why I prepared it.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. So you show that there is a four
percent (4%)...this is on page 48 of your narrative. There was an increase in non-resident
golf rounds and revenues by twelve percent (12%) in the last year, and approximately
sixteen percent (16%) in the last two (2) years...
Mr. Costa: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: ...despite a steady decline of golf rounds and
revenue by residents.
Mr. Costa: That was primarily Fiscal Year 2017.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, so this past year. It is commendable that
there has been an increase in non-resident golf rounds because that is the higher fee.
Mr. Costa: Yes, and that is largely the increase in play has
been the visitor play.
Councilmember Yukimura: Right. So it appears that some of the promotions
have been working.
Mr. Costa: Yes. It appears that way, yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Do you do like the visitor industry does these exit
surveys or these surveys that say, "How did you know about the Wailua Golf Course and
what made you come to use Wailua Golf Course," and get feedback from the non-resident
golfers?
Mr. Costa: We have not done one in a couple of years.
Councilmember Yukimura: Well, it might be interesting. That is one (1) way
to see whether your promotions are working because if they say, "Oh, I saw this
advertisement" and it was going to...or whatever, or is it just because there has been an
increase in visitors, which would mean it is not your promotions, but it is just the raw
increase in visitors.
Mr. Costa: It is probably about time we do another survey.
Councilmember Yukimura: You have in the past?
Mr. Costa: I think actually with the help of Council, we did.
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Councilmember Yukimura: Oh, okay.
Mr. Costa: When Council Chair Furfaro was here. I believe
it was two (2) years ago. I will tell you though, that just visually, that course, in the past
you could drive by the Wailua Golf Course and see some vacant spots in the golf course, but
I do not think there is very many today.
Councilmember Yukimura: Well, you could see that temporary structure, too,
so that was good to get rid of that.
Mr. Costa: Yes, but there is constant play, especially
recently. A lot of visitors have been coming out in the afternoons, and that is one of the
things that I think we proposed in the draft fee increase, not only fee structure, but some of
the house cleaning measures. I think right now, we have twilight set at, I believe, it is 3:00
p.m. and we feel like we should move that up because we could capture a lot of visitors who
end up basically waiting around in line for that 3:00 p.m. time.
Councilmember Yukimura: So the afternoon slots are...
Mr. Costa: After 3:00 p.m., it is basically half price. You
basically pay for nine (9) holes, but if you get out early enough, you can just about finish
eighteen (18) holes. Generally speaking, from about 12:00 p.m. on, the play really drops.
So we could essentially pick up a few more rounds, I believe, if we started that a little bit
earlier.
Councilmember Yukimura: So if it is half-price, then you will not get as
much revenues?
Mr. Costa: Right.
Councilmember Yukimura: And if you were to shake loose some of the
primetime in the morning for the high premium rates, you could get more revenues that
way, right?
Mr. Costa: Theoretically, yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Who comes to the twilight play? Is it visitors or
is it locals?
Mr. Costa: Both. But personally, I have seen the mix of
visitors versus residents increase more on the visitors. There is still a good amount of
locals, but where previously you would have predominantly residents in the afternoon
twilight play. I believe it is at least fifty/fifty (50/50), if not a little more visitors than
residents.
Councilmember Yukimura: Well, that does seem to indicate that your
promotional efforts are helping, and I think it would be helpful to your marketing plans in
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the future if you do a survey and get more data about what is promoting the increase in
play.
Mr. Costa: Yes. We believe that the marketing has a lot to
do with that.
Councilmember Yukimura: And showing it or documenting it will help you
get more money to market it, I think. Okay. Great.
Mr. Costa: We will do that soon.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions from the
Members? Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: I think that is it.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. If there are no further questions, we are
going to move on to our last section, which is the Improvement and Maintenance Fund.
That is on page 321 for us. So we will start with Administration on page 321. Lenny, if you
can just let us know what this Contingency Fund is for. It increased from $63,000 to
$224,000.
Mr. Rapozo: Is this the 209 that you are talking about?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Yes.
Mr. Rapozo: This fund was established by Council, I forget
what year it was, when they established the Spouting Horn vendors. Spouting Horn
vendors is a lease by the vendors who bid and the revenues generated was put in this fund
with specific use for park maintenance. So this fund has been used to address park
maintenance in various ways. On May 14, 2013, there was a change in the sense where
prior to that, the revenues in this fund could be determined or prioritized by signatures of
the Parks Director, the Mayor, and the Director of Finance. Since May 14th, any moneys
that are generated after May 14, 2013, this body has to authorize the appropriation of the
funds.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: For the Special Projects Contingency Fund, are
there any projects in mind or do we just hold the money there?
Mr. Rapozo: As projects come up that we are not able to
cover...currently right now, the moneys in this fund, post 2013, we are using to redo...let
me go back. There was a sunset of this Ordinance, and that sunset was lifted. So in this
current contract with the vendors out at Spouting Horn, their contract is a five (5) year
contract. They are going to end next year, so what we are doing with these moneys is that
we have appropriated a consultant to redesign the booths over there. They are very old,
shabby looking. We want to bring it up in appearance, go out and re-lease it or redo it. We
are going to need at least $400,000, so we are hoping that the revenues generated will build
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so that next year, when we are ready for construction, we will have enough moneys in here
to pay for those costs.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: It does not sound like repair &
maintenance (R&M). It sounds like a CIP project?
Mr. Rapozo: I think it is appropriate because the moneys are
generated from that activity. Councilmember Yukimura, if you feel it is appropriate that
the moneys will come out of CIP as opposed to this fund, which would pay for itself, that is
okay with me. But it would seem it is appropriate that the project itself would pay for
itself.
Councilmember Yukimura: Well, I think if you read the Ordinance carefully,
this is not just a repair and maintenance fund. I think it says "improvements."
Mr. Rapozo: That is right.
Councilmember Yukimura: Therefore, it could be used. I prefer that we can
use those moneys for something that is going to benefit the local people, local users. It
seems to me that we need to think about how we want to best use that money.
Mr. Rapozo: In my view, we have had this discussion at this
level before. It is the moneys generated from this activity. We can reinvest that money into
the activity itself. Whether the money comes from this activity or comes from another
source of funding, that is fine, but you are just putting the burden on some other place. I
hear what you are saying, but in the end, we are bringing it up to par, and hopefully we will
have better rents, which is going to benefit the community at-large from the rents that we
are going to capture.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, I understand. It is the question of whether
that is an appropriate use of a park.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes. In the end, it is not going to end up in our
pockets, but I think it is an appropriate use in the sense that the activity pays for itself.
Councilmember Yukimura: We can do that everywhere. We can just put
vending stalls in all of our parks and make a lot of money, but is it an appropriate use of
the park?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Chair Rapozo.
Council Chair Rapozo: How is that going down at Spouting Horn? It is
pretty much autopilot, they self-manage and self-police?
Mr. Rapozo: John manages the contract and issues between
vendors.
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Council Chair Rapozo: There still is?
Mr. Rapozo: John manages it.
Council Chair Rapozo: I just have not heard anything. It is almost like I
kind of forgot about it.
Mr. Rapozo: No, there are still some issues going on.
Hopefully with the new design coming up, it is going to address some of those issues. It is
also going to spruce up the area. I think the area had downgraded. We have had added
some sprinklers over there with our irrigation person, we are planting some grass there
trying to beautify and get rid of the chickens over there, again. So yes, we are going to
make it a better experience for the visitors, which is going to help the vendors and in
return, is going to help us in hopefully getting better rents the next time around. Again,
the last contract was during the recession, so the rents had dropped substantially from the
previous one. So hopefully by doing all of these improvements, the timing of it, the
consultant work, being ready to go to construction, and finishing construction is going to be
when the contracts end so we can get something nice and new, and hopefully better rents.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura, do you have another
question?
Councilmember Yukimura: I have one (1) question that I see we missed. I
wanted to ask about the section with Park Rangers. I do not know why I missed it, where
they are having to hold all of these paper documents. I wanted to ask about Information
Technology (IT) ways of addressing it? May I go back to that question?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: You folks touched upon it earlier, right,
regarding Wi-Fi?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes, we talked about it in Wi-Fi.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. I guess, okay. So you are saying without
Wi-Fi, the iPads will not be workable without Wi-Fi support, and therefore, you cannot use
an iPad instead of all of those documents?
Mr. Rapozo: Correct.
Councilmember Yukimura: Is that what you are saying?
Mr. Rapozo: Part of our efficiency discussion earlier, right
now, we have Rangers carrying paper to see who has permits to be where they need to be.
With the Wi-Fi initiative, and we are looking to enable the Rangers to just get into the
system to see who has the permit for that particular facility.
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Councilmember Yukimura: Right.
Mr. Rapozo: That is going to help alleviate the need to carry
paper and having to make those paper documents.
Councilmember Yukimura: And in most places, cell phones do not work?
Mr. Rapozo: Cell phones work.
Councilmember Yukimura: Why would an iPad not work then?
Mr. Rapozo: It needs a Wi-Fi connection. I can bring my iPad
here, but unless it tie in, it is not going to work.
Councilmember Yukimura: Right.
Council Chair Rapozo: Can I ask a really quick question? But you could
get the data plan that would allow it to work wherever your cell phone works?
Mr. Rapozo: Hotspot?
Council Chair Rapozo: No, like our iPads here.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: If we are here, we get Wi-Fi. But if we are
outside of Wi-Fi, it actually kicks in the data plan.
Mr. Rapozo: Right.
Council Chair Rapozo: I think we bought in when it was unlimited, I
think. I do not know if we still get unlimited or what. But anyway, these things work
wherever we go and that would make sense for your Rangers.
Mr. Rapozo: Two (2) years ago, I paid $50 for five (5)
gigabytes every thirty (30) days.
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes. I think unlimited would probably be the
way to go with the Rangers. Right now, in fact, they are promoting it. I will not say the
company's name, but they just started it. It is a lot cheaper now. It is what it is. I think
for their safety, convenience, and efficiency, I think it is well-worth it.
Mr. Rapozo: Maybe we should have that conversation offline
because the things that I researched did not appear to be cost-effective. Maybe we could
talk about where you folks get it from.
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, it was just a thought.
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Mr. Rapozo: We want to do it for the Rangers. I want to do it
for the maintenance workers if we can.
Council Chair Rapozo: If the Prosecutors just traded in their old ones for
new ones, you can take theirs. I know I told them we wanted them, but I would say, "Do
you know what? Give them to the Rangers."
Mr. Rapozo: Actually, we are going to reuse the County
Attorney's and the Kaua`i Police Department (KPD) has some that they are going to turn
over to us.
Council Chair Rapozo: And are you folks data-capable, your things
work? Are your iPads Wi-Fi only?
Mr. Rapozo: So we are going recycle those different
departments'.
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes us too.
Mr. Rapozo: We have already made those contacts.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay.
Councilmember Yukimura: That sounds like a more readily available
solution than trying to get Wi-Fi everywhere.
Mr. Rapozo: Yes. My investigation with the Wi-Fi, again, like
I had mentioned, at our camping facilities, I wanted to do the analysis to figure out if we
could pay for it with the campers. You were not here Council Chair Rapozo, but I had
mentioned maybe $20 the first day and $10 every day thereafter, you come in, have a
camping permit, the place has Wi-Fi, and hopefully, that will pay for the system itself.
That is the kind of things that we were looking at as opposed to just paying $50 or whatever
it is per month. We have eight (8) Rangers, so seven (7) Rangers out there and however
many maintenance workers out there. We were trying to look at it that way.
Council Chair Rapozo: I am sorry I missed that part of it. I think
having Wi-Fi capability at the camp sites would be very innovative. It is something that...
Mr. Rapozo: Different, right?
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, that would attract...
Mr. Rapozo: Looking at the numbers of the amount of tourists
that are coming, I think it is worth to look at it.
Councilmember Yukimura: It is definitely worth looking at. You just have to
see how the figures will work.
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Mr. Rapozo: And it might not just be the tourists. If you are
going to have a birthday party.
Council Chair Rapozo: Oh, yes, anybody that uses that facility.
Mr. Rapozo: $20 for the day unlimited, and you would have
that function.
Council Chair Rapozo: The airport, too. I find myself getting ripped off
at the airport, but I have to check that stinking E-mail. We are going to pay $9.95 or $4.95
for one (1) hour. It is pathetic, but somebody is making money.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Airports do it and hotels do it.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions on that? We will
keep moving on. There is no other money budgeted. We will move on to Planning and
Development. Councilmember Chock, do you have a question?
Councilmember Chock: I just wanted to get an explanation.
Mr. Rapozo: We are going back to planning and development?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: No. We are on page 325. We had almost
$200,000 in there in the prior year. I think it had to do with Four Winds. Does that ring a
bell?
Mr. Rapozo: That is the asset management we are doing.
Councilmember Chock: Oh, okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: And the dues and subscriptions for that, did it
get incorporated into the budget somewhere?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes. So that is what the Four Winds is, to
develop the assessment management program.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: So consultation services is done? We have the
software and we are using it?
Mr. Rapozo: That is going to be the end result. It is going to
be MPATS, and we are moving to the next phase, which William reported yesterday was
$150,000 where they are going do the analysis of all of the parks facilities and get the data
in. We are moving now to training our staff who are going to respond to the work orders.
July 1St, I believe, is our target date. Then hereafter, train the rest of the County.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura.
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Councilmember Yukimura: Have you been working with IT on this?
Mr. Rapozo: Yes.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions on this? As we
go through, I think there is no other money being spent or budgeted in the 209 Fund.
Councilmember Yukimura: In which fund? Oh, the 409?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: 209. I think that concludes today. Thank you
Lenny, and thank you for the brief presentation. I think the presentation has really reduced
a lot of the time as far as us being able to look at the numbers. I mean, I think last year we
had presentations go for an hour before we even got to touch the budget. I think it is
working really well. Thank you for coming prepared with the variances and the vacancy
information. So thank you, everyone.
Mr. Rapozo: Thank you, everybody.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: With that, I would like to recess the
Departmental Budget Reviews. We will reconvene 9:00 a.m., tomorrow, Friday, March 31st
where we will hear from Fire and Police.
There being no objections, the Committee recessed at 11:55 a.m.